181. Her, Her, and Her
181. Her, Her, and Her
***
On the night of the full moon, the fox that appeared atop the mountain peak was utterly peculiar.
So bewitching and mysterious that it was said to possess a "divine aura." The fox spirit, with its strange and otherworldly presence, was known to enchant people with a single glance.
The "Fox Spirit Dance" was a technique originally modeled after the movements of that legendary, mirage-like fox.
Its movements were as elusive as mist slowly scattering in the wind, its form as indistinct as a mirage that vanishes when approached.
Though it had never been selected as an Awakening Skill, its power was so formidable that it became an unfortunate technique saddled with all manner of restrictions on its use.
- Must exchange at least 30 exchanges of offense and defense with the opponent after combat begins.
- Must be at half or less of remaining HP gauge.
- Can only be used at the moment the opponent launches an attack while within a certain distance.
......
A thick pink mist blanketed the entire Colosseum space.
Through the pink mist, Serin's form appeared and vanished like a mirage, over and over.
"What kind of technique is this?"
Trapped within the pink mist, Tepes scanned her surroundings with eyes full of wariness.
Slither.
The pink mist, rippling bewitchingly without pause, kept drawing Tepes's gaze, radiating a dreamlike atmosphere.
Rustle.
As Serin's movements seemed to emerge from the mist yet never quite did, Tepes tried to assess the situation first.
'A technique I've never seen before.'
This wasn't her first time facing a Dancer. She had certainly faced many Dancers, and she had also reviewed Rin's various techniques back when she watched her on NewTube.
And this technique now was one she had never encountered, nor one Rin had ever used.
Probably a non-mainstream technique. Along with the thought that it must have distinct strengths and weaknesses, Tepes couldn't get a read on what kind of technique it was.
Fwoosh.
Suddenly, with a sound like the mist collapsing inward, one section of the thick pink mist receded. There stood Serin with a detached expression, perfectly composed.
Seeing that, Tepes decided that watching the situation further wouldn't reveal anything, and changed her approach to simply launching an attack.
—Grasp of Ruin.
The blood-red melody rippling along Tepes's hand was, in a sense, understated. But the moment she lightly swept her hand and kicked off the ground, a massive blast of wind pressure erupted, enough to instantly disperse the surrounding mist, flaunting the power contained within.
Whooosh!
Erasing the mist in an instant, Tepes surged toward Serin. Like a bolt of lightning, she thrust her blood-red hand forward.
Whoosh!
The pink mist around her split apart in an instant from that simple movement, but Serin, standing in the path of the hand, merely watched Tepes with detached eyes, not moving even then.
Swish!
The blood-red hand, thrust fast enough to pierce through her chest, veered off at the end and struck empty air instead of Serin.
The moment the trajectory shifted, as if Tepes had deliberately not aimed at Serin, Tepes felt an immense sense of wrongness.
'Is this the effect of a technique like this mist?'
Not a single hologram message appeared for mental status effects or status ailments. Which meant the Serin before her now was not an illusion.
Just as she began to wonder why her attack had missed, Tepes's eyes caught Serin's gaze, detached to the point of serenity.
"..."
Above blue eyes that seemed utterly devoid of emotion, a pink tint rested bewitchingly. Having exposed herself defenselessly due to the missed attack, Tepes.
Toward her, Serin finally moved.
Whip!!
Following a small gesture, the Crescent-Moon Weight, wreathed not in blood-red but in pink, wrapped around Tepes's arm in an irregular motion.
Snap!
As the blood-red cord bound Tepes's right arm.
"What—!"
Tepes glared with blood-reddened eyes, yanked hard on her bound hand, and immediately drove her other hand down in a wide strike.
Skreeeech!
With the sound of the cord around her right arm being pulled taut, the cord that had been about to drag her in snapped with a pop.
And Serin's form vanished like a mirage.
Slither.
Immediately after, she appeared abruptly behind Tepes. Tepes spun around a beat too late.
How could she exist behind her after the cord had been severed?
Leaving Tepes's gaze full of disbelief behind her, Serin reached out her hand.
Thunk!
The sharp blade of the Crescent-Moon Weight pierced through Tepes's chest all too easily.
Rustle.
Afterward, the pink mist rapidly faded.
Watching the small-framed woman dissolving into light, Serin blinked once.
—Victory!
—You have been promoted to Master Rank!
—From now on, your rank begins at Master Tier 100 LP.
Through the layers of hologram windows, she soon shook her head vigorously.
With her silver hair disheveled, Serin absently turned on the chat window.
Ding-a-ling!!
For some reason, the chat was in even more of an uproar than usual.
***
Click.
She dragged RinTube's third and fourth videos up at once and pressed the upload button.
Hayoon had uploaded even the fourth file she'd received from Soyul in one go.
On the screen, the upload progress gauge was filling up.
Staring blankly at it, Hayoon let out a small sigh.
"Haa..."
Originally, she had planned to space them out and upload them in order, but while exchanging opinions during the editing process, they had agreed to release them all at once.
Because they had focused so much on video quality, the work had taken far longer, making it an unavoidable choice.
But... no matter how much they focused on quality, uploading a new video only after a week was a serious problem.
"I feel like I caused trouble for Soyul by working so slowly... and Rin must have been disappointed too. Haa... seriously."
Hayoon, speaking in a self-reproaching tone, still felt a deep sense of regret.
The scrim footage against G1 that she'd received from Serin had more and more editing potential the more she watched it.
Even though she'd only edited the team scrim, matches 1 and 2, Hayoon felt it was a shame to fit it all into a single video.
When the work gauge on the screen finally completed, Hayoon finished uploading the video and was about to send a message saying RinTube had been updated, as usual, when she realized it was Serin's streaming time and turned on the tweetie channel.
......
—Ding!
『rain8694 donated 100,000 won!!』
《Master congrats congrats congrats congrats congrats congrats congrats!!》
『nalda donated 100,000 won!!』
《Real pros entering the tier!》
—Thank you to rain and nalda for the 100,000 won donations. I didn't expect you to congratulate me this much on reaching Master Tier... it's honestly amazing.
A gentle voice, a silver-haired character smiling faintly as she expressed her thanks.
It was a face she'd seen countless times while editing videos, and every time she saw it, Rin's lifelike presence was astonishing.
She wondered how her voice and actions could be so natural, and a part of her felt envious.
"Big-name streamers really are on another level, even among big names."
The donation alerts visible the moment she entered the channel were on a different scale from the very first digit.
As a small-time streamer, she had received a large donation during what was effectively her final stream, but those donations and the ones now were very different.
"...Don't be jealous. Kim Hayoon."
As gloomy feelings threatened to rise again, Hayoon quickly shook her head.
Rin doing well was something to be happy about, not something to envy or resent.
She'd shamelessly accepted a bonus, so why was she having such thoughts? Hayoon felt ashamed of herself.
She couldn't even finish work quickly, yet she'd received a big bonus.
And now she was even jealous of donations.
'I'm really trash...'
Smack.
Hayoon lightly slapped her own cheeks with both hands, trying to snap out of it.
[Is it real that she hit Master by fighting a True Ancestor at the end?]
[What kind of promotion series has an opponent like that?]
[The editors are gonna die of happiness, every single day is legendary lmao]
[Haven't the editors been slacking lately?]
[Wow, how many 100k donations have already gone off?]
[I heard RinTube has two editors and they haven't uploaded in almost a week, are they really slacking off?]
[The Master Tier hologram is insane]
The chat's overall sentiment was also largely favorable toward Rin.
Current stream viewers: 14,000.
Considering the stream had only been on for just over an hour, it was an overwhelming viewer count that ranked within the top 10 on tweetie.
When occasional chat messages about the editors appeared, Hayoon absently slapped her own cheek once more.
'Let's really work hard.'
Complaints like that from viewers should be taken as nothing more than affectionate teasing.
Rubbing her slightly stinging cheek, Hayoon spoke with an apologetic expression.
"I feel bad for Soyul."
Because it felt like Soyul was getting insulted along with me because of me.
In the end, it was all my fault for working so slowly.
As she watched the stream, Hayoon found herself typing in chat without realizing it.
Tap-tap-tap.
[RinTube videos just went up... looks like the editors are working?]
Only after pressing Enter did she realize she had typed in chat.
Covering her flushed face with her hands, Hayoon didn't type in the stream chat again.
"Ah. You idiot..."
***
Just playing the game together was enjoyable.
Not only had she met a star as a fan, but she had also exchanged conversation with her, and they had fought a duel fierce enough to be called a heated contest.
She had even landed a hit on Rin.
However.
"...That's not enough to satisfy me."
A glamorous woman with striking mature beauty swept back her jet-black hair and murmured blankly.
That was nowhere near enough to satisfy her.
She wanted to talk more, and the desire to fight again and win was just as strong.
'Competitive spirit?'
Realizing she still had a competitive spirit, the woman wondered how long it had been.
Worn down by reality, she only logged in sporadically, merely maintaining her Master Tier status.
Reality had become too busy for her to play the game seriously like she used to.
She had thought her competitive spirit had long since vanished.
But seeing a player of Rin's caliber just now had set her heart ablaze.
Thus, the woman sat inside the Another World capsule for a moment, replaying the match in her mind.
BaTalk!
At the sound, the woman picked up her smartphone to check.
Manager Jeong.
[Chaeri! You know you have a preview screening to attend at 7 PM, right?]
The woman sent a reply to the confirmation message.
Yoo Chaeri rose from the capsule to prepare for the preview screening.
"Right. We'll meet again someday."
Playing a different version of herself and indulging in escapism had to remain nothing more than a hobby, in the end.
—Louise Tepes.
Real name Yoo Chaeri.
A film actress whose name had risen rapidly over the past year, she had never told anyone that she played Another World.