Chapter 113: It might have been that desperate

The Musketeer flinched, and the Puppeteer couldn’t retract their threads.

Two arrows.

One aimed at each of them as a feint. The following trajectory chased the others.

One arrow tore through the Mystic’s veil, and another pierced the Rogue’s arm.

Within that brief burst of speed, the breath of the spirits enveloped Leah’s entire body.

Awakening.

Without a moment to breathe, the wind beneath her feet surged.
She kicked off the ground, brushing against the hallway wall as she angled towards the outer corridor. Her movements became lighter, and the spirits shifted direction with her.

Evasion and attack flowed seamlessly.

Multiple arrows scattered through the air. Like a rain of judgment, they poured down upon the heads of her enemies.

The one who charged fiercely through the arrows—the Gladiator with the greatsword.

Whoosh—

A crescent-shaped horizontal slash that grazed the earth. The force of it alone sent debris flying along the cracks in the floor.

Leah held her breath,
And at the same time, twisted her body to the side.

The sharp blade grazed past her face,
And their trajectories intersected.

The Gladiator forward,
Leah behind him.

Turning and regaining her stance, she saw the Gladiator’s staggering back reflected in her vision.

Arrows embedded all over his body.
The massive greatsword clattered to the floor, as if unable to bear its own weight.

The fall of the greatsword was the fall of the strongest body among the enemies.

And at that moment—
The battlefield was completely hers.

{Victory}

• A 5v6 game? “So what?”

• It was practically 5v7 lol

• Yeah, try sniping~ Carrying is all that matters~

• That last fight, the Gladiator duel, was amazing.

• How does she pull off those highlight moments in the middle of a chaotic fight? lol

• Real. Why even go to the movies? We have Leah playing Ori lol

• That sniper must be shaking right now.

• Probably stomping on his VR mat with a red face lol

• He pulled every troll move in the book, and still lost, huh?

• It’s a little disappointing that she had to force the win… lol

“Heut… Did you notice that I even utilized the troll’s movements? The Spirit Ranger has short range, so you always have to be mindful of positioning and movement… This time, I used the moment the troll jumped in as my starting point, it’s easier to judge if you see the ‘line’ first… The line created when movement flows in battle. If you see the line… you see the opening.”

It had been a single match, but a fulfilling lecture packed with information about the Spirit Ranger. In some cases, the sniper had even inadvertently created opportunities for her to provide examples.

• Still lecturing lol

• Is this a Bard lecture? Seems like there’s a voice buff.

• I want to give Leah some water lol

• Stop the flirting. Stop the flirting. Stop the flirting.

• You? You have ASMR talent.

• This girl sings well and flirts well…

“Ah.”

• Ah lol

• Did she not realize what sounds she was making?

• This happened a few times before after games lol

Right. She’d spoken while still out of breath, and it had been picked up by the microphone. She was embarrassed, but her viewers remembered it clearly.

Today, she hadn’t been completely unaware of her heavy breathing. Her inhalations kept getting longer, her sentences shorter.

And yet…

The connection to ‘I’m speaking strangely right now’…
Just wasn’t there.

It was probably because…

She was too focused on the lecture.

So much of her attention was on controlling her character and speaking at the same time that, while she remembered what she said, she hadn’t been aware of how she was saying it.

“…It seems I’m lacking more than I thought. Next game, I’ll focus solely on the battle and do the lecture through the replay…”

• Nooooooooo

• Then there’s no point in lecturing.

• What’s the point of listening if there’s no moaning with the Risori?

• Lol, is your stamina that low?

• Leah only does this when playing Spirit Ranger.

• Are you saying you need that level of stamina consumption to play Spirit Ranger well? ㄷㄷㄷㄷ

• That expression is a bit…

• Seeing this will make the Spirit Ranger pick rate drop even further lol

• (Why play a trash character so hard?)

• This is a stream that’s piling up misunderstandings about the Spirit Ranger…

• Are Leah’s red cheeks from being hot, or from being embarrassed? lol

Leah averted her gaze from the chat window, which was, as always, teasing her, and queued for the next game.

• Huh?

• ‘That guy’ is on the enemy team.

• Sniping again? lol

• You’re in for it now. One game wasn’t enough.

• If they meet as enemies… he’s gonna get wrecked, right?

Information that the sniper, who had desecrated the battlefield in the previous game, was now an opponent.

For some reason, her body still felt hot—but it definitely wasn’t from embarrassment. Yes, since she was meeting the troll again, this was a chance to show him the proper attitude towards a fight.

For some reason, she stepped onto the battlefield feeling the need to focus even more intensely.

[Static Gallery]

[Tamurek is getting destroyed lol]

[What’s with getting ripped apart by a Spirit Ranger as a Magic Swordsman…]

[Leah’s just toying with him]

[He’s Grandmaster? What is that?]

In a 6v6 AOS game, there were many variables. Leah had simply had better team luck, and this game was no different. It wasn’t a matter of skill difference.

Briefly visiting the gallery after his defeat, Tamurek felt a slight pity for the typical overemotional reactions of the community, desperately ignoring the obvious truth.

It wasn’t over yet. Leah hadn’t ended her stream.

[Wow, that’s pathetic…]

[How can he be this bad and not retire?]

[Leah: “This guy’s movements are predictable now” lol]

[If you’re salty that a sniper acted like a big shot, upvote lol]

[No reason to defend him if he gets wrecked by a Vtuber lol]

This time, I was the one trolling, so a skill comparison was meaningless. And yet, they were saying things like this.

Perhaps, in the next game, after Leah announced it would be her last—

[Can’t play Ori, but good at sniping lol]

[Four encounters, four losses, is this real?]

[Saw an analysis post before, he doesn’t have good game sense for a Grandmaster lol]

[Looking at Tamurek’s past posts, he subtly pushed the narrative that the hacking accusations weren’t properly addressed lol]

[Must be bursting with inferiority complex, being the same rank.]

[One’s at the top of Static Verse… the other’s a pathetic sniper…]

It wasn’t an inferiority complex.
He simply believed that someone had to balance the scales against the baseless praise and distorted popularity structure.

And the current situation itself wasn’t right.

Just because Leah had gotten lucky a few times, why should he be criticized?

It was unfair that his past posts were being dug up now because of a single incident. He’d always written his informative posts based on his own standards and analysis.

Besides, was it really so satisfying for a group to gang up and trample on a single person?

Amidst this righteous anger, there was a certain desperation. If he let Leah go now, the chance to prove himself right would slip away. With that thought, he typed without thinking.

○ Tamurek19: Leah-nim, play one more game.

“Hmm, I didn’t expect you to speak to me…”

○ Tamurek19: Is it okay to run away after winning with team diff?

• Team lol diff lol

• What is that idiot talking about lol

• Thanks to you, today’s stream was fun lol

• You’re definitely getting banned, I clipped everything lol

The mindless reactions of the fans didn’t matter. The important thing was Leah’s response.

“As the battles continued, I noticed something. Today, you only tried to prove that you were better than me. Even in each and every move aimed at making your allies lose, I could see that intention. Movements meant only for show. So, I was a little uncomfortable today. Because we never… truly faced each other in battle.”

How dare she speak as if she knew anything.

His only purpose had been to objectively reveal her skill level.

She probably thought she looked cool, speaking as if she’d seen through everything.
She probably thought she was virtuous while publicly shaming him.

Right.
As expected, her true colors were showing.

And yet, strangely, the words ‘to show’ lingered in his mind.

“…There were people like that. People who charged into battle ahead of everyone else, but who actually believed that the battlefield was the only way to prove themselves.”

For some reason, Tamurek found himself listening intently to her calm voice.

“Everyone fights for something. Survival, revenge, justice, honor. But those people fought without reason, got hurt without purpose… and in the end, left behind results that no one remembered. I saw quite a few of those people. Because war forces that upon you.”

Leah glanced down at the chat, where foolish comments were popping up, then smiled gently and spoke.

“Please don’t be too harsh. He clearly made a mistake, but… he might have been that desperate.”

Her next words were clearly directed at Tamurek himself.

“When you’re ready to truly face me, then let’s fight again.”

He couldn’t speak.

It wasn’t because he was overwhelmed with emotion, nor because he couldn’t logically refute her.

Simply… those words.
Seemed to accurately pinpoint something within him, illuminating the corners he’d tried so hard to ignore.

Strangely, all the words he’d used to criticize Leah felt meaningless now.

It just… sometimes.
It wouldn’t be so bad to turn on Leah’s stream without thinking too hard.

Inside the ARCUS strategy meeting room at Cradle headquarters in America.

Gideon Vance adjusted the meeting room lighting to a soft blue hue.

He had known for years that this light stabilized conductivity readings from the brainwave measurement equipment.

Four senior engineers from headquarters, two policy analysts, and one project integration manager. There were no unnecessary personnel in the meeting room.

This wasn’t an ‘official meeting,’ but a private briefing for an experimental report directly under the CTO.

A name appeared in the center of the holographic display.

[Shin Choeun | Class: ARCUS_REFRACT_01]