230. A Situation No One Expected
230. A Situation No One Expected
***
Eunha briefly tried to think of another NewTube channel, but nothing came to mind.
Just keeping up with RinTube and the live streams lately was already enough to fill her days, so she hadn't watched any other NewTube and couldn't think of one.
But she couldn't bring herself to say RinTube, not after what she'd already said.
Then, by chance, a thought crossed her mind.
The person who had connected her with Serin.
"Plea's NewTube."
After a brief hesitation, Eunha answered in a composed tone, and Seola's face went blank with surprise.
"...Plea's NewTube?"
She couldn't help asking again.
"Yeah."
When Eunha answered calmly, Seola blinked vacantly.
It was an answer she truly hadn't expected at all.
'Was Eunha interested in Plea?'
Plea was definitely one of the top rankers whose name was known even among pros.
For the past two years, Plea was a user whose nickname had settled into the top ten every Another World season, so she knew Plea too.
When you played ranked, you ran into Plea constantly, so how could she not know?
But the fact that Eunha watched Plea's NewTube sounded incredibly unfamiliar.
As far as Seola remembered, Plea's streaming style was the complete opposite of Eunha's personality, which preferred a quiet atmosphere.
"Thanks for telling me, Eunha. Anyway, I guess Plea's skills looked decent to you too?"
At Seola's curious question, Eunha answered noncommittally.
"Rankings don't lie."
Seeing Eunha talk about rankings, Seola briefly wondered if she was bragging.
After all, Eunha was the person who had held the undisputed number-one spot every Another World season.
"Right. Ah, then I'll really get going. Eunha! Rest well."
Click.
With that exchange over, Seola left the room.
Watching Seola's retreating figure, Eunha blinked with a subtle expression.
'Doesn't really matter.'
She'd ended up lying unintentionally, but she didn't mind.
There was no real reason to hide the fact that she watched Serin's streams, but sharing that with a teammate stirred up a strong sense of resistance.
Maybe it was because she knew Seola had lately been trying hard to close the distance between them. If she accepted, it felt like Seola would use Serin's streams as an excuse to approach her every single day.
Swish.
Eunha cut off her thoughts and picked up the tablet she'd set face down. The moment she unmuted it, she suddenly heard something that puzzled her.
—You came because... you're confident, right?
A cold, icy voice from Serin that she'd never heard before.
Her confusion at the voice lasted only a moment before she noticed that Serin's appearance on the screen was far from normal.
From her limp left arm, blood was flowing out and staining her white light armor red, and in the distance at the edge of the view, a user with a red border she'd never seen before was visible.
Eunha realized at once what the red border meant.
【Outlaw】
The moment she registered the Outlaw's presence, Eunha's eyes narrowed sharply.
'Since when?'
Just moments ago, when Seola had shown her the tablet, there had been nothing particularly unusual.
Serin had been floating in the air against the hellfire-breathing Cerberus, showing off a new skill.
But in the brief interval since then, something had gone badly wrong.
The unexpected variable of an Outlaw had been added.
And the fact that the border was that vivid even from a great distance meant this was one of those notoriously infamous Outlaws.
"An Outlaw showing up at the Ancient Temple."
She truly couldn't understand it.
The hunting ground where top-tier users appeared was the 'Ancient Temple of the Arch Lich.' It was fundamentally a party hunting ground, making it difficult for Outlaws to appear.
More than anything, depending on a user's settings, Outlaws couldn't appear at all.
If you set your channel to private, outside intruders could be completely blocked when entering a dungeon.
"Serin, you didn't set it to private?"
Eunha muttered blankly, unable to comprehend.
Combined with the Outlaw attack in the Dwarf's Cave last time, she suspected Serin had left her channel public.
The very fact that an Outlaw was visible like that meant there was an opening for them to enter.
[Outlaw??]
[Wow that's so scummy, seriously, they're sabotaging this?]
[Did Rin not set it?]
[Looks like she didn't set it to private...]
[First the Dwarf's Cave and now this, what's with Outlaws showing up around Rin? Did someone mark her coordinates or something?]
[Sniper Outlaws have seriously lost all conscience;]
Eunha checked the chat to understand the situation and was dumbfounded.
And at that moment.
BANG!
A massive gunshot loud enough to tear through the ears rang out, and a blood-red trajectory slashed across the space.
The blood-red trajectory, drawing a line so huge that you could feel it was a sniper shot from a great distance, looked vivid.
KEEEEEEK!
And at that moment, the Cerberus with both heads severed was charging toward Serin in front of it,
FZZZT!
and the Arch Lich's magic was forming a massive light at a point in the air.
As every threat entered her view simultaneously, Eunha unconsciously held her breath and stared at the screen.
'The situation is too bad.'
Judging by Serin's limp left arm, as if she'd allowed the Outlaw to land a hit, the situation was as close to the worst as it could get.
In a crisis no different from desperate straits,
—!
A pure white light burst forth like an explosion and brightly illuminated the temple.
***
Just as she was about to finish off the Cerberus after a fierce struggle, breaking through the Arch Lich's magic.
BANG!
At the gunshot that echoed loudly through the temple interior, Serin instinctively twisted her body.
THUNK!
A chilling sound of something piercing through rang out, and Serin's body was lifted into the air.
"..."
While floating in the air, Serin stared blankly at her shoulder.
She could see it spreading with dark blood, and belatedly, a stinging sensation shot from her left shoulder.
That sensation meant she'd allowed an attack to land.
It was definitely not an attack from the Arch Lich or the Cerberus.
'A gunshot?'
Dazedly questioning, Serin checked the notification occupying a corner of her vision.
Ding!
[Outlaw 'Lyudmila' is approaching you.]
The moment she confirmed the notification, Serin's red eyes sank coldly.
THUD! Rumble-rumble-rumble!
Having taken a hit from the sniper round and been sent flying, Serin's body tumbled across the ground, and just before crashing into the wall at the end, she forcefully kicked off the ground.
Thwack!
Then, in the distant view, she saw the Outlaw wreathed in a red border.
Crunch.
Along with the sound of grinding teeth, Serin's expression rapidly went cold.
At the same time, her left arm felt abnormally heavy.
The left arm that should have been gripping the cord connected to the Crescent-Moon Weight and controlling it showed no response, as if it had lost all function.
Realizing she'd been hit not by an ordinary sniper shot but by some kind of skill, fury surged up inside her.
The attack had come as if aimed precisely at the moment she was about to finish off the Cerberus, and she could feel the immense malice behind it.
"You came because... you're confident, right?"
Her voice, cold beyond measure, rang out.
BANG!
As if answering, another massive gunshot echoed.
The blood-red trajectory entered Serin's vision clearly.
At the same time, the Cerberus charging at her as if coordinating its timing, and the cluster of light forming right in front of her.
Perceiving the threats closing in from three directions, Serin coldly twisted her lips.
'This is really ridiculous.'
As if demanding she show every skill she had, the situation was flowing in a strange direction.
And Serin didn't refuse it.
The condition of being in danger while facing multiple opponents had long since been met.
—!
A pure white light burst from the Crescent-Moon Weight and brightly illuminated the space, and aware of her limp left shoulder, Serin moved differently than before.
Since she couldn't grip the cord, as if putting strength into it instead, she twisted her waist sharply and, using only her right hand gripping the Crescent-Moon Weight, drew a great diagonal line and unleashed a skill.
—Moon-Demon Heaven-Slashing.
As a massive light that seemed capable of splitting the entire temple slashed across the space, Serin instantly turned her head.
Through the silver hair swaying with the motion, the red bullet grazed past her hair by a wide margin. Even at that precarious moment with the bullet passing right beside her head, Serin didn't blink.
She simply filled both eyes with the result produced by the light she had unleashed.
As the diagonal line of light crossed the space and passed through the Cerberus's massive body, the Cerberus's one remaining head was perfectly severed, and the cluster of light cast by the Arch Lich split apart and dissipated just before the spell could complete.
Ding!
Leaving behind the golden notification that appeared, Serin took a step without hesitation and unleashed another skill.
—Moonlight Step.
A massive light burst forth, and she shot forward as if riding the light itself.
『Where do you think you're going!』
The Arch Lich spat out in a fierce voice, trying to stop her, but she didn't spare it a glance.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
As light gathered on the Arch Lich's staff, countless bombardments rained down along Serin's path, mercilessly sweeping through the space. But she evaded every spell like a mysterious acrobat, and now she held only one thing in her view.
The gradually sharpening figure of the red border and the rapidly closing distance.
BANG!
In an instant, the massive anti-materiel sniper rifle spat fire and shot at Serin, and Serin suddenly swung her right hand in a wide arc.
CLANG!
As the light burst from a successful parry and a clear sound rang out, Serin burst through the brilliant light and shot toward the Outlaw as if accelerating.
At that, the Outlaw who had launched the surprise attack, Lyudmila, hastily unleashed a skill.
—Bullet Time.
As a blue wave passed through her body and the world seemed to stop.
Turning the muzzle to aim at Serin, Lyudmila couldn't understand what she was seeing.
'This is insane.'
The moment Bullet Time was activated, no class should have had reaction speed surpassing a Gunner's.
Bullet Time was a skill designed to let the Gunner Class, which lacked mobility skills, react one step faster than other classes' mobility skills.
But Rin now seemed to be reacting within that slowed time.
Rin's right hand, moving in sync with the turning muzzle, was chilling just to watch.