Chapter 9: This Raid is Seriously Fucked Up
Translated and Proofread by Vine
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“Lord Hera… please grant me strength…!”
Flames flickered on the arrowhead.
Hera’s blessing. The purifying flames that erase wickedness.
Each time the arrow struck the Champion, an acrid burning smell filled the air, leaving wounds on its body.
“Ugh… my hand hurts like hell…!”
Chrono, on the other hand, couldn’t imbue his attacks with purifying flames or anything like that.
All he could do was manipulate time, deceiving the laws of the world.
Bang!
Bang!!
“Groooooan!”
He altered time so that a distance that would normally take 1 second to cover was covered in 0.5 seconds.
Even originally, he didn’t have the strength to easily handle the recoil, and now it was doubled.
He gripped the gun tightly with both hands, trying to endure the recoil, but his lacking strength wasn’t magically replenished.
“Gro…oa!
Groooo…!!!”
The only fortunate thing was that it was somewhat effective.
“Don’t get distracted, you bastard!
Ugh──cough, cough…!”
Even that was a technique he could only use if Mars was holding the line in front, so she had to buy him time.
That’s why he repeatedly emphasized it before entering the boss room, even though he knew it probably wouldn’t work.
“…Blood?
You… you damn bastard!!”
“Grooooo!!!”
Mars, having lost her reason, engaged in a full-blown fight with the Champion.
She could have won by simply hiding behind her greatsword and enduring, but seemingly unable to accept her role, she was rapidly depleting her already low health.
She attacked the Champion repeatedly, only to stagger from its counterattacks.
Since her health was already low, her attacks weren’t effective, making it a losing battle.
The only saving grace was that Juno and Chrono were supplementing the lacking damage, turning it into a kind of chicken game.
If only she could endure a little longer, they could win…!
“───Keuk…?!”
Mars was kicked by the Champion and sent flying.
She tried to get up, but her exhausted body no longer obeyed her will.
She lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
“…Groowl…!”
“…Fuck.”
The Champion grinned at Chrono and Juno.
The worst-case scenario had arrived.
“….What do we do now, Chrono…?”
Juno asked, staring blankly at me.
Don’t ask me. I’m also panicking.
‘We need someone to hold the line.’
If I told Juno to take the front, she’d be killed in one hit.
Well, actually, that’s not bad either.
If Juno dies and I collapse, since it’s a tutorial dungeon, we won’t actually die.
So giving up and accepting a clean death isn’t a bad option, but….
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it, there’s a special CG for losing to the tutorial boss.
It’s the CG where you’re forced upon by the Goblin Champion.
I remember it being interrupted by the teachers just as your clothes are ripped and it’s about to pounce on you.
A stark reminder of what can happen in the worst-case scenario.
It’s not an exaggeration, as you can see similar CGs in later dungeons if you lose.
“Damn it.”
But that’s beside the point.
If I lose here, I’ll have to witness Mars collapsing behind me and Juno trembling in fear, right before being violated.
That’s a regular event in NTR Academy, but──just the thought of managing the negative status effects afterward makes me sick.
Since it doesn’t go all the way, I can take care of it within a week, but will the protagonist do it?
‘He’s the guy who abandoned even the main heroine, right?’
Probably not.
I think I understand his thought process.
Juno is a late-bloomer character, requiring a lot of time to develop. Mars becomes uncontrollable when she goes berserk.
On the other hand, Minerva, as a Paladin, is an all-rounder, capable of healing, dealing damage, and tanking. And Merck has top-tier utility.
The latter is clearly more appealing than the former.
Of course, their positions will reverse later, but at least for now, the latter is much better.
And that means he’ll neglect the mentally broken main heroines.
‘A perfect setup for NTR…’
Protagonist, don’t you know that the end of a meta-slave is NTR?
I don’t know if he learned nothing from his regression, or if he learned the wrong lessons.
Anyway, the important thing right now is just one thing.
Whoosh… Boom!!
“…Groo?”
“It actually works.”
Defeating the Champion.
I took a potion from my pouch and tossed it to Juno.
“Give this to Mars.
She’s probably lost her mind and won’t even notice if someone disappears.
I’ll try to draw its attention…!”
“…Please!”
Juno hurriedly ran towards Mars.
Mars had already gone berserk once, but her aggression hadn’t disappeared.
She was only down because she was out of health.
If she recovered, she’d definitely rampage again.
‘I just need to buy some time.’
The Champion’s eyes flicked towards Juno, but I didn’t miss the opportunity and shot it in the face.
Bang!
“…Groo, oa…!”
“Pissed?
Me too.”
The Champion swung its club.
I held my dagger up where the club was coming down and stopped time and space around the dagger.
Thud!
“Groo…!
Groooo!”
The attack was blocked.
Thud!
Thud!
Thump!
Crackle…!
“Groooooo!!!”
Repeated attacks.
But seeing me unfazed, the Goblin Champion roared and swung its club even harder.
Nothing had changed for me, except that I was a little faster.
Bang!
‘…Look at the time decreasing.’
My time limit, which had increased to 30 seconds, was already down by more than 10 seconds, even though I hadn’t used a single second since entering the dungeon.
The time spent accelerating the bullet and stopping the dagger was adding up.
As time melted away like ice cream, the enraged Goblin Champion, seeing its attacks were useless, raised both hands and slammed them down on me.
“Groo!
Gro!
Ooooo!!”
“Shiiiit….
seriously…!”
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I stopped time.
I stopped space.
I wasn’t taking any damage, but the most crucial resource, ‘time,’ was disappearing.
18 seconds… 15 seconds… 13 seconds, 9 seconds.
“I’m screwed…”
When will this thing get up?
I used another second to escape the Goblin Champion’s attack range and turned to Juno.
“Ugh… cough…!
Mars….!”
“Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill──”
“──You fucking bastard!!!”
I finally woke her up, and now she’s team-killing?!
‘I’m doomed.’
I’m doomed. I made a mistake. I treated Mars too much like the in-game Mars.
Right now, it’s literally the tutorial, and affinity ranks are close to zero.
Even if Mars acted friendly, she’s still practically a stranger.
If this happened after the story progressed a bit and we had some affinity, and if Juno, who has good synergy with her, was dealing with her, I would have thought she’d at least be able to distinguish friend from foe.
But no, Mars just went straight for the team kill.
At this rate, all that’s left is a penalty for team-killing in the boss room.
“A way… there must be a way…!”
“Grooooo!!”
“Ah!”
Time out!
I’m trying to think, and you suddenly attack me from behind──
“──Don’t touch him!!”
“Groo…?!!”
“…Huh?”
Mars suddenly charged towards us.
In one swift movement, she closed the distance and plunged her greatsword into the Champion’s shoulder.
Caught off guard, the blade sunk deep this time.
Before it could even comprehend the situation, Mars swung her greatsword repeatedly at the Champion.
“Die!
Die!
Fuck!
Die!”
“Groo…oooo!!”
Mars swung her greatsword, covered in blood.
The Champion swung its club, blood gushing from its shoulder.
I quickly aimed, watching the two of them locked in a battle from another world.
‘Is this our chance?’
Remaining time──about 5 seconds.
I focused on the battle unfolding before me.
Bang!
“Kuh….
uoooo!”
4.5 seconds.
The bullet hit its right shoulder.
The Champion turned towards me, but was forced to raise its hand to defend against Mars’s attack.
Bang!
Bang!
“Kuoooook…!!”
3.5 seconds.
Two shots into its exposed flank.
The bullets penetrated deep, churning its insides.
The Champion coughed up blood.
The end was near.
Bang!
“Guh….
grooooo!!”
“Ugh──?!!”
Ignoring the bullet, as if determined to take someone down with it, the Champion swung its club at Mars.
Mars, despite the potions, was barely holding on.
Her movements were slower than expected, and she was almost hit, but
Thud!
“Not so fast, you bastard!
Mars!”
“!,
Hooo…
yeah, you bastard!”
2 seconds.
I stopped time on the dagger, blocking the Champion’s attack.
Mars followed up with her greatsword.
The black leather was cut, but the blade didn’t penetrate deep enough.
“Not enough power,” Mars clicked her tongue.
“Gr…ooo!
Uoooooooo!!!!”
The Champion counterattacked.
It punched Mars in the stomach with its free left hand.
It was too late to block.
I quickly shot the Champion twice in the torso.
“Kuhuk!
Kuh….
guh….
groooo….!!”
Its body staggered.
I could feel the end approaching.
I gripped the gun with both hands and aimed at the Champion.
“If this doesn’t work….
this damn game is dead to me.”
Turning 1 second into infinitely close to 0 seconds.
I pulled the trigger at the Champion.
The bullet erupted from the gun.
───BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
“Guh…
Aaaaagh…!!”
Hold the gun?
Control the recoil?
No. Impossible. A sonic boom erupted right in front of me. How could I block that?
The gun flew from my grip, and, having learned from my previous experience, I ducked and tossed the gun into the air.
“….Guh…”
“Hee!
Hi!
Hiiii…!”
The Champion fell to its knees.
A large hole was torn through its chest, and its eyes glazed over.
‘…Thank goodness.’
Honestly, I wasn’t sure I could hit it.
Could I aim properly when I couldn’t even control the recoil?
If I missed, I would have been the one retiring.
I saved it for the perfect moment.
Current remaining time: 0 seconds.
I couldn’t do anything else even if I wanted to.
Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief that it was over,
“…Did we get it?”
“Ah.”
This damn airheaded Berserker….
…No, wait a minute.
If we cleared the dungeon, a message should pop up saying the mission is complete.
‘Why──isn’t the mission complete message appearing?’
A chill ran down my spine.
At the same time, I looked up, and──
“Groooooooooo!!!”
“Hieeeek?!!!”
──The Goblin Champion lunged at me with its mouth open.
I couldn’t move anymore.
As the Goblin’s mouth slowly approached, I realized how disgusting its oral structure was.
Thwack!
“…Huh?”
An arrow pierced the Goblin Champion’s forehead.
Finally, the quest complete window appeared, and Juno approached me from behind and said,
“So… the dungeon is cleared, right?”
“Wow…”
Juno smiled brightly, holding an arrow.
A pure smile, befitting the main and true heroine.
“I love you, Juno-chan.”
“Huh?
Eh?
Wha….??”
“I’m being serious.”
“…Whaaaaaat??!”
I couldn’t help but be smitten.
“Ugh.”
“…Chrono?
Chrono!
Wake up!!”
No, maybe I just passed out.
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How hard could it have been to stop time position himself with a blade to its eyes and repeat twice. He made it so hard for no reason
Lmao someone gave you a downvote for the perfectly valid opinion