Ch.44. A Veteran Learning the Basics

Parrying is one of the most powerful techniques.

This technique, designed to deflect attacks, can completely defend against any attack regardless of the gap between opponents if successful, and can even momentarily stun the opponent.

I never expected such an advantageous technique would break through the system’s barriers and be implemented.

“What? Wasn’t he losing? How is he suddenly winning?”

“Was he going easy on those upper-class candidates just like with everyone else?”

“Wow, that’s insane. At this rate, he’s practically guaranteed to be the top student in our year.”

Some misunderstandings seem to be piling up, but that wasn’t important right now.

The fact that parrying actually existed was surprising, but countering after a parry was a basic combo ingrained in my instincts. Missing this opportunity would make any gamer name weep, let alone a veteran player.

So I immediately rushed in and swung my shield.

Why a shield instead of a fist? Who says shields are only for blocking? The sharp edge of this hefty companion is quite useful for striking too.

Thanks to my unhesitating movement, I was able to land an attack before Harold could regain his posture.

Thwack! Thwack!

After hitting his face twice, Harold started swinging his hammer while crying out in pain.

It was clearly an unparryable pattern, so I jumped back to avoid it.

I got lucky earlier, but parrying isn’t actually omnipotent. It doesn’t work on certain patterns, and most boss-level enemies have unparryable attacks anyway.

To explain using the previous situation… Harold’s hammer combo consists of five motions, but only the second and fourth can be parried. What I parried was the fourth motion.

But well… since successful parries offer tremendous benefits, I had memorized which patterns were parryable and which weren’t.

The important thing was that it was possible, regardless of difficulty. There’s a world of difference between something difficult and something impossible.

While I was thinking this, Harold had already regained his composure and taken a stance. He had a nosebleed, but I pretended not to notice.

Having experienced something inexplicable, he seemed more cautious, but regardless of that, my head was full of other thoughts.

‘If this works, other things might work too.’

Maybe it was because the parry succeeded, but somehow I felt certain that dodge invincibility would work too.

If parrying works, there’s no reason dodge invincibility wouldn’t, right?

So I deliberately baited Harold’s attack.

Instead of rushing in first, I kept circling around, then charged forward when I judged he was about to swing an appropriate attack.

At the same time, I performed the dodge motion I’d seen in games, and momentarily my body blurred before passing right through Harold’s hammer.

It was exactly like the dodge I’d seen in games, where it was just a graphical effect—passing through attacks unharmed.

“What?!”

An attack that should have hit sliced through empty air, and the target who should have been hit passed through his attack unscathed.

It was naturally incomprehensible by common sense.

“What did I just see?”

“What? I was looking at a girl passing by and missed it.”

“No, he passed right through the attack!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Like a ghost, he just phased through the swinging hammer!”

“You must have seen wrong. If you’re going to talk nonsense, just watch the passing girls like me!”

I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but judging by the murmuring from the audience, the scene must have been quite shocking.

That makes sense. Unlike parrying, which could somehow be understood as deflecting, dodging was absurd not only to the person being attacked but also to anyone watching.

Anyway, while everyone was confused, I decided to try a dash cancel just to be sure. Accelerating with a dash while canceling into another motion, then canceling that motion back into a dash… a simple but surprisingly difficult basic technique for veteran players.

Swish-

In an instant, my vision shifted to Harold’s immediate vicinity.

It worked. So easily.

It looked exactly like the funny movement from the game, but unlike a normal dash that just accelerates momentarily before running normally, this repeatedly maintained that instant acceleration, making it undeniably effective.

It was so effective that even Harold, who had easily countered my openings before, couldn’t keep up.

It essentially doubled my agility stat theoretically, so it made sense.

Anyway, he seemed flustered by my bizarre approach and tried to swing his hammer again, but at this close range, he would have been better off punching.

Of course, I kicked him instead. A light knock to the shin that he seemed to really enjoy.

“Argh! You vicious bastard!”

“That’s harsh. You’re trying to crush people with a hammer, and you’re complaining?”

Honestly, it’s lucky that parrying worked against that hammer strike; otherwise, I would have been knocked out cold. And he’s making such a fuss over one kick to the shin?

So his attacks are fine but mine are vicious? What a selfish guy.

Anyway, I dodged and he got hit, so I won, right?

“…Damn. Fine, I lost.”

“I appreciate the clean admission. I learned a lot thanks to you.”

“Jerk, you’re terrible at consolation. Do you think I’d believe that?”

But it’s true.

Thanks to you, I realized something very important. I owe you a big meal sometime.

“I’m sorry for underestimating you. And… I’ll definitely make up for my pathetic performance next time.”

Harold left without believing me until the end, but it didn’t matter whether he believed me or not.

Thanks to his basic tutorial, I overcame a crisis and significantly reduced my future worries.

Ah, Crop-Top-Garterbelt-Sensei… thank you.

“…But why does this even work?”

Still, I had questions.

Parrying, dodging, and even dash canceling.

Judging by everyone’s reactions, it seems like no one else can use these techniques, so what’s going on?

These were things I took for granted in games, but in this more realistic place, they were impossible phenomena.

“Ah. Could it be?”

After pondering for a while, something occurred to me.

[Irregular]

[This is an experimental feature. Please ensure that actual players do not acquire this trait.]

The “Irregular” trait I possessed. Maybe this was involved?

There’s no functional explanation written, but… guessing based on the current situation, perhaps it was an experiment to give NPC characters player-like traits? For PVP bots, or NPCs that players would directly control…

The growth restriction would also make sense if it was meant to control variables in this game with diverse growth conditions.

Well, I came up with various theories, but it was ultimately pointless. The fact that I didn’t know meant it had never appeared in the game.

If it never appeared, it probably means the experiment failed.

So to summarize… I possessed an extra character who was created for experimental purposes but was ultimately discarded as a dummy, and thanks to the experimental trait the extra had, I could utilize the game’s systems, though I didn’t know the principle behind it.

Hmm. That’s really far-fetched. Even fiction would be criticized for such a plot these days.

‘But it actually happened.’

Really? Is it okay to be this fortunate?

But thinking about it, without this trait, I could have just grown normally and achieved invincibility. Viewed that way, it was like giving me medicine after making me sick. Damn.

Still, it’s better than nothing. Honestly, I was confident I could utilize this trait better than anyone else.

The dodge in this game isn’t omnipotent. You don’t become invincible just by using it; you need to dodge at the exact right timing for “just dodge” invincibility.

If you thoughtlessly spam dodges thinking of the convenient dodge mechanics from other games, you’d likely get hit during the dodge animation and be sent flying. That’s why the game was quite difficult, and many players gave up.

But that wasn’t a problem for me at all.

Who do you think analyzed every attack pattern in this game frame by frame, organized dodge timings, and even created an Excel file?

When I shared that file on the game site, the reaction was sensational.

[Are you seriously insane?]

[This pattern was dodgeable?]

[The game company responded.]

ㄴ[What did they say?]

ㄴ[They said he’s crazy.]

ㄴ[That’s true.]

ㄴ[LOLOL A madman acknowledged by the game company LOLOL]

It was really difficult, but I don’t think it was a waste of effort because it had such a tremendous impact.

Especially now that I’ve possessed this character and realized that dodging works.

I’ve regained all the veteran player confidence I had lost. Now I can win against anyone.

So, who’s my next opponent?

“Wow, who’s that? She’s incredibly beautiful.”

“Rumors say she came from another country. Apparently, she’s from a fallen royal family.”

“Wow… whether it’s Rubetia or her, royalty just has a different look.”

Why is she appearing here?

I really don’t understand this at all.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lilith Raffi… No, just Lilith.”

Shouldn’t you be hiding in a convent waiting for your saint awakening?

What happened to your special saint admission? Why are you taking the entrance exam here?