Time Attack (4)

The moment soldiers reached me at the room's exit and lunged to attack, a blue glow enveloped my body in an instant.

At the same time, I activated every self-buff I had, switching to full burst mode, and started swinging my sword wildly at the approaching soldiers.

I was nearly surrounded by almost 60 soldiers, but with my back to the entrance, they couldn't flank me from behind. That meant only the three or four at the front could attack me at once.

It wasn't just about grabbing them all at once to save time—I'd pulled the aggro of every single soldier to minimize MP loss by exploiting this terrain.

Swords, spears, and all sorts of attacks came flying at me relentlessly, but it didn't matter. I'd maxed out my 8-star Mana Shield specifically for situations like this before challenging the time attack.

Every time I took a hit, the blue ripples on my skin steadily reduced the incoming damage.

"Come on, come on!! Bring it all on!"

Even under simultaneous assault from three or four soldiers up front, I could strike them all at once. There was a peculiar loophole in the VR game Tayen that was pretty well-known among users, and I was exploiting it to the hilt.

Multi-hit judgment!

In VR, unlike skills, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠basic attacks required manual motion input from the player. But if you swung wide against clustered mobs, even glancing blows counted as full hits.

In other words, a long horizontal slash against mobs lined up single-file could tag three at once with a single swing.

Anyone familiar with PC games knew basic attacks only hit one target at a time. In the real world, you could swing a club or sword and smack multiple foes. But if this were actual reality, my first swing would've been blocked by the soldier's body, and I'd be dead before I could follow through.

This wasn't a PC game or reality—it was the unique, exception-filled space of a VR game. A attack style impossible in PC games and absurd in reality somehow worked here due to structural flaws.

'A technique everyone knows but no one can pull off: multi-hit! This is my main move from here on out!'

Most users knew about it but rarely used it. Mixing skills into basic attack motions—flat cancels—was often more efficient. And in Tayen, where player HP was far lower than mob HP, tanking a multi-mob beatdown to kill them all at once? Fun for messing around in low-level zones around level 100, but suicidal for serious solo play or level-appropriate dungeons.

But for me, with insane tankiness and the strongest weapon in existence, nothing was faster or more efficient.

Boom! Boom! Flash!

"Argh!"

Weakness Detected boosted my basic attacks by 150% for 2.5 seconds, melting the soldiers in front of me. On top of that, the Holy Sword's 25% proc light magic attacks exploded, sending brilliant beams swirling like sword afterimages.

"Good, next!"

Slice! Slice!

Once the first row encircling me was wiped, the next wave surged forward like clockwork to fill the gap, attacking mechanically. I swung my Holy Sword wide left and right again.

Flash! Boom! Boom!

The second row of three went down just like the first with a few multi-hits, and Weakness Detected's active duration ended. I didn't care—I kept swinging nonstop.

Crits and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠light magic procs one-shot some outright. Before long, the 60-odd soldiers surrounding me melted away like snow.

"Okay, next! Hurry up!"

Swinging with such fervor got my blood pumping. Just as planned, my Mana Shield-wrapped body was rock-solid, and the Holy Sword's damage was refreshingly brutal. This was worlds apart from laying traps out of fear and sniping a shaman before bolting.

'Who knew a thief could play like this...!'

Swinging my sword like a massive flagpole side to side, I reached the last one. Incredibly, I'd wiped nearly 60 soldiers in just over 20 seconds.

Having sniped the archers first helped—I hadn't taken much damage, so my MP was only at half.

'They're dying before they even hit, so Mana Shield barely budged! Perfect synergy with the Holy Sword after all!'

No time to dawdle with the timer ticking. I checked my remaining MP and plunged into the third room.

A single NPC stood calmly in the center.

The toughest and trickiest final hurdle in this time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attack: a one-on-one duel. Even as a low-rank knight, he had far more HP than the soldiers, plus a few skills.

Those two factors were why mage users bombed the time attack.

I charged at him. When I was about 30 meters away, I fired off the recooled spell.

Four Magic Missiles shot from my hand. As Bolton entered Shadow Step range, I teleported behind him.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

While the four missiles stunned him in 0.2-second bursts, I landed two basic attacks from behind for the passive Weakness Detected proc.

The instant he recovered and turned, I chained a flat cancel into Consecutive Slashes. His health bar was already nearly half gone. The Holy Sword's terrifying attack power was unbelievable.

Clang!

His first attack was a stun-inflicting status skill. All I heard was the clear ring of my Mana Shield blocking it—no stun landed.

Clang!

When the shield bash failed, he tried Charging—but my body just shimmered transparently at the impact point. No knockback.

"How's it feel? Out of the millions of users you've fought, I'm the first like this, huh? Pretty disorienting?"

Normally, ranking on the Hall of Fame required dodging all of Bolton's status skills with movement. Eating even one caused delays from ailments, plus lost DPS time—adding at least five seconds to your record. That's why everyone stressed that time attacks weren't just gear; skill mattered too.

But records could also factor in one more thing: matchup.

Who'd imagine a level 99 user maxing Mana Shield for this? Or that such a weirdo's damage would outstrip any burst build?

The result? Overwhelming dominance.

Whether he skilled up or not, whether my HP dipped or not... I just stood like a stake, swinging away, and he hit half HP in a blink.

Flash!

Finally, the Holy Sword's flashy magic damage proc delivered a spectacular finish.

1:55! Over 30 seconds faster than Last Chance, who'd just bragged about shaving five seconds.

"Done. Even Grandpa Darius—no, Darius the grandson—couldn't break this! Kahaha!"

Whoosh!

Less than two minutes after entering the quest instance, I was back outside. The area in front of Senior Knight Erald was still swamped with time attack challengers.

I pushed through the crowd and claimed my reward from him.

"Unbelievable! You, Sandro, are surely the talent our empire has awaited! I'll submit a recommendation letter to the Knight Commander at once for such a prodigy applying to our order. And this astonishing record shall be etched on the training ground bulletin for all imperial citizens to praise your name!"

'Jackpot! Exactly the #1 achievement from that All-Time post. The only public S-rank one!'

"With such skill, you could be a low-rank knight in our Imperial Knights. Will you join us?"

No need to trade free agency for NPC empire affiliation. Benefits came with obligations—that was belonging to a nation.

"Move it! Lemme get the quest! Ah, got it? Then step aside! Huh? Isn't that the mage who just went for time attack? Still hanging around?"

As I declined Erald's offer and checked my achievement, the warrior user I'd chatted with earlier finally approached to challenge.

"Hanging? I already finished. And I told you, not a mage."

"Dude, stop joking when people talk seriously. I treated you nice 'cause you seemed pro, and now I look like an idiot? Why keep bullshitting me?"

"Huh? I've been dead serious. Don't believe me? Check the bulletin. Done."

"I just watched it. Whatever, move. Lemme get the quest from Erald..."

"Whoa! What the hell!! Everyone, check the bulletin! #1 got smashed—impossible!!"

Amid the warrior's nagging, a shout erupted from the training building with the bulletin.

They noticed the record break fast. With this many obsessives, it was inevitable.

"Hear that? Wanna go confirm together?"

"No way. Unless... for real?"