Who on Earth Is She?
"Who on earth is she?"
"Phew."
Engaging in actual combat for the first time in a while was the perfect way to sharpen her dulled senses. Virtual reality—it was supposed to be just a virtual world, not the real one. Yet, the sensation of swinging a sword felt so incredibly real that it sent a faint thrill through her chest. Of course, regardless of any emotional thrill, her body faithfully and flawlessly executed the movements etched into her muscle memory.
"Argh!"
"Please, just hit her!"
"Why... why can't I...?"
Their voices were laced with a strange sense of grievance. These were the cries of those charging at her with desperate battle cries, or those collapsing after being struck down.
She had already lost count of how many she had slain; keeping track was too much of a chore. She simply, mechanically, cut down any enemy who stepped into her range. She had only swung her sword with conscious effort at the very beginning; as the battle dragged on, her instincts fully awakened, and any trace of tension vanished.
After all, her opponents were far weaker than she had anticipated. Starting with the very first strike that claimed a life, not a single opponent had managed to exchange more than five clashes with her. Every single one of them had taken a fatal blow within three to four exchanges, struggling briefly before dying.
Sshhk—
Once more, accompanied by the clean sound of slicing flesh, a man collapsed before her. He clutched his throat, his eyes rolling in sheer bewilderment. His gaze made it clear he had absolutely no idea how he had allowed himself to be hit.
Not a single drop of blood spilled from the wound she had carved. Instead, transparent bubbles bubbled up from where the blood should have gushed. For some reason, in a situation where a fountain of blood should have erupted, bubbles rose instead.
This was the one detail that slightly broke her immersion. Is it because I'm registered as a minor, so the settings automatically censor the gore? Every time she saw those bubbles, it reminded her that this was just a game, causing her to play a bit more casually. It seemed she was unconsciously letting her guard down because this wasn't a battlefield where her own head could actually fly off.
Hmm.
Still, putting that aside, the game itself was exceptionally well-made, more than sufficient for her to execute movements identical to real combat. Physically impossible maneuvers were naturally blocked, and the sensation of channeling mana, as well as growing short of breath when overexerting herself, perfectly mirrored reality.
Once she confirmed that she could replicate her past level of mastery in actual combat without any issues, her interest slowly began to wane.
These people were clearly amateurs; they repeatedly made the exact same mistakes, leading to their swift deaths at her hands. Even after respawning and rushing back at her, nothing changed. They failed to learn from their previous clashes, mindlessly charging forward again and again. At this rate, they were no different from a wave of mindless monsters. Pushing through their sheer numbers was a bit tedious, but they posed absolutely no threat.
"Die!"
Just like this. The man rushing her the moment the sword-and-shield warrior in front of him collapsed was proof of that. His stance was completely honest, and he charged while shouting as if practically begging her to dodge. It would have been far better to launch a silent ambush from behind. Why on earth would someone willingly throw away the advantage of a surprise attack? Musing over this, she effortlessly sidestepped the thrusting spear. Because his movement was far too telegraphed, dodging it instantly exposed a massive opening. An opening that no experienced warrior would ever miss.
"N-No!"
"Yes, really."
The world of combat was a cold, unforgiving place. She slashed the chest of the inexperienced spearman, whose eyes were wide with terror, sending him straight to join his shield-bearing comrade.
Since this was her very first match after creating her account, it seemed her opponents were also beginners who weren't accustomed to the game. She wanted to finish this quickly and start a new match to face stronger opponents.
Taking advantage of a brief lull in the action, she checked her KDA.
36 kills, huh?
Thirty-six kills, zero deaths. She had single-handedly eliminated thirty-six enemies. She didn't know what the target kill count for the team was, but at this rate, the game should be ending soon. Just as she was thinking this and sheathing her sword, a voice called out from behind her.
"Um... excuse me?"
She turned her head to check. It was an ally. Two of her teammates—a mage holding a staff and a warrior holding a shield—were staring at her with blank, dazed expressions.
"?"
As she tilted her head in confusion, the one with the familiar face stepped forward. It was the woman with the swaying red ponytail—the character customization villain who had been pestering her from the plaza all the way to the waiting room. Is she going to nag me about my customization again? Just as her face began to scowl, the woman opened her mouth.
"C-Could I... possibly add you as a friend?"
The words that came out of her mouth were entirely different from what she had expected.
"Holy crap..."
It was a non-stop sequence of scenes so unbelievable that Han-ah wondered if she was seeing things correctly. She could do nothing but blink in a daze, repeatedly muttering exclamations like "Holy crap," "Oh my god," and "That is insane." There was literally nothing else for her to do. Occasionally, whenever the blonde beauty seemed to be in danger, Han-ah would raise her staff, only to lower it and quietly clap as the girl effortlessly turned the tables on her attackers. Despite her grand boasts about carrying the game earlier, she had been completely reduced to a spectator. Yet, her viewers didn't blame her. It was entirely understandable.
"Tier, tier... Yeah. She's definitely a smurf, but I can't even begin to guess."
One thing was certain: she was definitely a higher tier than Han-ah. Even though Han-ah, a Diamond player, was watching the battle from right in front of her, she couldn't fully keep up with the blonde beauty's plays. It was a level of play that Han-ah couldn't even predict, leaving her with nothing but awe. This was proof that the blonde beauty was a high-tier player, far above Han-ah.
While Han-ah discussed the blonde beauty's tier with her viewers, her eyes remained glued to the girl as she continued to fight. If she were simply someone who had a pretty character customization and used a unique weapon like a katana, Han-ah wouldn't have been this shocked. There were always people who specialized in off-meta weapons or classes. Even if she found it briefly intriguing, she wouldn't be unable to tear her eyes away like this.
However, the girl before her didn't just handle her weapon well; she looked as if she had completely mastered the art of combat itself. To her, the weapon seemed like a mere accessory. She parried her enemies' attacks and thrust her sword as smoothly as if she had fought like this hundreds, thousands of times. The more Han-ah watched her masterful movements, the more her curiosity about the girl's identity grew.
Who on earth is she?
Did she fight in some war all by herself? Is she an Awakened who used to operate in some border zone? Not just any common Awakened, but a true superhuman capable of shifting the tides of a battlefield single-handedly. Perhaps one of the few such individuals in the world was standing right in front of her...
No, that's going too far.
Han-ah shook her head, dismissing her wild imagination. World-class Awakened weren't exactly idle enough to be playing virtual reality games like this. Putting aside her useless delusions, Han-ah began to logically deduce the girl's identity.
At least Master, maybe even higher.
And a player who wielded a katana with such mastery.
This immediately narrowed down the candidates significantly. The number of players who used katanas—a weapon mostly favored by trolls—dramatically decreased in the higher tiers. In fact, the only Master-tier or higher katana user Han-ah could think of off the top of her head was a single person. But that person is a guy. And this person was a girl. The premise was fundamentally flawed. To say she was the smurf of that famous 'Samurai' was contradicted by the clear evidence of her gender.
Wait, she couldn't be a netkama, could she?
At that moment, a hypothesis flashed through her mind. It was a joke her viewers had made when they first met the blonde beauty in the plaza—that she might be a netkama using a voice changer. At the time, Han-ah had brushed it off, telling them not to talk nonsense, but now she couldn't help but feel suspicious. After all, the current situation was equally nonsensical. A mysteriously beautiful blonde girl with a great voice suddenly appears and plays at a Master level or higher? And she uses a katana, a weapon notorious for being a troll pick? Honestly, it might be more plausible that the Grandmaster-tier Samurai is using a voice changer and playing as a netkama... It was a somewhat disturbing thought, but it actually made more sense.
"Wow..."
However, as Han-ah weighed the two possibilities, she couldn't come to a conclusion. Another highlight-reel play, the kind you'd see in a montage video, unfolded right before her eyes, forcing a gasp of admiration from her lips. "She is so incredibly cool. How can anyone play like that?" It was a pure, involuntary exclamation of awe. Han-ah had long since forgotten all about the girl's character customization. Instead, she was filled with a burning desire to know more about this mysterious expert, this blonde beauty.
"A-A friend request? Should I?"
Driven by that train of thought, and with a heart swirling with admiration, goodwill, and nervousness, it was only natural that Han-ah ended up asking to add her.