Chapter 85

[Leore Gallery]

[Kim Gi-hyung Pro Situation] [592]

What’s up with Kim Gi-hyung Pro?

Win or lose, he’s screwed either way.

If he wins, he’ll be bragging about beating a 15-year-old sick girl with no limbs.

If he loses, he’ll be bragging about losing to a 15-year-old sick girl with no limbs.

Basically, no matter what, he’s screwed.

[Comments]

Yeah, he’s screwed either way, but losing to a 15-year-old sick girl with no limbs seems less stressful.

LOL, seriously, fighting a girl who barely looks 140 cm tall with no limbs? That’s just messed up.

He’s just doomed, no matter what.

If he’s screwed either way, maybe winning is the lesser evil?

If he loses, he’s screwed for a while, but if he wins, he’s screwed for life, LOL.

The moment he wins, he’s disqualified as a human being, LOL.

For real, LOL, look at Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s face, he looks so conflicted, LOL.

He’s like, “Seriously, I have to fight this kid?” LOL.

==

[“Ah, thank goodness. Thankfully, she has limbs now, no, um… I mean… her limbs are… uh… this…”]

[“Yes! User Arang has only played the [Assassin] class in the arena so far. As expected, she chose [Assassin] again this time.”]

[“Well, yes…! Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s class is the traditional mage class, [Sorceress]. It’s well-balanced, but isn’t it slightly disadvantageous against [Assassin]?”]

[“Normally, that would be the case, but Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s [Sorceress] boasts a whopping 58% win rate against assassin classes, the highest among all subclasses!”]

[“But those lines on User Arang’s limbs aren’t part of the costume, right? In that aspect, she definitely looks like a 15-year-old girl!”]

-Caster…

-LOL, if you don’t know the dark side, you wouldn’t get it.

-It’s rare for someone to have those lines because they’re missing limbs, so most people wouldn’t know, LOL.

-If they knew the truth, they’d be pulling their hair out, LOL.

[“A-Anyway!!! The match preparations are complete. This match is a best-of-five, and players can change classes between rounds. Let’s see how this goes!”]

The grand colosseum. Only two people stood in that majestic place.

‘Damn it. I shouldn’t have looked.’

Kim Gi-hyung Pro frowned as he looked at Arang in front of him.

The boundary lines on her limbs. At first, he thought it was just a concept. There were people who created concepts like cut lines for 18+ content.

But while attaching the access device to his body to enter the virtual world, he accidentally turned his head and saw User Arang in the silent venue.

Her limbs were prosthetic, and she had removed them all to access the virtual world.

User Arang said she would give her all to defeat him, but after seeing all that, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her, making him question whether he should go all out.

She didn’t look like a 15-year-old girl, likely due to her illness. And she had no limbs?

‘Can I really go all out…?’

Kim Gi-hyung Pro sighed and looked at User Arang, who was staring at him with a serious expression.

‘Maybe I should just go easy and lose…’

START!

Whoosh!

“!?”

0.1 seconds? No, 0.01 seconds?

As soon as the word “START!” appeared, User Arang in front of him vanished.

As a mage, he expected her to use an assassin movement skill at the start signal.

He anticipated it and placed a spell behind him. But she arrived before the spell could activate, faster than he expected.

He judged the spell had failed. Kim Gi-hyung Pro slid forward to create distance.

Swoosh!

Even though he thought he dodged it, his health decreased.

‘She predicted my movement and placed the skill range ahead.’

Kim Gi-hung Pro used an instant-cast spell to stop User Arang from closing in, and their positions reversed as if they had switched places.

‘She’s good. Not out of pity, but genuinely good.’

She was the girl who fought evenly with his friend and rival, Jeong Jin Pro. Even if she had no limbs and was sick, she was a formidable opponent here.

But no matter how skilled she was here, the image of her in real life overlapped with User Arang in front of him.

In the end, he lost the first match, unable to focus and failing to counter User Arang’s relentless attacks.

[“Ah, is Kim Gi-hyung Pro not warmed up yet?”]

[“It’s more like he’s not focusing on the match at all. He’s not paying attention to skills or cooldowns. This doesn’t look like Kim Gi-hung Pro at all. But… I understand. I understand…!”]

-This is giving T a mental breakdown, LOL.

-The difference between reality and the virtual world is insane.

-In reality, she’s a corpse, in the virtual world, she’s a monster, LOL.

-Attacking someone like Arang would make you a real piece of trash, right?

-Win or lose, he’s an idiot.

[“User Arang looks displeased.”]

[“Probably because Kim Gi-hyung Pro isn’t playing seriously. But I understand Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s feelings…!”]

[“Right… I have a daughter the same age as User Arang, so I understand even more. But Kim Gi-hyung Pro, you need to snap out of it!”]

-Seeing real-life Arang is kinda hot [Message deleted.]

-The guy above should GTFO.

-You don’t know who Arang’s sister is, LOL.

-Choose your words carefully.

==

What is this.

I won two matches in a row and couldn’t help but feel disappointed looking at Kim Gi-hyung Pro in front of me.

His reflexes, physicality, and mental game were all trash-level. Plus, that hesitation every time he attacked.

An ordinary person might not notice, but with my heightened senses, I could see it clearly.

Kim Gi-hyung Pro. He hesitates a lot when attacking me. Especially when he looks at my face, his body freezes. It’s obvious he’s uncomfortable attacking me.

‘This is really annoying…?’

I didn’t join this tournament to be pitied.

As a user of Leore, I wanted to show my skills to many people by competing against Korea’s strongest, even if I didn’t win, to earn a limited mount and title.

But Kim Gi-hyung Pro isn’t taking this seriously for two matches in a row.

‘I know my situation is serious, but having no limbs doesn’t mean I can’t play the game.’

The virtual world is an incredible place, and the access device that lets me enter it is the best. It’s just amazing that my parents made it.

‘That’s why they give me an allowance of 100 million, right?’

I haven’t even spent 10 million of the 100 million in the Leore cash shop yet.

My thoughts went off track.

Anyway, I’m really, really not happy with the current situation.

Even if I beat Kim Gi-hyung Pro now, no one will talk about my skills.

He sighs, scratches the back of his head, and clearly isn’t serious.

If I win, it’ll be the final match.

‘I need to make Kim Gi-hyung Pro get serious.’

I know exactly how to do that.

The timer still running.

I recalled the expression of a certain annoying character from a manga I read before.

In reality, it’s impossible, but in the virtual world, I can move my face freely thanks to my physical stats.

So I made a perfect “messy” expression, tilting my head slightly and looking down at Kim Gi-hyung Pro with the most annoying face possible.

“Kim Gi-hyung Pro is weaker than I thought. At this level, even a gold player could beat you, huh?”

“…Huh?”

“Your physicality, mental game, and reflexes are all gold-tier. Korea’s strongest? More like Korea’s weakest. I could beat you without even using a dagger. Total trash.”

‘That’s it.’

3

2

1

START!

==

[“Kim Gi-hyung Pro has finally snapped! He’s pushing User Arang with terrifying momentum!”]

[“He’s like a completely different person from before! Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s specialty is shining through!”]

[“Exactly! Perfect casting with no delay, even 0.1 seconds. And his magic accuracy is like he’s predicting his opponent’s movements. Has Kim Gi-hyung Pro finally made up his mind?”]

-What did Arang say to him?

-Is he trying to become the winning idiot? LOL.

-But Kim Gi-hyung Pro seems serious now, and Arang is really good too.

-Yeah, she almost beat Jeong Jin Pro before.

-She’s way better than I thought.

‘He’s good.’

Now I see why Kim Gi-hyung Pro is called Korea’s strongest.

If Jeong Jin Pro is the strongest in close combat, Kim Gi-hyung Pro is the strongest at predicting his opponent’s movements and creating favorable situations.

He perfectly understands the assassin’s numerous movement skills and attacks as if he knows where I’ll move.

He handles the mage class, which is considered hard to use in PvP due to casting and targeting, with precision.

Kim Gi-hyung Pro fell for my taunt and lost two matches in a row.

In the third match, he narrowly lost, but in the fourth match, he lost overwhelmingly.

As time went on, his predictions became more accurate, to the point where it felt like he was seeing the future.

‘To win, I need to move in a way Kim Gi-hyung Pro can’t predict.’

It’s 2-2, but the two matches I won were because Kim Gi-hyung Pro wasn’t taking it seriously.

Final match.

I didn’t just lose two matches in a row without learning anything.

During those two losses, I thoroughly analyzed everything about Kim Gi-hyung Pro.

‘This time, I’ll definitely win.’

Best-of-five, 2-2. The final match is heating up.

The magic is familiar now, but Kim Gi-hyung Pro is also familiar with my movements.

No matter how unpredictable my movements are, he quickly adapts.

With both of us low on health, I used the skill I’d been saving to attack Kim Gi-hyung Pro.

“Huh!?”

He didn’t expect this, and his reaction was slightly slower than before.

The situation was overwhelmingly in my favor.

I quickly attacked Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s limbs with my daggers, causing a major stun.

The situation was clearly in my favor.

‘I’ve won…!’

This was the combo attack I hadn’t used in the previous four matches.

In the stunned state, I tried to attack Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s defenseless body.

But Kim Gi-hyung Pro wasn’t just sitting still. He had cast a spell at some point, and a massive magic circle lit up beneath us.

‘AOE burst magic!?’

Even if it’s magic, the caster takes damage too. Using a self-destruct spell in this situation?

Wait, mages have overwhelmingly high magic defense compared to other classes. Assassins, on the other hand, have insect-level physical and magic defense.

Meaning.

My health is much lower, and in this state, I’d definitely get one-shot.

‘Was he planning this…?’

Impressive.

But Kim Gi-hyung Pro underestimated my physicality.

A limited damage window. Both of us defenseless.

The freedom to attack like a scarecrow.

I’m confident I can deal damage better than anyone in this situation.

The short time before the magic activates.

I’m confident I can wipe out his remaining health.

I stabbed Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s vital points—his neck and heart—with both daggers, faster and more accurately than ever before.

“What the…!?”

Kim Gi-hyung Pro’s health dropped instantly.

As the magic activated, Kim Gi-hyung Pro disappeared in a burst of particles in front of me.

‘I’ve won!’

I won the match, but the victory screen didn’t appear before the magic activated.

Sorceress max-level skill.

I thought it was Meteor, but Kim Gi-hyung Pro used a different skill.

It was…

Tsunami.

A tsunami-like wave formed in front of me and engulfed me.

‘Uh-oh, this is bad…’

As my body was covered in water, I saw not the colosseum but the ceiling of a bathtub and a nurse’s eerie face.

---