Chapter 140: Victory Conditions

• Wow, close call…

• Just a hair’s breadth ㅜㅜ

• The opponent was pretty good

• She’s a Spirit Ranger master

• It’s fine, she can recover

• A bit unlucky…

“Yes. I’ll focus. The opponent’s skilled.”

It was my personal stream time, which I had to fill according to my contract. Zerok, Kang Siyun, quickly scanned the chat window next to the gray screen.

‘Unlucky…?’

No.

Those weren’t movements that could be explained by luck.

Although I hadn’t seriously practiced Spirit Ranger, since it was an Executioner position, I had played it a few times. To test how it would be as an Adjuster.

As far as I knew, it was the job that required the most ‘pure physical skill’ in Origin Rift.

Since it was inherently frail, a single mistake in close combat could be fatal. Dodging attacks, creating openings, every aspect of the counterplay depended entirely on reaction and judgment speed.

That was why,
even he, who prided himself on having some of the best physical skills in the world, hadn’t considered playing Spirit Ranger.

A moment too late meant death. Everything was decided by a single reaction, a single instant judgment.

That was a risk unacceptable in the pro scene, which demanded stability, no matter how good your physical skills were.

But if you could use it like that?

He recalled the previous battle.

The first moment she swung her claws.

The opponent was already making another move. A typical movement, a short twist to lower her body.

But just before the claws connected, that movement subtly shifted.
She instantaneously stopped a nearly completed movement and changed direction. Her body reacted first, sensing the very moment the movement was being created.

Stopping a motion and changing trajectory mid-action is too late if you think about it.
She dodged it by perfectly ‘seeing’ it.
It was a reflex.

And it wasn’t just once or twice.

Even in feints with no intention to attack.

He had only slightly twisted his claws to apply pressure, but even then, the opponent flinched.

A subtle tremor, as if relaxing her muscles.

Normally, it would be a sign of inexperience or being caught in a mind game.

But she was different.
Even that flinch was a state of tension, preparing for the optimal response. A state of being able to move instantly, anytime, anywhere.

Siyun quietly took a breath.

‘…It was tiring.’

The opponent didn’t miss a single movement.

A slightly twisted wrist,
the direction of his gaze,
she sensed those subtle signs and flinched.

He couldn’t let his guard down.
Each flinch forced a sense of tension throughout the engagement, as if it could turn into a counterattack signal at any moment.

Maintaining impossibly fast and accurate reactions, without a single lapse, throughout the entire battle?

‘That person. When it comes to Spirit Ranger, she can compete even at the pro level.’

Esmi Leah.

The Vtuber he learned about through Barex. He knew she was skilled. But that was, at most, an expectation that she could show ‘interesting gameplay.’

However, her actual skill, after facing her directly, was beyond imagination.

‘Even so, she won’t be able to play Spirit Ranger like that throughout an entire game. And.’

Siyun narrowed his eyes slightly.

‘I’m not someone who loses easily either.’

There was still room left.
There were still methods he could try.

He could only reach a true conclusion after clashing with her until the very end.

• Zerok solo killed lol

• Kyaa

• Pro inquiries, please DM~

• Leah, are you seriously on something? Why are you so good?

• Those two made a movieㅇㅇ

• More thrilling than this week’s League highlights??

• Seriously, the level is different when experts clash…

• Zerok did well, but Leah was insane lol

• The last piece to save Titan in crisis, ‘Recruit Esmi Leah’

• Titan’s not in crisis???

• Don’t get ahead of yourselves with solo queue results…

• (Are Titan fans having seizures over a joke again??) [Message deleted by manager]

“Actually, Spirit Ranger has a structural advantage.”

• What, against Shadow Hunter??

• It’s not that she’s high, it’s time for her meds…

• Let’s hear what nonsense she’s spouting

“Not against Shadow Hunter, but against all melee characters. If you can dodge all of the opponent’s attacks, Spirit Ranger’s arrows are faster and stronger.”

• ‘If you can dodge all’ my ass

• Lol

• That’s why you lose if you can’t dodge!!!

• Seeing her HP drop sharply earlier, it seems like she really has to dodge almost everything lol

• Melee characters would cry if they heard this ㅜㅜㅜ

• By that logic, I can theoretically have a dinner date with Leah…

• That just sounds impossible without even hearing it

Meanwhile, the resurrected enemy had arrived back at the engagement area.

“I’m a bit disappointed. I want to face him at his best, but my initial victory gave me a slight advantage.”

There was now an experience gap, however small, from securing the kill.

But despite that concern, the opponent continued the fight without faltering. He showed even more fierce and unpredictable movements than before.

The distance closed again. The enemy thinly grazed me with his claws, aiming for my side. I dodged with a short roll. An arrow grazed a pillar, drawing a half-circle. With a short twang, the arrowhead scraped against his claws.

The sound of steel against steel.

The second engagement continued fiercely.
However.
A new presence made itself known from one side of the engagement area.

Thump.

A Pathfinder, emerging from a dimensional rift, landed on the cracked earth.

A black cassock made of thick, lusterless cloth. Thick forearms. A head gleaming almost reflectively. Faint holy symbols were engraved on his deep green skin. It was an Orc Monk.

“It suits you. But that you’re bald even without shaving your head… I don’t know if that’s good or bad for ascetic practice.”

• ???

• What are you talking about, Leah Leah…

“Shaving one’s head symbolizes simplicity, asceticism, a life free of attachments, right? The feeling of abandoning desires. But if you’re originally bald, it’s not like you’re giving anything up…”

• Is she saying bald people have nothing to give up?

• Instead, they give up many other things…

• She’s been a bit dangerous lately, I can’t laugh…

• Apologize to the 10 million bald people

“Ah… I didn’t mean it like that. And in the place where I lived, baldness wasn’t viewed negatively. Rather, like the Monk just now, it was often seen as a symbol of experience or strength.”

• That’s enviable

• Then take me to that world…

• Let’s use the easy and convenient truck~

• Wow, she’s so mean…

Contrary to the lighthearted conversation with my Pia, the situation wasn’t good. The balance, which had been even, was collapsing due to the enemy’s coordinated attack.

The Monk quickly closed the distance. He pulled back his fist.

Bam!

He tried to strike me with an explosion of holy power. I twisted my body and barely dodged. But the shockwave spreading from beneath the Monk’s feet climbed up through the ground.

My balance wavered slightly. Zerok didn’t miss that opening. He charged, claws slashing, dancing with his movements.

Whoosh –

The Monk’s massive fist split the ground. A flurry of gleaming holy power swept forward.

Simple and straightforward.
But the sheer force couldn’t be ignored.

I quickly retreated.
But Zerok read my retreat path.
His claws swung swiftly at an angle.

A blow aimed precisely at my off-balance center of gravity.
I dodged, stepping back slightly.

But the Monk didn’t care.
He simply took another step, fist clenched, holy power gathering again.

It was an excessively monotonous attack, but the story changed if there was another enemy utilizing it.

Zerok was watching the disrupted space. The opening created by the Monk’s relentless assault. A movement that precisely inserted itself into that gap, like a wedge.

His claws swung sharply again and again.

My room to retreat was shrinking.

• She can’t hold on…

• A Pathfinder gank is too much;;

• That’s
  … joining in like that…

• I was seriously nervous watching this

• Zerok, let’s have a fair 1v1!!

Thud.

My back hit something hard.

A solid wall. Traces of shattered stained-glass fragments.

I had dodged well, but there was nowhere left to run.

In front, the Monk’s heavy fists. To the side, Zerok’s sharp claws.

Complete isolation, with no escape route, no room to breathe.

I couldn’t escape.
But I had to.

• GG

• 2v1 is impossible…

Crackle.

Light spread from my fingertips.

Awakening.

Whoosh.
As if climbing the wall, I kicked off the ground with my toes and soared into the air.

The Monk’s fists and Zerok’s claws.
Both cut through empty air.

“I wasn’t just dodging until now!”

The coordinated attack was an opportunity for Zerok, but also for me. Unlike Zerok, who rarely got hit, the Monk had helped me build up the stacks needed for Awakening.

I twisted my body mid-air and landed.

Strengthened arrows. Increased speed –

They couldn’t handle this change. The two enemies soon fell.

{JustAPassingElf has scored a Double Kill!}

• Zerok solo killed twice lol

• And one of them was a 2v1

• 2v1 wasn’t impossible!?

• This is a bit shocking??

• We bow before the Queen of Origin Rift…

After that, Zerok didn’t continue fighting in the engagement area. He seemed to have judged that he couldn’t overcome the growth difference.

Instead, he continued to resist in other ways.

He targeted and eliminated allies in opportune moments, continuing to grow, and sought sharp counterattacks, creating openings where there were none.

He proved that his title as the world’s strongest wasn’t just for show.

However.
I had been steadily, unwaveringly ahead from the beginning.

The difference in accumulated growth wasn’t closed until the very end of the game.

It was my victory.