Chapter 66: A Sudden Turn (8)
I’ve hardly ever starved in my life.
I had no problem getting food on Earth, and I was even more affluent in the Eurelia continent.
Hence, the hunger I feel now is even shivering.
“Damn it.”
It feels like there’s a hole in my stomach. A feeling of powerlessness that corrodes my whole body. A dry mouth. Blurred vision.
And an intense craving for anything that moves and is alive.
I have an inkling of what this sudden change is.
The endless curse of starvation.
When Edmerek enters the final phase, it applies a debuff to a random party member, quickly reducing their stamina to 1.
All actions in combat consume some stamina, so it’s essentially a powerful curse that incapacitates them.
In the game, it was just one of those annoying patterns, but experiencing it in reality is truly maddening.
It’s not just a loss of strength, it’s particularly tormenting because it induces a state of starvation.
But why is it affecting me now…?
A fleeting moment of absurdity and injustice crosses my mind.
But there’s nothing I can do about what has already happened. Barely holding onto my sanity, I opened my inventory and pulled out a vitality potion.
I would prefer to eat proper food, but…
This isn’t ordinary hunger. It’s not a hunger that can be satisfied with food.
It would be much more effective to recover stamina with a vitality potion, as it was in the game.
With trembling hands, I brought the potion to my lips, but… Edmerek didn’t let me be.
“Offer your flesh.”
“Ah.”
The small but clear voice of Edmerek.
And the semi-transparent mouth that appeared before my eyes.
The moment I took a sip of the potion, Edmerek’s void consumption covered my body.
Snap!
The sharp teeth were stopped by a previously set shield. However, this was only for a moment, the protective barrier broke down soon after.
Woong-
Several defensive magic tools activated one after another, but they broke one by one in front of the squeezing power like a vise.
Even if I twisted my body to escape the trajectory, my exhausted body didn’t properly respond to my will.
Eventually, Helena’s sacred art, the last bastion, exhausted its power, leaving me completely defenseless.
And, into my exposed side, the remaining teeth were embedded.
Crunch.
A force that would have normally severed my upper and lower body.
However, having exhausted its strength breaking through multiple layers of defense, Edmerek’s void consumption stopped at tearing my flesh.
“AAAARGH!”
That alone was enough to bring me back to my senses.
Splosh.
The blood spilled on the floor.
It’s not fatal immediately, but it’s a wound that cannot be left untreated.
“It’s blocked. What a shame.”
“You…you, this…argh.”
The superior vitality potion that I managed to sip a few mouthfuls of in this urgent situation began to take effect.
I escaped from the terrible hunger, but now it was the turn of pain.
Holding the side where blood was dripping, I tried to pull out a healing potion.
“That won’t do.”
Edmerek, noticing my intention, immediately reached out his hand.
Biting my teeth and throwing my body, again new teeth marks are engraved where I was standing.
“You dodge well. But you can’t avoid forever.”
Since then, abilities continue to pour out as if not giving me time to recover through potions.
The low noise coming from behind me doesn’t seem to get farther.
Originally, void consumption is not an ability that can be activated this quickly.
Perhaps Edmerek is pushing hard to finish me off completely on this opportunity.
Indeed, the already pale guy’s complexion started to turn even paler.
Obviously, Edmerek also can’t keep this up for long but…
Given that I, with a hole in my side, would collapse first, it’s a rational choice for him.
“Ugh. Cough!”
Every movement tears the wound, and it feels like my insides are shaking.
I’m anxious that if I’m not careful, I might spill my contents, and I’m in a level of pain I’ve never experienced before.
I did drink a potion with continuous healing effects in advance, but moving too intensely makes the condition worsen faster than it heals.
As my thoughts reached that point, slowly, weak thoughts started to creep in.
…Can I really win this?
A question that involuntarily rose in my mind. That was the problem.
Thanks to system correction, my body could move flawlessly, and as I thought, with just holding a dagger.
But, in other words, if the mind crumbles, so does the body movement.
Lost assurance brings hesitation, and hesitation leads to death.
My body freezes for a moment. The animal’s teeth targeting my head don’t miss this gap.
Rough laughter rings in my ears like a hallucination, whispering the abandonment of life, and…
I, too, was numbly about to accept my own death as if it was someone else’s fate.
Bang!
“Snap out of it, Yandel!”
A desperate voice from behind and the water barrier surrounding me.
Did Elisha create a protective magic?
“…How?”
Elisha is a great magician, but she shouldn’t be able to use such magic yet.
“What do you mean how! Just drink the potion quickly! I used a precious artifact that’s even rare in Sylvan Magic Tower! This can’t hold for long!”
“Ah, okay.”
As I, startled, gulp down the potion, the wound quickly begins to heal.
“This…pointy-eared wench…!”
Edmerek, who tried to cut off my breath even by pushing himself, extended his hand towards Elisha, spitting curses.
Snap.
“Kyaaa!”
Elisha also threw her body immediately, probably from past experiences, but it wasn’t perfect.
It’s natural because Elisha doesn’t know exact timings or attack ranges like I do.
Yet, Elisha, not caring about her tattered arm, is casting dim magic.
“…….”
Only after seeing her did I realize.
From the beginning, Elisha knew the fact that I considered that I might die.
Still, to survive, to save others, she fought fiercely.
This was not only about Elisha.
Vincent, who stood alone against the tentacle giant, wielded his sword without stopping, while shedding tears and even vomiting.
Helena, jumping splendidly among numerous clones, believed in her enormous sacred power, receiving most attacks, and fought.
It’s the same with other students.
Everyone is doing their best in their positions, vomiting blood and struggling.
Even that Edmerek was forcing the manifestation of his abilities.
In contrast, what about me?
I didn’t gamble with my life. I’ve never tried that.
I was always acting with a mindset as if playing a game from a little distance.
I believed that’s how it had to be.
Originally, on Earth… Shin Yongchan was just an ordinary college student.
Suddenly dropped in the Eurelia continent and told to defeat all the evil gods and save the world is just a daunting task.
It’s not possible.
If I can do it, then other people in this world should be able to do it too.
Even with differences in knowledge and ways of thinking, the people here are definitely not inferior to me.
The fact that they couldn’t do it means it’s impossible for me as well.
However, what about me, not as a college student but as a veteran of H&A?
… I dare say, there would be no one more suitable than me to save this world.
I’ve saved this world dozens of times by now; I can surely do it this time as well.
So, I decided to become a player.
Especially when dealing with socialites, I had to act even more like a veteran.
I thought that was the only way to win.
But what was the result?
Fighting in a different place than the game days and struggling to the brink of death just because the pattern was slightly twisted.
I was wrong.
I had the wrong idea.
Will it work somehow if I am a veteran?
The attitude of treating this world like a game was the problem from the beginning.
This is not a game, it’s reality.
Even if it’s a world like H&A, this is not a game that flows according to a set system, it’s reality.
It was obvious knowledge I knew long ago but at the same time, a fact I had been deliberately ignoring.
I was afraid of failing.
Therefore, I had been relying on myself as a veteran who has seen the ending of H&A several times.
But I shouldn’t have.
I realized while watching those who are fighting, getting hurt, and dying here.
I can’t act like I’m just playing a game and step back like now.
Just putting forward one side of me is not enough.
To win, I also had to stake myself as well.
All of me.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l