Rush (1)
Provoking hot-tempered, fiery types like Bear Jelly wasn't all that hard.
Just scratch that sturdy, oversized ego of theirs a few times, and soon enough they'd come charging in with flames blazing in their eyes.
They were like moths to a flame—unable to hold back that sudden surge of rage, diving in headfirst without a thought for anything else.
"...You're really fucking awful."
Alicia plastered on the most disgusted sneer she could muster as she began taunting Bear Jelly. She laced her voice with as much mockery and scorn as possible, jabbing at the pink-haired dwarf.
"You go in first and give up first blood, can't even secure the clay soldiers properly... With trash like you in Mythic, this game's totally fucked."
In this virtual world where swearing and pad-lipping were somewhat restricted, what could be a more effective taunt for players than scraping at their tiers?
"Th-that matching must be busted. Shouldn't you be in Diamond...? What did your teammates do to deserve this...?"
Alicia spun her scythe gleefully, provoking Bear Jelly to her heart's content.
— ...!!
And sure enough, just as she'd predicted, Bear Jelly reacted instantly to the insults.
— What did you just say...?
He'd been on high alert against Alicia after six solo kills—five from the last game, one from this one—but the taunt hooked him like a spell. He stepped right out from under the turret.
Got him.
Alicia cheered inwardly. From the moment he'd carefully listened to her barbs, the plan was as good as won.
All that was left was to lure him in again and send him packing.
"Huh? You're shit."
She kept it up with a deadpan expression.
"It's fucking annoying having a concept-troll like you clinging to Mythic. Matches with you are so low-tier I can't even upload them to B-Tube, got it?"
— L-low-tier...?
Bear Jelly had reached the turret's edge. He'd been trying to play safe thanks to pleas from his teammates Gale Winds and roooobot, but that resolve was fraying.
His hands trembled around the axe that symbolized the berserker.
"Oh, right."
Alicia sighed and shook her head at the sight.
"A guy who can't even play berserker right—berserker my ass. Brute force doesn't make you one."
— Wh-what...?
"Just buy a new account, pick priest, and play support. Suits you perfect."
— You, you, you're insulting berserkers... my berserkers...!
Bear Jelly idolized berserkers with massive pride, so Alicia's claim that he didn't suit them hit like the ultimate humiliation.
Imagine telling a slumping soccer pro he had no talent and should go play baseball with elementary kids—who wouldn't snap?
I'll kill her. Even if I die, I'll kill her. That bitch.
His reverse scale touched, Bear Jelly bit his lip hard and gripped his axe tighter.
Safe play? Screw that.
Dying again? Fine.
Losing? Whatever.
Team's glares? He'd deal.
Killkillkillkillkillkillkill.
If he didn't cleave that rude bitch's skull in half with his axe right now, he wouldn't sleep tonight.
— You fucking bitch!!
Finally, Bear Jelly roared and charged at the haughty Alicia in the distance.
— I'm the berserker and the berserker is me!!
He leaped sky-high, axe raised to bisect her, with jump power unbelievable for his tiny frame.
"Hmph."
Alicia watched with a pitying sneer, like it was all too easy.
She whispered one word at the soaring Bear Jelly.
"Idiot."
At the same time, her body began fading to transparency from the bottom up.
She'd activated Shadow Vanish, the signature skill of stealth berserker builds.
Shadow Vanish rendered the caster fully invisible for a time, regenerating HP and boosting speed all the while.
Attacking broke it instantly, but it was undeniably the most utility-packed skill in Legend Frontier.
— Damn it!!
How many players could hit an enemy that vanished in a blink? Bear Jelly's axe sliced empty air where Alicia had stood.
Too slow to catch her fade—he'd rushed faster than her stealth, but it was a reckless, futile challenge.
Boom!
In the end, he just pulverized the innocent plains. No gain from his preemptive strike, he hastily recovered his axe and assumed a battle stance.
Where? Where is she?
The pink-haired dwarf, ranked 21st personally, strained every nerve to pinpoint Alicia.
Sure, Legend Frontier had skills to detect stealth, but those were iffy even for supports like bards or hackers.
No way a pure-damage berserker like him had slotted them.
All he could do was trust his senses.
Sweat beading, eyes darting everywhere, ears perked for sound.
And with that, a creeping dread bloomed deep inside—what if she struck from anywhere?
Where...?
He focused on his surroundings.
Attacking broke stealth, so good timing and direction might let him counter lucky.
— ......
Silence stretched over the tense plains.
In that cruel quiet, Bear Jelly finally felt the air warp around him.
Alicia swinging her scythe at him.
— L-left...!!
He raised his axe to block, but—
"Too slow."
— ...!!
A beat late.
Stealth broken, Alicia was closer than he'd gauged—too fast and near to block normally.
— Shit...!!
And her deadly scythe aimed straight for his neck.
... Legend Frontier was VR, so even as an AOS, it kept minimal realism.
Surviving a severed neck would feel off, and could breed real-world carelessness, so it had three instant-kill spots: brain, neck, heart.
HP didn't matter, armor didn't—no piercing them meant instant death.
Alicia gave no counter chance, swinging straight for his throat.
— T-too la—!!
Too late to dodge or block.
Another kill ceded, just like that?
Mocked to hell, then lose again?
What would Gale Winds and roooobot say?
...Barrels of shit, probably.
His recklessness fed her growth, turning her into a monster.
But worse was the powerlessness—he couldn't beat her no matter what.
Like a giant wall, a titan too vast to even look up at, toying with him.
When, when could he kill Alicia even once?
......
As those emotions welled into a tear in his heart, Bear Jelly resigned to death once more—
—Whoosh.
"...?!!"
Something shot from the jungle beyond the plains like wind, wedging between scythe-swinging Alicia and Bear Jelly.
"Arrow...?"
Yeah, it felt like one.
Silver gleam slicing flying petals, elegant sharp rapier like an arrowhead.
The silver arrow—no, the world's most beautiful silver-haired green-eyed girl—thrust her rapier precisely at Alicia's throat.
"Gah?!"
So fast even superhuman-senses Alicia barely dodged, scraping past instant death.
A hair off in head tilt, and the battlefield alert would scream Alicia's death.
"What the fuck?!"
Blindsided by the jungle intruder, Alicia leaped back, widening distance. Her red eyes, usually smug, brimmed with shock.
"What?! Who the hell?!"
"......"
Alicia roared, Bear Jelly gasped alive—plains' eyes locked on the newcomer.
"...Ha, I told you to play safe."
"Ahh..."
Standing between them: Bear Jelly's favorite sight.
Ally jungler.
Personal rank 7.
King of agility-maxed swordsmen.
"Good thing I wasn't late."
...Username SION.
The silver-haired green-eyed beauty, widely called "Gale Winds," smiled at him.