落とし穴１０２堀：森の中のエルフ大樹海を知らず (Part1)
The pitfall 102: Unaware of the Elven Great Forest within the woods.
Unaware of the Elven Great Forest within the woods.
Side: Eris, Weed Accounting Department, Deputy Manager, Elf, skilled in archery and shooting.
Thump, thump…
I felt my own heartbeat was too loud.
Haa, haa…
My breathing was also grating on my ears.
Calm down, calm down, quiet my breathing, quiet…
I told myself this and held my sniper rifle, the Kar98K, steady.
Peering through the scope, I saw multiple people inside a building.
No, specifically, three people.
"This is Milly. Eris. I've reached my position."
"This is Ratz. I'm good here too."
"...This is Kaya. I've taken up a cover position. We'll move according to Eris's instructions."
The radio transmissions reached my ears. Looking at the map, Milly and Ratz were positioned to flank the target building, and Kaya was hidden behind the rocks in front of me.
"Understood. I can't see one more target. It might be just three people, but can you confirm from your side?"
"No. I can't see the target from here."
"I can't see the target from my side either."
"...From my cover point, I can see three people milling about on the second floor, but as Eris said, one is missing."
"It's a maximum of four people, but are these people moving as three?"
"We have time, don't we? Isn't it better to just aim when they come out?"
"That's right. If we attack rashly now and they retreat inside, it'll be troublesome."
Yes, we were currently playing an online computer game.
Specifically, it was a Players No Search Battlefield, or PNBF for short.
It was a game where 100 people were dropped onto a not-so-large island with no weapons, and they had to pick up weapons found in buildings and kill each other until only one person or one team remained.
A game. In other words, a game popular in Yuki's hometown, Earth.
Online games were apparently permitted by Luna-san, so no unnecessary information could be sent, but things like this were allowed.
Or rather, Luna-san too…
"Gwaaah. Is that even possible!? Hurry, hurry!! I'm gonna die!?"
"Aaaah, shut up!? You don't have to yell so loud, I can hear you!?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming now."
"I'll cover you, Taiki-kun."
As you can tell from those noisy voices coming from behind me, not through headphones, we were playing together.
"Ahaha... Luna-san is as usual."
"Well, that's one of Luna-san's good points."
"Honestly, it's annoying right now. ...The target disappeared!? Eris!!"
Kaya's words made me look at the screen, and the three people on the second floor had vanished.
"Target moving from the second floor. They'll probably come out. Get ready."
"““Understood.””"
It didn't matter that Luna-san was about to die right now.
First, I had to eliminate the enemies in front of me and ensure our safety…
As I peered through the scope, the house door opened, and the target three people emerged, cautiously.
As expected, one was missing.
Were there originally only three? Or were they killed before encountering us? Or are they still hiding somewhere?
"I can take a shot."
"Me too."
"I can cover."
The three had already moved away from the house and were advancing towards the nearby forest with caution.
The last one was still nowhere to be seen.
If we don't take them down here, we might be ambushed.
We have no choice, do we?
"Everyone. Shoot."
"““Understood.””"
Bang, bang, bang.
The sounds of gunfire echoed around us.
After being hit, the enemies immediately took evasive action, but in an open area without cover, bullets couldn't be dodged.
All three went down immediately.
Yes, down. Not KILLED.
"Everyone, be care—"
Bang.
Before I could warn them, a gunshot rang out.
"Whoa!? S-Sorry, headshot, one shot."
"From where!?"
"The gunshot sound was from the forest... Kya!?"
Bang, bang, bang.
"Sorry. I'm down."
In an instant, Milly and Kaya were taken out.
What skill.
"Target spotted. In the direction of the forest, 60 degrees, just as Kaya said."
That means, next to me!?
I hurriedly checked my side and found the remaining one person hiding behind a tree.
They were there all along!?
Without contacting them, I immediately aimed and pulled the trigger.
Bang, bang!!
"KILL!! Ratz, immediately go to Milly and Kaya's aid. I'll collect the supplies."
"““Understood.””"
After eliminating one team, I immediately moved to the next action.
But it wasn't going to be that easy…
Bang, bang!!
"Shot at!? From where!?"
"Gunshot from the right!! From the open grassland!!"
Other teams must have arrived due to the previous gunfire.
I instinctively hid behind a tree to avoid being seen from the direction Ratz indicated.
*Bishi bishi bishi!!*
Gunfire hit the tree.
The direction was correct, but what should we do?
I haven't collected the supplies yet.
"Ratz. How are the two of you?"
"This is Milly. I'm okay. I've recovered."
"...Me too. Ratz is healing me, so I'm fine. Fortunately, we have healing items, so we can fully recover."
"So, it looks like you won't be able to collect supplies from your side."
"Impossible. Can you attack from your side? We're pinned down here and can't show our faces. The enemies are moving while using cover. There are two of them."
"Two people, huh? Then maybe we can try to aim using the building as cover..."
While I was receiving this report from Ratz, an engine sound suddenly roared.
Dodo dodo…
"Where!? Are they getting closer!?"
"Ugh!? A car from the opposite direction of the enemy!!"
Ratz's report made me look in that direction, and indeed, a car was heading this way…
Papa pa…
It started firing at me.
"I've been spotted!? If this continues, we'll be sandwiched. I'm running towards the house, so keep the foot soldiers at bay!!"
"““Understood.””"
As I said that, I immediately leaped out from behind the tree and ran towards the house.
Gunfire echoed as if chasing me.
But since it was firing from a car, it wasn't hitting me much, and fortunately, I managed to regroup with Ratz and the others.
"What about the foot soldiers?"
"We couldn't take them down. They're hiding behind cover."
"...If they had been a little closer, I could have taken them all at once, but they were far away."
"As soon as I showed my face, I was spotted. I fired too, so our position is revealed."
It's a bit of a pain that we couldn't take them down.
"What happened to the car?"
"As soon as they saw me moving to the building, they immediately drove away."
"Then, are they unrelated to the two enemies over there?"
"...If they were a team, they would have sandwiched us. Or, they're going for the loot."
The people in the car seem unrelated to the two people currently hiding.
"What should we do? Stay here and take down those two?"
"What do you think? We've been having a lot of firefights here, so we might get interrupted again."
"...It's a tricky situation. If we show our backs, we might get shot. For now, if we retreat with the building at our backs, there's a chance of escape, but the supplies might be taken."
…I understand Ratz's opinion and Kaya's opinion.
We've had consecutive encounters here, so there's a high possibility that other teams are looking to pick up the spoils, and yet, it's difficult to leave here safely. And the supplies from the enemies we just defeated might be taken by the two who are currently approaching. If we move from here, we've only reduced the enemy count, and with the ammunition and healing items consumed, future battles will be tough.
"What about the remaining ammunition and healing items?"
"As for me, I went down earlier, so I'm out of healing items. My ammunition hasn't decreased much since I didn't fire much."
"...Same here."
"I have healing items, so let's share them. We each have one. Ammunition is not a problem for now."
"I was lucky and wasn't hit, but I don't have any healing items. ...Hmm. Alright, let's withdraw from here. We consumed healing items in the previous battle, but we can still replenish them, and we can find them elsewhere. Staying here is more dangerous. What do you think?"
"““Agreed.””"
Since everyone agreed, we reluctantly left the fallen enemies' supplies behind and, with the building at our backs, retreated towards the forest.
Fortunately, the ones who drove away in the car weren't waiting in the forest, and as we safely advanced into the woods, intense gunfire could be heard from the direction of the building they had left.
"Oh, other teams did come after all."
"It was the right decision to move."
"...If we had gotten caught up in that, we might not have been able to get out of the zone in time. Look, the next zone has appeared."
"You're right."
Kaya's words made me open the map, and the next combat zone was to the north.