ITDG 04

Chapter 4

Trapped in a Damn Game

Tadadadat!

Dermo drew his sword and charged forward.
His target — the demon right in front of him.

As soon as he recognized the creature as a demon, glowing text appeared above its head:

[Demon Bolgor (★)]

Fixing his gaze on Bolgor, Dermo reminded himself:

“This is a game. A game.”

The moment he thought that, all unnecessary thoughts vanished from his head.
To say he wasn’t afraid would’ve been a lie —
no matter how much he told himself it was just a game, this was undeniably reality.
Yet, the fear quickly faded away.

Of course, that was entirely due to a skill.

[Skill ‘Fear Immunity’ has been activated.]

With the fear gone, his mind cooled.
He could almost feel the blood in his veins turn cold.
Now, Dermo was purely rational — like a machine with no emotions.
His mind was filled only with one question:
How do I take down a demon stronger than me?

He recalled Bolgor’s attack patterns, his weaknesses.
His mind spun rapidly.

Bolgor was a demon with most of his stats invested in Agility.
There was no way Dermo could match his speed through normal means.
He had to restrict Bolgor’s movements and finish the fight quickly.

To even slightly keep up, Dermo allocated the two stat points he’d gained from the tutorial into Agility.

[Agility 5 → Agility 7]

Then—

Swiish—!

Bolgor yanked his tongue out from a tree trunk and lashed it toward Dermo.

[Using skill ‘Strange Joints.’]

Crack.

Dermo’s spine bent backward unnaturally mid-sprint.
The demon’s tongue grazed across his face.

Shiiik! Thwack!

Like a whip, the tongue slammed into a nearby tree, carving a deep scar into the bark.
If Dermo hadn’t dodged, his ribs would’ve been crushed.

Bolgor’s grotesque tongue flicked again, whipping forward.
Dermo straightened up quickly and swung his sword toward the approaching tongue.
The lashing strike changed course midair — as if trying to dodge the blade.
His sword cut through, leaving only a shallow wound.

Using the brief pause, Dermo lunged forward —
and swung again the moment he entered range.

Whoosh—

“Too shallow…”

His sword struck nothing but air.

Grrrhh…

In a blink, Bolgor leapt back, putting distance between them.
His body hair stood on end, his tongue coiled and swaying —
ready to strike again at any second.

Dermo tightened his grip on his sword, corrected his stance, and glared forward.
They stared at each other, motionless.
The air between them thickened with tension.

Swiish! Tap!

The first to move was Bolgor, his bloody tongue flicking through the air —
and Dermo followed right after.
A faint grin formed on his face.

He’d just noticed something: Bolgor wasn’t in top condition.

Bolgor was agile and deadly, his long tongue both weapon and threat.
But that tongue — full of nerves — was also his weakness.
If damaged, it dulled his speed and balance.

And right now, Bolgor was clearly sluggish.
Dermo’s light cut alone couldn’t have done that much.

“So he got injured fighting those mercenaries earlier…”

The demon’s tongue shot toward Dermo’s chest like a spear.
Even weakened, the attack was fast — too fast.
Dermo twisted his body, barely avoiding it using Strange Joints again.
The tongue brushed his clothes, tearing them.

He countered with a swing.

Slash!

His sharpened blade grazed the side of the tongue.
The already blood-soaked flesh was now covered in even more cuts.

Dermo kept his focus.
The tongue came from above, below, from the sides — relentless.
He dodged each strike with tense precision and swung back in rhythm.
Each cut slowed Bolgor down, his movements growing clumsier and clumsier.
Even the tongue’s flicks began to lag.

He didn’t need to risk a fatal strike.
If he just kept slicing away, bit by bit — he’d be the one left standing in the end.

Just as Dermo felt victory within reach,
Bolgor suddenly withdrew his tongue.
He turned it toward the corpse of a fallen mercenary nearby —
specifically, the hand axe lodged in the man’s skull.

Clack!

Bolgor wrapped his tongue around the axe handle and yanked it free.

“…!”

Dermo threw himself to the side just as Bolgor hurled the weapon.

Thud!

The axe embedded itself deep into a tree trunk.

Dermo glanced up at Bolgor.
“Damn it…”

This time, it wasn’t an axe flying at him — it was the mercenary’s corpse.

He had just rolled, unable to reposition in time.

Crash!

The heavy body slammed into him, knocking him backward.
No time to groan — he shoved the corpse aside and looked up.

Bolgor was retreating.
If the demon were at full strength, he’d already be gone —
in fact, he probably wouldn’t even be running in the first place.

But with his tongue so damaged that even his balance was shot,
he was staggering.

Dermo got up, yanked the hand axe from the tree, and growled.

“You threw it at me — I’ll throw it right back!”

He hurled the axe at the fleeing demon.
He had no throwing skill, but that didn’t matter.
Years of VR gaming had honed his sense of aim.
Even without system assistance, he wouldn’t miss from this range.

He was sure of it.

Whiiish!

The spinning axe sliced through the air.
Bolgor didn’t even notice it coming —
his right eye was still shut from a stone hit earlier, leaving a blind spot.

Thud!

“Graaahh!”

The axe buried itself into Bolgor’s skull.
The demon screamed in agony — but still wasn’t dead.
Dermo sprinted forward, thrusting his sword.

“At least drop a skill before you die!”

His blade pierced Bolgor’s neck and jutted out the other side.
Dark red blood splattered down the sword’s tip.

Bolgor convulsed, then went limp.

“…Phew.”

Dermo kicked the demon’s body, pulling his sword free.
Bolgor fell to the ground.

“Should be around here…”

Without resting, Dermo lifted one of Bolgor’s front limbs and sliced open his chest.
He reached inside, searching.
Something hard brushed his fingertips — he grabbed it and pulled it out.

In his blood-soaked hand glowed a Soul Stone.

[Absorbing soul…]

Vwoom—

Black wisps swirled out of the stone like smoke and seeped into his body.

[Acquired Skill: ‘Agile Movement.’]

[Skill: Agile Movement
Gain animal-like reflexes. Temporarily doubles Agility.
Duration: 1 minute
Cooldown: 30 minutes]

[Gained 4 Stat Points.]

Double agility!
The cooldown was long, but the effect was absurdly strong —
almost too good.

And four stat points, too.
That was about a full day’s worth of grinding.

“Let’s save the extra points for later, like before.”

He turned to the man who had been watching him the whole time.

“When are you going to stop standing there?”

The reason Dermo had rushed here with Honganchos in his mouth —
was because of this man: Tom.

In the Eastern region, Tom was one of the best early allies a player could recruit.
But unless the player saved him, he’d die here.

When Tom didn’t answer, Dermo began searching the dead mercenaries,
looking for anything useful.

He pocketed a jingling pouch of silver coins and stripped a leather chest guard off one of the corpses with a similar build, putting it on.

Then—

“Thanks… you saved my life.”

Tom rose to his feet, his long black hair falling over his eyes.
Dermo’s gaze flicked to his leg.

“Looks like you hurt your foot.”

Tom was limping slightly.
From the looks of it, nothing serious.

“Just a sprain.”

He extended his hand.
“I’m Tom.”

“Dermo.”

After fastening his armor, Dermo shook his hand.
Tom’s eyebrows twitched.

“Are you… a half-demon?”

Of course he noticed.
Still, Dermo didn’t bother to hide his red eyes.
He remembered Tom’s line from the quest related to half-demons:

‘Maybe it’s worth believing in what little humanity a half-demon has.’

When everyone else called for half-demons to be killed,
Tom was the only one who stood up for them.

Now, he stared straight into Dermo’s crimson eyes.
Dermo shrugged.

“Is that a problem?”

Tom glanced at Bolgor’s corpse and replied,
“Well, not entirely.
But since you didn’t try to kill me like that thing did,
I guess I can trust that little bit of humanity you’ve got.”

As expected.
Exactly the reaction Dermo remembered.
Despite his grim appearance, Tom wasn’t close-minded.

“There’s a village nearby called Silverrook, right?”

Silverrook — Dermo’s next destination.
And also where Tom was staying.

“You were heading there? Then we can go together.”

Tom limped over to another mercenary’s corpse,
unstrapped the backpack, and continued,
“If we’re going together, you should probably cover those eyes.
I don’t mind, but others will panic if they see them.”

He jerked his chin toward another body.

“There was a one-eyed guy. Take his eyepatch.”

Under the tree lay the corpse of a mercenary with his neck twisted grotesquely.
Dermo took the eyepatch from the body.
Meanwhile, Tom tied up Bolgor’s leg with a rope from the backpack, speaking casually.

“It’ll take about an hour to reach Silverrook.
The sun sets early this time of year, so we should leave now.”

Tom hobbled ahead on his left leg.
Dermo glanced around.
One demon. Three mercenary corpses.
The ground was soaked in blood.

He’d have to get used to this kind of scene —
the farther he went, the stronger the enemies would become,
and the bloodier the world would get.

“Dermo. You coming?”

“Yeah.”

Dermo turned his back to the sun and began walking.
His shadow stretched long before him —
as if foreshadowing the hardships ahead.

But hesitation was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
To hesitate was to die.

“I’ll survive… and see this through to the end.”