Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 49

Episode 49

'Huh?'

I stared at the system window, full of anticipation, but I was momentarily bewildered.

It was true that I had endured the damn centipede monster's attack while waiting for this moment...

But it had proceeded in a completely different way from the greatsword enhancement I knew.

'What's this 1%? And Level 999?!'

Level 999 wasn't just legendary. It was a super-rare mythical-grade item.

[O descendant who fights against wicked darkness without yielding.]

[Your path shall lie where the tip of this sword points.]

[With a 50% chance, you have succeeded in strengthening the Lv.200 Revived Hailey Family Heirloom.]

The Giga-Centipede was supposed to be defeated by the entire party, but since Adam was the one to pull the sword, it naturally became his exclusive weapon.

The greatsword's level upon a successful enhancement was definitely 200, as far as I knew.

It gets stronger later as you do various quests and its level rises, but definitely not this high.

"What in the world."

I looked down with a sense of dread at the super-rare mythical-grade weapon in my hand.

I had worked as an operator for quite a long time, but I had never heard or seen of such a rare item dropping from the sealed monster quest.

Vroooooom...

It was then.

The blinding light and fierce vibration pouring from the sword gradually subsided.

After everything fell silent, I was left holding a giant, bizarre sword.

"What is this?"

I frowned at the sword's appearance.

After the enhancement, even the wavy part that had been regenerated with the Essence of Darkness was supposed to have straightened out, returning to the shape of a normal sword.

But the blade, which had only been wavy on the broken half, was now wavy all over, including the part that had been straight and intact.

It wasn't a uniform wave, either, but uneven and sleek, truly like the slithering body of a snake.

On top of that, the hilt had a fancy, weird wing shape carved in white.

'...It looks just like a magical girl's weapon.'

Yes, it didn't look like a sword, but some kind of ruddy magic wand.

Just as I was staring with a grim look at the sword in my hand.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk-tsst."

At the sound, which was now quite familiar, I snapped my head up.

The Giga-Centipede, having finished its poison fire attack, was slowly closing its real maw, its layered teeth rotating back into place.

'No!'

I quickly re-gripped the sword I had been holding loosely while staring at the wing pattern.

The yellow eye above the real maw, which only opened when it shot flames.

That was the beast's greatest weakness.

Hitting its body, of course, did damage, but the hard shell, characteristic of an arthropod, prevented a critical hit.

Therefore, I had to unleash a fierce attack inside its maw right after the flame attack.

Unlike the normal strategy of repeating phases, I was using an abnormal one, and this was my first and last chance.

'HP -10'

HP 142

My health was still ticking down due to the poison, even though the attack was over.

And it was because of the one hour that was almost up.

"Hup!"

There was no time to hesitate. I immediately raised the sword and kicked off the ground, leaping.

I began to run up the centipede's long body, which was tilted back from breathing fire.

Even tilted back, the slope was steep, and the glossy shell was awfully slippery.

Whenever I slipped, I used my free hand to grab the disgusting, horrific centipede legs and clawed my way up.

Thankfully, my steps were quite light, maybe because most of the cumbersome robe had burned away.

Thwack!

I ran full-speed up the centipede's body with all my might and finally stepped on the hard jaw protruding below its maw, leaping high into the air.

Into the air, much higher than the centipede's body length.

The dizzying sensation, like being at the highest point of a roller coaster just before the drop, lasted only a moment.

The beast's center, in the deepest part, was already closing, disappearing behind its teeth into a small gap.

Gripping the sword with two hands, I raised my arms high and descended rapidly toward the centipede's slightly open maw.

It had seemed so far on the way up, but the fall was instantaneous.

Kiiieek, Kwad-deu-deu-deuk!

With a gruesome sound, the wavy sword tip shattered countless teeth and plunged violently inside.

I hadn't even used a skill, but the power of the mythical-grade weapon, amplified by acceleration, was immense.

So much so that my worries seemed pointless.

Puuuk.

Lumiekar, having entered the deep maw smoothly, finally stabbed into the squishy crystalline lens.

"Kieeeeeeeeek!"

The monster, its weak point gouged, shrieked terribly, as they always do.

Before it could thrash its body in a desperate attempt to throw me off.

I calmly shouted.

"Sure Strike."

'MP -30'

MP 1

At the same time as my mana, which had recovered just in the nick of time, depleted again.

[Lv.999 Sure Strike skill is activated.]

A hot energy rushed through my hands.

Lumiekar's hilt absorbed it easily, then expelled the energy explosively through the sword's tip.

Peok.

I heard a sound like a small explosion from inside where the sword was embedded.

I was inwardly relieved. It seemed the Giga-Centipede's tough eyeball had burst in one go.

But the heat erupting from my fingertips didn't end there.

Kwajik, Kwadeudeuk.

I heard the bizarre sound of bones breaking, beyond just the teeth.

My body, which had been braced on the beast's jaw, began to slip down...

Kwa-deu-deuk!

The blade sliced through not just the maw, but the jawbone as well, poking out the other side, and I began to plummet like an arrow.

"Ugh!"

This time, the dizziness of falling from the top of a roller coaster truly took over my mind.

My hair standing on end, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Ududuk, Udududuk.

But the constant shuddering I felt in my hands forced my eyes open.

"...This sword is insane."

My body wasn't just falling; it was falling with the sword lodged deep in the Giga-Centipede's body.

The intermittent, dull sensations I felt in my hand were the byproduct of the blade slicing through the beast's hard shell and bones.

As I fell like lightning, splitting the giant centipede's body in half like a long green onion, I managed to kick off just before hitting the ground.

The recoil from pulling the embedded sword out even made me perform a mid-air flip.

Tadak! I barely landed on the floor.

Kuuuuuung!

The centipede monster's body, half-split, collapsed with a deafening roar.

It was completely dead.

Should I be glad that the upper part of its maw was still attached, keeping it from splitting into two?

Thanks to that, all the disgusting things inside it weren't scattered in every direction.

"Ha..."

Shaking the black blood off the blade, I let out a slightly weary sigh.

I had landed safely on two feet without any injuries, but I felt 10 years older.

For one, my concept was 'peerless beauty, genius apothecary,' so I had never done such strenuous movements while playing this game.

HP 112

And it wasn't just a feeling; my health really was in critical condition.

"No!"

I quickly pulled out and drank one mid-grade potion and one lizard vocal cord potion.

HP 315

My health rose quite a bit, but it was too early to celebrate.

I was hit with a penalty from the centipede's poison: my health would continuously drain until I cured it.

The sealed monster was dead, so the disaster was over.

I had no idea when Adam, not to mention the people from the Count's estate, would swarm in, so I hurried.

[You have acquired one Lv.99 Giga-Centipede Essence.]

[You have acquired 100 Lv.99 Giga-Centipede Legs.]

[You have acquired two Lv.99 Giga-Centipede Antennae.]

[You have acquired the Lv.99 Giga-Centipede Shell...]

'Must protect my rewards, absolutely.'

First, I grabbed everything that looked valuable.

After doing that, I remembered something I had completely forgotten.

"Right, the Male Lead!"

I scrambled over to where I had hidden the Male Lead.

Without hesitation, I dug through the building rubble, pulled out the man I had shoved into a gap, and laid him gently on a relatively clean spot.

As I bent over to do so, my pink hair suddenly cascaded over Kassel's sleeping face like a waterfall.

"Crap. I... I looked like this the whole time?!"

I finally looked at my own appearance and was horrified.

The robe, tattered by the beast's flames, looked like a half-burnt rag.

The hood was also gone, except for a small piece at the back of my head.

Thanks to that, my face, my hair, and my fancy costume dress, all of which I had been desperately hiding, were completely exposed.

"Ouch."

A sudden stinging sensation made me jump and check the source of the pain.

The hand I had kept raised to protect my face from the pouring flames was red and raw.

The NPC-only shabby robe was especially resistant to fire.

Thanks to it holding out until the very end, I was mostly fine and uninjured, but...

Wearing a singed rag over a shining white dress, covered in black soot and ash, I looked like a crazy woman.

Thankfully, the Male Lead was sleeping soundly through all the chaos.

"Whew..."

I let out a sigh of relief, and was checking him thoroughly for any injuries.

"...Ngh."

Suddenly, with a low groan, Kassel's fine brow furrowed.

Then his eyelids began to twitch.

Just as the developers had promised, it seemed the disaster had already ended with the monster's death.

'This is bad. I have to bolt!'

A chill ran down my spine as I remembered the bastard who had been screaming he'd kill me right before he fell asleep.

"Here, take this."

I quickly shoved Lumiekar, which I was holding, into Kassel's hand.

His grip kept going limp, but I forcibly stuffed it into his hand.

My health, which had been continuously draining from the poison, signaled that my time was up.

HP 105

HP 110

Thanks to the lizard potion I'd drunk, my HP bar was flickering, dropping and then immediately rising a tiny bit, over and over.

'Forced recall, soon.'

I glanced nervously at my HP bar, then suddenly snapped at him in a sarcastic tone.

"Let's just say the apothecary who was with you saw the monster and ran away."

"..."

"What a shame. The assassin ran off without slitting your throat."

He kept asking if I was an assassin.

I wondered what kind of expression he'd make when he woke up and realized that very 'assassin' had saved his life and even handed him a legendary sword.

I wanted to mock him more, but I was out of time.

Pouting, I finally explained seriously why I was giving him the sword.

"Therefore, Your Highness alone defeated the Hailey family's sealed monster."

Not some mere apothecary.

'It'd be best if he can't remember anything before the disaster, but...'

Not that it really mattered whether Kassel was listening to me right now or not.

"And this sword... if you can, give it back to Adam Hailey and command his loyalty as payment."

After all, the situation I had created would ensure things flowed that way regardless.