Chapter 5 …

The Outsider in a Trash Game

The Outsiders of a Trash Game (1)

A body the size of a small child. Long ears.

Needle-like teeth and sharply split pupils.

A worn blade attached to its short hand swung back and forth violently.

“Argh! Aaaagh! AAAAAAGH! It hurts! It hurts!”

The silhouette that was brutally cutting Baek Geon-young to pieces…

…was a goblin.

A low-level mob that sits at the very bottom of the monster food chain.

Just click the mouse a few times and it dies—basically a walking pile of experience points.

But—

“…!”

The group that witnessed it froze like stone.

The metallic smell stabbing into their noses.

The savage malice of the creature beating a living being without hesitation.

The massacre unfolding before their eyes painted their minds completely white.

Gulp.

No matter how much one prepares mentally,

facing the situation directly is a different matter.

For modern people who lived peaceful daily lives, this reaction was completely normal.

However—

For warriors who had to survive in this world,

it was the worst possible reaction.

“Help me! Please! Someone help me!”

“AAAAAAH! A m-monster!”

The first one to react was Kang Hyuk.

He had said he was a firefighter.

Pushing the others aside, he ran first.

Not toward Baek Geon-young—

but in the opposite direction.

“Shit!”

No one blamed him.

We hadn’t even known each other long. That reaction was only natural.

But…

Why am I running toward it?

Thud.

Niemmer’s attempt was stopped by the American man.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

“What do you mean get a hold of myself?! There’s only one of them! If we work together—”

Yes, there was only one.

No matter how ferocious or rabid it was, it was still the size of a child.

Meanwhile, there were two of them here.

No—three.

“Did you forget how many poisoned needles flew at us earlier?!”

A chill shot down Niemmer’s spine.

Rustle rustle.

At the same time, the bushes shook and those demons appeared again.

There were easily more than eight of them.

“Run!”

The American man grabbed Niemmer roughly and pulled her away.

“Ugh, you bastards… AAAAAA!”

The sound of something being torn apart.

Leaving the desperate scream behind them, the two ran through the forest.

“Ha… ha…”

When did we go this deep into the woods?

Or does it just feel that way?

“KEEEEAAAH!”

The goblins chased them, blowing through their tubes or wielding blades.

Despite their short limbs, they were incredibly nimble.

Shit. Those things are low-level mobs?

While running through confusion and fear—

a long needle grazed Niemmer’s hair and stuck into the tree beside her.

“…!”

She froze for a split second, feeling a chill.

Then she clenched her teeth and kept running.

Ahead—

sunlight was shining through.

But even if we reach the road… will those bastards stop chasing us?

No… but it’s better than fighting them inside the forest.

She ran while trying to organize the chaos in her head.

They were less than ten steps away from the road.

“KYAAAAGH!”

Suddenly a bush in front of them shook and a goblin jumped out.

It blocked their path perfectly and swung a worn stone axe.

“Damn it!”

The American man drew his bowstring.

But once again the arrow missed miserably.

“Hehehe!”

The goblin sneered and charged.

At that moment—

Thud.

Niemmer kicked off the ground.

“AAAAAAAH!”

She shouted with all her strength, trying to drive away her fear, and swung her sword.

Whoosh.

But it was a sloppy attack from someone who had never held a sword in her life.

The goblin easily dodged it.

Then it swung its axe with full force.

The American man running ahead.

The goblin.

Both of them expected Niemmer to die.

“Kiik?”

If the trajectory of Niemmer’s sword hadn’t suddenly twisted in a strange way—

SLASH.

With a chilling cry, the goblin’s upper body split apart.

A new power surged inside Niemmer.

[Level Up]

* * *

Blood dripped from the sword blade.

The one holding it was a woman with brilliantly shining golden hair.

“Ha… ha…”

The goblins did not chase them.

Maybe they were frightened by Niemmer slaughtering one of them.

Or maybe they got distracted elsewhere.

“H-how did you do that? How did you kill that sneaky thing?”

The American man gestured at her in disbelief.

They were as agile as cats.

And she killed one in a single strike?

“….”

Niemmer didn’t answer.

She was distracted by the sensation flowing through her hand.

Not the feeling of cutting through the monster’s flesh.

Something else.

What was that just now?

For a moment it felt like it wasn’t even my body—

────────!

A high-pitched scream from the forest interrupted her thoughts.

The previous screams were filled with pain and desperation.

But this one…

…was filled with despair.

Swoosh.

Once again, the American man stopped Niemmer.

“What are you going to do if you go back?”

“He might still be alive.”

“Did you forget how many there were?”

“……”

“You were amazing just now. Seriously impressive. No other player could’ve acted like you did. But…”

His voice grew louder.

“Can you risk your life? Not just an arm or a leg. Could you sacrifice everything for a stranger?”

The weight of what she was about to do was that heavy.

And that wasn’t all.

“When I grabbed you earlier, I didn’t use that much strength.”

“……”

Clang.

Niemmer dropped her sword.

She wiped her blood-stained face and muttered bitterly.

“Fuck…”

Since when was I such a selfless person?

Why was I trying to act like someone I’m not?

Or maybe…

…it’s just the moral conditioning drilled into modern people.

But perhaps because of the American’s words—

or because of the horrific experience earlier—

something inside Niemmer shattered.

She decided to abandon those outdated, weak ideals that didn’t help her survive.

“Thanks.”

She no longer spoke politely to the American.

“No, I should be the one thanking you. Thanks for saving me.”

He didn’t mind.

“What about Kang Hyuk?”

“Haven’t seen him… so he’s probably caught—”

Rustle.

Speak of the devil.

At that moment the bushes split open and Kang Hyuk stumbled out in a miserable state.

“Ha… ha… hyung-nim…”

He tried to approach them but suddenly stopped.

Probably because of the selfish act he had shown earlier.

And Niemmer’s blood-soaked, sharp atmosphere.

“N-no, it’s not like that! I wasn’t trying to run away—”

Niemmer was about to say it was fine.

That she never trusted strangers anyway.

That she hadn’t expected anything.

But before she could—

“My legs just moved on their own… Gahk!”

CRACK!

Kang Hyuk’s head exploded like a watermelon.

Half his face blown away, he collapsed to the ground twitching.

The one responsible—

was a steel-shining axe.

And the one holding it—

Grrrrrr.

A gnoll.

A muscular, bipedal hyena-man baring its teeth.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Human life was terrifyingly resilient.

Even while dying, Kang Hyuk moved his hands and his remaining eye, begging for help.

But the two people watching him had cold expressions.

Both shared the same thought.

“Run.”

“Yeah.”

They ran without looking back.

Less than 30 minutes later,

they discovered a village.

Niemmer laughed bitterly.

Ah… I should’ve endured a little longer.

Should’ve been more careful.

Shouldn’t have been greedy.

Now those thoughts were meaningless.

What mattered more—

was that she survived the terrible malice of this world.

And had become stronger.

* * *

Beyond a sagging wooden fence—

single-story houses built from stacked logs and straw roofs could be seen.

The village looked exactly like something from the medieval era.

Niemmer and the American approached with both tension and excitement.

“Yaaawn—Huh?!”

Two men who appeared to be guards stood watch lazily, barely wearing armor.

Niemmer noticed something.

They don’t have the mark on their wrists.

Definitely NPCs.

The guards quickly pointed their spears at them.

“W-who goes there?!”

“Travelers passing through. Could we stay here briefly?”

They said the lines they had prepared beforehand.

The guards stared at Niemmer’s face.

Then one of them ran somewhere.

“Wait here!”

Soon after,

the guard returned with a bent old man.

“These are the ones, Village Chief.”

The bearded old man called the chief wore slightly better clothes than the others.

Though his dark skin made him look like a refugee.

“Hm. Travelers… just the two of you… and you’ve lost all your luggage…”

Niemmer and the American swallowed nervously.

They mentally prepared their excuses.

But contrary to their worries—

the chief simply looked over Niemmer and grinned.

“Stay as long as you like.”

Shit. That smile is creepy.

“….”

And just like that,

they easily entered the village.

Considering how closed-off villages usually were in settings like this,

it made no sense.

But the American thought he knew why.

Looking at Niemmer’s absurdly beautiful face, he laughed.

“Female characters really do have advantages.”

“Shut up.”

It made her skin crawl.

Because she used to be a man.

Ignoring the attention from the villagers whispering about her, Niemmer and the American began surveying the village.

The layout.

The buildings.

The number of people who could fight.

Their equipment.

They examined everything carefully in preparation for possible variables.

During this process, they discovered something shocking.

“W-what? What’s the name of this village?”

“Deerhorn Village. Hehe. By the way miss, what’s your name?”

Hibe, the son of the village’s only blacksmith, grinned foolishly.

But Niemmer had no mental space to care about his interest.

Because one thought filled her head.

We’re screwed.

Deerhorn Village.

Despite the cute name, it was a small settlement in the Latrin region of the Kingdom of Minot.

But it was infamous.

Because the Chapter 1 quest that occurs here—

has insane difficulty.

Among the thousands of Chapter 1 quests across the continent,

this one was notorious enough to rank among the worst.

“No wonder goblin hordes and even a gnoll with a halberd show up right from the start…”

The American sighed deeply.

Niemmer’s expression also hardened.

But they couldn’t dwell on it.

The two went to the village’s only inn.

The sun was already setting.

And they were exhausted.

They had slept outside in the cold the previous night.

Walked all day.

Fought monsters while searching for food.

Lost companions.

Ran for their lives.

All in a single day.

Even an iron-willed person would struggle.

The innkeeper was a large bearded man.

He was stirring a pot full of moldy jerky when they approached.

After hearing they wanted to stay—

he simply raised five fingers.

“Five copper coins.”

“…Five?”

Niemmer’s eyes narrowed.

She was a 20-year veteran player of Dungeon Heroes.

She knew the continent’s prices perfectly.

Sure, the world had become real.

Prices could differ slightly.

But still—

“You call that cheap?”

It was four times the normal price.

For just one room.

They were clearly being ripped off as outsiders.

There was no warm rural hospitality.

No romantic fantasy adventure.

People were the same everywhere.

Greedy hyenas filled both the outside world and this one.

You damn NPC bastards!

Beep.

Niemmer’s favorability toward Dungeon Heroes had now dropped below zero.

There had never been a trash game quite like this one.