Chapter 18 : Don’t Be Arrogant. Always Be Humble (2)

The download for Raid and Master was complete.

She immediately logged into the game and put the VR headset on.

“Whoa.”

Since it was the first time running the game, a grand background sound echoed.

Next, the image of champions fiercely battling appeared.

This was indeed a VR game.

Not only could she see, but she could also feel the sensations of touch and even smell.

Every time swords clashed, she could feel the shock, and whenever gunshots rang out, the sharp scent of gunpowder tickled her nose.

There was no wonder why VR games had taken over the market, even with their huge price tags.

It seemed like the developers had made it their goal to show the true essence of VR gaming, as vibrant and varied battle scenes unfolded before her eyes.

She couldn’t help but admire it.

As she observed the battle, she thought about the mouse, and an image of a mouse appeared in the air.

Click.

Instantly, the scene was skipped.

For Korean gamers, quick skips like this were an unspoken rule.

Of course, that’s not the only reason—Rydel is waiting.

She felt a bit bad for the creators who worked hard on the video, but it was just too long.

‘I can watch the broadcast together.’

It wasn’t just about playing the game.

Since this was the machine Rydel had bought for streaming, it was also possible to sync it with streaming sites.

Not only could she start her own broadcast, but she could also watch broadcasts.

When she opened Rydel’s broadcast, a small window showing Rydel’s stream appeared in the corner of the game screen.

“Ah! Silver Hair! You’ve arrived!”

The now familiar voice of Rydel rang out.

This wasn’t coming from the broadcast.

Since she had added Silver Hair as a friend in advance, the voice chat had directly connected in-game.

She quickly typed a message using the floating keyboard that appeared in the air.

Just like the mouse, the system allowed her to easily summon the keyboard.

Even in a VR game, there were plenty of times when she had to type text.

[SilverHairSilverHair: Yep. Hello!]

Unlike Rydel, she communicated using chat.

Since setting up a microphone required messing with a bunch of settings, it wasn’t the easiest option.

‘I’m a little shy.’

It was hard enough to talk to someone at a convenience store job, so speaking in front of thousands of viewers was beyond her.

At least five thousand people was just too much to handle.

She wasn’t ready for that yet.

“When she thought about streaming later, she wondered if this was okay, but…”

She definitely needed a bit of time to prepare mentally.

「SilverHair, do you communicate through chat?」

「Oh, I was wondering what your voice sounded like…」

 「Turn on the mic~」

《‘Forest Guardian’ donated 3000 won!》

But why are you curious about whether it’s a male voice…?

“Could be a girl.” “Yeah, maybe it’s the best gamer girl in the whole region.”

“Yeah, right 👍👍👍👍”

Most people seemed to think I was a guy.

And it made sense, because most users who were good at games were guys.

In most places, a girl who’s good at games is a rare species.

On the other hand, Rydel, who had reached Master tier, was quite an exceptional case.

“I don’t even know SilverHair’s gender. We’ve never met in person.”

Rydel continued after reading the chat.

“Alright! SilverHair, thank you so much for giving us your precious time today.

Since it’s your first time playing VR games, I’ll personally give a Raid and Master lecture.”

Rydel glanced to the side.

“Seeing is believing! I’ll show you by playing it myself.”

Right.

Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times.

“Eh? Ah! How long have you been watching the broadcast?!”

“😞😞😞😞😞😞”

“Your ignorance was exposedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“We saw everythingㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“Our Rydel… her innocent charm is so attractive.”

“Ahhh! Anyway, let’s start the game right away. Since general mode might be a bit chaotic with more people, I’ll show you one-on-one mode first.”

Rydel immediately clicked on the “quick game” option.

The “auto matching” system matches you with players of similar tiers.

It didn’t take long before a match was found.

“It’ll be more comfortable for you to watch in spectator mode than as a broadcaster.”

When I clicked on Rydel’s ID from the friend list, the “spectate” option popped up.

Well, if I’m just watching through the stream, there’s no need to use the VR headset.

I pressed the button, and it felt like I was being sucked into somewhere, and then Rydel’s game screen unfolded in front of me.

***

In Raid and Magic, there are several modes available.

Among them is the 1v1 dedicated mode, “Showdown Mode.”

It’s known for fast-paced 1v1 training, and it’s frequently played not only by regular players but also by professionals.

“Shall I loosen up my hands for a bit?”

A variety of characters appeared before my eyes.

The character Rydel chose was “Logmaster.”

Once the pick was completed, the character, wearing a robe, elegantly spun a dagger.

From the name to the actions, it was a typical assassin-style character.

“In 1v1, it doesn’t really have any bad matchups. It’s a solid pick. If you’re planning to play 1v1, SilverHair, you might want to consider Logmaster as well.”

Rydel spoke while finalizing the pick.

“Delbung, wouldn’t it be better to just play a warrior?”

“Isn’t your hand going to get tangled when playing an assassin?”

“You’ve probably lost some skill from all the genre games you’ve been playing lately.”

‘Thief Thief’ donated 3000 won!

Still, Delbung made it to Master tier with Logmaster.

“His physical skills aren’t bad.”

“Yeah, but his brain’s not that great.”

“Oh! What are you talking about? I’m smart. How else would I get to Master without any brain skills? Only those who’ve experienced it can chat.”

“Are we controlling the chat now? ㄷㄷ”

“Honestly, 99% of these viewers are Bronze/Silver.”

“LOLㅋㅋ”

“Shh! Ugh!”

“And when you play Raid and Magic after a long time, sometimes it just clicks. Don’t worry… What did that guy pick?”

The game started, and Rydel checked the opponent’s pick.

You can see the opponent’s pick in advance on the loading screen.

“Hmm? It’s a sniper?”

On the opponent’s side, a woman with a long sniper rifle was loading bullets.

“This is easy.”

Rydel smiled slightly.

The sniper’s role is a long-range damage dealer.

In team fights, assassins typically target the damage dealers first.

In regular games, tanks or supports often protect the long-range dealers, but here, it’s 1v1.

There’s no one to protect her.

‘The matchup is in my favor.’

Especially, snipers are long-range dealers specialized for team fights.

In a 1v1 situation, they’re vulnerable to assassins.

[Welcome to the Arena of Duel.]

[Monsters will spawn in 30 seconds.]

The game had begun.

Rydel spun a dagger as if loosening up her hands.

Fairly skilled hand movements.

“Looks like Rydel’s excited in front of a newbie. LOL”

“Stop showing off, Delbung!”

“Rydel’s so hyped LOL”

“If she stabs herself, it’ll be so embarrassing.”

The broadcast was an educational one for SilverHair—Yoo Seoyeon.

Veteran players always want to show something to newbies.

‘I can understand that.’

Yoo Seoyeon thought back to her school days.

When she used to play games at PC cafes.

When an elementary school student watches from behind, sucking their thumb, the hands tend to move faster than usual.

The middle-aged men playing RPGs sometimes open their inventory windows just to show off expensive items.

Rydel was probably in a similar situation.

‘If she loses after acting all cool, that’ll be even more embarrassing.’

If you try to look cool but end up losing, the embarrassment doubles.

Rydel knew this too, which is why her expression was slightly tense.

“Alright, then let me show you how to take down a ranged damage dealer as an assassin today!”

The game began, and the first thing that appeared was the shop.

There weren’t many items available to buy at the start.

As an assassin, the options were usually “Warrior’s Sword” or “Guardian’s Shield.”

Rydel chose the “Guardian’s Shield.”

“Delbung is scared?”

“Woo, scaredy-cat.”

“Chose a log master and then picks up a shield? LOL”

“A shield… that’s the shame of an assassin.”

“If you’re going to do that, why pick an assassin champion?”

As soon as she equipped the shield, the chat flooded with comments mocking her.

Instead of choosing the Warrior’s Sword, which increases attack power, she went with the shield, which increases defense.

“Ha~ This is exactly why I told the Bronze and Silver players to stop chatting.

The ranged poke hurts, so I chose the shield.

If I picked the Warrior’s Sword, I’d have to play more carefully because of the auto attacks.”

Rydel’s explanation was sound.

Although a ranged damage dealer was typically an assassin’s prey, the early game laning phase wasn’t that easy.

While assassins usually deal close-range attacks, the poke from a ranged damage dealer can hurt a lot.

Once the assassin gets in close, they can overpower with overwhelming firepower, but the assassin doesn’t have a lot of health at the start either.

“So, the shield is actually an offensive pick. The best defense is offense. That’s what I mean.”

“Agreed, agreed.”

“Bronze and Silver players only talk big.”

“Bronze players giving advice to a Diamond player, no-no.”

The viewers weren’t just mocking Rydel; when she made a valid point, they quickly agreed.

“Alright, Silver Hair-nim. Let me quickly explain. You see that tower over there?”

In “Raid and Master,” there are usually three lanes for attacks.

But here, in a 1v1 match, there is only one lane.

And one tower.

“If you enter the range of that tower, a magic cannon will shoot at you. It’s really fast and the damage is high, so try not to go in if you can avoid it.”

Rydel tapped the tower in front of her.

The tower looked solid at a glance, with a blue light shimmering on top.

“In 1v1 mode, you can buy all your items right from this tower.”

No need to recall back to base; you could buy items instantly.

“Except for health potions, of course.”

“Monsters will spawn soon. If you kill them, you’ll earn gold. You can use that to buy items… what else was there?”

Standing in front of the tower, Rydel noticed the sniper, who was taunting by spinning their gun.

“And then, the victory conditions are: Get a kill first, kill a certain number of monsters, or destroy the tower. The first one to do one of those three wins. Got it?”

First kill.

Kill a certain number of monsters.

Destroy the tower.

Anyone who completes one of these first wins the match.

Rydel, having finished her explanation, walked towards the sniper.

As the name suggests, the sniper is a character with one of the longest basic attack ranges in “Raid and Master.”

However, it’s not as long as the range of a tower.

It’s safe inside the tower, but Rydel deliberately stepped out of the safety zone.

Click!

The sniper also stepped forward and reloaded their gun.

Bang!

As the distance closed, the gunshot rang out.

The bullet flew straight for Rydel’s head.

“Ha.”

But Rydel only took a step back.

Then, despite the loud noise, the bullet simply collided weakly with Rydel’s body.

“Even a ranged attacker doesn’t do much damage if you step out of their range. No need to be scared just because they’re holding a gun.”

Perhaps annoyed by Rydel’s attitude, the sniper fired again and again.

But Rydel, with impeccable distance control, stepped out of range every time.

It was as if she had memorized the sniper’s range completely.

“Wow, Rydel’s class is still intact.”

“She isn’t getting hit once!”

“She’s a master player, there’s no doubt about it.”

“Honestly, you have to admit Rydel’s physical skills.”

“The god of distance control, no doubt.”

The viewers were in awe of Rydel’s precise distance control.

Bang!

Bang!

Meanwhile, the sniper, seemingly angry, fired shots one after another.

Unlike the precise headshots from earlier, the sniper now seemed to be roughly aiming and firing.

‘Is this person someone who gets easily excited?’

There’s nothing easier than catching a ranged attacker who’s gotten worked up.

Rydel thought this would be an easy game.

“However,”

‘Ah, this…’

Yoo Seoyeon slightly furrowed her brows.

‘Maybe I don’t know enough, but this doesn’t seem easy…’