Ch.383378 – Remaster

I learned the Imperial Palace Swordsmanship under Marquis Bastion, but the undisputed master of this technique in the Empire was the Emperor’s knight, Verstappen.

After the Emperor’s death, he sided with the Second Princess Josephine Floria and actively participated in the succession war.

The ending is a sad one that everyone knows.

Josephine fell victim to a plot and entered a forest corrupted by Corrosion, where she transformed into a monster.

Her ruler became something worse than dead.

Overwhelmed by despair, Verstappen willingly became a host for Corrosion, plunging the entire Empire into chaos.

[Fever Dream – UnderSoftware Inc.]

[Noble of the Milky Way – Delpoi]

I recalled my past life as I stared at the enemy before me.

His stiff, rigid body revealed that he wasn’t a living person but artificial intelligence.

Though my name and body had changed, I vividly remembered what happened back then.

Thanks to virtual reality, I faced this man with a body identical to my past life.

This person embodies the essence of Imperial Palace Swordsmanship.

He contains all 496 sword principles, so this ASI’s combat style would closely resemble Verstappen’s.

‘An enemy I’ve defeated once. No reason I can’t win again.’

In the moonlit temple, vampire Delpoi walked between the ornate Corinthian stone pillars, his cape billowing behind him.

I searched my inventory for a weapon.

My favorite Schiavona was available.

But instead, I gripped a larger, heavier Claymore.

This was to show all future gamers who would face Verstappen-derived bosses.

This is how you counter the Imperial Palace Swordsmanship that will drive you to despair.

“Ah, it’s been a while since I used this.”

[Black Leather Hair Tie × 2]

I gathered my hair in my hand and tied the left half with a hair tie.

I neatly tied the right half the same way.

The twin tails, tied relatively high, fell over my shoulders to my chest.

I lightly shook my blonde hair from side to side.

“I’m ready.”

The moment I spoke to the air, vampire Delpoi’s eyes flashed red.

A green health bar appeared beneath his name.

It begins.

The tall man shouldered his greatsword and began charging toward me.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-

His footsteps echoed rhythmically.

But I couldn’t let my guard down.

Anyone mesmerized by those footsteps would be cut down by that greatsword in an instant.

Thud thud

Dududu-

Delpoi closed the distance in a flash and swung his greatsword horizontally.

‘The first move is so predictable.’

Swoooosh-!

The metal cleaved through the air toward me.

I leaned my upper body backward, narrowly avoiding the tip of the sword.

A few strands of blonde hair that trailed behind were cleanly sliced by the sharp blade.

‘But it doesn’t end there.’

His left hand joined his right on the handle.

Delpoi gripped the sword with both hands and brought it crashing down with his full weight.

CRASH!

People run faster forward than backward.

If I had simply retreated, he would have used his momentum to slice me in half.

So I dodged the sword with minimal movement.

I dove into the vampire’s embrace and slashed his side.

Slash-

Bright red blood spilled from where my Claymore had cut.

Before the blood even hit the floor, Delpoi’s sword was already aiming for my waist.

This is what makes Imperial Palace Swordsmanship so terrifying.

Unlike opponents who stagger when hit, Delpoi continued his assault.

This perfection-seeking swordsmanship anticipates taking damage and finds the optimal counterattack.

It’s not a sword for survival, but for killing.

Clang-!

I pulled the Claymore close to my body to defend against the fierce strike.

I maximized my sharp senses to maintain that crucial distance.

Since swinging a sword paradoxically creates vulnerability, I weathered the barrage of attacks, waiting for my chance to seize control.

When I found an opening,

‘Right thigh, head, waist, left side, head again.’

I pressed the attack mercilessly, just as he had done.

Swish-

As Delpoi’s sword loosened, I thrust my body forward with all my might.

It became an endless cycle.

My sword found and cut through Delpoi’s openings again and again.

AI doesn’t make mistakes.

It only traps itself in a maze.

Clang-clang-clang!

Our swords locked in a power struggle in mid-air.

The metal screeched unpleasantly, threatening to split my ears.

The blade slid along the flat of my sword.

By leading him to make decisions that seemed optimal but would ultimately work against him,

‘From the bull stance, after the power struggle, he’ll either do a well-cut or retreat.’

The sword’s trajectory became predictable.

If the enemy retreats, I face no risk.

So assuming he would do a well-cut, I dangerously thrust my head into the sword’s path.

“…”

I met Delpoi’s lifeless eyes.

Hundreds of sword principles and thousands of variations that branched from the concept of swinging a sword converged back into one.

Clang!

The heavy sword was deflected as its trajectory shifted.

Dealing with a predetermined future isn’t difficult.

The Claymore in my hands curved to reach Delpoi’s nape.

I immediately twisted my wrist, rotating the sword forcefully.

Slash-

Then, as now.

Delpoi’s thoroughly slashed body collapsed backward.

My head throbbed briefly.

In virtual reality, instead of being out of breath, my brain signaled pain.

‘This is just the beginning.’

The fingers of the motionless corpse twitched, and then it stood up straight.

Thud-!

A blue line appeared on the handle, connecting to Delpoi’s wrist.

He hurled his sword forcefully.

Whoosh-!

I stepped aside and easily avoided the sword.

So this is the pattern Adella programmed.

An obvious attack, but dangerous nonetheless.

Dying to something like this would definitely be annoying.

‘I could have been taken out carelessly if I wasn’t paying attention.’

Delpoi retrieved his sword, his spine curving unnaturally.

Now Delpoi no longer makes optimal choices.

He’ll fight more chaotically with unrefined movements.

Delpoi charged like a hunting dog, dragging his sword along the ground.

I threw away the Claymore and reached for my usual Schiavona.

‘Now things might get a bit more interesting.’

Solving a puzzle when you already know the answer isn’t that fun.

* * *

If you think a battle looks exciting, then it’s not a proper battle.

You should feel terror that makes your heart drop, your limbs curl, and your body flinch.

Like when a ghost suddenly appears in a movie, or when a baseball seems to fly toward the screen while you’re watching a video,

When reality is recreated to the extreme, the body naturally becomes immersed.

‘This is fucking insane…’

The ASI developer forgot he was streaming and cursed involuntarily.

His fist clenched every time Delpoi’s sword narrowly missed the woman’s face.

He unleashed relentless, ever-changing sword strikes without giving her a moment to breathe.

The blade’s destination was always NoName’s sword.

Clang!

For a moment, it seemed as if the sword had developed a will of its own and was flying independently.

Particularly, Delpoi’s sword, which had abandoned human posture, was both alien and rational.

The grip position varied widely, from the ground to heights beyond NoName’s reach.

Delpoi, flat on the ground, swung his shoulder widely.

When he tried to slice off her ankle, NoName lightly jumped as if skipping rope and kicked the beast squarely in the head.

Standing on two feet again, Delpoi returned to refined human posture and swung his sword.

Too transcendent to be human, yet too precise with the sword to be a beast.

‘I get it now. This AI has no downtime!’

Delpoi had no wasted time between movements.

Traditional bosses always took a stationary pose after jump attacks or horizontal slashes.

In contrast, this AI’s movements flowed seamlessly like water.

No matter how difficult the patterns game companies created,

Players could just wait at a distance until the pattern ended.

So despite forcing out new ideas, users kept complaining about the lack of freshness.

Of course, the gamer’s perspective was understandable.

Bosses would unleash attacks that shouldn’t even graze you, then obviously telegraph when to strike.

With only “dodge” and “attack” as options, games became monotonous.

Though virtual reality games had been around for over 10 years, they still hadn’t broken free from console game concepts from 30 years ago.

‘What matters is when, where, and how to dodge, and when, where, and how to strike.’

WishG realized that simply increasing boss difficulty wasn’t the answer.

If powerful one-shot kills had forced gamers to run away like cowards, they could instead lower attack power to encourage direct combat.

Verstappen would be the first of these ASIs.

“The high HP makes this drag on. I’ll end the sparring here.”

NoName said indifferently as she untied her twin tails one by one.

She had thoroughly beaten the handsome vampire noble.

* * *

The last Wednesday of August.

The sound of wind and dreary rain signaled the end of the heat wave and the beginning of the rainy season.

The major games within Resonance simultaneously went into maintenance for about 30 minutes.

A hardcore difficulty remaster with new combat algorithms.

The update was expected since higher campaign difficulty levels awarded more PP (Performance Points), attracting more users.

The hardcore gamers who suffered from daily content drought rejoiced.

[Resonance Gallery]

[NoName mk.2 am I the only one excited?]

[13 minutes until update completion…]

[I’ll destroy everything whether it’s Lingering Snow or just rumors!]

[Look at everyone panicking lol. Guides will be out in a day anyway]

[Isn’t the beast-type knight concept already common?]

[If Resonance released a NoName World of Arsheria skin I’d praise them all day.]

[Real-time Insert: Even the Letterbox CEO is streaming because of this update lol]

[What should I play first? Moonlight Soul? Fever Dream? Legacy 4 Dead?]

The calm before the storm.

An hour later, the gaming community was in chaos.

[Did you seriously expect us to beat this, you developer bastards?!!!]

[But as always, I was the one getting destroyed…]

[Developer conscience went to America lol]

[Real-time Insert: Over 50 Delpoi patterns discovered so far.]

[Demigod) Dark Blade Erebos perfect kill death movie]

[I’ll never be cocky again crying crying crying]