A Village Appeared on My Desktop

Episode 83 – Erosionists (3)

The boss of Chapter 3 is undoubtedly the Demon Lord Jukar, who corrupted the master of the fortress. His objective is to possess the body of the Demon Lord and manifest his true form here.

But what if something goes wrong with that?

“Those guys…”

As I moved forward with Riena, I sighed at the sight of the fortress ahead. While there were a swarm of enemies in front of the fortress, they looked very different from what was shown in the strategy video I had alongside.

“—!”

Riena reacted similarly to me in reality. With wide eyes in surprise, she pointed toward that direction.

Monsters with black tumor-like eggs attached to their bodies were there.

Some of them were not just stopping at the eggs; they were hosting wriggling caterpillar-like creatures. Parasites. I couldn’t help but think that.

The sight of those things protruding halfway out of the monsters’ bodies overlapped with the bug guys who had just attacked the residents.

‘We have to fight.’

With a solemn expression, I placed my hands on the keyboard. Our only choice was to fight. If we run away, we couldn’t play this game any longer.

The one saving grace was that this place was a game world, and I could control my character and spam skills to attack those guys. It wasn’t just about lending limited strength like smashing the desktop; I was taking the initiative.

“–, —.”

Riena seemed to understand my determination, smiling faintly as if she got it.

She would likely depend on me, but in truth, I drew strength from her. Even if I stumbled or made a mistake, I believed that she, as an outstanding warrior, would win.

At least anyone who had seen her fight couldn’t help but believe that.

‘Let’s go.’

Soon, my character brandishing a staff dashed forward, followed closely by Riena.

Of course, the enemies spotted us and charged at us with indiscriminate hostility. This was a place where the game system existed, yet it was also reality. One couldn’t expect automatic triggers like stun or knockback.

Having calculated the distance, I stopped and immediately activated a skill, unleashing a wave of scorching flames that drove away the cold.

Those charging at us ignored their bodies burning and advanced toward us.

‘Is it the bugs’ influence!?’

No matter how much they were phantoms, they weren’t this indiscriminate. They were feeling pain and screaming.

However, those guys only collapsed after their bodies were entirely set ablaze, approaching us with singular intent to kill, resembling nothing more than real zombies, mirroring the bugs perfectly.

‘Then we just shoot until they die.’

I stepped back and started spamming my skills.

For me, or more precisely, for my character, the concept of exhaustion didn’t exist. I could continue to spam skills until I died, even chugging potions.

“—.”

Usually, Riena would charge ahead to slash everything, but seeming to understand my intention, she didn’t jump ahead and patiently maintained her distance to guard in front of me.

It was a kind of lure hunting that worked well in the game. I could replicate it now by exploiting the charging habit of the bug-like enemies. In fact, the bugs’ controlling them had created this typical AI weakness.

“It works.”

Fully focused on the game, I smiled faintly. We continued to retreat, using magic to target them unilaterally, yet they were voluntarily advancing towards us to be hit.

‘Now.’

When the number of enemies had noticeably decreased like this, it was finally our turn.

Before I had to say anything, Riena, sensing the timing, dashed forward like lightning, swinging her sword to cut down the approaching enemies all at once.

With each cut being concise and powerful, significantly different from a game character, the phantoms and the bugs that were parasitizing them fell with a single strike.

A few parasites attempted a last-ditch effort, breaching a Frost Phantom soldier and leaping at her, but Riena slashed them away or stretched out her golden-glowing hands, catching the wriggling parasites and exploding them.

‘These mobs are manageable, but what about the midboss?’

Watching Riena slice the last remaining enemy in half, I gazed toward the fortress where the bugs still swarmed.

I already knew what kind of tendencies the boss of Chapter 3 had. He had allowed all his subordinates to be taken over by bugs; he wouldn’t be lenient.

That meant he was either allied with the bugs or had already succumbed to them.

“—.”

While I contemplated, Riena took a breath and opened her mouth to look at me. She undoubtedly intended to eliminate the remaining enemies.

As I began walking past the countless corpses scattered on the ground, she followed closely beside me. At this pace, it seemed we could clear out all the enemies near the fortress today.

*

“I don’t know if you saw it. Those massive monsters that just rushed in are precisely the ones we must confront with our mission.”

“W-what… how did such a thing…”

While Riena was struggling somewhere else, Barun was showing the bugs that had just rushed into R’tai, Garhan’s envoy.

R’tai was left speechless upon witnessing the continuous surge of those black monsters. Although it was the first time they had attacked in waves, Barun didn’t bother to mention that fact.

‘How can they fight like that against those monsters?’

There was another part that surprised R’tai.

Since they too knew how much damage they had taken fighting bugs, it was hard to believe they had managed to win against several times that number of bugs without suffering tremendous losses.

No matter how great the combat power of the Tribe of the Grassland locals was, they understood it was similar for themselves.

“It’s all thanks to the grace bestowed by the Guardian Deity.”

“Is that really true?”

“Look at this. As a warrior, you must be able to feel it.”

Satisfied with R’tai’s reaction, Barun grinned and showed something. It was a uniquely large and special arrow made from the bones and feathers of the mutant that existed in the hunting action game, Creature Hunting.

“Impossible. There is indeed a strange power embedded in this arrow!”

R’tai gasped in awe as he sensed the magic of the mutant within the arrow. He had never heard of such an item. A weapon with special powers for the Tribe of the Grassland was something that only existed in the legends passed down.

“Because we follow and trust Him, He rewards us justly.”

“O-oh…”

Barun began to persuade R’tai, whose eyes were already half-lidded. If he successfully won over R’tai, who was also a close aide to Garhan, he would gain much more.

There was no need to worry about leakage of technology. Originally, everything came from the game, and only those who had received his choice could gain that power by entering the game.

“It might take some time to convey the chief’s wishes, so wouldn’t you want to hear more stories?”

Barun subtly induced R’tai’s conversion while unfolding stories one by one for a more complete persuasion.

‘I don’t know if things are going well on that side, but I should take care of my tasks too.’

After sending R’tai off, Barun raised his head towards the portals standing prominently in the center square of the village.

He recalled Riena who had entered the game now. Even the Guardian Deity couldn’t direct or inform everything, so Barun understood that his role was to resolve reality with the help of those like Riena.

“Monsters…!”

Right now, that Riena was in a life-and-death struggle, taking down numerous enemies right before her eyes.

“Divine Power! I would have feared that in the past, but not now!”

A giant, grotesquely bloated with muscle and standing amidst the cold air raised a massive hammer while shouting.

Despite being the midboss of Chapter 3, corrupted by the Demon Lord Jukar, his appearance was somewhat different from that in the game.

Black veins twitched over his entire body, revealing parasites wriggling out of certain body parts, boasting of who was amplifying their strength by residing in their host.

‘It’s true. My power has indeed diminished.’

Having carved a path up to this point and eliminating numerous enemies, Riena realized that the power of the Celestial Blessing she had obtained had weakened, and she clenched her teeth.

Jukar, having borrowed the power of the bugs, had neutralized and overcome the supreme Divine Power to some extent.

‘In the end, did the bugs and the game’s demons use one another?’

He, grasping the keyboard outside the screen, sighed at that realization. It would be simple if the indiscriminate bugs had devoured Jukar outright; then it would just be a matter of responding accordingly.

At this point, it had already crossed into the realm of calculations. It was just a matter of who fought better.

‘We can win if we fight together.’

Riena made her own estimate in that situation. She thought it would be more than enough to defeat him if they fought while receiving his magical support.

“Ugh?!”

Although each blow was a tremendous force that surpassed regular standards, Riena barely succeeded in dodging them.

Awakening all her nerves, she engaged in a battle of angles, unleashing every ounce of strength she possessed.

Having repeated such battles from the early days of their migration until now, it was inevitable that she, who had received concentrated investment from him, would swiftly catch up to the grassland warriors ahead of her.

“Die!”

At that moment, a chilling wave from the enemy’s swinging hammer swept across the ground in a blade-like form.

In the game, you must use the evasion skill at precisely the right timing to avoid such attacks. The problem was that Riena, now with her posture broken, could not evade it.

‘Getting hit once won’t kill me, right?’

Knowing that, he also seemed to have anticipated the event as he rolled forward, appearing right in front of her in an instant.

Riena stared at him with wide eyes. The knight, facing away from the enemy and looking at her, was still masked and braving the cold in her stead.

Her HP swiftly dropped, and she got caught in the cold debuff, hampering her controls. Yet he endured while sipping potions.