TM-Chapter 26

Don’t Even Talk to Raiders

I count down the death count for the fallen wizard from that party who originally tried to raid us.

“One!”

With the most resolute expression and loud voice possible.

I will attack you after I finish counting to three.

“Two!”

So if you don’t want to die, get lost before then!

“……”

But she just sat down and whimpered, unable to move at all.

Yernil seems a bit surprised, not expecting me to be this harsh in driving her away.

But there’s no choice.

In the labyrinth, all sorts of tricks, scams, and backstabbing run rampant.

“Three……!”

“I, I’ll give you money!”

The wizard shouted.

“If I get out alive, I’ll give you money. What I’ve saved up. Really. Please……”

The wizard proposed a negotiation.

But I didn’t accept it.

“We don’t deal with raiders.”

Even in the game, I’ve been backstabbed countless times after negotiating with raiders.

“Count’s over.”

I aimed my wand at her.

“Lightning……”

“I’ll go! I’ll go! I’m going!”

The wizard jumped up in terror and raised both hands.

“I’ll go. Don’t shoot……”

And she turned around sniffling. Toward the pitch-black darkness she had come from.

“……”

Is this wizard’s story about being raided true or false?

I don’t know. But even if it’s likely to be true, there’s no reason for us to bear the risk.

Even if we face a 2nd floor party, if we use Cumulonimbus and the hourglass well, it should be manageable.

But the variable of having an untrustworthy raider mixed in with our allies is unbearable.

“Wait a moment.”

I stopped the wizard who was about to leave.

Come to think of it, I got too excited. There’s still something to gain, so I shouldn’t just send her away.

“What kind of people were in the party that raided you?”

Assuming they really exist, it would be good to analyze the enemy’s capabilities in advance.

And I need to run simulations in my head. Whether they could be a threat to us or not.

“A, a Halfling with a crossbow…… A Barbarian with a two-handed axe, and a wizard……”

“Three people?”

“No. Four people. I couldn’t see one properly. They were short. Probably a dwarf or Halfling.”

“Good.”

I took out a small healing potion from my bag and threw it to her.

“Payment for the information. Now go.”

“Ah……”

“If I happen to encounter those 2nd floor raiders, I’ll get revenge for your party.”

“……”

Perhaps she had harbored some hope from the brief exchange with me, but tremendous disappointment, despair, and tears welled up in the wizard’s expression.

Damn.

This feels disgusting.

What if this were modern times?

If I were walking with friends and some woman came running with injuries, tears streaming as she begged for help saying a psychopath killer was chasing her?

I’d probably help.

Even if I wouldn’t risk my life fighting that killer, any ordinary South Korean adult male would provide minimum protection and help.

Call the police and hide her in some building.

But unfortunately, there are no police in the labyrinth. The labyrinth is a place where everyone survives on their own. You handle your own life yourself. We don’t have the luxury to take responsibility for……

“Caleb!”

Suddenly Yernil raised her bow high.

“Someone’s coming from over there!”

“What!”

“They’re running!”

She shouted.

“Ah…… Ah……”

And the wizard who had been turning back faced toward us again, paralyzed with fear.

“Stop!”

Aimus shouted while pointing his iron rod at her, but was ignored.

The wizard was on the verge of going mad.

“They’re coming! They came! Aaaaak! Get out of the way! Please move!”

She wrestled with Aimus who was blocking her path, trying somehow to break through.

“How many are there!”

I shouted to Yernil.

“Four!”

If this situation is a trap, there should be three in the remaining party excluding the wizard woman.

If there are four……

Swaaaaaaang!

Clang!

Aimus amazingly deflected something flying at tremendous speed with his iron rod—it was a crossbow bolt.

The wizard’s party had no crossbow.

It’s real.

A 2nd floor raider party has come!

“Aaaaak!“

While Aimus was deflecting the bolt, the freed wizard panicked and ran right next to me.

“……”

A momentary lapse in judgment is fatal.

Even if a battle with a 2nd floor party breaks out, I shouldn’t have let that woman in.

Shit.

I’m an idiot, moron, fool.

Whatever happens with the 2nd floor party battle, I should have hit this wizard bitch with Lightning Shock first.

“How was my acting, brother?”

The wizard bitch pressed her wand against my neck.

“Jester’s Spell Disruption—.”

While chanting with a cute tone.

“Caleb!”

Aimus turned around and yelled.

“Look ahead! Ahead!”

I yelled back just as loud.

[It is your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]

[Action Points: ■■■■]

While flipping the hourglass.

***

This is a truly maddening situation, but let me organize this calmly.

The enemies that appeared from the front are not a 2nd floor party, and we’ve fallen into the trap of this fox-like wizard bitch.

Then what was the basis for her, a fragile wizard, to be able to get close to us?

What was her strategy?

First.

They must have changed their plan because of Aimus. Because the iron rod was burdensome.

Regardless of skill, that vicious weapon has incredible space control in narrow passages like the 1st floor of the labyrinth.

In gaming terms, if Aimus establishes a control zone and focuses on blocking entry?

Even if those bastards rush in and create a chaotic battle, Yernil and I would somehow get opportunities to deal damage.

So the strategy those bastards came up with as a last resort was this.

‘Pass through Aimus.’

They needed a Trojan horse card to get past that gatekeeper and neutralize the wizard and archer.

Then who among the four would come in?

A human warrior heavily armed with plate armor? A canine beastman thief? A well-built dwarf like Virtanen?

They wouldn’t let any of them in. To avoid suspicion, they send the wizard with the weakest close-combat ability.

‘Though I don’t know why her head was split and bleeding.’

Moreover, the wizard had Spell Disruption magic.

A 2nd-grade mental magic that makes the target’s combat spells randomly cast utility magic instead for a certain period.

If she neutralized me with that, our damage output would be less than half.

She probably tried to cast paralysis or something on the panicked Yernil.

After turning both of us into idiots, she would intercept Aimus.

Aimus can’t save us. Crossbow bolts will be flying from the front and a human warrior will be charging.

Then it’s over.

We all die, Backstab goes to eternal rest, and total party wipe!

‘That must have been their strategy, right?’

This method came about because Backstab is undead.

Right now, Backstab can avoid traps and find paths based on his experience as a rogue, but he can’t use skills.

In the game, he can do things like ‘bite’ and ‘strike‘, but in reality, I’ve never seen him bite anything except Yernil’s hair.

In other words, we have no one to guard our rear.

It was also a gamble for them to have their wizard physically charge in, but if it’s an archer and wizard getting charged, it’s pretty much even odds.

So this wizard bravely penetrated deep into our formation, and I foolishly allowed it.

Damn.

When she came out next to Aimus, I should have reflexively hit her with Lightning Shock.

To make some excuses, there were four enemies and crossbow bolts flying, so I got confused.

I thought there really was a 2nd floor raider party and we were about to battle them. So I considered forming a temporary alliance with the wizard bitch to save magic cooldown time.

But no.

The reason Yernil miscounted the numbers was probably because among the 4-person raider party, the dwarf was a puppeteer.

In other words, the ‘four people‘ Yernil detected included one battle puppet.

The crossbow bolt must have been fired by that puppet.

“Haa.“

A sigh escapes involuntarily.

Getting into unnecessary crises always feels disgusting. Especially when it’s due to my own misjudgment.

When Yernil first stepped on a trap, when the bald party chased us, and now this time too.

Couldn’t I have detected these moments of crisis earlier and dealt with them more wisely?

Should I have acted like a psychopath and just blasted this wizard with lightning the moment she approached?

Am I the kind of person who can do that?

“……”

I don’t know.

However, it’s a clear fact that I was tactically insufficient this time. If I make mistakes, our entire party dies. Let me definitely reflect on this and move on.

[It is your turn. Time remaining: 8 seconds]

After killing all these bastards first.

“8 seconds left now. You bitch.”

The moment the count ends, you’re dead.

***

The first night after I brought Yernil from the Adventurer’s Guild to the dormitory.

I asked Yernil, who came saying she was scared of Backstab and wanted to sleep together, to help with an experiment.

That experiment was studying judgments using magic scrolls bought from the black market.

‘Cooldowns flow during hourglass state.’

This is an incredibly important characteristic.

Thanks to this, I became an Ultra-high-speed casting talent.

And one more thing.

‘You still feel pain during hourglass state.’

When Backstab stabbed my lower abdomen with a knife and I was lying down.

Even while I had the hourglass flipped and was doing various things, my lower abdomen hurt like hell.

How is that possible?

Doesn’t being unable to move mean that motor nerve excitation was limited by the hourglass?

But how can I still feel pain?

Do sensory nerves still function?

Come to think of it, speaking also requires vocal cord muscles to move, but that wasn’t restricted either.

Truly befitting the backstabbing hourglass, it lacks consistency.

Anyway, feeling pain during my turn is bad news, but instead……

‘Does status abnormality time also flow?’

Like cooldowns.

It’s possible.

For example, let’s say ‘poison’ lasts for 20 seconds.

The damage and pain coming every second would neurologically be the process of toxins destroying nerve tissue and creating blood clots, right?

Then wouldn’t such neurological phenomena continue even with the hourglass flipped? Like the pain in my lower abdomen that Backstab stabbed continued.

This must be researched.

So I scraped together money from our meager finances to buy scrolls from the black market and experimented with Yernil.

The result is: it works.

Status abnormality time also flows when the hourglass is flipped.

Then……

[Status Abnormality Time Reduction Scroll]

What if I use something like this?

In the game, it’s an item that reduces current status abnormalities to 1 turn.

It has awesome performance but the penalty was also awesome, so it was treated as trash among users, and here where reality has become the game, it’s even more trash.

Why?

The penalty remains the same, but instead of reducing it to ‘1 turn‘, it reduces it to ‘60 seconds’.

60 seconds during real-time combat is enough time to walk to the afterlife, reincarnate, and hold a first birthday party.

So the black market merchant warned that this scroll wasn’t for combat use, but I can grind those 60 seconds with the hourglass.

“That’s why I brought it.”

As soon as the wizard woman’s Spell Disruption magic hit me, I tore the scroll and flipped the hourglass. While shouting to Aimus to look ahead.

[It is your turn. Time remaining: 3 seconds]

That’s 3 seconds left now.

This is your remaining lifespan.

2 seconds.

1 second.

Using the time difference between tearing the scroll and flipping the hourglass, just one chantless spell.

“Lightning Shock.”

***

Kwaang!

Lightning fire erupted from the wand and flashed in the passage.

Because of that light, I could also see the remaining three of the raiding team who were charging toward Aimus flinch in surprise.

“Kkeuk……”

The electrocuted wizard’s legs gave out and she collapsed, and I aimed my wand at her again.

“What…… What……”

An expression of complete incomprehension.

Right. It must be hard to accept.

I don’t accept it either. That I almost fell for your shallow tricks and acting.

And thank you. For making me more ruthless.

Indeed, the way I played in the game was correct. Next time, I won’t even talk to raider bastards. Got it?

“P, please spare……”

The real thing is definitely a bit different.

The expression paralyzed with fear. Her acting earlier could have won an award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, but now the emotion is different.

“Dust Explosion.”

***

Kwagwang!

I think it was a bit excessive, but this was the only magic I could use right away.

One arm of the wizard flying up from the explosion.

Screams poured from her burning body engulfed in flames.

And……

‘They froze in shock.’

Yernil, that is.

The three raiders too.

They had run right up to Aimus but stopped completely after receiving too great a shock.

They thought their operation was successful, but their wizard was being blown up in real time before their eyes.

“The Spell Disruption was supposed to have worked……”

I understand their mental breakdown.

[Temporary hourglass acquired!]

The wizard died.

Now I aimed my wand at the enemies in front.

While flipping the hourglass.

[It is your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]

[Action Points: ■■]

***

I have Yernil shoot the puppeteer dwarf. While electrocuting the battle puppet blocking in front with Lightning Shock.

With the other wand, Dust Explosion again.

The target is the human warrior armed with iron armor.

“Aaaaaaaak!“

When fire caught inside the steel armor, it became quite a grotesque scene. And the dwarf puppeteer……

“Keuk…… Heuk……”

Got his throat pierced by an arrow.

Even panicked Yernil follows instructions given during hourglass turns well.

The puppeteer didn’t die instantly but seems to have his airway blocked. And the last canine beastman?

Kwajik!

The monk smashed his head with the iron rod.

There’s still something I need to check.

“Don’t move.”

I grabbed the dwarf and pulled out the arrow stuck in his throat. I poured a little healing potion on the bleeding wound area.

“Heuk…… Keoheuk.“

“I have something to ask.”

I grabbed his collar tightly and pressed him.

There’s still a gap in my reasoning.

“Why did your wizard use Spell Disruption on me earlier?”

If it was to kill me, it should have been attack magic, not Spell Disruption.

But Spell Disruption is strange. As if neutralization was the purpose……

“We, we were trying to…… Capture alive……”

Neutralization really was the purpose!

It’s not like they were going to sell us somewhere, and raiders don’t avoid killing. Why on earth?

“That, the 2nd floor party…… That really exists…… We had friction with them once……”

So that’s why the wizard’s head was cracked and bleeding?

“When those bastards attack, we were going to use you as shields……”

So the wizard bitch, instead of pouring healing potion on her split head, proposed ‘Let’s use this to lure the undead party!‘ They planned to strip all our equipment to sell it, and use us as meat shields to also rob the 2nd floor party?

How resourceful. A real housewife.

“I, I, I’ll be in front……”

The dwarf puppeteer suggested they switch positions.

“Spare me……”

Now he’s saying he’ll become the meat shield.

“Please……”

***

I killed him.

With Lightning Shock directly.

The bald party and these guys. If I include Backstab, that’s a total of nine people so far.

The number of people I’ve killed directly or indirectly.

Among them, the dwarf I just killed was a bit different.

I killed him after the battle ended.

I killed someone begging to be spared.

Is this right?

I don’t know.

It’s a disgusting feeling. Both the final murder and the battle.

The conditions for the hourglass to auto-activate are strict. When a Goblin blade is 20 centimeters from my neck, or just before Yernil who stepped on a trap lifts her foot, or just before Backstab tears the carotid artery with a Leap Ambush.

Perhaps because of that, the hourglass didn’t activate for things like lie prevention magic.

Same with Spell Disruption magic.

What if the wizard bitch had shot a Fireball or something at me?

The hourglass would have activated.

But could I have blocked or avoided it? A Fireball shot from right in front of me?

I couldn’t extinguish a Fireball with magic like Humidify, right?

Well.

Would I somehow manage when the situation actually comes?

I don’t know.

Somehow I feel like I lost the strategic battle and survived through the hourglass’s luck. That’s more disgusting than the final murder.

Thinking positively, you could say my preparedness in researching the hourglass in advance and bringing scrolls paid off.

‘That’s not enough.’

If I got relaxed after tasting civilization outside the labyrinth for about 2 weeks, someone should slap me.

The labyrinth is not easy. I know best. Even skilled parties never know when or how they might meet a tragic death.

Get your head straight.

And one more thing.

Let’s not even talk to raiders from now on.

“I’m a bit tired, so just a moment. Let’s rest a bit then go.”

The side effect of the Status Abnormality Time Reduction Scroll is making me sleepy.