Chapter 22 : Don’t be arrogant. Always be humble. (6)

Ah.

Kang Arin had a dazed expression on her face.

[You have been defeated.]

The red defeat message strangely felt unreal.

Why?

Why did I lose?

It was a shocking defeat.

But still, as a pro trainee,Kang Arin’s mind automatically replayed the gameplay from earlier.

The biggest mistake was:She had moved too aggressively.

With a Sniper in hand, she advanced too far forward.

If that was the mistake, then it was the only mistake.

But the opponent was a beginner at the game.

Against a beginner who was playing for the first time, this level of play should have been fine.

‘Was I mistaken? Maybe they’re not a beginner.’

Had she misunderstood something?

Was the user, “SilverSilver,” the professional gamer hiding their identity?

‘No, that’s impossible.’

Even if Rydel tried to deceive her,there were thousands of viewers.

There’s no way they’d trick so many viewers just to deceive her.

Just looking at their chat, SilverSilver was clearly a first-time player.

So, she had been defeated by someone who had just started the game, someone with the “newbie” sticker.

Kang Arin placed a hand on her forehead.

She felt like her head was overheating.

It was as if cognitive dissonance was about to set in.

‘And I’ve never lost like this to a pro player before…’

Kang Arin was no longer an amateur.

She was a pro trainee on a professional gaming team.

She had sparred countless times, not just with amateur high-level players but with current pro players as well.

Of course, she had lost before.

But she had never lost like this.

A one-sided defeat, without being able to move a muscle.

It was the first time she had ever experienced something like this.

“Yeah. There’s that saying, ‘Beginner’s luck.’”

Kang Arin muttered to herself, trying to convince herself.

It was just a coincidence,Yeah.

It was a coincidence.

Just like how there’s a one-in-a-million chance that a martial arts champion could be knocked out by a regular person’s punch.

That’s what it was.

It has to be.

It can’t be any other way.

A beginner who’s playing the game for the first time shouldn’t be able to crush her with just raw talent.

[The Ragnarok: SilverSilver.]

Kang Arin’s fingers, which were about to type the next message, hesitated.

Wouldn’t it be fine if she just ended it here?

One game could be written off as just a fluke.

She could rationalize it.

She could tell herself it was just a coincidence that she dodged the bullet, just a coincidence that she blocked it with a knife, just a coincidence that she caught the bullet with her teeth, and just a coincidence that the dagger ended up in her heart.

But if she lost again, it wouldn’t be a coincidence anymore.

She couldn’t deceive herself any longer.

[The Ragnarok: Would you like to play another game?]

However, her pride wouldn’t allow her to end it like this.

Losing was fine.

But, the idea that there could be someone with more exceptional talent than her, she just couldn’t accept that.

“It’s not over yet. This is just the beginning.”

Even though she lost the first game.

But the next game would be different.

The cards Kang Arin had.

Her true talent, what people called her real skill, wasn’t just physical ability.

Kang Arin’s eyes gleamed sharply.

***

[SilverSilver: Oh.]

[SilverSilver: I can even catch bullets with my teeth.]

[SilverSilver: Cool haha.]

[SilverSilver: VR is amazing.]

“Uhm…”

Seeing the excited messages, Rydel blinked.

The usual habit she had of needing to fill the silence, a compulsion formed from streaming, seemed to have faded completely now.

She didn’t know what to say.

‘So, she caught the bullet with her teeth?’

Blocking a bullet with a dagger was already a rare feat even in professional scenes.

But SilverSilver caught a flying bullet with her teeth.

‘Was that even possible?’

Forget being a pro; no one could do something like that.

There are limits to what humans can do.

‘I didn’t even know you could block with your teeth.’

No one had ever done that before.

Even after years of playing this game, she didn’t know such a move was even possible.

“This looks like something that couldn’t even be faked, seriously.”

“How did she even do that? LOL.”

“Didn’t she just take a headshot? Why isn’t her health going down?”

“Wow, this is insane.”

“She caught the bullet with her teeth 😔😔😔😔”

“This is a legendary moment 😀😀😀😀”

“I thought it was a bug, damn😢😢😢😢😢”

The viewers were a mix of people admiring the play and those who were in complete confusion.

Rydel quickly turned on the replay.

“This doesn’t even need to be searched separately.”

Normally, when watching replays, you only focus on the highlights.

Rydel was experienced with the replays, so she was skilled at finding the important parts—almost at a technical level.

But this time, she didn’t need those skills.

The fight itself was over in less than a minute.

“If you look here, first the bullet that was aimed at the leg was dodged, and then the second bullet was blocked with the knife… and then, successfully closing the distance for an assassination?”

“Here, the Sniper probably thought she was up against an assassination, so she placed a trap behind her.”

“But it wasn’t an assassination; it was a paralysis arrow. This completely threw her off mentally.”

Rydel continued to praise.

What Ragnarok had expected was an assassination, but the unexpected paralysis arrow easily caught her off guard.

It wasn’t just physical skill that won the fight.

Silver Hair Silver Hair had completely overwhelmed her opponent, not just physically but mentally.

It meant that she didn’t just have physical superiority—she understood the game completely.

She had learned everything just by watching a few of Rydel and Ragnarok’s fights.

“Finally, the bullet caught in the mouth… I still don’t know how she did it. No matter how I look at it, I can’t understand…”

Even when played at 0.1x speed, it still looked amazing.

It was like watching a magician’s trick—no matter how much you focused, you couldn’t figure out how it was done.

Silver Hair Silver Hair’s acrobatics were something that, no matter how much you watched, you wouldn’t know how to replicate.

“Is this a circus or something  🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔”

“Ah, now I get it.”

“Her teeth are super strong strong teeth 🤒🤒🤒🤒🤒”

“I still don’t get it. Is that even possible?”

“Impossible.”

“I can’t even wrap my head around it.”

“I’m a bit confused too…”

“By the way, Silver Hair, about catching the bullet… what’s the secret to catching it with your teeth? Shouldn’t they break?”

In Raid and Master, champions typically have superior physical abilities compared to regular humans.

In the first place, it didn’t make sense for a regular person to be fighting against a sniper with a few daggers and a gun.

They must have extraordinary strength, like grip strength or overall muscle power.

They’re definitely not ordinary humans.

But even then, who would have thought her teeth could be strong enough to catch a bullet?

‘Did she maybe have steel implants in her teeth or something?’

Maybe the Log Master’s teeth were made of steel… some kind of backstory like that.

Rydel shook her head.

There was no way there was such a backstory.

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: Oh, that.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: When I caught the bullet with my teeth.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: It wasn’t about blocking it. It was more like slowing the speed down gradually.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: You just need to tilt your head slowly.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: It’s kind of like dispersing the kinetic energy;;]

Rydel replayed the scene again.

To her, it just looked like the head jerked back after getting hit by the bullet.

[Silver Hair Silver Hair : Still, there was some damage, so my health went down a bit.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair : My teeth bled too, it was kind of scary.]

‘You’re the scary one.’

Rydel thought to herself but didn’t say it out loud.

“Is that really possible?🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔”

“This is insaneㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“Are you sure you’re not from a circus troupe?”

“Seriously, an acrobat is hereㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

Well, considering Log Master’s backstory, being from an assassin family and learning all sorts of tricks… it makes sense that her teeth would be strong.

“Honestly, if I just think of it as Log Master, it makes sense.”

Rydel stopped thinking about it.

The more she thought, the more it gave her a headache.

[Ragnarok: Want to play another game?]

As she was about to replay the footage, Ragnarok’s chat request appeared.

Ragnarok’s rematch request.

“Are we going for a rematch?”

“Let’s goooooo”

“I wanna see another game.”

“That ended too quicklyㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

Rydel also agreed in the chat.

She wanted to see more of their, or rather, Silver Hair Silver Hair’s gameplay.

“Silver Hair , would you like to play one more game?”

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: Sure, I don’t mind.]

Silver Hair Silver Hair immediately accepted.

The next match was set up quickly.

As before, Silver Hair chose Log Master.

Meanwhile, the opponent still hadn’t selected a champion.

This time, it was different from the last game where Ragnarok instantly picked Sniper.

“Maybe they’re going to pick something else?”

Rydel frowned slightly.

Silver Hair Silver Hair had shown an incredible play, but…So far, she had only seen two champions directly.

If the opponent picks something unexpected, they might be caught off guard not knowing how to counter it.

“Silver Hair, this game itself is a bit simple, you know?”

“If the opponent is a warrior, just be careful with their sword swings, and archers are similar.

Mages are a bit tricky, but most of their abilities are just magic skills.”

“Supports have a bit more variety in utility, but it’s still not that complicated.”

In fact, Silver Hair Silver Hair’s choice of Log Master and Ragnarok’s Sniper were unusual cases.

They were special classes, equipped with all sorts of utilities.

Most characters fight by enhancing their physical abilities.

It’s not that there aren’t any characters with complex skills, but they’re extremely rare.

So,”You don’t need to be surprised if another pick comes up.”

[Silver Hair Silver Hair : Nah, I don’t mind.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair : And it seems like Log Master has other skills too.]

“Eh? Ah, there are, but don’t pick them. That skill’s a failure.”

Rydel shook her head.

In the game Raid and Master, characters can choose from a few skills to use.

However, Log Master’s skills are fixed: Charge, Assassinate, and Paralyze Arrow.

Other skills were just too ineffective.

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: Uh.]

[Silver Hair Silver Hair: But this one looks more fun…]

Hmm.

She’s definitely going to pick something else.

Watching Silver Hair Silver Hair’s chat, Rydel instinctively felt it.