PVP (2)
"Hey!"
From far off, Choi Soo-ho came sauntering closer, waving with a swaggering gait, his arrogance stabbing clear up at the sky.
He got here faster than I expected.
Woobin smacked his lips, intrigued. Had the man actually managed to dig up an item worth 4 million runes? Or was he planning to show up with some cheap junk and haggle for a price match? Judging by his expression, the answer seemed already decided—and right on cue, Choi Soo-ho split his lips into a grin and opened his mouth.
"Don't tell me you're chickening out and running off just because I said we'd do it right now?"
Old habits die hard, as they say—his speech had gone curt again.
Elid's system adhered to the law of survival of the fittest with cold, dispassionate precision. Out here in the wild, there was exactly one kind of person who could afford that kind of arrogance: a genius so far above everyone else that he never needed to read the room. And every last one of those bastards had been insufferable.
Ding—
Demonic Sword: Gigantis equipped.
The heavy greatsword tumbled end over end under gravity and thudded into the ground. Sss—a black haze rose from the blade.
"Yeah, that's more like it."
The moment Woobin picked the weapon up, Choi Soo-ho flashed a grin and fired off a message.
Ding—
Hero Choi Soo-ho has requested PVP.
Do you accept?
Set Reward:Ring of Blazing Energy
(Please set an item worth at least 3,800,000 runes.)
Woobin's expression sank into ice.
The Ring of Blazing Energy...
He knew that item. An S-grade hidden item that increased all damage dealt by 50% for as long as the wearer's HP stayed above 90%.
Fuck.
That ring had originally been his. He could still see it, vivid as yesterday—the moment it was slid off his finger during the betrayal in that dungeon.
So why was it in that bastard's hands? Simple coincidence? No. Woobin was certain.
He got it from those bastards.
Killing intent kindled in Woobin's eyes. One thing had just been confirmed beyond all doubt: no guild handed out S-rank equipment to just any member. Which meant that guy was someone the guild was actively grooming. His plan to merely crush the man had just changed.
"What's the matter? Scared?"
Whether he knew of Woobin's fury or not, Choi Soo-ho smirked and taunted him. Woobin didn't bother answering. From here on out, showing it through action would say more than any words.
Ding—
PVP accepted.
Whoosh—
A curtain of blue light rose up around Woobin and Choi Soo-ho.
Ding—
PVP will begin in 10 minutes.
Please click the Confirm button once you are ready.
Ding—
Your opponent is ready.
As the system windows bloomed into view, silence fell. The wind that had filled the clearing, the rustling melody of drifting leaves—none of it could be heard anymore. There was only Choi Soo-ho's figure, visible beyond the transparent barrier. He pointed ahead with his index finger, muttering something; from the look of it, a signal to press the ready button.
I was hoping to hold back. No helping it, then.
Woobin brushed the taunt aside without a second glance and opened his status window. The space that had just been generated was the waiting room granted before every PVP match—time normally spent doping, or setting up PVP-exclusive skill cards and rune stones.
Ding—
Runes Held: 4,056,648
Woobin stared at the message and thought. He had meant to hoard those runes against whatever might come. But the plan had changed. If he wanted to trample that bastard without relying on Fist Strike, an investment was required.
Vitality: 42 → 43
Increase Vitality by 1 for 26,601 runes?
Vitality has increased by 1.
Woobin opened his status window on the spot and began pumping stats. At his current level, a single point cost nearly twenty thousand runes.
Vitality: 43 → 44
Increase Vitality by 1 for 31,601 runes?
Vitality has increased by 1.
The value had climbed by exactly one, yet the price had jumped by some five thousand. There was a limit to how far runes could push a stat.
It was 50.
If Woobin remembered right, 50 was where the efficiency curve peaked.
Ding—
Raise all stats for 3,117,070 runes?
[ YES ] / [ NO ]
Once every stat reached 50, the total came up. Three point one million runes—enough to kit himself out with an S-rank piece of armor on the spot. Woobin's hand didn't waver for a second.
Ding—
All stats have increased.
Ding—
Title: 3rd Batch Hero
Level: 125
HP: 2,120 / 2,120
MP: 180 / 180
Stamina: 181 / 181
A sense of fullness welled up from somewhere deep in his chest, and power came boiling up with it. With this, he had wrung out every last drop of what runes could give him. There was no longer any reason to leave unallocated points sitting idle.
What do I raise?
Woobin stroked his chin, lost in thought. Now that it came to actually spending them, he hesitated. Originally, he had planned to dump everything into Vitality and Constitution—he'd figured that as long as his survival was guaranteed, Fist Strike alone could sweep the board. But the plan had changed. He needed the balance to pin that bastard down.
What did the Fist Saint invest in?
The Martial Artist—widely reviled as the worst class of all. And yet at its very peak stood a single figure. Woobin had never met the man himself, but everyone who had watched his PVP matches said much the same thing.
"He was absurdly fast. But then he ate one hit from the Sword Saint and dropped on the spot."
"Way too crude—no wonder they call the class garbage. Still, that speed alone was fucking unreal."
Fast. So fast that spectators swore he vanished from sight between one instant and the next.
Because of the short reach?
That much, Woobin could roughly understand. By the nature of fists, reach was drastically shorter than any other weapon. To make up for it, you would need speed enough to move two, three times for every single movement your opponent made. And the stat that governed speed was Dexterity.
Dexterity it is.
Decision made, Woobin opened the stat window.
Dexterity: 50 → 53
Increase Dexterity by 1 for 784,803 runes?
Dexterity has increased by 3.
He burned through every last remaining rune raising Dexterity, then invested all 124 of his accumulated unallocated points on top.
Ding—
Dexterity: 53 → 177(+124)
For an instant, dizziness washed over him as though the earth and sky had traded places.
Thump—thump—
His heart raced—then, with a crisp snap, his muscles coiled tight. It was a sensation he had never known before. Less like being filled with power than like being made lighter.
Just how fast have I become?
Before the betrayal, Woobin's Dexterity had been 60. Even his highest stat back then, Vitality, had never once crossed 100. And now his raw stats—without a single item bonus—had reached a staggering 177. Just what kind of performance would that buy him?
Thump—thump—
His heart hammered at this long-awaited moment of proof.
"Let's go."
Woobin clicked the system window hanging in midair—
Preparation complete.
PVP is beginning.
and the transparent barrier before him dissolved.
Ding—
Your opponent has completed preparation.
PVP is beginning.
Sss—
The blue barrier blocking his view melted away.
What the hell is with that bastard?
Choi Soo-ho narrowed his eyes, staring Woobin down.
Sss—
A sinister haze bled from the Demonic Sword in Woobin's hand. But that was all.
Clatter—clatter—
His lower armor rattled loose as though it had given everything it had, and his tangled hair hung so wretchedly it half-veiled his eyes. Even a slave begging in the city streets would have looked cleaner than this. And yet—what the hell was this?
⊳ Kang Woobin:Fenrir's Saddle(Estimated Value: 4,800,000 runes)
⊳ Choi Soo-ho:Ring of Blazing Energy(Estimated Value: 3,800,000 runes)
Fenrir?
Fenrir—the legendary spirit beast that commanded the wind, one of only three supreme-grade mounts in all of Elid. So how had that guy come to possess one? And on top of that, 4 million runes from who knows where?
Did that bastard really kill Do Minjun...?
Impossible fact after impossible fact just kept lining up behind Hwa Minseo's words.
It doesn't make sense.
But no matter how he turned it over, nothing added up. A monster strong enough to kill Do Minjun should have made a name for himself somewhere—Soo-ho should have heard of him at least once. Besides, a monster like that wandering around looking like a beggar made no sense to begin with.
Choi Soo-ho shook his head and lowered his stance. Now was not the time for doubt.
Crush him first.
All he had to do was stomp that bastard flat and take the prize! Choi Soo-ho slammed every ounce of strength into the earth and shot toward Woobin like a bolt.
Whoosh—
Choi Soo-ho spread his legs wide and swung his sword—a vertical slash gunning for the shoulder.
Clang!
With a bright ring of steel, a shield bash followed.
Thud!
Boom-boom-boom-boom—
Just as Woobin's body was being battered helplessly backward, whoosh—a single, killing overhead blow came crashing down, as if to cleave him in two.
CRASH!
The earth split apart beneath Woobin's braced legs and drove them down into the fissure.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A clean, relentless chain of strikes followed without pause. That wasn't a duel. It was a hunt.
Yes! That's it!
Seo Hee-bin's eyes sparkled at the sight.
"Wow... that's fucking insane."
"Isn't that man going to die...? Someone should stop this."
Beside Seo Hee-bin, the rookie heroes stood with their jaws hanging open, unable to contain their awe at Choi Soo-ho's power.
This actually works out even better.
Seo Hee-bin curled her lips as she recalled Choi Soo-ho's proposal. When he had abruptly asked to borrow the Ring of Blazing Energy, she'd thought the bastard had finally lost his mind. But that had been a misjudgment. To pull off something this cunning... Just look at those rookies, eyes gleaming—they'd come running on their own, no effort required. Everything was unfolding beautifully.
"You don't have to lie to me. That man is your guild member, isn't he? Trusting him with the Demonic Sword and all—you two must be pretty close. Shouldn't you be stopping this? Even if he doesn't die, it's going to hurt."
Seo Hee-bin smirked and whispered to Hwa Minseo. Hwa Minseo gave no reply, her gaze fixed steadily on the two men fighting.
"You're not seriously thinking he'll win, are you?"
At Seo Hee-bin's smirk, Hwa Minseo's eyes narrowed.
"Well, I suppose we won't know until it's over."
"Pfft—"
Seo Hee-bin clapped a hand over her mouth at the laugh that slipped out before she could stop it.
"Ah, sorry. My voice cracked."
She couldn't hold back the laughter that kept welling up.
I can finally buy Fenrir.
It had been five years since she'd sworn to get one. Every item that came into her hands, she'd sold off to her guildmates; she'd skimped even on her doping potions, scraping the runes together by hook and by crook. And after all that, her life savings came to roughly 1.8 million runes. Yet this single PVP match would hand her 2.3 million? She was overjoyed. She couldn't keep the smile down.
I'm done living like this.
Once she had her Fenrir, the penny-pinching would be over for good. All the item shopping she'd denied herself, all the way through to her skill card work—she intended to do every last bit of it.
But that happiness didn't last long.
"Huh? What the..."
Because an incomprehensible scene was playing out in Seo Hee-bin's field of vision.
"Haah—haah—"
Choi Soo-ho—who had clearly been winning, no, who had to be winning—was gasping for breath, blood streaming down him.