Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 26 – Misfortunes Come in Waves

—–CROW—– 

When a person is surprised, they instinctively scream.

I, who was suddenly stabbed while sound asleep, was no different, except for one thing.

“Cough, Gah!”

I tried to scream reflexively, but all that came out was the boiling, refluxed blood from the stab wound.

In pain, I quickly grabbed the blade stuck in my neck and forcefully kicked the person on top of me.

– *Thump!*

The unknown assailant flew several meters away and rolled on the ground. I used that opportunity to pull out the sword stuck in my neck and stand up.

– *Drip!*

It was a short dagger. Maybe it wasn’t a very good weapon, or maybe it was thanks to my defense, but it wasn’t deeply lodged enough to be fatal.

But, damn it. Blood was gushing out like crazy. Was it really okay to pull it out?

I held my hand over the pierced neck area, trying to hold on, and looked around. The identity of the attacker was soon revealed.

“Damn it… that idiot couldn’t even do that properly!”

I had a rough idea from the moment I was stabbed by something like a dagger, but the attacker wasn’t a monster.

The expedition team NPCs were standing there with tense expressions, holding weapons. The one rolling on the ground far away was also the same NPC.

“Cough, you, damn, bastards…”

I thought their attitude was a bit strange, but I never imagined they were preparing to stab me in the back.

I had heard stories in the community about certain NPCs becoming hostile depending on the quest route.

But I’d never heard of NPCs pretending to be friendly and then trying to assassinate a challenger.

“I’m sorry about this. But don’t blame us too much.”

Stabbing someone sleeping in the neck and then telling them not to blame them, it’s something I can’t understand with my common sense.

“You’re too strong for us to handle. We couldn’t help but consider the possibility of you stealing the treasure.”

Windsor was talkative even in this situation. But most of his muttering words were not worth listening to.

These guys assumed that any adventurer would be greedy for treasure.

On top of that, they thought that if I tried to kill the expedition members and take the treasure for myself, they wouldn’t be able to stop me.

Actually, they weren’t wrong. I was interested in that weapon that controls lightning.

“Besides, what kind of adventurer travels alone in a place like this? Isn’t it more likely that you’re actually a wanted robber?”

It’s absurd, but it made some sense.

In the end, the problem was that I was a solo player again.

If I wasn’t a solo player, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to make them wary in the first place.

“Actually, if you had fallen for the traps before we got here, we wouldn’t have had to do this… Now there are no traps left.”

Ah, I see.

I wondered why there were so many traps, so they were the ones activating every trap they could find.

I think I’ve heard enough now. I took my hand off my neck and drew my sword.

[Combat Healing Lv.1]

A passive skill acquired after nearly dying in the 2nd-floor boss battle, Combat Healing.

Its function is a continuous HP regeneration effect.

While Windsor was muttering, the stab wound on my neck was roughly healed.

That bastard really talks too much.

**

Before I could move after taking my hand off my neck, someone moved one step ahead of me.

“Ex, explode!”

One of the NPCs threw a black stone-like object. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like it’s going to explode.

The object, presumed to be a bomb, hit the wall behind me and burst into flames with a bang.

It seemed to be more like a Molotov cocktail than a bomb. It wouldn’t have been a problem even if I got hit.

“Yaaah!”

Seeing that the wound on my neck was healing, the NPCs seemed to have realized the situation and rushed at me all at once.

Come to think of it, when Lizardmen appeared, these guys each picked up their weapons and prepared for battle.

Considering that they prepared for battle rather than escape, they must have been confident that they could handle at least one Lizardman.

How else could they have set up a camp in the Lizardman’s territory if they weren’t capable of that much?

– *Crack!*

I tripped the NPC swinging an axe and struck the jaw of another one who rushed in.

I didn’t even hit that hard, but there was a sound of something breaking.

Maybe it’s because I’ve only been fighting Lizardmen, but the NPCs’ bodies feel like they’re breaking like cookies.

The axe-wielder who fell got up again and rushed at me bare-handed with a stone.

“What a joke.”

– *Stab!*

The casually swung sword pierced deeply into the NPC’s forearm. Red blood flowed out.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve faced an enemy with a human form.

Goblins and Kobolds, and even Werewolves and Lizardmen, didn’t really look like humans.

In fact, none of the monsters I’ve faced so far were similar in size to humans.

Goblins were too small, Kobolds were also quite small, and Lizardmen were the closest to humans in size.

Even then, they were a race with an average height of 2 meters, so it felt like fighting a completely different creature.

“Aaaah!”

Seeing the NPC screaming and bleeding red blood – my feelings are a bit complicated.

Is killing these guys any different from murder?

It was the perfect timing to finish him off, but as soon as I thought that, my hand stopped.

And as if waiting for this moment, another NPC rushed in with a dagger.

Now that I look at him, it’s the guy who was hit by me first and rolled away.

“Just stay down.”

– *Thud!*

I kicked the loudly rushing NPC in the solar plexus.

Then the NPC spat something out of his mouth. I quickly raised my shield to cover my face and stepped back.

It definitely wasn’t saliva, and he wouldn’t spit out water in this situation, so it’s probably poison or something.

Wait a minute, poison?

Come to think of it, the edge of my vision had been slightly shaking for a while now.

If he’s a poison user, it wouldn’t be strange if he had coated the dagger with poison and stabbed me.

From the beginning, it was strange that I fell asleep so quickly after eating the meat soup. Something must have been added to it, too.

“Damn it.”

I don’t have any antidotes in my inventory. Regular potions can only heal wounds.

I don’t know how strong the poison is, but I don’t know what will happen if this drags on.

Why was I hesitating just because they looked like humans? These guys are all just NPCs.

I should deal with complicated thoughts after ensuring my safety.

Let’s kill them all first.

**

Maybe it was because my life was on the line.

I felt surprisingly little emotion even though I killed six human-like beings.

And there was one more unexpected thing.

[Find the Treasure of the Ruins – Expedition Leader Windsor]

[Quest Objectives]

Join the expedition team (Completed).

Explore the ruins (Completed).

Discover the identity of the treasure.

Even though I killed the NPC who gave me the quest, the quest is still progressing.

Well, there was no mention of Windsor’s survival in the quest objectives.

Judging from the fact that the exploration of the ruins is also marked as complete, it seems that if I go a little further from this open area, I will arrive at the place where the treasure is.

But now is not the time to be doing quests.

“Phew…”

I’ve been sweating cold sweat for a while now. The dagger must have been coated with poison.

The area around my neck where the wound healed feels like it’s burning.

I don’t know if it’s a lethal poison, but I can’t fight the boss of the ruins in this condition.

Windsor said there were no more traps left in the ruins.

Then it shouldn’t be that hard to go back to the village. Let’s go back to the village and buy an antidote or something.

– *Step, step, step.*

If I move too actively, the poison might spread faster, so I walked at a moderate pace.

But even so, the poison started to spread throughout my body.

My fingertips started to tingle little by little, and my movements became stiff as if I was paralyzed.

On top of that, my head started to heat up and I got a headache, and my stomach started to hurt as if I had eaten something wrong.

I periodically drank healing potions, hoping for even a little effect, but there was no particular improvement.

Damn it, this is the first time I’ve been poisoned… it’s worse than I imagined.

The pain itself isn’t that great, but the fact that my condition gets worse over time is the worst.

“Phew, damn it.”

As I was cursing my misfortune and walking quickly, I could see the entrance of the ruins that I had entered.

But I heard something buzzing from that direction. Did other expedition members come?

Just in case, I held my sword and shield and approached the entrance. Then the source of the buzzing was soon revealed.

– *Chirp, Chirp!*

Outside the ruins, dozens of Lizardmen were lined up.

Moreover, unlike the Lizardmen I had faced so far, the state of their armaments was unusual.

Their weapons were all gleaming with sharp blades, and many of them were wearing metal armor.

The color of the stripes on their shoulders was blue.

According to the Lizardmen’s class system that Windsor told me about – all of them are intermediate warriors.

Moreover, there were not just one, but many with two or three stripes.

In addition, there were a few high-ranking Lizardmen with red stripes mixed in.

“My life is fucked.”

In other words, I’m totally screwed.

—–CROW—–