The Game Difficulty
Is Crazy
‘Turn right, then immediately left.’
Repeating the instructions Glen had given her inside her mouth, Tasha kept running.
‘Next, straight ahead.’
The hollow where she and Glen had separated.
By now, Glen would surely be buying time with everything he had.
Waiting for her to break through these chaotic underground passages and open a certain door.
“……”
Strength went into the hand holding her sword.
Her breath had already risen to her throat long ago, but even so, she did not stop moving her legs.
‘At the last corner… right!’
She turned the corner with all her strength.
And right in front of where she stood, she saw an old iron door.
‘I finally made it.’
Tasha’s eyes shone clearly.
‘Inside there… the reinforcements…’
An iron door that gave off a chilling cold air.
She could not even guess what kind of reinforcements might be inside.
Rather, it felt like opening the door would cause something bad to happen. But—
‘Young master said so.’
At least the Glen Wordsworth she had watched until now was not someone who gave orders without any basis.
That was why Tasha reached out toward the old iron door without hesitation.
Pahk—!
In the next instant, Tasha was slammed face-down in front of the iron door by a tremendous impact.
Something had pierced into her shoulder blade at a terrifying speed.
Tasha instinctively realized it was a black arrow of the demon race.
“…Hugh!”
A pain as if her flesh was burning.
If it had hit even slightly off, she would have died on the spot.
Even so, the injury was severe enough to be considered fatal.
“Found you.”
From the darkness, a demon man with a sneering expression walked out.
“Took some effort to finally find you.”
Whiiik—
The demon man whistled.
Soon, another demon ran over to where he was.
“What is it, Ruth. Why’d you call me?”
When the demon called Ruth jerked his chin toward Tasha, the newly arrived demon curled the corner of his mouth upward.
“Oh? What’s this. How’d you find her?”
“Just good luck. Seems she’s not an ordinary human girl, though.”
“Kya hahaha! Guess so. Getting caught like this in such a complicated place. What rotten luck you’ve got, bitch.”
The demon slowly approached.
“Huh? She’s still alive?”
“Doesn’t matter. Finish her quickly and rejoin the others.”
Bracing herself against the iron door, Tasha tried to push her body up.
But the black arrow embedded in her back kept digging into the wound.
“Ugh…!”
She clenched her teeth and endured the pain.
Sticky blood soon flowed out between her lips.
“……”
Even so, Tasha used her sword as support and forced herself upright.
Even if her luck was bad and she had been caught.
Even if the arrow stuck in her shoulder screamed at her not to move.
Since she had been entrusted with an important mission, she could not fail.
—If it’s not rude, may I ask for a spar again tomorrow?
—Yeah. That’s fine.
—Then for young master’s training, wouldn’t Sir Gregory be more suitable than me?
—No. You’re better.
—Just think of it as power leveling.
Because she had received so much help from the person who entrusted her with this mission.
She wanted to repay even half of that kindness.
Tasha’s gaze was fixed only on the iron door in front of her.
‘Move!’
Her outstretched hand touched the cold iron door.
But she lacked strength.
“U… ugh!”
“Hm?”
A strange light passed through Ruth’s eyes.
The next moment, he quickly nocked an arrow onto his bowstring.
“The girl’s doing something. Grab her now!”
Tasha felt that this was the last chance given to her.
Gathering every last bit of strength, she pressed her shoulder against the door and pushed with all her might.
“Huh? What’s with her? What’s she doing?”
“Keuk! Get out of my way and move!”
Groaning, Ruth hurriedly released the arrow.
The black arrow grazed a demon’s side and flew toward Tasha.
Shweeeek—
Pahk!
But the hurried shot failed to hit its mark.
And in the next moment—
Kiiiii— thunk!
The iron door was pushed inward together with Tasha.
Immediately, the cold, deathly chill packed inside burst outward.
Saaaaa—
In her fading vision.
Tasha saw what was inside the iron door.
‘That… is the reinforcement?’
Her pupils shook violently.
The thing inside the iron door staggered toward Tasha.
Kkagagagak—
A chilling sound, like something sharp scraping across the floor.
The moment it met her eyes up close, Tasha lost consciousness.
“Sseeeeeek…….”
As it made a throat-scratching, eerie sound and reached out its hand toward Tasha—
An unknown energy burst out from the grayish-white herb peeking out from Tasha’s chest.
“Kieee…!”
The thing frowned deeply and turned its head away from Tasha.
Right at that moment—
“W-what is that…! This filthy aura!”
“I have a bad feeling.”
Voices came from outside the iron door.
The thing passed right by Tasha and went straight out through the iron door.
And then it faced them.
“What the hell is that monster?!”
“Ethan! Run, now!”
Soon, those outside the iron door shouted in panic.
“Kieeeeeeeek!!”
A shrill scream that seemed to tear the air echoed deep throughout the monastery underground.
His breath was stuck in his throat.
The Holy Armor that had protected his body from the black arrows was now so damaged it could no longer function properly.
His body felt as heavy as lead, and because he had kept the four holy rings spinning, nausea surged up inside him.
If he did not force his eyes open, his vision would blur immediately, and if his focus slipped even slightly, the strength in the hand gripping his sword would drain away.
Even so, Glen grit his teeth and swung the arm holding his sword.
He sharpened his senses, searching for a chance to drive his blade into Ralper as he charged.
He ran around the hollow, dodging the black arrows that rushed in while aiming for his vitals.
And when he could not dodge, he blocked them by thrusting forward the Holy Armor.
As a result—
Ralper, the demon standing before him, was staring at Glen with undisguised shock.
“Just what… are you, exactly?”
Four minutes had passed since the battle began.
In that not-so-short time, Glen had not been pushed back even while facing a 6-star demon archer and two 3-star demon archers.
He had taken only a single arrow to his back and had dealt with the two 3-star demon archers.
Not just Ralper—no one could easily accept this situation.
Because the power that defied common sense Glen had shown was something only Glen, once a player, could understand.
“What else would I be? Just a human. A bit unusual.”
But this was as far as it went.
He had desperately forced a one-on-one situation with Ralper, but he had no power left to bring him down.
‘They’re late.’
According to the original plan, the reinforcements Tasha went to wake up should have stormed in by now.
But judging by the silence around them, it seemed Tasha had failed after all.
He did not know the details.
She might have been caught by the demon race due to unbelievably bad luck.
Or she might have forgotten the directions he taught her after pushing her body and mind to their limits.
