Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 4: Push Comes To Shove

Think Nolan, how the hell did the protagonist get through this prologue anyway?

Well, at this point in time, he had just received his powers and had not learned to use them much, kind of like me.

Remember how the plot went...

First, the supposed ’controlled’ Gate turned out to not be so controlled, spilling monsters everywhere and causing a Dungeon Outbreak.

You know, the fact this setup existed in the first place was insane to me. How the hell was security so careless?

Regardless, the monsters killed everything and everyone, that part was obvious. And the monsters that spilled out were the Class-F Ironmane Wolves, along with the Class-E Ironmane Alpha.

Class-F monsters weren’t particularly hard to defeat for Operators, but compared to civilians, they’re unstoppable forces of nature.

Right, so the protagonist scaled the building, managing to make it to the top...to recalibrate the emergency relay tower located on the roof of the building!

That’s right!

It was such a weird game setting too, as I always wondered why they couldn’t just pull out their phones and call emergency services.

But apparently there was something about the Logos field frying most of the radio signals coming in and out of the area, so that was why Leon had to recalibrate it.

Ahh...but now that he was gone...I guess that job falls to me.

Curse you, whoever transmigrated as Leon Hart.

Though there was a massive problem.

Pink Flags was a visual novel with turn-based mechanics. So each hall was just a single backdrop with waves of monsters coming in until the protagonist eventually reached the roof.

However, in real life...I had to navigate and somehow get up there without monsters wanting to rip me to pieces.

’It would’ve been nice if everything was turn-based!’

But an idea suddenly popped into my head. I was literally in the security room, the room with the most information in the entire building after all.

Though, I couldn’t look at the cameras and make my way up there at the same time. If only I had a navigator...

Wait, I do.

Ruby looked a little bit better now, but still in no shape to run or even walk for that matter. It was a gamble but she needed to do this so we can both get out of here.

"Ruby, I have an idea. You might not like it but it’s the only way we’ve got."

"Urgh...just spit it out already..."

"I need to get to the rooftop to access the emergency relay tower and calibrate it. Problem is, I don’t know the way. And frankly making my way through these halls blind is a death wish."

She seemed to have caught the intention clearly.

"You want me...to stay here and be...the navigator, don’t you?"

"Yeah."

"...Alright."

"Really?"

"Well...I’d rather try to do something than just sit here like a damsel in distress and die a meaningless death."

’...Did Ruby Lane always have this setting?’

But seeing her resolve managed to boost mine a little as well.

Managing to find a couple of internal communication devices, I helped her get to the guard’s chair before clipping the device onto the clip of my pants.

’Really hope these don’t get fried as well...’

I reached for the door, but something told me to turn back. I felt bad leaving an injured girl alone here.

Even though I knew she could take care of herself and would show up later in the story...the death of the protagonist had already proved that very wrong.

"Ruby...make sure to lock this door tight. I’ll succeed and come back for you."

She looked at me in the eyes, but instead of finding a scared girl, all I saw was amazing willpower. The desire to live.

"Yeah...you stay safe as well. I’m counting on you."

"Me too."

As soon as I left the security room, I already regretted it.

The corridor was darker than before, with only the red emergency lights flickering weakly along the ceiling.

Every few seconds, some sparks spat or debris trickled down just to remind me that the building was still very much falling apart.

I pulled up the device and turned it on.

"Ruby, can you hear me?"

[Yeah...I can hear you.]

Good. At least one thing in this cursed prologue still worked as intended.

[There should be a hallway directly in front of you. Keep going straight for about twenty meters. Then take the left path.]

"Got it."

[And Nolan?]

"What?"

[There’s movement near the end of the corridor.]

"Damn...already?!"

And right on cue, another Ironmane Wolf had just turned the corner, managing to spot me even in the dim light.

It charged, but for some reason, I wasn’t as afraid as I was before.

Part of it was because I already killed one. It was just one Class-F monster, I could handle it.

But the other part of me that saw Ruby use that weird magic spell, caused me to finally realize what my status had meant.

It meant I had magic too. And I had been eyeing a specific spell ever since I saw it from the status panel.

Every transmigrator had to have this moment eventually. The moment they used a spell to blow away their first enemy with a beautiful display of magic.

I raised my right hand, palm outstretched as I aimed it in the wolf’s direction. With my other hand to brace, I yelled out.

"Firebolt!"

Suddenly, various formulas, equations, and trajectories passed through my brain in a single instance.

I didn’t know how I was able to understand it at all, but I channeled it into my glove, configuring it to launch the spell.

[Spell Sequence Initializing: Tier 1 Offensive Ignition Type Spell—]

[Firebolt]

Blue particles seeped out of my arm and condensed into my palm. For one glorious second, I thought something was about to happen before—

Pfft...

A tiny orange spark popped out, flickered in the air, then died.

...

The wolf lunged.

"Ah, damn it!"

I threw myself to the side just as its claw tore through the air where my chest had been.

My shoulder slammed into the wall, causing pain to shoot up my back, but there was no time to complain.

The wolf twisted unnaturally fast, its claws scraping against the floor, already preparing to leap again.

’Urgh...was that what an F-Rank in Projection meant? I didn’t have much expectations...but that’s all?’

[Nolan! It’s coming again!]

"Tch..."

Its jaws opened wide, probably smiling as if it was already imagining another mouthful of fresh meat.

There was no room to dodge or think, so I just barely managed to raise a hand on instinct as it approached.

The monster crashed into me, and my instincts told me to do only one thing:

[Spell Sequence Initializing: Tier 1 Kinetic Displacement Type Spell—]

[Push]

THUD—!

The impact shot through my arms like I had just tried to stop a moving car with my bare hands. My elbows nearly buckled and I thought my shoulders were going to pop out of their sockets.

But the wolf was the one who flew.

Its body launched backward, slamming into the wall hard enough to dent the metal plating. The entire corridor shook from the impact.

It dropped onto the floor in a twitching heap, then went still.

’Damn...what the hell did I just do?!’

Then I remembered my status panel.

Was that the result of my Output being at Rank B?

Wait...so if my Projection is at Rank F, is that why my Firebolt flew like two centimeters out of my palm?

Ahh, I don’t know anymore. My dreams of being a cool magician that can destroy enemy lines with dazzling explosions have already gone out the window...

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Nolan Midgard in the games was very strong in the beginning Chapters, mostly because of his extremely high damage.

However, the tradeoff was that he only had close-ranged techniques, leading him to die frequently on the frontlines.

’My character really does fall off, doesn’t he...?’

[Nolan, don’t just stand there, get moving!]

"Right, right, my bad."

But I just barely managed to climb up a flight of stairs, only to hear the sound of growling just a few meters on the stairs leading up.

[Nolan! Watch out, I just saw a pack coming down from the 4th Floor!]

"Uh...yeah. I already met them..."

[Already?!]

"Yes."

I wanted to cry.

Booking it into the room right next to the stairs and jamming a cabinet against the door, I found myself in a hall full of cubicles. Probably the floor that was used as the administration for the evaluations.

But corpses had already been littered on the floor, and the smell of blood was so pungent that I just barely avoided throwing up.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

[Nolan...there are three of them.]

"Please tell me you’re joking."

[I’m not.]

The wolves slammed against the door that I was trying so hard to hold back. And eventually...

BANG!

The entire door collapsed, allowing me to see the red gleam from their eyes and sense the bloodlust coming my way.

Ahhh, I hate it here.

Being the fake protagonist was already terrible.