Parrying Into the Game
Parrying. By definition, it's a defensive technique that knocks away or deflects an opponent's attack, creating an opening.
This solid skill, rivaling the twin pillars of evasion and blocking, has been implemented as the most captivating system in countless games.
The split-second before a lethal enemy strike connects. You press the key at the exact frame to bounce it away.
Miss the timing, and you're defenseless against the attack—a terrifying high risk.
But nail it, and you shatter the enemy's rhythm, seizing complete control of the turn—a overwhelming high reward.
How exhilarating is this system? How utterly perfect and beautiful is this skill!
"Ah, cleared it."
I yanked off the VR headset clamped to my head and swept back my sweat-matted bangs.
A masterpiece that had devoured the lives of millions with its vast open world, insane freedom, and endless interactions. The academy action RPG, Ether Frontier.
The end credits—my twelfth time seeing them—floated lazily in the air.
While others beg communities for guides because even a single playthrough is too hard, here I am on my twelfth ending.
A ridiculous chuckle escaped me at my own perverse obsession with the game.
After twelve loops of the same ending, I'd memorized every vicious off-beat boss pattern and hidden trap.
Swordsman, mage, assassin—even producer classes. I'd wrung every concept play dry.
Normal difficulties no longer spiked my adrenaline.
"Haa... what concept for the next run?"
I skipped the floating credits without hesitation and hit the [New Game Start] button. After mulling over the character creation screen, I grinned.
"This time, straight no-hit."
Handicap: Glass Cannon (Maximum HP fixed at 1.)
Handicap: Reject Armor (Cannot equip any armor that applies defense stats.)
Handicap: Mana-less (Cannot use magic. No mana exists.)
Ding-! Ding-!
Warning alarms blared wildly as the hologram windows flashed red.
Grazed? Instant death. Guard damage? Instant death. Dodge roll invincible frames pierced? Screaming death.
A perfect glass cannon born with no survival means except parrying enemy attacks at the precise moment before they hit.
"Of course, the demerits are insane, so the merits should be god-tier too."
Proving my expectations, brilliant blue hologram windows popped up one after another.
Perk: God's Dynamic Vision (All enemy attack motions and trajectories visible frame-by-frame. Includes copy ability.)
Perk: Infinite Trajectory (Parry success restores 100% stamina and eliminates next action delay.)
Perk: Ultimate Physique (No mana, but all other stat growth x2. Level-up randomly allocates to strength/agility/stamina instead of mana.)
Even I, with twelve playthroughs and endless community lurking, had never seen perks this broken.
"Perfect. Let's go."
I finished light customization and hit start with buzzing excitement.
Click.
A soft mechanical click, then low vibrations hummed from the VR gear as my vision blacked out.
Normally, the Ether Frontier logo would float up, followed by the silky system voice.
"…."
1 second, 2….
"…."
4, 5. No loading screen after ages.
"What? Bug?"
Over 7000 hours in, I'd never seen this glitch. Did picking OP perks crash the server? Hardware fail?
As I frowned and groped for the system menu, puzzled—
Thwack-!!
"Guh?!"
A horrifying rupture echoed with brutal impact to my skull.
Like someone swinging a baseball bat full-force from behind—raw physical force no VR error could fake.
"Which... bastard... guh…."
Vision warped grotesquely in spirals, sensations evaporating instantly. Consciousness ripped away like an unplugged cord into pitch black.
"……."
First came the acrid dirt stench stinging my nose. Then the buzzing murmur of crowds in my ears.
Did I piss someone off enough to get killed?
I shoved up heavy eyelids with that dumb thought.
"Uh...?"
Not my familiar street or hospital ceiling.
Rough dirt floor. Dome-shaped stands packed with people.
Blue mana shields crisscrossing the air, holographic scoreboard flashing above.
Modern architecture fused with magic engineering—a eerily familiar space.
Wait... isn't this the Academy entrance practical test arena?
The game world I'd rotted 7000+ hours in, now unfolding with hyper-real texture beyond graphics. Doubting my eyes—then.
"Examinee! Eyes wandering during the practical test?!"
A sharp bark. A neat-uniformed female professor clicked her tongue, charging with rippling blue aura on her wooden sword—disciplining vibe.
Boom-!
A heavy slash tearing wind. To her, a moderate hit to KO and eject a cocky kid.
"Huh?"
Not to me. That trajectory screamed bone-shattering lethality.
Before my brain caught up, gamer instincts fired.
I reflexively raised my wooden sword—no thought needed.
Clang-!!
Thunderous ring. Her aura-clad sword helplessly lost trajectory, flung aside.
"…!!"
Professor's eyes widened in shock. Dead silence blanketed the stands like poured ice water.
An examinee's casual deflection perfectly dismantling the proctor's heavy strike—unbelievable.
But her face meant nothing to me now.
Hold up. If I'm really in the game, why start here of all places?
Ether Frontier's Academy entrance exam has three stages.
1st: basic mana measurement. 2nd: written on rules/history. 3rd: the only physical practical.
No tutorial, skipping the boring prior two, straight into practical mid-fight?
No HP bar, minimap, stamina gauge—zero UI in sight, eyes rolling.
No way... am I actually inside the game?
No VR headset. Lung-piercing dirt reek. Vague doubt solidified to certainty.
This realism couldn't be data-simmed.
As I stared blankly again, lost in thought, the frozen professor's face flushed red-purple with rage.
"Insolent examinee... mocking the sacred test to the end?!"
Pure fury.
She surged again, blue aura far more vicious.
Whoosh-!
Leaping slash, high-low indiscriminate, beastly bites.
High, low, mid.
Sly mix of on-beat/off-beat thrusts—normal examinee couldn't even track.
But my eyes parsed every trajectory frame-by-frame.
No time to think—pure reflex twisted my wrist. Body before brain, 7000-hour undead instinct.
Ting! Clang-! Tang!!
Each light angle tweak sent her full-power assaults skidding into air, sparking.
"...!"
Her eyes quaked like an earthquake with each combo extension.
Her sword paths utterly dismantled by a greenhorn's casual wrist snap.
But I had no bandwidth for her shock.
Zing-!
Wood-on-wood, aura-on-flesh—vibrations shot from fingertips up arms, electric.
Huh?
Sensation keyboard/mouse/VR haptics couldn't touch.
Perfect impact feedback through bone/muscle. Raw thrill of reading murderous arcs with my own physique, twisting them away.
What is this.
Ting-!!
Final low sweep flicked aside easy. She staggered back, off-balance. Deathly hush over the dome.
Her face twisted in dismay and horror.
Mine? Lips curved uncontrollably upward.
"Parrying... this...."
Fucking fun, isn't it?