Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 83
>Chapter Title: Failed Ambush
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Right orc, center Kaiser, left Necromancer.
>Faced with this chaotic lineup, Duke couldn’t help but hold back tears.
>He’d clearly planned to fold his hands nicely(?) and make a run for it, so why had things turned out like this?
>He’d only beaten up an orc, so why had it been ruled a preemptive strike, leaving him so neatly surrounded?
>Everything was a mystery.
>It was an incomprehensible situation, but even so, Duke quickly sized it up.
‘Whatever’s going on, now it’s first strike wins!’
He didn’t know the reason, but the fight had already begun.
>Surrounded with no way out, running wasn’t an option.
>In that case, striking first with a surprise attack while they let their guard down was his best bet.
Shuuak-!
Duke’s spear sliced sharply through the air.
[Unique ability ‘Swift’ activates.]
>[Attack speed greatly increases.]
>[Trait ‘One Strike’ activates.]
>[Next attack on hit applies massively increased damage.]
>[Using skill ‘All-Out Thrust’.]
An all-out thrust containing everything Duke had—his signature move!
>Landing the first blow with insane speed and damage was Duke’s surefire winning strategy.
>It was hard to dodge even from afar, let alone up close like this…
‘I’ve got it…!’
Duke’s eyes blazed.
There was no dodging this.
>No wuxia master straight out of a novel could evade the fastest thrust unleashed at this range.
>Sure, there’d been a crisis, but a true master turned crises into opportunities.
Duke’s heart pounded wildly.
‘I can be a star!’
That thrust of conviction shot forward with enough momentum to pierce Kaiser’s heart.
And just before the spear tip touched his chest!
Chin.
Kaiser casually raised the black spear in his hand, blocking Duke’s with the shaft.
Whiric-.
“…Huh?”
With a slight motion, Duke’s spear—still in contact with the shaft—was pulled along Kaiser’s trajectory.
The focused power scattered, and in an instant, the spear tip clunked harmlessly to the ground.
A futile all-out strike, crumbling away.
Duke knew exactly what he’d just witnessed.
‘Parry…?’
He couldn’t believe it, even with his own eyes.
It meant Kaiser had spotted the thrust visually and reacted at this range. Dodging or batting it away would’ve been tough enough, but he’d timed a perfect deflection?
Was parry a skill you could pull off that easily?
‘No way…’
Despite his panicked mind, his body moved on instinct.
Maybe from all his practice—once the thrust was blocked, his feet flowed into a step like running water.
He loaded power and reversed his weight, and in that instant, the spear snapped up, swinging toward Kaiser’s nape.
“Oh?”
Kaiser’s eyes widened slightly.
At the same time, Duke’s did too.
‘No way, he saw this one too…’
His prediction hit the mark.
Kaiser took in the entire swing motion at a glance and dismantled it effortlessly.
Slight step.
Whoosh-.
Just one step forward into his guard, and the blade aiming for his nape sliced empty air.
But even that fell short.
With the distance closed, it was blocked from the handle down, never building full power.
Chin, pak!
“!?”
What followed was Do-hyun’s ankle sweep.
A heavy sensation hit his ankle out of nowhere, and his body floated into the air.
Then the falling black spear… no, dagger.
Stab! Stab stab!
In a flash, it pierced his throat, heart, and aorta. By the time he hit the ground, the Godose scenery was gone.
[You have died to player ‘Kaiser’.]
>[Death penalty applied.]
>[For 24 hours, experience gain and item drop rate reduced by 50%. Random possessed item will drop.]
>[Ruled as preemptive attack: increased chance to drop equipment item.]
Only the message floated on the blackened screen.
Psssh-.
The game ended, and Duke opened his eyes in the capsule, sitting blankly for a long while.
He couldn’t understand why he’d died.
No, he didn’t even know exactly how he’d died.
He’d tried a surprise thrust… it whirled away, his body floated, and he died.
‘Parry… right?’
All he knew was that he’d been parried?
He’d struck first and still died without understanding why.
This wasn’t the gap between a casual newbie and a ranker—it was an absurd level of difference.
For Duke, who’d always trusted his skills, it was a massive shock.
‘This much of a gap?’
It meant the distance between him and Kaiser was at least that wide.
Sure, he was a barely-hanging-on ranker, but he’d thought his skills could match those above him.
Even when he’d felt walls against high rankers, it hadn’t seemed this insurmountable.
He’d believed effort alone would close it.
But this… there was no end in sight.
“Wow… damn…”
After mumbling vague exclamations for a while, he suddenly recalled a chat from the community forums.
‘They said lots of people are forming teams in Brion to target Kaiser right now, huh?’
Back then, he’d been thinking he needed to claim a spot ASAP.
Now he realized how idiotic that was.
‘Hah, claim a spot my ass.’
He was certain.
No matter how skilled the team, no matter how many piled on, the result would be the same.
A bloodbath was coming to Brion soon.
* * *
[Defeated player ‘Duke’.]
>[Acknowledged as legitimate self-defense: no karma increase.]
>[Loot dropped item?]
“Whoa…”
Right after it ended, Kaiser unconsciously spread his hands wide.
“Killed him without thinking.”
From the situation, he’d seemed like an orc attacking first, so he’d tried to talk it out after the preemptive ruling.
But the sudden attack made his body move on autopilot.
He hadn’t meant to kill, so he felt a bit bad, but soon shrugged it off.
‘Whatever, it’s fine.’
The guy had attacked first anyway.
Do-hyun had only defended himself legitimately. And even without that, he hadn’t struck him as an upstanding player.
‘He was hiding behind that rock.’
Sure, some people hid from orcs while resting.
But in this atmosphere with all eyes on Do-hyun, hiding right behind him?
It was more ridiculous to call that a coincidence.
And he’d attacked the moment he was spotted.
‘His skills weren’t half bad, though.’
The seamless follow-up flowing from the parry had the scent of a true expert.
Like a fragrance you’d only catch from veterans.
He hadn’t expected to smell it in Brion of all places, so he’d been surprised. That’s why his hand had gone a bit harder.
His body had reacted instinctively to that familiar scent.
‘Well, it’s a game with a billion players. Bound to be more experts.’
Once he reached the empire where everyone gathered, there’d probably be tons of masters he hadn’t seen even in Delrock.
The thought got him pretty excited.
-What happened?
“Ah, nothing much. You know there’s a ton of people gunning for me.”
-Liza!?
Eliza shot him a furious glare and started stomping on Duke’s corpse.
Not sure if she’d just registered him as an enemy or was just pissed.
-Me too, hey!
Maybe it looked fun—Jihad joined in, stomping along. Do-hyun shook his head at his two guardians and turned away.
[Loot dropped item?]
Now it was time to check the reward he’d gotten unwillingly.
‘Oh.’
He accepted the loot, and a soft glow leaked out as the item appeared.
It was a pair of shoes.
[Stealthy Leather Boots Crafted in a Special Forge]
>[Grade: Rare+]
>[Description: Custom leather boots made in a forge that handles special materials. No exotic ingredients, but crafted by a master artisan for exceptional performance.]
>[Level Limit: 25]
>[Equip Limit: None]
>[Physical Defense: 71]
>[Magic Resistance: 56]
>-Agility +3
>-Sense +1
>[Special Option: No footstep sounds when walking.]
“Oh? Nice.”
Rare+ grade leather boots, no less.
An upgrade over the ‘Libre Silkworm Thread Shoes’ Do-hyun had been wearing.
With a level 25 limit, the defense and magic resistance were solid for shoes.
Leather meant no mobility penalties either.
‘Options are perfect. Time to swap.’
He equipped them, and his stats rose.
[Unequip ‘Libre Silkworm Thread Shoes’.]
>[Equip ‘Stealthy Leather Boots Crafted in a Special Forge’.]
>[Agility +1.]
Similar options to his old pair, netting him +1 Agility overall.
And the special option was icing on the cake.
Sure, it was minor—probably only useful for assassins—but…
‘Handy for my half-baked stealth.’
Perfect for Do-hyun, with his partial stealth skill.
He finished looting and looked up to see Jihad and Eliza catching their breath, done venting.
Eliza met his eyes and shouted energetically.
-Liza liza!
-Says she’ll keep patrolling since more of these guys could be around.
-You okay? Mana not low?
-Liza!
-…She says she’s fine. Lucky.
-Liza!?
Eliza waved it off, as if she wasn’t trying to brag.
Seemed like mana was only consumed when parasitizing, not for maintaining it.
‘Great for patrols or hiding.’
He’d never heard of a guardian with this trait, but hands-on, it was more versatile than expected.
If Jihad was specialized for group fights, Eliza was a pure support guardian.
That explained Jihad’s massive mana drain versus Eliza’s relative freedom.
Each had clear strengths and weaknesses.
‘If I can just manage that guy’s mana, I’d never need a party.’
More than enough for a one-man army path.
Though his brute-force stats let him solo fine for now anyway.
‘Didn’t expect hyenas this quick, though.’
Just one for now, but what if it was a team?
An ambush mid-hunt would be risky and a hassle. Preemptively wiping them out meant karma worries.
Especially here in Brion.
‘Huh? Hold on.’
Something flashed through his mind.
Naturally, Do-hyun’s gaze turned to Eliza.
‘It was ruled self-defense this time.’
The player had struck the parasitized Eliza first, triggering the self-defense ruling.
He hadn’t even noticed she was an orc up to the moment he hit.
In that case…
Sneer.
A sly smile crept onto Do-hyun’s lips.
‘This just got a lot easier.’
Seeing his grin, Jihad shut his mouth and nodded.
He didn’t know the plan, but one thing was clear.
-Whatever it is, more poor sacrifices are about to pop up.
-Liza?
-Something like that.
Whenever his master wore that expression, blood winds always blew.
Jihad offered a small prayer for the unidentified souls.