[Lucky Overpowered] — I Became a Background Character Meant to Die in the Game’s Opening, But Now I’m Overpowered and Fighting to Save My All-Time Favorite Alchemist Heroine - Episode 27

With a soft poof, the second skeleton vanished into a puff of white smoke.

“Alright…!”

I resisted the urge to pump my fist in triumph after landing two consecutive headshots—an especially difficult feat against skeletons—and instead reached back into my quiver for another arrow.

“Coming in! Three zombies approaching!”

I called out to Gilles and the others behind me while drawing my bow.

Zombies, perhaps due to their rotting bodies, moved sluggishly. Rather than waiting for them to reach us, it was faster to have Gilles and the others move in.

“Ugh, zombies?”

“Gross…”

“Hurry up and get going already!”

Gilles and Gustave groaned in disgust, only to be scolded sharply by Isabelle. They were about to engage in close combat with some smelly zombies. Good luck.

Me? Well, I’m busy, you know… Busy shooting arrows.

“Fireball!”

Isabelle raised her staff high, activating her spell. A large fireball formed in front of her. With a downward swing of her staff, it shot out at high speed and slammed into a zombie, engulfing it in flames with a loud whoosh. It looked almost like a cremation. Now only two zombies remained.

“Uoooooooooooooh!”

Usually mild-mannered, Gustave let out a fierce battle cry and charged at a zombie, slamming it with a powerful shield bash.

“Doryaaaaaah!”

Following up on the now-staggering zombie, Gilles swung her great sword down with force, cleaving the creature clean in two from head to groin. Only one zombie left.

Thwip. With a low, whistling sound, I loosed another arrow. It struck the final zombie square in the forehead, smashing its skull.

Now headless, the zombie flailed its arms sluggishly in random directions.

“Seaaaaaaaah!”

Gilles charged in again, slicing the zombie clean in half horizontally with an upward sweep of her great sword.

Even the tough zombie couldn’t withstand that. It disappeared with a soft poof of white smoke.

And with that, all the enemies were down.

“Nice work, everyone.”

“Yeah!”

“Good job out there.”

“Well done.”

After the battle, I started retrieving the arrows I had fired, picking up any dropped items as well. This time, the loot consisted of bone shards and putrid slime. Bone shards could be processed into bone powder or used in crafting, while the slime was a key ingredient in making poisons and paralytic agents through alchemy. They might look like junk at a glance, but they were valuable materials.

“Damn. This one’s chipped…”

While collecting the arrows, I found one with a damaged arrowhead. It was still usable, but I’d probably need to replace it once we got out of the dungeon.

In the game, there were all sorts of arrows—ones that could poison or paralyze monsters—but for standard arrows, you could fire as many as you wanted.

Reality, however, doesn’t work that way. Having unlimited arrows is a fantasy. I only had seven arrows in my quiver. Once they were gone, I’d have no choice but to switch to my dagger.

That’s why I always tried to recover and reuse my arrows. But the more I did, the more they wore down.

“Arrowheads are more expensive than you’d think…”

Maybe because they’re all handmade by craftsmen? Either way, it’s a hard-knock life.

“Alright, let’s move out…”

Feeling a bit melancholic, I gave the hand signal to proceed and began walking down the dungeon corridor.

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Along the way, we fought skeletons and zombies, of course, but also horned rabbits, goblins, slimes, and wolves. Eventually, we reached the deepest part of the tenth floor—the boss chamber.

In front of us stood a large, double-door painted in black. Beyond it awaited the floor boss.

“Just to be sure—do we have intel on this boss?”

“Obviously. …Though, a refresher might not hurt,” Isabelle replied, shooting a disapproving glance at Gilles, who was avoiding my eyes.

Gilles… You’re technically our party leader, aren’t you?

“Well, whatever. The boss here consists of five undead: two zombies, two skeleton warriors, and one skeleton mage. Gilles, do you know what we need to watch out for?”

“Easy—the skeleton mage! It’s our first time fighting a monster that uses magic. I’m fired up!”

Gilles clapped her fist into her palm, grinning. She was taking this way too lightly…

In the game, magic was a terrifyingly powerful form of offense. Unlike my arrows, whose damage was moderate and consistent, magic attacks could deal massive bursts of damage—several times what I could manage. Mages were like walking ultimate-attack machines, burning through MP to cast one devastating spell after another. Great allies, but an absolute nightmare when they’re your enemy.

I let out a sigh and decided to start by correcting Gilles’s attitude. Isabelle, looking like she was getting a headache, was already pinching her forehead.

“Listen, Gilles. You’re not going to fight the skeleton mage, got it?”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Isabelle and I will take it out before it can cast anything. Your job is to handle the zombies and the skeleton warriors.”

“Tch. And here I was looking forward to taking on a real challenge…”