Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 83

Episode 83

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"Move it properly, you bastard."

I saw the gargoyle shaking precariously up and down in the air, turned my head, and snapped at him.

At that, Ballakk, incensed, stuck his head out and shouted in dissatisfaction.

"Eek...! Does using magic and controlling it like this look like an easy job!"

"Don't slack off. Do your best."

"D, does this look like I'm slacking off... Huk, huk. Aigoo, I'm dying..."

The bastard let out a pained groan, dripping with cold sweat.

Indeed, the task of controlling the cursed doll while hugging a gargoyle his own size and holding its claw looked overwhelming at a glance.

For some reason, that sight made Elaine's words suddenly pop into my head, and a snort of laughter escaped.

"Noona must have brought him to use him for something nefarious, right?"

Just as he'd said, I had brought Ballakk along and was using him to the fullest.

Thanks to that crazy Kassel's drive, the entire game's progression was moved up, causing changes to all the sub-quests.

The 'Saintess's Procession Quest' that occurs right before the Hero Selection Tournament.

Originally, heretics were supposed to attack the Saintess's party as they were returning after smoothly completing the procession.

The user's role was to help the holy knights and defeat them.

It's a cliché story where you get caught up in a curse and go with the Saintess to the Temple for purification.

However, I'm not a user, just a mere Apothecary NPC.

Because of that, I racked my brain over and over, wondering how I could successfully complete this quest and enter the Temple.

I had no achievements built up to just toss off my shabby robe and start acting like a hero now.

On top of that, the developers delivered some absurd news.

GM Jinu: The heretics aren't ready yet.

It meant that because the schedule was suddenly moved up, the heretics, due to unfavorable circumstances, had given up on their plan to attack the touring Saintess.

'What kind of villains just give up on their plan? What kind of game is this?'

I was so dumbfounded that I raised hell, asking how I was supposed to get into the Grand Temple then.

This was because the main quest would only open if you went to the Grand Temple through this Saintess's Procession Quest before the Hero Selection Tournament.

[~Main Quest!~

Find and make contact with the third companion, and uncover the Temple's vile secret.]

There's one thing here that users easily get wrong.

Since they're going to the Grand Temple, they naturally assume the third main character is the 'Saintess'.

Of course, that wasn't wrong.

Because in the actual game promotional materials, a beautiful female character who looks identical to the Saintess appears...

Because of that, users never imagined there would be another person who looked identical to the Saintess.

'That's why everyone later cried tears of blood and reset when he died...'

This buggy, shitty, flopped game has a few branching points where users can't take it anymore and quit, and this was one of them.

Since the scenario was in full swing, the 'Game Over' from a main character's sudden death dealt a huge shock to the users.

That's right.

The third main character's mental fortitude was no different from a sunfish, so if you weren't careful, there was a chance they'd just die.

Because of that, I already had to be on edge and make contact carefully, but now my path was blocked before I could even set foot in the Grand Temple.

Me: If there's no heretic attack, how the hell am I supposed to get involved with the Saintess!!!

GM Ari: We will disable all Apothecary NPCs in the capital. ㅠ

All I got in response to my rampage was the developer bastards' irresponsible comment.

It meant they would make me the only apothecary, just like in the Hailey domain before, so I should use that to find my own way into the Grand Temple.

'These XXX bastards, talking nonsense again!'

I was so dumbfounded I couldn't hold back my swearing.

I'd need someone who was injured or needed a potion's function, like for sleep or insomnia, to act as an apothecary.

First of all, there were no such sub-quests in the Temple, and besides, holy water resolved most things.

Me: What's the point of an apothecary when there's holy water.

GM Sera: Hoobae. The Saintess is human, not a god, so she is not a perfect being.

GM Sera: Typically, she cannot use her healing power on herself.

Me: She's not an idiot. She'd obviously be carrying a ton of healing potions and stuff.

GM Jinu: Oh. Looks like you got a little smarter.

A dry laugh burst out of me at Jinu's sarcastic-sounding compliment.

In most games, healer characters didn't really need potions.

During battle, the damage-dealing characters would protect the healer anyway, so they wouldn't get hurt.

Furthermore, the 'Saintess' was a special existence in this game; she used divine power for her skills, so she didn't even need mana potions.

Her defense was high, too, so she wasn't easily affected by poison or curses.

At best, she couldn't use her healing power on herself, so she might need a few healing potions, but...

'If she's a Saintess, she'd obviously carry a few S-grade healing potions as first aid.'

In the end, it meant I had no justification to enter the Grand Temple claiming to be an apothecary.

There was a way to participate in the Hero Selection Tournament and choose a dungeon near the Grand Temple, but there was a big problem.

As an NPC, I can't even participate in the tournament. Dammit.

'Should I just use an invisibility potion and force my way in? Or maybe, get rid of a priest and disguise myself...'

It was just as I was racking my brain, thinking of ways to get into the Grand Temple, and my thoughts were heading in an increasingly extreme direction.

As if reading my mind, Sera's chats popped up one after another.

GM Sera: Even Adam did not know the exact name of his sister's illness until you gave him the potion.

GM Sera: I say again, the Saintess is also human, and thus not perfect...

Me: So, what's this allergy the Saintess has?!

So I decided.

Since the villain had disappeared, I would take on the villain's role myself.

Fortunately, I had a card I could play to pretend to be a heretic.

Namely, the black mage bastard Ballakk and the cursed items I'd taken from him.

A plan was quickly formed to use those to trigger the Saintess's allergy.

However, there was one problem with that plan.

It was that the Cursed Doll that Reflects Souls, true to its name, could only reflect the soul of the being holding the controller.

Therefore, I hassled the developers the day before to find out that the monster mobilized for the Saintess's procession was a 'gargoyle', went out into the field, and caught one alive.

It was just a matter of hitting it with a Stun to knock it out, so it was a very simple task for me.

However, it probably wasn't a simple task for Ballakk, who had to control it by hugging the unconscious gargoyle and holding its claw, which was attached to the end of its wing.

[Lv.35 Cursed Doll that Reflects a Gargoyle's Soul]

It was a rather crude method, but Ballakk controlled the monster puppet quite successfully.

"Huk, huk... W, we're almost there! Get ready!"

The bastard Ballakk, who was half-hidden by the large gargoyle's bulk, suddenly shouted pitifully at me.

I, who had been leisurely watching the bastard struggle, turned my head at his words and gazed out of the alley.

I could see one gargoyle, staggering as if it had eaten something bad, slowly descending toward the Saintess's party.

A moment later, when the puppet reached the air above their heads.

I muttered quietly and swung the knife I was holding.

"Sure Strike."

Lv.999 Sure Strike skill has been activated.

Seogeok!

Even though it was a short kitchen knife and not a combat sword, the gargoyle's head was sliced off cleanly, like cutting a radish.

I'd bought it in a hurry at the market before coming here, but it was sufficient to achieve my goal, even if it wasn't an attack item.

"Euaaak! B, blood!"

Ballakk, who was completely covered in the gushing monster blood, let out a sharp shriek and shoved the gargoyle's corpse away as if having a seizure.

This was the same bastard who'd been tearing at and eating monsters in the black market because he was low on mana. It was ridiculous.

"Why. It's blood full of that mana you like, isn't it?"

"Ptewy, ptewy! Something this low-grade barely has any mana and just stinks disgustingly!"

When I asked, dumbfounded, the bastard retorted irritably.

I was amazed at the bastard's reaction.

To think he still had the energy to be picky about such things, even after being worked viciously as a slave for days on end.

It seemed you needed that level of mental fortitude and guts to be the head of a criminal organization using a puppet.

Pyushuuuuuk...

"P, poison gas!"

"Someone released poison gas!"

The gargoyle that had fallen, its head severed, spewed black smoke as expected.

It looked no different from when I had attacked Ballakk's puppet in the black market.

Unlike the people's urgent shouts, what the gargoyle puppet was spewing wasn't poison.

"Ahem, hem. Hem... Keoheuk!"

Unfortunately, the Saintess, who had inhaled the smoke, could be seen letting out a violent cough a moment later.

GM Ari: It's a mushroom allergy.

It was Ari who had told me about the illness the Saintess had.

Therefore, what the gargoyle puppet had spewed was a minor curse generated by black magic, and… inky cap mushroom spores.