MV – Chapter 18: Falling Minor Villain

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It is truly a death flag. Lanpeach didn’t feel the danger of being a minor villain to this degree until now, it sent shivers down his spine.

No matter how wary he is of the main story, there will be opportunities for him to die at every corner.

Going missing after delivering a letter, found as a corpse after walking around at night, going out to gather herbs and not returning alive.

Powder of Elements has an advanced algorithm to automatically generate quests. There’s an extremely high amount of quests that begin by someone dying or going missing.

There’s an extremely high chance that the all-purpose fodder Lanpeach will be used in all of them.

(It might just be my imagination. I could be overthinking here, but…it would be better to assume that’s the case as I act. I am living on thin ice where one wrong step could spell the end of me after all! Why am I suffering so much when I was just washing my face?! I don’t know who set this up, but just know that I won’t forgive you!) (Lanpeach)

A life where death is breathing at your neck.

He sarcastically went ‘what a thrilling life that is’, looked at his shoulder that was stabbing at him the whole battle, and his face warped and regretted his decision to look at it.

His body staggered.

The skin was pierced, the flesh parted, blood was overflowing, and white bone was peeking out.

Lanpeach was impressed at how he could move with this.

Once he recognized the degree of his wound again, he felt like he would collapse.

“Peach-oniichan, lend you a shoulder. Cling to Dry’s shoulder tightly!” (Dry)

“Clinging and leaning on are two different things. Ouch ouch…” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach talked carefreely despite the heavy injury. Dry hurriedly went to his side and forcefully lent her shoulder to him while being baffled.

That powerless movement of his filled Dry with guilt.

“Sorry, Peach-oniichan. was careless. Uuh, would have died there. You saved me there.” (Dry)

She muttered her gratitude while facing down.

Dry was caught completely by surprise in the battle just now, had her Element Fusion easily undone, and was prepared to die along with the shock.

She thought Lanpeach saved her because he was kind. But she didn’t even think he would save her even at the cost of his own life.

Dry didn’t really get it, but she thought Lanpeach can use magic that she can’t detect. That’s why he had the leeway.

That’s because she could only perceive his attack after he had already finished it.

It is an invincible spell that can win against any opponent.

She thought this and was scared of it, but…

Dry realized that he had used the mysterious spell that only leaves the result, shooting through the head of the Rat Man that was on top of her and was about to eat her.

And she also saw how he didn’t use it on the Rat Man that was attacking him. No, it is not that he didn’t use it, it is that he couldn’t.

That invincible spell that only leaves the result surely can’t be used consecutively.

He used such a precious spell not to save himself but to save Dry.

Her debt got heavier than before and she was filled with gratitude.

That’s why she pledged she would definitely protect Lanpeach who is on the verge of collapsing here.

Dry was still full of mana, so she made a serious expression with her face that’s still cute and innocent, and supported Lanpeach.

I will be supporting Lanpeach-oniichan from here on -is what she firmly determined herself to do.

She will definitely repay the debt of having her life saved twice.

She diligently shouldered the body of Lanpeach and walked unsteadily.

But the amount of blood coming out from the shoulder of Lanpeach and that heavy injury made her raise her face in worry.

“You okay? Go back first and clean up. B-Buy potion. Save money to buy it, so wait a bit.” (Dry)

“W-Well, saving a party member is a matter of course, so don’t worry about it. Also, I would heal by the time you manage to earn the money to buy a potion.” (Lanpeach)

“Not a wound that can heal naturally. Cause…cause…there’s a hole in your shoulder.” (Dry)

“It can if it is just this much. Well, it will take a few days, but don’t worry… Or more like, only 3 HP went down from that damage… That’s scary.” (Lanpeach)

A pretty blue haired girl said this in worry with tears in her eyes, so Lanpeach answered with an empty smile.

Also, he had proof he wasn’t fatally injured.

HP: 11.

The Status was showing this.

If he remembered correctly, that’s the amount of damage you take from the Rat Men.

It doesn’t take into account the pain. It is just coldly displaying the numbers.

That’s why Lanpeach wasn’t feeling any danger for his life anymore. It is a weak feature of Transcendental, but he does have self-regeneration.

He thought he would recover if he just sleeps for a few days.

Maybe it is because Lanpeach is still in his game perspective, or he is the type to not feel unrest once his own life is displayed in numbers, but the person himself doesn’t notice this is abnormal.

He was more curious about the connection between the overhead view and the Space Library.

(Is this a game world? Or am I still inside a dream? Is it not real? Or is it a world that’s like a game? I don’t get it…) (Lanpeach)

There’s a mountain of things to think about, but…Lanpeach decided to just wrap up the current pressing matters for now.

That’s why he called Dry, who was earnestly walking while shouldering Lanpeach, to a stop.

“Don’t, Dry. Don’t go back. We have to fix the water purifier as soon as possible. U-turn, U-turn please. Not being able to use water is a matter of life-or-death.” (Lanpeach)

“…That much. Got it. Peach-oniichan, you are too kind.” (Dry)

Dry realized he wasn’t saying this for his own sake but the people living in the base, and her face loosened, troubled and happy.

“Being called a kind guy instead of a crook feels fresh. It makes me a bit shy.” (Lanpeach)

[You are not convincing at all with that pale face, Soldier. You are all wobbly from bleeding so much!] (Libra)

(I am not like a shrine maiden that can resurrect right after dying after all. You can bleed from tripping.) (Lanpeach)

Libra looked worried, but he still responded with a casual tone.

The three of them walked in a triangle, surrounded by corpses of Rat Men.

What they could rely on inside this pitch black darkness was the light of the flashlight and Lanpeach who had obtained the overhead view.

The sound of dry footsteps changed into water splashing.

“Water. Looks like we have arrived at the destination. Guess we have cleared this one. Ouch ouch ouch.” (Lanpeach)

He twisted his face even further from the pain but still managed to direct the flashlight to the front, and two big machines were standing there, surrounded by walls of wire mesh.

They are pretty big. Around as big as a small container.

There were cables wrapped in insulation rubber as thick as the arm of an adult spread out like the roots of a tree. They are connected to the machines nearby, and there were some that were connected to the walls of the building.

“Pretty old. They are covered in rust and it wouldn’t be strange for it to stop at any moment.” (Dry)

“Right. It wouldn’t be strange for it to break as soon as tomorrow. It is very old. It was already at its limit.” (Lanpeach)

The generator and water purifier were covered in rust and dirt, and had clearly deteriorated. The panel was cracked, and water was leaking from the pipes.

[If the insulation rubber of the generator had deteriorated, you would be done for, Soldier. You would have gone bzzzt~.] (Libra)

[That’s putting it lightly.] (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach pretended to be scared and the cute shrine maiden giggled. And then, Lanpeach looked around.

The pipes of the water purifier might have been damaged from the beginning, there was a lot of water coming out, and it had accumulated around the machine.

There’s the corpses of rats here and there, so the Rat Men probably were propagating here.

There’s a chance they would have attacked the base if left be, so this was pretty dangerous -is what Lanpeach thought as cold sweat flowed down from him.

[This has now changed into a controlled area, so you can have the Taraworkers head here to repair it. Good work on the exploration, Soldier.] (Libra)

Libra directed sympathizing words and his tension loosened somewhat, making him fall on his knees.

Water splashed and ripples were created as his knees got wet.

“Peach-oniichan, you okay? Looks like you are already at your limit. Should return at once.” (Dry)

[You are wasted, Soldier. Then, let’s make Supernatural Powers into level 3 and learn Heal~. You have exactly 5,000 Exp, right?] (Libra)

Libra moved her face closer and recommended him to obtain a skill, in contrast to the panicking Dry.

(Right. Let’s obtain it.) (Lanpeach)

[Yup yup, let’s.] (Libra)

Libra nodded and Lanpeach said without hesitation with a smile.

(Machine Operation to Level 2, Supernatural Powers to Level 2.) (Lanpeach)

[Acquired. Machine Operation and Supernatural Powers are level 2 now, so you can now acquire the hidden supernatural power, Repair.]

(Of course, acquire Repair.) (Lanpeach)

[Acquired.]

[Don’t give me that ‘acquired’! What are you thinking?! Is your brain made of sponge? Why didn’t you take healing?! I am worried about you here!] (Libra)

The unexpected choice of Lanpeach, made Libra puff up her cheeks wondering why he did that even though she was worried about him.

This is natural. The state of Lanpeach is extremely serious at the very least. It is on the level of hospitalization.

(Wait, wait, I have only been dealt 3 damage. Of course I would take the skill I need for my objective right now.) (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach thought ‘if I am alive, I can just sleep at an inn and be at full health’. He really can’t let the gamer perspective go.

Now that the boss battle is over, all that’s left is to go back, so he didn’t learn the healing ability.

He instead acquired Machine Operation Level 2 and Supernatural Powers Level 2 to learn the hidden skill Repair.

[Machine Operation: It is possible to operate machines as far as the level allows. Dexterity +2 per level.]

[Repair: A supernatural power that allows you to repair machines as far as light damage without the need for materials.]

He really wanted this supernatural power.

This supernatural power was super popular in the game as well, so most players learned it.

Lanpeach directed his hand towards the water purifier and the generator, and used the power that can change the very roots of this world’s laws.

[Repair].

This power had no effects and was silent. But the pipes were repaired, and the crystal panel returned back to how it was as if time was rewinded.

The rusty exterior was also getting cleaned, and returned to a state that’s practically new.

“W-What’s this…? New? It is new now. What power is this?!” (Dry)

(That’s…a secret.) (Lanpeach)

Dry was speechless. She doubted her eyes, and opened her mouth wide.

Lanpeach saw that face of hers and was about to tease her, but…he lost strength and collapsed in exhaustion.

[Gyaa! That’s what I told you! That’s what I told you!] (Libra)

He saw the panicking and worried faces of Libra and Dry, and thought that there may be other numbers aside from the HP in the Status, and chuckled that maybe this really is a serious injury in real life.

Lanpeach’s consciousness was swallowed by darkness.

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