Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Truth Game
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‘I can roughly guess why she snapped.’
It was probably due to constant gaslighting that whittled away at Mad Blood Witch Yuka’s self-esteem.
And judging by what she was doing to Kang Hyun-soo.
‘He absolutely wouldn’t have let her make any close friends around her.’
In that kind of situation, what if some incident occurred and the tanker player Hayato abandoned Mad Blood Witch Yuka?
Her already rock-bottom mental state could have completely collapsed, driving her insane.
‘Or maybe her resentment and hatred toward the world that abandoned her exploded.’
However, how Mad Blood Witch Yuka went mad wasn’t important to Kang Hyun-soo.
‘What matters is that Hayato, that bastard, was the trigger.’
Was it because of the time they’d spent together?
Despite Kang Hyun-soo’s persistent urging, Mad Blood Witch Yuka stubbornly refused to leave Hayato’s party.
‘If I invested more time, I might be able to change her mind.’
But he had too much to do to spend that much time.
‘Right now, just taking down the nearby orcs is enough.’
But a bit more time passes?
The orcs in the area would be wiped out.
Then?
Kang Hyun-soo wouldn’t be able to gain any experience or achievements.
Because.
‘The experience from my summons hunting has a distance limit, too.’
It had increased dramatically after becoming a Division Commander.
But even so, it was only about 20 kilometers.
‘It’s already cutting it close.’
Once the orcs were gone?
Kang Hyun-soo would have to give up on experience and achievements.
‘Can’t let that happen.’
He needed to create an event, no matter what, to completely shatter the trust between Hayato and Mad Blood Witch Yuka.
‘If words don’t work, show it with actions.’
In a normal situation, if such an incident blew up?
There was a very high chance Mad Blood Witch Yuka would turn dark.
However.
‘I can cover for that.’
Thanks to the Marionette skill, he’d built up quite a bit of rapport in a short time.
Mad Blood Witch Yuka trusted and relied on Kang Hyun-soo second only to Hayato.
If the tanker player Hayato didn’t exist?
She would have joined Kang Hyun-soo’s party long ago.
‘Then shall we prepare the event?’
If during this event, the tanker player Hayato still didn’t abandon Mad Blood Witch Yuka?
On the contrary, their bond would grow even tighter.
Then?
‘I’ll scout him too.’
The tanker player Hayato was just one of the countless ordinary players.
But if he served as the lock to prevent Mad Blood Witch Yuka from turning into her pre-regression self?
Kang Hyun-soo could afford to keep him around.
* * *
Kang Hyun-soo’s group, Hayato’s party, and the civilians pressed steadfastly onward.
Along the way.
“Human, die!”
Orcs appeared sporadically here and there.
But.
Slash! Slash!
They were swept away in an instant at speeds faster than light.
At that moment.
Boom!
With a massive footstep.
A gigantic orc nearly 5 meters tall revealed itself.
“Is that an orc or an ogre?”
Everyone was greatly startled.
“Go!”
Roooar!
Golem Sorceress Yuka sent her mud golems charging.
However.
Crack!
With one swing of the giant orc’s axe.
The mud golems shattered.
“No way!”
Golem Sorceress Yuka was shocked.
“It’s an orc chieftain-class. I’ll handle it.”
Kang Hyun-soo rushed forward, drawing up his aura.
Boom!
His sword clashed with the orc chieftain’s axe, producing a collision sound that made the air tremble.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Aura fragments scattered.
Powerful mana clashes erupted one after another, enough to suffocate.
While Kang Hyun-soo and the orc chieftain were locked in a fierce stalemate.
Boom! Boom!
Four orc chieftains, each 3 meters tall, appeared.
Song Ha-na and the Fist Emperor-mimicking doppelgangers stepped up to block the four orc chieftains.
In the midst of that.
Roooar!
Additional chieftain-class orcs and great warrior-class orcs appeared in droves.
“Tch! Division summon.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s shout, summons appeared and blocked the orc horde’s path.
A fierce battle erupted immediately.
“We’ll hold them here! Run for now!”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s shout.
“Eek!”
“Let’s get out of here.”
Hayato’s party and the civilians began to flee.
“I’ll help too!”
At that moment, Golem Sorceress Yuka stepped forward to assist Kang Hyun-soo.
“You can’t help me right now, Yuka! Get out of here first! That’s how you help me!”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“Got it.”
Golem Sorceress Yuka made a dejected face and fled with Hayato’s party members and the civilians.
A moment later.
Hayato’s party members and the civilians had completely vanished from sight.
“You guys pretend to fight intensely, blasting mana and aura.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words.
“Yes, sir!”
“Yes, sir!”
The orc-based summons and doppelganger-based summons replied energetically.
Boom!
Boom!
And continued the fierce battle pretense.
“You know what you have to do?”
Kang Hyun-soo asked Doppelganger King Talisman, who had transformed into the orc chieftain.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Go.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s command, Doppelganger King Talisman’s form changed from orc chieftain to orc chieftain.
He then began pursuing the fleeing Hayato party members and civilians.
‘Guess I’ll just watch?’
Kang Hyun-soo activated Shadow of the Moon and leisurely followed.
* * *
“Huff huff huff!”
Hayato’s party members and the civilians were fleeing frantically.
“I can’t run anymore. Carry me, please.”
One of the civilians asked Hayato’s party for help.
“I’ll help you.”
Golem Sorceress Yuka hoisted the pleading civilian onto her back.
She was a magic-type player who mainly invested in mana and mental strength.
But she was still a player.
She had enough strength and stamina to easily carry one civilian.
“Huff huff! M-me too, please carry me.”
“I can’t go any further.”
As one was carried on Golem Sorceress Yuka’s back after pleading.
Exhausted civilians one after another begged Hayato’s party members for help.
“What the fuck! I’m dying here too, what bullshit is this!”
Healer player Brad was the first to spew curses.
“Hayato! How long are we gonna drag these burdens along? Our speed’s slowing because of them! At this rate, we’ll get caught and killed by the orcs too!”
At healer player Brad’s complaint, tanker player Hayato’s expression hardened.
Not because he was angry at Brad’s words.
‘He’s not wrong. If we keep this up, we’re all dead.’
Until now, Golem Sorceress Yuka had summoned golems to buy time and barely held on.
‘But that’s over now.’
Because Golem Sorceress Yuka’s mana was completely depleted.
‘Should we just use the civilians as bait and go?’
It would buy a little time.
The problem was.
“Brad! How can you say that? You want these people to die here?”
Golem Sorceress Yuka’s backlash.
“Then should we die with them? Last time you were stubborn and we almost all died! If that beastman named player hadn’t come, we definitely would’ve!”
“Yeah! We almost got wiped out because of you!”
“We’ve protected them this far—that’s more than enough for humans!”
“I can’t go with these people anymore!”
At the collective rebellion from party members starting with healer player Brad, Golem Sorceress Yuka’s expression hardened.
“Please save us!”
“Don’t abandon us, please!”
“I’ll walk! I can walk more!”
Those who had just said they couldn’t walk anymore now begged to be spared, claiming they could go further.
Seeing that, Golem Sorceress Yuka.
“Then you guys go on without me. I can’t abandon them.”
Declared she would stay behind alone.
Even inside the large city, Golem Sorceress Yuka had been stubborn like this.
As a result, the entire party stayed, and nearly got wiped out.
But this time, the situation was different.
“Then you die alone with them. I’m out.”
Healer player Brad turned first.
“I wanna live.”
“I don’t wanna die because of your stubbornness.”
The other party members followed healer player Brad one by one.
“Hayato!”
Golem Sorceress Yuka looked to Hayato, but.
“Yuka, you planning to wipe the party because of your stubbornness?”
“That’s not...”
Slap!
Tanker player Hayato struck Golem Sorceress Yuka across the cheek.
“Yuka, why are you so selfish?”
“I just... these people...”
“Come on.”
Tanker player Hayato forcibly removed the person on Golem Sorceress Yuka’s back and dragged her away by force.
Roooar!
Thud thud thud!
The orcs’ roars and footsteps grew closer.
“I’m not going! I won’t!”
Golem Sorceress Yuka resisted stubbornly, but.
She couldn’t overpower tanker player Hayato with strength.
In the end, with her mana depleted, Golem Sorceress Yuka could only be dragged along.
“Please save us!”
“Don’t abandon us!”
The civilians pleaded, but.
Hayato hoisted Golem Sorceress Yuka over his shoulder by force and followed his party members.
Boom! Boom!
At that moment, the orc horde appeared right before the civilians’ eyes.
“Aaah!”
“Eek! Save me!”
“We’re gonna die! We’re dead!”
“Please come back! Save us!”
“You bastards! Save us too!”
The civilians screamed and panicked.
However.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The orc horde ignored the civilians and passed by.
Chasing after Hayato’s party.
“What?”
“Did they... miss us?”
“Looks like it.”
Thanks to that, the civilians survived.
* * *
‘No! No!’
The civilians’ pleas for help, screams, and resentful voices echoed in Golem Sorceress Yuka’s ears.
At that moment.
“You walk now.”
Tanker player Hayato set Golem Sorceress Yuka down on the ground.
“Hayato!”
Golem Sorceress Yuka glared at tanker player Hayato.
She nearly unleashed a torrent of curses, but.
“Hayato, you did good.”
“Yuka, you were too stubborn.”
“You’d be dead too without Hayato.”
“If you do it again, that’s it for real.”
Hearing her party members’ words.
Her words caught in her throat.
“Because of your mistake, we almost got wiped out. How foolish you were...”
Tanker player Hayato’s lecture continued, and.
What came from Golem Sorceress Yuka’s mouth was.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Not curses, but an apology.
Thirty civilians.
They were probably dead by now.
Dead people?
Couldn’t give love.
Or hatred.
For Golem Sorceress Yuka, avoiding hatred from Hayato and her still-living party members right in front of her was more important than the dead.
“Let’s go.”
The party, led by Hayato, moved forward again.
But.
Roooar!
The distance to the chieftain-class orcs was closing.
The stamina-weak healer player Brad and Golem Sorceress Yuka began falling behind first.
“Carry me!”
Healer player Brad pleaded for help.
“Get real! You think you’re the only one tired? We’re tired too!”
“My stamina’s gone too! If I carry you, I’ll get caught!”
“You want us all to die saving you?”
But what returned to him was.
His comrades’ harsh words.
Healer player Brad, who had always received special treatment and bullied party members because he was a healer, was now getting his comeuppance.
“You fuckers! How can you do this! How have you survived this long! Without my heals, you’d be dead already!”
Healer player Brad screamed, but.
It was useless.
“I’ll carry you.”
At that moment, party leader tanker player Hayato approached, and healer player Brad’s face lit up.
“Yeah, I knew you’d understand my value! You have to save me...”
However, the one tanker player Hayato carried on his back was.
Not healer player Brad, but Golem Sorceress Yuka.
“You bastard!”
“Should’ve been nicer all this time, huh?”
“What?”
“Bye. You were a pain, and we never wanna see you again.”
With those words, tanker player Hayato carried Golem Sorceress Yuka on his back and vanished.
“Huff huff! Sorry, I was wrong! Please help me!”
Healer player Brad desperately pleaded with his party members, but.
No one helped him.
He, who had abandoned the civilians as burdens.
Had now been abandoned just like them.
Grrr!
The orc horde was already right upon him.
“Eek!”
Healer player Brad sensed death.
However.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The orc horde ignored healer player Brad and chased after the other party members.
‘I-I’m alive.’
Healer player Brad let out a sigh of relief.
But.
‘What now?’
He was left alone in the middle of a forest swarming with orcs.
Though a player, as a healer, Brad’s chances of survival were?
Close to zero.