Yeah, No

Yeah, no.

The lighting was a little dim. The sharp scent of alcohol stung my nose from every direction. A boisterous atmosphere filled the air. Empty bottles rolled across the floor while some patrons bellowed drinking songs at the top of their lungs. Their flushed faces made it clear they were thoroughly drunk. A tavern. No matter where I looked, it was unmistakably a tavern.

“An adventurer’s tavern, I suppose.”

I strolled through the interior with steps that felt strangely familiar. I had visited this place several times before—not as Oh Lora, but in the identity of Laura Iris. As a duke’s daughter, I had little desire to set foot in such a disorderly establishment, yet I had been forced to come here a few times to advance the story. There were occasions when those utterly crude adventurers picked fights with me, and I had put them firmly in their place. For some reason, the memory brought a touch of nostalgia.

I sat down in a chair.

“Rion?”

As Rion said, a menu lay on the table. A menu in a medieval fantasy tavern? It felt odd, yet I picked it up anyway.

“You seem quite knowledgeable. It looks like you’ve played this game before.”

“Is that so?”

So Rion had played Labyrinthos too. It really must be a popular game. The realization felt slightly awkward, yet it was understandable. Just looking at this “waiting room” was enough. The vividness and texture were so real it was hard to believe it was virtual reality. It almost tricked me into thinking I had returned to that other world. If the quality was this high just for a tavern, I wondered what the “battlefield” would feel like.

“Yeah, no.”

I immediately pressed Single Combat.

Rion kept saying something, but I paid her no mind and continued. There was no need to bother with a tutorial. After all, I had lived ten whole years in that other world.

“She really is the most stubborn person alive…”

Rion let out a sigh. It couldn’t be helped. Since she was technically living under the same roof, she couldn’t come on too strong with Lora. At the same time, another thought crossed her mind.

She must have some kind of plan.

Lora was arrogant and did whatever she wanted, but she wasn’t a fool without a single thought in her head. No one knew that better than Rion.

As soon as Lora selected Single Combat, the menu changed. Eight character portraits now appeared on it. This was how Labyrinthos presented its character selection screen.

“Between those, the Paladin or the Assassin would be safest…” Rion muttered to herself, arms crossed.

The Paladin was the easiest pick for beginners. The Assassin had a high skill ceiling but was arguably the strongest choice in Single Combat. Yet Lora’s finger moved straight to the Dark Knight.

That one’s going to be difficult…

The Dark Knight was the polar opposite of the Paladin. While the Paladin strengthened itself through buffs and skills, the Dark Knight weakened its opponents. It wasn’t a bad pick, but it would be brutally hard for someone who had just started the game today. Its base movement speed was slow, and its killing power was low. None of that seemed to matter to Lora, who promptly locked in the Dark Knight.

The moment Lora locked in the Dark Knight, a popup appeared and the surroundings transformed. The wooden floor littered with rolling bottles vanished, replaced by blood-soaked dirt. Bones and chunks of flesh lay scattered everywhere. Lora’s own appearance had changed as well. She now wore black armor and gripped a one-handed sword with a crimson blade. She was the very image of a Dark Knight.

Lora tilted her head for a moment, swung the sword a few times to test it, then immediately began stripping off her armor.

Eek?! W-why?!

Rion was stunned. The Dark Knight was classified as a tank in Labyrinthos. Yet here Lora was, voluntarily lowering her own defense by removing her armor. Still, Lora’s hands didn’t stop. Helmet, gauntlets, shoulder plates, breastplate… she even removed her boots, leaving her barefoot. Now her only equipment was the single sword. Apparently satisfied, she broke into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a run.

Tap, tap, tap.

The steady sound of footsteps rang out. Rion clutched her head without thinking. She’s going to give away her position with all that noise…

Labyrinthos’s Single Combat mode could not be considered ordinary PvP. While typical one-on-one PvP meant testing skill against skill, this mode had two victory conditions: defeat the opposing player, or defeat the dungeon boss hidden somewhere in the map. In other words, if you couldn’t beat the other player, you could simply go kill the boss instead.

That’s why information matters far more than raw skill.

No matter how skilled you were, it meant nothing if your opponent simply avoided the fight. Footsteps, therefore, were vital information. And yet Lora was happily broadcasting her location.

“Oh my.”

Lora’s light laughter came through the screen. In the corner of the view, a figure appeared. For a second Rion thought it was the enemy player launching a surprise attack after hearing the footsteps, but it wasn’t human. Five goblins blocked the path. Neutral monsters—jungle creeps, if one were to compare it to an AOS game. They weren’t much different from actual jungle creeps. Defeating them granted experience and made you stronger. Using that growth to challenge either the boss or the enemy player was one of the fundamental strategies in Single Combat. However—

Lora did not stop running. She cut down only the two goblins she could kill in a single strike and kept moving.

Well… that is technically correct.

Defeating neutral monsters would make her stronger, but it cost time. The Dark Knight in particular had a slow clear speed. So she had deliberately ignored the rest and taken only the easy kills. …But how did she know that? For someone who had supposedly just started the game, her understanding of the character seemed strangely high. …Maybe it was just a coincidence? She probably didn’t even know that monsters gave experience. She might have simply found hunting goblins annoying and moved on.

Lora encountered several more groups of monsters after that, yet she ignored every single one. She ran and ran without pause until she finally arrived before a massive door.

“The boss room…?”

It was an imposing, enormous door. Anyone could tell that opening it would lead to the boss. The door was firmly shut. There were no signs it had been opened, which meant Lora had reached it before her opponent.

…Did she skip the monsters on purpose to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get here first?

It seemed Lora’s goal from the very beginning had been to reach the dungeon boss before her opponent. Once Rion realized that, all of her earlier actions made sense. Removing her armor despite the risk to her defense, running even though it would reveal her position—everything had been to secure maximum mobility. It was rather clever for a beginner. Yet precisely because of that, Rion felt a pang of regret.

She should have farmed a little more.

By skipping nearly all the neutral monsters, Lora’s growth was insufficient. Defeating the boss in her current state would take considerable time. The opponent, who had likely farmed on the way, would arrive at the boss room soon. Rion could easily imagine the future in which Lora, distracted by the boss ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fight, was ambushed and defeated. What a shame. If only her sister had a bit more knowledge about Labyrinthos. After this match, she would have to teach her everything.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Lora sprinted straight toward the wall.

“Eek?! Is that even possible as a Dark Knight?!”

Rion’s eyes flew wide open in shock. On screen, Lora was running up the wall. Parkour. It didn’t take her long to reach the ceiling. She drove her sword into it and waited. A silence so complete it seemed even breathing had stopped passed. Then a voice that did not belong to Lora reached them.

“…Strange. I definitely heard footsteps.”

A grown man stood before the firmly closed boss room door, tilting his head in confusion. He had no idea what waited directly above him.

Lora did not hesitate. She yanked the sword free from the ceiling and dropped like a falling blade. The weight behind the crimson edge tore through flesh.

Schwaaak!

Blood sprayed into the air.