What Percentage?

"What percentage?" Had my words been that difficult to understand? The moment Dante heard me suggest a match, his expression turned to one of pure suspicion, as if he couldn't believe what had just reached his ears. Reina beside him stood frozen with her mouth hanging wide open. After watching the pair for a moment, I shifted my gaze to the chat window that was exploding in real time.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I heard he was the former commander, but is there more to the story?”

‘Former strongest in the world view…’ I’d thought he looked strong from the first moment I saw him. But I never imagined that even with the word “former” attached, he had been the absolute strongest. The corner of my mouth curled up at the revelation.

Yeah. It has to be at least that much to be fun. And if we’re being technical, I’m a ‘former’ strongest in the world view too, aren’t I?

The idea of two formers clashing sounded incredibly entertaining.

“It seems like it’ll be even more fun now.”

Maybe it was because of those words—Dante’s shoulders trembled slightly. At first it was only the corners of his mouth lifting, but soon—

Reina finally snapped back to her senses and immediately started scolding me at full volume.

“Are you out of your mind? What on earth were you thinking, challenging Grandpa to a fight?! Do you have a brain in there or not?! Did you get hit in the head by that kukri guy? Is that why you’ve lost it?!”

“I’m perfectly sane, thank you.”

On the contrary, my body was itching so badly I could hardly stand still. I wanted to fight.

Reina bit her lip at my answer, then finally let out a scream-like sigh and clutched her hair.

“I’m actually going to go crazy!!”

Behind her, Dante—who had stopped laughing at some point—was looking straight at me.

“Then I’m glad.”

“A match, you say… Are you truly certain that is what you desire?”

“Yes. The moment I first saw you, my body started itching.”

“You’re more belligerent than you appear.”

“I get that a lot.”

I began loosening my body, starting from my toes, through my ankles and knees, all the way to my pelvis, working each joint one by one.

“You intend to fight this blind old man?”

“Are you sure you’re blind?”

“With this decrepit body of mine, it is difficult to face a hot-blooded young man like yourself.”

Dante shook his head, claiming he was too old to fight properly. I immediately refuted him.

“For someone saying that, you’re smiling quite brightly.”

“Oh dear, I’ve been caught?”

“You weren’t even trying to hide it.”

Chuckling, Dante turned around.

“Follow me. If we fight here, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all the fish will scatter.”

As I moved to follow him—

Grab.

Reina caught my arm.

“Do you even realize what you’ve done? Even if he’s a former, you just picked a fight with someone who used to be the commander. Can you handle the consequences? You might get hurt.”

Worry filled her eyes. The sight was so funny I almost laughed.

Is she kind-hearted or just a total pushover?

Since I was supposed to be a newbie, we hadn’t known each other long. Yet here she was, worrying about me like this. I gently shook her hand off.

“I did it knowing exactly what I was getting into, so don’t worry.”

Then I added with a small smile.

“You’d be better off worrying about that old man instead. He’s pretty advanced in age—if he gets too excited about feeling young blood again and starts rampaging, it’d be a problem if he collapses, wouldn’t it?”

Reina let out a hollow laugh, as if my words were ridiculous.

“Does the person who picked the fight usually say something like that?”

Oh, she said exactly what the chat was saying.

With a chuckle slipping out, I walked past Reina without another word and headed toward where Dante was waiting. Dopamine was already flooding every corner of my body.

The Wild Hunter Gallery had already been keeping a close eye on the streamer known as Haerang after word spread that a connection route with Dante had opened in the early stages. The news one user brought was more than enough to set the entire gallery ablaze once again.

Dante and I stood a short distance apart. He tapped the sword hanging at his waist and spoke.

“I intend to use this sword. Are you planning to use that greatsword strapped to your back? From its appearance, it looks to be made from Domagrius materials. If you wish, I can lend you a weapon. Just so you know, my sword is crafted from Elder Dragon materials, so ordinary weapons will hardly suffice.”

Without a word I turned, slowly unstrapped the greatsword from my back, and set it upright on the ground. The heavy weight pressed against my fingertips.

“This is enough for me.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

“If that is your decision, I shall respect it.”

Dante drew the sword from his waist and pointed it toward me.

“Come at me first. This old man will graciously yield the first move to the young.”

“Then I won’t hold back.”

I lightly kicked the tip of the greatsword, flipping it up in one smooth motion, and charged straight at Dante. The instant I reached him and swung—

Whoosh!

The tip of Dante’s blade shot toward my face with terrifying speed. I released my grip with one hand, twisting my center of gravity, and barely managed to evade. Using the momentum, I retreated. Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him.

“I thought you were going to yield the first move.”

Dante chuckled softly.

“It was a lie.”

“You’re quite sly.”

“When one ages, one only gains in cunning. Does that displease you?”

I let out a small snort.

“Not at all. On the contrary, it’s fun.”

Fighting monsters was naturally enjoyable. Even though this was a game, the stimulation was more than enough to reawaken senses that had grown dull after more than a year of peace.

However.

Perhaps because we were still in the early stages, something felt lacking. Every monster I had encountered so far had relied purely on brute strength. Instead of using their heads, they simply charged, roared, or rampaged.

But Dante was different. An opponent who mixed in tricky, unpredictable attacks. We had only exchanged a single move, yet it was enough to send a chill down my spine.

Maybe my feelings showed on my face.

“It seems this old man has made a mistake.”

Dante wore an awkward expression. I charged at him again in the exact same way. Seeing him prepare to block the same way as before, I gathered power at my toes.

CRACK!

The ground split beneath my feet as the greatsword spun diagonally with a whoosh, flying straight toward Dante’s upper body. I had thrown the entire weapon, transferring every bit of rotational force from my toes.

While he was distracted, I rode the remaining rotational force and closed the distance in an instant. Only then did panic flicker across his face.

In truth, I had never planned to clash weapons from the start. It was obvious his weapon was superior; meeting it head-on would have been a loss. But unlike when selecting weapons, there were no restrictions on bare-handed combat now.

Taking full advantage, I dove straight into Dante’s chest and drove my fist toward the area beneath his ribs.

Thud.

It wasn’t the sound of flesh being struck. It was a heavy, solid metallic rebound. Dante had barely managed to block my fist with the flat of his blade.

You blocked it?

I did indeed.

Our eyes met. Before we knew it, savage, beast-like smiles had spread across both our faces.

My fists relentlessly targeted his vital points. Dante deflected every trajectory with the flat of his sword and countered. However, wielding a blade at such close quarters was clearly awkward. He soon tossed the sword aside.

What followed was pure hand-to-hand combat. Neither of us held back. When a fist flew, it was parried with the back of a hand. When a knee rose, it was stomped down and pushed away. At a distance where our breaths mingled, we exchanged blows using nothing but pure fighting instinct.

The chat window that had lingered in the corner of my vision had long since disappeared from sight. The only thing in my eyes was the old man before me.

The battle, growing hotter by the second, finally ended with my fist stopping right in front of Dante’s face—and his hand blade hovering at my throat.

“Looks like I win.”

“No, this old man has won.”

“Sorry, but my fist was closer.”

“My hand blade would have reached you before your fist could land.”

After that, without needing any further words, we both let out a small chuckle and straightened our stances.

“Then, as a show of respect for the elderly, shall I call it your victory?”

“Is that what respect looks like?”

“Of course it is.”

“Then I shall not refuse.”

“Take this… You’re even more shameless than I expected.”

“As I said before, people only grow more shameless with age.”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.”

As I turned to retrieve the greatsword I had thrown earlier, Dante’s voice called out.

“By the way, young friend.”

I paused. Was he going to keep arguing?

“Yes? What is it?”

I bent down and picked up the greatsword lying on the ground.

“You went easy on this old man, didn’t you?”

“You knew that and still shamelessly claimed victory?”

“Kukuku. So I ask again—what percentage?”

“Of what?”

“I am asking how much you held back against this old man. What percentage of your full power?”

I looked at him, the corner of my mouth lifting slightly, and quietly turned off my microphone.

After glancing at the viewers’ explosive reaction, I turned back to Dante. He waited in silence. I swallowed once, then laughed softly.

It’s called respect for the elderly, old man.

“Um… about ten percent?”

Hearing my answer, Dante laughed in utter disbelief.

“You really are a monster…”