Ch.111106 – Basis for Judgment

The reason World of Arsheria doesn’t feel like reality despite its realism is due to several factors.

For instance, when enemies fall, gory scenes are automatically censored, and corpses don’t remain but disappear over time.

Conversations with NPCs are similar. At first, you might mistake them for real people, but that’s limited to specific interaction topics.

They don’t share their own stories. When asked what they ate yesterday or about their family members, they clam up like they’re lagging.

That’s probably why I found the NPC Adella so interesting. Her responses were so vivid that it felt like I was duoing with a real person, and unless you dug deep into conversation, it was hard to notice anything off.

Yes, to make an analogy, it’s the difference between a robot injected with memories and an amnesiac patient. Adella was closer to the latter.

Once I recognized her as human-like, that impression stuck firmly in my mind.

What exactly determines humanity?

Acting human is ultimately a condition easily fulfilled by mimicking humans.

Even I once had an attachment to Liri, the fox merchant who sold old boots and potions in Legacy of Legend when I was young.

I have no way of knowing how far technology has advanced in this era, but if game NPCs are at this level, the technological singularity can’t be far off.

*Trumpet sound* Ba-ba-ra bam-bam-bam!

[OVERDOSE has donated 1,000,000 won!]

-What are you thinking about while playing?

Just as I was catching my breath on the battlefield, a virtual trumpet sounded and a donation with a radiant glow arrived.

-??

-Woaaaah

-OMG

-Huh?

-Wow insane

-1 million won??????

-Is this for real?

-We’ve got a whale here lol

The amount itself wasn’t particularly surprising, but I was somewhat interested in the message.

Long ago, in Korea where mana didn’t exist, there lived a queen.

Not a literal queen, but an athlete with comparable status.

In a documentary she appeared in as a child, a PD asked her the same question.

I still remember it. She answered, “What thoughts… I just do it.”

People who can “just do” things are generally extraordinary. That’s why I even adopted it as my life motto in my first life—it was quite a resonant statement.

I wonder if someone identical to her existed in this world too? I don’t know since I never bothered to check.

Truthfully, I don’t have any special thoughts while playing the game.

I somewhat understand her nonchalant answer now.

“Thank you for the 1 million won donation, OVERDOSE. Thoughts… thoughts, huh.”

But saying I have no thoughts would be a lie. And probably not what they want to hear.

Thoughts are divided into complex layers, making them difficult to explain in one sentence.

After some consideration, I threw my dual swords to the ground to reset the penalty and decided to give the donor a satisfying answer.

“I’ll tell you what I’m thinking while playing.”

* * *

NoName was smarter than most people.

Intelligence is always a relative concept that can only be established when there’s something to compare against.

That’s why she tended to underestimate herself, having spent more time in her previous life surrounded by the continent’s greatest talents and unprecedented heroes.

“Three shield-bearing knights are charging from the front. Remember to take in all the visual information from directions you’ve checked. They appear to be running at the same speed, but judging by their different stride lengths, they’ll likely attack with slightly offset timing. I’ve decided not to counter that, and instead subdue the student targeting me from behind. Since dispels work in reverse order of casting…”

Just as NoName predicted, the knight with the widest stride jumped first, swinging his sword downward.

The remaining knights, who had slowed their pace, launched additional attacks from both sides.

Had she tried to respond as she saw them, she would have been trapped with no way to escape and faced certain death.

However, by forcibly dispelling the magic of the boy shooting electric sparks from his staff, she transformed a valuable mage into a vulnerable hostage.

-?????

-Whoa

-What just happened

-It’s going exactly as predicted

-Who solves dispel like a reverse matrix!

“First-circle magic is weak but efficient and can be cast extremely quickly. Rather than casting one spell, using multiple spells sequentially creates a good opportunity to open a path even within a limited 10-second window.”

No sooner had she spoken than NoName grabbed the boy’s staff and synchronized it with her laurel.

A wand-type that skips the recording and injection phases.

Five magic circles formed behind her with a hum, shooting sharp beams of light in all directions except directly in front of her.

-This is creepy lol

-How did she draw magic circles without looking?

-Is that even possible

-The kid who lost his staff is staring with that lost-my-country expression lol

-Is this… skill?

“I determined there’s too much risk in disarming someone with a long-reach weapon, so I decided to target the sword-shield knights first, as their shields restrict their sword movements.”

She toppled the lower body of a knight who had lost his sense of direction from the five-pronged flash of light.

Though he flailed his arms in a belated struggle, NoName ducked extremely low to avoid it and placed her left hand on the ground.

Her right leg then drew a large semicircle. With a sharp whistling sound, a groan burst from the knight’s mouth.

“Ugh…”

“When someone loses balance, I shouldn’t chase for a follow-up attack and risk dying to a blind arrow.”

Whoosh-!

She ducked her head again to avoid an arrow flying toward the back of her head.

The arrow, invisible from her first-person perspective, struck the ground with a thud.

It wasn’t a simple lead arrow but one with an explosive scroll attached.

She stomped hard on a rolling shield to deflect it and used it as cover.

BOOM!

“The need for a wide field of vision became apparent in that situation, allowing me to avoid the archer’s trap behind the first charging knight without taking damage. When taking cover, I compressed the possible ways I could be targeted into six main scenarios, and positioned myself to respond to the most dangerous attack at any moment.”

-Why is she so calm lol

-Watching in first-person nearly gave me a heart attack…

-So that’s how foreshadowing gets paid off?

-She’s a master, a true master

Dark smoke billowed in the wind.

But as if unwilling to give her time to catch her breath, a heavily armored knight immediately swung a greatsword roughly through the space toward NoName hiding behind the shield.

Clang!

She turned the shield to block the powerful attack, but the impact made her body sway significantly. Attacks with heavy mass always come with recoil.

The immediately recovered greatsword quickly aimed for consecutive horizontal strikes.

[Casting: Adjustment of Transfer Coefficient]

“For attacks I couldn’t block initially, I quickly responded with pre-cast magic, and by taking the opponent’s attack without major damage, I was able to immediately obtain a good weapon.”

[Acceleration lv.4]

She approached the knight who had lost his grip on the handle, landing one blow to his face, then turning half a circle to deliver an elbow strike to his abdomen. Seeing he was quite tough, NoName delivered a decisive blow by driving her fist into his brow.

“Dispel can cover the cost-inefficient mana recovery of healers, so I thought it best to use skills whenever cooldown is available, and I used acceleration rather than healing for a definite kill catch.”

Though the greatsword had excellent reach, she wouldn’t be able to use it for long.

“A greatsword is more vulnerable to blind spots than a one-handed sword, but randomly changing direction could make me vulnerable to more diversified attacks, so I decided to take time to assess the situation, like right now-“

Clang-!

A sharp metallic sound echoed across the battlefield.

The heavy greatsword that went over her shoulder broke the sharp rapier stabbing in from behind.

“The advantage of deliberately standing with my back to a streetlight is that, as just demonstrated, I can spot shadows entering my field of vision and prepare for enemy attacks in advance.”

* * *

<Streamer Gallery>

[NoName) Child protection law lawsuit declaration lol][51]

Gives hope saying she’ll spare you if you win 1v1, then crushes you mercilessly lol

And then reveals her Death Note (a.k.a. lawsuit document)

(NoName writing viewer nicknames in her Death Note.jpg)

(Manager barging in after feeling targeted.mp4)

Every moment with her is legendary lol

-Is she currently #1 on trending streamers?

└ Yeah, should be NoName

*(Trending Streamers)

-She barely interacts with chat and her streams are too calm for me to watch

└ You should definitely tune in again, it’s completely different lol

└ She’s seriously so funny right now lol

└ An unconscious broadcasting genius

[NoName giving a lecture in Nightmare 10/10/10][31]

(Full audio 3-minute highlight reel.mp4)

Do high-tier players really consider all these details in ranked games? Truly admirable.

-NoName isn’t high-tier though lol

└ Then what is she?

└ She’s a complete newbie who hasn’t played a single normal game yet

└ Stop talking nonsense

-Are you playing a game or studying? lol My head hurts

-I’m a Grandmaster shield knight main in WoA, and I follow about half of this thought process. In high queue, 1v1 situations don’t come up often, but measuring stride length to time attacks is super important.

└ Was the game always this complicated? Then what about the other half?

└ Do you really think someone can pay attention to shadows in such an intense situation, you idiot;;

-Why isn’t this a trending post?

└ Seems like everyone’s watching the stream lol

└ If you know so much, leave some comments yourself!

<World of Arsheria Gallery>

<Featured Post>

[Upvote if you agree tournaments > solo ranked lol][286]

(6-player team kill in solo ranked Challenger game.gif)

(Player wasting 4 movement abilities trying to cross one wall.gif)

(NoName 1vs1000.gif)

Whether tournaments or solo ranked, everyone plays so terribly it’s painful to watch, so what’s there to compare? lol

Just remember this: Story >>>>> Tournaments = Solo Ranked.

[Upvotes] 607 [Downvotes] 13

-lolololololol

-What is this now lol

-Now even story-focused streamers are beating them lol

-Is this downward or upward standardization?

-Getting stuck in walls 3 times in 1 second at a tournament lol Are they really pros?

└ Must have been in a real hurry~

└ Triplets OMG

└ I find that 6-person self-destruction more amazing, is that an exploit?

└ Surprisingly, “Avenue” who just trolled at Challenger 1000 points is actually a fundamentally serious high-tier player

-I can see WoA is dying too

└ Certificate of a god-tier game right here lol

└ Would be disappointing if someone didn’t say this

└ Nope, definitely not dying~ FPS players get out!

└ LoL gallery people are so sneaky lol

[Feels like the WoA gallery has returned to its fundamentalist Season 2 days][103]

I quit the gallery after it got infected by LoL gallery users who held daily drama cups and personally attacked pro players.

But I recently came back after seeing WoA mentions on VTube, and I was touched to see everyone just talking about the game.

[Upvotes] 386 [Downvotes] 8

-It’s a game gallery but talking about the game gets you treated strangely lol

└ The abnormal becomes normal and the normal becomes abnormal

-I don’t care about anything else, NoName is just so cute

└ For real lol

└ For real lol

└ Nononononono lol

└ How can anyone resist a super-high-school-level pretty girl playing WoA lol

[I just wish NoName would stay trapped in Act 1 forever playing games with Adella][90]

I’m too scared to see what would happen if she took this talent to ranked…

Would she reach rank 1 in a week, debut as a pro, win the Champions, then run for president and get elected with an 1800% approval rating?

[Upvotes] 82 [Downvotes] 116

-Why would NoName run for president lol

└ It’s a time-honored template

└ Then please stop bringing up this stuff

-Rank 1 seems possible if she has an endgame character

└ Is that how good she is?

└ After watching her solo Dynasty Warriors mode, it’s not that impressive

-What’s her deal anyway? Her sudden rise is pretty interesting

└ Nobody knows

└ Just a high school girl who dropped out of academy and went dark, that’s all we know

└ That’s just speculation

└ If one more Korean high school girl goes dark, the world is doomed lol