CH 5

"Ugh...!"

"Slash!"

It was easier getting rid of the vanguard than I'd thought it'd be. With dagger dude gone, I could tell the archer was agitated and confused about what steps to take now. Considering I only had the one person to fight against now, combat was relatively much easier than before.

I'd focus on where he's aiming, watch his hand movements as he nocks his arrows, and move out of the way to evade each attack. It felt like a vastly different battle than when it'd been two against one. I didn't miss with any of my attacks this way either.

"C'mon, hit him for once!"

I stayed silent.

If he were worth his salt, he'd take into account my movements and figure out how much a deviation was necessary to strike me, but this dude... It felt like he was faking until he made it, and not well at that. There was no thought put into it -- he was just shooting arrows at me.

With attacks like those, I didn't even need to jump out of the way; all it took was a quick step to the side to avoid them all. He'd seemed pretty okay when together in a party, but it was like he'd never imagined having to hold out by himself.

"Guh, ugh..."

"Slash!"

Right after he let an arrow fly, I'd slide in for another attack. He no longer had any interest in actually hitting me.

There was only twenty percent left to go. I just had a little more.

Just a little more, and...

Once I took this guy down, it'd all be over for the last time ever.

Whoops.

That's what I'd thought, but I fucked up.

There was the shadow of someone coming up behind me, the crooked smile that snuck up on archer boy's face, the killing intent that I felt and a flash of light...

I'd never noticed a single one of these signs.

"...Die."

Those are the words that suddenly reached my ears. The health that should've put me at an advantage had shrunk down ridiculously. The Sacrificial Doll grants you fifty percent health once revived, and now I was down to thirty.

"Yeah, something about getting done in by a Trader puts a bad taste in my mouth, you know?"

What was my best next step? Take out the archer, or launch a counterattack against the other dude? I couldn't keep my thoughts straight.

What was it I'd told myself earlier? Rushing through things would just bring about my own downfall!

[Abnormal Status: You have been poisoned.]

The announcement hit me as I pondered my thoughts. An "abnormal status"? Looking at my health bar, I noticed it had turned green and was slowly whittling down bit by bit.

"Hah! The poison finally got you! It's game over for you now, buddy!" laughed the dagger dude.

Huh, I'd bet that even if I tried attacking at all now, they'd simply evade everything. Even if I took out the archer, dagger dude would just kill me off.

So, what now?

I didn't have an answer, but there had to be something I could do to get out of this mess... Something, anything...

Even if I did find my answer, I'd get ripped to shreds by these two.

"I should've known things wouldn't go so easy anymore."

"...Power Shot!"

Making up my mind, I brandished one of my martial arts at the dagger dude, as I heard the archer start his chant for his own martial arts from behind me.

"Mm..."

I jumped aside to avoid the oncoming attack, but no arrows came at me.

"Power Shot."

"Ugh?!"

Crap, he was just saying the words before, not initiating an attack. Obviously, knowing this now was too little, too late for me. The second I took the guy lightly, he pulled the wool over my eyes. Before I had the chance to regret or despair over my situation, the real arrow flew through the air and struck me.

"Hahah! He got you, bitch! Dumbass!"

"Hey, shut up, Ren."

The archer had broken through my defense, and an arrow pierced into my stomach before I'd had the chance to even try avoiding it. I'd never seen it coming.

I was down to ten percent health. I'd had one job, and yet I --

"Sorry, I'm just tired of looking at this asshole."

The two PKers were looking down at me, at the one they'd defeated in battle. I felt like a small breeze would whisk me away, and then there was that green health bar I had... The two of them didn't even feel like there was a point in attacking me anymore.

"FUUUUUUUUCK!" I screamed out.

I didn't know if anyone had heard me. The only thing I was sure of, was there was no point in struggling anymore. Nothing special had come out of fighting those two PKers who felt so far out of my reach. I glared back at them so hard it felt like my eyes would pop out of my head.

[You died.]

That was the second time I'd heard that. I guess I could plainly say that I'd lost this fight.

Was this the end of my road?

What would happen to her, then? Was I just going to let them leave and trample all over her?

She'd probably be laughed off the face of the planet. They probably wouldn't spare her an ounce of mercy after they found out she was dumb enough to be a trader.

What will happen to her then, though?

This was just a game, but still...

She found every little thing in this game enjoyable as it was, so what would happen to her if they did that?

What a farce.

I'd bet everything on this -- I'd said I would see this quest through and make sure we completed it... And, what if that "everything" were my entire fortune? What the hell did I work so hard to build it up for if I was just going to die like this?!

[Use Gold Resurrection?]

Just before my body turned to dust, I could swear I heard an announcement sound off in my head. I swear I've heard those words before.

[Yes.]

The word "resurrection" alone was enough to make me say yes, without any hesitation whatsoever.

[Half of your retained gold of 6,087,820G will be exhausted. Proceed?]

"Yes! I said yes, already, damn it!" I yelled out.

I didn't give a flying flip if I had to use half of what I'd saved up. Hell, I'd use everything I'd ever possessed in RL if that's what it took to revive again. I had nothing else after this, anyway. If it brought me back to life even a second faster, then that was more than enough.

When I'd conceded, I could feel life flowing back into my body. My health went back up to thirty percent.

[Exhausted 6,087,820G.]

I heard the announcement as thoughts swirled around in my head.

I've never once heard of the skill "Gold Resurrection" before. Was that a skill I'd gained after defeating one of the PKers? Ah, and I'd gotten one more thing as well. I could hear it in the faint reaches of my memories.

"This is..."

I opened the skill menu as I was being revived.

"...Look at that. That's the perfect ending for the grand finale," I murmured, smiling.

I could still see the figures of the two PKers as they were walking away. They hadn't even bothered recovering their health at all, and that was going to be their downfall.

"...Let's get this over with."

I knew now what needed to be done for my last and final run of RL.