TRPSG 3

“I’m sorry, but I can’t enter the castle due to my status. I won’t be able to escort you inside.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine. Just guiding me to the village is already a huge help.”

At least I didn’t have to worry about starving in the mountains anymore. And the chance of running into a monster and dying a pointless death had also dropped.

I chewed on the dried meat Kalion handed me and drank some water. At his waist hung a small pouch. It looked no bigger than the palm of a hand, yet it seemed to contain plenty of preserved food, tools needed for camping in the mountains, and even a change of clothes.

‘Is that like an inventory?’

Since a system window had already appeared, I had assumed this might be some kind of game world, so I wasn’t too surprised. Maybe it was compressed with magic or something.

“Before it gets dark, we should find a place to stay. Can you walk?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

My legs did ache a bit—I hadn’t hiked in a long time—but this wasn’t the time to complain when monsters were supposedly around. I quickly followed Kalion. He matched my pace, occasionally glancing back to make sure I was keeping up.

It looked like he wanted to take my hand and guide me, but he hesitated and lowered his hand again.

My pace wasn’t particularly slow, but I could understand why Kalion might be impatient. I couldn’t become dead weight right after joining his party. I took a deep breath and looked around with renewed determination.

“Kalion, there’s a cave over there.”

“Yes. It would be good if we could rest there.”

“If we can rest there?”

“There may be monsters nearby. We should check inside first.”

Ah. I see.

Kalion went ahead and inspected the cave. After confirming there was no trace of monsters, he signaled for me to enter.

The cave was fairly wide and comfortable. It seemed to extend deeper inside, but as Kalion said, it didn’t look like anything was living there. Honestly, I was more worried about snakes or bugs than monsters, but thankfully there was no sign of any living creature besides humans.

Bugs-free bedroom, hooray.

“Stay here, master.”

“Where are you going, Kalion?”

“I will check the surrounding area. It won’t take long.”

Kalion spoke gently, as if to reassure me.

For a brief moment, a thought flashed through my mind—that he might abandon me.

But if I had been a burden, he would’ve left me from the start. I chose to trust him.

“Alright. I’ll wait. Please be careful.”

“Yes, master.”

Kalion left the cave, leapt over the rocks, and disappeared from sight.

Even in heavy armor, he moved as lightly as if it weighed nothing.

Maybe it was because everything about him was white—he looked like a snowflake dancing on ice.

I watched the cave entrance where he had vanished, then curled up inside.

He told me to hide here, so I should stay put.

Not even one step outside.

That’s right. Just stay here like I’m dead.

In stories like this, the usual “troublemaker character” always ignores warnings and gets into accidents. I had no intention of becoming that kind of frustrating liability character that annoys readers.

So I would endure. Until Kalion returned.

However, my ambitious plan was ruined by that damn system window popping up without warning.

[Lazy Righteous One Disliked!]

You’ve been staying in the shelter too long.

In 15 seconds, the shelter will collapse.

Time until burial: 15 seconds

Are you kidding me?

It really doesn’t want me to relax, does it.

As if on cue, I heard a rumbling sound from deeper inside the cave.

At this rate, I’d either be crushed by the collapse or suffocated under debris.

Only then did I understand why those “troublesome characters” in stories acted the way they did.

It wasn’t that they wanted to frustrate readers.

They had no choice.

Just like me now.

‘Sorry, Kalion! I want to live!’

I was already stuck with a 30-day death sentence—I had no desire to die right now.

I quickly ran out of the cave.

KRRRRR—

The collapsing debris sealed off the entrance. If I hadn’t escaped, I would’ve definitely been crushed.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like it would trigger a landslide. This world apparently wasn’t a disaster movie setting.

‘Thank goodness…’

But just as I felt relieved—

“Grrr….”

A strange sound came from behind.

Not the cave collapsing—something else.

A beast.

I didn’t look back, but the shadow above me was enough to tell. It was huge. Something monstrous.

Was this the monster Kalion mentioned?

As if confirming my guess, a poorly rendered system window popped up again.

[Skill Acquisition Chance]

Sudden Quest! You have encountered a monster.

Scream as loudly as you can.

Success if your volume exceeds ??? dB.

Reward: Skill [Screaming] acquired.

Wow, thanks for the confirmation that something is trying to kill me.

But screaming? Really? Not fighting or running?

“Grrrk…”

There was no time to think.

The monster raised something like an arm.

“GROOOOAR!”

“KYAAAH!”

I screamed while dodging its attack.

The monster’s full form came into view.

It was enormous, covered entirely in black, thread-like fur—no, not fur. It writhed like thousands of living worms clinging to its body.

“Ah—aaah—AAAH!”

A scream erupted from me out of pure fear and disgust. It was so loud my ears rang.

And it worked.

The monster hesitated for a moment.

‘Did it work?’

As I struggled to breathe, another window appeared.

[Current Progress: 77%]

Try a little harder ㅇㅅ<

Time remaining: 5 seconds

I swear I’m going to delete that emoji someday.

Anger surged through me.

“HELP MEEEEEEEE!”

BOOM.

The world went silent.

Everything slowed, like time itself had been stretched.

The monster lunging at me was suddenly split in half.

Through the clean blade-like cut in its body, I saw it.

Kalion’s face, holding a silver sword.

“Master! Are you safe?!”

He had come running after hearing my scream.

And then—

[Chain Success!]

Congratulations!

You have acquired the skill [Screaming].

[Screaming Lv.1]

When your scream is heard, allies rush to your aid.

Effect: Allies within range have 2x movement speed.

Duration: 20 seconds

Stacks up to 5 times.

So it wasn’t a useless nuisance skill—it was a support buff.

A stackable one at that.

In theory, five stacks would make them 32 times faster. That meant you could turn a marathon runner into a blur moving at ridiculous speed.

…Is that even physically possible?

And I’d have to scream that loudly five times in 20 seconds?

My throat was going to die first.

Still, I survived.

I relaxed my stiff shoulders and looked at Kalion.

“Thank you for saving me, Kalion.”

“I heard the cave collapse and rushed here. I thought it was safe, but I still put you in danger. I apologize.”

So he didn’t come because of my scream, but because of the cave collapse.

Well, that made sense—the skill only activated after he cut down the monster.

“Don’t apologize. You were trying to protect me.”

The cave collapsing wasn’t Kalion’s fault—it was that damn system’s trickery. From what I saw, the cave didn’t look like it would collapse normally. If I hadn’t stayed there, nothing would’ve happened.

‘But this means I can’t even hide safely anymore.’

And worse, my new skill wasn’t something that helped me survive directly—it just buffed allies.

So now I couldn’t even stay hidden. I’d have to run around screaming every time I found a monster just to boost Kalion.

To him, I probably looked like a useless troublemaker who ran around causing chaos.

Maybe he wouldn’t even abandon me—

He’d just want to kill me.

‘A useless troll… me?’

I had always lived carefully, never burdening others.

And now this cursed system had turned me into a troll.