Chapter 139: Daily Battle

• Is that the real Zerok??

• Yes, Zerok’s streaming

• Can’t miss this big match, taking a seat

• It’s finally time to meet the pros…

• Her first head-to-head is against Zerok lol

• No. 1 Spirit Ranger VS Just World No. 1

• Zerok made it, he even gets to meet Leah…

“The opposing Adjuster is Zerok-nim? I just recently learned about him. He’s on the same team as Barex-nim, who mentioned me in the interview! Right?”

• She just recently learned about Zerok???

• Leah, did you do a dopamine detox??

• Zerok is just Zerok…

• On the same team as Barex lol

• You just learned about Zerok? Are you a traitor?

“I’m not a traitor. I apologize for learning about him late. But like an old tree taking root in time, I’ll engrave it deeply from now on.”

• Dodging the traitor accusation with Risori

• That’s right, Leah, you have to be careful what you say about Zerok…

• Shaking hands with Zerok VS shaking hands with Leah

• Definitely Zerok, right??

• Even Leah would choose Zerok

• That’s obvious…

• Then what about a kiss?

• This is tough…

• Perfectly balanced lol

• Take your time deciding lol I’ll take Leah’s kiss

…Did someone leave a kiss for you? Who said they’d give one?

Anyway, my Pia seemed excited that I was facing Zerok.

I was excited too. My heart beat a little faster. Not because I had to fight, but because I could fight.

In Origin Rift, I hadn’t yet met an opponent I truly had to fight against.

Still, I loved this place.

A place where I could bring back the senses I learned on the battlefield and quietly face the me from beyond my memories.

Zerok.

The one everyone called the best.

Facing him now –

This sensation awakened me again.

Not to survive.
Not to prove anything.

Simply because I wanted to know how far I could go.

I quietly focused my strength on my fingertips.
Along with a sense of excitement I hadn’t felt in a while.

---

My footsteps echoed softly on the red carpet.

Dust-laden air, cracked pillars, distorted light filtering through the broken stained-glass windows.

The central corridor of the outer castle.

As always, quiet, with a ruined elegance lingering in solitude.

But today, even that quiet felt different.

Across my field of vision.

A figure approaching, as if gliding through the red debris.

Shadow Hunter.

• Ugh, Shadow Hunter of all things

• That’s Zerok’s signature champion…

• It’s not as good as it used to be after the nerfs

• It’s fine, it’s Leah’s signature champion too

• Compared to Spirit Ranger, all other jobs are better in terms of performance…?

A tension like a wild beast, emanating from beneath the shadowed cloak.

Tight-fitting black leather armor. Claws, gleaming with the sheen of steel, adorned his hands.

Not fingernails, but flesh shredders, made to tear into bone and flesh.

All of his armaments moved naturally, like a part of him, as if breathing.

He didn’t flaunt his strength.
He didn’t reveal his presence.
Just, quietly. But undeniably. The intent to target me flowed.

I unconsciously steadied my breath and slightly raised the bow in my hand.

Should I charge?

No, I shouldn’t move rashly.
A brief judgment flashed through my mind.

And – silence.
We aimed at each other, reading each other.
There was no simple exchange of attacks or skills.

We were reading the space.
The distance, the angles, even the fragments beneath our feet.

Even breathing was a luxury.
The one who wavered first. The one who showed an opening first. Would lose.

‘Now!’

A fleeting moment when the opponent’s movement faltered. I fired an arrow preemptively.

Swish.

But he dodged it too naturally. Like a deliberately created feint, the opening closed without a trace. Like a split mist merging back together.

But I wasn’t going to be satisfied with a single shot.

The second, the third.

Different rhythms, different trajectories.
One fast, one subtly delayed.
A small distortion mixed within the rhythm. An opening to induce carelessness.

The enemy reacted again.

Between dodging and advancing.
A momentary hesitation.

However, it was an illusion.
He was reading my rhythm.

He didn’t approach in a straight line.
Like a zigzag, but with minimal trajectory deviation, he closed in, as if shaving the edges of my vision.

‘A demon.’

It wasn’t a sudden surge of hatred. It was simply my instincts reacting first.

He charged, calculating his angles. Each movement was natural, like an unconscious reaction. In that regard, he might not be any different from a trained human.

However, the texture was different.
Not adjusting his trajectory steadily to reach his objective,
but instinctively twisting the distance and angles, spiraling in to corner his prey.

Movements a human would consider efficient, he was embracing inefficiency, tightening the noose around me.

Thus, the trajectory was irregular.
Seemingly calculated, yet unpredictable.

His movements were bestial, but a cunning intellect flowed within.
A being whose instincts were grotesquely twisted, not a human.

That image overlapped with the enemy’s unorthodox movements.

I exhaled shortly
and stepped on a fragment brushing against my feet.

Slightly changing direction, I quickly flicked my bow.

Shwing –

The sound of the arrowhead grazing.
The texture of the air split by the arrowhead.

But he was already lowering his body.
Like breathing, like a shadow.

I tried to step back instantaneously, but it was too late.

The claws flashed.

Twisting my entire body in an instant, I sprang towards the window frame. A dodge in a direction different from what I intended.

Wind grazed my back.
A blow that missed by a hair’s breadth.

I smiled brightly and said,

“So there was someone here too. Someone who could shake the battlefield with their mere presence.”

• Wow, I held my breath

• The mind games are insane lol

• Is this the psychological warfare of experts? lol

• This is different from the Origin Rift I know…

• They’ve only exchanged a few feints, but why can’t I look away??

• Isn’t she being pushed back by Zerok? lol

• Both of their movements are insane…

• But that’s a bit arrogant, Leah lol

• How dare she say something Zerok would say lol

• Leah seems really excited lol

“I’m much closer to the opponent now. That alone can change things.”

With his short claws, he tried to close in on me. He skillfully handled the arrows flying from a distance.

But for me, that was just a brief feint, taking advantage of the distance. A Spirit Ranger’s true power is revealed at close range. The real fight began now that the distance had closed.

An arrowhead grazed his hood. Almost simultaneously, his short claws brushed against my hair.

Whoosh.

We exchanged another volley of attacks that didn’t connect.

This time, the enemy was slightly faster.

A blade cutting through the short distance, and my body dodging it a half-beat earlier.

One step.
Another step.

At a distance where our bodies almost intertwined, black claws and silver arrowheads clashed repeatedly.

The sound of tearing air mixed with impacts.
The sound of leather ripping, the wind as if grazing bone.

A single break
in the flow meant death.

I twisted the direction of the bow in my hand.
A quickly released arrow grazed his shoulder.

But he didn’t retreat. Instead, he pressed into the opening.

A distance where our breaths mingled.

Amidst the flurry of arrows, I mixed in a sudden variation.

An arrow following another, drawing a slow, gentle curve.

The enemy lowered his body.
Almost crawling, he moved along the floor, escaping the trajectory.

Whoosh –

And then, a sudden approach, like a beast pouncing.
His claws swung like sickles. I blocked, precisely meeting the blade with a fired arrow. I slightly adjusted the bowstring.

His claws fiercely grazed me again, in the same spot.

I dodged.
But not completely.

My left forearm. A slightly grazed red line.

The wound healed at a speed impossible in reality, but my HP had already decreased.

I held my breath.
I drew the bowstring, then quickly released.

Shwing –

The arrowhead tore through the air.
This time, the waist. A direct hit.
The opponent’s body wavered very slightly. But he immediately recovered and charged at me again.

We had each landed a blow.

Now, piercing arrows and slashing claws. A close-quarters battle resumed, grazing each other by a hair’s breadth.
This continued for a while. Then, at some point.

Flick.

It was different. This time, it was different.

I arched my back, deflecting the blade –

But my arrow definitely grazed his shoulder.

Of course, it wasn’t a fatal blow. A very small achievement.

But it was a sign that the balance of this tense battle was beginning to crumble.

Thwack.

This time, it struck true. The arrow embedded itself firmly in his abdomen.
On the other hand, the claws he swung only stirred the air by my side, missing.

I could see it.

The opponent’s center of gravity, subtly but definitely, collapsing. He thrust his claws forward, but the trajectory was already off.
Of course, it might be too subtle a deviation to be called “off.”

But it was enough for me.

Thwack. Thwack.

The opponent, allowing more and more arrows to penetrate.

Even then, that he hadn’t completely collapsed, should I call it tenacious?

He somehow twisted his body, kicked off the wall, and charged. He tried to force a chaotic fight, striking like a storm, aiming for a reversal.

That furious last stand.

I quickly retreated, raising my bow defensively.

The bow couldn’t be used as a shield in this game. I was merely aiming to disrupt his vision.

Whoosh –

A blow barely deflected.
The tip of his claw tore my clothes.

Keeping a moderate distance, we looked at each other.

The enemy, like a truly tenacious beast, refused to fall.
It was also proof that he hadn’t allowed a fatal blow until the very end.

Twisting his waist, he used his remaining momentum to charge once more.

…It would be better not to dodge this.

Instead, I stepped forward.

A swiftly fired arrow.
Aimed at the heart.

Thwack.

The arrow struck.

Zerok’s body shook violently.

Yet.
Yet he still moved.
Staggering, he still raised his claw-clad arm.

I took a short breath.
One final shot.

Twisting the arrowhead slightly, I pierced through his defenses and embedded it deep into his abdomen again.

Thump.

A shadow, falling back against the red carpet, tumbling through the broken stained glass.

This time, truly,
Zerok couldn’t regain his balance.