17. Landing 4 Parries in Midair
17. Landing 4 Parries in Midair
***
"Die!!!"
Serin let out a small laugh at the sight of her opponent throwing himself at her, as if he had been waiting for exactly that moment.
'How can every single one of them act exactly as I expect?'
And this was supposed to be Diamond Tier.
Even as Serin thought that, the tingling sensation she felt in her right hand was undeniably striking.
A parry she had deliberately failed.
The negative effect it had caused.
The feeling was certainly unpleasant. Even though she had failed on purpose, her hand was going numb. The system seemed designed to make her feel, in her very body, exactly what a failed parry meant.
'If the side effects of failure are this severe, I can understand not using parry at all.'
For a moment, she understood why none of the newbies, Outlaws, or streamers she had faced so far had ever attempted a parry.
If she swung the Crescent-Moon Weight in this state, the trajectory would probably warp, and it definitely wouldn't move the way she wanted.
Whoosh!
Conscious of the numbness in her hand from the failed parry, she kept her eyes fixed on the massive pillar that was now bearing down on her from directly ahead, as if it meant to crush her.
The black pillar, wreathed in a deep green glow, looked menacing from the bizarre color combination alone.
"Hoo."
She yanked hard on the golden cord tied to her Crescent-Moon Weight, then caught the weight in her hand as it snapped back.
This tingling sensation, which would probably linger for a while, made it nearly impossible for her to perform delicate maneuvers or send the corded weight flying wherever she wanted.
In that case.
She simply wouldn't send the weight flying.
She could just thrust it out while holding it directly in her hand.
In that split second, Serin finished her thought, kicked off the ground, and moved toward the pillar rushing at her, activating a skill.
Red energy bloomed once more from Serin's toes, signaling the start of the skill.
Each red-wreathed step left a trace behind her.
Everywhere Serin moved, red marks remained.
—Bloodstained Step.
Whoosh!
Serin narrowly twisted her head to avoid the green pillar slamming down as if to crush her, then without hesitation thrust out her right hand.
——!
At that moment, Bulash felt a chill run through him as he faced Serin at such close range, and his body went rigid.
What should he even call it? Bulash simply could not put that moment into words.
He couldn't get a word out.
To put it bluntly, she didn't seem human. Something wearing a human mask.
The instant their eyes met, his mind went blank, as if something had bound him in place. The incomprehensible sensation sent goosebumps crawling over his entire body.
'...I'm going to die.'
Before that ice-cold weight touched his body, that was Bulash's final thought.
......
Afterward, at a distance where their bodies were just short of touching, Serin felt the clear sensation of her weight piercing through something.
"Ghk!"
At the same time, a scream-like sound rang in her ears.
But Serin paid it no mind.
When you killed someone, the important thing was to leave no loose ends and finish cleanly.
And once she had driven the weight into someone with her own hand, she had to be ready to twist it and ram it into his heart to finish the kill.
Because the weight was extremely short compared to other weapons, gripping it directly with her own hand demanded that level of resolve.
If she didn't, then being that close was more dangerous to her than anything else.
She felt slight resistance through her hand—the unmistakable sensation of piercing flesh. Without a moment’s hesitation, Serin was about to twist the weight and drive it deeper—
Suddenly, with a sound like firecrackers going off, a shower of confetti-like celebration filled her vision. Then a burst of light erupted, large enough to cover her entire field of view.
"...?"
She raised her hand hastily to shield her eyes from the light, but the moment she lifted it, the light vanished without a trace. She quickly scanned her surroundings.
'Where's that bizarre bastard?'
Where did he go?
Just as she wondered whether he might be somewhere in a blind spot she hadn't noticed, a hologram at the edge of her vision caught her eye.
—Victory!
'Victory?'
The instant she registered it, the strength drained from the hand holding the weight, and her arm slowly lowered.
"...Right."
Serin relaxed her stance and muttered quietly.
'This was a game.'
Still dazed, she gingerly fiddled with the hand holding the weight.
The tingling from the failed parry had apparently been lifted the moment the duel ended, and her senses had returned to normal.
And the burst of light that had nearly blinded her—she figured it had appeared when the opponent's character vanished.
Without realizing it, she had been too focused.
At some point, she had become so focused on killing him that the thought of merely toying with him had disappeared from her mind.
The player who'd been going on about stomping newbies was already gone.
And now, more than anything about her opponent, Serin was far more troubled by a question about herself.
"He’s not going to end up traumatized or something... right?"
Serin muttered in a slightly trembling voice.
No matter how toxic he was, he was still a person. And she had unconsciously directed that much killing intent at him.
The moment she gripped the weight directly in her hand, like her old self in the world of Black Ark, she had thought—just for an instant—that she was holding a real weapon.
Even though the weight in her hand now clearly felt different from that one, for a moment she had identified with the person she had been in that world.
The more she handled it, the clearer the subtle difference from the Crescent-Moon Weight she had known in that world became.
Light, but subtly different in weight.
"......"
After that, Serin said nothing. With a serious expression, she unequipped the Crescent-Moon Weight. It transformed into light, and the golden cord and weight bound to her right hand vanished.
She slowly clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to feel the sensation.
Different from her real body, but still clearly similar.
Serin tried to remember the sensation of that moment.
The sense of omnipotence she had felt from the power she possessed.
It had been like the greatest drug to her.
Simply having power had intoxicated her, preventing her from seeing what was ahead.
It made her stop thinking of people as people, made her dismiss them as beings beneath her. There had been a time when she was like that.
When she came to this world and had all of that taken from her, she had acted like she had lost her mind.
And now, her in-game character was giving her just the faintest taste of that omnipotence—barely enough to reach her toes.
Clenching her fist just made her feel a little healthier. That was all.
And yet, within that, she had unconsciously swung her weapon in earnest, trying to kill a person.
Because she didn't like the opponent's attitude or behavior. That was a separate issue.
Smack.
She lightly slapped her own cheeks with both hands. All she felt was a faint tickle.
No pain, no sting. Not even that kind of sensation.
"Hoo..."
At that sensation, Serin let out a long breath, as if relieved.
"It's a game."
Right. It's a game. Don't overthink it.
————
[Iron Tier 2 —> Bronze Tier 5]
—1350 LP —> 1500 LP
—Additional bonus LP has been awarded for the ongoing win streak.
————
She closed the other hologram that was blocking her view at the edge of her vision, then slowly went through the process of disconnecting from Another World.
Soon, the familiar sensation wrapped around her, and her vision faded to black once more.
————————
As her vision filled with the cozy darkness inside the capsule that enveloped her—
"...Haaah."
She slowly let out an audible breath.
She leaned against the capsule and stayed still, trying to feel her own body.
There was nothing wrong with her senses.
She clearly understood that this was not that world, that this was reality, and her thoughts were flowing naturally.
What else could she do to become more aware of this reality? She thought for a moment, and the answer came easily.
"Should I go outside?"
She could just go outside.
After falling into this world, she had been holed up at home the whole time. If she stopped that and went outside to walk around the streets a bit, it might help clear her head.
And so, Han Serin's first outing in this world was decided.
***
A tweetie big-name streamer with 700,000 followers.
Ranked 8th in Another World, enjoying worldwide popularity.
A name that was both her tweetie streamer nickname and her Another World nickname.
'Plea.'
In crude terms, she was a woman called a 'crazy bitch.'
The reason she was called that was simple, and it was literally this:
For years now, she had been living like a madwoman for Another World.
Another World was, by any measure, the number-one game—the dominant game, the game that kept sweeping all kinds of records. So of course, there were plenty of people besides Plea who were obsessed with it.
A week, a month, several months.
There were more people than one might think who played Another World obsessively for that kind of stretch.
But very few people could match Plea’s sheer amount of playtime.
Plea. In real life, her name was 'Yoon Sua.' In the three years since Another World launched, she had never once played the game for less than ten hours a day.
Aside from eating, shitting, and sleeping, she lived for Another World and nothing else—someone genuinely crazy about Another World.
For three straight years, she had truly lived like a madwoman for the game called Another World.
That was why her most famous nickname was 'crazy bitch.'
Naturally, living with nothing but the game had wrecked Yoon Sua’s relationships, and the people around her had even tried several times to drag her away from it by force.
In fact, Yoon Sua hadn't even been the type of woman who normally enjoyed games, so the acquaintances and family who had been close to her couldn't understand her living like a madwoman for Another World.
......
Ding-dong!
At the sound of the bell, Yoon Sua gripped one trembling hand with the other.
Her gaze wandered restlessly, making her look visibly anxious.
Click.
"Hello?"
A relatively young woman in white clothing greeted Yoon Sua brightly.
"Yes... take care."
Sua's reply to the greeting came out oddly.
Then she slowly moved her feet and stepped out of the house. The woman in white accepted it without any reaction.
At that moment, the woman quickly scanned the interior.
The inside, visible through the open door, was so messy it resembled a garbage dump.
The woman in white belonged to a cleaning agency that came periodically to clean, and her name was 'Joo Yerin.'
"It should take about five hours."
Yerin spoke quietly to Sua, who was about to step out the door, as if she had finished her estimate within those few seconds.
"Is that so!?"
At the woman's words, Sua suddenly lifted her head as if she had regained her energy. Yerin smiled and replied, "Yes, that should be about right."
Yerin’s bright smile despite the garbage dump inside looked almost surreal.
But the one paying the money is the boss.
That was a truth that held across all eras.
And the amount Sua paid Yerin through the cleaning agency each month easily exceeded what most part-time jobs paid.
That was why, no matter how much the inside looked like a garbage dump, Yerin could smile and greet her.
"Go get some rest."
Yerin's soft words, directed at Sua as she passed by.
"Yes!"
Sua answered energetically, and the door closed.
Click.
As if crossing paths, Yerin stepped inside at the same moment Sua stepped out of the house.
Reflexively, Sua picked up her smartphone and began searching for a nearby café.
The trembling hands and anxious symptoms had vanished as if they had never existed.
She looked like an ordinary, nicely dressed college student.
Even her slow steps were endlessly natural.
And so, Sua began walking toward the café, playing another version of herself.
At the same time, she turned on NewTube and started rewatching a video she had liked.
"The moment that character Rin executed that parry—look at the eye movement more than anything else. She keeps watching the opponent's weapon, and as if she predicted the projectile's trajectory, she twists her head and moves in an instant. That's really, wow... I can't help but admire it even as I rewatch it. That's something that can't be achieved with an ordinary person's reflexes..."
On Sua's smartphone, a NewTube video was playing—a complete analysis of the user 'Rin,' who had recently become a huge topic in Another World.
Parrying? Dodging? She could do that much with ease herself.
But more than those things, there was one topic Sua had been agonizing over the most recently.
'Four parries in midair.'
Pulling off four consecutive parries in midair—even Sua herself, who was firmly among the 'rankers' in Another World, could barely imagine it.
"Can I... do it?"