Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: 10-0 Domination
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Users flocked in an instant to the post uploaded by the mysterious veteran.
The atmosphere in the Odin's Son Minor Gallery was boiling over.
The one who had appeared was that "stale water" who had been ruling the gallery as lord for the past few days, and the heated modern usability debate vs. classic usability debate raging right now had spun off from there.
Even the users in the thick of that fight rushed over en masse and took their seats. The vibe heated up in a flash.
The fights themselves were the usual WWE-style brawls that always popped up, but using Purple Dot's play as an example to claim "Modern doesn't cut it at the absolute top tier" was straight UFC.
And all the users pushing back with "As time passes, even the top tier will fall to modern" were dead serious too.
The moment he spotted the UID, this guy bolted to his PC, jumped into the room, and slotted into a matching spot. He was one of them.
He was a gallery regular going by "ClaHater," a pretty high-tier modern controls user.
Truth be told, he didn't hate classic as much as his nick implied.
Everyone around him had picked up on that much.
And for good reason—ClaHater was a high-tier climbing Master.
Master tier earned you high-tier respect anywhere you went.
What did it mean to rocket up to Master so fast in a game that had just launched?
That's right. He wasn't some new player influx.
He was a veteran who'd played arenas in the previous game and climbed to Diamond.
Naturally, he could pull off a few of what they called "national combos."
You couldn't climb to Diamond through that old sludge without using Afterimage.
He had confidence in his physicals, and even now, he was sure he could park at Diamond on an alt with classic.
It might sound weird, but this wasn't uncommon.
Just a few years ago, they'd been practicing combos on training dummy NPCs. Why the change now?
It wasn't just for the lulz, though that played a part.
They genuinely believed the system screwed classic users.
Unlike the previous game where he'd barely scraped Diamond, he'd already hit Master on modern in this new title.
Climb high on classic, switch to modern and adapt, and you'd go even higher.
That was 100% sincere.
'No matter how muscle-memoried a combo is, it can't beat a simple click.'
The longer he'd floundered on classic, the more obvious it became.
What that advantageous modern high ground really meant.
Combos coded to be blind-executable still chipped away at your focus, bit by bit.
You had to pour everything into mind games to come out ahead.
Maximizing modern's unique edges, he'd steamrolled to Master.
Now eyeing Grandmaster, he brimmed with confidence.
At this rate, Grandmaster was locked, and even Valhalla was in play.
Deep down, he already figured Valkyrie was a given.
Even his trolling buddy "ModHater" had five times his playtime on Grandmaster, yet their records were dead even.
He couldn't help but feel: I'm Valkyrie material!!
Sure, Purple Dot didn't look like some day-old puddle, but from the screenshot, he'd need more time to adapt to the new game.
And the more veteran you were, the longer you'd played, the worse the cognitive dissonance hitting your first modern opponent.
Exploit that gap, snag a 10-win streak?
He could rule the gallery lord spot for a while. Anticipation swelled.
ClaHater confidently tweaked his setup as he entered.
First, [Hunting Dog Straight Sword]. Looked like opponent was straight sword too—bad to match conditions.
[Frost Giant's Favor] axe then. Top meta tier 1 weapon, staple from previous game too. Opponent probably had motions memorized.
He picked [Hellfire Hammer]. New to this game, so opponent might not know the motions yet.
Gear to match, runes for surprise burst to force short games: [Thunderbolt Hammer].
Tough to react to on first sight—pure cheese build.
Might get called scummy, but wins were wins. 10-wins was always like that.
Prep done, he strode in cocky.
And 20 seconds later, his head was gone.
The Hellfire Hammer's overhead modern key chained a charge from the uppercut.
Striding forward to swing the hammer—this was a tricky command on classic.
Had to posture-switch post-uppercut, and the startup was glacial.
Miss the razor Afterimage, and it was like announcing Charge incoming!
But on motion controls?
One click, and nothing checked harder.
Patch the damage/stamina nerfs with runes, done.
If opponent knew the counter, the long startup, low damage for stamina cost stood out up close.
But first sight? "Bullsh*t combo" screamed from the rooftops.
Tough first encounter, miss the read, and it bullied like a cheese "sapa" build.
-Thud!!
See? Even that veteran didn't react right.
Managed a guard somehow, but this trade favored him.
Opponent wasn't shield-blocking—just straight sword guard.
Partial block would chew HP and stamina bars.
One-hand weapon too, weak defense. Major bleed for sure.
A grin tugged unbidden.
No breather for opponent—flowed into next attack. Victory swung his way in a heartbeat.
Purple Dot rolled back through the poke string, but landing spot was obvious.
Flinch-rolling from light check?
Not a vet mistake.
"That's it!"
Panicking from the unexpected speed, for sure.
What miracle are vets? Don't know, you eat it.
Brain spun fast.
What command drops the hammer there? Grinned.
Low modern reach fit perfect.
Hand to modern key.
On classic, complex math plus command might tangle fingers.
But this was modern.
"Taste modern, you punk!!"
-Clang!!
"?"
Expecting KO sound, he heard metal clash instead.
Hellfire Hammer rebounded, straight sword grazed his armor gap.
-Clang!!
HP chunked off.
Startled, backpedaled spraying checks.
Shaken, but Master was Master.
Reflex commands poured—tough counters to stall pursuit. Solid intent.
If Purple Dot had just stood watching.
Stunned, he gawked at opponent beyond hammer range.
Weapon whiffing past his nose, sticking tight, grinning.
Then slashed the wide-open torso.
Snapping to, he gripped Hellfire Hammer again.
First round, panic botched the plan—but opener shattered.
Noted the opener worked once, pulled new pattern.
Seemed one-and-done—nothing landed after.
Swapped runes/gear to hybrid build.
Desperate hail marys, nothing connected.
Meanwhile, ate every poke and died.
Pulled buffed archer build from new game meta.
Backstep for distance, poke shots planned.
Parried every one.
Charge shots should've drained stamina—looked fine.
Afterimage on everything?
Makes sense?
Switched to Dwarf race, Crow Dagger. Needed stamina edge to do anything.
He had no clue, but this was Potbelly Uncle's long-honed, optimal Backside counter.
Of course, he lacked Potbelly Uncle's physicals.
Shredded by leeching strings.
Desperation: main Human - Hunting Dog Straight Sword build.
Most brutal smash yet.
Purple Dot stopped rolling now.
Precise poke distance: one step back dodge. Full poke range: check-cut.
Back off to regen stamina?
Pounced and carved him up.
Thus 7, 8, up to final 10.
No upsets.
Bewildered.
Brain fully read.
What kind of monster was this?
Last one, he looked like mocking him slashing air, standing still.
Intimidated. Not even yelling beside him, yet crushed.
Finally, floored, stamina zero, executed helpless.
Saw the chat, went to clap back—froze. Speechless.
GG'd out fleeing-like, then long after, muttered weakly.
"...Log off?"
Sh*t... "quick" my ass.
Valkyrie seed? What bullsh*t...