ALL NOVEL Chapter 13
Chapter 13 – The Start of Progress (3)
The game has undergone some strange changes. I had felt it from the very beginning. With the Master Program’s involvement, it was only natural for the residents of the desktop to show up.
It’s basically about coordinating two different worlds. The evidence is that all the items the residents encounter are transforming into reality. The iron sword item becomes a real iron sword, and the stone blocks become real stones.
Thanks to this, there have been some sort of balance patch-like adjustments in various areas. Residents returning to the game world don’t have HP, and ores that should normally be more abundant have become a bit scarcer.
And there might be more adjustments that I don’t yet know about. For instance, the AI of not-so-great monsters.
‘It’s definitely better to check it out.’
Before taking on Riena and one of the boss monsters, the cave goblin shaman, I wanted to confirm if there were any changes to the shaman compared to the game.
All the monsters facing Riena have transformed from subpar game sprites into real-looking monsters that seem to exist.
Monsters like werewolves or cave centipedes hadn’t shown noticeable changes, but maybe it would be different for a boss-class monster.
“—?”
‘Speed Enhancement Potion.’
I handed her a potion from my inventory, sensing her nervousness. It was a potion I made by combining the spoils from monsters caught by the residents with herbs I found separately.
Using it would temporarily speed up movement. Although I managed to create only one at this point, making it extremely precious, I planned to use it on Riena, just in case.
“—?!”
I flung the potion bottle toward her, who looked confused. Throwing it like this is just how it’s done when using something on someone else.
With a clatter, she was startled and got splashed with the potion. The shocked expression in her wide-open eyes made it clear that my action had surprised her quite a bit.
But the fuss ended there. Having felt the effect of the potion splashed on her body, she stared down at herself, moving her arms as if trying to understand what was happening.
‘I’ve done everything I could.’
I too, nervously swung my pickaxe to break the stone blocks blocking our path.
I was just sitting in my room playing a game, but this game was far from simple, making me more tense and immersed than any game I had played before.
[Cave Goblin Shaman]
“…!”
Soon, as the pathway opened up, it was as if the shaman had been waiting for us since the moment the path was blocked, reacting immediately upon seeing us, letting out its distinctive cry as it approached.
‘I have to take care of the trash mobs.’
Before I could even stop it, the cave goblin shaman blew its horn. It was summoning the goblins around us. I prayed that Riena understood my intentions as I charged toward the attacking goblin minions with my sword.
The goblins were hitting my character, and I didn’t care about my HP as I swung my sword, taking them down one by one.
“Good.”
Fortunately, it seemed Riena understood my intention. While the aggro from the gathered dozen or so minions was drawn to me as I dashed around waving my sword, she charged straight at the goblin shaman.
To clear the achievement, she must be the one to kill the shaman. I succeeded in drawing all the minion aggro while getting hit around as if being gang-beaten, observing to see how well she was fighting.
“—!”
I was worried, but she was already a warrior proven multiple times. Looking younger and more delicate than me, she was holding her sword and shield, fighting against the shaman casting spells without being overpowered.
‘She can do this.’
It seemed the speed-enhancement potion I gave her was helping. The goblin shaman, as I played this game, let out a terrifying scream that I had never heard before. As it swung its weapon, the ground shook and pointed stone javelins shot up toward her.
The ground struck by Riena shifted incredibly as she twisted her body in the air, dodging all of them with impressive reflexes.
The panicking shaman tried to summon thick pillars about the size of a fist to block her entry, but she swung her sword gleaming with a blue light at the moment and broke the pillars, hitting the shaman with her shield.
The shaman, now on the ground, unleashed shockwaves in a last-ditch attempt but Riena managed to sidestep or twist away with a nod or a slight movement, plunging her sword into the shaman’s body.
‘Did she miss?’
However, her strike slightly missed due to the shaman’s writhing. Instead of piercing its chest, it went through one of its legs. Of course, she could quickly follow up, but startled, I instinctively moved my fingers toward her.
One of the shaman’s final attack patterns was about to explode at her.
No matter how well-equipped Riena was and how sturdy her body seemed, I couldn’t guarantee she could withstand a direct hit.
“Oh no, this crazy…”
And my instinct turned out to be correct. The moment I pushed her away and took the attack imbued with dark energy meant for her instead.
My character died, and a respawn screen popped up. I too was wearing armor, yet to die with all my HP evaporated just from one attack was utterly nonsensical. It had the force of a bug.
*
“Ugh…!”
At the moment he blocked the shaman’s fierce attack with his body, Riena, pushed aside, fell flat on her bottom.
“Oh no!”
But there was no time to feel pain. Right before her eyes, he exploded, scattering the items he held everywhere before vanishing.
Startled, she quickly got up and beheaded the shaman. However, even as the achievement was fulfilled and the shaman’s head floated in the air, he did not return.
Even after defeating the remaining cave goblin remnants, it remained the same. Gasping for breath, Riena could only stare at the items scattered on the ground in disbelief.
“Aah…”
She was at a loss for words. Her mind went blank, making it hard to think.
Having displayed such incredible power in this world, she never even imagined he would die all at once like this.
Especially sacrificing himself for her.
Trembling, she extended her hand toward the fallen items but couldn’t bring herself to touch them.
“Eek!”
But at that moment, someone appeared behind her, startling her as they struck her back.
Falling forward, she quickly rose with her sword, aiming at the unexpected attacker from behind.
‘Ah.’
Yet right after that, she slowly lowered her sword with a blank expression. The one who had struck her back was none other than he, who had rushed over after respawning.
‘Lucky I got here before the items vanished. Phew.’
‘An existence that transcends even death…!’
Of course, the feelings of the two were a bit different as they looked at each other. While she became rigid, he gathered all his scattered items on the ground.
Among them was the item dropped by the goblin shaman.
[Essence of the Shaman: Grants Shaman Trait]
“Was this originally in the game?”
As Riena stared blankly, he sighed as he read the description of the item he had obtained.
That spherical item resembling a dot was something that originally did not exist in this game. The item descriptions had been more overt from the start.
“Everyone, let’s head back. Our health is at its limit, and time is running out.”
“Now that I think about it, where did that person and Riena go… oh, there they are coming.”
In the Underground Plaza, which the miners used as a sort of rest area, they were catching their breath while waiting for Riena among the heaps of piled ores.
The timing of Riena’s appearance made her look somewhat dazed. The one who accompanied her only hurried them back to the bomb shelter while collecting all the ores the miners had left behind, wandering around the plaza and tunnels.
“Looks like you went deeper; was something up?”
“Something happened.”
On the way back, Koon cautiously asked Riena. She forced a smile and nodded at the question.
Then she took the lead, bouncing along while glancing at him and quietly told him of her experience: the battle with the goblin shaman underground and his sacrifice, and even his return.
Of course, the residents who heard this story were all astir. It was beyond their imagination regarding the nature of this world; they could not lightly regard the concept of dying and coming back to life.
“Good job today… why is the atmosphere like this?”
That mood continued until they arrived at the bomb shelter, where Balun awaited them.
Riena shared the tale with her father, Balun.
“Hmmm, it is indeed an astonishing event. But think carefully. In this situation, wouldn’t it be strange for something even more extraordinary to happen?”
“Th-That’s true.”
“Rather, it is something to rejoice about. The fact that the person helping us is an immortal being.”
Balun approached the situation from a slightly different angle than Riena and the other tribe members. Thanks to that, he could show a rather positive reaction.
“All we need to do is benefit from assisting him. Today, Kishan received the strength to chop wood effectively.”
Particularly, Balun was very pleased that he recognized his concerns and sent those who hadn’t acquired their traits out while continuously testing new individuals.
“If everyone who can come here gains such power, then I’ll no longer need to come here. When that time comes, those who remain need to lead well. Especially you, Riena.”
For the sake of the tribe, Balun was thinking of leaving, not having acquired any special traits himself.
Though currently he must oversee the newcomers, if all eight can acquire traits, he would just be a burden in terms of maximizing efficiency.
“Hmm?”
However, contrary to Balun’s thoughts, events began to unfold differently.
Just as he was preparing to return to the village and board the portal, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked Balun’s path.
“W-What’s the matter?”
Balun flinched and quickly dropped to the ground. Others did the same. Because of this, they didn’t see the black orb he held in his hand.
‘The miner trait, martial arts trait — these traits don’t overlap… but it overlaps with the leadership trait that Balun has?’
Right now, he wasn’t looking at the residents lying down but was reading the item description in his hand.