Becoming an Extra in a Trash Game

Chapter 30

“Aaargh! Cut it quickly!”

“Run! You idiot!”

Since it’s not an open field but a maze-like dungeon, the screams and shouts echo off the walls, reverberating from all directions.

“There seem to be… Many traps……”

“Well, since it’s a lower floor, there probably won’t be any high-level traps.”

Whoosh! Thwack!

“Did you turn on the shield?”

As soon as I take a step, Kane deflects a flying metal ball with his scabbard.

“Ah, I turned it on earlier.”

I mutter softly while tracing the trajectory of the ball.

As if it had a magnet inside, it bounced off the wall and rolled right into a round hole in the floor.

Arrows would be too much to handle in terms of quantity, and magical traps would be too extravagant for such a low floor, so is this how they do it?

I admire it slightly and try stepping on the same spot again, but no metal ball comes flying out.

“A trap that has been triggered once needs some time to reactivate.”

A faint rose scent spreads behind me.

When I turn my head, the woman named Ruby from the tavern is waving her palm in greeting, and other men behind her are smiling good-naturedly.

“Ah, is that so? Thank you for letting me know.”

I try to smile back as kindly as possible, but…

“……”

Ugh…

Maybe due to the Arrogance trait, it’s not exactly a good impression.

I pull up my hood to cover my face and nod slightly in greeting.

“There are far more traps than monsters on the second floor. How about it? Want to go together? I know a path with fewer traps.”

As Ruby, who introduced herself, glances at me before fixing her gaze on Kane, he opens his mouth to speak.

“It’s alright. We’ll try on our own.”

“Well, I guess everyone wants to try by themselves at first, right? But if you need help, just say so. I met a lot of kind people when I was a beginner adventurer, so I want to help too.”

Ruby smiles gently and raises her hand to show an item that looks like a somewhat heavy sandbag connected to a string.

“If you tap the floor with something like this as you go, it’ll be a bit better, you know? Well then, good luck.”

“We’ll go on ahead. Hang in there, Beginners.”

As Ruby passes by, jingling her hand, the men following her also laugh and greet us before moving on.

“Somehow… They’re kind… And seem better than I expected.”

As Luna says this while sniffing, I just raise the corners of my mouth in a smile.

“Is that so? Anyway, thanks to them, we learned something good.”

We don’t have a sandbag right now, but.

I had bought quite a lot of food for later and stuffed it into a large subspace.

I spin the ring on my finger once with a clink and open the subspace to take out a sack of corn and some rope.

“Strong Kane should do this kind of thing.”

I confidently hand over the corn sack and rope to Kane, and he ties the rope to the sack’s opening without much resistance and lightly swings it, tapping the floor.

“I could do it too……”

“Then do you want to try next time we come, Luna?”

“Yes!”

Well, we need to train Luna too.

This time, I’m not planning to bury the Frenzy trait nicely in the ground to use as a vanguard, but it’s a waste to have her just as support.

Luna likes to move her body anyway.

Bang! Whoosh! Prick!

Kane deflects the flying metal balls, then some kind of poison gas spews out, and finally, needle-thin spikes shoot out.

“Thanks to Kane, the path is easier.”

I walk while tapping the Codex in my hand like I’m giving a shoulder massage instead of floating it in the air, and Luna nods.

“He’s capable……”

Whoosh!

“Hmm.”

As Kane hits the center of the path with the corn sack, flames burst out.

“…That looks delicious.”

I lick my lips as I look at the corn falling, half-burned.

* * *

Crunch crunch!

“Is it tasty?”

In the end, somewhere between raw corn and charcoal black.

The corn, which smells slightly roasted and nutty, was collected and Luna and I each tried a taste.

To me, it only smelled nutty but tasted rather bland, but it seemed quite good to Luna’s taste.

As Luna nods, I handed over the handful in my hand to her, and while having a snack, I spread a cloth on the floor to sit down and took out some water from the subspace.

“Just how much is in there?”

As Kane drinks from the water bottle he received from me, I make an “umm” sound and spin my ring with a clink.

“Enough that we wouldn’t starve to death if we suddenly fell into a desert?”

As I answer vaguely, Kane seems to be thinking about something and is about to open his mouth when a slightly pungent, no, foul smell comes from somewhere.

I quickly put the water bottle Kane throws back into the subspace, grab the Codex, and stand up. Luna also stuffs the remaining corn in her mouth.

“The smell is… Fresssh……”

“It’s okay to finish eating before you talk.”

Even though Luna is crunching corn like a squirrel next to me, the air is increasingly filled with a nauseating smell instead of a nutty one.

I quickly open the Codex and recite a purification spell to cleanse the air around us, and Kane opens his mouth as if he’s remembered something.

“I’m not sure, but it might be a troll.”

I nod my head as I recall the books I’ve read here so far.

“It seems there’s a slight fishy smell too.”

“A swamp troll.”

Just as it crosses my mind that this isn’t the kind of monster that should appear on such a low floor.

“Grrrr……”

Along with a phlegmy growl, a swamp troll with green skin covered in bumpy sores and arms so long they drag on the ground appears around the corner of the corridor ahead, staggering.

“What the f***?”

I unconsciously blurt out a curse.

No, seriously, why is that thing here?

For now, rather than wondering about the reason, I need to think.

Run away? Or fight?

I quickly place my hand on the Parts Shield page of the Codex and take a step back.

“Let’s back up.”

Troll types are very slow in movement speed.

Moreover, if it’s a swamp troll, it might be relatively fast in swamps, but it’s even slower on land.

It’s a bit far, but if we run to the upper floor, it won’t be able to follow quickly.

I suggested this, but Kane immediately refused.

“Then the damage to the upper floor will be greater. Besides, the troll has already spotted us.”

“Krwaak!”

Bang!

It lets out a loud roar and then swings its arm, which is long enough to drag on the floor, strongly hitting the wall.

As expected of a troll that can swim against the tension of a swamp, its power is strong enough that the dungeon wall not only cracks but crumbles, with powder falling.

If we get hit properly by that, we’re done for.

“No, even after seeing that……”

“Besides, don’t I need to get stronger?”

At Kane’s tone, as if telling me to trust him, I frowned.

Ah, he’s originally that kind of guy…

That’s why even after suffering such harsh humiliation, oppression, and betrayal, he eventually took the unappreciated path for the sake of the continent.

“…I’ll… Cover you too.”

Even Luna approaches Kane, lowering her posture, and I sigh, shake my head once, and then recite Parts Shield.

“On each of your left arms, I’ve activated it like an arm shield, and the number of hit protections is once. I’ll replenish it regularly, but there are only 10 pages. Count them yourselves.”

And if there’s a ranged dealer, distance fighting is the golden rule.

“Sniper support is only once. Since it’s a narrow corridor, I’ll support once and then switch to a supporting role.”

“…Yes!”

“Alright.”

Magic with strong explosions is too risky in a corridor, and thanks to focusing on utility when compiling the Codex, I only have basic attack magic, but.

“With the power of truth. May it pierce through you.”

Non-elemental Magic Missile and Wind-elemental Wind Arrow.

White and greenish blunt missiles and sharp-tipped arrows rise around me.

The momentary multi-focus connection in my mind.

It felt like controlling multiple game screens at once, making me feel nauseous, but this much is nothing.

I slowly raise my hand and launch the magic towards the head of the swamp troll approaching us.

Bang! Thwack! Thwack!

The sound of missiles exploding and arrows tearing through skin. At that signal, Kane and Luna rush forward.

With an ear-piercing roar, the swamp troll managed to protect its head by raising its huge hand, leaving only one cheek tattered and torn.

It was visibly healing rapidly, and even the burst eyeball was regenerating like a mushroom growing.

Though hunched, it must be at least 3 meters tall. Just its arms are as long as Kane’s height.

Filling the entire corridor and swinging its arms, it’s already a tremendous threat.

But Kane twisted his body, stepping on the side wall to avoid the troll’s arm that came flying at him, scraping the floor.

The moment the troll’s hand that missed its target gets stuck in the wall, Kane steps on the arm and climbs up.

“Root and bind. May your eyes be blinded by the flash.”

I bind the troll’s hand stuck in the wall once more with Binding, and as Kane attacks, I choose a blind spot for Kane’s eyes and hit the troll with a flash.

But even that clumsy bulk seems to have superhuman strength when its life is on the line.

Just as Kane thrusts his sword down from above to sever the neck bone, the troll lowers its head and twists its body, taking the blow on its shoulder, closing its eyes, and roaring.

“Grwaaak!”

But Luna is down below.

The moment it lowers its head to avoid Kane’s sword, changing its elevation, Luna plants her hands on the ground, springs her body up like a coil, and kicks upwards into the troll’s jaw, dislocating it and sending broken teeth and saliva splattering against the wall.

“Ugh…!”

After catching Kane’s sword with its shoulder muscles that regenerated rapidly, immobilizing his movement, the troll swings its one good arm, managing to strike Luna who was trying to land after spinning once in the air.

As Luna flies towards me, deflected by the Parts Shield I had attached, I also activate the Codex.

“To render one force meaningless… Luna!”

I create a Parts Shield at an angle matching Luna’s flight path, and as I call her name to signal, Luna, who was twisting her body in mid-air, kicks off the shield to fly back towards the troll, kicking its jaw upwards once more.

Kane, timing it with this, balances on top of the troll’s body, infuses his sword with magic, pulls it out of the shoulder, and precisely stabs it into the troll’s eyeball as it raises its head due to Luna’s kick, crushing its neck bone.

Then, still gripping the sword, he jumps down, putting his full weight into it, slashing diagonally from the face and throat to the chest, and reaches into that gap to crush the heart.

“Gurk… Kk…”

The troll’s massive body, with its split face foaming blood, collapses and turns into a sludge, leaving behind only a small magic stone before disappearing.

“Whew… Uh……”

…The protagonist party is indeed the protagonist party.

I worried for nothing. Really.

Watching the two finish without major injuries despite lacking proper experience, I laugh helplessly and approach them.

“Why doesn’t the blood disappear?”

The troll itself melted away like sludge, but its byproducts remain scattered around. I use purification and cleaning spells to clean the two and pick up the magic stone.

“Here’s some pocket money.”

Luna aside, how much money has Kane earned with his own hands?

If his body was money, that would be it.

I give the magic stone to Kane as he sheathed his sword, and hand out candy from my subspace to Luna, who looks upset.

“It’s… Delicious.”

This is a carrot candy specially ordered for you, Luna.

For reference, I tried one and never touched it again.

“Unexpected.”

“What is?”

Kane, receiving the magic stone from me, looks at me.

“I thought you only lived in the castle.”

Look who’s talking.

Of course, I was surprised too. Actually, I thought I would be flustered, but maybe thanks to the Sense of Affluence, whether I wanted to be here or not, did I accept it with a game-like sense?

Originally, in such things, party coordination is important, and you can experience various positions by switching roles.

If I had encountered such a monster when I was just Kang Soo-ho, I might have run away immediately or shown an ugly side.

‘But now, something else was bigger than fear.’

I raised the corners of my mouth to Kane, who was looking at me with sunken eyes.

“I’m going to be your Master. This much is nothing.”

In my words implying ‘You owe a lot. Pay it all back. Don’t forget,’ Kane clicks his tongue and turns his head away.

Yeah, remember that well, and save me when Gadia comes.

“For now… Let’s go up and call it a day.”

“Okay… I’m hungry……”

Feeling drained after all this excitement, I say this while patting Luna’s hair and turning around.