Breathing Feels Like Death
Let's hop on Discord. Breathing is hard.
Even though I was born human, breathing should not be such a difficult task. Yet the moment you become conscious of it, everything falls apart. In truth, isn't breathing itself a kind of death? One day we will all face our end as humans, but we live perfectly well by forgetting that fact most of the time. Still, the mere thought of our own death brings suffering—so it follows the same logic as becoming aware of your breathing. Is this what they mean by life and death touching each other? That sort of thing.
Even though Anna had reached this profound realization, it did nothing to improve her current situation.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from far away. Her heart began hammering like a war drum, so Anna pressed her face against the gun she was holding.
Unboxing
Anna repeated the skill name in her mind and focused. A flash burst across her vision. Suddenly her eyes felt lighter—no, that description was far too weak. It was like a blind person regaining sight in an instant. A refreshing clarity, as if she had grasped the fundamental truths of the universe, swept through her mind. She understood the dungeon's entire layout. She knew the types and positions of every neutral mob. And she could see in real time the dark knight slowly approaching her location.
This was the Magic Engineer's ultimate skill, Unboxing. According to the description, it allowed the user to analyze every magic particle in the air and read the structure of the world itself. In simple terms, it was map hack. In a game like Labyrinthos where information reigned supreme, the Magic Engineer's ultimate was incredibly powerful. Of course, it wasn't all-powerful.
Ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six… Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Zero.
Ultimate skill ended.
The duration was short, but she had learned everything she needed. The dark knight had appeared—exactly as Unboxing had predicted. Just like the forum posts described, he wore no armor. He was even barefoot.
The dark knight stepped into the room and scanned his surroundings. For a split second their eyes nearly met, but he didn't seem to notice. He began walking again. Anna breathed a sigh of relief and placed her finger on the trigger. She had taken his back perfectly. Her crosshair settled on that defenseless back of his head. She even held her breath so not the slightest sound would escape. This time, victory was certain—
Anna pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A thunderous gunshot. Then—
Clang!
The sharp ring of metal striking metal. The magic bullet that should have pierced his skull was deflected into the distance by a blade. All that remained were a pair of fierce eyes glaring directly at her.
"Footprints."
"...Huh?"
"If footprints are visible, Optical Camouflage loses much of its meaning, you know."
Tap. Tap. The dark knight tapped the floor with his foot. There, faintly etched into the ground, were Anna's footprints.
No way…
"H-how do you even notice something like that…"
"Is that so?"
The dark knight slowly closed the distance. Anna reflexively aimed her gun, but she already knew in her heart that being discovered rendered it pointless.
"Then it seems you'll need a bit more death before you learn to pay attention."
With those words, Aurora gave a bright, elegant smile.
It had been three days since I began coaching Anna. Today, once again, I had diligently killed her.
"You're improving, little by little."
I muttered without thinking. Anna lowered her head with a dazed expression.
"Th-thank you…?"
"Of course, it's still nowhere near enough for the tournament."
It wouldn't do to praise her too highly, so I added immediately.
"As I keep saying, the most important thing for a stealth character is to avoid detection by the opponent. The Magic Engineer is a long-range damage dealer with no survival skills, after all."
The Magic Engineer possesses a stealth skill called Optical Camouflage. It is rather unique. Most characters with stealth tend to be assassins, after all.
The greatest advantage of stealth is the 'first strike initiative.' You can land the first blow and begin the fight on your terms. Ideally, you eliminate at least one enemy before the real battle begins. Even if you cannot secure a kill, greatly reducing their health is valuable. Your allies enter the team fight at full strength while the enemy must fight in a depleted state. In the end, you force them into an 'unequal team fight.'
Stealth is thus incredibly powerful, which is why characters who possess it usually carry significant risks. Their survivability plummets once stealth is broken, or their damage output might be slightly lacking, reducing their ability to secure kills.
In the Magic Engineer's case, the absence of dash or escape skills makes kiting difficult. Because positioning is so crucial, the class relies more on brain than physical reflexes. Therefore, it was the perfect character for Anna, who could not fully display her physical abilities due to fear.
"Of course, in lower ranks, people probably wouldn't even notice something like footprints. But if you intend to enter the tournament, you will climb the ranks, won't you? In that case, you should learn the proper playstyle beforehand. Correcting bad habits after reaching Diamond is far too inefficient, my dear."
"I-I understand… I'll be more careful next time."
"Then shall we try single combat with the Magic Engineer once more? After that, we'll run some ranked matches before returning to personal training."
"Um, Teacher… Could we take a short break?"
"Hmm?"
I tilted my head. Checking the time, I saw that three hours had passed. Only three hours.
…Ah, I mustn't measure by my own standards.
During my PC gaming days, my average playtime was around thirteen hours. When practicing single combat mode, I would play nearly twenty hours a day. If I felt like it, I could pull all-nighters for five days straight. Of course, even I would grow somewhat tired after that, which is why I make certain to sleep at least two hours daily.
At any rate, my constitution is exceptional, so three hours of gaming is nothing. For Anna and most ordinary people, however, it must be exhausting.
"Very well. Let's take a thirty-minute break."
"Then I'll log out during the break."
"Go ahead."
In the meantime, I supposed I could queue for a match.
"Teacher, why don't you log out too? Let's do Discord during the break."
That was what I had been thinking, but Anna made the suggestion first. Although I desperately wanted to queue, I decided to keep her company. After all, thirty minutes of queuing would only leave me frustrated. My body had grown so accustomed to five-hour sessions that anything shorter felt unsatisfying.
I logged out and sat down in front of my PC.
Anna's voice flowed from the speakers. She must have been lying on her bed; the rustle of blankets mingled with her words.
"I happened to be in the mood for black tea."
"It's decaf."
"So, is there something you wish to tell me?" I asked, taking a sip of tea.
"Is that so?"
"You aren't wrong. Still, most people choose to endure that exhaustion."
"How refreshingly blunt. Are you certain that's all right to admit?"
"I suppose that can't be helped."
After all, I am beautiful! I am the noble duchess whom so many once admired. Back at the academy, I even walked about with ten followers in tow. Such is my noble stature. Though I lost my ducal status upon returning to Earth, it seems this inherent nobility of mine simply cannot be concealed.
Hehe. The popularity of this body of mine.
"I merely stated an obvious fact. The sun is bright, summer is hot, the ocean is blue… That I am beautiful is no different from those fundamental truths of the world, is it not?"
"How fortunate. I intended to carve my lessons into you quite harshly from now on, but if you like me, I suppose that means you will follow me to the very end?"
"Yet you still feel you must enter the tournament?"
I asked the question that had been bothering me. Anna was a coward—excessively so. That in itself was not strange. Many people are born timid. However, such people usually avoid games like this entirely. Just as someone with a low spice tolerance avoids spicy food, or a coward avoids horror games.
Besides, games aren't even Anna's main content.
After browsing Shiroki Anna's channel, I confirmed that her primary focus was ASMR and singing. She did play games, of course, but mostly short, one-off titles. Beyond that, she seemed to prefer mobile gacha games. One could say she avoided horror and action games completely.
For someone like that to enter the Labyrinthos tournament was decidedly unnatural.
"Someone you want to meet?"