Chapter 25: Master Tier Achievement and the Tournament Proposal

The girl’s longsword mercilessly sliced through the old man’s neck.

As the elderly man collapsed, bleeding, she glanced to the right, and sure enough, the kill count went up, confirming her success.

One down.

It didn’t take much effort to swiftly sever the neck of another opponent rushing at her with an opening.

It was a deathmatch—an easy mode where all you had to do was rack up kills.

Unlike capture or siege modes, where you must face off against the enemy, this mode had a different charm.

“I like it because there’s no need to think.

All you have to do is mindlessly slice off their heads.”

Knowing this, the enemies had all rushed to the center as soon as the game started.

But for her, it was just like picking food off a buffet table, carefully taking what she wanted one by one.

It almost sounded like she was some kind of cannibal, but whatever.

Deathmatch was a mode where the team that reached the kill goal first won.

Basically, it was a mode where there was no need to use your brain.

This gave her more freedom.

What kind of freedom?

Well, like chatting with the viewers for a bit, for example.

[You said you’d use a longsword for Lennok, but you’re using Camilla instead ᅲᅲ]

[Ah lol, why play a trash character like Lennok when you have pretty Camilla?]

[Lennok’s style drives women crazy though.]

[You’re in a high mood today, what’s up?]

[It’s scary hearing you say things like that while killing people.]

[So scary ᅲᅲ]

[Is this person a psycho?]

[Singing a tune while killing people… hmm.]

[You’d blow up if you did ASMR.]

[Love the excited voice, please say more.]

[I didn’t realize this game was so brutal.

Look at all that blood….]

[Isn’t this elder abuse?]

[Poor Grandpa Jerome ᅲᅲ]

[Look at those skills lol, just playing with them.]

[Let’s just rank up fast, this level’s full of noobs.]

And that’s why I started streaming.

Right now, I’m playing a game while live-streaming.

The reason?

I was just bored.

…Yeah, I can stream just because I’m bored, right?

Stop looking at me like that.

It’s hard to interact with the viewers when I’m too focused on the game.

That’s why I scrapped the idea of turning off the stream, playing to rank up, and then revealing the surprise later.

I’ve played a few matches now, and hmm, turns out I can interact with the viewers even with the stream on.

Probably because my rank isn’t that high yet.

Plus, with a mode like deathmatch, I can chat a bit during breaks.

“Has everyone had breakfast?”

I dodged the straightforward attack coming at me, casually starting a conversation.

Honestly, in higher ranks, things would be different, but at this level, this is the right way to play.

There’s rarely any feints involved.

Maybe they’re just overconfident in their skills, or maybe they think their opponent is worse, or perhaps they’ve just gotten lazy in battle.

I don’t know the reason, but it was working in my favor.

Oh, just now, I set up a psychological duel with a double-choice tactic.

There are occasional opponents like this, so this level doesn’t feel too boring.

It’s not like I can completely let my guard down, yawning my way through the match…

Should I say it’s like there is none?

Anyway, when it comes to physical reactions, most people can respond based on what they see.

So, applying psychological pressure is a bit more challenging for me.

[What time is it now that you’re talking about breakfast?]

[LOL, sensei thinks this is morning.]

[It’s 7 PM, and you call that breakfast?]

What time do you even wake up?

Suddenly feeling relatable.

Are you living the life of someone in the military reserves too, Kayak?

You look like a martial arts master, fighting while chatting LOL, so cool.

What’s this?

LOL, you’re dodging and parrying everything.

The enemy must feel like they’re hitting a wall.

Please leave Diamond rank already!

Diamond’s worst nightmare: Kayak.

This person’s MMR is so high, they’re basically in Master rank LOL.

At least go to Grandmaster to find a challenge.

Even in Grandmaster, you can’t toy with enemies like this…

“I had rice mixed with soy sauce and topped with a fried egg.

It’s called soy sauce egg rice.

You like it too, right?

Hmm, it’s pretty tasty.

Oh no, can’t cook?

Disqualified as a bride…

Oh, right, I see.”

It must be a joke, right?

They say confusing jokes like that are failed jokes.

Receiving chat messages that were a mix of joking and serious, I continued with the battle.

A warrior charged toward me with a massive shield.

It was a shield charge.

The heavy thumping of their footsteps echoed as they ran toward me.

I was curious about how much damage it would deal if I got hit.

Probably enough to shatter all the bones in my body.

I didn’t want my delicate Camilla to end up like that.

Honestly, if it were close range, maybe I could consider it.

But from this distance, it was tough to deal with the attack.

The problem was the sniper following right behind.

The red laser line from Sniper Alpha’s rifle was trained directly on me.

If I dodged the shield charge carelessly, I might get hit by the sniper’s shot.

With Camilla’s fragile body, even one sniper shot could be fatal.

Their team had set up a combination attack that was difficult to deal with one by one.

For a hastily thrown-together strategy, it was surprisingly effective.

If I’d faced this without thinking, I might have panicked.

Strategy… or rather, my response was swift.

This battlefield required split-second decisions that directly determined life or death.

Even these thoughts occurred in just a fleeting moment.

From the instant I saw the warrior charging with the shield, to when I noticed the sniper behind them, my body was already in motion.

My actions and thoughts were almost simultaneous.

It was as if my brain’s gears were turning at full speed.

And my body immediately executed the calculated results.

If dodging would get me shot…

Then why not just not dodge?

As the shield-wielding warrior charged with loud thumps, I began to run toward them too.

Sensing the other player’s confusion, I dashed straight in.

Then, I twisted my body slightly.

Clang!

Like this.

The sound of metal grinding fiercely against metal echoed.

With a razor-thin margin, I managed to deflect the shield charge with my sword.

This was the result of utilizing the parry feature, unique to sword-wielding characters in Abyss.

Big, powerful moves like that always carry significant risks if they get countered.

The warrior with the large shield momentarily lost their balance.

Camilla never missed the opportunity.

The HP of the warrior quickly drained, but Alpha, standing behind, couldn’t snipe Camilla.

Why? Because Camilla’s small body was completely hidden behind the massive frame of the warrior.

The warrior, realizing this, twisted his body, trying to escape from her.

But it was already too late.

By this time, she had already executed her full combo.

With a loud thud, the massive warrior fell, and Alpha, realizing the situation, fled toward his allies.

It was a smart decision.

Camilla’s HP hadn’t even dropped to half, and her dance had only just begun.

A marksman without a front line, especially one not specialized in close combat, had no chance of defeating Camilla.

At this point, I had done all I needed to.

Though I didn’t manage to take down the sniper, I had successfully held off a 2v1 as the team’s ace, taking down one of the enemies.

Now, it was up to the rest of the team.

They may not have been in the topmost tier, but they were still Diamond and Master-level players.

They were capable of rolling the snowball to victory once someone gave it a push.

And…

Cheers erupted from the other side as expected, signaling a victory on their end as well.

That’s what I expected. Good job.

I, having finished my battle, immediately joined them.

On the screen, Camilla once again began her deadly dance.

Victory!

As the enemy fortress crumbled, the glowing blue victory notification, always a sight for sore eyes, appeared.

Normally, the game would now display detailed statistics in the results screen, but this time was different.

The screen, momentarily lagging, showed a diamond insignia breaking apart.

Then, a new, more radiant metal emblem formed and reassembled into another insignia.

It gave the impression of a valiant knight’s helmet.

It was the emblem of the rank above Diamond: Master Tier.

[Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!]

[Streaming and hitting Master right away, LOL]

[87% win rate… this is definitely a smurf account.]

[I was playing games before starting the stream, ahem…]

[Let’s gooo~~]

[No stopping until you hit Grandmaster on stream!]

[Let’s aim for Abyss’s first female Challenger!]

<God-Defying Genius Kayak donates 10,000 won!>

– Congratulations on hitting Master, sensei.

“Ah… Thank you, everyone.

Thanks to all of you for watching.

Yes, I think that’s why I was able to make it.”

Honestly, for someone like me who had reached Challenger countless times, Master didn’t mean much—just a passing transfer station.

Still, with all these people celebrating for me, it made my heart flutter a little.

As I watched the rapidly flowing chat, I could feel that the number of viewers had grown once again.

For finishing just one game, I was feeling quite sentimental.

<top11 donates 1,000 won!>

– Sensei, do you have any plans to join a tournament?

“A tournament?”

That was quite the unexpected suggestion.