Revealed Talent

On the fourteenth floor of an expensive apartment overlooking the Han River in Songpa-gu, Seoul, lived a thirty-seven-year-old bachelor. Having made a fortune in Bitcoin, he found his daily life utterly boring. His only hobby was watching internet broadcasts. He used to find small pockets of happiness by donating to streamers and BJs just to watch their reactions, but lately, he had discovered a highly entertaining VTuber.

The name of this new VTuber was Riu. When he first saw her, he hadn't felt much of anything. He had simply thought, Ah, another dime-a-dozen girl putting on a fancy avatar and debuting as a VTuber idol. Even when Riu greeted her viewers by performing a full headstand bow, he had merely assumed she was physically flexible and was about to click away to another channel. But lo and behold, Riu was not just a girl who was good with her body.

"A heavenly voice. Her tone is incredible. She's easily top-tier among VTubers."

That was the conclusion he had reached the moment he heard Riu's very first song. Having witnessed such absurd talent, he changed his username that very day.

Byulbit Riu.

He became Riu's first major whale—the "Chairman" who supported her purely without ever demanding personal attention. By her second broadcast, he was completely smitten. How could anyone not fall for Riu after watching her sing seventy-seven songs straight over a seven-hour stream?

"She's the real deal."

He had never been particularly fond of VTubers, but Riu was special. In the face of such overwhelming talent, he was nothing more than another Bangsaengi caught in her net.

"So cute. Hehe."

Before he knew it, the Chairman had turned into a full-blown Yuksu for Riu, dropping a whopping 1.5 million won on her mission today. It wasn't an investment in a safe asset; it was 1.5 million won thrown down purely out of support. Honestly, to him, it wasn't even that much money. He just didn't want Riu to give up too easily.

"But of course, it's going to be tough."

Defeating Watcher Rowen within ten attempts. It was impossible. He knew because he had tried it himself. Killing Rowen in under ten tries was brutally difficult. No, in the first place, how many people in the entire world had actually cleared Watcher Rowen within ten attempts?

Virtual reality games were on a completely different level compared to those played with a keyboard and mouse. It was a literal whole new dimension. You had to physically move your body to dodge enemy attacks, and you had to swing your own arms to strike. One had to reach a realm beyond mere talent and achieve a Limit Break to even stand a chance.

Prtherna was a notoriously difficult game. It was far too overwhelming for a Normal Human to play without any prior knowledge. It certainly wasn't a boss that could be beaten by Riu, who didn't even know where the pause button was and had to ask what a gore filter was just moments ago.

"Can she do it? I highly doubt it."

Because of this extreme difficulty, From the Nightmare featured a unique mechanic: the 10-Try Difficulty Reduction System. If a player failed to defeat a boss within ten attempts, the difficulty would automatically scale down. It would gradually and subtly lower. This was an official feature announced by the developers. However, it was also rumored that if you failed to clear a boss within those ten tries, you would be permanently locked out of the True Ending.

Once this system was triggered, it would be permanently branded onto the player's account for the rest of the game. It was a kind of stigma that wouldn't disappear even if the game was deleted or reset. Because of this 10-try difficulty reduction system applying to every single boss, no one had ever witnessed the game's True Ending yet.

After all, you had to defeat all twenty bosses within ten attempts each. Did a human capable of such a feat even exist? It required transcending human limits. Occasionally, there were those whose synchronization rate in the virtual world surpassed 100%, allowing them to break through human boundaries, but those were extremely rare exceptions. Almost no one could immerse themselves deeply enough to surpass 100% synchronization on the very first boss.

As far as he knew, not a single person had defeated Watcher Rowen within ten tries and progressed to the next chapter. At least, not among the streamers he had watched.

"Ah. As expected."

He sighed as he watched Riu die once again.

On her first try, she failed to dodge a horizontal slash of the greatsword and was sliced in half at the waist.

On her second try, her body was crushed to pieces by Rowen's massive right fist slam.

On her third try, she was blinded by a spray of black mist and cut down.

On her fourth try, she was split vertically by Rowen's greatsword throw the very instant the battle began.

It looked utterly hopeless. She had already died four times. And during those four deaths, Riu hadn't even managed to land a proper hit.

"Well, it'd be weirder if someone actually pulled it off."

In the first place, Riu was a girl. The fact that a girl could display that level of movement was already close to a miracle.

And so, with absolutely zero expectations, her fifth attempt began.

"Huh?"

Riu's attacks were starting to connect.

Watcher Rowen, you absolute psycho!

"It's too hard! Isn't this way too hard?!"

I've already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠died four times. Six more deaths and it's over. My three million won. My money. My money!!!

From now on, I'm going into serious mode. No! Actually, I've been in serious mode this whole time! Ugh!

Still, let's not lose hope just yet. Through those four deaths, I've managed to analyze that melted-face guy's movements. That means I've read his patterns to some extent.

"Do you challenge me again? No matter how many times you try, it is futile. You are far too weak to witness the end of this world."

Rowen spouted his nonsense again.

"Whew. That face of yours... I'm going to rip it apart."

It might have been a bit too vulgar for an idol to say, but I couldn't just stand there and take his trash talk.

Those damn Bangsaengis! They're treating this like a festival.

"You guys! No words of encouragement, just pure mockery! Whew... Just you wait. I'm going to turn those jeers into cheers."

"Don't put a question mark at the end!"

Crash!

While I was busy reading the chat, Rowen had closed the distance and was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right in front of me.

"Hey! A surprise attack is cheating!"

"Do not avert your eyes during battle, rookie."

"You're the one who averted your eyes! You don't even have a single eyeball, you faceless freak!"

I rolled forward to dodge Rowen's colossal greatsword, then rolled to the side to evade his incoming right fist. That monstrous bastard! His combo attacks were insane. Absolutely insane.

But I've figured out his weakness.

No matter how many times I hit him elsewhere, he reacted incredibly defensively whenever an attack was aimed at his chest.

That crystal core peeking through... That's his weak point.

The dark red crystal core situated right where his heart should be had to be his weakness. Since other parts of his body took almost zero damage, I had to focus all my attacks on his chest.

"A rookie who knows nothing but rolling on the dirt!"

Here it comes. The ground slam. A skill where he slams his right fist violently into the ground, sending a shockwave in all directions powerful enough to launch a player into the air.

Time the jump to dodge the shockwave, then leap straight toward him...

"Hah!"

Reversing my grip on the straight sword, I drove it deep into Rowen's chest. A shower of bright red polygons erupted from the wound.

Yes! It worked! I finally landed a clean, effective hit!

"How dare you..."

"Oh, crap!"

I had shaved off a third of Rowen's HP, but he immediately twisted his body and swatted me away. I flew through the air and crashed hard against the wall of the guardhouse, collapsing to the ground.

"Argh! My sword! My sword!"

That single counterattack had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠halved my HP. To make matters worse, I had lost my grip on my weapon. My heart sank as I stared at the straight sword still embedded in Rowen's chest. This was bad. Really bad.

"Wait! Guys, what do I do about my sword?!"

I was screwed. I had lost my weapon. This was the equivalent of going to a gunfight without a gun.

"Aaaah! He's coming!"

How was I supposed to fight that guy without a sword, armed with nothing but a tiny buckler?

"Oh, god!"

I was losing my mind! I didn't want to die! My mission money!

Clang!

"Huh? Wait, what?"

Rowen's colossal greatsword, which had been hurtling down toward my head, was deflected away. Somehow, in my panic, I had successfully parried it.

I have to remember this! I have to remember how that felt.

Every single parry I had attempted up until now had failed. But when I was desperately fighting for survival, I had pulled it off. I could not afford to forget that sensation.

Catching the blow, then deflecting it to the side... that strange, subtle sensation.

Just one more time. If I could succeed just one more time, I felt like I would truly grasp it. If I could feel that strange yet incredibly satisfying sensation of redirecting the opponent's force without resisting it...

I can beat Rowen.

Let's do this. I was doomed to die the moment I lost my sword anyway. I had five attempts left. Within those tries, I would find the key to defeating Rowen and claim my prize money.

Inside the monitoring room of Kadami, the developer of From the Nightmare, two administrators were watching a certain VTuber's broadcast.

"Intriguing. To successfully land a parry on the fifth attempt."

"Indeed. Her movements are exceptionally sharp for a beginner."

On the monitor they were watching, a girl with fluttering ocean-blue hair stood deflecting Rowen's greatsword with a parry.

"Hmm. You said this streamer is a woman?"

"Yes. She's female, and she's Korean."

"For a woman to move with such agility... What is her synchronization rate?"

"It's still under thirty percent. She's nowhere near achieving a Limit Break."

"Huh. Then does that mean she can move like that in the real world as well? Is she a former Olympic athlete or something?"

"Uh, there's no such information on her. She seems to be just an ordinary citizen."

"The more I watch, the more bizarre it is. Wow. What on earth is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she?"

The higher the synchronization rate with the game character, the easier it was to transcend human limits. However, Riu's synchronization rate was a mere fourteen percent. She was delivering that level of performance purely through physical movements she was capable of in reality.

"Hmm... Where did a talent like this come from? I wonder if she could actually reach the True Ending."

"Who knows. Shall we keep monitoring her for now?"

"Yes. Keep a close eye on her. If she manages to take down Rowen... well, I'm starting to get curious about who will achieve the world-first clear of Prtherna."

There were approximately thirty-two monitors they were currently checking. These represented Riu's competitors, of whom she was entirely unaware.