Headgear Event (2)

Translator : Elizabeth

"U-Uh, registration, please..."

"Yes! Let me check your account! To ensure the fairest team distribution possible, please refrain from participating with alt accounts. Thank you!"

Looking at the girl shyly handing over her phone with her Legend Frontier account information, Kim A-young, the collaboration event manager, wore quite a surprised expression.

‘So this game actually has female users...?’

Legend Frontier. A-young had never played it because it seemed too overwhelming for her, but she had heard enough to know that female users were extremely rare due to the game's characteristically harsh atmosphere. After all, working at a game store meant gaining a lot of information regardless of one's will.

“…….”

A-young glanced at the girl before her as she took the phone. Although the girl was bundled up in a black hoodie, making it hard to see her face clearly, the sharp bridge of her nose and the silver hair visible here and there suggested she possessed considerable beauty.

‘Mythic...?’

Furthermore, the tier written on the phone was actually Mythic. As far as A-young knew, it was the highest tier in Legend Frontier. Seeing that, A-young let out a silent exclamation of admiration.

‘She’s a literal unicorn...’

A female player with that level of beauty and a Mythic rank. She was truly a mythical creature. If she were to start a personal broadcast, it seemed she would attract massive popularity.

Wait, perhaps she was already doing it? It was possible. These days, the trend was for anyone with a bit of skill and wit to jump into personal broadcasting.

‘The nickname is... SION……’

The girl's nickname was SION. Since she was at the Mythic tier, was she a famous player? Her younger brother was obsessed with Legend Frontier; if she was a famous streamer, should A-young try to get an autograph for him?

"Yes! Everything's confirmed!"

After checking the account, A-young returned the phone to the girl. She then added a few points of guidance.

"Since this is an event match, please understand that the gameplay will be broadcast to the customers in the store via the monitors."

...And then, she subtly asked a question she was curious about.

"Um, by any chance..."

"Yes...?"

"Do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stream?"

"...Hic."

Whether startled by A-young's question, the girl suddenly began to hiccup. At that moment, A-young caught a glimpse of the girl’s mysterious green eyes through the gap in her hood.

‘Wow, she’s pretty.’

They were truly beautiful eyes, like emeralds. An exclamation of admiration escaped A-young's lips involuntarily.

"Str-str-str-streaming..."

Meanwhile, the girl lowered her head deeply while stuffing her phone into her pocket. A crawling voice reached A-young's ears.

"I don't, um, stream..."

Before A-young could say anything else, the girl named SION hurriedly moved toward the event area. A-young thought she heard the girl add something under her breath.

"……Not yet."

02.

‘I’m f*ed.’

The round-table meeting room for discussing frontlines before the game began. Shinn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yun-hu felt despair upon checking the players matched on the same team for the event match.

To be precise, he felt despair after confirming that the Rank 9 individual player and supporter, 'Sakiride,' was not on his team.

‘Why would a ranker even show up at an event like this?’

Yun-hu had applied for the event with high spirits to win the free headgear. Since he was a Master tier player, he thought he could easily win an event match through his own carry.

<Ah! I’m currently waiting for team assignments!>

— Huh...?

……That was until he spotted Sakiride leisurely filming a personal broadcast at the registration area.

Even though Sakiride was a person completely consumed by his bizarre concept-play, his skill as a Bard was arguably the best in Legend Frontier. The possibility of a mere Master like Yun-hu winning against a Rank 9 player as an enemy was close to zero.

Because of that, he had prayed and prayed to be matched on the same team as him, but as expected, it was not to be.

‘I’m sorry, Yun-jae……’

Yun-hu buried his head on the round table, fighting back tears. He had wanted to win the headgear as a cool birthday present for his younger brother, but it seemed that dream had already turned to bubbles.

"A-ha!"

Regardless of Yun-hu’s feelings, the meeting for introductions and frontline selection began as always. The first to speak was a girl with a cat-beastman customization.

"Hello-nya! I am Mimi! A Fighter-nya! I want to go to the Plain-nya! My tier is Bronze-nya!"

‘What kind of f*ing crazy concept is this……’

Yun-hu was horrified hearing the introduction of the player named Mimi. How could someone already be so consumed by their concept when they were only in Bronze? Wasn't she embarrassed? Or was she also streaming?

‘Wait, is it that girl in the hoodie...?’

From what he saw just before putting on the headgear, there was only one girl among those assigned to his team who was wearing a black hoodie. Could it be that she, who looked emotionless in reality, was expressing her dark instincts in this twisted way in the virtual world?

Ah, the evils of virtual reality. If this isn't cosmic horror, what is?

"Hello."

While Yun-hu was failing to recover from the shock, the next person to introduce himself after the Fighter was an attractive man clad in massive iron armor.

"My name is Kim Byung-jin. Class is Ironclad, I follow the basic build, and I hope to be the supporter. My tier is Platinum."

‘Platinum...’

Yun-hu gave a short nod upon hearing Byung-jin’s introduction. At least this man was normal. Furthermore, if he was Platinum, he’d at least be able to see how the game was flowing.

"Ah."

Since the turn was moving clockwise, it was now Yun-hu’s turn. He began his introduction in a somber voice.

"I’m Hu. My class is Spearman, build is tanking. I hope for the Jungle... and my tier is Master."

Since reaching Master in Legend Frontier was by no means an easy feat, Yun-hu deliberately put emphasis on the word 'Master.' It was to flaunt his achievement and seize the initiative. He felt he needed to break their spirits from the start so they would submissively follow his orders once they entered the battlefield.

"Master! That’s amazing-nya!"

"Wow, Master... that’s incredible..."

As expected, Mimi and Kim Byung-jin couldn't hide their admiration. Yun-hu shrugged his shoulders at their reaction as if it were nothing.

“…….”

‘Hmm...?’

However, the last remaining person—the silver-haired girl who looked somewhat familiar—was merely spacing out as if it were of no importance.

‘What, how great does she think she is?’

Yun-hu’s mood, which had improved briefly, soured again at her lack of reaction to a 'Master' tier player.

"...Is it my turn?"

Once it was confirmed that Yun-hu’s introduction was over, the silver-haired, green-eyed girl finally opened her mouth. He thought her customization was exceptionally well-done.

"I am a Swordsman. My build is the Speed Swordswoman build. I also desire the Jungle."

‘Speeeeed Swordswomaaaaaan??’

Yun-hu felt despair once more at the girl's words—at her bold declaration that she brought the "troll build of all troll builds."

‘We lost. Quick surrender is the only answer.’

He had never won a single match that had a Speed Swordswoman in it. He just wanted to surrender quickly, event match or not.

"Oh, and my nickname is Sion, and my tier is Mythic."

"Huh...?"

...However, the girl's subsequent words made Yun-hu’s eyes widen. He jerked his head up from its depressed slump.

‘Sion? Mythic?’

The girl before him had actually introduced herself as being in the same Mythic tier as Sakiride. Furthermore, wasn't that nickname, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sion, somehow familiar?

‘Silver hair, green eyes, and a rapier...?’

Yun-hu finally began to examine the girl named Sion more closely. When his gaze reached the rapier at her waist, he finally realized who she was.

"Gale..."

Rank 7 in the individual rankings, creator of the Speed Swordswoman build, SION. A player nicknamed 'Gale' because her speed was so great that the naked eye could not track it. Simultaneously, she was the hottest ranker at the moment, having recently ended a match in 9 minutes against a Grand Master streamer who disregarded her build.

"Holy sh*t..."

Yun-hu’s expression froze. To encounter her—whose face was as rare to see as a natural monument because she didn't stream or have a B-Tube channel—in an event match like this. This was a guaranteed 'Popular Post' if he took a selfie and uploaded it to the community.

Above all, to Yun-hu, who still had a long way to go until Grand Master, being on the same team as a famous ranker like Gale was far more valuable and rare than being with someone like Sakiride, who frequently did viewer-participation matches.

They said they would balance the teams; it seemed there was a reason Sakiride was placed on the enemy team. For two rankers to participate in an event match at the same place, time, and day—what a crazy coincidence!

"Wow, this is insane-nya! A ranker is so cool-nya!"

"Gale...? Wow……"

Mimi and Kim Byung-jin also couldn't hide their amazement upon realizing Gale/Sion’s identity.

‘I hit the jackpot.’

The honor of participating in a ranker-versus-ranker match had unexpectedly fallen into his lap; a smile began to spread across Yun-hu’s face.

"By any chance, would it be okay if I took the Jungle? Since the Spearman-nim has a long reach, I think it might be okay for you to take the Beach for now..."

"Ah! Of course! I should definitely go to the Beach! SION-nim, please do as you find comfortable!"

...He was so excited that he readily agreed to give up the Jungle and go to the Beach, a lane he had never visited in his life.

[Meeting concluded. Moving to the battlefield.]

Once the frontlines were decided, the prompt announcing the end of the meeting appeared, and the players, including Yun-hu and Gale, were teleported to the Frontier of Boundaries.

"...I'll head out first."

As if not wanting to waste a single second since there was a ranker on the enemy team, Gale immediately dashed toward her frontline, the Jungle, like a gust of wind.

"She’s really pretty..."

Watching her silver hair flutter beautifully, Yun-hu marveled at Gale's customization.

"Huh...?"

A truly beautiful customization. As his thoughts reached Gale's customization, a question suddenly flashed through Yun-hu's mind.

"A girl...?"

SION was using a customization that anyone would recognize as a beautiful young girl.

"Then I'm going too-nya! I'll show you the power of Bronze-nya!"

...And the Bronze Fighter beastman named Mimi was also in the form of a beautiful girl.

“…….”

However, in Yun-hu’s memory of reality, there was definitely only one girl wearing a hoodie at the registration. That meant one of two things: either the famous ranker Gale was actually a man, or the player wearing the cat-girl mask and doing the crazy concept-play was originally a man.

And that person was likely sitting right next to him in reality.

"Huh...?"

Since either answer seemed likely to cause significant mental trauma, Yun-hu’s train of thought came to a dead stop.

03.

[Blue Team]

"The composition gap is a bit much……."

Looking at the enemy team's composition, I let out a bitter smile. Our team had no ranged dealer, so the Spearman with the long attack range was forced to head to the Beach. Meanwhile, the enemy team’s composition was perfectly balanced.

"I’m worried..."

I didn't know the enemies' tiers, but for now, our allied Fighter on the Plain was Bronze. I doubted if she could even survive the first minute. The Beach had a Master Spearman performing the dealer role... but the enemy supporter was none other than the Rank 9 Bard, Sakiride.

Since he was someone who brought extreme-damage builds despite being a Bard—sometimes securing more kills than the ranged dealer—the Beach was bound to be a tough fight. That left only the Jungle, where I was.

"Sigh..."

With two frontlines essentially guaranteed to be pushed back, it meant I had to perform the work of at least three people. It would be a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠difficult fight in many ways, but my motto was always to do my best. Furthermore, winning would net me a free latest-model VR headgear worth millions of won.

Above all, even in an event match, my pride would not allow me to lose to Sakiride, a fellow single-digit ranker. I would secure victory no matter what.

"Sol-ji-geum...?"

...The enemy Jungler's nickname was 'Sol-ji-geum.' His class was Ninja, and he had a nickname I hadn't seen in the Mythic tier. At best, it meant he was Grand Master.

I slowly curled the corners of my mouth upward.

"Good."

It’s time to show the true power of the Rank 7 Speed Swordswoman. Yes, perhaps this is Chapter 1 of the Speed Swordswoman Revival Movement.

“…….”

I drew my rapier and moved my steps even faster into the depths of the Jungle.