Becoming an Extra in a Trash Game

Chapter 27

Caw!

A crow, making an ominous cry, circled around a dried-up dead tree, cutting through the night sky that had already darkened as much as it could.

Its eyes, completely red as if filled with blood without any white, glowed gloomily.

“I… Knew you’d come back…”

Would such a sound be squeezed out like juice if one were to wring their vocal cords?

A chillingly low and cracked voice flowed out from between the dead trees, scattering in the darkness before letting out a chuckling sound.

As if the night was opening up, the moon appeared from the sky that had been full of clouds, slowly casting its light on the dead tree. Even though there was no wind, the dead tree shook.

The twisted tree, which had already appeared to be dead, slowly opened up as if revealing its body. The upper part split open, and then a crow slowly descended through the gap.

“Come in… I must see your memories…”

The upper part of the dead tree was wide open, pouring all the moonlight down without filtering, and in the center, there was only a lone black basin with a magic circle drawn on it.

As a white hand made of bone slowly emerged from the black and murky water, the crow that had entered the dead tree carefully perched on top of it.

Kee-gee-geek!

While reading the crow’s memories, a lower-level lich scratched the wall of the basin with its nails from under the black water, unable to contain its anger.

How resentful and bitter!

After preparing for over 70 years. By just a sword wielded by a mere child!

Along with the jewel to replace the heart, even a body to transfer into like that person was prepared…

Due to the severe injury sustained at the end, everything had to be left behind, and hastily becoming a lich with only the magic it possessed resulted in numerous side effects, confining it to this polluted magical spring.

“I will never forgive you…”

Although the lich had declined, it had not fallen, still dreaming of revenge, as its once powerful black magic and knowledge remained intact.

Thus, it had been sending familiars to monitor the village where that child was taken in for years.

For the rat that would return someday.

And when that stupid rat returned to the land where nothing remained, it intended to capture and squeeze out everything from its flesh to its soul, but.

“Not bad…”

The rat reflected in the crow’s eyes had grown quite well.

An outstanding appearance with a balanced physique, as if trained in swordsmanship… A faint scent of magic.

Although body transfer was already out of the question, at that level, it would be better to kill it in despair and take it as a subordinate instead of squeezing out blood and burning the soul to absorb as black magic.

The beastkin who came along, yes, their talent doesn’t look bad either.

“However… That arrogant human child… Seems to be of no use. It would be better to squeeze it into black magic.”

Caw!

The crow cried out long as if responding to his words.

The lich continued to read the memory to the end, muttering slowly from the polluted magical spring.

“Southeast… Yes, they came from the mining city…”

Then they will move to the next village via the western main road.

If undead are ambushed there in advance, killing all of them would be no trouble at all.

“In the end… I will make good use of your body…”

The lich sent the crow to the western main road, and the crow will set a trap thereby sprinkling black magic to awaken and gather the undead before returning.

Soon, a gloomy and murky metallic sound echoed from inside the dead tree towards where they were.

* * *

“Let’s go back to Norwell.”

As I stoked the embers we had lit for camping preparations with a branch to make them flare up more, Luna tilted her head to the side, and Kane also looked at me as if wondering why.

“Aren’t we going to use the western main road to get to the next village?”

“What for?”

I asked Kane back while tending to the fire that had grown stronger, and smiled contentedly.

Thanks to the robe, I’m not cold or anything, but a bonfire is essential for camping, after all.

I started taking out jerky, bread, cheese, and other items from my subspace and began grilling them over the fire while shrugging my shoulders.

“What’s the point of going to the next village anyway?”

“Umm… To gain more experience for us? And also…”

Luna opened her mouth after taking a bite of the grilled jerky, which made her lips a bit darker, and glanced at Kane.

“To gather information too…”

The Evil god cult. Ah, Kane still doesn’t know they’re a cult.

Anyway, gathering information about these unidentified people who kill and offer sacrifices, while searching for traces of his sister and getting stronger at the same time.

That’s Kane’s current goal, but.

“Is there any need to waste time on the road for that? In any case, fighting monsters while moving is for practical experience.”

Maybe it’s because I used to spend 3 hours commuting to school and 2 hours commuting to work every day, but in my opinion, the time wasted on the road seemed too precious.

I handed Luna some hot grilled cheese and started grilling another one as I opened my mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be better to move directly to a place with lots of monsters and spend the saved time there instead? For example…”

“The monster border.”

“Or the Labyrinth City.”

After Kane and I alternately mentioned the destinations, I grinned while sharing cheese with Kane as well.

“If we want to make identity verification easier, it would be better to register as adventurers.”

I continued speaking while blowing on the cheese that had been grilled to a light brown color on the outside.

“Then it becomes easier to enter the border or the Labyrinth to gain experience. As we gain experience and our adventurer rank increases, the quality of information we can access will naturally improve.”

I slowly waved the stick with cheese skewered on it, too lazy to blow on it with my mouth, while looking at Kane and Luna.

“The advantage of the monster border along the mountain range would be the various unexpected situations, right?”

Monsters don’t send letters in advance saying, “I’m coming today,” after all.

We might have to jump out even while sleeping, or unexpected incidents could occur.

In the process, we might cooperate with other people besides our party, and learn strategic movements like ambushes or pursuits in various terrains.

“The disadvantage would be that it’s almost like being employed by the military, so we’d have to act on orders.”

“It does seem like… Our freedom would be… A bit limited.”

I nodded at their responses and then spoke about the other option, the Labyrinth City.

“On the other hand, the Labyrinth City…”

“The advantage would be the possibility of planned hunting or exploration, right?”

“Umm… The disadvantage would be the security within the Labyrinth, and… Because we can plan and prepare thoroughly… It might be too stable…”

…Are you stealing my lines?

Actually, I didn’t mind either option. Both the border and the Labyrinth City were places we had to visit anyway.

Well, if I had to choose, going to the Labyrinth City first might be slightly better?

The items that can be obtained in the monster border are somewhat random in location, while the hidden items in the Labyrinth City are fixed.

“So, which one do you prefer?”

Still, the choice should be made by Kane, not me.

I was about to put the slightly burnt, savory cheese in my mouth, but it was too hot, so I just touched it to my lips before dropping it and waving it in the air again.

“Hmm, I think the Labyrinth City would be better.”

“Me too… I think it would be better to… Gain a bit more experience before going to the border…”

“Then let’s go back to the mining city and take a warp. We’ll stop by the magic tower once more too.”

It’s best to replenish what’s been used right away for peace of mind.

Isn’t that how all gamers are? Keeping 99 potions and refilling as soon as you use one, over and over.

“So… We’ll go to the Labyrinth City… Register as adventurers and enter the labyrinth dungeon…?”

Seeing Luna muttering that it might be stuffy, I finally put the adequately cooled cheese in my mouth and chewed.

“It might be… Surprisingly comfortable?”

In the game, they used to say it reminded them of playing in rabbit holes when they were young.

After eating a few well-grilled salty cheeses, I feel full and drowsy…

Caw!

Hearing the sound of a crow cawing not too far away, I lifted my head and could definitely feel that the sky had deepened, indicating it was late at night.

“We should probably sleep soon.”

Since there was no one else around but us, I took out an artifact from the auction house that set up a temporary tent and smiled.

This is why money is good. It might seem like I’ve become too obsessed with materialism… But that’s just the mindset of a company employee, can’t help it.

As I activated the artifact with a movement of my fingertips, a large circular tent fluttered and erected itself centered around where I was standing, and a red-eyed crow that had flown in from somewhere perched on top of the tent.

It’s quite big.

Imagine if we had to make this by hand, hammering in each stake one by one.

For a tent we’re only using for one night, it would have been excessive if done by hand, but with an artifact, it’s done in a snap.

Thanks to this, I was able to lay out sleeping bags comfortably despite camping and even took out a blanket from my subspace that I had brought from my room.

It’s cozy, after all, people need to rest with their backs supported.

“Good night…”

“Sleep well, Luna.”

And you too, Kane, as a bonus.

Probably because it’s a magic artifact, it’s been treated to prevent fires from catching easily, so with the bonfire in the center, the three of us sleep separately, and soon I hear a soft snoring sound.

Luna, you snore softly when you sleep, huh?

And Kane, whether he’s asleep or… Dead or alive, his breathing is so quiet it can’t be heard over the crackling of the burning wood.

‘I can’t sleep.’

With my body pleasantly relaxed but my mind wide awake, I stared blankly into the air before turning my head towards where Kane might be and opened the Trait window.

[Kane Raynare – The Advancer]

Representative Traits: [Unforgettable (SS)] [Genius (S)] [Appearance (A+)] [Physique (S+)]

Hidden Traits: [Toughness (A+)] [Jack of All Trades (C+)]

‘I guess a protagonist is a protagonist after all.’

As if painted with a brush, the sky, wind, and time. At the moment when everything seemed to rise, fall, and flow centered around Kane, I unconsciously opened the Trait window and realized that Kane’s title had changed.

It was a moment that gave me a strange feeling.

At the moment when one person’s fate clearly paved a new path through my efforts, I felt that an ending different from the one I had always seen might be waiting.

‘Come on. What equal business partner? To be equal with me, you’d have to cross over to Earth once too, man.’

Somehow, I found myself grinning, and I brushed my fingertips over the rising corners of my mouth, pressing them down as I had these idle thoughts.

But let’s not get too excited. We still have a long way to go.

Feeling a bit elated that my efforts had been recognized, I deliberately tried to calm myself down and slowly read the Traits again.

I had only hurriedly checked the changed title earlier, after all.

‘Appearance, Physique, and Toughness are on the verge of upgrading, misfortune has been erased, and Jack of All Trades is newly added.’

Reading it slowly again, I’m amazed.

Is that really a person?

For Traits to be on the verge of upgrading in less than a year…

Of course, it’s because his growth rate increased rapidly as muscles and such developed on a body that had been starved and weakened from running away and being sold, but Traits are something where the moment of upgrading might come only once or twice in a lifetime in severe cases…

Moreover, though I’m not sure, he probably has more than just one or two talents. That’s why Jack of All Trades popped up as a summary.

Don’t underestimate it just because it’s C-rank. Besides, there’s no way Kane will end up with just a C.

It’s just because he’s still in his growth period but wait a few years. Who knows what that will become…

Just think about the Innocent Saga, the power inflation goes crazy as it moves towards the latter half.

Later on, everyone was commenting, asking if Dol-i-kki could handle it.

‘That damn historical accuracy.’

I often recalled the words Dol-i-kki left in his afterword.

Back then, I thought it was just a joke that didn’t make any sense…

I forcibly closed my eyes after unnecessarily shuddering once.