Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 140

Episode 140

I couldn't just stand there, dejected that Adam had recognized my identity.

"Kkieeeeeeeeek!"

The Queen Siren, which had vanished in the meantime, reappeared and shrieked with all its might.

"Ugh!"

I had no choice but to take the full brunt of that attack, with no time to defend.

It was because I didn't have a chance to change the earplugs that had been damaged due to Adam, who had suddenly appeared and fired arrows.

'HP –99'

HP 108

My heart sank for a moment at my reduced HP, with only the last hit remaining.

'This is too close...! Adam, that son of a bitch!'

If it hadn't been for that bastard, I would have finished it off long ago, but now I had just wasted precious HP.

Chwaaak!

In the meantime, the Queen Siren once again showed signs of trying to teleport, scattering seawater.

'No! I have to wreck it now!'

As is characteristic of boss mobs, their pattern of using special abilities tends to get faster right before they die.

There are also plenty of cases where their HP recovers during that, so I felt rushed.

A situation where only about one attack was left.

It was the moment I readjusted my grip on the stalactite and tried to run at that bastard.

"Huh?"

My body wouldn't budge.

To be precise, my left foot, which had been hit by the arrow Adam shot, wouldn't budge.

"Wh, what! Why is it...!"

It was clearly an attack that hadn't even reduced my HP, so why on earth was this happening.

Extremely flustered, I struggled to free my leg, which wouldn't move, as if it were nailed down.

Splash! Splash!

My rough movements naturally caused the water to splash.

While doing so, I discovered faint, glowing text beneath the rippling surface of the water.

"This is..."

[S-Grade Weight Artifact]

A round magic tool I hadn't noticed before was fitted in the middle of the arrow.

It was an artifact with the effect of instantly increasing weight the moment it activated, immobilizing nearby enemies.

I never dreamed he would use it like this to hold me down.

"Th, this despicable bastard... Annihilate!"

I quickly chanted the skill to destroy it.

However.

Szzzzzle...

Because my lower body was submerged underwater, the flames that had flared up died down quickly, not even lasting a few seconds.

"S, Stun! Stun!"

Stun was also the same.

The electric currents that scattered in all directions along the rippling water only resulted in holding the Queen Siren, which was preparing to escape, in place.

"Kkiek!"

The moment I ground my teeth and lifted my head at the death shriek the Siren let out.

Pewng!

A sound like an arrow being fired rang out.

'Th, that son of a bitch!'

In that time, that Adam-bastard had loaded his crossbow and shot at me again.

Sswek!

Five arrows cut sharply through the air, approaching quickly.

After spouting all that nonsense about fighting fair and square, that bastard seemed intent on finally launching a full-scale attack on me.

I couldn't continue that thought and reflexively raised the stalactite.

It was to knock the arrows away, just like before.

Honestly, because of the Weight Artifact, I couldn't budge from my spot, so I wasn't confident I could dodge them all.

'Am I going to be forcibly summoned just like this?!'

In that fleeting moment, an uneasy premonition flashed through my mind.

The HP I had left now was just barely over 100.

At the thought that if this went wrong, I might have to go all the way to Dover Village and back for nothing, with no reward, I focused my mind and watched the arrows' trajectory.

However.

Sswek!

The arrows that were approaching quickly, suddenly curved as if they were living organisms, and flew right past me.

I quickly swung the stalactite, but they dodged that too, as flexibly as eels.

Having failed to knock away even the last arrow, my eyes widened at the successive 'Thwack, thwack!' sounds I heard from behind me.

'...Don't tell me.'

I barely managed to turn my creaking neck to look behind me.

Not far away.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

The target that the remaining three arrows, whose flight had been delayed by the brief struggle with me, were now also lodged in, was none other than.

"...Keok, keo-eok! Kkueueueuk..."

The Queen Siren's neck.

"Uh..."

Seeing the monster with a total of five arrows neatly embedded in it, my mind went blank for a moment.

The completely empty HP bar flickered, and then that bastard's giant form crumbled away and vanished.

And in its place, only the several items given as rewards remained, floating on the water's surface.

[Lv.160 Queen Siren's Essence]

In the midst of it all, I recognized the monster's essence that absolutely had to be collected, and barely regained my senses.

And the moment I quickly reached my hand out toward it.

Click.

"It would be best not to move. As you just saw, when all the arrows hit, the attack power is quite high."

With a heavy loading sound, a low voice stopped my movement.

When I glanced over, as expected.

That Adam-bastard was aiming his broken-item at me.

[S-Grade Tracking Magic Crossbow]

I had wondered why my HP hadn't dropped, but it made sense once I recognized that bastard's weapon.

'Kassel, you son of a bitch. You really gave that to him...'

I knew he was buying up a ton of weapons at the black market auction for high prices.

Seeing the weapon I had coveted in the hands of that bastard I hated, my stomach twisted like crazy.

On top of that, if that bastard used that weapon to steal my boss mob's last hit...

Thud!

Just then, Adam suddenly dropped Elaine, whom he had been carrying on his shoulder, as if throwing him down.

"Ugh! Ah, give me some warning...!"

Elaine, who had been roughly slammed to the ground, shouted with an indignant face.

Elaine's complaint was soon drowned out by the sound of Adam moving.

Splash, splosh.

That bastard, still aiming the crossbow at me, walked through the water with a leisurely attitude.

He, who had quickly closed the distance to me with his tall frame, stopped dead, just a few steps away.

And then, he took out the earplugs that had been blocking both his ears and spouted.

"It's a shame, but the boss has become mine."

I had snatched one of his earplugs and run off just to screw with him.

I was dumbfounded that he was wearing a brand new, perfectly fine S-Grade earplug.

That, too, was brief.

"The botth ith mine!"

It was as if that bastard's words were mocking what I had shouted earlier, and my mind went blank for a moment.

I, who had been standing there stuttering, dumbfounded by this series of events that had happened before I even had time to think, belatedly opened my mouth and muttered ominously.

"...Hey. Are you crazy?"

Adam, who had been about to walk right past me, who was immobilized, suddenly stopped his steps.

His expression as he looked at me again seemed a little bewildered.

As if he had misheard, that bastard asked back.

"...Hey?"

"Yeah, hey."

"Ha."

[Adam Hailey feels flabbergasted by you.]

[Adam Hailey regards you as an absurd person.]

[Adam Hailey's favorability toward you partially converts to unfavorability.]

With a huff, system windows popped up in succession above that bastard's head.

Like I cared.

The one who was most flabbergasted and dumbfounded right now was me.

Whether that bastard was a noble or a main character, it was do-or-die.

I shouted, ready to wreck him if things went wrong.

"You despicable bastard... You have nothing better to do than steal the last hit?!"

But his flinch at the word 'hey' was only for a moment.

"Despicable, you say."

That bastard returned the disrespectful language, which he must have never heard as a proud noble, without batting an eye.

"Is that something the person who snatched someone else's earplug and pushed them into a deadly situation should be saying?"

"Ugh. Th, that is...!"

I, who had been calling him out for stealing the last hit, was immediately at a loss for words, unable to even get my investment back.

I wanted to refute it, but what that bastard said was all true.

'Come to think of it, that dirty item-reliant bastard.'

'How did he get here so fast!'

Adam, seen up close, was in a rather disheveled state, as if he really had finished off all the level 80 normal Sirens.

I could also see scattered scratches on his exposed skin, including his face.

While I was hesitating, speechless and with a slight sense of guilt.

Splash!

Suddenly, that bastard resumed his stopped steps and walked past me.

And then, as if to show me, he approached the place where the items were floating and reached out his hand.

"Hey, what are you doing? Don't touch it."

Among the many items, that bastard was clearly after one.

[The Queen Siren's Essence.]

But dammit. My foot, weighed down by the Weight Artifact, wouldn't budge.

"Agh, c'mon! Hey! I, I said don't touch it!"

I had to just watch, flailing like an idiot in the water, as that Adam-bastard lifted up the Queen Siren's Essence.

"Hey, you son of a bitch! Have you no manners? Do you know how I caught that...!"

In my anxiety, vile curses spewed out without a filter.

As if it was unpleasant to hear, Adam's brow furrowed slightly as he gripped the blue orb tightly in his hand and looked back at me.

"Son of a bitch?"

"No, my Lord."

My senses returned, and I quickly changed my tune.

With a gentle smile plastered on my face, I ground my teeth and repeated sweetly.

"Please, can't we just share the items? Hm?"

Even if I couldn't get the most important monster's essence, proof that we caught the Queen Siren together.

If I had even just a few of the other items, it would be reflected in the score, even if just a little.

Having the last hit and the essence stolen was maddeningly unfair, but provoking that bastard while tied up like this was not a very good choice.

Besides.

HP 108

I wanted to wreck that bastard right this instant, but my HP was dangerously low.

A situation where, if I was forcibly summoned now, I would gain nothing.

As such, I begged shamelessly.

"You caught all the Sirens outside, so I won't ask for much. Please, even just a Queen Siren scale..."

"Who are you?"

It was then.

Adam suddenly cut me off and asked.

"Pardon?"

I made a bewildered expression.

At that, that bastard narrowed his eyes and scanned me from top to bottom.

"Seeing that beggar-like appearance, you seem to be the snake oil salesman from Dover Village..."

"..."

"But seeing your hair color and the way you use magic, you also seem to be the Princess of Solenia."

That bastard's gaze, which had scanned my water-drenched robe, landed on my hair, which was precariously veiling my face.

A part of my pink hair was exposed from when the hood's hem was cut off earlier.

"I hadn't heard that the Princess of Solenia was participating in the tournament."

That bastard frowned, as if he really couldn't figure out my identity.

'What?'

And, that was a new hope for me.

Even though I had denied it, that Kassel-bastard in the temple had seen through my identity perfectly.

So I naturally assumed Adam would recognize me.

However.

'Could it be... he doesn't recognize me?'

The situation was taking a, well, strange turn.