WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 59: Pulsating Ruins (4)

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After reading the explanation related to Attributes in the status window, Gerik finally understood why he had been able to memorize those unfamiliar symbols so easily.

'Thankfully, it wasn't some kind of brainwashing.'

It seemed his memory had become incredibly sharp because the procedure had raised his Intelligence, not because of some harmful physical alteration.

Once he realized that, the anxiety lingering deep in Gerik's heart gradually began to fade.

"Huff..."

He still could not relax completely, but given what he had learned so far, Gerik felt excited at how much luck had come his way.

"A blessing in disguise... This is exactly that."

His unexpected good fortune put him in high spirits, and curiosity about the strange vessel naturally rose within him.

Wanting to find any further benefits it might hold, he headed back toward the control room where he had first entered.

'If I watch the inside through the CCTV, I might find something useful.'

Just as Gerik examined the large screen in the control room, something unexpected happened.

Wheee-oo!! Wheee-oo...!!

The battery indicator, which had been blinking unsteadily in the control room, suddenly began flashing rapidly. A sharp siren rang out through the vessel.

Hummm...!!

As if that were not enough, the crystal lights illuminating the vessel began to flicker along with a strange sound of something slicing through the air.

The doors to the outer sections visible through the CCTV closed one after another, sealing off the areas, perhaps to conserve energy.

'...This doesn't look good.'

Watching the outer facilities shut down in real time, Gerik realized the situation was serious.

He had a strong feeling that if he hesitated, he might end up trapped inside.

'Get out first...!!'

Deciding to leave first to eliminate unforeseen risks and return to explore once everything was over, Gerik immediately hurried back the way he had come.

'My memory really has improved.'

As he retraced his steps, Gerik felt how dramatically the Transcendent Procedure had improved his memory.

He could clearly recall the route he had taken without the slightest confusion.

Shhk!! Shhk!!

While Gerik headed outside, even the core area seemed to enter power-saving mode. Nearby doors began sealing shut one after another, like a closing aperture.

'Damn it... I need to get out...!!'

As the heavy sounds of doors closing behind him drew closer, Gerik grew desperate.

Realizing he would not make it otherwise, he even used Charge and raced down the passage at full speed.

Shhhaak!!

The instant Gerik squeezed through the broken gap, the door behind him sealed completely.

"Haa... Fuck... Haa... That was way too close...!!"

Having barely escaped, Gerik panted heavily as he looked back at the tightly sealed vessel.

'It was probably... because of my recovery and the procedure.'

Gerik guessed that the vessel's Psionic Awakener had used up all its remaining energy to save him when he was dying, then force the Psionic procedure on him as well.

After thinking for a moment, regret suddenly washed over him.

If these Ruins held something as amazing as a Psionic Awakener so casually, there was a good chance even more valuable things had been sleeping deeper inside.

'Hmm... Should I try forcing my way in?'

Unable to let it go, Gerik picked up a nearby stone and struck the sealed door to test the vessel's strength.

Clang! Clang!

But the door was so sturdy that it did not receive even a scratch.

Just in case, he also slashed at the fleshy wall with his sword. The result was the same. Despite its soft-looking surface, the blade could not leave so much as a mark.

"...It's this tough?!"

Gerik gave a hollow laugh at the vessel's sturdiness. Then a question suddenly came to him.

'If this vessel is so durable... how was it destroyed this badly?'

This massive vessel, which he could not scratch even with a skill, had its body and tail utterly shattered. Gerik wondered what could have done such a thing.

But no matter how hard he thought about it, there was no way for Gerik to find the answer now. He soon set the question aside and decided to leave it for another day.

Grrr.

At that moment, a loud sound came from his stomach, followed by overwhelming hunger. It was not the kind of hunger he would feel from simply missing a meal.

'...How long have I gone without eating?'

Gerik unconsciously looked outside. The day had grown bright. It was morning.

'The sun was setting when I came in.'

Remembering that it had been around sunset when he entered the vessel, Gerik finally realized that at least a day, perhaps even longer, might have passed while he underwent the procedure.

Feeling hungry, Gerik remembered the Golden Berries he had placed in a makeshift pouch made from his padded under-armor. He checked the pouch he had left at the entrance to the Ruins.

"...They've gone bad?"

Gerik frowned as soon as he opened it. The fruit had changed in a way that could not have happened in only a day. He could finally be certain that he had not spent merely a day being healed.

After throwing away the spoiled berries, Gerik headed toward the Golden Berry grove he had visited the previous day to fill his stomach and find drinking water.

Thankfully, he did not get lost. Perhaps because of his increased Intelligence, he could easily recall and recognize terrain he had passed through once. He returned to the grove without much difficulty.

Gulp... Gulp...

Upon arriving, Gerik set aside his hunger for the moment and approached the stream to quench his thirst.

Then he removed all his clothes, stepped into the stream without hesitation, and began washing off the disgusting unknown liquid stuck to his body.

Splash...!! Splash...!!

After repeatedly splashing water over himself and scrubbing for quite some time, the slime clinging to his skin gradually washed away.

Once he had removed it, he brought over his armor and clothes and began washing them as well.

"Huff... I finally feel like I can live again."

After cleaning himself and his equipment only to a basic degree, Gerik finally approached the tree to eat some Golden Berries.

"Ugh... Did I harvest too many before...?"

A small problem appeared before him. A few days ago, he had picked every fruit within reach from the lower branches. All the remaining berries now hung from high branches.

'What a pain...'

He could simply climb the tree, but Gerik, who had developed a fear of heights after his recent fall, did not want to climb it. As he considered his options, an idea crossed his mind.

'Can't I use Telekinesis?'

From the science fiction stories of his past life, Gerik understood Telekinesis as the power to exert invisible physical force on distant objects according to the user's will.

If it was the power he knew, he was certain he could pick the fruit without climbing the tree.

'The problem is... I have no idea how to use it.'

Though he had gained the skill, Gerik did not know how to activate it. He stared blankly at the fruit hanging from the tree and earnestly wished for what he wanted.

'I want to... pick that.'

The moment Gerik wished for it with all his heart.

Bzzzt.

A tingling sensation came from the back of his head, and the Golden Berry hanging from the branch began to tremble slightly.

"...!"

Gerik's eyes widened. From what had just happened, he realized he had used Telekinesis.

"So I just need to look at what I want and wish for it!!"

Excited, Gerik sat down on the spot and began experimenting in earnest.

At first, he could only make things shake. But as he continued concentrating, he gradually got the hang of it. He bent branches to drop fruit, then caught the falling berries in midair and pulled them toward his hand.

After struggling with it for a long time, Gerik gained a rough understanding of this ability called Telekinesis.

First, it was not very strong. No matter how hard he tried, the most weight it could lift was about as much as he could lift with his own arms.

Its range was similarly limited. It could reach roughly five paces away. Beyond that, no matter how strongly he wished for it, the sensation of grasping the object became faint.

There was another condition. He had to see the target with his own eyes. Pointing with his hand allowed him to use it more precisely, but the moment he looked away, the Telekinesis weakly cut off.

At least for now, doing something out of a comic book, like moving objects without seeing them, was impossible for him.

What concerned him most was something else. Every time he used Telekinesis, the organ at the back of his head was stimulated.

Using it briefly was fine, but if he used it for a long time or forced more power out of it, he could feel heavy fatigue building in the back of his head.

He also learned that if he ignored that and kept pushing himself, the back of his head would eventually stiffen so much that he could not use the power at all.

Finally, he learned that using a great deal of Telekinesis brought overwhelming hunger afterward.

Just as the brain was said to be the organ that consumed the most energy, the more he used Telekinesis, the hungrier he became, as if he had done intense exercise.

'It's not all-powerful...'

After finishing his long experiment, Gerik honestly felt a little disappointed. In terms of power, Telekinesis was far inferior to Slash or Charge.

Its range was fairly short, the force it could apply at once was weak, and it had quite a few limitations. It definitely was not the kind of ability that would let him defeat enemies in battle like the protagonist of a science fiction novel.

'But skills can change as they grow.'

Gerik quickly shook off his disappointment and encouraged himself. Telekinesis was only a newly acquired ability at its lowest level.

'To be honest, Slash wasn't that amazing at first either.'

From experience, he knew that skills showed incredible power once they reached a certain level.

He thought Telekinesis might also become tremendously powerful once its proficiency accumulated and its level rose.

'Let's not decide its limits too quickly.'

After making up his mind, Gerik continued using Telekinesis to pick fruit from high branches whenever he had the chance, honing the ability while also filling his stomach.

After picking fruit from the high branches with Telekinesis for quite some time, Gerik stopped once he had gathered enough. He sat by the stream and steadily filled his empty stomach.

'Maybe it tastes better because I was starving...'

Whenever the sweetness of the Golden Berries spread across his tongue, he felt his energy returning. After eating for a while, his mind, which had been hazy for some time, became much clearer.

"Huff..."

With a long sigh, Gerik finally felt that his condition had fully recovered. But even then, his heart was not entirely at ease.

Even the small amount of supplies he had left when he became separated from Minos's party had now been used up. Nothing remained.

'I can't live on fruit forever.'

Gerik sighed as he looked at his badly damaged armor and half-ruined longsword. To replenish his depleted supplies, he decided he needed to leave this place first.

'The problem is that I don't know this area's geography at all.'

Putting aside his frustration, Gerik looked around. He saw the forest stretching along the stream and a gently rising hill beyond it.

'I should be able to see far from there. I'll get a sense of the terrain first.'

Gerik gathered the Golden Berries he had collected and his waterskin, then decided to head straight for his destination.

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