For I Am A Side Character - Zetro Translation

In the treasure trove of experience that Soril was dangerously running towards, he gained an adequate amount of experience that simply made him even stronger than before. 7 levels to be exact.

Currently, his level was…

[Profile:]

Candidate: NPC

Mission Status: In Progress

Level: [15]-[ 18,045 exp until to the next level…]

Strength: 25 (+13)—> 38

Endurance: 24 (+8)—> 32

Intelligence: 19 (+9)—> 28

Agility: 24 (+10)—> 34

Mana: 34/62

With this much growth, he could now easily go toe on toe with a B-ranked monster without so much of a worry for his own life.

With that much growth, his mana also increased by a mere 2 points, which is a good sign that his compatibility with mana was being influenced as he grows by the levels.

As he increased his strength by 13 stat points, his ability to use the [Heavy Slash] skill no longer strained his hand. It was adapting at an incredible rate.

When he increased his endurance and agility, the pain that came from the strain of using the [Heavy Rush] and [Heavy Shield Counter] no longer felt as burdening as it could be and with it, he also became faster as he used the [Heavy Rush] on action.

And with his intelligence growing, his ability to muster his mana spears were getting faster and stronger.

His growth was simply one that could rival that of a hero…

After running for 2 hours, one would think that his body would be exhausted, yet from Audrey’s perspective, he remained fit as a fiddle. While she on the other hand was starting to see her own body shake on the constant battles within the dungeon. Her body, starting to gather wounds…her stamina being as low as it could be…and her mana, as depleted as it was…

To her, for him to not be affected by such a common trait for humans, the trait to be absolutely tired after such a burdening exploration, made him seem like a monster.

On their journeys through the underground tunnels, they finally came to a stop at the end of it all. Finally they made it to the center of all the tunnels. The Locked Dungeon was in front of them.

And as they stood in front, Soril was clearly excited to finally have this end…

‘…Finally, we made it.’ he thought as he looked to his front and saw that what awaited him was a cluster of a ball made of an unknown element that resembled that of a hornet’s nest. It was Glowing with its green moss-filled touch, where each corner, he could see a Ghoul Warrior and a Working Ant roaming in guard.

‘Okay, looks like it seems the only way in it is from here. I don’t think we can sneak in without even alerting the guards, its security is too tight. A forward approach is best. Hmm…lets go.’ as he thought of this, he suddenly heard a thud behind.

“?” as he turned around, he saw that Audrey Yagami had already fallen to her knees from the excessive burden of having to fight non-stop, having to move non-stop.

“…You…you really are a monster.” she said as she struggled to stand up.

“…” as Soril watched her struggle, he sighed softly at her weak figure and simply sat down, facing her eye to eye.

“…just wait here.” he said in his fake coarse and rough voice.

“…Why?…No, more than that, there’s something I wanted to ask you since the moment I followed you in here.” she said.

“…”

“Till this time, I still haven’t figured out who you are…but I can only guess that you are one of the students of the academy…maybe I’m wrong, maybe you’re not even a student, just a stranger.”

“…”

“But You didn’t stop me when I simply followed you in here by my own will, you even healed me with a potion at your own will. So I believe that you aren’t a bad person…just a very…very suspicious one…”

“…”

In the silence that came from Soril, Audrey looked to him with a furrowed expression.

“…What are you trying to do?” she asked as she looked ever so tired.

“I’m going to stop the fight.” he said.

“…” and as he spoke his intention, she let out a soft smile.

“…I see.” as she said this, she slowly stood up from the ground, struggling much as she was…but she still stood up by her own despite her low stamina and dizzy manner.

“I’m going to follow you and you can’t do anything about that. To the end, I want to see if your telling the truth.” she said.

“…Okay.” as he said this, he simply pulled out a potion out of thin air and simply tossed it to her.

“…Wha-” as she catches the potion, she looked to him rather shocked by his actions.

“Drink it…We’ll rest for five minutes and after that, we’ll start going in.” as he said this, he turned his back and leaned over the walls with a resting posture.

“…” she smiled at the person in front of her and simply drank the potion in thanks.

‘…hmm, what am I even doing?’ he asked himself this and simply rested on the walls.

But as he rested, all of a sudden, he heard a clashing sound by the distance.

*Cling!*

*Boom!*

and then an explosion…

As he looked far forward, he saw a particular face that he did not expect to see.

“…Sergeant?”

For by the distance, he saw Sergeant O’riley bursting through a wall while clinching on to the head of a Ghoul.

‘Hmm, he must have gone on a different tunnel than us…’ he thought as he then saw the sergeant staring straight to him, in the eye.

“…”

In the silence between the two, Sergeant O’riley quickly raised his spear and threw it at Soril with no hesitation at all.

“!!?” in this sudden action, Soril quickly raised his shield and tried to parry the Spear away.

[Heavy Shield Counter!]

The moment the spear collided with the shield, Soril thought that he would succeed, but he was wrong.

Compared to the Sergeant’s Special Spear, Soril’s Shield was simply that of a standard weapon brought out from the Academy’s storage.

So when the spear collided with his shield, in that instant, his shield broke into splinters and he was thrown off his feet.

“Ghk!” he smashed straight into a wall and he stuck there like a painting.

“!!?” Audrey quickly saw this happen and thought that an Enemy was nearby, but as she looked to where that attack came from, she was met with the sight of a heavy breathing man who was out for blood.

“…Sir O’riley.” as she tried to call out to him, in response to this, the Sergeant turned to her and spoke.

“…So it was true, you were here. Why?” he asked as he looked to Audrey with a curious gaze.

“…I-”

But before she could answer hesitantly from the fear brought out by the sergeant, Soril came back up from the wall and faced the sergeant with his sword raised.

With his fighting position out and about, he stared the sergeant, angry that he was attacked.

“!?…that pose, ah, so you were here all this time?” asked the sergeant as he quickly was able to figure out who the person was simply by his fighting position.

“…” in those words of recognition, Soril realizes something and slowly drops his sword back to his hilt. He instantly knew that his teacher recognizes him in his stance.

“Hmm, what are you doing here? And why are you covering your face?” asked the sergeant.

“…” but even when his teacher asked, he remained silent.

“Hmm.” and seeing his silence, he gazed his sights on Audrey and somewhat connected the dots.

‘for him to know and react on my guess,to see that we recognize each other but still wouldn’t comply to my question, only leaves me with the idea that he has a reason for hiding his identity…and that reason is most likely going to be about her.’ thought the sergeant as he then looks back to Soril with a heav sigh.

“Okay…tell me, what are you two doing here?” he asked.

“Sir O’riley, do you know him?” asked Audrey.

“…Answer my question, now.” he said in a strict tone.

“..well…he said that he plans to stop the invasion of those golems.” said Audrey.

“Hmm? Are you serious?…Wait, do you even know how?” asked the sergeant as he looked to Soril with a furrowed expression. Doubting him if he was even acting right.

But in response to the sergeant’s skepticism, Soril simply nodded his head in affirmation.

“Ha…okay okay…but you, why are you here?” as the sergeant somewhat trust Soril, he then turns to Audrey in question.

“Ah…well, because I saw him getting into the hole. He looks pretty suspicious from my perspective, so I thought that maybe he was another…enemy.” she said, hesitantly.

“Hmm, you should have called for a teacher…you getting here on your own is reckless and should never have been done.”

“I’m sorry…”

“And you…” as he said his part on Audrey, he looked to Soril and pointed his finger.

“…”

“…I don’t know what to say to you…but your in as much of trouble as she is.” said the sergeant.

“…”

“geez, you acting quiet really is a weird experience…anyway, you said that you know how to stop the invasion, how?”

“…This is a locked dungeon.” said Soril in his coarse voice.

“Ha? A locked Dungeon!?” in Audrey’s shock, she stared at Soril in doubt.

“Hmm, I had the same assumption. The fact that its reach is this deep could only lead to the fact that this dungeon is locked and growing…it probably took years for that mad mage to even have this dungeon grow this much. But if its true, that could only mean that we need the key to stop it, do you know where it is?” asked Sergeant O’riley.

And in response, Soril simply nodded his head.

“Hmm, Does that mean that you have been here before?” Asked sergeant.

“…” and in response again, Soril nodded his head in affirmation, but this time, he lied to the Sergeant. The fact and mystery about his knowledge about this entire dungeon could only be answered through a lie. How he knows where to move, what to do, and where the key is, could only be believed that he was here before.

When Audrey heard this, it felt like her questions were almost answered…but to her, it felt unbelievable. Almost like it was a lie…

“…where is the key?” asked the sergeant.

As Soril pointed his finger to the Locked Dungeon’s core, it was there that the sergeant began to be skeptical again.

“The Key being in the core itself is a long stretch…compared to all of the locked dungeons in the world with keys located halfway across the world from its own dungeon, do you think that it might be crazy to believe that the key for that locked dungeon is in that core?”

“…The Mad Mage has already claimed the key and is hiding it in that dungeon…somewhere.” said Soril in his coarse voice.

“Hmm…” as the sergeant looked to Soril with a doubtful expression, he turned to the Locked Dungeon’s core center.

In it, he sighed and simply accepted the fact that nothing else could be done except believe the boy’s reason.

And even when he lies, they could always return back and escape.

So to this idea, he brought out his spear and looked ever so tired.

“Okay, we’re going in. Knowing you, I can see that you’ve done well for yourself in making it up to here, and you even seem to have grown quite well…and also you.” he said as he turns to Audrey with a proud expression.

“…but make no mistake, as your teacher, I will lead forward in this raid. Understand me?” he asked.

And in response, the two nodded.

In that moment, they all dashed forward into the locked Dungeon.