Chapter 156

“Where did the priest run off to? If we can catch him here, the game will definitely turn in our favor!”

“Should we use tracking magic?”

“No, there’s no time for that. Besides, there are plenty of dead ends here, so he can’t have gone far.”

“Ah… Huh? Behind, behind! Behind!”

The scream that burst out reflexively sent a warning, but the priest’s speed in swinging his sword was faster.

The blue blade of the sword surged towards the waist of the knight at the rear.

Despite another knight wielding a shield immediately throwing himself forward to protect him, it was too late; Na-me’s sword had already cut off his breath.

Receiving the energy of the full moon, the bloodstained blade dripped red as it splattered across the academy’s corridor.

There was no way those who witnessed their comrade’s death would let it slide.

The shield knight thrust his sword toward Na-me’s waist.

Clang—!

The sound was not the dull thud of armor being hit, but the lively clash of swords resonating through the air.

Though the knight was too easily blocked, he paid no mind as he retrieved his sword and raised his shield. Buying time was the priority now.

Despite the absence of any signal, the mage turned back to regroup and prepare for casting. He silently expressed gratitude to the shield knight for having bought them enough time.

“The opponent’s mana is at 0! I’ll keep pushing, so just watch our backs!”

The knight, having caught his breath, yelled loudly.

Standing almost toe-to-toe, they both drew their swords.

The opponent showed no signs of fleeing. Were they truly planning to face off against them both?

The shadows of the two men overlapped.

The knight accelerated to the limit with the use of Aura, continuously pressuring the opponent, but each time Na-me responded fiercely, cutting off his movements precisely.

The feints that occasionally broke in to create openings only reduced the distance between them, while the thrusting strikes that aimed for vital points were countered by the snake-like movements of the Scyabona.

“Ghh…!”

Their bodies were tightly pressed together. If either one hesitated or held back their attack even for a moment, they would undoubtedly lose their life.

With stamina running low, it was a matter of luck as to who would drop first.

However, despite their strong resolve, the sword that had been thought to be an afterimage struck the knight’s side, making him falter.

The knight instinctively stepped back, furrowing his brow.

Seeing this, Na-me immediately pushed in to break his balance, shoving her shoulder against him.

In their one-on-one melee, the knight could not afford to fall first, so he firmly gripped his shield to withstand the shock that came at him.

Quickly turning her body again, Na-me left irreparable wounds on the knight’s legs.

The shield knight swung his blind sword, but Na-me dodged just barely as she thrust into a vital point once more.

Clang—

The shield, barely reclaimed from the ground, provided the knight with a moment of life, but it produced an unpleasant clashing sound of metal.

Having only slipped once, he could not catch up.

The mage sent a voice of salvation to the knight, who was barely swallowing his pain.

“I’ll be casting magic soon!”

“I don’t care if I die, just fire together!”

This was actually an opportunity.

The knight’s long-held sword crossed with that of the priest, which was precisely what he intended.

In a standoff where neither party could push their strength without restraint, an immense flow of mana was detected.

Though the priest still had Blink’s cooldown remaining, the knight was occupying the other hand so he couldn’t draw a scroll.

The brilliant strategy combined with an unexpected standoff led to a checkmate that brought a smile to the knight’s face.

Swoosh—

“Huh?”

If the priest pulled away now, it would only benefit the knight.

There remained a window of time before the magic would activate.

Thinking that the opponent must have made a mistake, the knight stood from the cold corridor floor and immediately chased after the priest.

It wouldn’t matter if one more person died here, as long as the mage survived; the tides of battle wouldn’t be greatly affected.

The knight boldly dashed forward, narrowing the distance, and swung his sword with all his might.

Whoosh—

The powerful strike that crushed the air ahead ultimately resulted in a split in the void.

[Twilight Clone: When health drops below 15%, creates a clone for 10 seconds.]

“What kind of clone is this…?”

“AAAAAHHH!”

In a hazy vision, he turned to look behind.

The priest, who had quickly approached the mage through Blink, took her heart with a swift strike of her short sword.

Red blood splattered across the white wallpaper.

At the same moment, Na-me, pulling the blood-soaked sword from the knight, held the blade firmly like a spear and hurled it at the knight.

Thwack—

The startled knight raised his shield first and deflected the sword. It was only momentarily that he questioned her perplexing action.

“Good, that was a nice deflection.”

The sword that had flown through the air was now in Na-me’s hand. How?

The Scyabona was firmly gripped in her right hand.

So surprised, the knight unknowingly took a step back to regain his stance, but the shield that had tilted too much to his left due to his previous action hindered his speed.

Life-and-death moments were a matter of split seconds.

Swish—

The horizontal swing of the sword left a mark on the knight’s neck.

[Critical!]

[Disaster of Administration: Each time a stacked strike is dealt, an additional damage of 3% is applied.]

[Current: 12 stacks]

[20075 (14080 + 5995)]

The immense damage that could not be considered merely a single attack from the priest hit the hulking knight, signaling the end of the battle.

* * *

[2051 Drugodae Season 2 Showcase Results Summary for Day 1-5]

[NoName (Priest): 5 matches 3 wins 2 losses]

[Combined KDA: 48/0/86]

One-line comment: ?

– Why did we lose those two matches?

However, despite Na-me’s surpassing the limits of a character, she did not lead the game to victory.

When adjusting the battle power down to 50,000 from 100,000, there was an unexpected variable that all tournament officials had not anticipated.

– The healer becomes too trash in this meta.

In the current professional game meta, balance patches were calculated based on 100,000 battle power, while they hadn’t considered that the healer class would overwhelmingly become unviable when all classes had half that stat.

– If so, spending auction points on healers would confirm you as an idiot, lol.

* * *

News of NoName participating in Drugodae spread quickly like a rolling snowball.

Voices of concern about the tournament’s management emerged from various communities already.

However, the opinions were divided and often sharply contradictory.

[Does it make sense to send the number one in the rankings to Drugodae?]

NoName was already a physically perfected individual.

Her excellent swordsmanship displayed in Nightmare had surpassed the realm of human capacity.

There was fear that the dramatic story of teams made up of people from relatively lower tiers could be shattered due to just one person, NoName.

[Looking at the records, NoName has only played 5 games. Being overhyped hurts NoName more. She doesn’t even know how to run the game.]

However, there was also the perspective that story mode and multiplayer were entirely different games.

Just because someone was an excellent futsal player, it didn’t guarantee they would be an exceptional soccer player.

The skills honed in futsal might help in achieving goals in soccer, but the basic required stats were of a different dimension.

Most importantly, the only practical magic applicable in multiplayer was ‘Blink,’ and NoName was practically a newbie, not knowing any of the systems of Woloa.

People who had only watched her story mode stream, those who had only seen her placement test, and those who had followed both all spoke differently, and the situation was growing increasingly chaotic.

[I’ve never watched NoName’s stream, but if a middle schooler participating in a tournament is a good thing, then I fully support it, lol.]

Sometimes people prioritized external game factors like age over rational reasons.

Though not entirely trustworthy, it was still a post supporting NoName, prompting a boy to hit the ‘like’ button.

On the other side of the screen, NoName was catching her breath.

The intense battle felt like a scene out of a movie.

She deserved even greater praise for winning the game; however, unfortunately, more criticism fell on her teammate Kariri than praise on NoName.

[‘HoyaMuyaHo’ donated 1,000 won!]

– It’s unfortunate, but it was cool…! Awesome!

“Thank you, HoyaMuyaHo. Long time no see with a donation, huh?”

Human beings can be passionate about sports because there are always constraints.

If hands could be used in soccer, no one would be enthusiastic about it, and top star players wouldn’t amass those hefty salaries.

Despite all the controversies, the reason gaming could be referred to as esports lay in their commonality of fierce competition between people under the same constraints.

While sports must always adhere to rules, paradoxically, how freely and creatively opportunities can be created within those rules determines skill and popularity.

The closer one gets to the goal, the higher the chance of scoring when shooting the ball from a stable position, but players who attempt mid-range shots or acrobatic overhead kicks are always rewarded with the highest treatment.

Wherever competition takes place, scarcity breeds capital and attention.

At least on this battlefield, NoName seemed to shine so brightly that it could blind anyone.

[‘HoyaMuyaHo’ donated 1,000 won!]

– Do you have any thoughts about a collab with Kariri…?

The boy subtly asked her.

“Collab… Hmm…”

She appeared displeased.

After all, they had almost lost due to Kariri just moments ago.

“If we become a team, I’ll think about it.”

The boy smiled brightly for the first time in a while.