WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈
Chapter 85: Kill or Be Killed (3)
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[Name: Gerik]
[Class: Dimension Raider]
[Level: Lv. 1 (30/100)]
[Attributes]
Strength: 6 Dexterity: 4 Health: 4 Intelligence: 6 Perception: 6 Charisma: 4
[Skills]
Lv. 5 Slash (Master)
Lv. 3 Charge (24/100)
Lv. 2 Telekinesis (15/100)
Lv. - Strength Enhancement (Passive)
[Class Skills]
Lv. 1 Thought Barrier (80/100)
Lv. 1 Thought Blade (30/100)
Lv. 1 Thought Whip (34/100)
Lv. ??? Thought Storm (Forcibly Manifesting Due to Psionic Overcharge)
Lv. ??? Domination (Forcibly Manifesting Due to Psionic Overcharge)
[Achievements]
* One Who Crossed the Line of Death (Passive / Rare)
* Transcendent Procedure Success (Passive / Epic)
* Heir to the Wild Blessing (Passive / Epic)
* Master of Cutting (Passive / Rare)
* Blooming Psionics (Passive / Epic)
'...They opened because of the overcharge?!'
Gerik's eyes widened as he checked his Status Window. Thought Storm and Domination, which had remained locked until now, had indeed opened due to a special condition.
'So the unmanifested skills I could learn really were what I saw in that vision.'
He also confirmed that his Dexterity, which had been 3, had risen by 1 to 4.
'Hm? What's this...?'
But there was something even more unexpected.
It was the grade of the Heir to the Wild Blessing Achievement. It had definitely been Legendary, yet for some reason it had fallen to Epic.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Gerik tapped the entry and examined its details.
『Achievement Name: Heir to the Wild Blessing (Passive)』
『Grade: Epic』
『Effect: Strength, Health, and Dexterity each increase by 1.』
『Note: Sometimes, the most brilliant life sprouts where the flames once burned. - Guardian of a Destroyed World -』
'Ah... Come to think of it...'
Unlike the details he remembered, the parts about reviving upon receiving a fatal blow and protecting its owner from evil had vanished without a trace.
'Did I gain Dexterity +1, which I didn't have before, in exchange for using up the resurrection passive...?'
Only then did Gerik understand everything. Why he had come back to life after his neck was pierced and his breathing had stopped.
'Damn it... My spare life...'
Gerik felt regret. One of the safeguards that had always supported him deep in his heart had been consumed.
'Wait... If Thought Storm opened... does that mean Domination did too?'
His irritation lasted only a moment. Gerik thought of the Domination skill, and just as with Thought Storm, a related memory surfaced on its own.
The sickening memory of forcibly crushing the Crystal Humans' minds, leaving their wills completely intact while making them do things they did not want to do.
"Urgh..."
Just as Gerik grimaced in disgust, Ruben and his subordinates, unlike the Boarmen still sprawled on the ground and unable to shake off the aftereffects, began rising while clutching their heads.
'They're skilled enough to recover this quickly...'
Gerik narrowed his eyes as he watched them emerge from the effects of Thought Storm.
'You...!'
He spotted Ruben, the first among them to rise, and glared at him as though he wanted to kill him.
After suffering so horribly at Ruben's hands, resentment had piled up within Gerik. With a face full of hatred, he stretched out his left hand and lashed Ruben with Thought Whip.
Crack!!
"Aaargh...!!"
Ruben had already been in terrible condition after the fierce chase and desperate battle, then had taken Thought Storm head-on.
As he struggled to rise, the Thought Whip struck him as well. Unable to endure it, he collapsed again with a horrible scream.
"Captain!!"
While Gerik battered Ruben, a warrior who had barely recovered their senses saw Ruben collapse and shouted in alarm.
"You bastard...!!"
Grinding their teeth, the warrior used Charge and rushed Gerik despite their injured body, intending to help Ruben.
'Thought Barrier!'
But Gerik, in peak condition thanks to the Wild Blessing, felt sharper than ever.
The moment the enemy warrior activated their skill, Gerik had already read their trajectory. He spread Thought Barrier precisely about five steps ahead of them.
Crash!!
"Urgh...!!"
An immensely solid barrier rose soundlessly. The warrior who crashed into it was flung backward with a roar like being hit by a car.
In contrast, the Thought Barrier into which Gerik had poured his overflowing Psionics did not shatter as it normally would. It stood firm like a stone wall, startling even Gerik.
"Ugh..."
Meanwhile, another warrior finally regained their senses and rose. Seeing two companions sprawled near Gerik, they hurried toward him.
Unlike the warrior who had recklessly Charged without knowing about Thought Barrier and been countered, this one had suffered the same thing earlier. Instead of Charging, they rushed forward with their sword drawn.
'Before they get here...!!'
Seeing that response, Gerik hurried. He stretched out his hand and poured thoughts carrying all his will toward the fallen Ruben.
'Submit!'
"Aaargh...!!"
Ruben's mind had already been breaking under consecutive attacks of different thoughts.
Then the terrifying thought of Domination hammered into his brain. Pain like blades being driven into his head made him let out a beastlike scream.
Tremble...!!
The pain was so extreme that even the seasoned veteran, who had seen countless hardships, lay on the ground with his eyes rolled halfway back, his whole body shaking.
'Yield...!!'
Gerik paid no heed. He crazily drove even more vicious thoughts into Ruben as though to shatter his mind.
'The consumption, finally...!'
For the first time since his resurrection, Gerik could feel his overcharged Psionics, which had not diminished no matter how much he used it, beginning to decrease.
Normally, he would have worried about such excessive consumption. But right now, energy threatened to burst from his body. Paradoxically, spending it made him feel a little more comfortable.
"Ghk... Urgh..."
Naturally, Ruben could not endure such an immense amount of thought hammering into his brain. He gradually began submitting to Gerik's will.
'Stubborn bastard...'
Watching the process, Gerik was appalled by Ruben's resilience apart from his exhilaration at the skill's success. If that much thought had been driven into Gerik's own brain, he did not think he could have endured it without his head bursting.
"Uuugh..."
At last, Domination was cast perfectly. Ruben let out a strange groan and blankly stared at Gerik, awaiting orders.
'...It worked!'
Gerik felt his thoughts and Ruben's become linked as one. He knew Ruben would be unable to refuse any command from him for a while.
It felt as though they had become one body. More precisely, it felt as though only Gerik's will flowed one-sidedly, while Ruben was merely an attachment to it.
As soon as the casting succeeded, its use engraved itself in Gerik's mind like instinct. Having fully grasped his control over Ruben, he issued an order inwardly.
'Kill.'
At Gerik's command, fierce anger began welling up inside Ruben.
Of course, that was only natural. Ruben had lost control of his body, not his mind.
Hearing Gerik order him to kill his trusted subordinate, Ruben felt intense resistance.
"Grrr...!!"
But that was all. No matter how violently his emotions raged, his body did not move according to his will. It did not even twitch, as though Ruben had never possessed free will in the first place.
"Captain! Are you all right?"
"..."
Seeing their captain rise, the warrior stopped rushing over. After briefly asking Ruben about his condition, they slowly walked toward Gerik with a glare and took something from their belt.
Gulp, gulp.
Apparently intending to finish Gerik for certain by coordinating with Ruben, the warrior poured the potion from their belt into their mouth.
The redness in their skin from the intense exertion gradually faded, and their ragged breathing began to settle.
"...?"
But instead of rushing at Gerik, Ruben suddenly ran toward them. The warrior looked at him in confusion, without the slightest suspicion.
In a way, that was only natural. Before being their captain, the man before them was a comrade they had followed like a brother for many years.
They had crossed the line of death together countless times.
Slash!!
"Urgh...!!"
And the price of that boundless trust was horrific.
Ruben rushed at the warrior and, at Gerik's will, swung his shortsword without the slightest hesitation, cutting their throat.
Just as Gerik's had moments ago, something red and hot sprayed from the warrior's neck like a fountain, splattering the surroundings.
"Ghk... Khk..."
Even in their dying moments, the warrior could not understand why Ruben had attacked. They stared at him with shocked eyes.
"Uuugh..."
In contrast to the body that calmly drove its sword into the fallen subordinate, Ruben's mind raged with furious anger after cutting down his own trusted subordinate. He cursed Gerik, along with his own helpless situation.
"Captain...?! Why Evan?"
Another subordinate nearby, who had only just recovered and begun to rise, witnessed the scene and asked Ruben in a stunned voice.
Unable to believe the situation before them, they stood with their eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
'Finish them.'
Gerik felt Ruben's hatred through his entire body. Yet without caring, he pointed to the remaining warrior and ordered Ruben to finish them, with a calmness that surprised even him.
'...!!'
But the moment he gave the order, Gerik felt intense emotions flow into his mind.
Anger and sorrow. They were Ruben's emotions, traveling back along the thread connected by Domination.
"Ghk... Khk..."
Those violent emotions began showing on Ruben's face little by little.
For now, his control over his body was weak enough that he could only make a twisted expression. Still, Gerik felt that Ruben was gradually reclaiming control through hatred.
'It was the same in that vision.'
Gerik had already seen, through the vision from his promotion, what happened when hatred built to its limit.
He did not waste any more time. Moving himself, he went to finish the enemy alongside Ruben.
"Captain! Why are you doing this?! Have you gone mad!?"
Using a skill, Ruben had leaped toward the subordinate like a ghost and was wildly swinging his shortsword at them. Struggling to block the attacks, the warrior shouted in incomprehension.
Crash!!
In the meantime, Gerik used Charge and appeared behind the warrior in an instant. He swung Slash without hesitation.
"Kh...!!"
Showing their veteran skill, the warrior barely ducked Gerik's fierce attack.
But the excessive movement naturally broke their balance. Ruben did not miss that opening and sharply swung his shortsword.
"Aaargh...!!"
The warrior managed to deflect the attack with the metal heavy armor covering their body and avoided a fatal injury. But the consecutive attacks left a deep wound on their cheek, and the poison coating Ruben's shortsword made them cry out in pain.
"Urgh..."
Realizing they could not continue under attacks coming from both directions, the warrior made a short escape to the side with Charge, then attempted to flee from the two of them.
It was only natural. Even in a one-on-one fight against Gerik, the warrior was not certain of victory. Now, for some reason, their captain, several levels above them in skill, was attacking as well. There was no way they could imagine overcoming this situation.
Crash!!
The warrior tried to leave the battlefield with Charge, just as Gerik had. But seeing that, Gerik raised his left hand with a sneer.
Thud!!
"Ghk!!"
A bluish barrier blocked the warrior's path. The moment they Charged, they slammed into the wall and fell.
Perhaps because they had experienced it once already, the warrior quickly recovered from the impact and rose into a fighting stance. But their expression was grim, as though they sensed their end approaching.
"Please! Don't do this! Captain!!"
The warrior desperately blocked the shortsword attacks Ruben unleashed as he closed in. But Ruben, dominated by Gerik, pressed forward more relentlessly and viciously than usual, disregarding even defense.
"Damn it...!!"
Faced with Ruben's assault, delivered as though he were fighting a mortal enemy and prepared to die together, the warrior could do nothing but desperately defend.
Gerik silently approached the warrior's flank. Then he stretched out his left hand and released Telekinesis.
Hummm...!!
Telekinesis had already grown stronger after Gerik's promotion. If he could focus, it had become a skill capable of exerting physical force even in actual combat.
Today, linked with the boiling, rampaging Psionics within him, it produced an output incomparable to usual.
"What... What is this...?!"
An invisible hand extending from the side seized the warrior's left leg. The bizarre sensation, unlike anything they had ever felt, startled them. Though they could have shaken it off, their steps tangled, leaving them in an awkward stance.
Stab!
"Ghk...!!"
Ruben seized the moment their balance broke and unleashed a savage attack. Given the vast difference in skill, there was no way the warrior could block it.
The tip of the shortsword grazed their side, drawing a red line through a gap in the damaged armor.
"C-Captain...!!"
Unable to defend any longer because of their wounds and pain, the warrior desperately forced out their voice, one last appeal to their captain who was not in his right mind.
Stab!
But what came back was a shortsword piercing their throat. Ruben cut them down as though he felt neither guilt nor regret. The warrior wore an uncomprehending expression as their body slowly stiffened in death.
"Ghk..."
In the end, the warrior looked back and forth between the blade lodged in their throat and Ruben, then dropped to their knees. After trembling several times and coughing blood, they finally stopped moving.
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