48. A Real Monster
48. A Real Monster
***
The heavy, massive clash of force against force as two enormous weapons—greatsword against greatsword—met.
Greatsword versus greatsword was also one of the most popular matchups.
But in the clash between Serin and Kang Hyeok, that kind of feeling didn't exist.
No, it couldn't exist.
Just as applause only makes sound when two hands meet, the same was true of blade against blade.
—Clang!!
Kang Hyeok's massive greatsword and Serin's greatsword collided, throwing off a shower of sparks.
It looked as though he meant to force a contest of strength, shoving forward with brutal pressure.
But the instant the blades met and sparks flew, Rin quickly stepped back and deftly twisted the angle of her gripped sword.
As if letting Kang Hyeok's force slide right past her.
—Skreeeech!!
Kang Hyeok's greatsword scraped roughly across Serin's claymore as though slipping off it. From the recoil, Serin kept her footing while retreating a couple of steps.
Having his massive greatsword deflected like that threw Kang Hyeok's stance off, if only for a moment, and he shifted his posture as if hurling his whole body forward, throwing himself at her.
Compared to the beginning, when he had tried to block attacks by the book, he was now charging in with a kill-or-be-killed mentality, and Serin found the sight absurd.
So she chose to keep chipping away with small, probing attacks.
Thunk!
Serin's greatsword mercilessly slashed Gosu's leg once again. Realizing it, Gosu grimaced deeply.
Trying to defend with a greatsword wasn't a good idea. A greatsword simply had too many blind spots to cover every angle.
So he abandoned defense and committed to attacking even more frantically. Kang Hyeok changed his approach accordingly.
***
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Greatsword met greatsword in a rapid chain of strikes.
Wielding such a massive greatsword so freely was itself a kind of catharsis for anyone watching.
Even as the one on the receiving end of those attacks, Serin couldn't help but admire Gosu's form.
His movements were clean. He controlled his strength remarkably well—even while swinging that enormous greatsword, his stance showed no real disruption.
'That could've been dangerous.'
If he could use skills, she probably would've been put at a disadvantage immediately. The opposing player's mastery of the greatsword was that polished.
On top of that, before the duel he'd seemed easily ruled by his emotions, but now he was watching her with deeply sunken eyes.
A completely different person.
Even Serin had never seen someone whose personality and sword style differed so drastically.
Maybe that was why fighting people felt fairly new to Serin.
Because a person, in and of themselves, was a "variable."
Everyone had their own style and their own aims. Even when learning the same techniques or using the same weapon, each person ultimately developed their own distinct form.
What they'd focused on, what weapons they'd trained with, the particular personality they brought to handling a weapon—all of it inevitably surfaced after a few exchanges.
And the biggest impression she got while crossing blades with the player called Gosu was how different his outward personality was from his actual sword style.
When he blocked my attacks, his defense was completely textbook. But whenever he attacked, he swung his sword with thoroughly unorthodox movements.
—Unorthodox.
That pursuit of the unorthodox, in particular, felt novel.
Outwardly he seemed to have a fiery temperament, and he'd actually fallen for her provocations easily, but the moment he took up his greatsword, Gosu's whole aura changed.
Like right now, for example.
Given the nature of a greatsword, the direction it was heading was, despite its massive appearance, easier to predict than one might think.
Which meant the opponent could predict that attack.
She'd expected that with his fiery personality, he'd swing wide or launch straightforward, rigid attacks.
Instead, before swinging, he'd rotate his body, or charge in hard and shove with his armor while hiding the sword behind him, cleverly concealing the greatsword's attack direction in a bizarre fighting style.
And then, at the end of it, he'd explosively swing the blade in an instant.
"...Hup!"
In the end, she watched the massive greatsword, opened as much distance as possible, and barely managed to block it.
Clang!
The moment they collided, anyone could see Serin's arm get shoved back hard.
One thing was certain: in raw strength, she was completely outmatched. So she used the force against her, letting the recoil send her greatsword outward as she turned her body and moved with it.
Step, step.
Serin's feet lightly touched the ground two or three times, and as she spun quickly in a full circle, she swung the rebounding greatsword wide, letting it follow the momentum.
The greatsword traced a near-360-degree rotation, arcing around in the opposite direction.
'It connected.'
It was already too late for him to raise his greatsword and block my blade.
Once I realized Gosu had no way to block my blade, I thought this would end it—
Thunk!
The greatsword sank in.
Not cutting the opponent.
Literally sinking in.
The instant she registered that, she yanked the greatsword out and hurriedly guarded her body.
Thud! At the same moment Serin's greatsword was pulled free, a massive greatsword literally smashed into her.
Clang!
At the sensation of her whole body seeming to shake, Serin blinked and stared blankly ahead.
She and Kang Hyeok were rapidly separating.
And right now, she was floating in midair.
A strange tingling ran through her whole body. It seemed to mean she'd effectively taken a full-body hit.
'If I'd aimed my sword just a little more precisely, that would've been instant death.'
And she hadn't expected the opponent to gamble by giving up flesh to take bone.
The insane move of offering his shoulder and swinging his sword anyway.
Boom!
After that, Serin flew into the Colosseum wall as if being slammed into it, then quickly dropped to the floor.
"...That's ridiculous."
Even as she picked herself up, she checked her HP, and sure enough, her HP hadn't changed.
Because she'd definitely blocked the attack with her greatsword.
But then what the hell did I look like right now?
Grabbing her greatsword, Serin let out a blank laugh.
......
"She blocked that...?"
When his all-or-nothing attack was blocked, Kang Hyeok muttered in disbelief.
There truly was no monster like this one.
People often called Plea a crazy bitch, but he felt like the real crazy bitch wasn't her—it was right here.
In Kang Hyeok's eyes, the player called Rin looked like a monster beyond common sense.
Her effortless movement, reflexes pushed to the limit, split-second judgment—and the almost artful way she had somehow stopped even that final desperate strike—were enough to make him laugh hollowly.
He glanced down at the wound where the sword had pierced him. It was rapidly regenerating thanks to the Berserker Class passive, but his HP gauge now only had about 30% left.
Watching the silver-haired woman walking slowly toward him from across the arena, Kang Hyeok unconsciously let out a small sigh.
Not being able to use skills felt like a heavy shackle crushing his chest.
To settle this with fundamentals alone, or with greatsword technique alone—his opponent was a natural-born monster of mechanics.
Just trading attacks left him feeling breathless; he couldn't see a single opening anywhere.
"...Was this what she was aiming for?"
For a moment, he wondered if the person called Rin had deliberately said those things to keep him from using skills. But soon Kang Hyeok shook his head.
Still, he doubted she had planned that far ahead.
And considering how suddenly the duel had been set up, he figured it really was just a coincidence.
"Is that a passive?"
Serin asked, watching Kang Hyeok's wound slowly heal. No matter how she looked at it, a wound regenerating that fast seemed like cheating.
"Well, it's a skill I can't turn off even if I try."
Kang Hyeok nodded at Serin's question.
"No, I didn't mean to blame you. I've just never run into the Berserker class before."
With that, Serin raised her claymore high again.
Kang Hyeok also began gripping his greatsword with force.
But the way he looked at Serin had changed completely—a full 180 degrees from when the duel had started.
'This person is the real deal.'
And he strongly felt that most high-ranked players wouldn't even be able to put up a proper fight against her.
"You're not... an alt character or something, are you?"
Then, suddenly, a certain player came to mind, and Kang Hyeok asked without thinking.
The immensely popular core player of the ACK League's first-place team.
The current Rank 1. She had come to mind.
Her signature playstyle was quite different, but he really did wonder.
Maybe she was hiding her identity with an alt character, just like him.
"What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?"
But at Serin's reply, asking what random nonsense he was talking about, Kang Hyeok gave a small shake of his head.
"No, it's nothing..."
He'd blurted it out on impulse, but this wasn't the place to discuss such things. Thinking he'd have to talk it over through Plea later, Kang Hyeok raised his sword high.