Arena Tournament

I bit my lip, watching the wizard chuckle from a distance.

I was complacent. Too complacent. I was too hung up on the swordsmanship displayed by the pro players.

The belated joy of learning had clouded my vision.

This tournament wasn’t just for VRS pros. It was also for users like me who purely played Deron.

This defeat is clearly my fault. I didn’t even think to check the opponent’s class. If I had even bothered to rewatch the previous gameplay footage, this wouldn’t have happened.

Before the waiting time ended, I calmly took a breath and gripped my sword.

I already know how to deal with wizards.

Looking at Deron’s class distribution, the most common class is wizards. It’s easy to play, and the skill usage difficulty is low.

I had to change my play style. Swordsmanship wasn’t really needed when fighting wizards.

It’s not a way of fighting sword against sword, to subdue that bastard, I had to borrow the power of transcendental senses.

After the waiting time ended, the match began.

Unlike his frivolous appearance, the opponent wizard showed a cautious demeanor.

I calmly deflect the ice arrows flying from afar with my sword.

Not a single one is allowed through.

I follow the end of the numerous cold ice crystals covering the void with my gaze.

I read the trajectory of the straight-extending coldness and swing my sword.

The moment the white-burning pain covers my head, the sword is swung spasmodically.

I block all paths and cut off the opponent’s attack.

Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaejaeng!

Showing a completely different appearance from before, the opponent’s expression hardens.

The cold ice arrows kept flying, but I also kept moving towards the opponent without stopping.

The more the attack continues, the more disadvantageous it is for the opponent wizard.

His mana is limited. The wizard has a unique passive that gives him high natural recovery, but since potions can’t be used in the arena, that limit comes quickly.

I use all my focus to deflect the flying ice arrows.

I unfold a curtain of swords that doesn’t allow a single one through.

The opponent wizard is getting impatient. He bit his lip and started a long casting.

To change this situation, that’s the only way.

A long casting is a powerful magic. As powerful as it is, he becomes defenseless while attempting to cast it.

I don’t approach. The opponent’s 3rd rank class is a Magician. He must have already installed invisible magic engineering mines around him.

I continue to focus even more deeply.

The moment a long ringing in my head tickles my ears, the opponent swung his staff.

At the same time as the staff stretched out forward, the ground flipped over and huge ice spikes began to rise.

Kwaga gagagak!

I rotated my body at the sight of the huge spikes extending at an incredible speed.

The moment I slipped out to the side, I immediately used the [Dash] skill.

I run forward as if jumping over the huge ice spikes.

The spikes brushing under my legs inflicted continuous damage, but I ignore it and endure.

Thanks to the effect of the dash, I am not affected by the freezing effect.

As my health decreases, the speed of the dash begins to accelerate even more.

The Berserker’s unique passive begins to activate.

My health was rapidly decreasing, and it was the moment when the [Rampage] skill was completely activated.

I felt as if the heavy shackles that had been attached to my body had fallen off.

My arms and legs became lighter than ever before.

In normal fields, I have always lived with all passives activated.

I’m that much more used to that fast speed.

The moment the misaligned senses meshed together, the effect of the dash disappeared, and my body was exposed in front of the opponent.

But I don’t stop. Rather, I move forward even more. I recover my body with the Paladin’s skill.

Flash-!

The unique effect of the healing skill spreads in all directions.

The faint light blocks the opponent’s gaze for a moment.

Kwang!

The moment I swung my sword at close range, it was blocked by the opponent’s mana barrier.

However, as the damage contained in that strike is considerable, the barrier is shattered in an instant.

The moment I stop here, I die. I immediately activate the buff.

Golden light stretched out from the sword, drawing a long trajectory.

The golden sword strike that continued in the air stretched out like a long tail.

Without stopping the body running forward quickly, I slam it down on the ground.

Kwang!

The slightly twisted waist receives that power as it is.

The moment a stronger force than before is applied to the legs extending forward, the transparent magic engineering mines laid on the floor begin to activate.

Kwaga gagagang!

A huge explosion occurs and health flies away in an instant.

But the opponent can’t move.

It’s the activation of the [Barrage] skill. The shock of slamming the ground caused the wizard’s body to float into the air.

,Hiyaaaaaat!

While shouting a debuff at the opponent, the [Undying] skill is activated at the same time.

The moment health is fixed at 1, all of the Berserker’s skills are activated, and a red bloody sword strike is fired into the air.

Chwaaaaaak!

There was no need to hit all five attacks.

The wizard’s weak body could not withstand the Berserker’s attack with all skills activated.

The opponent wizard’s appearance was torn apart faster than the duration of the undying skill ended.

Winner.

[Yeon]

1 win 1 loss.

Loser.

[SnowMage]

1 win 1 loss.

The moment the victory or defeat was decided, my body and the wizard’s body returned to their original positions with a blurry light.

I recorded 1 win and 1 loss. Recalling the feeling I felt when fighting the wizard, I put my sword on my shoulder.

The opponent wizard was blankly opening his mouth as if he couldn’t believe the situation a moment ago.

I smile at him. The person who finished last season’s arena ranking in 2nd place is none other than this body.

Although I gave up 1 loss due to carelessness, it was impossible after that.

After the waiting time ended, a similar situation to before continues.

The opponent only fired ice arrows from a distance.

It’s a typical hit-and-run play style.

But I endure it. Waiting for him to consume all his mana, I patiently pressure the opponent.

I aim for a long casting. I aim for a very long casting magic that cannot be canceled in the middle.

The opponent will also know. To turn the situation around, he has to use a magic with a long casting time.

If it were another opponent other than me, he would have turned the situation around with the Battle Mage’s skill selected in the 4th rank.

As such a long confrontation continued. The transparent magic engineering mines that had been installed in advance seemed to have run out of duration and exploded automatically.

Kwaga gagang!

He laid down a lot of them. A fairly wide space based on where the opponent wizard was standing was covered in explosions.

As if taking that as a signal, the opponent wizard attempted to approach.

As if believing in the blue mana barrier wrapped around his body, he quickly ran over and swung his staff.

Battle Mages fight by swinging their staffs at close range.

They wrap their mana around the staff and use it like a blade.

Chwaak!

The blue sword made of mana and the golden sword with soaring divine power interlock in the air.

At that moment, I immediately took my sword away and took a step back.

The opponent wizard’s face was dyed with astonishment at the quick movement without any hesitation.

Flash-!

As expected, the opponent wizard was casting Blink.

It’s a trap I’ve already fallen for once. Unless he’s an idiot, he wouldn’t fall for it again.

The opponent wizard was making a futile expression, as if he was thinking of moving onto the magic engineering mines with me.

The victory or defeat was decided with this one move. The opponent consumed a lot of mana to install the magic engineering mines.

I don’t approach and endure it. I waited for the duration of the opponent’s magic engineering mines to end.

As I confronted the wizard and let time pass, another explosion occurred under the wizard’s feet.

Kwaga gagagang!

A wizard with no mana left is just delicious prey.

The opponent wizard seemed to have sensed his end and nodded calmly.

Tabak-

As I started walking slowly, light footsteps echoed.

,I, wasn’t I pretty good?

,You were good.

,Ah, then the guild membership…?

,It’s possible.

Saying that, I swung my sword wrapped in divine power.

The opponent wizard’s neck was cut off by the clean and sharp sword strike.

He was smiling even as he died.

I found a pretty decent talent in an unexpected place.

,Yahoo!!!

The severed wizard’s head cheered with a bright smile.

That appearance felt a little grotesque.

Winner.

[Yeon]

2 wins 1 loss.

Loser.

[SnowMage]

1 win 2 losses.

[Yeon advances to the round of 16.]

The result of the victory or defeat was decided.

After a brief waiting time, my body was ejected out of the arena.

SnowMage-[Blood Demon-nim!!! Please let me join the guild!!!]

It seems he sent a message immediately after the match ended.

How desperate must he be to beg like this?

I sent a guild invitation to the user named SnowMage.

[‘SnowMage-nim’ has joined the ‘Chewy Sticky Cow’ guild.]

SnowMage-[Hello!!!!]

Although it was in a careless state, SnowMage was an opponent who had beaten me even once.

It means he has enough qualifications to join the guild.

Leaving SnowMage to the guild members who greeted him happily, I began to check the information of the opponent who would come up as my enemy.

The user who comes up as my opponent in the round of 16 was a pro player from VRS.

The nickname is [N.R-Abox]. The preferred weapon in VRS is dual swords.

Deron’s class tree selected Thief, then selected [Assassin] for the 1st and 2nd ranks, and then selected [Night Walker] for the 3rd and 4th ranks.

It’s a familiar tree. It was the same as the class tree of my fellow guild member, Iyap.

With the given waiting time, I started searching for the user’s videos.

I searched for all the match videos of the arena tournament and the gameplay videos of VRS and crammed them into my head.

As time passed, the round of 16 began.

With a blurry group of lights, my body was moved inside the arena.

I felt an intense gaze from across the way.

[N.R-Abox]

He was glaring at me, having drawn his dual swords even before the match started.

He had no such emotion as carelessness.

Like me, he seemed to be thinking of colliding with full power from the beginning.

Examining the opponent’s momentum with my eyes, I also drew my sword.

The sharp blade received the sunlight and scattered a subtle blue light in all directions.

At that moment, the waiting time ended and the match began.

The opponent began to approach quickly, making use of his overwhelming mobility.

The moment the distance was considerably narrowed, a black shadow rippled under the opponent’s feet, and his appearance disappeared in an instant.

I didn’t stop. He used a skill without a moment’s delay. That meant that the opponent had completely adapted to the game called Deron.

The next moment, the empty air split open with a whoosh, and black shadows poured out.