The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 19

The blonde woman begins circling around me.

Her eyes are like those of a predator, clearly seeing me as prey to be hunted.

…………

Huh? Wait, hold on.

Why is this girl so intent on killing me?

I’m furious about her attacking Gaga-san, but… he survived, and honestly, if she returned the sword and apologized profusely, I was considering letting it slide.

You know what they say.

A moment of weakness, a lapse in judgment, the first shot might be accidental, and so on.

That’s why I thought a forgiving heart was necessary. If she reflected on her actions and promised not to do it again, I might forgive her.

But this increasingly murderous and hostile attitude?

There’s a limit to brazenness!

Moreover, after stealing the sword like that, wouldn’t you normally worry about pursuers or being chased by guards?

The fact that she went through with stealing the sword despite those considerations suggests she’s quite capable. Maybe this is some kind of event?

Currently, I can only deduce whether someone is a player or not based on their abilities and position.

According to Tatsu-san, there are skills that allow you to determine this, but apparently, the developers intentionally made it unclear by default to make players feel like they’re in a real alternate world.

So I use [Appraisal] on the hostile girl in front of me.

If she’s a powerful NPC, I’ll need to fight with appropriate resolve…

▶Appraising ???.

▶[Appraisal] successful.

Name: Sara

Race: Vampire

Gender: ♀

Age: 237

LV: 19

HP: 250/250

MP: 148/160

SP: 2

Physical Attack: 154 (+124)

Magical Attack: 102 (+87)

Physical Defense: 27 (+11)

Magical Defense: 10

Vitality: 25

Agility: 118 (×1.8)

Intuition: 124 (×1.8)

Spirit: 16

Fate: 12

Unique Skill: [Godspeed]

Race Skills: [Blood Sucking] [Creature of the Night]

Common Skills: [Dual Sword Technique] Lv3 / [Swordsmanship] Lv4 / [Evasion] Lv2 / [Appraisal] Lv1 /

[Rough Terrain Traversal] Lv2 / [Wind Magic] Lv2

Eh…

She’s so weak!?

Wait, this girl is a player!?

I don’t understand how she can act so confidently!

Wouldn’t she be utterly crushed if surrounded by NPC guards!? I can’t comprehend the nerve to commit crimes!

Looking at her stats, her attack power is incredibly high, but that’s only because of Gaga-san’s sword!

Otherwise, her Agility and Intuition are just over 100?

But mine are over 200…

It’s not that impressive, is it?

No, the real issue is her Physical Defense and Vitality!

What’s with those 27 and 25!?

If I land a normal hit with my Physical Attack of 219, her HP would instantly be in the red zone!

A critical hit would kill her outright!

This is a death game, so I’d become a murderer!

I don’t want to end my life here!

I don’t want to get arrested!

Ugh, what a terrifying opponent…

I’d rather fight the Crystal Dragon again than deal with this…

“Hehehe…”

Sara-san, who’s circling around me, lets out a confident laugh.

Is she starting to vary her speed?

Is this like when speed-type enemies create afterimages by changing their pace?

But she’s clearly just one person.

Doesn’t Sara-san realize how foolish she looks?

I’m getting tired of just watching her spin around.

“[Earth Wall]”

Thud! Sara-san crashes into the earthen wall.

Ah, face-first.

See, that’s what happens when you run like a ninja to show off your speed.

Sara-san slides down the wall, then pushes herself up with her hands.

She’s pretty tough.

With her face covered in dirt, blood, and effects, Sara-san glares at me with an incredibly intimidating expression.

“Using magic is cheating…”

“Well, I can’t help that…”

Sara-san quickly pulls out a potion and downs it. I wonder if she has potions registered in her shortcut menu? Seems convenient.

Green light envelops Sara-san’s body, and her damage recedes. Looks like she’s still raring to go.

Sigh. This is tough because I have to be so careful…

Isn’t there an easy way to end this?

“Um, why don’t you try using [Appraisal] on me? I won’t resist.”

Then you might understand how pointless all this is.

“There’s no point in looking at a PK’s stats disguised by the [Concealment] skill, is there?”

PK?

I involuntarily look around.

My intuition warns me of danger, so I take a step back. I see a sword blade pass right in front of me.

Hey, isn’t a sneak attack cheating?

“Lucky again!”

More intuition than luck, though.

Sara-san puts some distance between us in one breath.

Is she good at hit-and-run tactics? Or is she confused because I’m effortlessly dodging her attacks?

But now I understand.

Sara-san seems to be mistaking me for a PK. That’s not the case at all.

“I’m not a PK, you know?”

“You say that after lying in wait for me in the middle of the forest at night…”

Talk about an overinflated ego!

Or does she usually do things that warrant being ambushed? That’s a pretty miserable life…

But I guess the situation does look that way.

Besides, I’m worried about Gaga-san’s condition, so I want to head back soon…

“Look, why don’t you return the sword and apologize? I’m not exactly free, you know.”

“That’s rich coming from a thief. You think this sword is yours now?”

No, it was mine to begin with!

Why am I being called brazen by the actual thief!?

“Sigh… fine, have it your way.”

I’ll just show her the difference in our abilities and get the sword back!

I stride towards Sara-san.

Seeing me approach, Sara-san narrows her eyes in amusement and swings her sword at me with remarkably fluid movements.

Is this her swordsmanship skill activating?

The sword comes at me from above, below, left, and right in all directions. Relying on my stats, I dodge everything by a hair’s breadth, crouching, jumping, and sidestepping.

Yeah, I can dodge easily.

Though I think there are a lot of unnecessary movements.

“Impossible! Why can’t I hit you!? If only I could land a hit!”

Hmm. Would she understand the difference in our abilities if I let her hit me?

I stop moving and brace myself to take a blow.

Thwack.

“Ow.”

“Huh?”

I blocked with my right arm, and it felt about as powerful as being hit with a rolled-up newspaper.

Well, my Physical Defense is over 200, so I wasn’t cut or anything, but blocking a blade with your arm is scarier than I imagined.

Even with armor, it’s still frightening. I don’t want to do that again…

Sara-san looks dumbfounded for a moment at seeing me endure the pain, but then her face breaks into a smug grin.

“Hehe, you took the hit? This sword doesn’t just deal physical damage! Now, burn to ashes!”

With those words, flames erupt violently from my arm.

Oh! Gaga-san succeeded in creating a magic sword! Congratulations to him!

“Even if you’ve built for Physical Defense, once you’re cut by this sword, you’ll take tremendous magical damage! This is the end for you!”

I hate to interrupt when you’re so excited, but I consciously call up my HP bar in the corner of my vision.

Yeah. It’s barely decreased, to the point where I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t said anything.

What should I do? Should I pretend it hurts?

Wait, I just realized something!

I’m super hard, so won’t the sword bend or break if you hit me with it!?

Or will its durability decrease?

Why do I have to worry about reducing the durability

Why do I have to worry about reducing the durability of a sword that was forged for me, just because of my high defense!?

“Look, if you’re satisfied, could you please return the sword now? I’m being serious here.”

I really don’t want you to do anything reckless and reduce its durability any further.

“U-unharmed…?”

“Well, it was a bit hot. Like, hot-hot.”

About as hot as grabbing a mug of freshly poured coffee without using the handle, you know?

But for Sara-san, the fact that her attack had no effect seems to have been quite a shock. She’s frozen with an interesting expression on her face.

Then she takes a step back.

No, I won’t let you escape.

I quickly move behind Sara-san, causing her to flinch in surprise.

“!? D-disappeared!? Where!?”

Ah.

I guess when there’s a big difference in Agility, the opponent can’t see your movements?

But I don’t spin around like Sara-san did.

The danger of Earth Walls has already been proven, after all.

“I’m Mary. I’m right behind you…”

“Eeeeeek!”

I meant it as a joke, lightly tapping her shoulder as I said it, but she started swinging her sword around in a frenzy!

That’s dangerous!

If it hits, the durability will decrease!

While dodging all her attacks at point-blank range, I cross my arms and think about what to do next.

It seems my behavior is scaring her even more, as Sara-san’s attack speed seems to be increasing… but well, it’s negligible.

“Y-you monster! Stay away!”

I think Sara-san understands the difference in our abilities now, given how desperately she’s swinging her sword, but she still won’t return it…

I feel like we’re just one push away.

Ah, I see.

Maybe Sara-san thinks I’ve built my character defensively, so she still has some hope left?

But if she understood that she’s actually in a completely hopeless situation, wouldn’t she apologize and return the sword?

In that case, I need to show her my attack power!

I stop avoiding Sara-san by weaving around her and back away.

Seeing this, Sara-san, who had been swinging her sword frantically, visibly relaxes, but the real show is about to begin.

I grab a large rock that’s half-buried in the ground and try to pull it out.

Hm? It’s a bit heavy?

But not too heavy to lift, I think?

“Heave-ho!”

The ground bulges up as I pull, and as a result, I end up holding a giant rock over five meters tall.

…Maybe that’s a bit too big.

Sara-san’s face turns pale at the sight.

Holding the edge of this massive rock, I say, “Please dodge!” and throw it.

With a whooshing sound as it cuts through the air, the boulder passes by Sara-san, mowing down trees like bowling pins as it goes, finally stopping when it hits the side of a mountain somewhere.

Well.

I’m not very good at throwing things like balls, so I didn’t expect to hit her… but that was pretty close.

That was dangerous.

Plus, even though I told her to dodge, Sara-san didn’t move an inch. She’s collapsed on the spot, as if her legs gave out.

Drip, drip, drip…

Huh.

Looking at Sara-san, I see that her crotch is wet.

No way!?

Does this game really implement even that!?

There’s definitely a pervert among the developers!

That’s messed up!

Ah.

Maybe they’re messed up in the head, that’s why they started this death game…

That makes sense…

“I really didn’t want to do this…”

I take a screenshot of the scene before me, saving it as digital data.

Then I walk right up to the dumbfounded Sara-san and pick up my sword that had fallen to the ground.

“If you try to harm me or Gaga-san again in the future, I’ll spread this embarrassing photo of you on the message boards. So, don’t get involved with us anymore, okay?”

“…………”

When there’s no answer, I forcibly grab her head with both hands and make her face me.

“Understand?”

“Y-yes…”

“Good.”

I gently let go of Sara-san’s face, but she seems unable to break free from the spell of fear and collapses to the ground.

Hmm. I didn’t mean to scare her that much.

More importantly, I’m worried about Gaga-san now.

I hope bringing this sword back will cheer him up a bit…