I'm The Lowly Villain In The Game | Chapter 12

 

「Means of transportation」

 

Blood dripped down my left hand down to my fingertips. I ignore the searing pain and focus my gaze on the goblin ranger. My left arm was limp, unresponsive despite my intention while my right arm brandish my sword. 

 

The goblin ranger leaped back, creating distance whilst nocking another arrow to its bow. I pursued. The air swayed and hissed as arrows came hurling in my direction. 

 

I increase my concentration, accounting for the trajectory of each arrow. Then, I swung my sword.

 

CLANK—

 

The edge of my blade propels the arrows, ruining their momentum and dropping them to the ground. I continue this process while maintaining my pursuit. However, the more I dodge and propel, the farther the ranger gets. 

 

Growing frustrated, I hasten my pace, trying to catch up to the goblin. Twisting, pivoting, and swirling. Every technique in my arsenal I could currently make use of utilized to catch up. The distance quickly dwindled. 

 

Fifteen feet. Another set of arrows came rushing. I twist my body at the right angle without lessening my speed, narrowly avoiding the arrows as they pierced the ground beneath.

 

Seven feet. The goblin finally noticed the crisis it was in. It hurriedly tried to nock another arrow but fumbled seeing my approaching figure. 

 

Three feet. The perfect distance at which my sword can reach him. With that in mind, I aim a thrust to his head—

 

SWOOSH—

 

The air shifted. MP dispersed and a sense of doom glossed inside my mind. My left peripheral vision caught wind of something. I intuitively withdraw my sword, using the fuller of my blade to block the incoming hit. 

 

BOOM—

 

Crashing to a nearby wall, the air in my lungs escaped as I try to catch my breath. A mouthful of saliva left my mouth and even more, blood trickled down my left arm, leaving me light-headed. 

 

Great, now there's two, I thought. I looked at my left forearm, blood was gushing out in large quantities, turning the muddy puddles of water red. Luckily, the goblin ranger leaped back, content with making distance instead of shooting arrows. 

 

Taking a deep, steady breath, I composed myself. I stuff my only working hand behind me, rummaging before I felt the distinct smooth glassy texture. Identifying it was, in fact, a health potion, I chug it down. The bitter-tasting drink ran to my esophagus, burning it.

 

When I felt the contents of the potions land in my stomach, I sobered up, aware of my near-death experience just now. I look at my wound, the blood had stopped flowing and I could feel the effects of the potion gradually healing my wound, cells regenerating and muscles stitching back together. 

 

'The arrow is slowing the potion's effect.'

 

Without hesitation, I grab my right hand and pulled out the arrow, earning a groan of agony from my mouth. Thinking the potion would do the rest, I left it be. 

 

In front of me, a goblin with a tailored old robe stood there, hands intertwined above the handle of his wooden staff. Atop his head, a ball of MP started converging, increasing in size with each passing second. It was 「Magic Bullet」. A skill unlocked in class level 2 caster. A grimace left my lips as I grip at the hilt of my sword. 

 

I focus my senses, feeling the MP in the air, an ability that I had done so many times in Vanitas Online. However, instead of the near-instantaneous range of information that would flow through my head, notifying me of any sort of dangers, I only felt a slight shift in perspective. 

 

Despite the disappointing results, it was still useful. Had it not been this shift, I would have died from the goblin caster's attack. Suddenly, the air shifted again. However, compared to the large shift when the goblin caster used his skill, this one was much more subtle, more refined. 

 

Breathing in the MP-filled air, I swung my sword above my right temple. A loud clank resounded in the corridor. An arrow landed below my feet, signaling my success. A confused 'Gyuu?' left the goblin ranger's mouth when he realized his failed surprise attack. 

 

It was 「Silent Arrow」. A skill learned in class level 2 ranger. As the name suggests, the sound of the arrow would be nullified, creating a deadly attack. It's one weakness is that it doesn't hide the arrow or the MP enshrouding the arrowhead.

 

I had been careless the first time I was attacked by the skill. But with my senses focused on MP — feeling the shifts — the possibility of a sneak attack was annulled. 

 

We were positioned in an intersection. To my right, the goblin ranger was nocking another arrow. In front, the goblin caster stood firm. Because of my prior concentration on the ranger, I had failed to notice the intersection, allowing the caster to almost kill me with his skill. 

 

My senses brought me back to the goblin caster. The ball of MP completely formed, shining a bright white aura the size of a standard football. My senses put on high alert as I eyed the football-sized ball of destruction.

 

Then, it flew. 

 

The air drifted, making way from the spell unleashed. I started running, keeping an eye on the spell if there were any anomalies. Arrows rained in my path, trying to halt my dash towards the caster. I paid it no mind, dodging them like always. 

 

The speed of the magic bullet was nothing I couldn't react to, but it still posed a threat due to its long-range nature. The magic bullet now seven feet away from me and approaching steadily. I roll under, barely touching the spell with the soles of my feet. The intense heat transmitted to my brain. 

 

BOOM—

 

I hurriedly regain my footing and continued dashing toward the goblin caster. In return, he conjured three magic bullets, each much smaller than the one he spent time forming. All three unleashed a mere second after their creation, hurling in my direction. 

 

I pivot and twist my body, avoiding two of the three magic bullets. Then, rotating my wrist, I collided with the last bullet with my sword. I stumble backward from the force, almost tripping. However, I persisted, forcing my legs to do more work despite their aching cries. 

 

I push through, approaching the caster. Then, with a quick slash to its throat, the goblin was left to die, choking on its green blood. I didn't relish in my victory though. Instead, I propel my legs to the goblin ranger.

 

The green humanoid panicked, trying to load an arrow into his bow. I was having none of that. I lean my right foot back, twisting my body counter-clockwise. Then, using the entire rotation of my body, I threw my sword straight into his arms, colliding with the bow and half-nocked arrow. They bounced off, skidding across the corridor in muffled rattling sounds. 

 

By the time the rattling stopped, I was in front of the goblin ranger. Both of us unarmed, harmless to do any real damage, or so it thought. My left arm was uncommissioned, but I didn't need it. I send a kick to the monster's left shin. Then, I rotate and use my right elbow straight to the left side of his face. 

 

The force of both my blows knocked the goblin down to the ground, splashing and soaking in the puddles of water. The quiver behind his back slammed to the ground, littering all the arrows it had in reserve. 

 

I half-skip, half-walk to the pile of scattered arrows, quelling down the immense exhaustion in both my mind and body. I grabbed one in a frenzy, then started walking over to the goblin ranger a few feet ahead of me. 

 

The poor green creature struggled to regain his footing, stumbling from the dampness of the room. Taking advantage of that, I reverse grip the arrow I held, the tip now pointing downwards. I drove it straight to the goblin's front lobe, hearing a cracking sound the deeper I drove it in. 

 

After a few seconds of struggling, spasming to preserve its dwindling life, the goblin ranger finally stopped moving, turning into black smoke until finally a magic stone. A deep sigh of relief escaped my mouth. 

 

'Ughh…' 

 

My legs gave out, reprieved and exhausted from their extended duty. Both arms tremble from fatigue. I crawled to a nearby wall and leaned my back against the wall. Shallow, quick breaths seeped through my mouth, calming my lungs that starve for oxygen. 

 

When the shaking in my hands slightly lifted, I scrabble through my backpack, taking two low-grade stamina potions, and immediately chug them down. My Adam's apple went up and down the more I drank. 

 

I was careless. There were two opportunities, two ways I could have died right there and then. The silent arrow of the goblin ranger and magic bullet of the goblin caster. 

 

Had the goblin ranger gone for my head first, I would have died. Had I not noticed the shift in the MP, the magic bullet may have ended me. I only had one life, yet here I am, almost throwing it away because of a careless mistake.

 

I sigh, trying to calm down my raging emotions. No use judging my past carelessness. I only had to move on and be more careful. I had a family to come back after all. 

 

I stand up, groaning along the way. I walk over to the two goblin's corpses, or what was left of them. All monster corpses turn into magic stones in the labyrinth. I pick up the goblin ranger's stone first and stuff it in my backpack. However, when I was about to pick up the second magic stone, a stone tablet appeared in my retina. 

 

'No way… it exists?!' 

 

I was doubting my eyes. But no matter how much I rub my eyelids, it still displayed the same shadow gray stone tablet. Momentarily forgetting my exhaustion, I ran over to it and picked it up. 

 

Runes of whatever language etched into one side of the tablet, the other side left flat and smooth. I place my fingers into the runes, excited at arguably one of the greatest items in Vanitas Online. Soon, the runes glowed in a deep purple light. It started draining my MP, directing it to the runes. 

 

I lift my fingers, cutting the connection. The runes dimmed, losing their life before turning back to the stagnant, empty tablet. I could activate it, but it wouldn't do anything. I needed to find a scripture somewhere. Also, this was a one-time use. No point in wasting it. 

 

The drop rate isn't bad. In fact, you had a 50% chance of getting it. A fairly high drop rate, especially for its uses. I hold back my anticipation and stuff it into my bag. Until I get another one, I shouldn't use it. I also had to find a wall-engraved scripture somewhere. I heard they should be fairly common. 

 

SPLASH—

 

My ears perked up at the splashing to my right. Emerging as a goblin fighter with a spear resting on the right side of his shoulder. I unsheath my sword and focus on my senses, basking in the MP-filled air.

 

This time, I won't be careless. 

 

 

◇◇◇

 

 

4 hours later. 

 

A goblin bandit rushed towards me. In its hand, a short dagger sprouted out, sending two quick stabs at me. The first one targeted my face and the second at my heart.

 

In return, I block the first stab with my sword, pushing me back from the force. Then, using my upper left forearm, I divert the second stab. I aim a diagonal slash at the goblin, hoping to end it in one exchange. Unfortunately, he leaned back and kicked me in the chest, pushing me back. 

 

Both our strikes missed as we were forced back, distancing around five feet or so. I tighten my hold on my hilt, eyeing the goblin's movement. He dashed, and I followed. We enter a series of exchanges. But, it was made abundantly clear that my experience outclassed his. 

 

Suddenly, amid our exchange, the tip of the bandit's dagger started glowing a mighty red hue. I smirked, already anticipating the attack. I glimpse at him, analyzing his posture and speed. 

 

Then, I struck. 

 

Barrage.

 

I position myself with my left foot pointed forwards, and right foot back. I lean my body, adjusting the grip on my sword to a thrusting motion. MP drained from my body, going to my right arm, then to my sword in a smooth, pristine fashion. 

 

Similar to the goblin bandit, the tip of my blade glowed. However, instead of the mighty red hue, a delicate, azure blue hue enshrouded my sword. 

 

BOOM—

 

Three stabs were made in one second. Two skills clashed with one another, creating small shockwaves in the corridor. The puddles rippled, and water flew by the force of each hit. I canceled the goblin's barrage with my very own. 

 

But I wasn't done. 

 

The tip of the goblin's dagger had long since dulled, losing its menacing presence. I, on the other hand, still had my sword glowing. Continuing the motion, I aim two precise stabs at the bandit's head and heart, slaying him. 

 

The power behind my skill crashed the goblin to the wall, spasming before turning into black smoke. My face gloomed, not seeing the iconic level-up notification. Hah, I guess I'll have to reach level 6 tomorrow. 

 

For safety reasons, I fought only one monster at a time. The only exceptions were if the two goblins had weaker classes, such as priest or caster. Other than that, I wouldn't risk it and just leave. Leveling up becomes increasingly difficult the higher floors you go through, but where I am right now is the most precarious. 

 

To others, they would have an easier time traversing the lower floor, especially the 5th to 10th floor. But for me, I'm in the most fragile state I could be in right now. It had to do with my initial stats and lack of skills. 

 

On the higher floors, say around the 20th floor and above, I wouldn't have a hard time. Since the higher your level rises, the difference in one or two points in stats becomes obsolete. Think of it like the difference between levels 1 to 2 is a 100% increase in strength, but for levels 20 to 21, it is only a 5% increase. 

 

That 5% increase could easily be outclassed with the proper use of skills and techniques. However, where I'm at right now, where both skills are scarce and my opponent's stats are two to three points more than mine, each fight would drain a majority of my stamina. 

 

So I was more than fine with taking two to three days of grinding to reach one level. It's still immensely faster than class 1-1's pace of one level every one to two months. I know that I had to increase my level as fast as possible, but my life was more important. No point in obtaining strength if I'm just going to die. 

 

'Ugh… I'm soaked.'

 

I was soaked from my head up to my toe, with no spot of my body left dry. Fighting for 4 hours in a corridor that constantly drips does that, I guess. Looking at the time, I had around half an hour before dinner. That isn't enough time to go from the 5th floor back to the surface of the dungeon. Fortunately, I had a useful item in-store.

 

I take out my smartwatch. On the 5th floor map displayed, five-light red dots scattered across the entire floor. They were waypoints. Then, I check my current location and picked the closest waypoint to me. Luckily, it was only a minute on foot.

 

In my trudge, I take out the stone tablet. I had gotten around six today, so I was fine for a while. After a moment, I stopped my trudge, eyeing the wall in front of me. I shut off my smart watch and focus on the erosion and dampness that weakened it. 

 

Despite the poor state of the wall, if you look close enough, you can see faint scriptures engraved into the wall, almost like hieroglyphs. The erosion from the constant wetness made them barely visible. The only reason I found this was that they felt out of place from all other walls I've seen, albeit slightly. If it was any other adventurer who only wants to level up, they wouldn't notice a thing. 

 

The scriptures were smudged and incomprehensible. Some sections were even ruined, missing. It was incomplete, that I knew. However, I knew it still worked. I place my hand on it, trying to feel the shifts of MP, like always. But, I didn't feel anything, not even a speck of MP felt. 

 

I sighed. If I was in my main account, I could have probably seen the individual motes of Magic Power as they danced around the wall in a subtle, complicated fashion. However, I didn't have the same abilities as in the game. I didn't even have the means to manipulate MP, as annoying as it was. 

 

I take out the stone tablet and ram it into the wall. It did nothing. Well, not yet at least. The side with the rune was facing towards me, the smoother side up against the wall. Then, I place my fingers into the runes. I felt the familiar feeling of my MP being drained, eliciting an uncomfortable look on my face. 

 

After a moment, the runes reached their peak, illuminating a purple light bright enough to make me shut my eyes. Finally, I felt a change in the wall, the broken scriptures — or were they broken in the first place? —, brightened, showing the same purplish tint that the tablet gave off. My vision spun, all five senses detached. 

 

The next moment, I was behind the labyrinth of Vanitas. 

 

I had done it. 

 

I had teleported from the 5th floor straight back to the surface, using the recall stone.