Chapter 74

-Ding.

PVP Arena Ranked Placement Matches: 9 wins, 0 losses.

The last match just got matched.

I rubbed my hands together and prayed.

‘Please, no Enchanters, no Enchanters, no Enchanters, no Enchanters, no Enchanters, no Enchanters!’

Out of 9 matches, a whopping 5 were against Enchanters.

All 5 matches were a sticky mess, dragging on until time ran out.

Fighting other classes takes almost 5 times longer, and getting hit by CC abilities just drains your energy and makes it exhausting.

Please, just this last match…!

My vision turned pitch black, and I was sucked into the arena.

And there, standing before me, was my final opponent.

A slim figure wearing assassin-like tight clothing, but the bow in their hand and the arrows on their back clearly marked them as an archer-type class.

“Yesssssssss!!!”

The massive bow, as tall as the user, indicated that the player in front of me was a [Wanderer], the most bow-specialized class in the archer lineage.

A class with no weaknesses in range, attack speed, CC abilities, or mobility, and highly effective in both raids and PVP.

Others might dislike it, but after endlessly battling boring Enchanters, the sight of this [Wanderer] brought tears of joy to my eyes.

“Wow… WFK title. Wait, isn’t that Arang…!?”

“Hello.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

Oh, thankfully, a normal player.

“Arang, are you doing PVP?”

“Just trying it out. This is my last placement match.”

“I see, wait, placement…?”

“Yeah, placement matches.”

“Huh? I’m Diamond though…? Can Diamond players match with placement matches…?”

Ding, ding.

“Whatever, since we’ve matched, let’s do our best.”

I smiled at the [Wanderer] player, who looked flustered.

“Sure! Let’s do our best!”

START!

I used my pre-cast mobility skill to teleport behind the Wanderer.

But the Wanderer wasn’t there.

Instead, I saw a tiny seed.

‘Wanderer’s Binding Skill.’

Thanks to Sunchoo, I had already memorized the main CC skills of each class, so I quickly canceled the skill and returned to before I cast it.

The [Assassin]’s mobility skill is one of the highest-tier mobility skills.

Even after using the skill to move to the desired location, the skill doesn’t end for 1 second. Within that 1 second, if you cancel the skill, you can return to where you originally cast it.

This allows for a lot of psychological warfare in PVP, making it far superior to other classes’ mobility skills.

The Wanderer player, anticipating my mobility skill, used their own to create distance and cast a CC skill where they had been.

Truly a Diamond-tier Wanderer.

As soon as I returned to my original spot, vines erupted from where the Wanderer had been.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Behind!

At the sound of arrows from behind, I immediately turned.

‘Did they expect me to cancel my skill?’

Arrows surged toward me to kill me, and in the distance, I saw the Wanderer player.

Blinking once, the arrows were already in front of me.

But no matter how fast the arrows were, they were still much slower than the instant-cast CC spells of an Enchanter.

Even without using heightened senses, I was already accustomed to instant-cast magic, so blocking the arrows was easy.

Clang!

Starting with one arrow, I parried every single arrow rushing at me with the daggers in both hands.

“Huh?”

The flustered Wanderer player. Without hesitation, I charged toward them.

The Wanderer quickly regained composure and started using various skills while moving.

I parried every attack, predicting the size, speed, and damage of each arrow, using skills on my daggers to deflect or dodge everything.

In the ongoing chase, I never got stunned and kept closing the distance.

“What the…!?”

Even without Awakening Mode, my movements were clean and smooth.

‘Is this the effect of exercise…!?’

Of course, one day of exercise wouldn’t show immediate results, but my condition today was top-notch despite facing so many Enchanters.

The arrows were fast, but my reflexes were faster.

If the arrows had come like shotgun pellets, I wouldn’t have tried to parry, but the Wanderer’s skills weren’t like that.

Sure, a lot of arrows came at once, but they weren’t fired all at once. Instead, they came out rapidly from the bow, so staying calm allowed me to parry them all without issue.

If I had just parried, I would’ve been stunned, but since I activated skills while parrying, I avoided stuns.

The Wanderer relies more on attack speed than raw power, making them an easy match for me.

“Cooldown… can’t keep up…!”

The Wanderer, trying to escape my relentless pursuit, eventually got caught.

I didn’t miss the chance and attacked their body with insane speed.

Their health dropped rapidly.

The Wanderer struggled to escape.

But giving distance to an Assassin like me means you’ve already lost!

I poured all my attacks into the vital spots: head, neck, and heart.

The Wanderer didn’t just sit still. In the brief moment before getting stunned, they crossed their arms to protect their head, neck, and heart.

But I quickly reversed my grip on the daggers, stabbed them into the Wanderer’s arms, and slashed downward.

As their arms naturally fell, I pulled out the daggers and stabbed both into their neck, tearing it apart.

It was flawless, without a single error.

The overwhelming damage and the crucial stun system left the Wanderer unable to counter.

They probably didn’t expect to get stunned on the first hit.

Pop!

The Wanderer exploded into particles. Seeing the victory message, I jumped for joy.

[Placement Matches: 10 wins, 0 losses]

[Platinum 1, 0 points]

“Oh… Platinum 1?”

I was surprised by the higher-than-expected rank. Even with 10 wins and 0 losses, I thought I’d get Platinum 5 at most, but Platinum 1?

‘Well, Leore isn’t just any game.’

It’s a virtual reality game with high-performance AI, so it doesn’t just judge tiers based on wins and losses.

‘The AI must’ve recognized my skills, huh?’

Even though the placement matches were over, I was too exhausted to jump into ranked games right away.

If it had just been 10 normal matches, it’d be fine, but 5 out of 10 were against Enchanters, so I was mentally drained.

‘What time is it now? Only 6 PM?’

Even after morning rehab, exercise, massage, and 10 placement matches, I still had plenty of time.

‘I’m too tired, so I’ll stop Leore here.’

I said goodbye in the guild chat and logged out.

As soon as I arrived in the virtual room, I jumped onto the bed. The bed that always welcomes me.

[Arang, you finished early today?]

While rolling around on the bed, I heard Dr. Hyeseon’s voice and opened the settings window, bringing up the hospital room screen.

She had been reading a book, as there was a book and a cup on the table.

“Teacher, why are you resting here? Isn’t it tiring?”

[What’s tiring? I was just sitting here reading.]

“Still, your own space feels different from other spaces, right?”

[I like it here with you, Arang. And it’d be even better if you were next to me~?]

I hesitated at Dr. Hyeseon’s words.

I already liked being in someone’s embrace, but thanks to Baedeokgae, I’ve come to prefer being held while having my stomach stroked.

Like how cats get focused when their tails are touched, or dogs love having their bellies scratched, I’ve come to enjoy having my stomach patted and rubbed. Or rather, I’ve grown to like it.

Probably because my physical senses and nerves have developed.

‘This is all Baedeokgae’s fault…’

I sighed deeply and pressed the logout button.

My vision turned pitch black, and after a while, a bright light came, and I opened my eyes.

“Huh? Arang, you really came out?”

“Yeah… didn’t you want me to…?”

“Wow, I wanted it, but I didn’t think you’d actually come. You usually log out around dawn.”

“Hug me quickly…”

“Okay, okay. Ugh.”

Dr. Hyeseon, who isn’t particularly muscular or large, effortlessly picked me up.

Honestly, by high school, most people could probably lift me. I remember my weight being in the 20s.

At 15, my growth was stunted due to illness, and without limbs, my weight is naturally low.

Anyway, Dr. Hyeseon carried me to the chair she was sitting on, cradled me, and with one hand on my stomach and the other on the book, she read aloud, spending time with me.