Chapter 66

I came to the training ground to get familiar with the [Assassin]’s skills.

“Whoo… Haaa…”

I closed my eyes, spread my hands wide, and took a deep breath.

The crisp, cool air that I could never feel in the hospital. Of course, it was a fake sensation created through electrical signals, but since this virtual world was like a second reality to me, I didn’t mind.

*Hop. Hop. Hop.*

I slowly jumped in place, checking the condition of my body, which hadn’t moved for a week.

My body felt light. I stretched my limbs, waking up the sensations in my arms and legs that had been unused for a week.

“Ughhh…! Phew! This body is back!”

Even though I hadn’t moved my body for a week, it moved better than I expected.

I pulled out the dagger at my waist and looked at the scarecrow.

I wasn’t in the same cold, calm state as during my period, but I tried to recall that sensation as much as possible.

The speed at which I could use skills without even thinking, as naturally as water flowing. It felt like having two brains.

I activated the skills in my mind, focusing on the two daggers, and charged at the scarecrow.

The attack speed was much faster than when I was a [Soma]. Maybe because my body was so used to the [Soma], controlling the daggers felt unfamiliar.

All the skills were new, and the pre-delay, post-delay, and abilities were all different, so I kept hesitating in the middle.

“Ugh… I can’t replicate that period sensation at all.”

If there were only 10 skills, I could manage, but like the [Soma], most jobs have around 20 skills.

Out of 20 skills, you have to choose the right one for each situation, but the [Assassin] has the added complexity of using skills for each dagger.

“I need real combat practice to get used to this.”

I spent almost 3 hours hitting the scarecrow.

In between dealing damage, I tried moving my body, forcing myself to fall to mess up the cooldown alignment, and other experiments.

But I needed real combat experience. To deal damage in any situation, I needed to experience various scenarios.

The [Soma] could parry to escape sudden dangers, but the [Assassin]’s daggers are much weaker than the [Soma]’s parry.

For the [Assassin], it’s more beneficial to use a movement skill to get behind the boss and attack rather than parry.

‘Should I try PVP?’

When selecting guild members, we used the PVP Survival Mode.

Until now, I had a lot to do—reaching max level in Leore, running last season’s raids, running this season’s raids, and so on—so I hadn’t touched PVP.

But now, there’s nothing to do until the next season. This seems like the perfect time to get into PVP.

Leore PVP is quite famous, with tournaments and a well-established scene.

The tense situations, the environment where you can’t let your guard down for even a second, the PVP arena where you can think of various strategies.

I decided on it.

I warped to the PVP area, holding only my daggers, completely clueless.

In Leore PVP, unlike other RPGs, there’s no equipment. You just use the specs set by the game.

So, you can fight equally without having to run raids. Of course, the balance between jobs is another issue.

In a huge colosseum-like space, many people were chatting.

They were all there to enjoy PVP.

Since I’m quite famous, I slipped into a corner before anyone noticed and opened the PVP window, clicking on the 1v1 general match.

I wanted to jump straight into ranked games, but I had to play 10 general matches first.

*Ding.*

The match was found in less than 5 seconds.

My body was instantly moved, and I found myself facing another user in the center of the colosseum.

A 30-second timer appeared before my eyes.

Probably to analyze the opponent and think of tactics before the 180-second duel.

A male user holding a greatsword.

He wore massive armor that matched the greatsword. Normally, my attacks would pierce through the armor, but with the spec adjustments, it seemed hard to deal damage with regular attacks.

“Oh, an assassin~ This match is an easy win. Huh?”

The greatsword user saw “[Assassin]” written on the alert window and happily pointed at me.

“WFK Arang…!? Wow, awesome. Are you doing PVP now too?”

“Yes. I’m trying PVP as an assassin starting today.”

“Wow… It’s an honor. But trying PVP with that job? That’s bold.”

“You’ll know once you try.”

10 seconds left. *Beep. Beep.* The sound effect started, indicating time was running out.

With 5 seconds left, I drew my two daggers and took a stance.

The greatsword user raised his greatsword above his head, taking a high stance. A faint white light enveloped the greatsword.

I knew that stance and effect from running dungeons with Uncle Kang Hangeul’s greatsword user.

It was the greatsword user’s only movement skill, [Charge].

With the assassin’s bug-like health, every attack from the greatsword user would be fatal. To win, I had to avoid getting hit even once.

The moment the timer hit 1 second, the greatsword user charged at me.

“!?”

Only then did I notice the small line in the center of the colosseum.

The fight didn’t start when the timer hit 0 seconds; you just couldn’t cross the line or attack before then.

You could cast, use skills, move, or charge—it didn’t matter.

As long as you didn’t cross the line before 0 seconds, and no attacks landed, it was fine.

In other words, you could finish all your attack preparations before 0 seconds, and the attack could land right at 0 seconds.

This was my mistake.

0 seconds.

The word “START!” appeared in front of me, but I couldn’t pay attention to it.

The greatsword was already above my head.

I had planned to observe how the greatsword user played PVP and understand the flow, but that was too naive.

I raised my dagger to parry the greatsword—!

‘Oh no!’

After playing as a [Soma] for so long, the parrying habit was ingrained in me, and I instinctively raised my dagger to parry.

As the dagger and greatsword clashed, I relaxed my arm and let the greatsword user’s charge attack slide off.

‘Ugh…!’

I didn’t take much damage from the greatsword user’s powerful charge attack, but I was stunned for a moment.

As soon as the stun wore off, I used a movement skill to create distance. The greatsword user was also slightly stunned, and since greatsword attacks are heavy, I thought I had enough time—

*Thud!*

“Haah!?”

A shock hit my abdomen, interrupting my movement skill, and my eyes widened.

The greatsword user had let go of his greatsword and punched my stomach.

‘This user is experienced in PVP…!’

He anticipated my movement skill and canceled it by punching my stomach right after his charge skill ended.

The vibration ringing in my stomach made me bite my lip hard and move back manually instead of using a movement skill.

The greatsword user, of course, didn’t let me go and charged at me.

I tried to fend off his approach with my daggers, but he deliberately pulled his greatsword back and thrust his right shoulder forward.

With his massive armor and body twisted to thrust his shoulder forward, the greatsword disappeared from my view.

‘He’s hiding the effect…!? How much of a veteran is he!?’

I tried to prepare for the next attack, but without seeing the greatsword, I couldn’t predict what skill he was using.

I gripped both daggers in reverse for an attack power buff. I had to counter the next attack with a parry or block.

“You’re not used to PVP, are you!”

The greatsword user laughed and pushed his right shoulder forward, hitting my stomach again.

*Bang!*

‘My stomach again…!’

“Haah…!”

Another loud vibration in my abdomen.

After allowing two attacks, the stun didn’t end with just a small vibration; I was hit with a medium stun.

“One hit~”

The greatsword, enveloped in a red effect, came into view.

A single attack, [Spear], the greatsword user’s powerful thrust. I couldn’t dodge, and the greatsword pierced my stomach, causing an explosion.

*Kwaaaang!*

My body was blown away by the explosion from the greatsword, flying to the colosseum wall.

==

The greatsword user is currently ranked 80th.

Considering there are tens of thousands of Leore PVP users, he’s quite skilled. He always warms up with a couple of general matches before jumping into ranked games.

Today, like any other day, he warmed up with a general match and laughed when he saw he was matched against an assassin, a job weak against greatsword users.

He checked which user was playing as an assassin and recognized a very familiar user.

A small figure that looked like she wasn’t even in middle school, with a mischievous face.

And the nickname [Arang], which no one in Leore wouldn’t know, along with the title [Abyss The WFK], confirming it was really her.

It was really Arang.

The greatsword user was excited to PVP against Arang, who is considered the top physical player in Leore, but also curious about her PVP skills.

Raids and PVP are distinctly different.

Watching Arang get blown away by the greatsword attack, the greatsword user felt a bit disappointed that she couldn’t do much.

Arang’s HP was already down to 5% after two martial arts attacks and one greatsword hit.

Now, even a light punch would end it.

The greatsword user placed his greatsword on his shoulder and slowly walked toward where Arang had flown.

*Whoosh.*

As Arang emerged from the debris, the greatsword user took a stance to finish her off.

‘Huh? The atmosphere… feels completely different?’