Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: An Overwhelming Victory
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And a Challenger-rank Arena player, at the very least.
He was certain.
It was hard to imagine a user with this level of physical prowess not making it this far.
“……”
Kim Hyun-seong's gaze turned serious.
The thought that he could lose if he didn't take this seriously was slowly dawning on him.
Lee Shin was the first to notice this change in Kim Hyun-seong.
‘Hm?’
Unlike a moment ago when he was charging in aggressively, his opponent was now holding his ground.
His intention was clear: wait for the opponent to make the first move and then use the difference in their weapons' reach to gain a one-sided advantage.
It was a textbook strategy, but Lee Shin wore a look of disbelief at his opponent's stance and asked.
“What's with this?”
“……”
“I thought you said you wouldn't hold back.”
Kim Hyun-seong didn't answer.
Instead, without letting his guard down, he asked back.
“You, were you a ranker?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
“I'll get there eventually.”
The nuance was, 'What's so hard about it?'
Considering how many users were desperate to become rankers, it was an absurd statement.
After all, even Kim Hyun-seong hadn't become a ranker yet.
However, Kim Hyun-seong didn't feel like Lee Shin's words were just an empty boast.
*Step.*
From the slowly approaching opponent.
He felt an overwhelming pressure, surprisingly similar to what he'd felt when facing actual rankers.
Kim Hyun-seong's eyes calmed as he carefully observed Lee Shin.
“……”
His opponent's dagger, held in a reverse grip, was hidden with the blade along the inside of his wrist.
An angle that concealed it from view.
‘Who is he, really?’
It was a minor habit, but the fact that it was so ingrained in him was astonishing.
That wasn't something you could pick up just by playing the game for a long time.
It was something one could only master by fighting many people.
‘Did he only go around hunting other users?’
Kim Hyun-seong had inadvertently guessed correctly, but his thoughts were cut short.
*Thwip!*
Because Lee Shin, having steadily closed the distance, rushed forward using a skill.
Kim Hyun-seong reacted quickly.
Guardian's Stance.
The moment Lee Shin moved, he activated a defensive skill, pulling his sword in close to his body.
‘First, I'll block!’
And then, he would counterattack.
It was a cautious decision, made due to the lack of information on his opponent.
The problem was that the very premise of 'blocking' was impossible from the start.
As soon as Lee Shin saw his opponent's defensive move, he began to break it down.
*Twitch. Twitch!*
A subtle shake of the shoulders, leaning his upper body forward, and simultaneously turning his gaze toward his opponent's neck.
In reality, it was a feint with no real intent to attack.
But.
“Kuh…?!”
For the one facing him, it was different.
His eyes darted back and forth, trying to follow Lee Shin's movements.
Thanks to that, an opening appeared.
It was a minuscule opening that even Kim Hyun-seong himself hadn't noticed...
But for Lee Shin, who had been waiting for just that, there was no mercy.
‘Harden.’
In that brief moment, Lee Shin summoned a tentacle and shot it toward his opponent's leg.
His timing with Harden was now perfect.
*Crack!!*
“Ugh!?”
On top of that, his aim was precisely targeted at the knee joint.
Kim Hyun-seong crumpled without resistance.
By the time he belatedly regained his senses, he was already looking up at the clear spring sky of the Arena's ceiling.
‘…No!’
Kim Hyun-seong screamed internally.
He knew better than anyone how dangerous this situation was.
He tried to get up as fast as he possibly could.
But.
“Ugh!”
The sole of Lee Shin's boot heavily snapped his chin to the side.
Lee Shin rushed in like a predator, kicked his opponent's head, and took a mounted position.
Then, he began to mercilessly beat down on his flailing, panicked opponent.
*Thwack, thwack, thwack! Thud, thud!*
“Ugh, Gak, Ugh?!”
The result.
[A critical hit has landed!]
[A critical hit has landed!]
[A critical hit has landed!]
[Incarnation of Malice bonus damage is applied.]
[Critical hit stacks have reached their maximum…]
A burst of critical hits.
[You have dealt massive damage to the opponent!]
[The opponent is now suffering from severe blood loss.]
[The opponent has been stunned…]
[…]
[…]
A brutal amount of damage landed in an instant.
Kim Hyun-seong couldn't withstand it.
[Health has reached 0.]
[You have died.]
[You have been defeated in battle.]
“……?”
After being beaten for a while, Kim Hyun-seong stared at the message floating before his eyes and muttered in bewilderment.
His voice and expression were dazed.
And the viewers watching the fight were the same.
Their reactions had been 'No way he'll lose,' and 'He'll probably win after toying with him a bit,' but before they knew it, his opponent had actually won.
And in an overwhelming fashion, at that.
-?
-What was that?
After a brief silence, the chat window began to boil over.
-Wow lololololol
-In sa ne!
-Who's his opponent? Seriously good.
…And Lee Shin proceeded to pour oil on this already blazing fire.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Huh?”
He walked up to Kim Hyun-seong, who was staring blankly into space.
*Bam-babaam~*
*Pew~ Pop, pop, pop.*
With the sound of cheerful drums and brilliant fireworks in the background.
A halo of light erupted from his back as he struck a victory pose.
“…!!!!!!!”
He didn't even stop at one.
*Badaam!*
*Bada-baam~*
After striking another, more definitive victory pose, Lee Shin stared down at Kim Hyun-seong.
He didn't say a word, but his intention was obvious from his downward gaze and ridiculous posture.
“H-Hey, wait!”
He quickly came to his senses and called out to Lee Shin. A loss was a loss, but he at least wanted to know who he was.
But.
[Leaving the Arena.]
Before he could even speak, Lee Shin left the Arena.
He was curious what the guy would say, but he figured this would be a more effective provocation.
“……?”
Only Kim Hyun-seong was left behind, standing there dumbfounded.
* * *
[You have won the duel.]
[You monopolize 1,400 tokens.]
‘Oh.’
That was a net profit of 700 tokens.
Lee Shin checked his total count.
[4,800]
Since he started with 100, his tokens had multiplied 48-fold.
Considering he'd earned it all in just a few hours, the number was absurd.
‘This should be enough.’
Satisfied with the result, Lee Shin exited to the Arena lobby.
Arthur was waiting for him in the lobby.
“Are you done now?”
“Yeah.”
He wasn't that interested in the skins anyway.
He'd already gotten the footage he needed for the video.
It had been fun for a change, but spending too much time in the Arena would slow his growth, so it was right to leave now.
“How's the recording?”
“Hmm….”
Arthur hesitated for a moment before answering.
“It's good. But is it okay to upload this as is?”
“Why?”
“Because your opponent is pretty big.”
Kim Hyun-seong is a fairly successful streamer.
He averages 20,000 to 30,000 viewers and has close ties with rankers.
Because of that, if the video goes up, it could cause a huge stir.
Lee Shin asked, puzzled.
“Isn't that a good thing, then?”
If that was all, it didn't sound bad to Lee Shin. In fact, it was a benefit. At the very least, the promotional effect would be significant.
He could start off his first video by latching onto a big name.
“But the thing is, he's not just famous.”
The problem was that he was recognized as a skilled player even among the rankers.
Lee Shin asked, puzzled.
“Him?”
“Yes.”
“You said he's not even a ranker.”
To Lee Shin, 'anything below ranker = trash'!
It was a statement that would have dumbfounded many users, but Arthur didn't particularly nitpick.
He thought it was only natural for someone like Lee Shin to say such a thing.
“Isn't he just overrated because he's a famous streamer? If he were truly skilled, he'd be a ranker by now.”
“It's more likely because of his stream content. It's mostly the Arena and viewer participation events….”
Meaning it's a difficult situation to both stream and grow his character.
And yet, the fact that he's always at the top of the Arena rankings is why he's so highly regarded.
Lee Shin nodded.
‘I see.’
“That's why it's a problem.”
“Hm?”
“Because you beat him up so badly….”
“Ah….”
But for such a renowned player to be beaten one-sidedly by some unknown user? Logically, it doesn't make sense.
But it actually happened.
People who initially doubted the rumors might soon turn their attention to figuring out Lee Shin's identity.
“What should we do?”
Since it could be a sensitive issue for Lee Shin, who had many enemies, Arthur just left the choice to him.
“Should we just upload it? Or edit it?”
“What would editing do? Just cut out the taunting part at the end?”
“No. If we want to be sure, we'd have to scrap the whole thing. People who want to find it will find it anyway.”
Scrapping the whole thing meant the entire fight with Kim Hyun-seong.
At those words, Lee Shin shook his head.
“Then just upload it.”
“It's no problem for me... but are you sure?”
“Yeah. I don't care either.”
They won't figure it out from this alone, anyway.
His class is different from before, so his fighting style has subtly changed.
Of course, if videos like this keep getting uploaded, someone might eventually notice.
‘That's a problem for later.’
Lee Shin wasn't the type to worry in advance.
Besides, if his current growth rate continued, by the time his identity was revealed, his character would already be well-established.
If so, there would be no need to worry about being checked or retaliated against by opponents.
As long as his level is comparable, he'd have some resistance to being held in check.
He could handle it.
“Or, if things go south, I can just smash through them.”
“Ah, right.”
“……?”
“Ahem….”
…Anyway.
After finishing their talk about the video, Lee Shin headed to the shop.
* * *
The shop was right next to the lobby.
[Remaining tokens can be used to purchase Arena-exclusive skins.]
[Equipping a lobby skin will change the appearance of the lobby.]
[Up to 3 titles can be equipped.]
‘What's available?’
[The types of skins available for purchase are as follows.]
[Cherry Blossom Festival Lobby]
[Celestial Castle Lobby]
[Wildflower Field Lobby]
[Spring Bunny's Lobby]
……
[Title - Will of the Spring Bunny]
[Title - Spring Breeze Starter]
[Title - Scent of Spring]
[Title - Rabbit Hunter]
[…]
[…]
From various lobby skins to title effects that could be attached next to one's ID.
These special effect skins could be purchased with betting tokens.
And their prices were by no means cheap.
The cheapest started at 200 tokens.
[Title - Master of Spring]
[Can be exchanged for 100,000 tokens.]
The most expensive one cost a whopping 100,000.
Lee Shin let out an involuntary, dry laugh at the absurd number.
‘Expensive.’
100,000 tokens.
Since each person started with 100... that was the equivalent of a thousand people.
Despite the high price, the only effect was a flashy appearance, but the reason such luxury items sold was simple.
[This is a limited-time skin. It can only be purchased during the event period.]
[This is a limited-quantity skin. There are 9 remaining.]
They weren't made with cost-effectiveness in mind from the start.
The premium effect!
It was perfect for stimulating the desires of users who were confident in the Arena.
But that wasn't the case for Lee Shin, who was satisfied with just a small taste and left the Arena.
“Let's go.”
* * *
[Equipping gear.]
[You are cursed. Notoriety is fixed at 99,999.]
[The 'Incarnation of Malice' title is locked.]
After coming out, Lee Shin changed his gear and immediately went to find a coachman.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to go. They'll be reviving soon.”
“Who… Ah!”
Several days had already passed since the pirate subjugation quest ended.
It was about time for the users he'd PKed back then to revive, so he had to prepare to leave.
Lee Shin went up to the coachman and spoke.
“Excuse me.”
“Hm?”
“Can I get a ride now?”
Normally, due to his high notoriety, he would have been told to get lost.
But things were different now.
The coachman looked Lee Shin up and down before asking.
“How far are you going?”