Chapter 9: The Art of Toying with Prey

Chaos. Destruction. Shock.

Gerard’s bold demand sent shockwaves through the chat.

[Is this really happening?]

[What the hell!]

[Are they actually going to fight?]

[I didn’t expect things to take this turn.]

[I thought he was just a comedic character.]

[So he could actually be an enemy all along!]

An ordinary NPC had suddenly turned into an adversary.

Many players familiar with the game were caught off guard by this transformation.

Even those who weren’t familiar with the mechanics were stunned by the abrupt,

shift someone who had been casually talking just moments ago was now an enemy.

“You should’ve done this from the start.”

The only one who remained calm was Seyul, who had already anticipated everything.

As if he had been waiting for this moment, he raised his spear.

It was a signal for battle, but the opponent raised a hand.

“Wait.”

As if it wasn’t the right time to fight yet, Gerard raised his hand and slowly approached.

Seyul remained still, watching him, as Gerard lifted his own spear and pointed it at him.

[What’s going on?]

[Is he pretending to call a truce, just to attack?]

[Hey, do something!]

The viewers, sensing something suspicious, urged him to dodge.

Even though their voices couldn’t reach him, he could clearly see the spear being raised in front of him.

But Seyul stood his ground, unmoving.

And then

Gerard swung his spear toward Seyul!

…And the chains binding Seyul’s arms and legs were sliced apart.

“I may be a lot of things, but I don’t fight against an opponent who’s tied up.”

Gerard spoke in a calm tone.

The viewers were left dumbfounded.

[Why is that kind of sweet?]

[So he swung his spear just to free him?]

[You said you were going to eat him, but now you’re doing this?]

[Oh, right, he was always like this.]

[Even after turning evil, his personality hasn’t changed.]

Though they were surprised by his unpredictable actions, Seyul remained unaffected.

‘So he was a decent guy before. Even though he’s fallen, his core nature hasn’t changed.’

Seyul had encountered all kinds of people in this other world.

He had developed an instinct for judging others at a glance.

And his instincts told him that Gerard wasn’t the type to launch a cheap sneak attack.

‘That makes things easier.’

Seyul stretched his arms and legs now that he was freed.

Even though he had been able to fight well enough while chained, being unrestrained was far more comfortable.

“What a shame.”

Feeling a small sense of appreciation, Seyul addressed Gerard.

“If you had just let me go, you wouldn’t have to die.”

“You sound like you’ve already won before we’ve even started.”

“Yeah. Because I’m going to win anyway.”

“…I don’t get where all this confidence is coming from.”

Gerard frowned in disbelief.

To him, Seyul was nothing special apart from his ridiculously beautiful appearance.

If not for his own hunger and the fact that they both wielded spears, he might have just let him go.

And yet

“You can’t even use magic, can you?”

He couldn’t sense even the most basic magical energy from Seyul.

A mere human, already far weaker than most monsters, who couldn’t even wield magic?

The outcome was obvious.

“Heh.”

Seyul simply chuckled at Gerard’s condescending gaze.

The way he smirked, almost as if mocking him, made Gerard’s eyes turn sharp.

Annoyed, he gathered his magic power, and an invisible force radiated from his entire body.

[He looks strong.]

[Gerard must’ve gotten a serious power boost.]

[Of course he’s been draining all those people.]

Even though they couldn’t feel his aura, the viewers could tell that he had become much stronger.

As they suspected, Gerard was now far more powerful than before.

Originally, he had been nothing more than a low-rank monster who couldn’t even manipulate magic properly.

But that had changed.

Through rigorous training, he had barely reached the level of an orc captain in magic control.

His spear techniques, which he had practiced regularly, had been sharpened even further in this desperate struggle for survival.

Now, with both power and skill combined, he had grown to surpass even an orc captain in strength.

All of this was thanks to the immense power he had absorbed through Drain.

Click.

There was no need for words anymore.

The moment the fight began, Gerard lunged, thrusting his spear at Seyul.

Not just once, but in rapid succession.

Empowered by Drain, Gerard’s spear moved like a fired arrow.

And with each continuous thrust, it became a barrage, like a machine gun unloading its rounds.

His speed was overwhelming, but so was his strength.

Even without piercing, just being struck by his spear was enough to shatter a skull.

If an ordinary person were hit by this onslaught, their entire body would be blown apart.

A normal human would’ve died ten times over already.

But

“When did you get over there?”

Seyul remained completely unscathed.

Gerard’s spear had pierced nothing but empty air.

Dumbfounded, Gerard turned to stare at Seyul, who was standing in an entirely different spot.

He had definitely been right where Gerard had attacked.

Yet somehow, he had moved without a single trace.

[What just happened?]

[Did anyone see that?]

Even the viewers, who could watch from multiple angles, were completely baffled.

[Wait, when did he move?]

[I was watching the whole time!]

[He was there one second, and then he wasn’t.]

[Anyone watching in first-person mode?]

[Yeah, I was.]

[And?]

[We have no clue either.]

[It was like the scenery just shifted, and then he was somewhere else.]

[Something weird is going on.]

Everyone was too stunned to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

“Some kind of evasion ability, huh?”

Gerard forced himself to accept the most logical explanation.

“It’s an impressive ability, but now that I’ve seen it once, it won’t work again. I just need to predict where you’ll move next.”

Confident in his solution, Gerard attacked once more.

And missed.

He attacked again.

And missed.

Another strike.

Still, he missed.

“What the hell?!”

Gerard shouted in frustration.

No matter what he did, Seyul dodged every attack with ease.

Even when trying to predict his movements, he failed.

As a monster, Gerard’s senses were far beyond those of a human.

With his enhanced mana perception, he could detect his opponents even without seeing them.

And yet, Seyul’s presence

Was completely undetectable.

“What trick are you using?! Why the hell can’t I sense you?!”

Gerard was now screaming in disbelief.

Seyul, however, remained calm.

“I’m just hiding it.”

“What?”

“Why are you so surprised? Hiding one’s presence is pretty basic.”

Any trained warrior could suppress their presence to some degree.

But this level of concealment?

It should have been impossible.

Gerard, who understood the absurdity of it, was left speechless.

Was it some unknown ability?

Or was this guy simply strong enough to toy with him?

No, that couldn’t be.

If Seyul were truly that skilled, he would have overwhelming mana reserves.

“That’s impossible. You have no mana at all!”

A true warrior’s mana would always reflect their strength.

There was no way someone without mana could completely dominate him.

At least, that’s what Gerard tried to convince himself.

[Wait…]

[Hold on a second…]

The viewers began to pick up on something strange.

“You really think so?”

Seyul’s lips curled into a mischievous smile.

“Hm, maybe it’s time I correct that little misunderstanding.”

With a relaxed tone, he lunged straight at Gerard.

Gerard flinched in shock and thrust his spear forward only for Seyul to vanish once again.

With an eerie movement that completely evaded Gerard’s sight, Seyul reappeared at his flank.

Then, he swung his spear sideways and struck Gerard’s face with the shaft.

“Guh!”

Gerard groaned in pain.

Thanks to his mana-enhanced body, he could shrug off bullets in the real world.

And yet, the impact on his face was enough to rattle even him.

“M-Mana?”

Gerard stammered, his voice filled with disbelief.

The force behind that blow was impossible to believe coming from Seyul’s small, thin frame.

His spear wasn’t even anything special just an ordinary weapon.

That left only one explanation.

The attack had been infused with mana.

“Yeah, it’s mana.”

Seyul casually confirmed Gerard’s suspicions, unfazed by his trembling voice.

[Well, duh. What else would it be? Mamana?]

[How the hell would he have Mamana? He’s got no tits lmao.]

[Why does Gerard keep saying he can’t sense any mana?]

[Didn’t he get that skill book from the Orc Chief yesterday?]

[He should obviously be using mana.]

Some viewers who had watched the previous battle were confused by Gerard’s insistence that Seyul had no mana.

The reason for this discrepancy was simple.

Seyul had hidden his mana completely.

‘This feels surprisingly similar to handling mana in real life.’

Seyul’s power in this world was also called “mana.”

And since the game used the same term, he had tested whether his real-world techniques would work here.

To his surprise, they worked perfectly.

Maybe it was just his familiarity with mana, but controlling it felt entirely natural just like in reality.

‘If I can manipulate it exactly as I do in the real world, hiding it from someone like him is a piece of cake.’

In fact, it was even easier against someone who could detect mana rather than someone who was completely oblivious to it.

So, now that he had mastered it, he decided to change his fighting style.

Instead of just evading, he would toy with his opponent.

And with his attacks enhanced by mana, even monsters would take real damage.

“Guh! Cough !”

Seyul continued suppressing his presence while unleashing a barrage of mana-powered attacks.

Gerard tried desperately to retaliate, but with no way to detect him, it was futile.

Seyul wasn’t even stabbing with his spear.

He was just relentlessly beating Gerard down with the shaft like a common thug.

[Is it because the opponent’s a werewolf?]

[This looks like a dog getting beaten on Boknal (Korea’s hottest summer days).]

[He’s literally getting his ass handed to him.]

The viewers reveled in the satisfying beatdown.

[Wait, doesn’t this mean the Orc Chief was an easy fight too?]

[Now that you mention it…]

[So he could’ve just done this to the Orc Chief as well?]

[If he had hidden his presence like this, wouldn’t that have worked?]

[There was no need for that risky strategy, then.]

[So why didn’t he do this against the Orc Chief?]

[Was he just screwing around because he felt like it?]

[Guess so, lmao.]

[He’s amazing, but his personality’s trash.]

[Guys… this lunatic is absolutely rotten inside.]

[We’ve been suffering from his toxicity since yesterday.]

[What a guy.]

[Poor Orc Chief!]

[He fought seriously, but Seyul was just playing with him the whole time.]

[He doesn’t just half-ass games he half-asses fights too!]

Seyul had only used his mana because he had learned how, but to everyone else, it looked like he was just humiliating his opponent.

Without realizing that his reputation was plummeting in unseen corners of the internet, Seyul continued his merciless assault.

“I… I don’t understand! I absorbed the strength of countless monsters with Drain! I became this strong and yet I’m losing?!”

Gerard wailed in despair at his impending defeat.

To which Seyul casually responded

“Sure, you got stronger. But that doesn’t mean you got stronger than me.”

A statement so logical it left no room for argument.