Chapter 52: Arena Tournament

“Arena Tournament?”

I was in the middle of diligently solving math problems with my pen moving swiftly when Harang suddenly brought up something out of the blue.

“Yeah, there’s a rumor going around.”

“But there’s nothing about it on the website?”

He had definitely mentioned an arena tournament.

I quickly checked the official website, but there was no announcement about such an event anywhere.

“That’s why it’s just a rumor. If you check the streams right now, all the VRS pros have started playing Déron.”

“Isn’t that just their usual grind stream?”

“Yeah, it is. But they’re all doing the exact same thing—leveling up a little and then heading straight to the arena.”

From 10 PM onwards, I had one-on-one tutoring sessions with Harang.

Now that I had started catching up in my studies, Harang often found himself with less to teach and instead spent his time browsing internet streams on his phone.

He must have picked up on the rumor from the chat during one of those streams.

VRS stood for Virtual Reality Swordsman, a game far more well-known to the public than Déron—at least, in this world.

It didn’t exist in the world I came from, so I never paid much attention to it.

Or rather, it never interested me in the first place.

At school, most of the students’ conversations about games were centered around VRS.

Because of that, I had looked up a few videos about it.

They weren’t professional-level matches, but clips from streamers ranked relatively high in the game.

However, I was so disappointed that I closed the video almost immediately.

Watching them swing their swords around at such sluggish speeds made it look like they were just messing around.

There were occasional moments of sharp, skillful movement, but from my perspective as someone who played Déron, I simply couldn’t understand why anyone would play such a slow game.

“So, you’re saying all those guys are playing Déron now? Every single one of them?”

“Yeah. They won’t say exactly why, but since they’re all spamming the arena, people are speculating that there’s going to be a tournament.”

“I see…”

This was definitely a marketing ploy by Déron’s developers.

A scheme to attract more new players in time for their global launch.

“So, are they any good?”

“They kept dying a lot at first, but it looks like they’ve started getting the hang of it now.”

“Hmm… I see.”

The popularity of VRS was most apparent at school.

Kids who usually didn’t care about me started coming up to me with questions as soon as they found out I played Déron.

“Hey, Hayeon, is this you?”

“Are you Blood Demon?”

“Can you do the moves from the video?”

“I didn’t know you liked wuxia novels…”

“Do you think you’ll run into any pros in the arena?”

Since even VRS pros and streamers had started playing Déron, my classmates must have been watching Déron-related content and stumbled across my videos.

Feeling awkward, I tried to hide behind Sohee.

“Move aside.”

Sohee, who always had a bright and cheerful smile, now spoke in a firm tone.

Her serious expression made the others obediently disperse without protest.

If they had been ordinary questions, I could have answered with a smile.

But the Absolute Blood Demon Declaration—which was permanently pinned at the top of Déron’s event page—was a shameful part of my past.

There was no way I could laugh it off and reenact such an embarrassing history in real life.

“I am the Blood Demon.”

At that moment, I heard the sound of a video playing from a distance.

The volume was turned up to the max so that everyone could hear it.

They were clearly playing it just to gauge my reaction.

“Wow, it’s Hayeon, the Blood Demon.”

“That’s so cool…”

I felt like I was going to suffocate and die.

Clinging tightly to Sohee’s back, I glared at the kids huddled around the video.

But instead of backing off, they just grinned playfully and started making an even bigger fuss.

“Hayeon, are you okay?”

My face was burning red, and it was getting harder to breathe.

When I gave a small nod in response to Sohee’s question, she gently took my arm and led me out of the classroom.

Of course, not every student recognized me.

Even if someone happened to see my video, the impression I gave in-game and in real life was so different that only a few people realized it was me at a glance.

“W-What about class?”

“I’ll tell them you went to the nurse’s office.”

What would I have done without Sohee?

If not for her, I would have been stuck as the class’s laughingstock for the rest of the day.

Clutching the hem of Sohee’s uniform, I followed her all the way to the nurse’s office.

When we arrived, the room was completely empty.

“The nurse isn’t here?”

“It’s usually locked at this time.”

Click.

Sohee, who had been speaking in a quiet voice, closed the door behind us.

“Do you want to rest on the bed?”

“Yeah.”

Following Sohee’s suggestion, I walked over and sat down.

As I ran my hand over the blanket, a soft and fluffy sensation spread across my fingertips.

Sohee, who had been watching me sit on the bed, twitched her fingers slightly.

It was as if she was struggling with something inside.

After staring at me like that for a while, she swallowed hard and turned away.

“Uh… once you feel better, come back upstairs. I’ll go ahead first.”

“A-Are you sure?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll make them quiet down.”

Leaving those words behind, Sohee quickly walked out of the room.

Now alone, I was left in complete silence.

Lying down under the warm blanket, I closed my eyes blankly.

Maybe it was because there was no one around, but the burning sensation in my face and the nausea in my stomach slowly began to subside.

As expected, attention in real life was nowhere near as welcome as it was in a game.

Why did Déron even decide to advertise to VRS streamers? Their player bases were completely different.

Déron was a game mostly played by middle-aged men.

It wasn’t the type of game that appealed to younger players.

The new users drawn in by the marketing would probably leave just as quickly.

As I lay in bed, a sudden curiosity arose.

How would skilled VRS players adapt their combat styles in the world of Déron?

I was extremely curious.

Lying on my stomach, I turned on my phone and started searching for streams.

As I moved around on the bed, my skirt rode up, but since there was no one around to see, I didn’t care.

I pushed aside those concerns and focused on the stream.

Streamer: Binggeul Binggeul.

He was a popular content creator with 300,000 subscribers on his personal channel.

His main content revolved around VRS, and he was skilled enough to have once received an offer to join a professional team.

Perhaps because of that, he had a large audience of dedicated viewers, so it was only natural that he had been offered a sponsorship deal for Déron.

– Bingha. [Not that kind of glacier.]
– Is this another sponsored stream?
– No VRS today? Every other streamer is playing this too.
– Is Déron fun?

“Hey everyone. Is Déron fun? Well, it’s not bad.”

Binggeul Binggeul chatted with his viewers as he queued for an arena match.

Déron was surprisingly decent.

He couldn’t say for sure whether he would continue playing it, but his first impression wasn’t bad.

– Aren’t you going to level up? Show us some dungeon runs.
– What dungeons? Just stick to the arena, lol.
– Play VRS! Play VRS! Play VRS! Play VRS! Play VRS! Play VRS!
– This character can’t run dungeons. It’s built for arena only.

Binggeul Binggeul didn’t even try to hide that this was a sponsored stream.

Other streamers were the same.

When asked how much they were being paid, they would only respond with a cryptic smile.

Binggeul Binggeul himself had received an enormous sum.

Streamers with larger audiences had probably been paid even more.

Just then, the arena match was found.

For the sake of this sponsored stream, he had been given a character that could freely switch between different classes.

He chose a warrior build, with Highlander as his lower-tier class and Fencer as his advanced-tier class.

Binggeul Binggeul drew a thin rapier and pointed it at his opponent.

From experience, he could tell that the other player was likely a Paladin, clad in full plate armor.

To be sure, he would have to engage in combat, but either way, it was an annoying matchup.

“Ah, it’s a Paladin build.”

– Paladin fights are a nightmare.
– But Binggeul’s got this, right?
– Even pros are queuing for arena right now, so no one knows who’s who.

Ignoring the chat, Binggeul Binggeul focused on the game.

The tempo of this arena was different from what he was used to.

It was faster, stronger, sharper.

The game’s mechanics allowed for movements that would have been impossible in reality, which occasionally threw off his finely honed instincts.

A Paladin fight.

If the battle dragged on, it would put him at a disadvantage.

The moment the match timer hit zero, Binggeul Binggeul dashed forward.

His movement was swift beyond measure.

The Paladin began to react, but Binggeul Binggeul was already targeting the opening.

He came to a sudden stop and changed direction sharply.

The movement put an immense strain on his ankles, but Déron’s system allowed the characters to handle it without issue.

Immediately, he activated Highlander’s charge skill.

His body, which had been shifting left, suddenly shot forward in a straight line.

His opponent did not panic.

With calm eyes, they raised their massive shield.

[Flash.]

Binggeul Binggeul triggered another skill.

The moment his charge lifted him slightly off the ground, his body spun midair and veered in the opposite direction.

From left to right, then back to the left.

By the time his opponent urgently turned to follow, it was too late.

[Evade.]

The chain of movements didn’t end there.

As soon as his midair momentum halted, his body flickered with an afterimage and shifted right once more.

He had slipped to the Paladin’s side.

At that moment, his next skill activated.

[Tondo.]

Slash!

A long diagonal cut scraped across the Paladin’s solid armor.

He didn’t even have to move manually.

Unlike VRS, where precise physical control was essential, Déron’s system-assisted combat allowed him to execute skills seamlessly.

At that moment, the opposing Paladin, trusting in his defense, began swinging his sword.

BingleBingle immediately used his next skill.

As the thin rapier extended forward, its tip shone brightly.

[Riposte]

A counterattack, a stance prepared for retaliation.

The moment the opponent’s sword grazed the thin rapier, a flash-like counterstrike was unleashed.

Clang!

With a dazzling effect, the attack erupted, rendering the opponent unable to move for a brief period.

Right after, BingleBingle used the strongest skill available to the Fencer class.

[Septetoir]

The moment the skill was activated, his body moved at overwhelming speed.

Eight rapid thrusting attacks fired in succession.

Chachachachak!

The strikes pierced through the gaps in the opponent’s heavy full plate armor, rapidly depleting their health.

The Fencer class had a passive ability that ignored the opponent’s defense.

This meant it was especially effective against heavily armored Paladin-type classes.

After eight thrusts, blood splattered from within the opponent’s armor.

It was an additional blow caused by the accumulated bleeding effect.

Immediately after, BingleBingle spun lightly, delivering a powerful slash.

The skill concluded with a final finishing strike.

This attack triggered all the stacked bleeding effects at once, dealing massive damage.

The Paladin’s health plummeted instantly.

He thought he had won.

[hayeon337 has donated 10,000 won!]

“That’s not how you do it.”

A sudden donation message popped up.

BingleBingle’s eyebrows shot up.

“Not how you do it? But I’m winning right now?”

However, the next moment, the stunned Paladin broke free and unleashed a flurry of skills.

Having already expended all his counter and charge-type skills, BingleBingle had no choice but to take hit after hit until his health was depleted.

The moment the Paladin’s sword pierced BingleBingle’s chest, another donation message appeared.

[hayeon337 has donated 10,000 won!]

“No, that’s not how you do it. Why did you use up all your charge skills?”

“Uh, Hayeon? Hayeon-nim? Thank you for the donation. Uh… how should I be doing it?”

Curious, BingleBingle checked Hayeon337’s chat history.

There was none.

That meant this account had never spoken in his chat before—this was their first time here.

At that moment, the chat exploded with messages from other viewers.

• That kid is here too.
• They were in another stream earlier too?
• LMAO they keep backseating everywhere.

Just as the other viewers began sharing their experiences, another donation arrived.

[hayeon337 has donated 10,000 won!]

“I’m not a kid.”

In that short span of time, they had donated 30,000 won.

BingleBingle smiled.

He was beginning to understand the situation.

  Using their mom’s credit card LMAO.

  Might be best to refund and ban them.

[hayeon337 has donated 10,000 won!]

“No, don’t do that!”

Without hesitation, BingleBingle adjusted his stream settings.

He immediately refunded all the recent donations and banned the viewer named hayeon337.

“That was close. Alright, let’s queue up again.”