Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 40

Episode 40

With the page-terrorism as my background music, I reached the top of the Tower at a truly astonishing speed.

Bang!

"Pant, pant. It's Shari!"

My greeting was getting less polite and more like a mere announcement of my presence, but I didn't have time to worry about that.

I hurriedly lowered my gaze, checking his feet before even looking at Kassel.

"Did you drink all the potions again?!"

Thankfully, three or four glass bottles, full of purple liquid, were rolling on the floor.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Right, I had definitely checked the time before leaving the estate.

It was before midnight, and even if it passed midnight, I had left him enough to last for about another hour.

Come to think of it, for that amount, the number of remaining potion bottles is ridiculously small.

"I told you not to drink them all at once."

I frowned and lifted my gaze from the floor.

The moonlight coming through the window hole reached exactly to Kassel's feet.

It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness-laden prison.

That's why I didn't notice it right away.

"Or did the duration shorten..."

The moment I took a step closer to Kassel and asked, the smell of iron hit my face.

Drip, drip.

I heard the sound of water droplets falling from somewhere.

Two red fires lit up in the place where there had only been a black void.

"How did you get back."

His eyes now open, he looked up at me and asked.

His voice was heavy with exhaustion, unlike before I left the prison.

"Did you really beg the Count to lock you in the same cell? Stupid."

He insulted me with a light breath, but I couldn't feel any anger at it.

"Your hand..."

Drip, drip. Again, I heard the sound of water falling.

It was from Kassel's hand. The liquid soaking his hand dripped to the floor and pooled.

But it wasn't water...

"Wh-what's wrong with your hand?"

It was bright red blood.

The moment I realized it, my legs gave out from under me, and I collapsed in front of him.

His blood-soaked hand was suddenly much closer.

Because of that, I could see his condition much more clearly.

He was gripping a handful of small, glittering objects that reflected the moonlight, squeezing with all his might.

It was a scene so brutal and horrific it made me shudder.

"F-first, unclench your fist."

"..."

"...I said unclench your hand. You're bleeding!"

I momentarily lost my mind over the Male Lead bastard, who didn't even flinch.

Forgetting to be cautious, I reached out and snatched his hand.

Then I forcibly pried open his clenched fist.

Fortunately, I wasn't lacking in strength either, so I was able to easily open his tightly balled hand.

"What are you doing? Let go."

His blood-red eyes wavered in shock for a moment, but I ignored him and did the same to his other hand.

Clink. With the sound, the things Kassel was gripping scattered onto the floor.

They were glass shards.

Even after I forced his hands open, his palms were tattered to a gruesome degree.

It was only natural, as tiny shards of glass were embedded all over them.

"These are potion bottles, aren't they?"

There was no need to wonder where he'd gotten them.

The cause of his shredded hands was still piled up beside him like a mountain.

"Ha..."

And I, the person who made them, was speechless at this ridiculous situation.

After I decided to play the game, I had changed all the bottles, except for the sunlight potions, from regular glass to reinforced glass.

It wouldn't matter as long as they were in my inventory, but it was to prepare for any unforeseen attacks or battles.

Thanks to that, they hadn't broken even when that bastard Kassel kicked them.

But, to break such hard glass... just how much strength had he used?

"Why... Why did you crush them and hold them? Are you crazy?"

The nauseating smell of blood hit my face.

It was so strong and foul that I wondered how I hadn't noticed it sooner.

My chest tightened, and my voice rose without me realizing it.

"You still had potions left! So why...!"

"The duration shortened."

Kassel calmly recited the answer I had been expecting.

"I didn't know if you'd come back or not. I had to save a few as a last resort."

"I told you I'd definitely come back."

"A thief who got dragged away for stealing?"

He added with a sarcastic smirk.

"It's nothing to worry about. It's just messy because I don't have a sword."

He coolly withdrew his hand from my grasp.

I was dumbfounded.

The fact that he had self-harmed to stay awake was more shocking than the potion's duration shortening.

Kassel was right.

Unaware of the situation at the estate, he had every reason to believe that I, a criminal who'd been dragged away, would not return.

'Should I have left more potions?'

I had a surplus of them anyway. I felt a belated regret.

But ironically, the reason I hadn't left more potions was also because of Kassel.

'If this crazy bastard hadn't chugged all the ones I gave him from the start...'

My mind grew complicated with useless thoughts.

A sigh escaped me as I looked at him, his expression not even contorting, as if it didn't hurt.

"...You didn't have to go this far."

I muttered in a dark voice as I took a healing potion from my pocket.

I was well aware of the lore that Kassel sometimes self-harmed to stay awake.

But seeing it in person was on a completely different level from just knowing about it.

His palm, still cut and torn with glass shards embedded here and there.

The blood gushing from it was just too brutal and destructive.

If his hand was like this, just how deep and gruesome were the scars all over his naked body?

As I was frowning and opening the healing potion, he suddenly shot back.

"Then what should I do?"

"..."

"Whether the country goes to hell, whether we all fall into hell together, damn it. Should I just sleep peacefully?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked at him.

For someone who was challenging me, his face was calm.

He wasn't making any expression, but seeing his eyes, which were boiling with ferocity, I could tell he was extremely displeased.

No, he had been displeased and prickly ever since we first met.

It was only natural for a person who was being forcibly kept awake.

But.

'...Why is he trying so hard to stop the disaster?'

A question I'd never had before suddenly bubbled up.

At least I had the justification of needing to see the damn ending.

If I were him right now, I wouldn't have been able to fight off the drowsiness.

I might have tried to stay awake, but I don't think I would have gone so far as to mangle my own body and bleed like this.

It's an irresponsible thing to say, but honestly, even if people were dying, it's not like I would be dying immediately.

'Is it because he's a Crown Prince? You know, that royal elitism thing?'

For a psychopath who tries to kill users if they displease him.

The sight of Kassel fighting tooth and nail to stop the disaster just seemed bizarre.

"...This isn't a high-grade potion, so it might not heal perfectly. You should be careful using your hands for a while."

I moved my hand, which had paused, 'Pop!' went the healing potion's cap, and I poured it evenly over his palm.

Using a medium-grade healing potion instead of a high-grade one was my belated revenge.

"Did you really beg the Count to lock you in the same cell? Stupid."

'You're the stupid one.'

He treated me, the great apothecary and player, like an idiot. This bastard needed to feel a little more pain.

As soon as the blue liquid touched Kassel's hand, it glowed brightly.

Plink, pl-plink.

New flesh filled the torn areas in an instant, and the large and small glass shards that were deeply embedded were pushed out, falling to the floor one by one.

In the process, the wounds opened again, and blood gushed out.

It couldn't be helped, as a healing potion literally just heals the wounds.

"...Ugh. Should I give you a pain potion, too?"

Watching the process of his tattered, rag-like palm healing, I couldn't help but let out a strange groan.

"Don't need it."

He refused coldly.

Seeing that the wounds had all healed, he roughly shook off the remaining blood.

Then he picked up one of the Insomnia Potions rolling on the floor, immediately opened the cap, and drank it.

'Whatever, bastard. You should be grateful when it's offered. You don't even know how precious potions are...'

I grumbled internally, side-eyeing his Adam's apple.

But even though Kassel had refused, a corner of my heart still felt uncomfortable.

I hesitated, then spoke up around the time he casually tossed the empty potion bottle onto the floor.

"...It's my fault."

He looked back at me, as if to say, "What nonsense is this?"

It was unfair to me, but in any case, he had reason not to trust me this time.

I glared at the empty potion bottles rolling at his feet as if they were my mortal enemy and slowly spat out the words.

"I gave you low-quality potions and, to top it off, I left. In any case, I apologize."

"You do know some shame, I see."

He snorted at my apology.

A deep anger rose up, but I barely suppressed it.

In any case, Kassel had gotten hurt because of my carelessness, and if he got pissed off and tried to kill me again, that would be a big problem.

Besides, this was an emergency situation where, on top of the disaster, the sealed monster quest might open.

For the sake of smooth game progression, it was better to humor the Male Lead.

Just as I was thinking that, bowing my head in apology.

"Enough. What's the point of blaming now."

A softened voice suddenly fell from above my head.

"Well, that's true, but..."

Was it okay to relax now?

It was when I tore my eyes away from the potion bottles I'd been staring at and looked at Kassel.

He suddenly whipped his head away from me.

"If we're talking blame, I should've been beheaded and thrown in a fire pit the moment I was born."

That was a horrific thing to say. I naturally frowned.

"Do you have to talk like..."

"What."

"Nothing."

I was about to ask if he had to talk like shit, but I shut my mouth at the glaring eyes that snapped back at me.

At the same time.

The Lord of Nightmares feels displeasure at your actions.

My face crumpled miserably at the system window that popped up.

'Ugh, why is he throwing a fit even when I apologize...!'

I muttered curses as dissatisfaction welled up, then suddenly looked back at Kassel with a new expression.

Seeing him staring deadly at somewhere else, avoiding my eyes, just like I had done a moment ago...

'Don't tell me... was that his twisted way of comforting me?'

But the blunt remark that came next shattered my grand delusion.

"What are you looking at? Lower your gaze."