Struggle (1)

[Sigma e-Sports Player Contract]

Sigma e-Sports Pro Gaming Team (hereinafter ‘Gaming Team’) and player Han Da-eun (hereinafter ‘Player’) enter into this player contract (hereinafter ‘This Contract’) by mutual agreement as follows.

Article 1 (Purpose)

This Contract is to ensure that the Player exerts their abilities to the fullest…

…

The team shall ensure that the Player can devote themselves to player activities…

…

Contract Date: ■■■■ Year ■■ Month ■■ Day

Player: Han Da-eun (seal)

* * *

– Do you know specifically which clause became the basis for the connection block, Da-eun?

– The problematic part is here. ‘Connection methods that pose safety concerns for the user are not recognized.’

– It doesn’t specifically state which connection methods not to use, right?

– What if we collect a large amount of data as evidence, and Sigma keeps improving the connection device?

Limp. Limp.

Several gazes pierced me as I moved forward, supporting my ankle.

As expected, they weren’t exactly kind gazes.

I’m not sure exactly who is who, but there might be some who have met me in the game.

It probably wasn’t a very pleasant experience.

Back then, I was a much more clingy person than I am now.

I spread that dark and gloomy heart everywhere.

There’s no reason to feel strange about receiving rough emotions in return.

– The stability issue of connection devices varies greatly from person to person.

– So, there’s room to make an exception for Da-eun individually.

– Coincidentally, Sigma has a research model of the brainwave connection device internally.

– It doesn’t work for the main game, only for the practice server, though.

Of course, I didn’t need to feel unnecessarily intimidated.

While one-sided PK in InBull is considered bad manners, it’s not an illegal act that violates the terms of service.

I never engaged in unfair harassment beyond what the system allows.

So it’s not like I did something wrong.

It’s a game of survival of the fittest anyway. It’s the weak one’s fault.

I held my head up stiffly without lowering it.

This is reality, but I came here as Gawol, not Han Da-eun.

I clenched my fist so tightly that the blood drained from it.

Silence fell over the practice room until the connection device was opened.

– Let’s gather combat data with us. With Sigma’s credibility, it should be reliable data.

– While we’re at it, practice with the team members and get in sync?

– What do you think? Want to try it together on our team?

The price I had to pay was the connection device at home.

They said they would tear out the internal hardware and decompile the software to use in developing a new connection device.

With these conditions, my parents probably wouldn’t feel too bad.

Their son just wants to try something.

Please understand.

Anyway, there was only one ‘combat data’ that could be obtained from the practice server.

A fight to the point of brutality. Hitting and taking hits until your mouth tastes sweet and your nose bleeds.

As I opened the connection device, I forced a smile.

“You all look like you have a lot to say. Want to settle it in the game? You’re all pros, after all.”

Instead of being petty and giving me the cold shoulder in reality, let’s see your skills.

* * *

[Training Mode: Regular League Mock Battle]

[Sigma A vs Sigma B]

[Score – 0:0]

[Match 1]

[Battlefield: Sanctuary of the Dead]

[Rule: 5-person Winner Stays]

[Sigma Shooter (Speed Archer) vs Gawol (Assassin)]

The dead wailed in the gloomy field.

While rotten heads were blankly looking around,

An arrow flew through the gap between the dead.

Short but fast arrows.

Each didn’t carry much power, but they were tricky to block all of them.

I kicked away a suitable zombie to block the line of sight.

The Speed Archer is a class that gave up the archer’s characteristic long range in exchange for speed.

In the league, it’s employed as an archer specialized in melee.

While it has the disadvantage of being weak in range battles against traditional ranged dealers, it performs much better in engagements with close-range warriors.

In other words, it meant they were an arrogant bastard.

How dare they send out an archer against me?

It seems they don’t know that objective self-assessment is also a pro’s skill.

[‘Eye of Truth’ is observing the battlefield.]

[You cannot use any stealth-related skills for 8 seconds.]

[Set traps are revealed.]

This guy seems to think I would use stealth, not knowing their place.

Someone who’s neither Cerberus nor anything else underestimated me too much.

‘You think I’d waste stealth on you?’

This isn’t a field where many are running wild, but a battlefield with only one opponent.

Moreover, in winner stays, the winner immediately fights the next challenger.

To achieve high performance, you need to know how to save skills and resources appropriately.

After showing myself once among the dead, I immediately hid below the hill.

If you can gauge the opponent’s field of vision, you don’t necessarily need to use a skill for concealment.

The key to ambush is to exceed the opponent’s prediction.

If you can pierce the gaps in their thinking, you can succeed in ambush even without stealth.

Using the time they were wary of where I disappeared, I took a slightly longer route.

Without making footsteps. While not slowing down.

I took position behind the opponent.

The opponent probably isn’t a complete fool either.

When I didn’t come out from the point they were guarding, the Speed Archer loosened their guard.

If I still wasn’t visible then, there was only one answer.

The Speed Archer who immediately guarded their back succeeded in finding me.

‘It’s okay. I’ve closed the distance enough by now.’

Two arrows flying towards my body.

Additionally, multiple arrows flying to predict my evasion points.

True to the name Speed Archer, the rate of fire was extraordinary.

Their intention was probably to inflict certain damage even if it was less, but their prediction went spectacularly wrong.

The arrows that should have hit ‘Gawol’s’ body passed through without any resistance.

It meant that the Gawol shown just now was an insubstantial clone.

Since there was no hit effect message for the arrows, it probably wasn’t hiding behind the clone either.

─ That’s why you’re going to lose, thinking like that.

“Hello?”

“Urghhhh?”

As the clone disappeared, my figure behind it was exposed.

But the distance had already become sufficiently close.

Drawing the bowstring now was a useless act.

There’s no way I’d leave you alone.

How could that work?

I stabbed a dagger into their wrist and retrieved it. While shoulder to shoulder, I slashed from the heart to the abdomen.

Sticking two arrows into their nape, they were essentially defenseless.

Only after seeing the arrows stuck in their neck did the Speed Archer’s expression show they realized what had happened to them.

“Wow, wow…”

Pure admiration burst out.

That aspect felt genuinely pure, making me smile.

There’s one disadvantage that only archers have among ranged classes.

The projectiles are relatively large and slow.

It was a flaw unique to classes that imbue physical arrows with magic power.

The hunters using firearms have bullet speeds that are too fast.

Mages’ attacks don’t have a physical form to begin with.

But arrows? There’s nothing that can’t be caught.

It might be impossible for most, but not for me.

“This is why archers shouldn’t rely too much on hit messages.”

“No. That seems a bit forced…”

What’s forced about it?

I just did it, didn’t I?

[You have won.]

[Prepare. The next opponent will be introduced without waiting time.]

* * *

I easily secured the first victory, but it wasn’t easy after that.

Injuries to my left arm and thigh from the Berserker’s reckless attacks.

I lost mobility after giving up my left leg to the Kunoichi, and because of that, I couldn’t avoid the Blood Mage’s self-destruction, hitting rock bottom in health.

By the time the last opponent, Camellia, arrived – I was already in no condition to fight.

I couldn’t even grip a dagger, let alone stand up.

I was just sitting there, coughing up blood until the enemy Camellia arrived.

[Current Synchronization Rate: 65.8%]

If there’s anything fortunate, I suppose.

Sigma’s brainwave connection device had lower sensitivity than the one I used at home.

It still hurt like hell, but it was a bit better than when I suffered at home.

But what should I do?

This, it’s fun.

Coughing in the midst of burning pain.

Even though I was coughing, I laughed.

My head was spinning thinking about ‘How can I win next time?’

“Ah, damn. The league is different from the arena after all.”

The difference in level in one-on-one is clear.

I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to handle about five of these guys.

Actually experiencing it, the story was different.

It’s natural for there to be a level difference between regular players and aces in winner stays.

So it developed into not thinking about winning from the start.

They use themselves as sacrificial pawns for victory.

They leave injuries for the next opponent to win, hoping the next teammate will handle it.

It’s not like only the enemy team has an ace who’s strong in one-on-one.

In fact, based on the 1st division pro league, there has never been a clean sweep record in winner stays with 5 or more people.

If this time’s opponents weren’t 2nd division newbie friends.

If a 1st division level pro had sacrificed themselves, I would have reached my limit after taking down just two.

Camellia, who had arrived at some point, held a knife to my neck.

I feel hesitation from the tip of the blade.

Seems like they feel sorry to kill me.

“What are you doing? Kill me quickly. That’s how we accumulate data.”

“…Yes.”

As a searing pain boiled in my heart – my vision went black.

[You have been killed by Sigma Camellia.]

[You do not receive a death penalty due to ‘Training Mode’.]

[You will respawn in the ‘Player Waiting Room’.]

Again.