NOVEL WEB Ch. 15
Chapter 15
I was transported into a dimly lit room that reeked of cigarettes.
Right in front of me sat a sunglasses-wearing man who looked like an Italian mafia boss, elbows propped on an opulent table. Black-suited men stood around me as if to surround me.
I am as socially awkward as they come, but I do not fidget when facing NPCs—of course not.
"Shiki. I've got a favor to ask, counting on your skills."
The man in sunglasses signaled with a finger, and one of the suited men placed an attaché case on the table.
"Take this to the usual place."
On my map, that "usual place" was marked with a red icon, about 2.5 km away.
"What's inside?"
"Asking that is just bad manners, kid."
Heh-heh-heh... the man in sunglasses puffed on his cigar.
I see. In this special mission, I'm playing the role of a "courier."
"Every mafia group in this city wants that thing. One moment of carelessness will cost you your life."
"Understood."
"Counting on you. You're my only hope."
"Roger that, boss."
I saluted, matching the setting's world.
I took the attaché case, which then digitized and was stored in my item pouch.
I stepped out into the hallway. A staircase came into view after walking straight for a bit. I'll head there.
Once I'm outside the building, the mission will truly begin.
Walking on the red carpet, I checked my belongings. I'm only carrying an M1911 for weapons. In the item box, I have—twenty magazines (140 rounds). Nothing else.
Let me also check my status.
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PN: Shiki
LV: 1
ROLE: Gunner
TIP: 0
Armor: 0
Thruster Output: 0
Thruster Capacity: 0
Precision: 100
Radar: 100
Stealth: 0
EN Capacity: 0
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Not only did my level drop, but my stats are also drastically reduced.
But the radar is still active. Enemy icons are visible on the map.
"Eh..."
Within a 250 m radius, there are enemy icons: 7 (•) 2 (•).
"This is bad—"
BANG!!
A shock pierced my brainstem.
"Wha—!?"
It happened as I was passing in front of a window in the hallway.
A bullet burst through the window and pierced my right temple.
From the enemy placement, I'd assumed a sniper shot from the right was unlikely—total miscalculation. Why didn't I watch out for shots beyond 250 m?
(This is my mistake. Carelessly walking in front of a window...!)
My vision plunged into darkness, and the game over screen asked whether to retry. Of course I selected YES.
"...!"
I restart from the hallway entrance.
This time, I'm careful of the windows, descend the stairs, and head for the back door.
(I've narrowed down where the sniper is. I'll move while staying out of their line of fire.)
Even after I step outside, the enemy icons do not move. Until someone spots me, they won't close in. Once I fire a shot, however, every enemy will definitely converge on me.
Keeping an eye out for the sniper, I peek outside through the window.
A cityscape reminiscent of 1900s Italy. A wide avenue lies in front of this office, and many icons are on the rooftops of buildings along that avenue. If I take the avenue, I'll be turned into a beehive for sure.
While watching the enemies, I check the window by the back door.
The alley is in full shadow, no sunlight at all. Fewer enemy icons. Should I go this way?
(No good. The alley has no cover. There's no way I can go through unseen.)
Then I'll charge through the alley!
(3, 2, 1)
I dash out the back door.
Enemies react—seven. Their positions—on rooftops, in building shadows, behind trash cans—are all clear. That's a huge advantage for me.
The moment I show my face, I score headshots with the M1911.
Seven down. Magazine reloaded.
"This way!!"
"Don't let her get away!!"
Enemy icons appear ahead and behind. I hide in a building's shadow, climb onto the roof using window ledges and tanks as footholds.
(The rooftops are scary because of snipers, but this is the best place to fight.)
Sure enough, sniper shots come flying, but I dodge by flicking my head.
(With Space Girl's reflexes, I can react to sniper fire as long as it's within my field of view.)
I leap from rooftop to rooftop, taking out enemies as I go.
"No way...!"
Across the avenue, on the opposite roof, a man was setting up a gatling gun.
"Ha-ha-ha! This is as far as you go!"
He opens fire—no time to dodge!!
"Die for all to see!!"
Gatling rounds, sniper bullets, shots from the alley—evading them all, I had no choice but to roll across the roof.
(This is...!)
I roll off the roof and fall onto the avenue.
Beep-beep. A sound came from the ground where I landed.
"Huh?"
In the next instant, my body exploded.
—A landmine.
That blast could level a building; it's way beyond this era's firepower. There's no way to foresee this, a total first-time-kill trap.
The malice in this mission is off the charts.
After all that, I'd only advanced 200 m. Still 2.3 km to go.
"Th-this feels like... a 'stress-relief stage' for sure."
A stress-relief stage—short for stress-dissipation stage.
A stage the developers made when they snapped and yelled, "Balance and all that is such a pain!" The devs' stress outlet. Hence, it has zero intention of entertaining players; rather, it's designed to torment players for the devs' own pleasure...!
"Th-they've really done it...!"
I retry and start again from the hallway.
Infinite Space. I heard it was a god-tier game, but it's a brutal piece of trash. And it's amazing.
"I'm gonna beat this no matter what."
――――――Afterword――――――
Shiki loves deserted games, so she also ends up with kusoge—crappy games. "Deserted" and "crappy" are practically equal, after all.
So she's cleared plenty of absurdly difficult or bug-ridden games. A bit of unfairness like this doesn't faze her at all.