Translator: SCP-423

Editor: Terra

Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 4: How Can They Be This Strong?

A shock went through my whole body as I skidded across the ground. The impact against my back left me breathless. Hey, this pain is too real!

I landed within view of the gate, and I was a little depressed while lying on the ground, thinking ‘Oh, you’ve sent me here.’

I lost 60% of my HP in that one hit. How strong is that attack? I didn’t know if I was paralyzed or something, but I couldn’t stand.

As I was lying on the side of the road and unable to move, looking up at the dragon emerging from the forest, I heard a horn that seemed to echo throughout the city. The dragon was already visible from the gate.

“Mac!”

Oh, Vidello-san is racing toward me at an amazing speed. I wonder if he’s using some kind of skill. While I lay there thinking, I still couldn’t get rid of my paralysis, only capable of moving my eyes. I looked up half-heartedly to see the dragon’s arm raised and his claws aimed at me. Despite my lack of energy, I was still afraid of being lacerated by it. The tail drained 60% of my total HP, so if it used a claw or something to gouge, it would only take a moment to end my life. I hope it doesn’t hurt at least…

CLANG!

Just as I gave up and closed my eyes, the claws swung down and made a hard noise. The expected impact didn’t come.

“Mac! Are you alright?”

I slowly opened my eyes when I heard an urgent voice nearby. Vidello-san was looking down at me as he repelled the claws of the dragon, wielding the sword that he usually only kept sheathed on his hip.

Oh, what? Maybe I was quite scared before. I’m really touched that he saved me. Vidello-san looks a lot cooler than usual. Though, he is always handsome.

While I watched, a little impressed, the paralysis disappeared. Finally able to move, I stood up, exhaling heavily.

“I’ve managed to get moving, thank you.”

However, there was still a large reptile in front of us. I took out my special high potion from my inventory and downed it all. Alright, I recovered a lot of HP.

“Backup will be here soon, quickly escape back to town, Mac!”

“But that would be dangerous for Vidello-san!”

I couldn’t leave Vidello-san alone as he fought off the dragon’s attacks with his sword. I threw the bottle from my inventory at the eyes of the dragon, which had changed its focus to Vidello-san. It was a vision blocker. But it’s not a particularly useful item, since its efficacy depends on the strength and reach of your throws. The moment the bottle of chemicals hit the dragon’s nostrils and broke, the dragon looked to the heavens and screamed.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaoooooo!”

It tried to hold its nose with its short arms. That potion was only meant to block its vision, but what effect was this?!

I disregarded Vidello-san’s admiring words of “Mac, you’re amazing!” by turning my head away.

While the dragon was writhing in agony, Vidello-san attacked it easily. The dragon’s HP could be cut down by a single blow from him. Was it possible that Vidello-san was powerful?

Certainly, it goes without saying. After all, there’s no wasted movement. In truth, he was strong enough to face the dragon on equal footing without my help. Eh, does a gatekeeper have to be this strong?

While I could do nothing but helplessly admire Vidello-san’s fight, quite a few people were heading toward us from the gate. They were all fully equipped. Oh, Yuta’s among them. Speaking of which, he said he was in the city of Tre earlier. If Takahashi and his Merry Men were here, they’d insta-kill this dragon. I felt relieved. 

I’d done the same thing earlier and let my guard down. But there was a strong guy heading over here. I thought it would be ok.

There was no way the dragon was going to overlook me. The tail came flying again. By the time I noticed it cleaving down from the side, the tail was already in front of me. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and I fell prey to the tail. Moreover, because it flew in a circular motion, I was launched directly towards Vidello-san.

“Guh…!”

“Mac!”

Vidello-san quickly hugged me as I flew at him, even though he should’ve been able to avoid me, but that didn’t slow the momentum and we were both slammed against the trunk of a nearby tree. But this time, I felt that my HP didn’t go down as much and it didn’t hurt, but Vidello-san-

“Vidello-san…?!”

Oh, that wasn’t good. He fainted, probably already hurt from taking the brunt of my impact too. Crap, his mouth was bleeding. Did he hurt his internal organs just now?

“Maccccc!”

Yuta’s voice was getting closer. But I couldn’t be bothered with him right now.

“Vidello-san?! Vidello-san!”

I called out to him but his eyes remained closed. It’s a real pain not being able to see his HP because he’s an NPC. I hurriedly poured a high potion on him, but it didn’t wake him. Oh, how do you revive in this game? It should just be a matter of time. But I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t think straight, and I couldn’t pay attention to what the dragon was doing.

“Vidello-san!”

The moment I slapped him on the cheek, Vidello-san’s eyes opened. Immediately, I was hugged to his chest and I heard a metallic clang! behind me. It seems that Vidello-san blocked the raised claw with his sword. Oh, right. You wake up when you’re attacked. Does that mean slapping is an attack?¹ I was relieved to see his eyes open, but then he coughed and blood poured from his mouth again, causing me to panic. Meanwhile, the players who came as backup gathered around the dragon.

“Is Mac ok? You don’t look so safe. Really worn out.”

Without any sense of tension, Yuta calls out to me. My HP had recovered, but the equipment I was wearing had lost all durability. But that’s not all. I felt hands shaking. Not Vidello-san’s hands, but mine. Because NPCs can’t return from death. When he dies, Vidello-san will no longer be standing at the gate. If he had died defending me… I’d be too traumatized to play the game.

Maybe it was because I was being embraced by Vidello-san, but I thought I could hear his heartbeat, even though it shouldn’t be there. It’s a bit too real, isn’t it? But I was relieved that I could actually feel the life within him.

“How long are you gonna hug the gatekeeper, Mac? We’ll take care of the rest, so go back to town and recover!”

Yuta jerked his chin toward the gate while happily attacking the dragon. Seeing this, my mind finally absorbed Yuta’s words. I was hugging the gatekeeper.

Really!

I panicked and tried to get away from Vidello-san, but his arm was firmly around my waist and I couldn’t do it.

“Umm, Vidello-san…?”

When I looked into Vidello-san’s face, he was staring straight at me with a devastatingly handsome smile.

“Mac, your cheek is bleeding. Any other injuries? Are you in pain or anything?”

“That’s my line! What if you died defending me?! Quick, drink a hi-po!²”

I implored him as I took the bottle out of my inventory, and he let out a strained laugh.

“I still can’t move very well, so I don’t feel I can hold the bottle.”

I couldn’t leave Vidello-san in trouble, so I put the bottle I was holding directly on his mouth and tipped it. I’m not sure if it was because I was horrible at it or because he was paralyzed, but more than half of it spilled out of his mouth. The blood in his mouth was washed away with the high potion. It took me a long time to get over the paralysis too. I was sure that was the problem. Because for a while now, Vidello-san spoke without opening his mouth properly. I also happened to notice he was bleeding from his side.

“Vidello-san, your wound…!”

With this bleeding condition, he was losing a lot of HP! This was the sort of thing that slowly chipped away at health. If left alone, it could be dangerous. I was sure his HP had decreased considerably from the previous blow. In a hurry, I poured the remaining high potion directly on the wound, and the bleeding finally stopped. However, he looked pale. Sure enough, he needed to drink it. I took out another bottle, put it to his mouth again and tilted it, but again most of it flowed out of his unmoving mouth.

“Sorry, Vidello-san, but I’m not very good at making you drink. Can’t you move your arm?”

Vidello-san lowered his eyes apologetically when I mentioned the arm that was still around my waist.

“I don’t think I can move my arm yet. Can you just wait for a while? It seems that thanks to the Foreigners, the crisis has been averted.”

Behind where we were sitting, the dragon was roaring its death throes, its tail swinging weakly. But I didn’t notice any of that. For now, if Vidello-san drank a high potion, he would recover, so we could go to the town and leave the situation to Yuta and the others.

“Mac, you can put that away, it’s a waste to spill it. I’ll be fine.”

“But Vidello-san, your internal organs are definitely hurt. It’s dangerous at this rate! Wait a minute.”

There was a way to make him drink it all. However, I hesitated, concerned it would be out of line with Vidello-san. If I gave it to him by mouth-to-mouth, he could drink it without a problem. Hmm… but.

Because it’s life-saving. Because Vidello-san seems to be on the verge of extinction!

“I’m sorry if this is a little unpleasant.”

“Mac?”

I put my hand on Vidello-san’s chin, who looked puzzled at my words, and poured the contents of the bottle into my own mouth. Then I sealed our lips together and poured the high potion into Vidello-san’s mouth.

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TL’s Note: Me reading the last part like (O͡ 艸O͡ )

Hasr: Don’t forget to thank Terra and SCP for speedrunning this one~