69. A Mysterious Stream Shutdown
69. A Mysterious Stream Shutdown
***
—Clang!
A clear sound rang out, and the distinctive effect that appeared on a successful parry burst forth.
But the result of that parry was far from what Serin had expected.
"...!?"
Serin hastily covered herself.
—Boom!
Even though the parry had succeeded, the arrow she had deflected exploded anyway. But there was no damage as expected.
She could feel the parry's effect had been applied, but she still ended up being pushed back by the blast's aftermath.
And the archer who witnessed Serin's parry was horrified.
"Holy shit..."
A parry that was unbelievable even when seen up close. Before the archer could even think, they instinctively reached toward the ground.
Pop! Fwoosh!
Something burst from the archer's hand with a small explosion, and white smoke billowed out in rapid succession, quickly blanketing the area.
The cave, which had momentarily brightened, transformed as if by magic into a space where you couldn't see an inch ahead, filled with the thick white smoke the archer had created.
Deep darkness and white smoke.
The combination of the two instantly trapped the archer and Serin in their embrace.
"..."
And now, using a skill that erased their presence, the archer was carefully moving, trying to escape as quickly as possible—unlike when they had first attacked Serin.
Knowing that Rin had a knack for parrying, loading an explosive arrow from the start had been a good call. It had gone as they expected. But the sight of her parrying that arrow, fired from practically point-blank range, was shocking in itself.
Thanks to the parry's effect, she probably hadn't taken any damage from the explosion either. The archer made a quick judgment.
'I can never win this.'
And so the archer walked stealthily through the smoke.
They hadn't approached Serin with any plan from the start.
They were just one of those common toxic users who had been party-hunting with outlaws they knew in the Dwarf's Cave, taking a break and watching Rin's stream.
They didn't bear any particular malice toward Serin.
They'd just had the stream on to listen to Rin's voice like a radio.
But when they saw her casually showing off an item that some people hadn't gotten even after months of hunting—as if getting it by sheer luck wasn't enough—they got pissed off in the moment and switched channels to find Rin.
They'd luckily found Serin after switching through only a few of the hundreds of channels, but from that encounter alone the archer naturally realized they were no match for Rin.
Playing the game as an outlaw meant having confidence in your skills, but it also meant knowing how to protect yourself thoroughly.
The image of Rin parrying a shot from extremely close range was seared vividly into the archer's mind.
'...Let's just run.'
They moved with extreme care, barely even breathing.
"How did you find me?"
Suddenly, an exceedingly soft, beautiful voice was heard.
At Serin's gentle voice, which sounded as if she were inviting conversation, the archer flinched for a moment, thinking their position had been discovered. But when they looked around, they couldn't see her.
They soon ignored Serin's words.
And so, as if blending into the white smoke.
The archer, moving their feet so stealthily, had only one thought.
'I need to get out of here fast.'
They couldn't afford to die as an outlaw.
`Buff Archer Please` had no intention of dealing with that penalty right now.
The death penalty in outlaw status was far too severe.
The penalty for attacking users like prey as an 'outlaw' was never light.
Another World Company didn't directly prevent user actions or restrict free behavior. Instead, they played a different card.
They'd shifted the system to make being an outlaw itself something to avoid.
They'd simply slapped a monstrous penalty on outlaws, as if to say, "Go ahead and try it if you're confident you can handle the consequences."
A simple and all-too-direct penalty.
—Another World access ban.
First one day, then three days, then a week. Then the final stage: a full month-long access ban.
Being completely blocked from connecting and unable to play the game.
For `Buff Archer Please`, whose life was the game and whose game was life, spending all day on Another World, that was a punishment more terrifying than anything.
They were even a 'farming for cash' user, covering their living expenses through Another World right now.
Swish.
Swish.
The white smoke kept brushing against the archer's body, subtle little sensations wrapping around them.
The thick smoke that erased their presence—unlike ordinary smoke, it was heavy and did not dissipate easily.
It was quite expensive for use in escaping, taking cover, or getting through a crisis, but the archer used it without hesitation.
And so, as the archer crept along as if fleeing, just when they began to hope they'd be out soon—
—Whoosh!
A blood-red Crescent-Moon Weight appeared, piercing through the white smoke that blanketed everything in one stroke.
***
Serin, pushed back by the explosive arrow's aftermath, quickly steadied herself.
But then white smoke billowed out in succession, covering the cave's interior and obscuring nearly the entire space.
Serin surveyed her surroundings, where nothing was visible except the white smoke, and let out a small sigh.
She judged it wasn't the kind of thing that would harm her, but it still put her in a bad mood.
'If you're going to die anyway, at least die quietly.'
It just felt like an unnecessary nuisance.
Step.
As if trapped in the white smoke, she truly couldn't see an inch ahead.
She moved her feet and slowly focused. She concentrated with every nerve in her body, searching for the archer who had attacked her.
As she heightened her senses to react sensitively to the smallest sound or presence, she naturally realized the opponent hadn't gotten far yet.
Given the narrow cave terrain, slipping away without leaving any trace was impossible.
If they had somehow escaped quickly, she would have sensed it and could have pursued.
No matter how thick the white smoke, sound was inevitable.
Moreover, the fact that they'd gone out of their way to use this smoke to hide themselves strongly suggested they had no way to escape immediately.
With all those conditions aligning, the opponent was still here.
That was the conclusion.
'They must have realized from that parry just now that ambushes and surprise attacks are pointless.'
And though the possibility was slim, I thought they might still be targeting me.
Step.
"How did you find me?"
She walked calmly into the smoke where she couldn't see an inch ahead and asked in a voice gentler than usual.
They were someone who had deliberately come looking for me. Whether out of malice or whatever.
In the end, it meant they were interested in me.
So I thought that if I asked a little more gently, they might give some kind of reaction. But there was no response.
Usually in these situations, actions spoke louder than words—if you showed action, a reaction would typically follow.
She extended the Crescent-Moon Weight as if firing it, fast.
—Whoosh!
The Crescent-Moon Weight wreathed in blood-red energy.
It pierced through the white smoke that seemed to blanket the entire area.
And at its end, she felt no reaction.
"..."
That attack hadn't been aimed because the opponent was there.
—Whirr!
At the same time she retrieved the Crescent-Moon Weight.
Again.
She swung the Crescent-Moon Weight fast.
—Whoosh!
Without drawing a crescent trajectory or any other arc. The Crescent-Moon Weight shot forward fast, drawing a single straight line.
Thinking about it, the opponent was either hiding right now or moving stealthily and slowly—one of the two.
So this was what she chose.
Indiscriminate attacks.
The space was too cramped to properly use her techniques, and with the white smoke obscuring everything, she couldn't even gauge the terrain or distances properly.
In that situation, she figured that carelessly using a technique could expose an opening to the opponent, so she simply repeated attacks with the Crescent-Moon Weight imbued with blood-red energy.
So she kept swinging the Crescent-Moon Weight, thinking, 'If I were the opponent, where would I be?'
Moving her feet without urgency, strolling through the space as if with a light heart.
Step.
She moved leisurely, trying to find the opponent in the smoke.
—Whoosh!
—Whirr!
The continuous sounds of the weight extending and the Crescent-Moon Weight being retrieved.
And only Rin's light footsteps—step, step—filled the space saturated with white smoke.
Serin had clearly been the one ambushed first, but the situation had taken a strange turn.
The archer who had launched the surprise attack had completely lost their will to fight after the first attack and was trying to flee, while Serin, the one ambushed, had instead become the hunter, searching for her opponent.
Until that moment, Serin was so focused on the situation that she'd forgotten she was streaming.
The determination to kill them no matter what.
Outlaw or not, the fact that they had attacked her—that alone meant Serin had no intention of letting them go.
Serin's lips moved as she opened her mouth, gently coaxing the opponent.
"Wouldn't dying quickly save us both some time?"
—Whoosh!
Unlike before, the Crescent-Moon Weight, now brimming with blood-red energy, shot out fast, drawing a crescent arc.
***
[Ah, but since they're an outlaw, it's awkward to root for the archer lololol]
[Doesn't it seem like Rin's actually enjoying running into an outlaw?]
[na]
[No but is it even possible to parry an explosive arrow?]
[The item the archer used is expensive]
[rak]
[The fact that they used the item right after Rin parried shows they got scared lololol]
[Well yeah, dying as an outlaw has no mercy with the penalty]
[na]
[No but it's funny that some outlaw would even try to mess with Rin lololol]
[rak]
[Fr Rin beat Plea and even high-rankers, and some outlaw's acting up lolol]
[Honestly, who's rooting for the archer lololol?]
[They're pretty, so it's fine]
[Agreed]
Eunha, watching Serin's stream, was checking the chat window and mulling something over.
—Dwarf's Ring.
One of Another World's eleven treasures. A treasure that was hard to obtain, and even now, few people had one.
Moreover, the Dwarf's Cave was a top-tier hunting ground with high stat requirements, so the user pool wasn't wide, and the frequency of it appearing on the Auction House was low.
On average, about one per month—and when it didn't appear, sometimes even longer intervals—so it was an item held by extremely few users.
So much so that there were plenty of people who had poured years of time into the Dwarf's Cave hoping for a jackpot, but even after all that time, countless people had given up without ever getting a single ring.
"What a coincidence."
Rin had clearly said the Dwarf's Ring was her 'first treasure.'
And that was the same for Yoo Eunha.
Eunha's first treasure had also been the 'Dwarf's Ring.'
So she and Rin matched on the condition of 'first treasure.'
Which meant the subsequent quest, The Truth of Ailante, would naturally follow...
—『The broadcast has ended.』
Just as she was thinking that, the stream suddenly cut off.
"What...?"
Eunha muttered blankly.