Chapter 18: Where on earth is that common sense?

Many players of *NewD* are under a misconception. They believe that, since *NewD* is ultimately a game, the most important thing is when and how you use your skills.

However, this is a misunderstanding that comes from not fully understanding *NewD*’s game system.

In *NewD*, using a skill at the wrong moment can actually make you more predictable.

To put it another way, it’s more important not to use skills, especially when your movements are unreadable.

This importance becomes even more critical in PvP or AOS modes.

What’s the opponent’s movement like?

What are they watching for?

What are they preparing for?

What’s the timing for using their skills, and which hand are they holding their weapon with?

You must gather all this information, reassemble it in the context of battle, and read your opponent’s thoughts—otherwise, you’re bound to lose. Just like… right now.

“Hah!”

With a shout, golden energy radiated from heretics’s body.

One of the skills heretic could learn—self-proclaimed *Blessing*.

Its effect was a massive boost to all stats. It seemed he realized there was no escaping from me, so he decided to continue the fight in close combat. And in that instant, he was already defeated.

Since I wield a warhammer, I obviously needed to close the distance, and if he understood that, he should have turned and run without looking back from the start.

If he had kept using his ranged bombardment skills while fleeing, he might’ve had a slight chance of victory.

But of course, I wasn’t about to let my guard down until the very end. I knew better than anyone that lowering your guard leads to death.

I closed the gap, reaching the distance from which escape was impossible, and I raised the weight I felt in my right hand toward the sky. It was judgment time.

Vroom!

My old friend, the warhammer, surged forward, tearing through the air without hesitation to crush everything in front of me. A heavy sound resonated as dust rose into the air.

“Gasp!”

An attack was flying toward my neck from behind. It was sharp, for someone like heretic, but unfortunately, it was an easy attack to read. I tilted my head to avoid it, while at the same time swinging my warhammer once again.

Boom!

A sharp sound echoed, accompanied by a solid impact.

What was happening?

There was no time for questions. Another attack was coming from beyond the cloud of dust, forcing me to step back.

As the dust gradually settled, heretic reappeared, now holding a round shield in his left hand and an arming sword in his right.

…So that’s what it was.

In basic PvP, you can’t switch weapons during battle.

However, in custom settings, that restriction can be lifted, and it seemed Idan had taken advantage of this.

At first, he used a staff to force me into close combat. Then, knowing that a warhammer tends to kick up a lot of dust, he used that to block my vision.

When my vision was blocked, he used the *Backstab* skill to instantly move behind me and, at the same time, switched his weapon to an arming sword and round shield.

After that, he matched the timing of his ambush with the moment I would be most confused, quieting his movements as much as possible for a surprise attack.

It was a smart tactic, a strategic assault.

I couldn’t help but feel regret that such an intelligent person had fallen down the path of heresy.

“Coward!”

But for some reason, the spectators were criticizing the heretic.

Why?

In battle, the goal is to use every tool at your disposal to achieve victory.

In fact, I wanted to applaud him.

Well, that aside, I still had no intention of losing to the heretic.

A war hammer can attack from a much greater distance than an arming sword, but it is much slower in movement.

This meant it was nearly impossible to keep fighting while maintaining distance.

So the method to win was simple.

《Accelerate》

I used the acceleration skill to close the distance between myself and the heretic.

Though the Blessing skill significantly boosts all stats, it cannot match the focused power of a buff that enhances only a single stat.

“What?!”

It seemed the heretic expected me to fight from a distance, and his movements momentarily slowed.

However, even so, the heretic extended his round shield forward.

He clearly had a good understanding of PvP combat.

If I swung my war hammer as it was, it would bounce off his round shield, and the recoil would push me backward.

So there was only one thing to do.

I didn’t swing the war hammer.

I twisted my body, pretending to swing it, tricking the heretic.

Then, as soon as he lowered his stance, I rammed directly into his round shield.

“Ugh?”

The heretic was pushed backward.

He tried to regain his stance, but I had no intention of letting that happen.

Even though he was armed with an arming sword and a round shield, he was still lightly armored.

There was no way he could withstand the weight of my war hammer and full armor.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Again and again, without pause, I slammed into his round shield.

Eventually, his balance broke, and the heretic fell backward.

I immediately swung my war hammer horizontally, sending his round shield flying far away.

No matter how tightly he held onto the shield, there was no way he could keep his stance in such a situation.

“Argh?!”

But even until the end, the heretic didn’t give up, swinging his arming sword at my neck.

Of course, it didn’t land.

“Repent.”

Bang!

I swung my war hammer with full force at his head, and with a clear ringing sound, the battle ended.

(You Win!)

It was a perfect victory.

[Marariko: You play games like such a [bleep], lol]

[Heretic Inquisitor: Thank you]

[Heretic Inquisitor: https://open.talk.com/x/1234xxx]

[Heretic Inquisitor: Hurry up and send me 10 burgers]

[Mararico: Ah, damn.]

“You’re really damn good…”

Mararico sighed as he stepped out of the reverse capsule.

Of course, he had known from the start that it would be hard to win.

But the fact that he couldn’t land a single proper attack was quite a shock for someone who took pride in their PVP ranking.

To make matters worse, his opponent had only used ‘Acceleration’ and no other skills up until the end.

That realization made Mararico feel like he had hit an insurmountable wall.

And now he had to buy 20 hamburger sets, no less.

Sure, he had enough money for that, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to spend it.

However, running away now would definitely tarnish the image he had built so far.

Mararico didn’t want to further worsen the already bad reputation PVP players had.

‘…Well, yeah. You can lose sometimes.’

A true tough gamer knows how to accept defeat.

Comforting himself like that, Mararico logged into the gallery to post about giving away hamburgers.

【New Dimension Gallery】

【Title: Giving away 10 burgers, damn it】

【Author: Mararico】

Till 30 minutes

【Upvotes: 0 / Downvotes: 0】

NewDimensionGal1: In line

SkullBasher: In line lol

User: In line

Barely 10 seconds after posting, more than 10 comments had already appeared.

It was clear how eagerly the regulars had been waiting for this moment.

“Now that I think about it…”

As Mararico waited until 30 minutes, he suddenly recalled the PVP match earlier.

‘Repent.’

The voice of a woman echoed right before a warhammer struck his head.

A high-pitched, clear, youthful voice.

That lazy whisper in his ear was, no matter how he thought about it, definitely not from a guy.

“That role-playing maniac… was a woman?”

Since he hadn’t recorded the match, he had no proof.

The replay didn’t capture voice chat, so there was no point in watching it.

In short, if he mentioned it in the gallery, it would only lead to laughter and ridicule.

But no matter how much he thought about it, that voice…

“…?”

Mararico’s eyes then caught sight of a familiar dynamic IP.

└Mararico: Wait, didn’t I already send you some earlier?

└Mararico: You already got 10, and now you’re trying to get more?

Loo: There was no rule saying I couldn’t win the drawing again.

└Mararico: Are you freaking crazy?

└Mararico: Do you even know what ‘dynamic IP’ means, damn it?

Loo: Well, you should have stated from the beginning that I couldn’t win again.

Loo: You also didn’t say dynamic IPs were excluded.

└Mararico: Isn’t that just common sense?

Loo: Where does that kind of common sense even exist?

Loo: If someone wins the lottery twice, does that mean they can’t claim the second prize because they already won once?

└Lost Story: Haha, you’re so logical.

“Ha, damn.”

Right.

There’s no way a crazy guy like that could be a girl.

‘I’m sure my ears just misheard because I got totally wrecked.’

Marariko chuckled as he erased the IP he was about to add to the “Exclude IP” section of the burger raffle machine.

It wasn’t because he feared any backlash.

Absolutely not.

【New Dimension Gallery】

【Title: Come Get Your Burger】

[Posted by: Marariko]

(Burger Raffle Winners: 10 people.jpg)

Leave a private link in your Gallog by 50 minutes.

【Upvotes: 0 / Downvotes: 0】

ᄋᄋ: This is rigged, damn it.

NoWayThisIsReal: Damn, this is all just favoritism. I saw it.

NewDimGal1: Uuuuurrgh.

“Haha….”

Today’s haul: 11 burger sets.

Thanks to that, I saved 11 days’ worth of food expenses.

For some reason, the voice chat function had been left on, but it didn’t seem to be an issue.

Sweet.