Chapter 22: This is Heretic’s Defense Party, and Now I’ll Show You How I’m Going to Crush It.”

When I came to my senses, I had been happily talking about Galaxy Train with Elodie for almost three hours.

The fact that I could talk so excitedly and openly with a woman about such things was incredibly enjoyable, but Elodie’s reactions were so good that it was great fun to talk.

And I, I really shouldn’t have done such a foolish thing, but I had already brought Elodie to the computer.
…I couldn’t resist and ended up showing off my account.

No, but how can I resist this?

How can I not show off my account, which has two max-limit-broken, max-refined characters and achieved 1st place in the clan war!!!

“Um… But, Elodie unnie, something just came to mind, so I’m asking. Do you, by any chance, use communities or anything like that?”

“I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never used them.”

Yessss!

This means she wouldn’t know that I’ve been doing some slightly strange things on the Galaxy Train gallery or internet broadcasts, right?

“Oh my, the Seren that Miss Se-ah has looks very different.”

“This is because of the skin I received for getting 1st place in the clan war. What do you think? Pretty, right?”

“Her usual outfit is also pretty, but the golden bunny girl outfit suits her quite well. It definitely has a sensual appeal, so I think men would like it.”

Hehe, that’s right.

Honestly, when a man like me sees it, it looks a bit tacky but also incredibly sensual, you know?

“E-Elodie unnie, you think so too, right? Here, here, what do you think? The part where her groin is slightly creased is modeled, isn’t that really sensual?”

“Oh my, oh my? To think they created even such an embarrassing part… Hehe, the Y-zone is so prominent that it seems quite lewd, but that’s the nature of s*x appeal.”

To think I could have such a perverted conversation with a woman.

Haa… But not being denied and being affirmed feels a bit tingly and incredibly good.

“By the way, Elodie unnie, how did you do in the clan war?”

“My characters’ levels are on the lower side, so I didn’t join a clan.”

“Uh… How low are your levels?”

“The Meiring I’ve diligently raised is probably around level 70?”

Oh… I see?

So ordinary users aren’t at max level yet?

Come to think of it, I’m the strange one for unconditionally maxing out characters I decided to raise by doing 20 or 30 paid recharges a day.

…Ah, suddenly my face is burning up.

“What is this inscription written in the passage here?”

《Congratulations on 1st Place in Clan War! ‘Hawawa Middle Schooler-jjang!’》

《The Star of the 1st Place Clan War! ‘LaBelleAr’》

“Heok… Th-this is, well. The one written above is our clan name. And the one written below is my game ID.”

“Oh my, unlike me, Miss Se-ah seems to have made her ID with a nickname instead of her name?”

D-don’t people usually not make IDs with their own names?

…No, could it be that her way is the usual way?

“W-anyway, what! You can see my ID code, right?”

“Yes, I shall add you as a friend right now.”

Elodie wasn’t just saying she played the game as a lip service.

《Accept friend request?》

【Elodie – Lv. 31】

Waaaah… She really made her ID her own name?

And why is there such a big difference in world level?
I’m about to become level 61 soon.

“Miss Se-ah, if it’s alright, may I ask you one thing I’m curious about?”

“Ah, uh uh! Of course! Feel free to ask me anything! And I’ve already added you as a friend. So! If the story or dungeons are difficult, feel free to borrow my characters and use them!”

Elodie smiled and pointed to the UI where the Colosseum was fiercely burning.

“Are you good at this Colosseum too?”

“Huh? You don’t do clan wars, but you’re interested in this?”

“I naturally came across it while clearing quests.”

Ah, come to think of it, there definitely was a guide quest that lightly explained the feel of it.

“Hehehe… What can I help you with, Elodie unnie?”

I immediately clicked the icon and entered the Colosseum content.

【LaBelleAr】

「Legend」

〔Rank : 1

『Victory Points 9,870』

“Oh my, as expected of a clever young lady like you. It’s truly amazing that you’re in 1st place.”

“Ah… Well, I didn’t show you this to brag. Ahaha, I just wanted to show you that since I have this, k-skill? I can help you in my own way.”

To think there’s a beauty who praises me in such a serious voice for being 1st in a game…!

Something, something!

It feels a bit tingly in my thighs, embarrassing and awkward, but in the end, being praised feels good.

“I understand this content as fighting an opponent I choose, winning to get victory points, and raising something called a rank.”

“Yes, that’s right. Where are you stuck?”

“Hmm… After I entered the Gold rank, unlike before, I keep losing easily no matter which opponent I choose, so I haven’t been able to accumulate any victory points.”

“Probably, the opponents Elodie unnie fought while climbing from Bronze to Gold rank were artificial intelligences called ‘bots,’ so you were able to win. But from Gold rank onwards, the rewards change, and there are quite a lot of users, so it’s hard for you to win.”

I quickly pressed refresh and clicked on ‘Heretic,’ who had been stuck in 2nd place for three days.

【Heretic】
《Defense Formation》
「Meiring」「Saren」「Nanaka」「Renako」

“Isn’t the opponent’s party usually like this?”

“Oh my, oh my, you know exactly as if you’ve seen my screen? As expected, Young Miss, you have good sense.”

“It’s a popular defense party these days. It’s so standardized that there are parts that are actually easy to break through.”

I quickly went into setting up the attack party.

“Elodie unnie, what 5-star characters do you happen to have?”

“I have Meiring and Renako.”

“Uh… Did you perhaps not pull Seren or Ha Eun-rich?”

“Seren’s clothes were pretty, so I tried to pull for the character, but she didn’t come out.”

Ah, so she got spooked.

That’s why she has Renako?

“Alright. Then I’ll show you an example. Right now, the opponent’s party is one that counters using Meiring.”

I pointed to Heretic’s defense party.

“They use Saren and Nanaka’s skills to make Meiring incredibly tanky, creating a situation where attacking itself is a loss because we get countered every time we attack.”

“Oh my… Hearing your explanation, it seems impossible to win.”

“That’s right. That’s why most users are using this party right now. But it’s not invincible.”

I changed the attack party to 「Meiring」「Rina」「Nanaka」「Renako」.

“You have all the characters here, right?”

“Yes, they are characters I’ve also raised.”

“This party is a combination where Meiring, Nanaka, and Renako defend against enemy attacks while Rina’s AOE damage slowly roasts the enemy.”

“Oh my? I’m attacking, but I’m defending?”

I smiled.

“Yes, Meiring’s counter doesn’t react to AOE attacks. So, we make a party that’s deceptively similar to the opponent’s and change only one character to persistently exploit the enemy’s weakness.”

“That’s a very clever method!”

In front of Elodie, I lightly showed her how Rina’s AOE damage roasted Heretic’s party.

『─ Earth! Burn! Rina the Break!!!』

Rina’s flashy ultimate skill instantly brought Heretic’s party to a near-death state, and Renako, who had a serious flaw in her healing ability, couldn’t save the party.

In that situation, Heretic’s Saren attacked my Meiring and was immediately countered and burst.

“You’ll probably get a similar result if you run the party, Elodie unnie.”

“I tried making a party following yours just now… Hehe, look. Unlike before, I won!”

Seeing Elodie, who was smiling brightly and showing me her smartphone screen, made my heart pound even more for no reason.

Being recognized for being good at games and being strong is surprisingly joyful, isn’t it?

But it’s a little disappointing.

Elodie is too much of a newbie and doesn’t know how much I’ve spent, so she doesn’t notice all the parts I want to brag about.

Ugh, as expected, there would be plenty of people on the internet who would notice these things right away and react…!

Ah, as expected, to get praised so satisfyingly for even these parts, do I have to do internet broadcasts…

Feeling unnecessarily disappointed, I clicked the mouse.

***

【Galaxy Train : Climbing today for sure! Challenge for 1st place!!!】

“Hey, are you kidding me? What is this? Why did you suddenly beat me with this party this time…!!!”

Heretic wailed pitifully.

[– Wow]

[– Earlier, you brought a Ha Eun-rich deck and smashed it ]

[– You roasted her with 4-star Rina? That’s legendary]

[– Even Ha Eun-rich is a waste for this]

Heretic’s broadcast had more viewers than usual.

Unlike her usual wish, it wasn’t that people who were impressed by her outstanding skills had increased, but that people had flocked to watch her suffer, stuck at the 2nd place wall for the fourth day.

“Ah… Sh*t…”

While Kwon Se-ah was leisurely receiving care from Elodie, talking about the past, and using her as a guinea pig for Colosseum deck recommendations, Heretic was being thoroughly thrashed.

[..has donated 1,000 won]

[Heretic-nim~ Heretic-nim~ Honestly, you know you can never break LaBelleAr’s defense deck, right~]

[Its2ndPlaceAgain has donated 1,000 won]

[Looks like you’re gonna be 2nd again because you don’t have Iines ㅋㅋㅋ]

“W-won’t you all get lost?! Get lost! Stop scratching! Stop scratching!!!”

Heretic screamed pitifully and stood up from her seat, then sat down again.

“I can win, okay? What do you guys know! I showed you my calculations earlier!”

[– Why are there so many trolls today?]

[– Isn’t that just an imaginary train?]

[– It never once went according to calculations, what are you talking about]

[– So getting roasted by a 4-star deck and giving up victory points was part of the calculation?]

Heretic, seething, immediately clicked on Kwon Se-ah’s defense deck as soon as her chance to attack was recharged.

“I can win even without Iines, okay? I’ll show you!”

【LaBelleAr】

《Defense Formation》

「Ha Eun-rich」「Saren」「Iines」「Omega」

Kwon Se-ah was currently using a bizarre and strange defense party that no one else in Galaxy Train was using.
[– This deck gives me the f*cking creeps every time I see it.]

[– This is why she’s a legend]

[– Kkya Still haven’t learned and crashing into the 1st place deck?]

[– I told you, you can’t win this. Absolutely no climbing to 1st place ]

“All of you, shut up! If Saren gets the first turn as soon as we go in this time…”

『─Neither trickery nor clever moves are needed in a match. Simply prepare sufficiently, and victory will naturally follow!』

Contrary to Heretic’s expectations, Kwon Se-ah’s ‘Iines’ was the fastest again this time and used her ultimate first.

“Ah, uh, why? No, why?! I checked the speed and raised it earlier…!”

[ has donated 1,000 won]

[She farmed Arcanas in the meantime and raised her speed again]

[ㅇㅇ has donated 2,000 won]

[LaBelleAr is a true legend, She’s been farming Arcanas all day]

“She… she farmed again and raised her s-speed stat?”

Kwon Se-ah’s ‘Omega’ reached 100% ultimate gauge and immediately used her ultimate.
As a result, Heretic’s party’s speed was reduced by 30%.

[– Ah ]

[– GG~]

[– It’s over]

[– Failed to crash and burn again~~~~~]

Heretic, whose turn was coolly pushed back, was annihilated without even being able to launch a proper attack.

Heretic sat blankly and had to watch Kwon Se-ah’s characters slaughter hers.

“Ah… Sh*t…”

[has donated 1,000 won]

[Hmm… I heard Heretic is the Colosseum expert…]

[ has donated 1,000 won]

[Heretic-nim~ Heretic-nim~ You got thrashed again this time~ What do you think?]

“Ah… Really!!! Stop!! There are too many trolls right now, so I’m going to raise the donation fee a bit!”
Heretic couldn’t close donations because of her pride.

[– No, is the price insane?]

[– Fck, if it’s going to be like this, just close it]

[– What’s with setting the 1,000 won punch at 1 million won all at once?]

[– Just close it if it’s going to be like this]

The chat window had long since gone haywire, so Heretic, annoyed, restarted Excel.

“This… Sht!! It’s ridiculous! Why do they only give Iines to the 1st place clan! Shouldn’t PVP be somewhat fair?! If I just didn’t have Iines, I would have just thrashed them…!”

[– No, then if you’re salty, you should have gotten 1st place instead of 2nd.]

[– Hmm… I think the clan war was fair, didn’t you get 2nd?]

[– 2nd place loser, 2nd place loser, 2nd place loser, 2nd place loser.]

“Augh…!”

Heretic, due to her easily “scratched” personality, couldn’t even concentrate on calculations and busily moved her mouse to ban people.

─ Bbam-bba-ka-bam!!!

“Huh?”

Heretic, startled by the notification sound that plays for donations over 50,000 won, quickly turned her monitor.

[LaBelleAr has donated 1,000,000 won]

[I took Iines out, so try hitting again.]

[– ???]

[– What’s this?]

[– What is it? Is it the 1st place person themselves?]

[– Huh???]

[– What is this, isn’t this fabricated?]

Heretic, with a dazed expression at the sudden 1 million won donation, snorted.

“It’s not like you’re playing with people…!”

Even while saying that, Heretic pressed refresh.

“Huh?”

【LaBelleAr】

《Defense Formation》
「Ha Eun-rich」「Saren」「Irel」「Omega」

[– Ttiyong???]

[– What, it really seems like it’s her?]

[– Wow ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ A 1 million won taunt, sh*t]

[– Using Irel? Is there anyone who uses her??? Wasn’t she story-exclusive?]

“No… Excuse me! Don’t regret it! Don’t cowardly put Iines back in the party later and frantically defend your victory points because you’re scared!”

Heretic, who had nicely fallen for the taunt, breathed heavily.

The sender of the 1 million won donation was, of course, Kwon Se-ah herself.

While Elodie was preparing dinner, she had logged into the Galaxy Train gallery and thoroughly read the popular posts she hadn’t seen while receiving care.

And she had enjoyably watched the clips of Heretic crashing into her 1st place deck and spewing curses.

She even felt a slight regret that she couldn’t be with such an entertaining broadcast from beginning to end while receiving care from Elodie.

“Really! It’s because Iines is broken that I couldn’t win, so don’t whine about getting 2nd place!”

【Season of First Spring】

《Time Remaining – 10 hours 54 minutes》

[– Let’s go]

[– Since there’s no Iines, you’re definitely getting 1st place, right?]

[– I believed in Heretic]

[– Theoretically, 10 consecutive wins make 1st place possible]

[– Strats? Heretube strats? Heretube strats? Heretube]

Kwon Se-ah didn’t even keep this broadcast on and got up to eat, but Heretic was more serious than anyone.

She thought that if she kept beating Kwon Se-ah within the remaining 11 hours, she could get 1st place!