Updraft (2)

Agility: 120

A grotesque stat distribution where everything was poured solely into agility with the single-minded resolve to run as fast as possible.

And the development of the Speed Swordsman build to make that once-impossible game-breaking stat as viable in real combat as possible.

The basic framework was established in AI solo practice, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠refined in normal games, and gradually perfected through ranked matches where it was tested against real opponents.

After thousands of repetitions, she'd unknowingly climbed into the ranks of the top players. Beyond just entering the top ten, she'd reached an astonishing 7th place.

She'd never set out with the grand goal of becoming a ranker in the first place, so there was no burning ambition to climb higher. Still, she had no intention of letting go of what she'd earned.

She didn't want it to fade into a fleeting dream.

From then on, her seasonal goal shifted to solidly holding 7th place. By maintaining a wide gap with 8th—usually around 20 stars—she'd secured her position with stability.

She always kept about 20 stars ahead of 8th, running away just fast enough to match their pursuit before stopping ranked games. At the very least, 7th was firmly hers.

As a result, while ranks 8, 9, and 10 frequently shuffled players, the spots from 7th upward—with her as the gatekeeper—rarely budged.

"Ranking changes...?"

So when she saw a post about fluctuations in the Top 10 rankings, she figured it was just Sakiride teetering on 9th or Biso Ryong on 10th getting pushed out.

Above all, there'd been no notification of her own rank changing after beating Alice earlier. She assumed the post had nothing to do with her.

Just some drama at the top or bottom—nothing to do with her.

*

"Eh."

But the star of the post was none other than herself.

The thread, already racking up dozens of recommendations, announced that she—the eternal 7th-place icon—had climbed to 6th.

"......"

She immediately closed the community site and pulled up the Legend Frontier profile and match history page.

"...It's real."

As the post said, her rank had indeed risen a notch. She'd gained extra stars from the duel with Alice, and then the former 6th-place flame mage Belzanium suffered losses, flipping their positions.

Her rank had truly gone up.

"Hmm......"

Still lounging in bed, she wore an ambiguous expression. Maybe it was the rarity of a rank reversal after so long, but something felt bittersweet.

Or perhaps regret.

Regret that it was only a single step up.

"6th place, huh..."

She'd never thought about it before, but lately, a hunger for rankings had been stirring.

Did she need to prove herself more?

Or was it a personal desire to hit the peak?

"......"

...Whatever the reason, she'd been steadily thinking about aiming for 1st lately.

In that light... this single rank-up today could be seen as a positive starting gun.

Yeah, no need to see it as disappointing. It might just be the first step in the Speed Swordsman's grand journey to stand atop the heavens.

"...Alright."

She turned her vague smile into a beaming grin and reaffirmed her resolve.

She'd claim 1st before the season ended.

And make Speed Swordsman the undisputed strongest build.

She'd charged forward blindly until now. Now it was time to run toward the summit.

"Mm..."

And then, a new dilemma surfaced.

"What about my stream nickname..."

She'd set it to SION 7 considering GaleDancer's status as the 7th-place synonym. Should she change it to SION 6 now?

Or preemptively go for SION 1?

"...Dunno."

......In the end, she buried her face in the pillow with a short sigh.

"......"

She mulled it over plenty, but ultimately decided to stick with SION 7.

Setting aside the long tenure at 7th, 7 was just a number she liked. Like a soccer player's jersey number.

"...Hello everyone."

The day after crushing Alice and seeing her rank change, she fired up her stream right after an early lunch. Despite no announcement, viewers poured in like an avalanche.

"Ah."

Viewers flooded in with congrats on her rank-up the moment she went live. A massive donation hit too, so she hurriedly bowed in thanks.

The silver-haired green-eyed girl in the virtual world—identical to her real body, but still a secret to all—lowered her head.

"ColaCan... thank you for the donation..."

Her reaction felt a bit lukewarm compared to the amount. Maybe prep some flair next time.

Hmm... aegyo? Dance?

Even imagining it was overwhelming.

...Just repay it by teaching Speed Swordsman lectures harder. Yeah, viewers probably wanted that more than reactions anyway...

"Uh... thanks for the donation... No time, so let's jump right in."

A few off-the-rails viewers lingered, but compared to day one, she brushed it off more naturally.

Her streaming skills seemed to be improving unconsciously. Still green compared to pros, of course.

"Last time I covered skills and talent trees, so today I'll explain Speed Swordsman playstyle."

"Ah, I was planning to do that at the end anyway. Recapping after playstyle explanation will reinforce it better."

She outlined the rough stream plan. Covering Speed Swordsman operations, then recapping yesterday's Alice match on that basis, should make for a solid session.

"...Alright! Let's dive into the lecture proper."

"First off, Speed Swordsman is a classic late-game scaler—extremely fragile early, but once it grows a bit, it can 1v4..."

"Golden Monkey is the absolute priority, so somehow secure it no matter what..."

"Avoid plain ganks unless necessary, focus on coast support..."

"In 1v1s, don't drag into long fights—aim for neck, head, heart for one-shots..."

"Ung......"

After dozens of minutes earnestly explaining Speed Swordsman operations, the chat reaction was lukewarm.

Some looked bored, others clearly lost.

"...Is it too hard?"

Last time they'd listened intently—why this now?

Dopamine crash from streaming?

Or just too complex?

"Phew..."

Scanning chat, she took a deep breath.

Whatever didn't click, drill until it does.

No giving up.

She'd make every aspiring Speed Swordsman viewer master this.

Restart with basics hammered in, then reinforce via yesterday's recap.

Repetition was key.

"...Alright, everyone grab a notebook. Back to the start. No going home till you memorize it all."

The chat erupted wildly—some thrilled, some annoyed at restarting from scratch.

'...This is fun.'

Watching them react in agony was surprisingly entertaining.

"Then, back to Speed Swordsman traits from the top..."

"Ah."

A donation asking how the ultra-fragile early Speed Swordsman counters enemy invades.

The seething rage in the message suggested it'd been spammed in chat and ignored.

Her first substantive Speed Swordsman question of the day—she answered in good spirits.

"Great question. Speed Swordsman is weak to invades, but right from the start, check enemy comp... Ung...?"

...But as she began a simple reply, chat exploded harder than ever, cutting her off.

'Nickname...?'

Every viewer was freaking out over the donator's nick.

She hadn't checked properly—what was it? Some big corp streamer or infamous troll?

...The latter was off-putting.

"If enemy jungler's early-weak, no need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to sweat invade, but..."

Continuing her answer, she secretly scrolled the hologram chat and finally spotted the donor's name.

"Eh...?"

...She couldn't help but flinch too.

"Alicia In Wonderland☆ donated 10,000 won!"

"Uh......"

And rightly so. The first meaningful Speed Swordsman question today came from none other than Legend Frontier's #1 ranker—the very one she'd beaten in ranked last night.

Queen of the Plains, Reaper Alice.

"Ah."

Legend Frontier's #1 ranker, Alice, cautiously watching GaleDancer's Speed Swordsman lecture,

clutched her head as chat exploded right after her donation.

"Fuck... forgot to log out..."

...A quiet curse echoed through her room.