Chapter 3: Face Reality

The creature that burst in was a humanoid monster that looked as if it were crawling on the ground, except it had no skin; what was exposed was entirely raw flesh.

Its face was twisted, resembling both a dog and a rat, with its sharp teeth and gums fully exposed.

The skin on its face hung like a tattered, shredded rag.

Its claws were long and slender, shimmering with a faint, cold light, and were exceptionally sharp.

Facing the ghoul as it lunged, Alirise backhanded it with the hilt of her sword, striking it on the skull.

The heavy blow sent the ghoul crashing to the ground. Alirise gripped her sword vertically and thrust it down with force.

The sharp blade plunged into the enemy's head, pinning it to the ground.

Using the momentum of pulling her sword out, she rolled to the side.

The ghoul that had been following closely behind lunged at empty air.

The roll put severe pressure on her broken leg, and the resulting sharp pain caused Alirise’s eyes to widen for a moment as she gritted her teeth to endure it.

This momentary pain amplified her already exhausted state, causing her to miss her chance.

The backhanded slash of her blade failed to decapitate the enemy, instead striking its waist and abdomen.

A large amount of foul-smelling liquid, resembling blood mixed with pus, flowed out.

Having failed to hit a vital spot, Alirise immediately braced herself with one hand on the ground. She didn't try to stand up, but instead pushed her body forward with all her might.

She wanted to quickly thrust her sword into the enemy's head.

Her combat experience told her that these monsters felt no pain; unless you decapitated them in one strike, they were incredibly difficult to deal with.

The roof shattered, and a large amount of wood debris fell down in front of her, blocking her movement.

She could only raise her hand to shield herself from the falling ceiling fragments.

A giant bat descended from the roof, folded its wings, and its claws landed precisely on Alirise’s body.

It pressed its folded body downward, opened its blood-red maw, and lunged directly at Alirise’s neck.

Alirise could already smell the foul stench.

It’s over.

If not for the battles she had fought along the way and the exhaustion, if not for the wounds covering her body.

If only her leg were a little more agile.

Unfortunately, there were no such "ifs."

However, the pain did not come.

A figure jumped down from the hole in the roof, accompanied by a roar of thunder.

The light illuminated the figure's face.

The sharp blade in his hand, fueled by the momentum of his jump, pierced through the back of the giant bat’s head and protruded from its open mouth.

The force of the jump, followed by a violent downward pull after the piercing, sliced off half of the giant bat’s head.

Viscous, foul-smelling liquid spilled out.

The giant bat wailed, its wings flapping wildly in the room.

Kana bit the hilt of his sword, crouched down, wrapped his arms around Alirise, and dragged her out from under the giant bat.

Her face was already covered in a large amount of blood, but her eyes remained fixed on Kana.

"I've got you, let's go! This commotion is too loud; all the monsters in the vicinity will be swarming here."

Helping Alirise up, Kana quickly ran out through the hole.

"Boom!"

The light from a flash of lightning illuminated the town once more.

Kana looked at the town well in the plaza and the small, three-story-high bell tower beside it.

This place is... so it was here.

Before he could even think, Alirise’s voice rang in his ears: "Careful."

He spun around abruptly, only for a ghoul to leap from a nearby roof and collide directly with him, sending him flying.

It made him feel, once again, how frail this body was.

Before the sent-flying Kana could adjust his body, the ghoul pounced on him, its blood-red maw snapping directly toward his neck.

He hurriedly raised his blade to block the monster's mouth.

Such immense strength.

The low-level mobs he could easily clear in the game were so difficult to deal with in the real world.

If this were the game...

Unfortunately, this was not a game; this was reality.

If he didn't fight for his life now, he would become one of these monsters.

The presence of a new ghoul meant there was another squad.

A Blood Clan scout squad was a classic combination: one giant bat and two ghouls.

In mid-air, the giant bat glided down, its claws reaching for Kana.

At this moment, one of Alirise’s arms was already being bitten and fiercely dragged by a ghoul.

Beyond that, another ghoul—the one she hadn't finished off earlier, which had been injured by the falling roof tiles—was biting into her other leg.

In the current situation, Alirise couldn't care about anything else; her eyes were fixed on Kana, just a few meters away.

Seeing the giant bat about to descend, she didn't hesitate to throw her sword, ignoring the ghoul beside her.

A silver light cut through the dark night.

"Swish!"

The blade pierced directly through the giant bat’s head, with more than half of the sword protruding from the other side.

The immense force caused its entire body to tilt, crashing down right next to Kana, its flapping wings even striking the ghoul on top of him.

But the ghoul on him didn't care at all.

Although its mouth was blocked by the blade, the ghoul’s sharp claws had already pierced his body.

He was as good as dead.

"Die, you foul things!"

A roar came from the side, and a spear thrust fiercely into the ghoul on Kana, pushing it away.

The one who launched the attack was the soldier captain.

He had arrived at some point.

Kana felt his body lighten, but he no longer had any strength left; his vision began to darken.

A sharp pain erupted in his chest, and his breathing sounded like a broken bellows.

"Cough, cough... ugh..."

With the cough, a mouthful of blood spewed from his mouth.

His darkening vision scanned the surroundings.

Alirise was being torn apart by two ghouls biting her arm and leg.

Weaponless, she was furiously grabbing the mouth of the ghoul biting her arm, tearing the monster's head into two halves with her bare hands.

However, the other ghoul was still gnawing on her remaining good leg; even if she killed both ghouls now, she wouldn't be able to run.

The soldier captain, who had rushed over for some reason, was locked in a struggle with the ghoul from earlier, but the captain was also covered in wounds.

He was also at the end of his rope.

Even though the ghoul had been ambushed and pierced by the spear, it was still difficult to kill.

Howling sounded in his ears again, followed by a ringing sensation.

Another squad had arrived.

His vision grew darker and darker. It was only then that Kana saw his chest had already been shredded.

When the ghoul he had been struggling with was on top of him, its sharp claws had nearly pierced through his chest.

"Cough, cough..."

Another bout of coughing, and a large amount of blood was vomited out.

His vision was almost completely black.

The only thing he could see was that Alirise had already dealt with the two ghouls on her with her bare hands.

She was using her hands to claw through the dirt, crawling toward him.

Kana’s current state filled Alirise’s eyes with madness.

As expected of you, Alirise.

Damn it, this little injury.

It was clearly just being pinned by a ghoul and scratched twice, yet it was going to cost him his life.

If this were the game, it would have taken at most 1/4 of his health.

Even with his current stats.

Yet just a light scratch and a stab had pierced his chest; besides the decay of his chest, it seemed to have damaged his lungs as well.

Even breathing was extremely difficult—pain, weakness, shortness of breath.

Was a flesh-and-blood body really this frail when facing these monsters?

If it were the digitized body from the game...

If...

His nearly pitch-black vision seemed to experience the kind of flickering distortion seen on an old television, as if the image were warping.

It felt as if flickering light-point patterns were dancing in his eyes.

Even his vision was showing double images.

His head was dizzy, completely incapable of thought, and his eyelids were about to droop completely, falling into eternal sleep.

Eternal... sleep?

Hm?

It hurts!

But the exhaustion dissipated, and the mental weakness faded away.

The stimulation of the intense pain in his chest caused his eyes to widen abruptly.

His vision fully recovered, but chaotic data appeared before him, seemingly arranging itself.

【Ch@r/acter-&’Panel】

(End of chapter)