Chapter 19 : Don’t Be Arrogant . Always Be Humble (3)

The sniper across from Rydel.

At first glance, it seemed like they were firing wildly in excitement.

No… they were probing.

The opponent had already figured out, from the very first shot, that Rydel could perfectly gauge distances.

The bullets that seemed chaotically sprayed afterward—were actually precisely aimed at her arms, legs, and abdomen.

To test where her reactions were slower.

A method of scouting for weaknesses.

It appeared wasteful, yet not a single bullet was fired in vain.

“And—”

When they shot her left knee… her reaction was slightly delayed.

When the sniper fired at Rydel’s left leg,she stepped back a beat too late.

Of course, the difference was microscopic.

Like a brilliant conductor catching a dissonant note too subtle for ordinary ears.

A gap imperceptible to anyone average.

But Yoo Seoyeno’s instincts—snatched that tiny discrepancy with pinpoint accuracy.

[SilverHairSilverHair: Left knee…]

“Huh? Left knee?”

Rydel tilted her head at Seoyeno’s chat message.

[SilverHairSilverHair: Never mind. Typed wrong;;]

“Hehe, SilverHair. If your knees hurt, try soft bone supplements.”

Rydel laughed dismissively.

[FolkRemedyON]

[Heard those don’t work.]

[Craving bone broth now.]

[She eats all the soft cartilage when we get chicken.]

The chat moved on, treating it as nothing.

It might all just be my imagination.

Seoyeno was a VR newbie.

Even for Raid & Master, she’d only skimmed the Nyamuwiki a few times before joining.

So she couldn’t backseat-game.

A rookie who hadn’t even played once giving advice to a veteran?

Absurd.

[Monsters have spawned.]

Monsters trudged from behind the tower.

Sword-and-shield types at the front, archers at the back.

Rydel and the sniper’s monsters clashed head-on.

“Don’t worry about the arrows from the archers. Allied attacks don’t deal damage”.

Rydel explained, theatrically extending her arm into the path of an ally’s arrow.

The arrow bounced off as it hit the arm, but no injury was sustained.

Damage: 0,System-wise, allied attacks are not possible.

If allies took damage from attacks, all sorts of troll plays would have unfolded.

“Shall we start slowly?”

Rydel advanced while spinning her dagger.

“The sniper was also aiming for Rydel, but…”

Ting!

The bullet hits the monster.

The key to the lane phase is using monsters as shields.

Although the monsters had weak attack power and very low intelligence, at least their bodies were tough.

Using monsters as cover, it was possible to block some range attacks.

“I’ll show you some trade. Now, let’s go!”

Rydel’s Logmaster, who had been hiding behind the monster, started to advance rapidly as his mana dropped.

The Logmaster had used a charge skill.

In an instant, Rydel closed the distance, reaching right in front of the sniper.

The Logmaster’s dagger gleamed.

He slashed at the sniper’s body, aiming for the neck, heart, and vital points in textbook fashion.

Ching!

Ching!

“What…?”

But it seemed like the sniper had anticipated it, perfectly blocking the dagger.

Using a large gun as a shield, he defended all the vital points.

“Tch!”

Rydel continued to attack, but the sniper kept defending and retreated.

Whoosh-!

“Oops.”

A monster’s arrow was flying toward Rydel.

It was the monster wielding a bow on the sniper’s side that attacked Rydel.

Rydel quickly backed off.

No matter how far she went, she would end up entering the sniper’s tower range.

At times like this, it’s best to just run without looking back.

Clank!

Then, the sniper, who had only been defending until now, reloaded her gun and fired at Rydel as she fled.

Boom!

The gunshot sound was louder than before.

The sniper had also used a skill.

“Aagh!”

The bullet flew precisely toward Rydel.

“The moment the gunshot was heard, Rydel sharply twisted her body to dodge, but—”

Thud!

The bullet hit him squarely in the shoulder.

And her health began to slowly drop.

It was the sniper’s skill, Curse Bullet.

From the moment it hit, her health would steadily drain.

It was similar to poison.

The initial damage wasn’t much, but the continuous damage was quite substantial.

“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Delbung’s trade failed so badly, lol.”

“Did he really get destroyed by the sniper while holding a Logmaster? LOL.”

“Hey, come on;;”

《‘Daedu Sundae’ donated 3,000 won!》

But isn’t the sniper also really good?

He blocked all of Rydel’s attacks.

“Yeah, he’s good.”

“His physical skills seem pretty solid?”

“Even so, it’s hard to believe he’s losing the trade after engaging.”

“No, it’s just that my body hasn’t warmed up yet. Please don’t misunderstand, Silverhair.”

Rydel said loudly, seemingly embarrassed.

“Is that person a sniper master? Their skills are really impressive.”

Master.

A veteran who only plays one character.

Sometimes, there are people like that.

They didn’t choose the sniper to play Raid & Master, but rather, they played Raid & Master to play the sniper—insane people.

They don’t just research the character they play.

Naturally, they analyze the counters to that character to the extreme.

A typical counter to the sniper is the Logmaster.

So, it’s obvious they’ve studied the Logmaster deeply as well.

“Just their movement itself screams veteran.”

“The master even knows the counters.”

“Still, once you hit level 6, it’s an easy win. The matchup can’t be overturned.”

“That’s right. No need to be scared. If we go to the end, I’ll definitely win.”

“Rydel said that, but…”

‘I don’t think they’re a master?’

Yoo Seoyeno thought differently.

Normally, a master would respond to familiar attacks one beat ahead.

They would anticipate that a sword would fly to their neck and block it a beat earlier, for example.

That’s what experience does.

Even if the physical skills are slightly lacking, they make up for it with their accumulated knowledge.

But the sniper’s movements felt clumsy compared to that.

It wasn’t that they blocked early because they knew in advance; it felt more like they were relying on reflexes and blocking by force.

Either they reacted in advance or reacted after seeing it.

In fact, the difference was very subtle.

You had to watch the whole body’s reaction, not just the simple attack.

You had to be able to read the small, subtle difference between urgency and composure.

Without a very delicate sense, it would look the same.

‘Maybe I’m just mistaken.’

It would be nice if it were just a misunderstanding, but…If it’s not,It would mean that the opponent is physically superior to Rydel by several levels.

With a clear difference in pure skill, it would be a very tough fight.

Perhaps Rydel also felt something was off, as she began to move more defensively instead of aggressively.

“A few minutes later…”

“Hah… Hah… How… how are they so good?”

It hadn’t been long since the lane phase started.

Rydel was sweating profusely.

Shee was in a highly tense state.

It was similar to a stock trader handling large sums of money, who, after just moving the mouse, was drenched in sweat and on the verge of exhaustion.

“The sniper’s pretty good, huh?”

“Is that person really Diamond tier? Did they get matched with a pro by mistake?”

“I don’t think that’s a pro account.”

“The reaction speed is insane.”

Even the viewers who had been playfully teasing Rydel at first stopped sending those kinds of messages.

The viewers knew Rydel’s skill level too.

They knew that she could easily take down someone of the same tier who was counter-picked.

But Rydel was the one who was constantly being overwhelmed.

With a serious and focused expression, she was in full tryhard mode, but there was no sign of victory at all.

The viewers could sense it too.

“It’s not that Rydel is bad, it’s that the sniper is insane, right?”

《‘Delbung Delbung’ donated 3,000 won!》

Is there something wrong with the matchmaking?

Since it’s automatic matchmaking, at the very least, players of similar tiers should be matched.

But the opponent’s skill level was definitely not that of a Diamond 1 player.

Rydel, out of breath, also thought to herself.

Right now, she was level 3.

“I need to catch the right timing.”

Originally, he had planned to hit level 6 and then seize the opportunity for a one-hit timing.

But, perhaps the opponent noticed that, and as Rydel focused on leveling defensively, they boldly switched to an aggressive approach.

Even when Rydel tried to counterattack, she failed at every trade.

Her health was rapidly drained.

It was a relief that she hadn’t died yet.

‘I’ve already used my recall.’

In Showdown, a one-on-one match rule, only one recall is allowed.

Since items can be purchased at the tower, the recall is essentially for health recovery.

Rydel had already used her recall for that recovery.

It was her trump card, but if she hadn’t used it, she would have been down long ago.

On the other hand, the sniper hadn’t used their recall yet.

Their health was still higher than Rydel’s.

‘I need to catch the right timing now.’

The situation wasn’t good.

The longer it dragged on, the more likely she would lose.

Fortunately, the sniper still thought Rydel was aiming for a level 6 timing.

She would turn that thought into a misunderstanding.

“Now.”

Pretending to hunt monsters, Rydel quickly selected a new skill.

Out of several skills she could choose, Rydel picked “Paralyzing Arrow.”

If it hits, it stuns the enemy for a certain amount of time.

With this, the Logmaster’s skill combo was complete.

She would fire the Paralyzing Arrow, then use a charge skill to close the distance.

For the finish, she would use the “Assassinate” skill she had prepared earlier.

Assassinate.

A skill that teleports behind the enemy and strikes a vital point.

Paralyzing Arrow for a temporary stun.

Then, using the charge skill to approach.

Once close, using Assassinate to teleport behind the enemy.

And so, attacking the empty vital points.

It was a perfect combo in the lane phase.

The reason why Logmasters are called assassins is because of this combo.

The reason they’re strong at assassinating snipers is also thanks to this combo.

“Now!”

Rydel emerged from behind the monster and used the Paralyzing Arrow for a surprise attack.

Clank!

Then, a small crossbow hidden in Logmaster’s wrist loaded an arrow.

“…That’s a fake!”

In an instant, Rydel canceled the Paralyzing Arrow skill and used the charge skill.

A mis-timed attack.

Rydel was also a player from the master tier.

She knew that obvious combos wouldn’t work.

If she shot the Paralyzing Arrow here, the opponent would just use their gun as a shield and block it.

So, she pretended to use the Paralyzing Arrow while actually using the charge skill.

A kind of fake-out.

The sniper, who had tried to block the arrow reflexively, seemed to have fallen for the psychological trick, staggering in surprise.

“Wow! Mis-timed attack!”

“Psychological warfare is insane!”

“Delbung is still alive!”

“Now there’s a kill chance!”

“Is this the time!?”

The viewers were chatting in admiration.

Rydel quickly used the Assassinate skill on the sniper, who was focused on defending the front.

The most terrifying part of Assassinate is that it teleports behind the enemy.

In an instant, the sniper’s unprotected back was exposed.

“I’ve been waiting a long time! Right now…”

Click!

Suddenly, a sharp sensation was felt around her ankle.

Without even the chance to lower her head, Rydel turned her eyes to check her ankle.

A trap, seemingly prepared in advance, was holding her ankle.

It was the sniper’s skill, Beast Trap.

A very brief stun and immobilization for a certain period.

Rydel raised her eyes again.

The sniper, now turned around, was smiling.