Acceleration

Victory!

I lowered the sword in my hand, looking at the message that popped up before my eyes.

The short, continuous battles were starting to give me a headache.

“We won!”

SnowMage, her nickname here is BloodDemonKingLoverDog.

Wearing huge armor, she ran around excitedly, seemingly very happy about the game’s victory, kwungkwang kwungkwang.

Was it because he lost to a Deron user who wasn’t even a pro in a single exchange?

The resurrected KnightRaven player acted like someone was broken.

He couldn’t concentrate and just charged at me, and then died again.

I couldn’t send him away in one hit like the first time we met, but the result didn’t change.

My huge Nodachi’s blade mercilessly blew away the assassin player’s neck, and he became a cold corpse.

His gaze, looking at me with resentment as if he couldn’t believe it, won’t disappear.

But what can I do?

I’m your opponent.

You’re resenting the wrong target.

Resent the world, not me.

I smiled lightly and turned my body.

“Wow…”

Not just the enemies. Our team, the pro players who became my teammates, were looking at me in admiration.

Judging by the way their gazes were subtly scanning the empty air, they seemed to be checking the game’s recent records.

“I’ve heard a lot about you… but as expected…”

“You’ve never played a real VRS, have you?”

I’ve only ever played Deron. I didn’t even glance at other VR games.

I nodded with a confident expression.

At that moment, my body began to move with a bright light.

Not just me, but our entire team was together.

The place we arrived at with the light wasn’t the dusty waiting room where I was always alone.

It seemed to be a space prepared for several people to rest together, with plush sofas around and a map of the conquest area spread out on a small table in front of them.

“Oh…!”

SnowMage in her huge heavy armor jumped onto the sofa, kwungkwang.

I was worried that the sofa would be crushed by her huge size, but thankfully, the sofa was very sturdy.

It seems that after the first game, I’ll be with these teammates until the end.

I glanced around and went to sit next to SnowMage.

The prepared sofa was very plush.

The three pro players who were also on the team came and sat down as well.

When we were playing the game, we opened our mouths and talked noisily, sharing our opinions, but after the game ended, it became very quiet.

As that subtle silence flowed, I, unable to bear the discomfort, opened my mouth.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, me?”

I didn’t specifically designate anyone, but I cast my gaze at the Viking user sitting across from me.

[VIA-Biseuz]

Seeing that it’s a team name I’m seeing for the first time, it seems they’re not a very famous team.

Biseuz-ssi had a surprised expression at my question.

“Yes.”

“Ah, please speak.”

“What do you think of our team?”

“Yes…?”

“The probability of winning. Do you think we can make it to the final round?”

Biseuz-ssi, who received my question, looked around and carefully opened his mouth.

“I think it’ll be a little difficult…”

That’s the thought of a pro player who’s currently active. I was curious about the reason.

“Why do you think so?”

“Because this team doesn’t have any first-stringers.”

Those were carefully spoken words.

After saying that, Biseuz-ssi glanced at the two knight users sitting next to him.

However, the two players didn’t seem to be in a bad mood either.

They even nodded as if agreeing with Biseuz-ssi’s opinion.

I tilted my head, looking at their reactions.

Aren’t they still pro players? No matter how much the skill difference is, seeing them so discouraged seemed very strange.

“Is there that big of a difference between the first and second string?”

“There’s a certain wall that’s hard to express in words. You can feel it right away when you fight first-string players.”

Is that so?

I stroked my chin at Biseuz-ssi’s words and tilted my head.

That’s because I didn’t feel a big difference between the pros I faced in Deron.

Of course, there were some opponents who were difficult to deal with.

“Was there a first-string player mixed in with the team we just fought?”

“There was a player who used to be on the first string. But he’s been demoted to the second string now.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Abox-ssi from the KnightRaven team.”

“Ah…”

At Biseuz-ssi’s words, I thought of the assassin user from KnightRaven.

He was the player who denied the fact that he lost to me in the first exchange and kept charging at me endlessly.

Judging by his sudden, erratic behavior, it seemed like he had a mental problem.

“Come to think of it, wasn’t that person also participating in the Deron event match?”

“I think so…?”

That player participated in the Deron event match?

But why don’t I remember him?

I listened to the words of the two knight users and rummaged through my hazy memories.

But I soon shook my head.

If he’s a player I don’t remember, then he probably wasn’t a very strong opponent.

He’s an opponent I don’t need to remember.

At that moment, a message popped up before my eyes.

[Time remaining until the next match starts: 5:00]

“It looks like all the matches are over. Let’s check the records.”

Biseuz-ssi said that and tapped the small table.

Then, a transparent window floated into the air.

Inside, the results of the matches that had been played so far were densely recorded.

“First, let’s move the losing teams to the bottom…”

Biseuz said that and began to organize the numerous match results.

He moved the records of the losing teams to the bottom and pulled up the information of the teams that won and would be proceeding to the next match, like us.

The total number of teams that were pulled up was 15.

And Biseuz divided those teams again.

He categorized the teams he thought would lose to the bottom and the teams he thought would win to the top.

Among them, there were two noticeable teams.

One was a team that included the nickname Jupiter, and the other was a team that included wild-ssi from W.S.

Judging by the fact that Jupiter’s team was also categorized at the top, it seems that the pro players belonging to the team are first-stringers.

I glared at Jupiter’s team and opened my mouth.

“Which team should we be most wary of?”

“It would probably be the team with Wild-nim, right?”

“What about that team over there?”

I pointed to the team that Jupiter belonged to at Biseuz-ssi’s words.

Biseuz tilted his head slightly and answered in an unsure voice.

“Hmm… They’re people who recently got promoted to the first string. They’ll be stronger than us.”

Biseuz said that and returned the information of the teams he had categorized to their original state.

When I looked up at him with a puzzled expression, Biseuz smiled slightly and said.

“This is just my opinion from my perspective. I don’t know the skills of the people who came over from Deron, so… Yeon-nim, could you tell me what you think?”

I nodded at his words and jumped off the sofa.

Like Biseuz-ssi, I began to examine the teams from my own perspective.

Since I don’t know what the skills of those who were active in VRS are like, I’ll categorize the teams strictly from the perspective of a Deron user.

Of course, there will be people who didn’t integrate their nicknames with Deron, like SnowMage.

I’ll boldly move those teams to the bottom.

“Hmm…”

“Ah, that person…”

SnowMage, who was sitting next to me, also got up from her seat and began to watch what I was doing from behind.

Judging by the way she occasionally stretched out her hand and acted like she knew them, it seemed like she was remembering the opponents she met in the arena.

“Hmm… About this much?”

“Oh…”

When I finished categorizing and turned around, Biseuz-ssi nodded and moved his hand again.

Among the teams I predicted would win, he began to secondarily categorize the teams that included skilled VRS players again.

The total number of teams that went up to the highest rank was three.

At that moment, a message popped up before my eyes.

It was a warning message that the waiting time of 5 minutes was coming to an end.

[Time remaining until the next match starts: 0:30]

30 seconds remaining.

We didn’t have a strategic meeting because we were categorizing the championship contenders.

When I looked at Biseuz with a worried gaze, he smiled coolly and said.

“Let’s play comfortably. I’m not expecting anything anyway.”

It’s a self-deprecating smile. And it was also a smile that felt self-loathing.

It wasn’t just Biseuz. The two knight users standing next to him were also smiling with similar expressions.

I don’t like it. I hated the atmosphere that felt like we were defeated from the start.

Time remaining until the next match starts: 10 seconds.

I look at the time and mutter.

Won’t they think I’m overstepping? This isn’t Deron, it’s VRS.

I couldn’t confidently encourage them like I did in Deron.

Time remaining until the next match starts: 5 seconds.

“Don’t worry!!!”

Then, SnowMage, wearing huge heavy armor, shouted energetically.

At her bright and cheerful voice, the gazes of the team members who had been drooping were focused on one place.

“If you just trust our BloodDemonKing-nim, we can win!!!”

“Yes…?”

At that moment, my body was moved with a bright light.

I arrived at a wide-open battlefield, not a cozy and warm waiting room.

The cool breeze blowing from all directions contained a faint smell of oil and a cool smell of iron.

As if preparing for a decisive battle, the expressions of the soldier NPCs were stiff.

I stare straight ahead and grip the weapon in my hand tightly.

As I was examining his appearance, which had finished all preparations so that he could run at any time, a huge shadow approached from behind.

SnowMage, she was a loyal guild member who always reliably protected my side.

“Do you think we can win?”

It’s a sudden question. She was shouting a moment ago to just trust me, so why is she worrying now?

I smiled lightly and answered.

“You told me to just trust you.”

“Ah… Is it okay to trust you?”

“When haven’t you trusted me?”

“I trust you every single day!”

Then that’s good.

I nodded and looked around.

Since the only familiar character is the samurai, I had no intention of changing characters.

The same goes for the equipment. I had no choice but to continue using the Nodachi to compensate for the lacking strength stat.

“Hmm…”

Then, the two knight users examined the opponent’s composition and changed their equipment.

From a longsword to a heavy claymore.

Biseuz-ssi examined the opposing team’s information and opened his mouth.

“There are three butchers on the opposing team. It looks like they’re planning to take the stronghold no matter what in the central strength fight.”