ch61-ch80 · 075-ch75
Chapter 75: The Job in Half My Vision
The Ogre King's right hook comes at me.
I'm up on one knee.
Fast.
But super mode is still active.
I can see the attack.
Aiming for my head?
The spear's in my right hand.
And yet the attack comes from the left.
My own body's in the way—I can't get the spear up to block in time.
I shift my body right and raise my left shoulder.
WHAM—a heavy impact on my shoulder.
Then another crack to the head.
Am I spinning?
I'm flung into the air, cartwheeling twice, three times.
(Can't stoooop.)
Even after hitting the ground, I roll four, five more times before crashing into a Forest Ogre and finally stopping.
HP: 844→745
MP: 21→19
The head is bad news.
My HP just dropped a good chunk.
The nosebleed—or blood loss in general—is draining my HP too.
(My helmet's gone?)
Where did it go?
Am I in danger without it now?
Even so, the spear is the one thing I haven't let go of.
Super mode continues.
At the edge of my vision, I can see the Forest Ogre dead ahead swinging its claws down—huh?
It's right in front of me, so why is it at the edge of my vision?
Still flat on the ground, I knock the Forest Ogre's claws aside with my spear and get up.
MP: 19→18
The Forest Ogre's claws are stuck in the ground.
Wide open.
(You first.)
I slash across its neck in a single horizontal line.
I meant to take the head off, but it's a little shallow.
Still, I felt the blade cut through to the neck bone.
More than enough to finish a Forest Ogre, but.
(Half my vision is gone?)
My left eye?
That hit just above my left eye a moment ago.
My field of view has been cut in half.
Should I... run?
MP: 18→17
No—if my attacks land, I can bring them down.
No need to run yet.
First, the Ogre King's position.
It walks toward me, slowly.
Confident, is it? But the moment I show an opening, it'll dive right back in.
The Forest Ogres are slow too.
If anything, my own movements feel slow as well.
The Forest Ogres around me close the circle in.
The Forest Ogres block off even more of my already-halved vision.
(Tch, no choice then. 【Scouting】.)
MP: 16→15→14
【Scouting】 lasts about three seconds.
The mana wave spreads out in a circle, reaching 100 meters out in three seconds before the effect cuts off.
(Three seconds is plenty. Oh, there's my helmet on the ground.)
I close my right eye too.
I pour my concentration into the dark-toned image the skill paints inside my head.
There's still distance to the Ogre King.
First, clear out the ones on my firing line.
The ones in front of me.
Two.
The first one is close.
Faster than its closing claws, I slam the shaft into the Forest Ogre's body.
Then sweep it clean off its feet, sending it flying.
MP: 14→13
I spin with the momentum of the sweep.
Even facing away from it, I can see everything clearly thanks to 【Scouting】.
I sweep the second one's body aside the same way and send it flying.
The firing line is clear.
MP: 13→12
I've had the Ogre King's position pinned this whole time.
There's distance.
So—I throw it.
A running start.
Forward.
I break out of the Forest Ogres' circle.
(It'll be fine. One point left. 【Charge・Spear・Aiming】—fire.)
MP: 12→11→1
I hurl the spear with everything I have.
Even after it leaves my hand, 【Charge・Spear・Aiming】 keeps the aim true.
The spear, fired dead straight, disappears into the Ogre King's chest.
At that exact moment, 【Scouting】's effect ran out, so I couldn't see the result.
MP: 1→0
No need to see it.
No—the status screen switched over, so I know for certain I got it.
My usual status display is gone, replaced by the job selection screen.
A 400 MP 【Charge・Spear】.
The only thing that burns that much MP is Sword Saint-chan's 【Dimension Slash】.
Strongest in raw physical power—that's what 【Charge Spearman】 is, right?
The moment I tried to open my eyes, super mode cut out.
I was still in midair holding my throwing pose, so when everything suddenly sped back up, I botched the landing.
As I skid across the ground, I hear it—a detonation, and a rumble.
'GOGOGOGOGOGO'
(What now?)
"Goh. Gooh—gah."
The Forest Ogres roar in unison.
There's no doubt the boss, the Ogre King, is dead.
They've gone into a frenzy over it.
Abandoning their posts, every last enemy comes charging at me all at once.
If I picked an ordinary job on this selection screen right now, I wouldn't survive.
The standard practice is to pick your high-rank job as you exit through the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
But I need to find my spear before heading for the exit.
"It's not here? Where is it?"
I get up and head the way I threw the spear.
The Ogre King lies there with a massive hole punched through the center of its body, but the rental spear is nowhere to be seen.
"...What is that?"
Far off in the distance, there's a crack that looks like a Gate.
Maybe because it's one eye, I can't see it well, but it's a crack you could rightly call a giant hole.
"It reached the wall?"
And apparently broke clean through it.
So that was the detonation and the rumble just now.
A 400 MP 【Charge・Spear】 really is something else.
But if anyone finds out about this, it's not just a scolding—this is license-revocation territory.
No, it wasn't on purpose, so I'll be fine... right?
"Whoa, that was close."
I forgot I was surrounded.
Dodging Forest Ogre attacks, I try to make my way toward the wall, but...
(I've only killed four or five, so there are 90-plus left.)
And every last one of them is coming.
"No choice but to give up on the spear. 【Gate】."
Huh?
Huh?
"【Gate】. 'Left Gate'? Huh? 【Gate】. 【Gate】."
What's going on?
【Gate】 won't activate.
Anyway—run.
Toward the 'Gate to Floor 31'?
"No good. Enemies are coming from that direction."
It's fine.
Just run.
With the spear, I can manage.
Luckily, this is wide-open flatland.
Once I grab the spear, I'll loop around wide and head for the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
Forest Ogres are about three times faster than orcs on their feet, but I'm still far faster.
I'm not carrying the spear right now, so I can run with proper form.
I pull away rapidly, heading for the wall.
"Hah, hah... It's not here."
No—there it is.
But... it's not.
The spear itself was lying on the ground in front of the crack in space.
But the spearhead is gone.
Just the shaft.
Why?
The crack in space—or rather, the hole in the dungeon's transparent wall—is huge.
Is it beyond that?
'Even if a hole opens in the dungeon wall, never, ever approach it. If you fall through, you can never come back.'
That's what Hayashi-san said in the lecture...
And this is no time to go looking for it anyway.
Besides, even if I found the spearhead, I couldn't fix it on the spot.
"Hah, hah..."
This is bad.
I'm exhausted.
Is it because I can't breathe properly?
The nosebleed has stopped, but something feels blocked up.
Anyway—loop wide and make for the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
The spear works even without its head.
I just can't one-shot anymore, that's all.
"...Is it because of the selection screen? If I change jobs, will 【Gate】 start working again?"
My left eye can't see.
And yet the high-rank job selection screen is showing up right there, in the part I can't see.
Because of it, I can't see my HP or MP either.
"MP? My MP? But there was definitely 1 left when I threw the spear."
Don't tell me my MP is at zero?
Picking a job right now is way too risky.
If the nosebleed starts again, I might not be able to run anymore.
And a nosebleed would be getting off easy.
"Tch, they've caught up. Just run, then."
While I was hesitating, the Forest Ogres caught up.
The dungeon wall is transparent, but fortunately it's cracked now, so I can see exactly where it is.
I have to run along the wall and make for the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
"Hah, hah."
My MP might be at zero.
If so, what do I do?
Even if I reach the 'Gate to Floor 31' and leave this room, 【Gate】 still won't work.
"Hah, hah, hah."
And once I pass through the 'Gate to Floor 31,' I won't be able to pick a job anymore.
I know that for a fact—I went through it myself, back when I first passed through the 'Gate to Floor 11' on Floor 10.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah."
In that case, standard practice—pick the high-rank job right before passing through the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
If the selection screen is what's blocking 【Gate】, then 【Gate】 should work again the moment I choose.
Or should I play it safe, move on to Floor 31, and go home with 【Gate】 from there?
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah."
But what if the reason 【Gate】 won't work is that I've got no MP?
(...Then I'll be walking home.)
Is there a backlash from changing your main job?
And then I have to walk home on top of that?
Couldn't I just go home as a 【Charge Spearman】?
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah."
No good.
The Forest Ogres behind me are catching up.
And I can already see the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah..."
I stop.
Because two more Forest Ogres are coming from straight ahead.
Why?
Blue blood is streaming from their mouths.
The ones I sent flying before I threw the spear... So they survived.
"Hah, hah—hoo, hoo, hoo."
I steady my breathing and meet the Forest Ogres head-on.
With the spear's reach, I get to attack first.
Swish.
"Ah."
Misjudged the distance?
No—it's the missing spearhead.
Out of habit, I swung as if to slash open its belly.
A counterattack comes.
"—!"
I dodge the claws by a hair.
The other one is coming too.
And a whole crowd from behind.
"Hah, hah..."
Running is all I can do.
To the 'Gate to Floor 31.'
"Ugh."
One clean swipe.
Claws rake across my back from behind and I collapse forward.
Is this it?
Even so, I get up right away and face off against the Forest Ogres swarming in from behind.
'Available Jobs'
【Multi-Spearman】
【Charge Shielder】
【Assassin】
【Berserker】
'Next'
Four high-rank jobs.
This 'Next' must lead to the lower-rank job page.
You can change your main to a lower-rank job from there too.
No 【Spear Saint】, and of course no 【Ninja】 either.
【Charge Shielder】 or 【Berserker】.
I feel like 【Charge Spearman】 has put me through a lot of grief.
Constantly burning MP, and no other techniques to speak of—it makes no sense.
(But I'm glad it was 【Charge Spearman】. It had to be the spear. It had to be super mode. If it hadn't been, things probably never would have worked out with Watanabe-san—with Kasumi-san. So I'm putting my faith in you—in your high-rank job.)
I select 【Charge Shielder】.