Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 150

Episode 150

"Oowt, oop..."

The Chimera, holding Kassel in its mouth, swam toward the depths of the lake at tremendous speed.

Following its movement, my thumb-sized body was swept by the steep current, tossed this way and that.

While doing so, I could see the body attached below the Chimera's head stretching endlessly downwards.

As if the current long body was merely the 'neck' of a giraffe, and the main body was somewhere deep below...

'Can't go further...!'

I forced open my eyes, which wouldn't open due to the water pressure, and stared down into the pitch-black depths of the lake.

There, where darkness lurked like a monster's maw, I could faintly see something of enormous shape writhing.

The Chimera's other heads.

Right now, there was only one, but if we went further down, we could end up in the unlucky situation of having to face several at once.

And level 220 ones at that.

Or, before that, the unconscious Male Lead might drown and die.

'I have to do something right now.'

With that single thought, I climbed up the laces of Kassel's combat boot that I was holding onto, tooth and nail.

Barely reaching the vicinity of his shin, I grabbed his clothing hem with one hand.

This allowed me to take a much more stable position than just flapping around holding the bootlace.

With my other hand, I quickly took out the S-Grade Oxygen Mask I'd received from Jinu before, and a miniaturization antidote potion from my pocket.

I opened the cap and quickly put the potion bottle's mouth to my lips, then flipped the round, glass-fishbowl-shaped oxygen mask over my head.

As the incessantly rushing water was immediately blocked off and breathing became easier, I immediately gulped down the potion in my mouth.

Poof!

A moment later. My body, returned to its original size, was clinging to that Kassel-bastard's leg.

"Hoo..."

Letting out a sigh of relief, I was pulling out the potion bottle I'd been holding between the mask and my neck when I suddenly felt a sense of unease.

'Don't tell me, they didn't give it to me expecting this...?'

The developers, I mean.

No, more accurately, that Jinu-bastard. Unlike Ari and Sera, who had frequently rewarded me with various small things, Jinu had hoarded like a miser, only tossing me one thing like 'here you go' when my annoyance reached its peak.

But to think he'd issue an S-Grade item for some reason...

Suddenly, the S-Grade potions I received from Jinu in the Hailey territory before facing the Giga Centipede came to mind.

'Nah.'

I tried to shake off the needless feeling of unease.

This incident was an accident that neither I nor even the developers had predicted.

Elaine being assigned to the Imperial Palace was solely because of Kassel.

'One way or another, it's all this bastard's fault.'

Crunch!

It was then. Suddenly, an eerie sound echoed from below.

I hurriedly turned my head and saw Kassel's armor, held in the monster's maw, starting to crack bit by bit.

'Invested coins, so I thought it would hold up pretty well...'

Seeing even the armor finally breaking, it seemed being torn in two and dying would come before drowning.

My mind snapped back at the sight of armor fragments flashing past, and I wrapped my arms tightly around that bastard's lower body, squirming upwards.

It was to get near the Chimera's face, but around the time I hugged his waist, the position felt somehow...

Quite strange.

Reminding myself it was fortunate Kassel was unconscious, I immediately clenched one fist tightly.

"Onslaught."

[Lv.999 Onslaught skill has been activated.]

Wham!

I swung my skill-infused fist right at the bridge of the Chimera's nose.

"Kkieeeeeeeeeek!"

No matter how hard the scales it wielded, it seemed it couldn't withstand an attack to the philtrum. That bastard, hit squarely in the nose by me, immediately stopped swimming and shrieked as if being torn apart. Thanks to that, that bastard's maw, which had been clamped tightly around Kassel, slowly opened. I smoothly pulled the Male Lead out from between the fearsome monster's teeth and held him.

"Excuse me, are you okay?"

I waved my hand a couple of times in front of his unfocused, flickering eyes and asked, just to be polite.

However,

[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig is currently incapacitated due to a status abnormality.]

Kassel's condition remained unchanged.

No, perhaps due to lack of air, he was extremely pale, unlike usual.

I wanted to put the oxygen mask on him, but I only had one, which was awkward.

I, too, needed to be able to chant skills properly to face the monster, so I couldn't give up the mask.

'No choice. I'll finish this quickly, so just hold your breath, even if it's suffocating.'

It was then, as I was inevitably pushing the sacrifice onto him.

"Kkieeeeeeeeeek!"

The Chimera, having regained its senses, let out a murderous cry and rushed towards us at tremendous speed.

"Aack!"

Hugging Kassel, I quickly kicked off and dodged sideways.

Crunch!

Thanks to dodging by a hair's breadth, the monster, which ended up getting only a mouthful of pitiful water, gnashed its teeth savagely and immediately turned its head.

That bastard tilted its head left and right, as if gauging the angle to charge again.

Unlike outside the water, the Chimera was incredibly fast underwater, so the longer I faced it like this, the more disadvantageous it became for me.

"Kkuweeeeeeeek!"

Therefore, I immediately counterattacked, timing it with that bastard's next charge.

"Annihilate!"

[Lv.999 Annihilate skill has been activated.]

'MP -200'

MP 799

Whoosh!

Flames shot out like a flamethrower towards the Chimera, which had approached barely an inch away, baring its sharp fangs.

Even if it was a game world, fire attribute attacks were almost ineffective underwater.

However, by ignorantly pouring in magic power, one could at least create the form of fire, but its duration was extremely short, not enough to deal damage to a high-level monster.

I, too, hadn't committed this ignorant act with the intention of defeating the Chimera. The Chimera, hit squarely in the face, let out another terrible cry.

"Kkieeeeeek!"

Crackle, crackle!

Engulfed in flames, that bastard writhed its body wildly as if in agony.

'MP –100'

MP 699

Perhaps because of the underwater debuff, my magic power was being consumed several times faster than when using skills normally.

But there was no choice. To provoke that bastard in a short amount of time, this was the only way.

That bastard, which had been writhing and creating splashes for a while, quickly extinguished the fire on its body.

Besides, due to the skill's short duration, that bastard's HP bar hadn't even decreased much.

The situation was turning very unfavorable.

"Kkiiiiiii..."

Meanwhile, that bastard quickly recovered its wounds and glared at me from a distance.

'Got it.'

The higher the level, the higher the monster's intelligence tended to be, so attack patterns would also quickly change to ones more advantageous for killing the enemy.

That bastard, knowing it could be hit by a fire attack if it got close, didn't recklessly charge in to bite like before.

Chwaak, chwaaaaaak!

I sighed, feeling the previously calm current gradually speeding up.

At that moment, that bastard slowly opened its mouth.

I could see water swirling and being sucked into it.

The attack must be avoided when facing a Chimera underwater.

It was none other than the Water Cannon.

It could be called an extremely fucking annoying attack, with a very long duration, rapid direction changes following dodging users, and needless to say, deadly killing power.

Therefore, I stared intently at that bastard, tense.

And at that moment.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!

Without even a warning, that bastard began to shoot a swirling water cannon.

"Agh, Annihilate!"

Before the rough current hit and tore my flesh, no, before my HP dropped, I also hurriedly shouted a skill to counter it.

'MP -300'

MP 399

Just like the water cannon the Chimera was shooting, a fire cannon shot out rapidly from my side as well.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Water and fire collided midway, creating vibrations accompanied by a deafening roar. The lake churned violently.

Having poured in a lot of magic power, I held my ground against that bastard's attack for a while.

But no matter how much magic power I poured in, being underwater, it was absolutely disadvantageous for me.

The fire cannon began to be pushed back slightly.

"Ugh... Annihilate!"

[Lv.999 Annihilate skill has been activated.]

'MP -200'

MP 199

I forced myself to activate the skill one more time.

Magic power drained away rapidly, as if through a straw.

As a backlash, my vision blurred for an instant, and dizziness washed over me.

Whoosh!

But thanks to that, the momentum of the fire bomb, which had been pushed back slightly, grew stronger. I grit my teeth, pushed back that bastard's water bomb, and gradually pushed forward.

'MP –50'

'MP –50'

'MP –50'

MP 49

Wringing out my MP, I approached the Chimera step by step, finally reaching a spot quite close to that bastard.

A situation where if I just charged, I could roughly reach that bastard's torso.

Having confirmed the distance, I snatched the sword that had been in Kassel's hand until then, and pushed him away forcefully.

Then, bracing myself against the impending water bomb, I immediately charged towards the Chimera's neck.

"Sure Strike!"

[Lv.999 Sure Strike skill has been activated.]

'MP -40'

MP 9

Crunch!

Perhaps because he used quite a good sword, Kassel's sword pierced cleanly right below the Chimera's open maw without issue.

"Keok! Kkiiik...!"

The water bomb, which had been ceaselessly generated and pouring out, abruptly stopped.

The yellow snake eyes that popped wide open showed it was an unexpected ambush.

Before that bastard could thrash in its death throes and coil up, I put strength into the hand holding the sword and quickly sliced it.

Slice!

With the rather creepy sensation of something hard being cut, the Chimera's head separated cleanly from its torso.

Gurgle...

Perhaps because its nerves were still alive, that bastard's severed head clicked its jaws and slowly sank beneath the water's surface.

"Hoo..."

I almost couldn't finish it off due to lack of magic power.

Despite being in ice-cold water, I could feel cold sweat drenching my back.

I stared for a moment at the sinking Chimera head, then hurriedly turned around.

And I quickly swam towards Kassel, who had likewise been pushed away by me and was slowly sinking.

Fortunately, I was able to grab hold of him again before long.

"I used this well. But still, please use Lumiekar next time..."

I muttered weakly and roughly placed the borrowed sword back into his hand.

Now I had to get out of this damn lake quickly.

Because the Chimera's regenerative ability is extremely good...

"Kkiiiiiiiik..."

Having thought that far, I flinched and turned my head at the sudden ominous sound.

Far away, the Chimera's torso, which had been sinking faster than the head due to its weight, was standing rigidly in the middle of the water.

Flop.

The long body, stretching endlessly downwards, suddenly convulsed once like a seizure.

It wasn't because of still-living nerves. It was because that bastard was... really reviving.

'What? This fast...?!'

I was horrified seeing the unknown mass of flesh growing creepily from the severed surface.

No matter how outstanding the Chimera's regeneration was, why on earth was the head growing back split in two.

'Don't tell me...'

Only then did I remember the monster's characteristics I had completely forgotten.

The Chimera's heads not only regenerate again after being cut off…

But they grow back anew, doubled each time they are cut.

Meaning, the head of that bastard I had barely managed to defeat just moments ago by pouring out all my magic power, had doubled into two.