Damned System

Chapter 44. Contact (1)

About two hours had passed since I saved the girl with orange hair. The number on the mission window changed to “5/?”

Distinguishing between allies and enemies wasn’t tough. Those who resembled me were allies.

On the other hand, the enemies had heads like cat predators and four chameleon-like protruding eyes, rolling them in different directions.

Most of them were either in the middle of a clash or had just finished one. This was definitely not a place for someone like me to be; a high-level hunting ground.

Jumping into their fights recklessly would have meant death for me. Thus, I only rescued those who managed to survive after the battles with their abilities.

“That man was lucky!”

I waved my hand in front of a man who had just regained consciousness.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Ah…”

The man, who had gulped down a massive eight potions, just stared blankly at the people lying beside him.

‘Seems like he’s still trying to grasp the situation.’

I decided to give him some time.

‘He must be bewildered since he practically rose from the dead.’

Originally, this man with navy hair would have died too. When I found him, he was still fighting a monster even with his belly pierced.

But, because the monster’s neck had been half severed, there was a small window for me to intervene.

Without hesitation, I threw a dagger, blinding the monster’s left-side sight. The man didn’t miss the opportunity and killed the monster.

I was able to save him because of that.

Of course, not everyone I found survived.

‘Maybe it’s because the monster is high-level? The potions don’t work well on the injuries.’

Even after pouring six bottles, one person couldn’t make it. It seemed there was some special effect hindering recovery.

These monsters were on another level compared to those I had seen before. A single punch from one shattered my barrier.

‘It still throbs.’

When the navy-haired man was in danger, I had placed a barrier over his head. It wasn’t complete, more like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Still, it blocked the monster’s punch, even after its neck was severed. That single hit shattered the barrier to bits, and I vomited blood multiple times due to the shock but managed to save him at least.

‘I never thought I’d live to see a decapitated corpse moving.’

The monstrous corpse, which tried to kill the navy-haired man while spewing black blood like a fountain, seemed to flicker before my eyes.

Shaking off the memory, I muttered to myself, “Discard common sense!”

In this world, even headless corpses can move.

Refocusing, I scanned the ground. Among the five people I’d rescued, only one regained consciousness.

I sighed, having used 57 potions to reach this point. I had spent over 3,000 mana on this mission.

The mana I had saved from the level 3 mission disappeared within mere hours. It was quite disheartening.

‘Why design the game like this?’

The rule that demanded growth at the cost of mana drained any motivation from me. Yet, there was no other way since Invisibility couldn’t evade the monsters’ senses.

‘I truly thought I was done for when I was caught once.’

While fleeing, the shield strapped to my waist got pierced by a monster’s claw. Escaping on my own proved extremely difficult.

Had I not encountered an ‘ally’ recovering from injury, I might have died.

After such a close call, I realized I needed something better than Invisibility.

According to the System, stealth was eight times more expensive than Invisibility.

The price for a one-time use of the 8,000 mana skill was 700. With only an hour of maintenance time, I bought it four times. Additionally, I purchased a barrier skill stone to create a safe zone.

Thankfully, at least there was a Skill Stone Exchange, making it possible.

Otherwise, buying a 2,200 mana one-time skill stone would have been impossible. Saving five allies had left my pockets nearly empty.

‘But at least I haven’t dropped below 3,000.’

Falling below the entry limit was uncertain territory.

‘I can’t use any more.’

It was a close call. Now was the time to ensure no unnecessary mana consumption. I let out a sigh that had become almost habitual and looked beyond the barrier.

There might still be more survivors out there. In terms of the mission, going back was the right choice.

I’d receive additional rewards for every person I rescued. However, I wasn’t in a position to leave this barrier anymore.

As I scratched my head in frustration, a monster approached. I stared at it intently, and soon, the monster’s body passed through me smoothly.

‘I’m not surprised by much anymore.’

It was the effect of the barrier.

「Skill Stone (Barrier – High-Rank)」

• Category: Consumable Skill

• Description: Uses built-in mana to form a barrier. The interior of the barrier is isolated from this dimension, creating a non-existent safe zone. A person needs physical contact with the caster to enter the barrier from the outside.
(*Maintenance Time: 2 hours*)

The 2,200 mana one-time barrier created a non-existent safe zone. Could I say that while inside, one was excised from this world?

That meant I didn’t exist in this location, this space. Thus, even if a monster walked towards me, it wouldn’t collide. It would just pass through like a ghost.

However, once I stepped outside the barrier, I’d return to an ‘existent’ state.

Probably, I had been tailed or left traces while returning with the navy-haired man. Now three monsters loomed near the barrier.

I frowned while observing the lurking monsters. A timer had appeared at the top left of my view.

‘About 30 minutes left.’

When that timer hit zero, the barrier would disappear. Then I’d likely be killed by those monsters waiting outside.

‘I need to find a way.’

Sitting still wasn’t an option.

Fortunately, the last rescued person was quick to recover mentally.

While I pondered, tapping my foot, I called out to the recovering man.

“Hey.”

The man, who had been clutching his stomach, paused awkwardly as he stood. I nodded towards him, looking directly at his surreal purple eyes.

“Can you kill that in your current state?”

Doubt painted the man’s eyes.

‘As expected.’

He didn’t understand my words.

I had anticipated this. I couldn’t comprehend a word they mumbled before collapsing, either.

‘How should I handle this?’

In truth, it wasn’t an issue that required deep thought. Regardless of language or culture, humans lived fundamentally the same way.

Pointing at the monster, I mimicked a throat-slitting gesture.

“Ah!”

The man let out a short gasp and skimmed the air with his eyes. After assessing his own body, he nodded, grim-faced.

Then he moved towards the pile of weapons I’d gathered by the wounded. They were too valuable to leave behind, so I had gathered every visible weapon.

‘Of course, items like breastplates were discarded after patching up wounds as they were all broken.’

The man’s axes, used in the fight against the monster, were somewhere in there too.

A large double-edged axe almost as big as my torso, and two regular-sized hand axes. When he collected his weapons, he adjusted his stance despite emitting faint groans.

Seeing him stand, I noticed the stark difference in our physiques.

‘He’s almost twice my size.’

His height was at least a head taller too. Comparing mana was laughable. This man was stronger than me in every way.

When someone like him held an azure axe, he looked fairly menacing. Fragile dexterity with each movement hinted that his injuries weren’t fully healed.

Consequently, I shook a potion bottle before him, asking if he needed it.

‘I didn’t find anything resembling potions among their belongings.’

This world where the game is set seemed strange not to use similar in-game items.

Additionally, the man who awakened didn’t show any surprise at the multitude of potions around. Perhaps he knew of potions, but just didn’t possess any.

I briefly wondered if they also had inventories, but quickly dismissed the notion when the navy-haired man nodded in acceptance for the potion.

Without a word, I tossed the potion to him. Seeing as the barrier time would soon expire, only by slaying the monsters could we ensure our safety as well.

As he caught the bottle smoothly, he paused, contemplated, and laughed spontaneously before looking up.

‘What is he… in the middle of preparing for battle, and he….’

Before completing the thought, a chilling sound of a ‘Shaaa’ came from behind me.

Subsequently, I realized that a massive mana mass had entered my perception range. It had emerged not from the edge but directly in front of me.

Turning my creaking body, I saw the bisected corpse of a monster collapse, with a woman standing in its center, drenched in red and black blood.

Her hair, which had floated in the air, was blue, now starting to sink. Her eyes, scanning the footprints around the barrier and the monsters, were yellowish, more accurately golden.

As soon as I captured her image in my mind, the System announced,

「Counting the rescued allies.」

「As a success reward, 50 Attribute Mana is provided.」

「As a success reward, a Random Box (×1) is provided.」

「As additional rewards, 40 Attribute Mana is provided.」

「As additional rewards, Random Boxes (×2) are provided.」

Before the mission-clear messages could finish showing up, all the monsters outside the barrier were sliced into pieces.

Strong reinforcements must have arrived at this place, filled only with the injured and low-levels like me.

Watching in awe, the navy-haired man approached me, pointing in the woman’s direction with a bright smile.

‘He wants us to leave?’

I just watched that woman slice high-level monsters like tofu. No matter how you looked at it, she seemed human, but couldn’t shake the instinctual fear.

Seeing her actual mana only compounded it. The mana was so overwhelmingly powerful that it crushed me just to look directly at it.

Moreover, things were already suspicious in many ways.

‘Not often does someone save others in the forest, right?’

I tried to avoid drawing suspicion. But under the navy-haired man’s insistence, there was no other choice. I’d have to move with him to send him out.

‘Surely they wouldn’t kill me?’

After all, I did save their lives. I could only hope they wouldn’t hastily draw their swords because of suspicion.

Leading the navy-haired man, we left the barrier. As he revealed himself, the ice-cold expression on the woman’s face melted slightly.

The two of them spread their arms wide, embracing each other. I observed them from a step away, ready to retreat back into the barrier, just in case.

Luckily, the woman didn’t attack me. Whether the man explained well or not, by the end of their conversation, she even offered her hand for a handshake.

I lightly shook her hand in response. After guiding them back into the barrier, I finally had the leeway to check the rewards.

‘Three random boxes.’

The figure in the mission window must have been the confirmed reward for rescuing at least one person. For each person above that, they added 10 Attribute Mana and 0.5 Random Boxes.

‘Stingy bastard. 0.5, what’s that even?’

It wouldn’t be a big deal for them to just give one more box per person.

“Tsk.”

I grumbled at the System while pulling out a Random Box. Every time I opened a box, it emitted a bright light.

Unintentionally, this drew the unabashed attention of the navy and blue-haired pair.

Already uncomfortable from their scrutiny, the results revealed from the opened boxes were somewhat disappointing…

「Finelpania’s Authority Single-use Ticket」

「Karlos’s Authority Single-use Ticket」

「Translation/Interpreter Earring」

“Whew.”

What was it with this System and its obsession with single-use tickets?

Why did items like these always appear when opening Random Boxes?

And what is an Authority anyway?

The description tab lacked sufficient information.

It simply said, “You can use the authority once.”

I, nearly reaching a state of enlightenment, stuffed the tickets into my pocket. Then, I examined the remaining earring.

A simple design with a purple gem, just about the size of my thumbnail. And it was even a single piece rather than a pair.

「Translator/Interpreter Earring」

An earring imbued with technology from the realm of recognition.

When worn, it allows communication with those who speak other languages.

Would this really serve as a translator if worn? Saying I lacked doubts would be a lie, yet wearing the earring didn’t seem particularly disadvantageous.

‘At least I don’t need to pierce twice.’

Feeling oddly subjected to a persistent gaze, I looked sideways to find golden eyes fixed on me.

For some reason, her eyes seemed to glimmer with light. Holding her intense gaze, she soon looked away.

Only then could I release the breath I didn’t notice I was holding. Intimidated by her stare, it turned out even I had been unconsciously holding my breath.

‘This is driving me nuts.’

Being stuck with someone who sent chills down my spine just by looking at me… I shut my eyes tightly and exhaled, returning to the task of fitting the earring onto my earlobe.