Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 9

Episode 9

I was a little surprised.

'What the. Why?'

I knew Adam was a serious character, so it was very rare for him to scoff and mock someone.

GM Jinu: Throwing a glass bottle to wake him up is humanitarian? So cruel.

On top of that, the elementary schooler's sarcastic chat suddenly popped into my head for some reason, and I frowned as hard as I could.

'Then why don't you come up with a better idea...!'

Forcing down the urge to say that, I shrugged my shoulders.

"Won't it heal faster than being stoned?"

Kkii-ik.

As if it wasn't even worth answering, Adam shot up from his seat before my words even finished.

"Follow me."

My plan to give him the potions and leave was shattered, and I ended up trudging after him.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Adam and the adjutant led me through a secret back passage to an old tower located on the north side of the Count's estate.

Only after endlessly climbing a staircase that looked to be at least 10 stories high was I able to reach the top floor where the Male Lead was imprisoned.

Standing in front of the thick iron door, Adam asked, his eyes still unconvinced.

"How many potions did you prepare?"

"I prepared about 1,000."

"...What?"

He spun around to look at me, his face shocked.

It was understandable.

He probably never dreamed I would have made so many potions in such a short time.

Besides, about 100 would have been enough for the game.

"I figured the more, the better."

When I answered confidently, Adam, who had been silent for a moment, asked again.

"...Have you perhaps heard of the Lord of Nightmares?"

"No."

It was still the beginning of the game, so the Lord of Nightmares's infamy hadn't spread widely yet.

At my answer, Adam nodded with an 'as I thought' expression and explained the quest.

"Your job is to stop that prisoner from falling asleep for three days, no matter what it takes. If you succeed, you will be paid 100,000 gold coins."

I was already coin-rich, so 100,000 felt like pocket change, but I nodded my head as if I were delighted.

No system window popped up since I was an NPC, but I instinctively knew the quest had begun.

"Bill, prepare a room in the mansion for the apothecary to stay."

"Yes, Count."

After the brief explanation, Adam handed me a large key.

"This is the key to the prison door. The prisoner is bound with magically engraved chains, so the possibility of escape is extremely low, but just in case, be sure to lock the door when you enter or leave."

"Thank you. I will do my best."

As if that was all he had to say, Adam turned his back, the adjutant in tow.

I stood in front of the iron door, holding the key he had given me.

'Come to think of it, did I play this far?'

I finished playing a lot sooner than I thought.

Of course, I knew the subsequent game progress well from watching the highlight videos users uploaded countless times, but...

'To think I'd be seeing the Male Lead behind the door in person, not in someone else's gameplay video.'

It felt a little strange.

Most users who hadn't been spoiled didn't know that the man they saw in this quest was the Male Lead.

That's why the community forums were periodically flooded with posts full of shock from users who later found out the Male Lead's identity.

Since I was an operator, I knew all the spoilers and, of course, the Male Lead's identity better than anyone.

Even so, now that I was about to face him in person, my heart was pounding a little...

'Pounding, my ass. Just think about finishing this quickly and logging out.'

I coldly shook off the strange feeling and immediately stuck the key in the lock.

It was then.

"Hey."

I heard a voice call me from behind.

When I glanced back, Adam and the adjutant were staring at me from a few steps down, not having left yet.

"Yes?"

"I have something to ask you."

'Was this part of the scenario?'

It was a game with so many variables, I couldn't possibly remember them all.

I answered, a bit hesitantly.

"Please speak freely, Count."

Adam seemed to hesitate for a moment, then opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

"A ridiculous rumor is circulating... that an apothecary annihilated the horde of Lizards that appeared in Dover Village."

"..."

"Is that rumor true?"

I was genuinely surprised.

'A rumor like that was going around?'

I was an NPC, so I didn't have achievements or titles;I had no idea why such a rumor would have spread.

I opened my mouth to deny it.

In that moment, someone else spoke up, one step ahead of me.

"Count. Forgive my impertinence, but it seems to be a ridiculous, unfounded rumor! How could a mere commoner do such a thing? Just look at how she crawled all the way here, blinded by money..."

The adjutant bastard glanced at me with contempt from beside the Count.

'He's really acting up just because I was a little slow following him earlier.'

It was annoying, but I pouted under my hood and agreed.

"The adjutant is correct. How could someone like me possibly do such a thing."

Nothing good would come from revealing that a mere apothecary had power surpassing a Hero.

If more AIs started to suspect, it would just create all sorts of variables.

I wanted to speedrun this and log out, not enjoy the situation and rack up achievements.

At my answer, Adam was silent for a long time before asking again.

"...Then who took care of the monster horde?"

"I understand that a few Heroes joined forces to fight, and then left the village."

It stung a little to give the credit to the bastards I'd banned, but I had no choice.

"Do you know where they went?"

"No."

"...I see."

As if he was finally convinced, he started to walk down the stairs.

Adam Hailey holds a faint disappointment at your words.

'How on earth do you get close to a guy with walls this high...'

Watching his platinum blond hair slowly descend, I truly felt the game's difficulty.

My target time to beat the game was eight hours.

It was bleak to think that was about a year or so in game time.

After Adam left, I immediately unlocked the prison door with the key and went inside.

The inside of the prison was just as I'd seen in the game.

A dark, chilly, and desolate room, and in the middle of it, an unidentifiable old sword, stuck in the ground.

Lv.??? Broken Greatsword That Lost Its Light.

- A sword used by an ancestor of the Hailey family.

It has been stuck here for a long time, and no one has been able to pull it out.

Even if one could, the sword's lifespan has already ended, making it nothing more than useless scrap metal. -

It was an item that could only be obtained by progressing through the main quest of Count Hailey's estate.

I walked past the automatically appearing description of the sword and headed to the corner.

I saw a large figure, collapsed and bound in chains.

The sight of the fallen man wasn't surprising, as I had seen it countless times already.

"Hello. I am the apothecary, Shari Azrael."

Nevertheless, I approached with very careful steps.

The man I saw up close was scantily clad, and his entire body was covered in so many wounds, it looked tattered.

Some places were still bleeding, as if the wounds were fresh.

It seemed he had deliberately injured himself after being locked in the prison to keep from falling asleep.

In a way, I thought the potions thrown by the users and me might have been a truly useless gesture.

"You're not sleeping, are you? Excuse me..."

I carefully reached out and turned him over, as his back had been to me.

His body, made of hard muscle, was as cold as ice.

Finally, the man's face was slowly revealed under the faint light.

'Wow. As expected, so handsome.'

Pitch-black hair, as if carved from obsidian, jade-like skin, a sleek torso.

A beautiful appearance.

The man was the very picture of decadent beauty.

It was a face I had seen dozens of times, but I was struck with admiration once again.

Prisoner Lord of Nightmares

Kassel Ludwig.

He was the protagonist of this game, who would save the world, and also destroy it.

It was then.Tak!

With a dull thud.

"Get... lost. If you... don't want... to die..."

The Male Lead, who had violently shoved my hand away, glared at me with flashing crimson eyes, as if he would tear me to death.