26. Really.
26. Really.
The notification sound signaling midnight sharp rang, and the Rank Battle button activated.
Irina, a blonde beauty, took a small deep breath and pressed the button.
Though she held the title of the Escort unit's greatest talent, the weight of it was no joke. You never knew when the admiring gazes might suddenly turn. Especially on such a sensitive subject.
First place, no matter what. Anything else is meaningless.
She had immense pride, and her skill was just as outstanding as her personality. Her father, the Deputy Commander, had much higher expectations for this brilliant daughter than for his mediocre son.
Before she became a trainee knight, the Deputy Commander had said that to his daughter while patting her back proudly. She didn't want to let her father down. Plus, she wanted to be the object of everyone's envy.
Success. She was obsessed with it. Not only did she want to become a full-fledged knight, but she was determined to rise to the position of Commander of the Keuble Knights and bring glory to her family.
A life everyone looks up to. That was what she desired.
The number of people in the waiting room quickly exceeded thirty. Soon, her opponent was decided. As far as she knew, he was a guy from the Combat unit.
Since this was a virtual simulation space, everyone wore whatever they wanted. It wasn't reality anyway, so it didn't matter if you wore a battle suit or not.
So, she had heard that sometimes people showed up in bizarre outfits. It was a trick to distract the opponent.
Hmph, only losers do that kind of crap. A true pro goes in as they are.
So, Irina also stuck to the default outfit. And she didn't hide her info, proudly making it public. It was an expression of confidence—come at me if you dare.
Soon, the two clashed. The difference in skill was clear. Irina drove her opponent into a corner and slashed his throat in an instant. One win, secured in a flash.
Nice.
Returning to the custom screen, she resolved to finish with a clean 3 wins today and pressed the Rank Battle button again.
The hourglass spun for a moment. Then, a blackout effect, and her vision went dark.
When her vision cleared, what Irina saw was a delinquent-looking blonde guy with a tan. He was even shirtless, wearing nothing but shorts that left a bulge in his crotch—a truly vulgar sight.
...What the hell is this bastard...?
He was wearing a mask with a lewd grin, and his info was set to private, making it impossible to identify him immediately. The only thing she could tell was that the guy had one win.
Yeah, I don't care what he looks like. I just need to win. He's just a sacrifice for my victory anyway.
She had expected one or two crazy bastards like this among her peers anyway. So, Irina steeled herself and gripped her sword tightly.
Soon the countdown ended, and the transparent barrier disappeared. But even though the match had started, the guy was walking toward her leisurely, like he was out for a stroll. As if he were looking down on her.
However, Irina didn't let her guard down. She didn't know what kind of tricks this guy might pull.
...Now...!
Irina, who had been watching for an opening, saw his posture falter and rushed in instantly. The physical enhancement gear applied by default in the Rank Battles was the standard issue received upon becoming a full-fledged knight of the Keuble Knights. Of course, it wasn't top-tier, but it was powerful enough.
In less than a second, her body was right in front of his nose. And then, a cutting sword swung like a flash of light!
It was a powerful attack, enough to incapacitate most guys in one hit. Both the speed and power far exceeded the level of a trainee knight.
It was a moment where her genius talent, which even her oppa Louis couldn't catch up to, was unleashed.
Got y—!
...But the moment she thought she had him, the cutting sword was blocked by the opponent's blade with a ttaang. The moment she thought, "Since when?", his counterattack came in.
ㅡㅡ!!
The opponent's sword came straight in to pierce her throat. She twisted her upper body and barely dodged it. ...If she had been a second later, she would've had a big breathing hole in her neck.
This bastard..., he's pretty good.
It was just one exchange, but Irina immediately realized that the opponent was stronger than he looked, contrary to his crude appearance. Maybe dressing up so strangely was a high-level tactic. A tactic to make her let her guard down by making her think he was a weakling.
Just then, the opponent laughed in a goofy way, "Hehehe." Her eyes narrowed at the sound of that laugh, which was quite annoying.
You bastard...!
For some reason, she felt mocked. She vowed to catch and kill this guy to wash away this humiliation.
And immediately, she pushed her physical enhancement to maximum output.
It was a one-hit match anyway. There was no need or reason to drag it out. So, she cranked the output of the physical enhancement gear to the max. Her skin began to burn hot.
It felt like anything was possible. All her senses became incredibly sharp, and her reactions were excellent.
I'll kill him in one hit.
A crunching sound came from the hand gripping the sword hilt. She gathered strength in her leg muscles and unleashed it.
Speed like a flash of light. It was a speed that an ordinary person wouldn't even be able to perceive. And the speed of the sword she swung was even faster.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!
It was a decisive blow for Irina. If it missed, the worst-case scenario would happen. But she didn't think this attack would miss.
She was confident that, if nothing else, her speed was in the top tier, not just among trainee knights, but the entire knight order. It wasn't a speed that a mere trainee could handle.
I'll kill him. I'll kill him dead.
...However...,
The speed she was so confident in was caught with frustrating ease. ...No, it wasn't just caught; before she knew it, his sword was firmly embedded in her chest.
...When...?
Irina vomited blood and stared with trembling eyes at the eye holes in the opponent's mask. They were clearly laughing eyes.
And the Rank Battle ended. Back at the custom screen, she stood there blankly for a long time.
A shocking defeat.
She couldn't easily shake off the shock of the one loss that had piled up so quickly, making her resolution to start with a clean 3 wins look ridiculous.
What... is this...?
Honestly speaking, she didn't even see the opponent's movements. It meant she had been terribly defeated in a speed battle, something she was extremely proud of.
Irina couldn't understand it at all. It didn't make sense logically. So, she thought there must have been some technical error in the Rank Battle. Otherwise, she couldn't explain the situation that had just happened.
Still, she decided to finish it off, so she played the last Rank Battle. Of course, this was a victory. Thus, she finished the first day with 2 wins and 1 loss, earning 15 points. Adding the base 100 points, that made a total of 115 points.
It was definitely not a low score, but she had proudly resolved to take 1st place, so she couldn't help but be angry at having such a futile loss.
...I'll go to the System Administration Department first thing tomorrow and file a complaint. Then they'll void the Rank Battle, right?
It made her feel even worse that she had been beaten by that weirdly dressed bastard.
The proud Irina tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
· · ·
Early the next morning.
She arrived at work bright and early and waited impatiently for the Squad Leader to arrive. Honestly, she wanted to run to the Administration Department right now, but she endured and endured, knowing that such impulsive behavior without reporting would look bad to her seniors or the Squad Leader.
As time passed, her peers also arrived at the office one by one.
Naturally, as soon as they arrived, they started talking about the Rank Battles from the night before. They were having heated discussions about how many wins they had, who was strong, and who wasn't. Irina, who should have been going over there to brag about her score, felt like her heart was burning black.
Then, a guy approached her with a greasy smile. It was Ralph, a trainee knight peer who had been subtly hitting on her for a while.
"Irina, good morning. How did you do in the Rank Battle yesterday?"
"...Just, you know, so-so."
Even if it was because of a technical issue, she really didn't want to say she had a loss.
"The guys are seriously ridiculous. Did you hear? There's a pink fanatic, and a tanned guy wearing nothing but shorts."
A tanned guy wearing nothing but shorts—!
As soon as she heard that, Irina's eyes widened. It was definitely that guy from yesterday.
"A tanned guy?"
"I thought he was just some idiot trying to be edgy, but turns out he's surprisingly good. I heard he has 3 wins.... Well, he must have been lucky, right?"
"...3 wins?"
"The kids are guessing who he is right now. Probably not from the Escort unit, they say he's likely from the Combat unit."
Ah....
Irina was dazed for a moment, but just then, the Squad Leader arrived. As soon as she saw the Squad Leader, she ran over, greeted him energetically, and explained the situation. Of course, the Squad Leader also knew how important Rank Battles were to trainee knights, so he readily gave her permission to go to the Administration Department.
Irina headed straight for the Intelligence Bureau building. She went to the System Administration Department and met the staff member in charge of Rank Battles.
"An error? ...That shouldn't be possible."
"...Yes? Why?"
Seeing the staff member's negative attitude, Irina's heart sank. Did that mean it wasn't an error?
"These days, you can basically say there's no chance of a system error. High-performance AI handles all internal program management. You probably just imagined it."
"Still, could you... check just once?"
"...Well, yeah, sure."
The staff member showed her the system screen confidently, as if he couldn't possibly make a mistake. Of course, she didn't understand a thing looking at the complex screen, but seeing the staff member's expression, it seemed there really was no error.
"Yeah, no error. It's normal. There are no system errors in this day and age. So you can rest easy."
"Ah, yes.... Then..., thank you for your hard work...."
Irina trudged out of the Administration Department, feeling powerless.
...The skill of that blonde, tanned lunatic was not an error.
It was real.