A Quick Reaction Time Test?
After glancing at the chat, Yunseo felt an overwhelming wave of confusion sweep over him. Everyone looked utterly stunned. The fans who had watched Ha Yeonseo’s broadcast for the longest were hit the hardest. After all, the opponent was the top-tier streamer Ha Yeonseo.
Especially in one-on-one matches, no one could rival him. The way he dominated the solo lane despite its reputation as the weakest position was pure artistry. All the viewers here were fans who had followed that terrifying skill. Me included.
In that situation, losing to Ha Yeonseo felt like watching a herd of deer gape in horror as a wolf ripped out the beautiful horns of their leader. Everyone was lost in terror, fleeing in every direction. And Ha Yeonseo’s face… it was completely different from the confident expression he had worn just moments ago.
The corner of my mouth curled up again. Hundreds of spectators. Eyes locked on us. It was like standing in the center of the Colosseum. Victory or defeat. The power hierarchy revealed to everyone here. And that gaze that refused to accept the result. Aaaah. Yeah. This was it. This was the thrill that made me unable to quit one-on-one duels.
“Another cricket corpse piled up under my feet.”
Ha Yeonseo said nothing. I had considered adding more taunts for the broadcast, but stopped myself. Pushing too hard here would make him truly collapse. I hadn’t expected him to lose without landing even a single hit. Ha Yeonseo’s expression control was failing miserably. His mind had already been shattered by the earlier all-out assault. In that fragile state, this defeat was a fatal blow. …I’d better stay quiet. I was already streaming, and I didn’t want to create another crack. Besides, I had been a fan of Ha Yeonseo-nim. If my favorite streamer looked that gloomy, even the rush of victory would vanish in an instant. And right now, donations were pouring in to comfort him. Ping~ [Ha Yeon, I Love You] donated 50,000 won! :Ha Yeon-ah, it’s okay, pull yourself together. You did really well:
Ping~ [World’s Greatest Mage Ha Yeon] donated 100,000 won! :Don’t be too upset, Ha Yeon-nim ㅠㅠㅠ
Ha Yeonseo’s polite, broken reply echoed through the headset. It was clear he was still reeling. But the donations were exactly what he needed right now. Before long, his expression had brightened again. Looking at that face, I felt a little happier myself. I hadn’t intended to hit that hard. Still, killing him with a nop hit… maybe that had been a bit much. …Yet if I had to do it again, I probably would. I had a competitive streak too. I couldn’t hold back. Besides, it was because Goru had such a poor matchup against Ruru. His attack judgment without ultimate was too honest. The motion was clean, so the trajectory was straightforward. From Ruru’s perspective, calculating the spot was easy. And all the clever tricks he used had already been read by me. I knew the timing of every new skill, so fakes were no challenge. I had watched his videos so many times yesterday. If I caught the habit right before he used a skill he rarely employed, even brand-new moves were easy to counter. From start to finish, I held more cards in my hand. Sigh. Ha Yeonseo let out a long breath and opened his mouth. “This match… I completely lost. Really… well done. This is the first time I’ve been so overwhelmingly defeated in one-on-one.”
“You don’t have to be upset. It’s just that Goru doesn’t have a good matchup against Ruru.”
“…If I could control Ruru like you do, Master, I might have an advantage against Goru too.”
“There’s a chance, but let’s set that aside for now.” I laughed, a playful, cocky little sound that made Ha Yeonseo snap out of it. “Ahem. Normally Ruru beating Goru is incredibly difficult. How have you been matching him so well? Any tips?”
“Um… Goru’s motions are too obvious. I just watch the sword’s speed and decide whether to parry or not. It all gets countered. The motion fakes are slower, so catching that timing works.”
“…You said you watch the speed… but how do you block the whirlwind slash? The sword falls too fast to react.”
“Wind slash… isn’t that easy to read and block?”
“……Huh?”
The chat exploded. -What?? -???? -That’s just insane reflexes -Shut up shut up shut up (message deleted) -Is this even normal? -What world is this year even living in?? -Hahaha this crazy person is so slow even a 250km baseball is fast lol (deleted) -I see… only people like this can play Ruru……
Ha Yeonseo felt an eerie sense that something was wrong. But the person himself had no idea. No, he was acting like it was completely normal. Which meant… Could it be? “U-um, Master… have you ever done a reaction speed test before?”
“No. I’ve never tried.”
“…Ah, I see.”
Tadada tadadadak. The sound of typing filled the headset. “How about trying it right here?”
Ding! A suspicious-looking link shot into Discord. …A virus? But there was no way Ha Yeonseo would send something like that. I clicked the link and a blue screen appeared. …Reaction speed test? Oh, so that’s a thing. “If you went through the link, could you show me the screen?”
I adjusted the broadcast settings the same way I did before turning the camera on. “Look, there’s a blue screen. Click it and a red button will appear. It will turn green in a few seconds. Click the second it turns green. Simple, right? Do it five times and we’re done.” “Okay, got it.” I clicked without hesitation. The red button soon turned green. Click. A second later the chat flooded with question marks. ------ -? -?? -? -? ----- The button changed again. Click. ------ -What is this -???? -What the heck is this -Is it real -Not predicting? ----- Ping~ [rkskekfk] donated 1,000 won! :What am I even watching: Ignoring the sound, green light. Click. I clicked five times in total. After a short wait, the settlement window with the average popped up. Ha Yeonseo stared at it and let out a helpless laugh. ‘…Haha, I expected it but not this much.’ Is it really a human? “……I didn’t even land a single hit.” Ha Yeonseo had no choice but to say that. Because the number flashing on screen was 122ms. That was my reaction speed, checked in an instant.