Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Lamentation of Swordsman Karl

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“Silumi and Jean, they died on the way to this broken town.”

“I don’t understand, why did this happen!? They died one after another right in front of me. Weren’t they just defeated by monsters we encountered on the road? Why did they die? Why are they just… dead!?”

“At first, Silumi accidentally drew the monsters’ aggro, and while we were retreating, we encountered another wave of beasts.”

“After Silumi was knocked to the ground, Jean ran back like a madman to save her, but he was immediately surrounded and attacked. At that moment, I was so scared I couldn’t move. Only after I came to my senses did I take my sword to slash at those hyenas and wolves…”

“I saw Jean getting knocked down every time he tried to stand up, and when he attempted to use a healing potion, it was knocked from his hand. Meanwhile, Silumi was crying out to me for help…”

In Morning Dew Town, inside an inn that served as a resting place for travelers.

A young man wearing beginner cloth armor pressed his elbows hard against the wooden table, tightly clutching his head with both hands. His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice grew increasingly strained until it finally broke into trembling sobs that left him unable to utter another word.

Not long ago, before reaching the safe zone, he had lost two teammates.

And those two teammates seemed to be more than just gaming friends, they were real-life friends who had agreed to play this game together.

“I couldn’t save them, I couldn’t save anyone… I could only watch as their HP values kept dropping until they turned red.”

“In the end, Jean hugged Silumi and shielded her, and at that moment they both shouted at me to run… I could only watch helplessly as they shattered and disappeared, while I fled to this town like a coward afraid of death.”

“I was the one who invited them to play this game, and I was the one who suggested coming here. It’s all my fault…”

Had they truly disappeared forever? Why was he still alive in the end…

If he hadn’t suggested leaving the main city early to search for leveling resources in the surrounding towns, would they still be alive? He had led them out here, but in the end, he was the only one left alive… why!?

The young man named Karl clutched his head as he wept bitterly, his entire body shaking violently, sinking into endless self-reproach.

No one had told him that he could buy a set of Starter Armor in the main city that was better than the initial equipment, with a full 25 points more defense. If they had learned about the game information earlier, would this have happened?

He was the one who had taken the lead in suggesting they play this game, yet he didn’t have sufficient understanding of the in-game situation. He had even boasted about being the team leader, but it was his failure as a leader… that had gotten them killed.

Inside the dimly lit inn, hearing Karl’s heartbreaking cries, the other dozen or so players fell silent.

For a moment, the air was filled only with the young man’s sobs, which he tried desperately but failed to suppress.

“…” Nolan stood with his arms crossed, holding his sword and leaning against the wall of the inn. He remained silent as well, but the hand resting on his elbow unconsciously tightened as he drew a deep breath through his nostrils.

In fact, everyone who had managed to reach Morning Dew Town had survived some dangerous experiences along the way.

Even Nolan had fought with the Morning Dew wolf pack, designated as elite monsters, on his journey. Had he made a single mistake then, he probably wouldn’t be standing here safely now.

Like Karl, after the game changed, Nolan’s first reaction had been to leave the area surrounding the Pure White Holy City with Cross.

Thinking carefully, that had been somewhat impulsive. He hadn’t really considered whether he had the ability to protect Cross. If Cross had met with disaster on the road, he would definitely have fallen into the same inescapable self-blame and pain that Karl was experiencing now.

He had the experience and combat skills from the beta test, but Karl didn’t.

After a long while, from the other side of the inn, a voice finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

“It happened to us too. On the way, we encountered an elite monster. Originally, our four-person squad maintained formation under our leader’s command, but we didn’t expect one coward to run away. Our formation immediately collapsed, and in the end, our leader held off the elite monster so we could retreat, but he himself…”

“In our group too, someone lost courage at the critical moment. Luckily it was just a swordsman who ran, and with our healer, we narrowly avoided disaster.”

“I came here alone, but I used an underhanded method, secretly following behind other groups. But on the way, I also witnessed the tragic scenes of other solo players being defeated by monsters, which was… simply unbelievable.”

Gradually, others in the inn began to share their experiences.

Rather than simply sharing the hardships of their journeys, it seemed more like seeking comfort in numbers, or perhaps trying to console this young man named Karl, whose pain at losing two important friends simultaneously was unimaginable.

A tall warrior with an axe strapped to his back walked over and sat down beside Karl.

He first looked at Karl, who was curled up like a hedgehog, then patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice: “I deeply feel your pain. All of us standing here, though we’ve survived, have witnessed other players losing their lives to monsters along the way. We all know that for anyone, this is immeasurable suffering.”

“But you must live on. Your friends bought you the chance to survive, and giving up hope now would truly be betraying them.”

“Since this game has proven to us that it’s not just talk, then whoever is manipulating things behind the scenes is the real criminal who killed your friends. Pull yourself together and avenge them, until you cut off the mastermind’s head.”

If there truly was someone manipulating events from behind the scenes, this was absolutely not something that could be resolved by simply sending someone to prison.

Therefore, talking about cutting off heads wasn’t excessive at all. Surely Karl wouldn’t be the only one wanting to behead the mastermind, there would be many others who had lost loved ones in this game.

“Ah, ah…” Karl’s expression twisted in agony, his throat working violently.

Hearing these words, he raised his head, which had almost been pressed against the wooden table, and looked at the warrior who had expressed sympathy beside him. His arms began to tremble even more, and he seemed on the verge of tears again.

“My name is Kilo. I started playing when the game opened this morning, and I also formed a squad, but now I can’t find my teammates either. If you don’t mind, we could team up and add each other as friends, and work with everyone else to survive and leave this game…”

Just at this moment, a cold voice suddenly came from a corner of the inn: “Heh, leave this game?”

As if completely disregarding the current atmosphere, that voice continued like throwing a bucket of cold water on everyone: “Do you really think we can clear this game and reach that 100th floor?”