Chapter 108

Teaching was a far more advanced act than learning.

If learning was simply about opening one’s mouth and passively receiving knowledge brought by others, teaching someone required digesting raw knowledge, chewing, tearing, biting, and delivering it just before swallowing.

It’s a very dirty metaphor, but the essence of what I’m trying to say remains the same.

However, I suspected that I had no talent for teaching, as I could hardly swallow the food.

“I’m really at my limit now… I can’t do this…!”

Adella, gasping for breath, voiced her complaints.

While her talent appeared quite exceptional when it came to defeating Bally, I began to doubt whether her willpower was a bit weak.

– Is this right? Hahahaha

– The skills are handled by the cat, but the money is earned by the cat!

– Ah, I’m giving treats, right? Hahahaha

– No, correct that it’s ‘treat flavor,’ not just treats!

– Hahaha

– Evil boss, step down!

To correct Adella’s bad habits, I used a strategy involving treats and carrots, which was half-successful.

In other words, the other half could be considered a failure.

I reflected on the problem of designing instrumental conditioning, using treats as positive reinforcement and carrots as negative punishment.

When I taught swordsmanship to Klaus before, I used a real whip entirely, and perhaps the punishment was just too lenient.

But now it was too late to change methods.

Slowly, she was clearly improving with each iteration.

“Feeling tired? Can’t do it?”

“Haa… it’s hard, you know!”

“Is it really hard? Do you not have the strength to stand?”

– Hahahaha

– It’s bringing back PTSD from training camp.

– Recruit number 145121, lift your legs higher! Conduct obstacle drills number 8!

– Kyaah!

– Adella would be innocent even if she bit No Name. Hahaha

Seeing her displaying a dejected expression all over her body, I felt I shouldn’t press any further.

Master Maria always regarded me as a cold-hearted person, but I was indeed a warm-hearted individual.

– Let’s leave Adella behind. T_T

– No, we must protect Adella!

– Is she really getting stronger?

– If this continues, she might end up totally defeated by Chronicle.

– The way I’m teaching seems quite pointless.

While Adella took a break, I turned my gaze to the chat window. Noticing that I was reading it, the speed of the messages increased twofold, threefold.

“There’s a reason for teaching this way.”

The existence of humans is complex, but that doesn’t guarantee perfection.

Attaching a ‘model hand’ to my arm and concealing the original hand out of sight, just by sensing the impact on the model hand, our brain feels pain. It’s a kind of phantom pain.

In the same way, Adella and I connected the most basic and useless sense in combat, ‘taste,’ to minimize her opportunity for sensory involvement.

By injecting her with primitive feedback like ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ I could mislead her into thinking that my judgments were her own.

‘Habits’ in combat cannot be changed overnight.

Even if you know it in your head, if you can’t execute it during emergencies, it’s all for nothing.

[‘월r못’ donated 1,000 won!]

– Honestly, it doesn’t seem effective at all, downvote. Hahaha

“Wait a minute, come out.”

It was bearable until they started meddling with my guidance.

But gathering supporters who outright opposed my opinion clearly crossed the line.

Pause. The game changed to a black-and-white world, and without a second thought, I clicked on the account of the person who had just donated.

[월r못 (Watching Live)]

Watching live means being in the capsule and running 월오아.

I created an empty battlefield and immediately entered his ID.

[Inviting: 월r못]

– Wow, what the heck!

– So envious, Hahaha

– This is a one-on-one!!!

It clearly wasn’t a good thing, yet everyone was so excited.

It was time to show a demonstration.

* * *

Naeme’s memory of the viewer ‘월r못’ was due to her excellent memory as well as his particularly bad attitude while watching the broadcast.

With frequent one-thousand-won donations, he often irritated Naeme and didn’t hesitate to make vulgar comments in the chat.

He was a lucky case who hadn’t been caught by the managers.

But thinking of what was to come, I had to withhold judgment on whether he was truly lucky.

[월r못 has entered the custom game.]

“Wow, what is this?”

– Silver, Hahaha

– I can’t believe someone like this was giving advice?

– Legendary, seriously. Hahaha

Naeme threw a sword identical to the one Adella used at him.

“Catch.”

“Ah, yes!”

– He got serious real quick. Hahaha

– Turns out he’s just a coward hiding behind his screen?

– This chat is so dirty, just ban him already. ;;

– How has he not been banned yet?

– It’s quite the spectacle Hahaha

On the other hand, Naeme remained empty-handed.

Before the invited viewer could raise any questions, Naeme opened her mouth first.

“If you beat me, you go on the blacklist, but if you lose, you’ll be on the whitelist.”

“Isn’t that backwards…?”

“No, it’s correct.”

“Why do I go on the whitelist if I lose?”

“Because of the color of the subpoena.”

“Ah…”

– Hahahaha

– Wow

– Wow

– Even if you win, you’re back to square one in court. Hahaha

– Now that’s real education ㅅㅓ억~~~~~

– Life is all about reality.

– No Name is giving some real life lessons here, Hahaha

– Hahaha, the term whitelist sounds so scary.

– I’d rather be on the blacklist, it’s a hundred times better.

“By the way, I will report under the Child Protection Law, not for defamation, so I hope you really do your best.”

– Let’s do this for real.

– Out of all the numerous female streamers, how did he end up getting caught by No Name?

– Looks like he really was a minor Hahaha

– As long as it’s not me~~~~~~~!!!!

– This shouldn’t be funny, but why is it so hilarious? Hahaha

– I’ve been going through some tough times lately, but thanks to this, I can’t stop smiling.

– 월r못, your sacrifice will never be forgotten…

– Hahaha

The man with an unremarkable avatar trembled like a leaf. His face was so pale that you couldn’t find a hint of color.

“I’m really sorry… please let me off just this once…?”

“No, there’s nothing to apologize for now. You can say that when the time comes.”

“If you let me off just this once, I swear I won’t come back to this broadcast. I’ll even delete my 월오아 and Twish accounts! I really mean it!”

– Don’t let him go!

– Real education! Real education!

– He’s Silver, why delete it?

“It’s simple. I’m just going to stab your heart. I’ll only attack once. All you have to do is block that one attack. Then, I’ll put you on the blacklist.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you…”

– Wait, you’re really going to let that slide?

– If you tell him and do it, who can’t block? ;;

– Almost faced a lawsuit there, thank goodness.

– If this goes to HQ, I’d bet his Twish account would get permanently banned too.

A custom match to avoid a lawsuit started.

Naeme ultimately didn’t pick up a weapon.

Her intention to engage in battle with bare hands stood out.

월r못 sighed as he saw No Name charging towards him from the opposite side of the battlefield at a terrifying speed.

She was surely just bluffing. In reality, there were far too many advantageous points for him in this match.

The fact that she wasn’t wielding a weapon, the fact that he had been given strong dual swords in a one-on-one, and lastly, the fact that she limited both her attack angles and the number of attacks was clear.

No matter how objectively someone viewed their own skills, No Name was practically a newbie who had no experience outside of story mode.

Some praised her talent as challenger level, but his thoughts differed.

‘She got lucky to find a hidden route, and that’s it…!’

He took a deep breath and steadied his stance.

It was a simple matter. There was no need for him to attack at all. She had clearly declared that she would attack only towards his heart, so all he had to do was cross his swords to defend.

As the distance between them closed to the length at which a sword could strike.

No Name jumped, clearing her height in a single bound.

월r못’s stance distorted.

He naively thought the attack would come straight at him from the front.

The concept of stabbing the heart didn’t necessarily mean it had to come from the front.

But since he firmly believed that his reaction speed was respectable, he turned his body 180 degrees and hunched down again.

Through his arms, Naeme’s ominous gaze flashed.

In an instant, her arm filled with aura. Her shoulder moved first, followed by her torso.

Yet, her center of gravity was distinctly higher. It wasn’t aimed at the heart but rather the head. More precisely, it was her opposite arm launching toward his neck.

‘A trap…!’

Having watched the broadcast, he recognized this familiar attack.

It was the breathtaking movement she had shown an hour ago when Adella almost perfectly defeated Bally.

And just as Adella mercilessly pierced Bally’s carotid artery, No Name intended to crush his head in the same manner.

“You promise me you’d behave…!”

At that moment,

Naeme’s fingertips precisely pierced the man’s heart through the gap that had inadvertently opened in his raised arm.

– ????

– You’re blocking your head with that?

– Just forget it.

– Hahahaha

– You couldn’t even stop that when you were warned? Hahaha

– Is this what Silver level is all about…?

– The future of 월오아 looks bleak.

The exact strike landed squarely in his heart.

Clearly, No Name’s attack had come with the force to decapitate him, yet he could only be bewildered as to why his heart had been pierced.

“No… this is…”

Naeme withdrew her hand and pulled out a file and a pen from her private space.

“See? It’s that hard to change a person’s habits.”

Humans are intricately designed to block life-threatening attacks at unexpected moments.

Even if that puts their own lives at risk.

A satisfied smile blossomed on Naeme’s face as she experimentally verified her hypothesis.

– Death Note, wow!

– It really exists!

– Whoa…!

– Lawsuit ending, yay!

“Thank you for your efforts.”

* * *

-(Manager 5): Excuse me, No Name?

“What is it, ‘고양이교미가제일좋아’?”

-(Manager 5): Can’t you just call me manager…? It’s not that, but, wasn’t there another name written on the whitelist along with that human? Please tell me my name isn’t on there!

“Well, I’m not sure, 고양이교미가제일좋아.”

-(Manager 5): What do you mean by ‘I’m not sure!!!’ Are you saying it’s really written there? You’re not suing me, are you?

The sudden emergence of the whitelist made the cat furry girl anxious to ask her question.