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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Runein (7)
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Like a volcano spewing lava that engulfed everything nearby, the purple liquid scattered in all directions and drenched the cave.
Kieeeek!
Kieek!
The goblins drenched in the liquid writhed around, letting out horrific shrieks.
"...Ugh."
Cheisi grimaced at the purple liquid splashed onto her body. It felt sticky and gross.
And strangely, her body felt sluggish, like it had slowed down.
"What the hell is this...?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Debuff applied! Undiluted Goblin Flower Poison reduces action speed by 70%.
Cheisi was flustered by the message that popped up in front of her.
"...70%?"
At that moment, the giant finished its roar and charged ferociously toward Cheisi.
...I can dodge it just fine.
It seemed a bit faster, but it was okay. Cheisi tried to pull back to evade the giant's attack.
She tried to. But it was impossible.
It felt like something was grabbing her arms and legs and dragging her along.
No way... because of this purple liquid...?
Action speed reduced by 70%. It had to be that debuff.
But she didn't even have time to complain.
She had to dodge. A dangerous attack was right in front of her.
However, by the time Cheisi realized that, the giant's branch was already swinging down toward her.
"Ah..."
She couldn't dodge it.
Cheisi raised her dagger to try to block the massive branch hurtling toward her.
It was no more than a feeble struggle. And even that was too late.
"..."
She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, but before her eyelids could fully close, a massive impact crashed over her.
A punch swung by a giant dozens of times her size.
For the first time, she had taken a direct hit without dodging or blocking.
Cheisi's body tumbled across the ground several times.
Her whole body throbbed at first, then the pain ramped up to the point where it felt like she might die.
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
Severe pain is being inflicted!
Please adjust your pain sensitivity settings!
A message Cheisi had never seen before appeared in front of her eyes.
Maybe it was her first time seeing it because she'd never felt pain like this.
There was no need for the warning anyway.
Her instincts were already screaming that she shouldn't continue fighting.
"P-Pain... I'll turn it off for now."
Cheisi bit her lip hard and accessed the Ariant World settings.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Warning! Drastically adjusting pain sensitivity at once may cause awkwardness in movement.
She ignored that warning completely.
Cheisi lowered her pain sensitivity from 30% to 0%.
The pain vanished in an instant. But her slowed body remained the same.
She could no longer continue the fight.
Notification Leaving the Goblin Flower Cave will reset the battle with the Forest Giant.
Ignoring the notification, Cheisi dragged her sluggish body out of the cave.
Guruk!
A goblin chased after her from the cave, as if refusing to let even one escape.
Cheisi gripped her dagger. Her body was slowed, but she was confident she wouldn't lose to a goblin.
But soon, Cheisi realized that the tide of battle had turned against her.
Guruk! Guruk!
The goblin was toying with her.
It made no sense.
She blocked an attack, but it didn't feel blocked. She dodged, but she didn't dodge. She thought she landed a hit, but she missed.
Her senses weren't responding properly. Attacks she thought she could react to kept coming one after another, leaving her defenseless and pushed back.
Her HP was draining away rapidly. She was using potions to recover, but even that was reaching its limit.
Then it hit Cheisi.
...That warning from before.
"Warning. Drastically adjusting pain sensitivity at once may cause awkwardness in movement."
It was clear.
This was because of the pain sensitivity adjustment.
There was no pain. But if she kept taking hits from the goblin like this, she'd definitely die.
Death penalty... an hour, right?
No good. That's too long to wait.
Cheisi gritted her teeth.
"I'll raise the pain sensitivity back up."
At those words, the chat window started scrolling rapidly.
💬 Comments— Viewer???— Viewer???— ViewerNo don't raise it please— Viewernnnnnnnnnnnooooo— ViewerIt's dangerous
"I can endure it, can't I?"
Despite the viewers' pleas, Cheisi fumbled her fingers toward the settings window.
Her fingers trembled as she adjusted the pain sensitivity.
Pain sensitivity set to 30%.
Her senses returned.
Cheisi dodged the goblin's incoming attack right away.
"...See? I-I can endure it... I can endure... Hngh...!"
Pain crashed over her like waves.
"Hup...!"
Her whole body hurt like it was about to shatter any second. The pain battered her relentlessly.
It's okay. Just hold on a little longer.
Until she dealt with the goblin in front of her. She'd killed plenty before.
Cheisi dragged her groaning, pained body and charged at the goblin.
Notification Gained 150 EXP.
After what felt like an eternity, a white glow descended to the ground.
Cheisi collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
"...Hah... I won..."
She didn't even have the energy to sit up.
Her body was a total wreck. She'd never taken so many hits before.
Her remaining HP was 10%. She'd used all five potions, the max per battle.
Notification Adventurer's Robe is damaged. Adventurer's Pants are damaged.
Messages appeared in front of Cheisi's eyes.
What item was this that it could even get damaged?
Cheisi quickly realized what it was.
It was the brown robe she'd been wearing since first logging into Ariant World. Looking down, the hem was torn to shreds, exposing her waist.
And her pants were ripped too—the part below her knees was gone entirely, with her thighs sporadically visible.
"...Feels kinda breezy."
She wasn't embarrassed. She had no intention of acting like a delicate girl just because she'd become one. What could anyone do about it anyway?
Cheisi turned her gaze to the chat window.
— Vieweru ok??— ViewerLog out for a bit and rest.
The chat had lost all its playfulness. The viewers seemed shocked by the situation.
"I'm fine. The pain's mostly gone now, and logging out would just waste time."
Cheisi deliberately twisted the corner of her mouth into a clumsy smile to reassure the viewers.
"Truth is, I slept all day yesterday prepping for today's open run."
— ViewerStill...— ViewerYou're really okay?— ViewerLower the pain sensitivity first at least.
"No way. When I lower it, I can't fight properly. And it's not that big a deal. It hurts like hell, but it's bearable? Not enough to go into shock or anything?"
— ViewerThat's already dangerous enough;;;— ViewerFr that's scary talk— ViewerI'm worried...
"I'm fine. Really. By the way, what's the max pain sensitivity anyway?"
Out of curiosity, Cheisi fiddled with the pain sensitivity slider.
Pain sensitivity set to 50%.
It wouldn't go above 50%.
"Looks like 50% is the max. Should I leave it here?"
— Viewernnnnnnnnnnnooooo— ViewerPlease don't do that.— ViewerListen to us...— ViewerWhy are you like this... fr scary
It was a playful remark, but the viewers weren't taking it as a joke.
Of course, Cheisi had no intention of actually raising it to 50%. 30% was already excruciating—what if she went higher? That could be seriously bad.
"I'm not gonna. Relax."
Cheisi waved it off playfully.
"Anyway, how do I take that thing down? I'm probably the only one who's made it this far, and partying won't work."
The Forest Giant.
She'd thought it'd be easy, but it had suddenly become a nightmare.
At 50% HP, it splatters poison from the goblin needles all around—in a much stronger version.
The pattern was unreasonably bullshit.
"How the hell do you hunt that thing?"
Cheisi checked the info on the purple liquid staining her robe hem.
⚔ ITEM INFO ⚔Undiluted Goblin Flower Poison The poison from the purple goblin flower blooming on the giant's back. Goblins in Runein Forest dilute this poison before use. Rank: Unknown Type: Unknown Targets hit suffer 70% reduced action speed and gradual HP drain. Effect reduced by 90% on targets level 5+.
"The debuff numbers are insane. Dodging or anything is straight-up impossible if you get hit."
Action speed down 70%. Getting hit basically sealed off her strategy of relying on her senses to evade.
— ViewerNo clue at all.— ViewerMaybe a way to counter the pattern? But can't even dodge.— ViewerHit lv5 first?— ViewerYou need to kill it for lv5 tho.— ViewerIDK man.
The viewers didn't have any bright ideas either. Cheisi was just as stumped.
Cheisi interlaced her fingers behind her head and gazed up at the sky.
The sky, which had been blue when she logged in, had turned red.
Pure white clouds drifted peacefully across the crimson sky.
"Stuck for now. I wanna eat some fish and head to Adin for quests."
Cheisi noticed her voice sounding relaxed.
For some reason, none of this felt all that bad.
"But it's fun. Fighting. And puzzling out victory like this while resting."
Ariant World.
A VR game not even a full day past launch.
An unfamiliar world. Meeting new NPCs, wielding a dagger to fight monsters.
Smashing machines, eating delicious meat stew. Drooling over fish she couldn't eat.
Fighting with goals in mind, but hitting walls like this too.
"This is a god game."
One thing was clear: this game was insanely fun.
"Never imagined it'd be like this when I read about VR games in novels back in the day. They nailed it."
Cheisi liked this world.
"Let's see the ending."
That's why she wanted to go all the way.
God game, so run to the ending. Makes sense, right?
These kinds of games are meant for open users to conquer everything.
Cheisi stood up.
She'd rested enough. There was a monster to hunt, so time to move.
"Heading back to the village to recover HP first. Might as well swap these rags for new clothes."
Cheisi's current state looked every bit the wandering beggar. Thanks to the tattered robe torn so bad her navel was peeking out.
Couldn't keep wandering around like this.
— ViewerAh— ViewerWait a sec...— ViewerRest a bit more before going?— ViewerPleeeease
"If you want a screenshot, just take one. I'm going."
Cheisi brushed off the viewers' protests lightly.
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