Chapter 24: Changbanpo

It does not break.

It felt like standing before a massive wall.

The little girl guarding the Frost Wolf Tribe’s bridge was facing 50 enemies alone.

Everyone could feel it.

It was overwhelming.

The difference in talent created an aura that made the girl seem like a giant.

The ranged attacks pouring in from all sides and the charge of the heavily armored knights were all blocked.

But everyone facing the girl thought one thing: time was on their side.

The reason the girl could hold out here was thanks to the healers behind her.

If they continued to pour in their attacks, the girl would eventually fall.

At that moment, a flash of sunlight streaked through the air.

She deflected all the incoming ranged attacks and started moving forward.

She was getting used to it.

The girl, Yeon, was gradually becoming more accustomed to the increasing speed.

The more she used her abilities, the sharper they became, like a sword being sharpened with each swing.

The stats of her equipment accelerated her growth.

The white-hot pain in her head became the foundation of her growth.

In that instant, the shield disappeared from the girl’s hand.

She gripped her sword with both hands, starting to move faster.

Yeon thought: the shield was cumbersome.

The disappearance of her shield meant a drop in defense.

As if they were waiting for that moment, the melee fighters in front of her charged forward.

“Push her!”

They didn’t expect to knock her down.

The attackers could clearly feel the difference between themselves and the small girl standing before them.

So they pushed.

They thought that if they just pushed her down under the bridge, they could win.

The girl’s foot took a step back.

A thief’s sword flew toward her wide-open upper body.

But it was a trap the girl had set.

Immediately, a rotation began at her ankle, and the golden sword sliced through the flying sword and the thief’s head in a strange arc.

Swoosh-!

Still, she didn’t stop.

The sword, like a snake targeting the next opponent, lashed out and struck the lower body of a charging knight.

Clang!

A powerful strike.

The knight’s stance was thrown off, and his upper body was exposed all at once.

Though he was armored, his eyes, visible through the helmet, were unprotected.

The girl’s body slightly rotated, and she drove her sword into the knight’s head.

But she didn’t stop there.

Using her overwhelming strength stats, Yeon used the knight’s nearly-dead body like a shield.

Boom!

Countless attacks descended upon the giant knight’s back.

The girl immediately kicked the knight’s body and sent it flying to the side of the bridge.

She blocked the second charge.

For a brief moment, a lull followed.

Of course, the ranged attacks continued.

“Yeon-nim!!!”

Screams erupted from the healers behind Yeon.

Without needing to say anything, Yeon knew their mana had to be running low.

Yeon raised her sword.

The enemy didn’t approach.

The melee fighters stood with shields in front, guarding the ranged attackers, seemingly preparing for any possible charge from Yeon.

[Command Tower reached!]

That was the moment.

A message from her waiting teammate appeared.

How long had it felt?

Yeon smiled slightly and raised her sword.

The attacks pounding against her body were draining her health, but she endured.

The sunlight cloak surrounding her body began to slowly dissipate.

Yeon planted her sword into the ground.

[Sanctuary of the Sun God Declared]

Crack!

The frozen ground began to melt, and from Yeon’s position, a brilliant sunlight aura spread outward.

The time for huddling like a turtle had ended.

Now it was time to move forward.

The sword she pulled out gleamed with a golden light, aimed at her opponent.

Due to the influence of the sanctuary, many of her stats increased, and her wounded body began to heal as if regenerating.

‘It’s still not enough.’

Her stats had increased.

But even with the best stats of the current season, Yeon couldn’t bring out all her potential.

‘But it’s enough.’

Perhaps they were surprised by the appearance of the new skill.

Yeon healed herself as she activated the next skill.

[Frenzy]

Her vision turned red, and as time seemed to accelerate, everything else began to slow down.

The grip on her sword seemed to scream.

Yeon took a deep breath and leaned her upper body forward.

At that moment, her body, enhanced by system correction, exploded with blue mana.

Boom!

The activation of [Charge] followed.

The stat boosts from the Sanctuary declaration and the subsequent Frenzy activation drastically amplified Yeon’s speed.

As a result, the moment Yeon charged, her small body shot forward like an arrow, reaching the enemy’s front lines.

Bang!

When Yeon’s body collided with the knight at the front line, the massive knight with a shield was sent tumbling backward.

The girl, bathed in red light, began swinging her sword with the golden sunlight radiating around her.

Various control spells flew toward her to stop her movements, but the shields of the priests supporting Yeon from behind exploded in quick succession.

These shields, cast specifically for the little girl, blocked all the control spells for a brief time.

Yeon had become like a tank.

No one could stop her attack.

She swung her sword recklessly, and at the end of her gaze, the enemy’s heads were severed and flew into the air.

Crack-!

As Yeon’s sword decapitated the last opponent, a translucent message appeared before her eyes.

[Victory!]

The little girl named Yeon had become incredibly famous.

Although her recognition was built in a short amount of time, it was impossible for any user of the Deron Online Gallery not to know Yeon.

Her small, cute customizations, overwhelming skill, and the adorable actions she showed on her streams, along with her occasional cold and calculating demeanor.

There was nothing problematic about her actions.

Although she got involved in the Gold Ninja controversy on the first day of the raid, she resolved all the distribution issues neatly the next morning.

As a result, the ninja incident was seen as part of her extreme character concept.

Interviews in online articles also helped shape her image.

As a middle school girl searching for romance in Deron, it didn’t take long for her to be given the title of [Gallery Master].

Because of this, Yeon’s actions became a topic of interest for everyone.

During this time, a post appeared on the Deron Gallery.

[Deron Online Gallery]

[The Gallery Master is pulling off Zhang Fei’s Last Stand LOLLOLLOLLOLLOL] [17]

(Image of Yeon’s character wielding the Sunlight Holy Sword, blocking 50 enemies on a bridge)

“So damn solid LOL, it’s impenetrable LOLLOLLOL.”

[Comments]

[Absolutely badass;;;]

[Approved…]

[Approved for what?]

[For…]

[It means she’s worthy of the title Gallery Master, you idiots.]

[Can she really block them all?]

[Isn’t this just a good screenshot?]

[With healers backing her up, she can probably hold out for a while.]

[When’s the Gallery Master streaming?????]

[Hnnng… middle school Zhang Fei…]

The attached image was striking.

The brief description reminded viewers of Yeon’s overwhelming physicality, and her lone, steadfast figure evoked the sense of “romance” she had spoken about.

Everyone playing Deron must have imagined such a scene at least once.

But they knew they could never achieve it.

They were just ordinary players.

Yet this screenshot was enough to ignite the dormant sense of “romance” buried in their hearts.

As users were losing their minds over the screenshot, the same user who posted it uploaded another.

[The Gallery Master declares ‘Next, step forward’ LOLLOLLOL]

(Image of Yeon pointing her holy sword at the enemy lines, with enemy corpses scattered at her feet)

LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL.

[Comments]

[Still hasn’t been breached;; LOLLOLLOL]

[LOL crazy, so damn cool LOLLOLLOL]

[There are healers backing her up. Doesn’t that make it possible to hold out?]

[Why don’t you try, dumbass?]

[Fine, but give me healers, too.]

[Damn it… Don’t queue for the battlefield today. All these hyped-up players won’t move from the bridge LOLLOLLOL.]

[LOLLOLLOL some idiots are definitely going to try pulling off Zhang Fei’s Last Stand.]

There was no actual proof that Yeon said such a line.

But they believed it.

That quote seamlessly fit into the image of Yeon’s character.

Users, thrilled by this unexpected entertainment, began to embellish Yeon’s image even further.

And yet another post appeared.

[When someone asks about the future of the Frostwolf faction, tell them to look up and see Yeon.] [127]

(Image of Yeon planting her holy sword into the ground)

(Image of Yeon’s body beginning to glow red)

(Image of Yeon charging and devastating the enemy lines)

Reading these posts makes you feel it.

You wish you were in the same raid team.

No, at the very least, you want to be in the same guild…

I never understood the people who get overly immersed in games, but today, I think I’ve fallen for it.

Yeon is indeed a ninja… because she stole my heart.

[Comments]

[Isn’t this the guy who used to call out overly immersed weebs?]

[LOL drank the Kool-Aid LOL.]

[Right… she is a ninja… a middle school ninja.]

[Got your heart stolen? You too?]

[Yeah… my chest hurts… Is this what love feels like?]

[Why aren’t the cops rounding up these pedos?]

[Can arena rankers pull this off too?]

[They’re probably different; they’re specialized for 1v1.]

[Maybe they could if they got the hang of it.]

[Who the hell is Yeon, you goddamn weebs?]

[Right… just talking about stuff only they know LOL.]

[Here come the gold-farming losers LOL.]

[If you search their usernames, they’re probably sharing tips about the most expensive herbs and chicken deals today LOL.]

[LOL farm gold, buy chicken LOL.]

[Do you think they’ll share her character customization settings?]

[Considering the posts here, it’s probably made them lose any will to share LOL.]

[If she’s an actual middle schooler, does that mean you could marry one?]

[Are you… okay?]

[Sis, you wanna date me?]

[Yeah… let’s do that…]

As the buzz began to die down over time, another post appeared on the gallery.

[I just got 1v50’d today; I was the 50.]

(Video attached)

“Is this even legit?

I mean, sure, the Frostwolf Bridge is great for defense, but how does one person hold off 50 people LOLLOLLOL?”

The attached video was of Yeon in action.

Users who had only seen the screenshots and pieced together fragments of the story were now able to watch the whole incident unfold in full motion.

They were speechless.

What had been impressive even through still images was now revealed in its full glory through the video.