Heaven's Punishment
A heartwarming sight of the two players who put on a great match shaking hands.
There were so many impressive moments. It was a match that really showcased the witch's versatility with all attributes.
Even I thought the match against Serinsel was a real thriller, a masterpiece worth watching. A cool fight where we acknowledged each other's skills and clashed with everything we had.
A Demonic Gaming Chair ad popped up, and I started looking up PVP between tricksters and berserkers. Tinkering with my phone inside the capsule, I opened my usual gallery app and searched for berserker PVP first.
I got the gist. Berserkers dominate close range, but they can't touch ranged jobs. Unless your control is trash, ranged usually wins against berserkers.
I cleared the search and looked up trickster PVP.
A bit of weird comments, but as expected from a new job, not much info. Searches for posts didn't turn up much PVP-related stuff either.
I hurriedly set my phone down and turned back to watch the broadcast. About five minutes passed.
"Oof... brutal..."
A one-sided trickster domination. Though a supporter type with weak individual skills, that somehow made it look even more like the berserker was being toyed with.
"Phew... really didn't wanna face her..."
If it had been Daeje the berserker, I could've won easily. Skilled control and high skill usage, but melee vs. ranged gap is insurmountable.
But a trickster? Different story. Eumsiinjang, who's cleared every legion boss first with me for four years, has top-tier control as expected from a dungeon master, and better PVP understanding than me.
Plus that grating little girl voice that got under my skin before—it could rattle my focus.
Anyway, worst matchup possible. Low-damage witch vs. self-healing supporter is a bad counter.
"Gotta go for the big one-shot again this time..."
I pondered finals strategy for a while.
"Maybe use that thing I tested before..."
Grinning as a good idea hit me, I prepped for the finals that had arrived before I knew it.
Crack—creak—
I stretched my fingers and twisted my waist side to side, loosening up.
"Eumsiinjang-nim?"
"Uh, yeah? Noel. Your voice still doesn't get easier on the ears no matter how many times..."
"Finals can end kinda boring, right?"
"Ha, you provoking me right now?"
I rolled my eyes and shrugged.
"Just... confidence?"
"Fine. Can't wait to see pissed-off Noel in action. Bring it."
I smiled brightly, locking eyes with the fuming trickster character.
"Look forward to it."
The blue barrier in front of us vanished. I immediately drew up lightning-attribute mana.
The trickster raised a shield to block it... and I canceled the spell.
'...? Mistake? Or did she see the shield and cancel...? Why..?'
Eumsiinjang, the trickster, started overthinking.
'She's just wasting mana like that...'
Then, purple lightning mana swirled around the witch again...
'For real this time?!'
And the spell vanished from my body again.
'...?'
I repeated the feint several times, and Eumsiinjang chipped away at me in the openings. Trickster damage wasn't huge as a supporter, but my HP had dipped to half before long.
The one-sided exchange continued a few rounds, then suddenly purple sparks crackled around the witch.
"......Haa...."
"...Charge complete."
"Blink."
Distance opened between witch and trickster.
The witch's purple eyes glowed bright as she thrust her hand forward.
'...? Atmosphere's different.'
The trickster tilted her head, eyeing the witch. Eyes shining, purple sparks rippling around her.
"Aqua variant formula: Rain."
Plip.
Plip plip.
The sky darkened, raindrops starting to fall one by one.
Shhhhoooo—
Drizzle turned to downpour in no time, the sparks around the witch growing fiercer.
"Bet you've never seen this before."
Lost World's magic variant formula system works in a special way. Players can invent new spells with their imagination.
So far, average 830 spells per attribute invented. About 630 if you exclude similar ones.
Today, I'd add one more to lightning.
"And... this one's my discovery."
The witch's eyes blazed as the sky shifted to deep purple.
Compress lightning mana to the limit in her body, convert all mana to lightning attribute.
Water amps the lightning damage, slowly gathering bolts in one hand.
The bolt grew, soon dyeing the sky purple.
It resembled a calamity.
This was heaven's punishment.
Intoxicated by euphoria, the witch unwittingly spoke to the little girl before her.
"Bad kids who bully adults deserve punishment, right?"
"Lightning variant formula: Heaven's Punishment."
Lightning Variant Formula: Heaven's Punishment
A massive purple bolt crashed from the sky, meeting the soaked ground.
"Ahaha... this is... bullshit..."
The trickster could only laugh hollowly at the calamity before her eyes.
Kaboom—!!!!!!!
"Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!"
The lightning scorched the trickster and kept striking for a while, as if the punishment wasn't over.
* * *
A bit later, clutching my head, I joined the winner's interview.
"Agh..."
Actually, I'd been overclocking my brain with mana to speed up thinking, and the backlash dizziness hit hard.
"Ahaha... yeah, feels great. Super proud we delivered bangers every round."
I grinned at the question.
"Actually, I'm a real-life mage. Study magic in my spare time."
"Phew..."
I left the encode room, logged out of Lost World, and got out of the capsule. Collapsing onto my bed, I ignored the flood of group chat notifications and drifted off to sleep.
What a brutally exhausting day.