"Dammit! These guys are stronger than I thought!"
Facing off against Regen and the subordinates who had poured out of the Birdcage, Cyan was struggling far more than he’d ever anticipated.
In the game he’d played, these thugs were the kind of weaklings who’d drop from a single Normal Attack. In a direct confrontation, however, it was taking everything he had just to deal with one of them.
He might have expected this from the Magic Armor Beasts he’d fought before, but for simple Small-fry Enemies to give him this much trouble...! Frustrated by the unexpected spike in difficulty, Cyan glanced over at Woz and Torin. They were struggling just as much as he was, and the sight left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
Is it our levels? Are we all under-leveled for this!? What’s the Appropriate Level for this stage, anyway?
They were supposed to be the ideal Protagonists, blessed with high Status as a Reincarnation Bonus. By leveraging the deep Game Knowledge from their previous lives, they had secured powerful weapons and the allies they wanted, all while using efficient Experience Point Farming to raise their levels.
The Strategy Information for Luminous History was etched into his brain. There shouldn't have been any mistakes in his knowledge.
So why were they struggling against these nobodies? Why couldn't they defeat enemies that had been so easily dispatched in the game?
He’d been feeling it for a while now: something was wrong. Their levels, their gear, the strength of their companions—it all should have been enough. So why was everything falling apart?
It wasn't just him, either. Looking at the way Woz and the others fought, it was clear that none of the reincarnators possessed the strength required to survive the enemies appearing in the current Story.
He’d sensed they weren't quite ready to clear the game yet, but he’d never imagined they’d be in a state where they couldn't even handle the Small-fry Enemies, let alone the Boss.
Dammit! If I’d known it would turn out like this, I should have taken the Route where no Small-fry Enemies spawn...!
The only reason he’d approached the Man Carrying the Birdcage and triggered the thugs’ appearance was to farm experience points.
The plan had been simple: level up by wiping out the Small-fry Enemies, then take down the Boss and reap all the fame. Failing to kill even a single one was beyond pathetic.
Gasping for breath and already feeling the weight of exhaustion, Cyan began to regret not letting the Security Force handle it while he focused on the Boss, Regen. He turned to the equally worn-out Woz and Torin.
"What do we do? These guys are way stronger than they're supposed to be."
"This is why I said we should have gathered more people!" Woz snapped. "If we’d brought the rest of our Party Members, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"You’re the one who agreed when I suggested we go in alone so we didn't have to split the Experience Points!" Cyan fired back. "Don’t start acting like this was all my idea now!"
"Shut up, both of you! Instead of arguing, why don’t you come up with a way to actually kill something!?"
Even though they were finally communicating, the conversation didn't move toward cooperation. They might have shared the same origins, but they weren't comrades or friends. They were rivals in a constant race to kick the other down. In that sense, their bickering was only natural.
However, in the middle of a chaotic battlefield, they didn't have the luxury of time for such nonsense.
There was no way the cunning villains would miss an opening created by three idiots arguing in the open.
"Hahaha! What are you brats whispering about!? We’re in the middle of a fight here!"
"Ah! Crap—!"
Regen, now a winged Bat Man soaring through the sky, spread his wings and dove straight for the trio.
Unable to defend or evade, Cyan and the others took the full force of the charge and were sent flying in every direction.
"Gwaaaah!"
"Gyaaaah!"
"Ugh...!"
Cyan slammed into a wall, groaning in agony. Woz crashed through the remains of an abandoned stall, screaming as he went. Torin let out a miserable moan as he splashed into the center of a fountain.
The single blow had completely shattered their will to fight. Seeing as they’d been knocked away from the center of the fray, they collectively decided to make their exit.
"We’re pulling out! We’ll just have to go farm experience at Another Battlefield!"
"But the enemies there are going to be strong too! If we couldn't win here, what makes you think we can win there!?"
"We’ll just go after we regroup with the rest of our Party Members! Use your brain for once, you moron!"
Their tempers flared even hotter than before, fueled by the frustration of nothing going their way.
Faced with the reality that their current power meant nothing, the half-desperate trio clung to their Game Knowledge, heading toward a different battlefield in a vain attempt to prove it wasn't over yet.
They were completely unaware that the public had watched the whole pathetic display. In the eyes of the people, they were the cowards who had started the entire disaster only to turn tail and run—though at this moment, none of them had the slightest clue.