Do All Dreams Come True If You Dream Them? (3)

In the video, a black axe headed towards Traveler’s shield.

The axe blade, entering at an angle, forcefully pulled the shield, and in that moment, Cerberus’s hand grasped the shield.

A test of strength in a deadlock. Meanwhile, the merciless axe clashed with Traveler’s spear shaft several times.

The health bar doesn’t decrease.

But equally precious guard gauge was cracking.

‘This is where the gap widened…’

I slightly increased the video playback speed.

It was because exchanges that seemed stagnant at a glance were being traded.

Among the heavy attacks, very minor skills were mixed in one or two at a time.

Attacks that must be blocked. And minor attacks that could be ignored.

The important thing was that those short intervals were thoroughly utilizing the game’s system.

Cerberus’s main class is Dark Knight.

Contrary to the Holy Knight with strong defensive tendencies, it was a class with added gimmicks focusing on debuffs and magic damage.

Attacks that don’t look very fast as it’s not a class mainly based on agility.

Much slower compared to assassin or warrior classes.

Yet Traveler facing him showed not even a moment of leeway.

It was because of the precarious timing Cerberus maintained.

《 There’s no time to readjust your stance, Traveler. 》

《 It would be good if he could create distance just once, but it seems Cerberus has no intention of allowing that, right? 》

《 What’s frightening about Cerberus is that he freely uses advantageous combat structures. How can such a giant tank-like knight move so delicately? 》

《 Ah, it’s difficult. No matter how much time he squeezes, he can’t recover his guard gauge. The damage keeps accumulating! 》

The combat judgment doesn’t end.

So the consumed guard gauge, magic power, and health never return.

Traveler couldn’t fully recover the guard he lost once until the end of the game.

Attacks that blatantly force guard consumption.

Either obediently engage in a war of attrition, or slowly die to the Dark Knight’s debuffs.

The hell of a meticulously calculated dilemma kept reaching out its claws.

Perhaps when the current Luche is completed, wouldn’t she play like that?

“He gave an impressive interview. I watched it well. Dreams… he was more romantic than I thought.”

“Well, I’m honored!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be sarcastic.”

That’s not to say Cerberus’s pure combat power was low.

A distance sense that accurately maintains his advantageous interval.

Attacks that find the most troublesome trajectory, as if knowing exactly how he appears to the opponent.

Skill utilization ability that feels like being attacked by two people.

Traveler seemed to have come prepared, landing a few effective counterattacks.

But well. Honestly, there was a difference in weight class.

There were moments when he greatly reduced Cerberus’s health, but there was not even a slight feeling of relief that the situation had improved.

“I sincerely thought it was a beautiful story. Saying you’ll surpass me someday, such competitive spirit is indeed a virtue of a professional.”

“Ha! So are you going to let me win?”

“Of course not. What’s beautiful and what’s realistic are different.”

Eventually, the lance knight who couldn’t withstand the war of attrition collapsed.

The completely shattered shield rolled on the ground, and his arm was attacked, making it impossible to hold the spear.

Even the hand trying to draw a sub-weapon was quickly restrained.

“Do all dreams come true if you dream them?”

“Not at all.”

“You know well.”

It was the moment Traveler’s journey ended.

* * *

Today, the sky outside was hazily cloudy.

It looked like it might rain at any moment, but the sky seemed to have no such intention, with only an empty wind blowing.

I sat with a stupid expression, staring out the window.

The subtly rising humidity. The sticky air seemed to make even my heart damp.

Yet there was a strange addiction to watching outside. I zoned out quietly.

Come to think of it, there have been many good things lately.

I’m participating in the tournament I’ve been longing for, and I’ve even been on broadcast indirectly.

‘I even had a meal with Luche and received a gift.’

After Traveler’s 2:0 defeat.

The anxiety in the domestic community reached its peak.

While Luche’s match was being prepared, there were various types of people.

Those who were relieved that this was good enough, those who were in despair that it was all over now.

There was also a minority of hopefuls who believed Luche would defeat Cerberus and win.

Sadly, the most dominant were the despairing ones.

The international results Korea had shown so far weren’t very hopeful.

Especially, Luche was a player who showed strengths in team actions rather than her own outstanding performance.

In the midst of thick despair, Luche upheld the meaning of her own nickname.

Luce. It means light in Italian, and extending the meaning to the Bible, it represents a bright future and hope.

The holy sword drawn at the crucial moment split the fog and decided the match.

– Luche succeeds in subduing Reaper after a 2:1 fierce battle!

– Sigma e-Sports: “We spared no team support for today”

– Contrasting joy and sorrow. Summary of Arena quarterfinal results

Arena finals. All semifinalists have been confirmed.

Cerberus and Luche. Me and Crow.

It’s a forced march with the finals taking place just a day after the semifinals in a few days.

The fortunate point might be that I already know Luche inside out.

However, there was an unexpected variable I hadn’t considered.

《 No, was Drake a player who could be overwhelmed this much? 》

《 Overturning everyone’s expectations, a shocking tournament result has come out. From the prepared result to the content of the match, there’s nothing to fault! 》

《 I think many people wouldn’t have expected this result. Even though he was scheduled for a call-up, that player Crow was from the second division until now! 》

《 Actually, he was famous for being out of the norm in the second division league. Still, the prevailing opinion was that he would be put to the test in the first division league… Today, that expectation was completely shattered! 》

The match that followed mine in the quarterfinals.

Crow, a necromancer from Europe’s second division, completely tore apart the veteran from South America.

He was a player who hadn’t received much attention due to favorable matchups and not being from the first division.

However, with yesterday’s match, his stock seems to have skyrocketed at once.

Right now, various discussions about him and me were ongoing in the community.

So, all the problems were about that Crow.

The necromancer class itself is quite non-mainstream, and since he debuted in the second division last year, there wasn’t much data available.

It’s too late to prepare for Cerberus after the semifinals.

But I can’t be careless in preparing for Crow either.

Preparing for a final I haven’t even advanced to yet and then giving a poor performance in the next match?

That would be too shameful.

Anyway. Unless I had two bodies, it seemed like time would be insufficient, so I needed someone to help.

Just then, I heard the sound of someone entering the door lock password at the front door.

After five mechanical sounds, a familiar face appeared.

“You’re here?”

“Yes. Have you been well?”

“Well, I’m always the same.”

The person who entered the room was, of course, Master.

It couldn’t be helped. What could I do when my human relationships had dwindled to this extent?

I couldn’t even ask for help from my internet friends.

Elderin was on vacation, saying he was going on a trip recently, and Sulbbang was busy with the reversed castle siege.

Contacting Traveler… even for me, it seemed like it would be a bit, no, very sorry thing to do, so I couldn’t.

Even if Traveler offered support, wouldn’t he side with Luche rather than me?

In fact, that would be more efficient.

It’s not me who’s meeting Cerberus next.

“You said you needed help, so I came, but what exactly do you want me to do?”

“It’s… exactly the same as what I said on the phone. I’m preparing for the tournament, but it seems like too much to do alone.”

“Well, I’ll help if it’s something I can do, but I don’t know anything about games. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine if you just look at the weapons and body movements. I can handle the game-related stuff.”

“If that’s the case, let’s give it a try.”

Unlike his fierce appearance, my master was also strong in analysis.

The position of national team coach isn’t something you can get just by being good at sports.

Even the methods I’ve been using to understand opponents were all learned from Master.

“Da-eun. What’s that black thing popping out? Can you use it continuously?”

“That’s a skill. See here where it says 17? It means you have to wait that long to use it again. It’s blocked now, but this thing next to it…”

“It’s complicated. I think I need to understand this first to see anything.”

“Just a moment. There should be something well-organized.”

As expected, Master didn’t betray my expectations and quickly adapted.

While occasionally answering his questions, I was watching Crow’s video, breaking it down second by second.

I had to pay particular attention to the movement of the eyes.

Where he looked and then where he cast magic.

I needed to understand the thought process leading to a single decision.

This is why I hate mages. Even though they’re advantageous in terms of compatibility, they’re troublesome in many ways.

As I was organizing the data bit by bit like this.

Master stared at me for a while and then grinned.

“Your expression has improved a lot.”

“Uh… really?”

“Yes, kid. It’s the best expression I’ve seen from you recently.”

At times like this, I wish I had a mirror.

Since the only mirror in my house is in the bathroom, I couldn’t immediately check my expression.

“By the way, have you eaten? If not, let’s order something.”

“Oh… What would you like? Soup rice? Stir-fried pork? Or maybe pork cutlet?”

“Pizza. One with lots of cheese.”

“Master, your taste is still a bit weird…”

“What can I do when guys like you always want to eat the same things? You should eat something different at least for delivery food.”

Still, isn’t pizza a bit greasy?

I don’t really like things like cheese.

– I thought this, but ended up eating the pizza deliciously, to the point of tears.