Chapter 53: Arena Tournament(2)

“You… Why aren’t you logging into the game?”

After school, I would have normally logged into the game just as Harang said.

I frowned at Harang, who was stupidly asking me questions, and answered.

“Studying.”

“Stu— studying? All of a sudden? At this hour? Why?”

“Because I need to.”

“Wait, do you have an exam coming up?”

“No, it’s not that kind of studying.”

As I answered Harang, I tapped on my phone.

The video I was watching wasn’t just some ordinary online lecture for studying.

What started playing on my phone screen were videos of players who had made a name for themselves in VRS.

“What the heck. Are you switching over to that?”

“No, I don’t plan on it. They were the ones who came over here.”

Harang, probably coming out to get a drink of water, looked unconvinced as he headed toward the fridge.

“You told me, right? That there’s going to be an Arena Tournament soon.”

“Uh, well… I did expect that… but you’re planning to fight them?”

“I’m going to crush them completely.”

I muttered, chewing on the bitter memory.

As I clenched the pen in my hand between my teeth, Harang sat across from me, holding a cold glass of water.

“Are you mad?”

“Yeah. A lot.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

Harang, looking genuinely curious, prompted me to tell him what had happened in the infirmary today.

How I had been intrigued and checked out the stream, and how I had kindly tried to help because their gameplay was wrong.

The arena is a battle of wits. It’s like an extreme version of rock-paper-scissors.

VRS’s playstyle wasn’t all that different, so famous streamers often adapted quickly to the arena.

But this was different.

Even if they were similar, Deron’s arena had techniques that didn’t exist in VRS.

“So you gave them advice?”

“At first, no one listened to me. So I even sent donations to get my message across, but…”

“And they refunded your donations and banned you?”

“Yeah. I sent them ten-thousand-won messages one line at a time because they weren’t listening, but then they suddenly refunded everything and banned me. After that, I couldn’t even enter the stream.”

“No way…”

“I was seriously about to lose my mind. Those guys were all worse than me. If a top player gives advice, shouldn’t they just say, ‘Yes, understood,’ and follow it?”

“Wait… you didn’t do this to VRS pro players too, did you?”

“Why would they be any different? They all looked the same to me. Well, there were a few that were a bit better, but… I’m a Silver Sword in the arena.”

“No way, Hayeon…”

“I said, I’m a Silver Sword in the arena. I even have the shimmering back accessory costume. But even when I told them that, they didn’t understand. Why?”

Even now, I still couldn’t comprehend it.

Why didn’t they believe me?

If they had calmly listened to what I said and incorporated it into their movements, their arena rankings would have skyrocketed.

“So, why are you suddenly studying this?”

“To show them. The overwhelming difference in skill. That I’m not some dumb kid.”

I answered with determination, as if shaking off the frustration I had been holding back all this time.

Harang made a reluctant expression after hearing my answer.

Was he really unable to believe me, despite being the person closest to me?

As I glared at him with wide eyes, Harang flinched and ran away.

“Well, good luck~”

Letting out a sigh, I watched him disappear.

There was no trust in his voice.

I had to show them.

In the upcoming Arena Tournament, I would completely overwhelm them and prove my skills.

If you know yourself and your enemy, you will always be victorious.

I already knew myself well, so I needed to learn about my opponents.

Of course, I was confident I could win even now, but I had to display an overwhelming gap in skill for them to truly understand.

I analyzed the players’ movements through the videos, carefully observing even the smallest habits and subtle changes in their techniques.

As my mind burned white-hot, simulations of how I should respond to them began running through my head.

The hand holding my pen never stopped moving.

On a blank notebook, I drew my opponents first, then placed myself in front of them.

Sword clashed against sword, and at times, I swung my blade toward a shield.

It felt as if I had become a grandmaster creating a martial arts manual.

“Heheh…”

This was the ultimate strategy to dismantle the movements of professional players.

Once this manual was revealed, it would send shockwaves through the community.

Countless YouTubers would surely make videos about it.

[Do VRS Pros Fear Hayeon?]

[Shocking! A Counter-Strategy Manual Has Appeared in the VRS Pro Scene!]

[The Game’s Balance Has Been Overturned! A Phenomenal Newcomer Arrives!]

Just imagining that moment made the corners of my lips twitch.

I continued scribbling in my notebook, fueled by my exhilarating thoughts.

How much time had passed?

By the time I had reviewed over ten different videos, I heard a voice.

“Hayeon, are you studying?”

“Ah, Mom.”

I stopped my pen mid-motion and lifted my head.

Standing there was my mother, dressed neatly in a formal suit, smiling at me.

“You’re not playing games today?”

“I’ll play later. Right now, I’m studying.”

“Studying… is it art, by any chance?”

She must have seen my strategy notebook.

I nodded.

This wasn’t so different from art.

No, this manual was already beyond art—it was in the realm of true artistry.

As expected of my parents, she recognized its value at a glance.

“School tests include comics these days, huh?”

“This isn’t a comic. It’s art.”

Of course, depending on one’s perspective, it might just look like I was drawing a comic.

I checked the time and closed my manual.

Studying was over.

Now, it was time to put theory into practice.

Of course, I couldn’t match against the current arena players.

Since my last season ended at Silver Sword, I couldn’t get matched with them.

If I wanted to face them properly, I’d have to create a new account or wait until they ranked up.

Of course, I had no intention of meeting them in person.

Revealing my strategy to the enemy? That would be a foolish mistake.

I would remain hidden until the very end, only appearing at the final moment to crush them completely.

As the weekend passed and Monday morning arrived, more than a week had gone by since streamers began playing Deron.

That was when an announcement appeared on Deron’s official website.

[World’s Greatest Arena Tournament Announcement]

Hello, this is Deron Online.

In preparation for our upcoming global service, we will be holding an Arena Tournament to determine the strongest player in Deron.

The Arena Tournament will take place over five days, consisting of three stages: Preliminaries, Main Rounds, and Finals.

Starting from the Finals, all matchups will be made public and broadcasted through online streaming.

Additionally, a betting event will be held, allowing players to wager Arena Tournament Points on match outcomes.

We encourage all adventurers to participate and show their enthusiasm!

1st World’s Greatest Arena Tournament

1. Tournament Schedule

October 12 – October 16

2. Detailed Match Schedule

Preliminaries: October 12 (Wed) 19:00 – 21:00 [2 hours]

• Each participant can play up to 10 matches.
• Players who achieve 5 or more wins will advance to the Main Rounds.

Main Rounds: October 13 (Thu) 19:00 – 21:00 [2 hours]

• Each participant can play up to 15 matches.
• The top 128 players with the highest number of wins will advance to the Finals.

Finals Day 1: October 14 (Fri) 19:00 – 21:00 [2 hours]

• Round of 128 to Round of 64
• Matches will follow a Best of 3, Single Elimination Tournament format.
  • Round of 128: 19:00 – 19:50 [50 minutes]
  • Round of 64: 20:00 – 20:50 [50 minutes]

Finals Day 2: October 15 (Sat) 19:00 – 21:00 [2 hours]

• Round of 32 to Round of 16
• Matches will follow a Best of 3, Single Elimination Tournament format.
  • Round of 32: 19:00 – 19:50 [50 minutes]
  • Round of 16: 20:00 – 20:50 [50 minutes]

Finals Day 3: October 16 (Sun) 19:00 – 21:30 [2 hours 30 minutes]

• Quarterfinals to Finals
• Matches will follow a Best of 5, Single Elimination Tournament format.
  • Quarterfinals: 19:00 – 19:50 [50 minutes]
  • Semifinals: 20:00 – 20:50 [50 minutes]
  • Finals: 21:00 – 21:30 [30 minutes]

※ During the Arena Tournament period, Arena Ranking Matches will be temporarily unavailable.

3. Tournament Rewards

Finals Ranking Rewards

• Players who reach the Top 16 / Top 4 / Champion ranks will receive exclusive titles and Demonic Wings Costumes based on their ranking.

(Image: Gigantic, menacing demon wings)

Champion: Pronos, Master of the Cursed Blade’s Wings

• Title: Unrivaled
• (Image: Massive, dark demon wings)

Top 4: High-Rank Demon Wings

• (Image: Large demon wings)

Top 16: Mid-Rank Demon Wings

• (Image: Smaller demon wings)

Just as Harang predicted.

The Arena Tournament had officially begun.

The perfect stage had been set for me to showcase the skills I had been preparing over the past week.