Chapter 11: Preparation for the First Raid(4)

The knight from SingSing’s side bit his lip.

The outcome of the first duel had already been decided.

From now on, even if they won, they wouldn’t be able to reclaim their losses.

The small girl had taken control of the entire situation—her actions, her gaze, everything was filled with arrogance.

Her posture and mannerisms clearly conveyed a sense of looking down on others.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

He knew he couldn’t back down.

– Raging tiger.

It was like riding on the back of a tiger.

The only acceptable paths were either to fight until the small girl was satisfied or to defeat her entirely.

If there hadn’t been spectators, he would have fled immediately.

But now, every word of his conversation with that small girl was public for all to hear.

There was no backing down.

He prepared his weapons—a large tower shield and a short, single-handed sword.

His gear was the same as the previous paladin who’d been defeated.

“Brother… you can win, right?” Jimin’s wavering gaze turned toward the knight.

He nodded in response to her.

Love clouds one’s vision.

It cast a fog over not only his eyes but his mind as well.

He could win.

He had to win.

Hadn’t he always boasted of his skills before?

It was only the setting that had changed.

The knight’s gaze shifted to the paladin sitting in a daze, his face filled with despair.

All his gear had been taken.

His dismay must be enormous, yet no guild member was there to comfort him.

“Let’s begin.”

A flag fell from above.

The duel’s conditions were the same as before.

Yeon frowned, feeling an intense, burning pain within her head.

The more she used her talent, the stronger that sensation became.

Her vision blurred for a moment.

But it was because of this talent that she could create situations like the previous one.

It was purely instinct.

She relied entirely on her senses to gauge every situation.

The maneuver using [Rush] to soar into the air was simply a method she’d thought might work.

– It seemed possible.

Everything was like that.

Even when she played PvP gripping her keyboard and mouse, she often felt a similar instinct.

It’s not unique to Yeon.

It’s an instinct that every gamer possesses.

“I can do this. It seems possible.”

But her confidence felt immense, like an energy coursing through her entire body.

“What, are you daydreaming?”

At that moment, a white blade slashed toward her.

Her body reacted, dodging the incoming attack aimed at her head as if she’d anticipated it, narrowly evading by a hair’s breadth.

Her talented reflexes immediately led her to her next move.

She lowered her stance slightly and moved forward, swinging her sword upward.

Clang!

She parried the opponent’s sword.

But there was still his large shield.

The tower shield was a nuisance, yet this situation was different from before.

[Holy Blessing]

A divine light began to flow through her sword, scattering in a radiant display.

The moonlit effect unique to the “Moonlight” series combined with it, creating a truly strange spectacle.

It was a buff skill that increased damage, but it couldn’t be used against a paladin opponent.

The same applied to the paladin.

Paladins possessed a unique passive ability.

It was a skill called [Unyielding Conviction].

• Reduces damage taken from Holy attributes by 50%.

However, the opponent was a knight, having chosen the knight class for both the 1st and 2nd ranks.

Even if buff skills were used, damage would not be reduced.

A golden sword strike flew from Yeon’s hands.

A long beam sword swung swiftly.

Yeon’s talent was extraordinary. You could call it overwhelming.

She gauged the distance, never allowing the knight to get within attack range.

The knight’s face twisted. It felt like he was fighting an arena-ranked player he had encountered before.

Not giving him a moment to breathe, she attacked with relentless pressure, just like back then.

Eventually, he had to advance first. If things continued this way, his health would be drained until he collapsed.

It was better to swing his sword once more than to die without doing anything.

Bang! Bang!

The knight’s sword struck his tower shield.

The shockwaves from the shield inflicted debuffs on Yeon.

She now took increased damage and dealt less damage.

However, the golden strikes did not stop.

[Iron Wall Stance]

[Steel Skin]

The knight’s buff skills were activated.

The dazzling effects enveloping his body reduced the damage he took, dulling Yeon’s strikes.

He lowered his shield. With reduced damage intake, it was now his turn to attack.

The knight’s sword swung as his crouched form moved forward.

Yeon started to get pushed back.

[Shield Slam]

The knight’s skill activated again.

He raised his tower shield and slammed it to the ground.

At that moment, Yeon instead pushed forward.

The knight’s eyes gleamed. It seemed his opponent wanted to use the same technique as before.

He wasn’t a fool. He immediately shifted his shield aside, preventing it from serving as a stepping platform for his opponent.

Though he was exposing himself, he wasn’t concerned. His opponent would be caught in the [Stun] effect anyway.

But Yeon didn’t stop. Her goal was not the shield as a platform.

One of the Highlander’s skills, [Charge], had an “unstoppable” effect during activation.

She activated the skill immediately. Her body shot forward, surrounded by a burst of blue mana.

The shockwave damage came through, and her health dropped, but she wasn’t stunned.

To maximize [Charge]’s effect, an adequate distance from the opponent was needed.

However, right now, they were way too close.

Thud!

Yeon’s shoulder slammed into the knight’s abdomen. At this incredibly close range, the knight felt a sudden fear toward the small girl.

Golden light flashed in her eyes as she looked up at him.

Crack!

From the bottom up, it was as if a golden pillar of light was shooting upward.

The golden sword that shot up from the small girl’s body pierced through the knight’s head.

As a small crack began to spread from his jaw, the duel’s outcome was decided.

A second victory.

With the duel concluded, the system started collecting the wagered items.

As items peeled away from the knight’s body, he too collapsed onto the ground.

The onlookers were busy capturing the scene.

There was a commotion.

Every situation was turning unfavorable for the Singsing Guild.

“This… this can’t be…”

Jimin’s lips twisted.

The two people she had trusted were taken down all at once.

The girl was unbelievably strong.

She, too, was a player of the game.

Even if her vision was clouded by resentment, there was no way she couldn’t recognize the girl’s talent.

However, various emotions, including envy, jealousy, and anger, clouded her judgment.

“O-Oppa…”

The moment Jimin turned her head, a mage wearing a blue robe, as if waiting, stepped forward.

“I’m next.”

He shamelessly spoke about going in one by one.

The game was already a matter of sense.

It was a game that pushed one part of the brain to its limits.

The sense of fatigue from long play was something any gamer knew well.

So, surely, the young girl would be exhausted as well.

Her sharp strikes would have dulled by now.

Everyone thought so.

Victory was already in hand.

The girl didn’t need to continue the duel anymore.

She had taken down two opponents alone.

She was winning consecutive duels.

Even people who enjoyed the arena didn’t play like this.

But the girl remained arrogant to the end.

Her expression didn’t change.

The signal flag had fallen from above.

Clang!

The flag fell roughly to the ground and stuck there.

The conditions for the duel were the same as before.

The girl’s gaze had already turned cold.

She felt her own talent.

The situations created by that overwhelming talent always turned in her favor.

So, she believed.

She was saying that she could win this duel too.

That intuition, that talent, pushed Yeon forward.

A blue robe.

It was surely a robe that increased ice damage.

Her opponent was a mage specialized in PvP builds.

As soon as the duel began, a blue barrier enveloped the mage.

It was [Mana Barrier], a basic skill for mages.

Then, with a flash of light, the mage’s body moved away.

[Blink]—a skill that allows short-range teleportation.

The distance between Yeon and the mage quickly widened.

Naturally, a mage would need to create distance to fight a melee character.

A blue arrow was fired immediately.

[Ice Arrow]

It was an annoying skill that inflicted a debuff that slowed movement speed upon impact.

Yeon recalled her memories and dashed to the side, gliding smoothly.

Much had changed in this world’s game.

One of those changes was that all skills had become non-targeting.

If she were fighting the mage using a mouse and keyboard, she would have been hit by the crowd-control effects aimed right at her.

But now it was different.

She could see the trajectory of the incoming attacks from above.

Her body reacted to the fast-tracking gaze, dodging all the attacks.

Successive ice-covered arrows flew in.

It was a five-shot volley of attacks.

Predicting Yeon’s movements, the mage covered all directions in front of her.

Her mind was burning white.

Yeon immediately launched herself into the air.

As she kicked off the ground, her body rotated sideways, displaying an unusual movement.

Her arms and legs twisted.

The ice arrows aimed at her body just barely missed her as they passed by.

Everyone thought she would get hit.

But she didn’t allow a single strike.

Yeon’s speed didn’t slow down.

The moment she landed, her body was enveloped in blue light.

[Charge]

The unstoppable little girl shot forward rapidly.

In an instant, the mage’s gaze focused on a distant point.

It was in that moment that Yeon sensed something strange and drove the sword in her hand into the ground.

Creak!

A flash of light appeared around the mage’s body.

[Blink] had activated again.

The charge skill couldn’t be stopped midway.

This meant Yeon’s back was fully exposed to the mage.

However, as the mage raised his staff to cast a spell, he widened his eyes at the sight of an attack coming straight for him.

He had moved in the opposite direction of the charge.

But how?

Crash!

The little girl’s shoulder shattered the mage’s blue barrier.

The mage was immediately stunned.

In a defenseless state, unable to do anything.

The mage’s gaze quickly scanned the battlefield.

Only then did he understand.

The ground was deeply gouged.

Damaged objects would be restored after a short period.

She had driven her sword into the ground, changing her direction.

If it had been an ordinary player instead of Yeon, the mage would have won.

The mage had the talent to shift the fight to his advantage.

But Yeon’s talent was simply superior.

A golden trajectory swept across the mage’s body.

And that was it.

A crack started from his shoulder and split his body.

Defeat was familiar.

He had been cut down countless times in the arena.

But this feeling was new.

A sense of helplessness where he could do nothing.

He wasn’t confident he could win even if he fought again.

After the mage fell, the duel system once again collected the wagered items.

Yeon’s inventory swelled as if it were about to burst.

The golden sword swung through the air, scattering light.

Yeon, with her sword slung over her shoulder, spoke as she had earlier.

“Next.”

But there was no one left.

The oxen that had been by Jimin’s side quietly disappeared.

Jimin was left alone.

She couldn’t believe the situation.

“Are you alone?”

Only then did Jimin realize she was left alone.

The light faded from her eyes as she looked around.

“Should I let you go?”

Was this mercy?

Intimidated by the small girl’s overwhelming aura, Jimin could only nod her head.

But then, the flag fell from the sky.

Clang!

“No.”

Many eyes were watching.

She could walk away now.

She could regroup with her guild members… but no, there were no guild members left to protect her.

They had all abandoned her and fled.

She had been left behind.

For a woman who was used to abandoning others, the feeling of being abandoned was unfamiliar.

Realizing she had been discarded, Jimin felt as if she was falling into despair.

“Think she’ll run away?”

“Look at her face…”

“If it were me, I’d be so embarrassed I’d delete my account.”

The stares from onlookers pressed down on her.

She couldn’t avoid it.

Unable to endure the pressure, Jimin eventually accepted the duel.

If she wanted to return to her guild, she would have to accept the outcome without shamefully running away.

The conditions for the duel were the same as before.

In the next moment, the sword swung, and a priest’s head was cut off.