Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 65

Episode 65

Lv.999 Stun skill has been activated.

'MP -900'

MP 99

My MP dropped drastically in an instant.

It couldn't be helped, as I'd used it on a wide range and numerous targets.

"Did... you... just use... magic...?"

Puppet Ballakk asked in a bewildered voice.

Because I'd moved the mic away, the incantation I shouted was so quiet only he could barely hear it.

Since the scenery before him hadn't changed, it seemed difficult for him to grasp what had happened.

"Who knows."

I gave a vague answer and just smiled.

I could feel him scanning me, but he wouldn't be able to be certain.

For having used magic, nothing in the auction hall had changed at all.

"Anyway, I have no intention of swapping the slave. So, see you."

I muttered with a shrug.

I then bypassed the slow-moving bastard and quickly approached the fallen raccoon.

Perhaps freed from the head-splitting pain thanks to the commotion I'd caused, Elaine was staggering to his feet and taking care of the young elf.

"On three, jump down."

I whispered quickly, helping him up.

Elaine's eyes, looking at me, were colored with bewilderment.

He seemed to be asking if this was really okay.

"Wait, customer...!"

Ballakk's puppet belatedly tried to stop me.

I looked back at the bastard one last time and warned him.

"You probably shouldn't just stand there like that."

"Yes? What..."

"One."

Just as the bastard was looking bewildered at me suddenly counting.

Hwiiiiiik!

A fierce gale suddenly raged inside the auction hall.

"Ugh!"

"What! What's going on!"

People ducked their heads, terrified by the sudden gust.

Fortunately, my hair was tied up, giving me a clear view. I endured the stinging in my eyes and nervously watched the source of the gale.

Hwiiiiik. Flap, flap!

The wind blowing from behind the stage made the stretch of cloth, which I'd mistaken for a wall, flap wildly.

They had hidden the entire massive passage with a dark curtain so it couldn't be seen well from the audience.

Thanks to that, I was completely fooled.

But the raging wind shook the curtain, undoing the camouflage, and the scene inside began to show glimpses.

As expected, the cages were much larger than the ones holding the slaves.

The contents trapped inside were all limp and motionless.

On top of that, there were organization bastards collapsed here and there near the passage entrance.

'As expected.'

I smiled triumphantly, enduring my stinging eyes as I watched.

It was only natural. I had poured '900 MP' into it; it would have been a disaster if I'd accidentally used the skill on the place where the slaves were held.

There were three passages behind the stage.

They led to the surface, the monster prison, and the slave prison, respectively.

The gameplay video I remembered didn't show the cloth camouflaged as a wall, so I had some trouble.

Ballakk came from the far left, so that obviously wasn't the monster prison.

And because of the commotion I caused, the slave traders came from the right passage, so that one was out too.

Just then, I saw one of the organization members emerge from the middle, parting the cloth, so I fired the area-of-effect stun right at the middle passage.

It was then. Kung, kung, kung.

"Kkueeeeeeek!"

A heavy echo and a sudden beast's cry filled the entire underground space.

"What, just now?"

"Isn't that a monster's cry?"

The people, disoriented by the sudden wind, looked at each other with frightened faces.

"Go see... what's happening...!"

Glancing back at Puppet Ballakk, he too was hassling his subordinates with a clueless expression.

Since he was much taller than me, he must have seen the view between the cloths more clearly.

He must have been quite flustered, seeing not only the captured monsters but also his own subordinates, whom he'd assigned in large numbers in case of danger, all collapsed.

Jiiing, jiiing, jiiiiiiing

At that moment.

Feeling a subtle shift in the wildly swirling air currents, I immediately shouted to Elaine.

"Two, three! Jump!"

I pulled him along, ran straight to a less crowded area, and jumped off the stage.

"Oof!"

"Stay glued to the wall."

It was the moment I crouched down, pressing my back flat against the plywood making up the stage.

Kwaaaaaaak!

A thick, bright blue beam of light suddenly shot out horizontally from the middle passage.

I could see the blue beam pass over the top of my head, letting off pabak, pabak sparks.

"Get down!"

I quickly grabbed the back of Elaine's head, who was standing stiffly as if trying to see the situation on stage, and pushed him down.

"Uwaaaaak!"

"Evacuate!"

"Urk!"

People who grasped the situation late screamed and fled, but those who couldn't escape in time...

Lost parts of their bodies and died instantly.

I would have preferred if only Ballakk and the Dark Society bastards were annihilated.

But crouched down, all I could see were a few headless gentlemen standing in front of the stage, unable to dodge.

"Ugh!"

I quickly turned my head, shuddering at the horrific sight.

Kwaaaaaaaaak!

The blue beam, which had lasted for 10 seconds, seemed to gradually thin out and finally stopped.

Pajeut, pajijik!

Threatening sparks still crackled in the path the beam had swept.

A brief silence.

Hwiiiik!

Following that, a strong gust of wind raged, and something shot out from the stage like an arrow.

"Kkuweweweweek!"

In the blink of an eye, I saw a massive object, larger than a passenger car, flying rapidly around the dark underground cavern, shrieking.

A body covered in coarse brown fur like an African elephant, thick legs, and the sharp talons of a bird of prey.

Kwang! Kwajik!

As if searching for an exit, the bastard was pecking here and there with its large, strong beak.

"Uwaaak! The monster's loose!"

"It's a Thunder Bird! A Thunder Bird!"

"Run!"

People began to flee in unison, escaping the rampaging monster.

[Lv.150 Thunder Elephant Bird]

It was the ancient monster I had personally awakened to rampage.

The Thunder Elephant Bird was a monster that, true to its name, emitted a thunder-like beam of electricity.

Originally, the bastard is supposed to be bound in chains by the Dark Society bastards and rampage the moment it ascends to the auction stage.

The workers, lacking knowledge of ancient monsters, had unknowingly struck it with electric batons, just as they did with other monsters.

But electricity was the source of the Thunder Elephant Bird's power.

Regaining its strength bit by bit with every strike, the bastard was supposed to break its chains and rampage just before getting on stage.

Subduing that Thunder Elephant Bird was the sub-quest that appeared in the 'Black Market Slave Liberation' scenario.

'Anyway, because of this bastard Elaine, the monster subdual sub-quest almost became a distant dream.'

To awaken the Thunder Elephant Bird, I had no choice but to pour my MP into unleashing 'Stun' on every being in the monster prison.

It was the only electric-current magic among the basic skills.

'Dammit.'

I shot a glare at Elaine, who was staying put with his head pressed down, and reluctantly let go.

I wanted to smack him on the back of the head, but I didn't have time for that.

I hurriedly lifted my upper body and cautiously checked the stage.

Except for those who had died or been injured by the Thunder Elephant Bird, the stage was now empty.

But even amid all that, there was one being standing tall in the center.

[Lv.200 Puppet Ballakk]

The bastard stood there blankly with a gaping hole punched through the middle of his stomach.

'What a monster.'

A hole must have appeared on the doll held by the real bastard by now.

He'll be preoccupied for a while trying to patch it up.

As proof, I could see the gaping hole in the puppet's stomach slowly starting to fill in from the edges.

It might only be for a moment, but I had been given a brief window to catch the monster.

'Right. I should be glad poison gas isn't streaming out of the hole.'

In any case, the Thunder Bird had moved as I expected, so I decided to think optimistically.

Puppet Ballakk was extremely tricky to deal with.

This was because if you attacked him with a weapon like a sword or arrow, he would spray a deadly poison until that part recovered.

If you inhaled it, you'd be given a continuous penalty, just like with the Giga-Centipede before.

The strategy to prevent that was to sear him with fire or electricity.

But even that was just a temporary fix.

As long as you didn't take care of the real doll held by the bastard's main body, that puppet would not die.

'I have to find the main body and destroy it. Fast.'

The moment I thought that, someone tapped me. Tuk, tuk.

I quickly looked up, and Elaine was looking at me with a bright expression.

Perhaps the high-grade artifact's effect had worn off; he had returned from a raccoon-kin to his original green hair and clear face.

"Are you crazy?"

Seeing that, anger suddenly flared up.

I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and whispered in a suppressed voice.

"I told you to just bring the laurel crown. Look at this mess, all because of you!"

"Kkueeeeeeek!"

As if to punctuate my words, the beast's cry was heard from afar.

I glanced sideways at the Thunder Elephant Bird, which was still rampaging.

This wasn't the time for this.

Taking a deep breath and calming my anger, I spoke quickly, as if biting my words.

"Listen carefully, Elaine. The plan is a complete mess, so you need to evacuate the slaves right now."

Since Elaine probably undid all their restraints beforehand, I figured most of them must have escaped during this chaos.

But there would definitely be slaves still tied up by the restraints, unable to do anything, so someone had to urge them.

Anyway, because of the hole and the rampaging monster, Ballakk wouldn't have the luxury of worrying about the slaves for a while.

"And you, just help the slaves escape and then come right back. You have to help clean up the shit you started."

"..."

"Unfortunately, there are no more invisibility potions. So if you have any conscience, you'll come back and do as I..."

I suddenly stopped talking, realizing Elaine had been quiet this whole time.

"But why aren't you answering? You can't talk?"

He shook his head.

That made my heart sink even more.

"What, did Ballakk cut out your...!"

"Ptooey!"

At that moment, Elaine suddenly spat something into his palm and held that filthy thing out to me.

"I had some trouble stealing this, Teacher Apothecary-noona. Hehe."

The shiny object revealed on his palm was none other than the necklace with the coin-shaped green gemstone.