154 - Early Adopter
Humans learn from failure. Whether in placement matches or showcases, whenever I looked back on why I lost, there was always a valid reason. The growth gap in NPCs. I had thought too simply that adding just one more NPC ally wouldn't make much difference.
The events that appeared, tied to the NPCs' stories as the game progressed to certain points, weren't just about winning or losing. There's a saying in League of Legends: if you miss an enemy jungle monster, it comes back double. Here, too, failing to fulfill even one such event often led to absurd reversals when you were winning, or widening growth gaps when you were losing—situations that weren't funny at all.
My intuition that I could pull ahead more without NPCs since I trusted my skill turned out to be a flawed premise.
You have entered the Colosseum.
Blue Team (4/6) vs Red Team (3/6)
“Whew! Barely safe! Ow!”
A girl squeezed her body through the closing iron grate door at the last second. Even in the midst of it, she was broadcasting her clumsiness far and wide by stabbing herself with her own weapon.
“What? How did you guys get here...?”
The enemy mage's eyes were filled with unmistakable bewilderment.
“Haha, you thought you had the numbers advantage in this Colosseum, right!”
Cling! Kariri rubbed her sharp claws together, letting out an annoying laugh. I could understand their confusion. Just a minute ago, Kariri and I had been on the opposite side of the map.
In World of Arceria, the game constantly forces choices on players. NPC events that provide buffs to allied soldiers or debuffs to enemy soldiers.
"That man is my father's enemy. Not content with tarnishing my gladiator father's honor, he even slandered him! I can never forgive Nahibitan!"
But participating meant your front line would temporarily fall back. So, it was up to the player: endure the short-term disadvantage for greater gains, or delay events as much as possible to seize positional advantage.
“Isn't this a total 4-drone strategy? Just all-in here, right?”
I added to the still-dazed mage.
“A tank not stacking HP or defense is insane. For a normal tank, anyway.”
“Right...! Kariri gets stronger as her HP drops! I'm an assassin!”
Kariri's character couldn't even be called visually appealing as a polite exaggeration. Extremely short range weapon. Sure, once you got into range, it boasted extreme lethality and high freedom of movement—but you had to stick first for that to matter.
So before the game started, I'd asked Kariri about her build: stats and traits all focused on HP and tanking.
'Why raise an assassin class as a tank from the start?'
'An assassin probably can't stick as well as a tank in a prolonged fight?'
Her claim was that she'd one-dimensionally turned "needs to stick to be strong" into "better as a tank."
The higher attack power compared to other weapons was just cumbersome trash once you stacked HP in-game. Nothing more, nothing less.
To turn her into a proper one-man army player, what I'd devised was...
“AP tank? You messing with me right now?”
“Wanna find out?”
Combat begins.
[60s]
[59s]
The eight doors closed one by one, and the trumpet signaling the start of combat blared. The knight with his thick shield advanced at the front, step by heavy step. Kariri's body shot forward in response, raking her massive claws across the shield.
Kiiing! Metal clashed against metal as the two warriors poured their strength into it.
Contrary to expectations of a drawn-out exchange, Kariri was dominating.
“What the... your strength...!”
“Hehe, you're still far off! Now, NoName!”
“Keep him pinned.”
Higher HP and defense stats meant lower movement speed. Conversely, Kariri had dumped everything except her auto-leveling stats into AP items. This maximized her trait Chimera's Hunt.
The lifesteal effect on melee attacks scaled with AP—trash tier, considering most melee was attack damage-based. But with claws providing baseline AD, tanky HP, and an allied healer's regen boost? Synergy through multiplication.
I could be this confident because I'd pre-calculated the complex formulas for all levels and verified in practice mode.
A wolverine—weasel—with a gold necklace. A wolverine—weasel—girl with a gold ring. The Harlem-style fashion on a young girl felt jarring, but Kariri was excellently holding the enemy captain.
However,
“Gaaah! I'm about to die! My HP's draining too fast! When are you coming, NoName? Uwaaaah!”
Her advantage didn't last. Enemies, realizing her speed-enhanced strikes had tricked them into underestimating, pushed back objectively. Her initial momentum faded; her feet slid backward bit by bit.
Without a reversal factor, her claw-tipped fists would shatter.
But we had four— one more than them. In the 3v3 stalemate, I remained free.
I drew my sub-weapon immediately. A cool silver line extended from the sheath, slicing the air.
Thanks to Kariri pulling back at the perfect timing, the overcommitted knight lurched forward. Too late to raise his guard.
I accepted the shield knight's final words—"What kind of bullshit is this?"—and withdrew from his pierced shoulder. Simultaneously, a heal on Kariri.
Mid Heal
Chimera's Hunt stacks.
Even mid-heal, the near-death assassin entered Awakening like a berserker. Red aura swirled around Kariri, radiating heat.
“You bastard! Scared me stabbing my side with that shield outta nowhere! Slash slash slash!”
Kariri finished cleanup with frantic rakes, ending the short Colosseum.
“Hep! You didn't hear that, right NoName?”
Kariri cupped her hands over her mouth, looking at me with trembling eyes.
“I've got years in LoL, you know.”
“Pfft, a pro! Viewers, why the fuss? NoName says don't treat her like a kid!”
“I never said that...”
“Aaaang! I told you not to use that word! Why do you do this!”
“Early adopter?”
“Ah... no! Forget it!”
“I know what it means. From Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory.”
It refers to consumers who adopt new products earlier than others based on their consumption tendencies. Nice to hear a familiar term after so long in chats with these kids inventing bizarre slang.
“Ahaha... really...?”
No?
A shocking metaphor that nearly gave me vertigo, but I could brush it off as kids joking. No big deal.
“I won't judge personal tastes, but at least stay within legal bounds.”
“Nooo! I'm not a lolicon for real!”
Loving children and sexualizing them are entirely separate—one unforgivable.
[Video Shared - 'Asantia' shared for 20,000 won!]
(Kariri whisper terror clip.mp4)
[NoName, I want to make you my knight. Ahh, lock you in a dakimakura and hug you to sleep every night. Kids, don't call me lolicon—call me early adopter?]
“Hweeeeng... ruined... I worked so hard prepping this collab and it's all ruined!”
Kariri collapsed to her knees, wailing dramatically. The mood turned awkward. Just the first round, but post-game, we didn't know what to say.
“You guys figure it out! I stayed up all night watching VTube vids for collab with NoName! Joined her fan cafe! Even promo'd incog on her magal! Hweeeeng!”
“Kariri?”
“Uuuu...”
This won't do. I thought she was joking, but half seemed genuine. I glanced at chat, then whispered to viewers without her knowing.
“Don't—show cool moments of Kariri unnie instead.”
“No no NoName...! It was a joke, I'm fine really?”
Kariri belatedly stood, grabbing my shoulders. My gaze shifted behind her. Simultaneously, the massive donation window popped up beside us.
— ‘Mugunghwa / LK’
“Why share this of all things.”
A glint crossed her eyes. Reflected in her circular irises: her past self.
My head turned right too. In the video, she gripped the mic tightly with both hands, shyly hesitating, then clearing her throat cutely.
As she opened her mouth to sing, chat filled with endless waves of cheering stick emotes. Gentle ripples, not crashing waves.
What emotion lay in those sunset-hued eyes, larger now, rippling like waves?
Her gentle timbre stretched long, creating the illusion this moment would last forever. Then,
"...Fading memories, distant feelings."
At the emotional crescendo, Kariri softly whispered along with the video.
"Beneath the stone wall you passed, I wait alone for you."
Her softly trembling vocal cords added gentle tones to the air.
"Just enough to shake off, just enough to endure."
Her anxious gaze flicked to me. I nodded slightly; her trembling eyes calmed.
"In the tremors soaked with tears, blue leaves will bloom."
With a deep exhale, Kariri harmonized to the end with her past self. But the video continued.
“You sing really well.”
“Eh? Uh...”
Kariri flinched at my casual praise.
“Sing it again sometime?”
“Hehe... fell for me, huh NoName friend? It's fine—loving honey weasel is totally natural!”
She patted my back a couple times, grinning innocently with white fangs flashing. Back to her playful voice, I felt relieved for some reason. Pretty charming friend. I got why viewers loved her.