Surviving as a Trash Bard in a Game

A very old… lute sound.

It moved as if tickling my eardrums, sometimes mimicking the sound of a heartbeat at the right tempo, and after a while, the tempo slowed down again. I felt a little frustrated.

The song began to move as if it knew I was frustrated. The music slowly picked up speed again, and my heart also sped up to match the beat.

An invisible conductor shouts. Prestoㅡ

I looked around. I couldn’t find the source of the sound. It felt like it was coming from all directions. The haphazardly grown trees were reflecting the sound.

ㅡI was annoyed.

–

[Willpower Check – 5 or higher]

[10 – 3]

[Success!]

–

Suddenly, I felt at ease.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Most people with even moderately weak willpower can endure it.”

Right… If it’s 5 or higher, it’s supposed to be easy enough for even a child to succeed. I barely made it with a difference of 2…?

Why on earth is willpower determined by intelligence modifier?

No, is it a good thing? If it was determined by health or stamina, I might have really been dragged by the song. Is intelligence the most reasonable stat, at least?

My head throbbed a little. Probably because it was a close success, not a success with a high number.

“The performance… is good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

You don’t have an ear for music. This is the performance of a very skilled performer! A natural taste that is different from the performances using the power of machines in modern times…!

Not machine sounds or electronic sounds, but the real sound of a lute.

If I had known in advance that it was an instrument that made such a beautiful sound, I would have practiced it myself.

I’m a bard, I can’t not be able to play the lute. I could make money with my own performance, and since my job was a bard… maybe I could learn related skills.

In JRPG games, bards can play instruments, give buffs, heal, are decent at close combat, and even use bows!

Why only me!

‘…No, even if I lament like this on the inside, nothing will happen.’

Once this quest is over and I return, I should look up how to play an instrument and the role of a bard in a party.

Actually, I should have looked it up a long time ago… Why did I only remember this now? Is this also an intelligence modifier? It’s a bit unfair.

“Um, so where are we going now?”

“To the colony.”

“Huh?”

“They said a slightly larger colony has formed. We’ll probably assess the size, report it, and come back when a subjugation quest is issued. Probably with a little more than 5 people?”

“That’s quite a large scale.”

“One silver tag can easily handle a group of goblins, but you never know. Subjugation quests usually recommend 4 or more people.”

“Why?”

“Because there are things that can’t be dealt with by 2 or 3 people. In a pinch, it’s a good number to abandon one person and run away.”

He said he would abandon one person with a blank expression, but there was a subtle sadness in his face. Even though he tried to act like it was nothing, he was still a child.

I felt a little… closer. Psychologically.

If I build rapport by having conversations like this, maybe I can rely on him a little more later.

‘…That’s too calculating.’

Yeah. Let’s just finish this job successfully first.

There will be time to talk after the job is done. I have no information and no experience. In a pinch, I need someone to help me.

It’s good to have more people you know.

To be honest, it’s lonely. There was no one I knew in this world.

We walked for a long time again. My knee joints were starting to ache. My muscles were clearing their throats, about to scream. What a terrible stamina.

Seeing me out of breath from exhaustion, Skyler held up his index finger in front of his nose. And he made a ‘shh’ sound.

It meant to be quiet.

I swallowed my breath and exhaled slowly. The sound decreased.

In the distance, I could see rustling sounds and moving bushes. And beyond that, I saw traces of trees that had been cut down and abandoned.

Only the stumps of the trees remained.

Skyler briefly assessed the situation and then spoke quietly.

“They’re nearby. If they have the intelligence to cut down trees, they must be goblins. Their simple ecology dictates that they procure wood from nearby sources… there might be a cave.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s dangerous to split up, so stay close.”

I moved closer to him at his warning. We were close enough that our heads would touch if we fell over.

Skyler turned back again.

He was pretending to be fine, but his ears seemed to have turned a little red.

Well, he’s still a kid.

I wanted to tease him a little, but I’m not so low on intelligence that I would joke around in a situation like this, right? And I didn’t want to act like a girl like that!

Skyler rummaged through his belongings and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper.

I immediately recognized what it was.

‘…A scroll.’

It had been a while since I had seen something so fantasy-like. It was only now that I felt a little bit like I was transmigrated into a game.

‘Actually, I felt it… as soon as I woke up at the adventurer’s guild this morning. As soon as I looked in the mirror.’

An unrealistic appearance is a fantasy in itself.

While I was indulging in self-admiration, Skyler carefully unfolded the scroll. Geometric patterns that I couldn’t recognize were drawn in black ink.

Skyler placed a finger on the ink.

Starting from his finger, a blue magical light spread. I saw a sparkling light. A light that beautifully illuminated the surroundings… like a star.

“…[Perceive].”

The blue magic flowed like water, and the black ink was soon a waterway.

The starlights stopped twinkling and held their breath.

And then, something passed by—and with that feeling, something invisible spread around. My hair fluttered in the wind.

“I’ve roughly grasped the location and direction. We’ll just confirm it with our eyes and go straight there. It’s bigger than I thought.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh?”

“You have a strange expression.”

“What kind of expression do I have now?”

“Um… like a child who found a fun toy? That kind of feeling.”

I couldn’t deny it.

I kept my mouth shut.

I need to change the subject.

“Let’s hurry up and check the goblins and go back!”

“…Yes? Yes.”

Skyler was momentarily taken aback, then looked at my back.

He wasn’t following me.

“I said let’s go!”

“That’s not the right direction.”

“…Ugh.”

I ended up following Skyler again.

I felt a little embarrassed.

My stamina was starting to run out. I could hear my willpower dropping. The throbbing headache that had been bothering me for a while was getting stronger.

I want to go back quickly. I want to go home. I want to lie down and do nothing.

‘It’s almost over.’

Just a little more….

“I see it.”

“…Fire?”

“Probably a torch to mark the area around the habitat. The intelligence of goblins is proportional to the size of the colony. They can’t overcome their instincts in the end.”

“Are there goblins that have overcome their instincts?”

“There are. Only one, though. It’s a story from the age of mythology, so no one knows. It could be a lie.”

“Yeah. I see. I’d like to believe it, though.”

“Stories that are passed down for a long time are stories that people want to believe. Tragedies or unpleasant stories don’t last long. Unless it’s a masterpiece.”

“That’s true, too.”

“Anyway, we can assess the scale with our eyes from here.”

He focused for a moment and looked beyond.

Beyond the flickering flames of the torch, a small cave.

Rustling bushes.

A crude palisade.

And beyond that… a group of dozens of goblins.

“…”

“This is quite big. Let’s go back and report.”

Skyler turned around.

He couldn’t see anything.

Sweat ran down his back.

“…Selina?”

There was no reply.

He couldn’t feel anyone’s presence around me.

…Why?

He wanted to call out loudly, but it was dangerous to be so close to a goblin colony. If he revealed himself, he would be tracked.

They are beings with intelligence similar to that of children. The past horror that threatened humans with the logic of numbers.

Now they were designated as a preserved species and were periodically culled, but even for a scroll user like himself, they were opponents that required him to be prepared for some losses.

Scrolls were expensive. He wanted to save money as much as possible.

If he burned more than three scrolls here, the cost of the scrolls would exceed the quest fee. It was a loss.

He was asked to ‘take good care of her’ by the Adventurer’s Guild.

He had also heard a depressing story that he didn’t need to worry about.

He knew what she had been through.

Just looking at the number of curses and blessings accumulated on her body, he could tell what she had experienced.

He didn’t want to abandon someone who could smile and treat others well the next day after going through such things. He wanted to remain ‘human’ as much as possible.

***

I was drawn to a beautiful song.

No, to be precise… the song found me.

The surroundings changed in an instant, and I saw only an unfamiliar landscape.

“…What is this.”

While I was bewildered, someone appeared before my eyes.

I saw the figure of a woman holding a lute in her arms.