WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 11: First Battle (2)

──────

Briefly recalling what Lugos had demonstrated, Gerik instinctively held his sword upright against his abdomen, then sharply thrust at the goblin charging viciously toward him.

Keeeek!!

The goblin had charged straight ahead with all its strength. Though it saw Gerik's thrust coming, its body was already committed to one direction. Unable to regain its balance, it was pierced through the shoulder.

Gerik's large longsword dealt a devastating blow to the small creature. The goblin collapsed, writhing in agony.

Kyaak!! Kyaak!!

Even after one of their companions fell in an instant, the remaining goblins did not cower. Instead, they flew into a rage and charged at Gerik.

Fortunately, Gerik, the goblins, and the campfire were locked in a C-shaped standoff. The goblins could not attack all at once. Forced to go around the fire, they had no choice but to rush him one after another, out of step.

That spared Gerik the pressure of a coordinated assault, the advantage of their numbers.

"Get lost!!"

Gerik wildly swung his longsword in every direction, threatening the charging goblins. Their momentum slowed a little before the sharp blade.

Yet his clumsy swings did not touch them even once. They only drained his stamina faster.

Kyaa!! Kyahaaa!!

The goblins dodged his awkward swings and shrieked as if mocking him.

Their first companion had simply been unlucky. Now they had realized that the human before them was not a predator, but prey, and their confidence soared.

'At this rate, I'm done for...!!'

The weight of the longsword dragged at him with every swing, and the aftereffects of the long march quickly wore Gerik down.

Unlike before, the goblins seemed to have calmed down. Instead of recklessly charging, they watched for an opening and spread out on three sides, attempting to surround him.

'What do I do... Ah!'

Ironically, their careful attempt to encircle him bought Gerik some time. Catching his breath and regaining his composure, he remembered that he had a trump card.

'Slash...!!'

Gerik instinctively recalled the Slash he had learned not long ago. To his surprise, his body raised the longsword over his head as though the movement felt familiar to it.

Falling into a trance, Gerik swung the sword with smooth, razor-sharp precision and cleaved the goblin he had been watching.

Kik?!

The prey before them had changed in an instant, cutting down one of their own like a skilled predator. The two remaining goblins were startled.

Still, the monsters followed instinct more readily than intelligence. Rather than being swept up in emotion, they exploited the opening created by their companion's death. They rushed Gerik and swung their weapons.

"Slash!"

Instead of shrinking back from their charge, Gerik remained in that trance and shouted Slash once more as he swung.

Using the sword that had come down from the high slash, he naturally swept it up from low to mid-level, cutting through the neck of the goblin thrusting its crude shortsword at him.

Shhhk!

The sound of sharp steel tearing through flesh rang out. The vicious green monster's head separated from its body and flew through the air, while blood burst from its severed torso.

Hiiik!!

The last goblin had charged in fiercely, but a terrified cry burst from its mouth when the human before it cut down two companions in an instant.

"Slash...!!"

Gerik's eyes seemed slightly crazed with adrenaline. When the goblin met his gaze, it felt the overwhelming terror that the ferocious beast before it would cut off its head.

Kiik! Kiit!! Kiiit!!

Completely overwhelmed by Gerik's presence, the goblin wet itself, threw its club, then turned and fled as fast as it could.

Gerik had to dodge the club flying at his head, which widened the distance between them. He could not catch up, and the ugly green monster barely escaped into the dark forest with its miserable life intact.

"Haa... Haa..."

With three of the four goblins dead and the last one gone, the battle was over. Gerik felt his breath turn ragged and his hands begin to shake from the aftereffects of adrenaline.

Once the tension drained from him, he could barely hold himself up. He dropped to one knee and leaned against his sword as he took deep, rough breaths.

'Should I... huff... move the camp... huff...?'

As he gasped for air, he considered moving camp to make it safer. But night had fully settled, and deep darkness filled the forest. Gerik realized it was not realistically possible and gave up on the idea.

'If I move camp carelessly and get ambushed or lose my way, that would be even worse.'

In the end, Gerik decided to accept the danger. Rather than flee, he would clear the goblin corpses into the nearby forest and rest.

"They're seriously disgusting."

Green skin, crazed eyes, and sharp teeth. These tiny monsters were ugliness incarnate. Even the smell of their blood was revolting enough to trigger instinctive disgust.

Just in case, Gerik stabbed each torso with his longsword to make certain they were dead. Then he picked up the bodies and threw them into the nearby forest.

Gulp... Gulp...

Gerik quenched his thirst with water from his waterskin, then wiped his sword with a cloth as he reviewed the battle.

'Slash... It really works.'

Gerik felt a thrill as he recalled the unbelievable movement that had sent a goblin's head flying with a brilliant cut.

The skill also made him realize once again that he had truly fallen into a fantasy world.

"Should I... try it again?"

His body was tired, but the lingering excitement of battle kept sleep away. Wanting to satisfy his curiosity, Gerik picked up his longsword and imagined an enemy before him.

He pictured a goblin standing in front of him, thought of Slash again, and tightened his grip on the sword.

Whoosh!!

To his amazement, Gerik swung the sword at the imaginary enemy in a sharp, elegant motion without even realizing what he was doing.

The terrifying sound bursting from the sword startled even Gerik himself.

"Whoa..."

Though he had been the one to swing it, Gerik could not believe the result. He planted the sword in the ground, spread both hands, and stared at them blankly.

'From now on, I need to train until I can use Slash naturally in a real fight.'

After the battle, Gerik instinctively understood that he would have to rely on Slash if he wanted to make a stable living as an adventurer.

Still, he remembered that he had only been able to use the skill after consciously thinking of Slash. For smoother combat, he needed to train until he could use it naturally without thinking.

'I was lucky I wasn't injured...'

Once the excitement of his first battle and victory faded, Gerik sat by the campfire and warmed himself. Remembering the grotesque monsters he had killed, he felt grateful that he had escaped without injury.

'Now I understand why people say you can never let your guard down, even against trash mobs like goblins.'

If he had made a mistake and suffered an injury to a vital area or a leg, Gerik thought he would have frozen to death by the roadside.

He swore that, no matter what enemy he faced in the future, he would never let his guard down and would always give his all.

'I'm wide awake now...'

The sudden attack and battle had cleared Gerik's mind too thoroughly for sleep to come.

But he needed a good night's rest before another forced march, so he crawled into his sleeping bag and tried to sleep.

"..."

Fortunately, the journey that had felt more like a march and the battle soon caught up with him. Before long, exhaustion washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep.

"...?"

In his dream, Gerik found himself lying in a hospital as he had before reincarnating, as Ujin.

He had been trying to sleep beside the campfire just moments ago. Now that he had suddenly returned to reality, he was confused, unable to tell reality from fantasy.

"Does that matter?"

"...!?"

As he tried to make sense of the situation, a familiar voice struck Ujin's ears.

Startled, he turned his head. Seoljeongchung, his high school classmate, stood there holding the familiar notebook and speaking to him.

"What does it matter if it's real or fake? As long as it's fun. Right?"

With that, Seoljeongchung opened the notebook containing the Tabletop Role-Playing Game setting and resumed their game.

For some reason, the moment Ujin heard his voice, his questions vanished. Before he knew it, he was focused on the game.

"Fun, isn't it?"

"Huh? Yeah..."

They had been playing for a while when Seoljeongchung called to him. Ujin looked up at him without thinking.

He was clearly looking at Seoljeongchung, yet for some reason, Ujin could not properly make out his face. He was there, but Ujin could not perceive him. It was a strange contradiction.

Grin.

Even though Ujin could not see Seoljeongchung's face or expression, he somehow felt that Seoljeongchung was looking at him with an amused smile.

"That's enough for today. This is a gift."

For some reason, Ujin knew that today would be the last day he met Seoljeongchung.

As Ujin accepted the notebook Seoljeongchung offered with mixed feelings, he realized that Seoljeongchung had vanished in an instant.

"..."

Putting aside his questions about Seoljeongchung, who had disappeared without a trace as if he had never existed, Ujin opened the notebook and examined its contents.

[Name: Gerik]

[Occupation: Unemployed]

[Attributes]

Strength: 3 (An attribute that affects physical strength, carrying limit, and attack power)

Dexterity: 3 (An attribute that affects balance, reaction speed, movement speed, manual dexterity, and more)

Health: 3 (An attribute that affects endurance, disease resistance, and vitality)

Intelligence: 3 (An attribute that affects memory, logic, deduction, language, and thinking ability)

Perception: 3 (An attribute that affects awareness of one's surroundings, danger detection, and intuition)

Charisma: 3 (Influence over others, such as negotiation, persuasion, and intimidation)

[Skills]

Lv. 1 Slash (1/100)

Interestingly, when Ujin opened the notebook, he found Gerik's attributes inside.

Instinctively, he knew that everything written there was true.

Intrigued, Ujin turned to the next page. In that instant, darkness rushed in around him and swallowed him whole.

Chirp! Chirp chirp!

"..."

Gerik opened his eyes to the familiar sound of birds. The cold air of early winter passed through his lungs, and he slowly pushed himself up with a strained expression.

Crackle. Crackle...

Perhaps because he had added plenty of branches the night before, the campfire had weakened considerably. Still, it continued to burn beside Gerik.

Thanks to it, he could feel at least a faint warmth, despite having nothing but his sleeping bag to block the early winter wind.

"Whew... This is killing me."

Camping was still camping. Though he had slept fairly well, Gerik felt stiff and sore all over.

He drank from the leather waterskin beside him to quench his thirst, then chewed on the jerky and dried fruit he had brought.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried