I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[004] Ghost Ship Mary Celeste
The Skeletons froze mid-motion.
Why did this bastard suddenly turn on his own allies and collapse?
‘Please don’t attack me…!’
I prayed inwardly that the Undead wouldn’t swarm me as I calmly walked toward them on my own two feet.
Then I slung an arm around the most pathetic-looking Skeleton and raised my cutlass high, bellowing at the top of my lungs.
“Follow me!”
―…?
“I said follow me, you bone-headed bastards!”
―Clack… clack…??
The Skeletons exchanged glances with vacant expressions.
What’s this?
Standing on our side—is he one of us?
Didn’t he just attack that human?
But his appearance is clearly human…?
｢The passive skill [Eloquence] adds persuasiveness to your words!｣
｢The Skeletons have fallen into confusion.｣
｢They are deliberating over your allegiance. Due to the [Chaos] skill, your agility temporarily increases by 3.｣
｢You witnessed your own flesh burn away and vanish! Having returned from death, you live, yet you sometimes exude an aura not unlike that of a corpse!｣
｢You are closer to the Undead than any living human!｣
‘Excellent… it’s working!’
The Skeleton, lowest-tier Undead, possessed low intelligence and acted on impulse.
Confirming that my stratagem was taking hold, I drove the final wedge into the confused Undead.
“Follow me!!”
As I charged forward with my cutlass raised high, the Skeletons who had been watching blankly began raising their weapons one by one and following in my wake.
―Clack-clack! Clack-clack-clack!!
Hehehehe! Why not!
As long as we can kill more, who cares!
｢The Skeleton horde is following you!｣
｢Hidden Achievement unlocked: Flesh-Covered Novice Undead Commander. Charisma permanently increases by 1!｣
｢The Pirates have fallen into confusion seeing you leading the Undead vanguard! Due to the [Chaos] skill, luck and intelligence temporarily increase!｣
“W-what the hell is that guy?!”
“How is a human fighting alongside the Undead…!”
“Grab that bastard!!”
―Clack-clack-clack!! Clack-clack-clack-clack!!!
With a target designated, the delighted Skeletons rattled their jaws and charged forward in a thunderous rush.
As I too waded into the Undead throng and swung my blade, a Pirate struck by my sword cried out in fury.
“Ugh…! You traitor! How could you, a fellow human, side with the Undead… wait? Why aren’t you….”
“Just fall already!”
The Pirate I kicked across the deck went flying backward.
I feinted with the cutlass’s dull edge, but the dim-witted Skeleton didn’t suspect a thing—they scattered in all directions, desperate to strike down what they perceived as a lively human threat.
After several more exchanges where no one took a scratch, the sharp-witted Pirates began to catch on to my scheme and gradually started playing along.
“If we can’t win, then join them!! I’m with the Undead now!!”
“Uuuaahhh!! Long live the Skeleton! Glory to the Lich!!”
―Crack! Tap tap crack!!
‘…No matter where you go, there are always cunning bastards.’
As the crowd descended into chaos, I felt my stats surge dramatically.
The Pirates, realizing that the more aggressively they pushed forward, the less the Skeleton attacked them, began to throw themselves into the fray with even greater fervor.
“Undead Lord!! There are plenty of fresh humans packed onto that ship over there!! Let’s go crush those bastards!”
“Wait, wait…! Why are you stabbing me?! I’m on your side! Your side!”
“You… I never liked you anyway…! Always talking trash behind my back!”
Madness spread across the deck like a plague.
With each thunderbolt that crashed down, blades flashed and unexpected screams erupted from every corner.
A Pirate who’d lost his weapon seized a Skeleton’s shinbone and used it to crack the skull of the man in front of him, while a Ghoul somewhere else had stolen a sailor’s headscarf and was giggling at its reflection in a puddle.
Waves black as mountains bore down as if to capsize the ship, and the Banshee’s bone-chilling wail shook skulls with dizzying force.
Pirates who’d been crossing blades with each other moments before, locked in bitter conflict, would find themselves swept up by a wave of bone, only to stand back-to-back afterward, protecting one another—a surreal spectacle.
Ground zero of collective madness!
‘I may have started this, but it’s complete pandemonium.’
「Great chaos has descended!」
「Who is enemy and who is ally no longer matters! Morality and ethics have vanished! Now this place is governed not by reason, but by instinct—and beyond instinct, by impulse!」
「For Antagon, the Jester born from disorder, a battlefield where slaughter and betrayal reign supreme is like home! Your status rises dramatically due to the [Chaos] skill!」
“Kahahaha!! Crush those bastards!! Let’s just survive first!”
―Crack! Tap tap! Tap-tap-tap!
The Pirate and Skeleton Alliance surged forward en masse and began ransacking the adjacent ship.
But as the frenzy intensified, I kept my mind sharp and clear.
‘I can’t act recklessly.’
As the saying goes, a bartender doesn’t drink.
The one standing at the center of madness must be careful not to get swept up in the crowd.
For now they move as one, unified in purpose—but once the slaughter ends and the higher-ranking Undead arrive, everything will change.
If the Death Knight witnesses this chaos, he’ll surely execute the ringleaders on the spot and restore order.
‘I need to escape on a lifeboat and get out of here as fast as I can…!’
Clang―!
“W-who are you?! The one who just hit my head… was it you!?”
―Crack! Tap tap! Crack!
I cracked a Pirate across the back of the skull, setting him against a nearby Skeleton, then quietly slipped out of the fray.
Weaving past the tangled mass of Pirates and Skeleton locked in combat, I barely reached the stern, where the lifeboat was kept.
My only means of escape from this ship.
But all that remained was a severed rope fluttering uselessly in the wind.
Looking down at the sea in despair, I saw a group of minor Pirates already in the lifeboat, frantically rowing away with cheers.
“Hurry everyone!! This ship is already lost!”
“Hehehe…! We made it!! Let’s get out of here— wait, what’s that?”
“The sea just went dark….”
CRAAASH!!!!
A shadow rippled beneath the lifeboat, and a massive maw erupted from the depths, swallowing the vessel whole in a single gulp.
The pirate crew vanished without a trace, leaving only white foam in their wake.
‘Damn it….’
That lifeboat had been our only means of escape from this ship.
Though judging by the circumstances, we’d have been dead either way.
I trembled with fury at Belheim’s vicious cruelty—the way it trampled hope so brazenly—and forced my mind to work.
The plan to flee in the escape lifeboat had failed.
The Undead Legion was closing in from all sides in real time.
No one would come to rescue us, and the storm-ravaged sea teemed with monsters the size of houses.
What options did I have left to overcome this crisis?
I stared at the thunder crashing down like it would ignite the sea itself, and at the undead surrounding us, thinking.
Then, suddenly, an idea struck me like lightning.
A method no sane person would ever consider.
I let out a self-deprecating laugh and grinned wickedly.
“What if I go mad and escalate this situation?”
If I’m going to cause chaos, I’ll do it thoroughly.
Why do you think the British Empire gets away with all its atrocities?
Because it commits them with absolute conviction, not half-measures.
The option to escape by boat was already sealed off.
If I can’t run, I’ll break through head-on.
With my resolve hardened, I bared my teeth in a savage grin and murmured.
“…I need to take control of this ship.”
To deceive even the high-tier undead that would arrive soon, I needed to cause even more chaos.
Seizing control of the ship was the linchpin of this plan.
And to do that….
I lifted my gaze toward a structure jutting from one corner of the deck.
The captain’s quarters—where Barbo, this ship’s captain, was holed up.
And if I had to sum up Barbo in one word, it would be this.
‘Scum.’
The reason the player was imprisoned on this ship in the tutorial was because he’d captured me.
Doesn’t it say everything about his character that he’s barricaded himself alone while his subordinates fight for their lives?
I had to kill him to commandeer this ship.
The problem was that his captain’s quarters became a perfect sealed room once he locked the door, making it extremely difficult to open from outside.
Getting a coward like him to stick his head out voluntarily would be incredibly hard, but fortunately, I had just the skill for this.
[Disguise]
A skill from Antagon’s Rune that consumed mana to change my appearance to that of a previously defeated individual.
It sounded useful at first glance, but with so many restrictions, it was just a trolling skill in-game—used to startle people or transform into a deer to mindlessly PK unsuspecting newbies in low-level zones.
One reason why [Antagon’s Rune] was underestimated.
But if I focused solely on the impure purpose of causing chaos, it surpassed any other skill in effectiveness.
I retreated behind the mast, away from prying eyes, and sifted through my memories.
‘Tyrosh had a hunched back and a gaunt frame.’
The foundation of disguise was mimicking one’s appearance.
I vividly pictured Tyrosh’s form in my mind.
A weathered face creased by sea spray, a filthy beard, teeth blackened and rotted away.
A stooped spine from age and shoulders curled inward.
Since I’d seen this character so frequently during my time in the game, recalling his appearance posed no difficulty.
“I have disguised myself as Tyrosh the Black-Toothed!”
“Though age has left me withered, my notoriety among the pirates remains fearsome!”
“The synchronization with this body is imperfect, resulting in reduced stats.”
A peculiar sensation.
Though it was undoubtedly my body, my perspective had lowered, and my spine refused to straighten.
My movements felt sluggish, as though I were thoroughly intoxicated, and executing swift, elegant swordplay became impossible.
‘Using this body in combat would be futile.’
I had an intuition that even if I seized the body of someone stronger than Tyrosh, the result would be the same.
Since I already knew [Antagon’s Rune] was unsuited for combat, I approached the Captain’s Quarters without concern and knocked on the door.
“Listen, Barbo! It’s Tyrosh!! Open the door, damn it!!”
“….”
“You spineless bastard of a captain! I know you’re hiding in there—open this door!! I’ve escaped too!”
“….”
Tsk, that didn’t work.
Just as I was about to try another approach, a faint voice emerged from within.
“Ah, the secret code!”
“…The secret code?”
“Y-yes! Prove you’re really Tyrosh! Then, then I’ll let you in!”
“….”
Damn it, was there such a thing?
If there was a secret code used among the pirates, there was no way I as a player could know it.
Instead, I focused on the nature of Tyrosh himself.
‘What kind of man was Tyrosh?’
Wasn’t he a hot-blooded veteran with such seniority that even the captain of this ship and other pirates didn’t dare provoke him?
His manner of speech was rough from years at sea, and he was an impulsive man.
The moment that realization struck, I acted on instinct and kicked the door hard.
Crash—!
“You damned fool drowning in the rain! Open this door right now?! The undead are closing in on us! If I hear one more word of that secret code nonsense from your mouth, I’ll run my cutlass through your guts and feed you to the fish!”
As I bellowed in a hoarse, ragged voice, a pair of terrified eyes peeked through the windowed door, then the sound of a bolt being hastily undone echoed out.
Moments later, a pallid man drenched in cold sweat yanked me inside and frantically locked the door again.
“Phew, phew… Tyrosh, it really is you…! I thought the undead were playing tricks on me…!”
“You stupid fool! Are you suggesting I’m a fake?!”
“H-hic! Don’t shout! If the Skeletons hear and swarm over here, what then?! Damn it, damn it! A sudden attack from a Ghost Ship? This makes no sense?! I-I knew we shouldn’t have raided that merchant ship….”
“…That merchant ship you speak of?”
“Yes! That cursed merchant ship where all the crew burned to death!! In the hold below, there was some ominous black-haired boy sleeping peacefully! That bastard must have summoned this Ghost Ship!! I brought him thinking he’d fetch a high price from those perverted nobles with that pretty, feminine face…!”
“….”
“D-damn it…! We should be discussing how to escape, not—”
“Doran.”
“What?”
“That boy’s name is Doran.”
Thud.
In an instant, a sharp pain tore through Barbo’s abdomen.
A blade that carved through his entrails with deliberate, certain precision—stealing his final breath.
The captain collapsed, clutching his belly in shock, his last vision being….
The afterimage of the Demon God Antagon shimmering and transforming into a black-haired youth.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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