First Expansion Pack

The next expansion pack update is just around the corner.

About a month left.

The announcement foreshadowing the next expansion pack was both a message to prepare for what’s coming and a message that devalued all existing items.

Equipment prices started to drop. It’s because of the new items being added in the soon-to-be-updated expansion pack.

The number of people not participating in raids started to increase. It was an unavoidable phenomenon.

It would be better to spend the remaining time leisurely than to run raids.

As the guild leader, I made an important decision.

The two guilds that were being operated entered a resting period.

People started to get fired up about field farming. Just like wild animals gathering food to get through the winter, users started to diligently collect gold.

Among them, what I became interested in was the Arena.

It makes all stats equal. The competition that starts under the same conditions made me realize a lot.

Beyond Bronze, Silver, and Gold Badges, you enter the Sword rank.

Sword, commonly referred to as the realm of the talented.

Those who sharpened their senses as keenly as a sword competed their skills in this realm.

I also set foot in the Sword rank.

I thought every opponent was manageable. That I could do it. I thought I could win.

Innate talent led every situation to victory.

I was on a winning streak in the Arena using only my innate senses.

I suffered a crushing defeat. A series of defeats were recorded.

Looking at my face, which was filled with bewilderment, I couldn’t erase the smiling face of my opponent from my head.

It wasn’t a normal match.

The ranks that start again from One Sword reach the Tyrant rank only after passing the Ten Sword rank.

It was a badge given only to the top 1-10 ranked players in the Arena.

Just when I had been promoted to Eight Sword, I got matched with a Tyrant.

It was because my MMR was excessively high due to my consecutive victories.

And I lost.

I lost every time I met him. I never reached victory even once.

Why? My talent was overwhelming.

The moment we pointed our weapons at each other, I could be sure of victory.

It definitely should have been. I should have won, that was normal.

The talent that was arrogant because it was innate made me think that way.

There was clearly a difference between my talent and my opponent’s.

But I couldn’t win. The conviction that my senses gave me was shattered.

I keep queuing for matches to meet that opponent.

As I did so, my Arena rank reached the very end of Ten Sword before I knew it.

If I raise my Arena ranking in this state, I will receive the rank of [Tyrant].

The moment I queued for a match in that state, I was finally matched with the opponent I had been waiting for.

He looked at me, smiled slightly, and rotated his sword by turning his wrist.

It was a movement full of composure.

[Tyrant]

xiao

He, who didn’t even have a guild, was wearing the appearance of shabby store-bought items.

He didn’t open his mouth. I couldn’t get an answer even once while fighting him.

“Are you really Chinese?”

It wasn’t a game where foreign users were rare.

I had often found foreign users even in Deron of another world.

Again, there was no answer. I took a breath and pointed my sword.

The opponent’s job composition was the same as mine. Highlander in 1st rank, Paladin in 2nd rank.

In silence, sword and sword are aimed at each other.

My head tingles. My talent says. That he is an opponent I can win against.

But I don’t believe it. I couldn’t win. It will be the same this time too.

Time passes and the battle begins.

The quickly swung sword slides down the opponent’s sword surface.

The opponent’s movement was as fluid as water. The direction of the sword, with the posture of letting the force flow, suddenly bent and the sword began to fly towards my neck.

The sharp sword strike comes deadly.

I immediately pulled back, but the opponent followed me with a strange movement.

If I only retreat endlessly, I will be blocked by the wall and die.

I immediately stretched out my right leg, which was facing backwards, and lowered my body.

My left leg, which is stretched forward, collapses. The moment the opponent’s sword strike passed over my head, I also swung my sword.

The sharp sword strike was drawn, aiming for the opponent’s waist.

It definitely has to hit. But the next moment, with a clang-! sound, the sword was pushed away.

Talent means that even if I am ahead, the opponent is not someone who lacks talent either.

The attack misses and my upper body is exposed as it is. I used Dash to erase that gap.

The blue mana that burst out from my body covers the unstable posture.

The moment my body, which received the system’s correction, jumped forward, blue mana also burst out from the opponent’s body.

Pak-!

Body and body collide. As if aiming for that moment, a silver trajectory flies like a snake.

The end of my gaze is directed at the opponent’s sword. Even though I’m watching, blocking it was all I could do.

The moment I try to avoid it, he follows me with a strange movement.

Clang!

A faint light flashes and the sword is knocked away. I quickly recover my pushed-back posture and swing my sword again.

The sensation of my head burning white begins to come. The senses that stretch to the limit closely observe the opponent’s movements.

Upper neck and lower thigh. The senses that bloomed from the burning pain predicted the opponent’s attack direction.

I read two attack paths at once. But I can’t block both. I moved my sword to defend my neck.

Then the opponent’s eyes lit up slightly.

Ssak-!

The opponent’s sword is swung quickly. As expected, the opponent’s sword deeply grazed the inside of my thigh.

My face is wrinkled at the stinging sensation.

After that, about ten exchanges of attack and defense take place.

But the one standing at the end was not me.

With a thud- feeling, the opponent’s sword comes out through my chest.

It’s an unfamiliar sensation. A slight pain and irritation surged.

Suddenly, the wind blew and my hair fluttered.

At that moment, the sword that had pierced my chest came out and showed a strange movement in the air.

The wriggling movement resembled the movement of a snake.

-It’s a snake.

His sword resembles a snake.

It was like that from the beginning. If I had looked closely, I would have known more.

After the victory or defeat result appears, a short waiting time is given.

I moved my recovered body and reproduced the opponent’s movements.

Extend your right leg forward and your left leg back to balance your body.

There is no need to reproduce it exactly. I was just trying to capture the feeling.

The slightly lowered upper body raised the sword held in both hands as if pulling it back.

Suddenly, the opponent’s questioning gaze reached me.

Feeling the gaze, I thrust out my sword. The slowly extending sword seemed to draw a strange curve, but before I knew it, it had arrived at its destination.

There is not even a sound. It moved like a snake.

But I wasn’t satisfied. It was just an imitation.

“You bi…!”

The moment I was thrown out of the Arena, the opponent’s voice and trembling gaze were looking at my face.

I frowned at the sight.

This bastard wasn’t Chinese. He was just an extreme concept충 (chung – slang for someone obsessed with a certain concept/theme).

Clearly, he was about to say “bitch…!”. It was clearly Korean.

If I hadn’t been thrown out of the Arena, that word would have been completed.

“Hoo…”

I take a long breath. I was about to queue for an Arena match right away, but the tingling sensation that tickled my head didn’t disappear.

I recall the opponent’s movements by rummaging through my memories.

‘Was it like this?’

I start moving my body as my senses lead me.

As time passes, the clumsy movements begin to become neat as if a system is being established.

The thought of just raising my Arena rank has long disappeared.

Hwiik-!

The faint white trajectory stretches out like a long tail, holding the sunlight.

At that moment, I realized.

This was a technique. A way to move the body. A way to swing the sword.

The opponent added this technique to his senses.

He was a sneaky bastard.

‘It’s lacking’

There are gaps between the sword movements. The technique that the opponent showed was extremely limited.

I want to see more. I wanted to imitate it more.

I hurriedly queued for an Arena match, but I couldn’t meet that opponent again.

***

The expansion pack update was just around the corner. As it was a large-scale update, the server shutdown was done quickly.

It was because the patch time was long.

Everyone is staying up all night with anticipation. I was biting my lip and scanning the Arena ranking page.

It’s the day when costumes are given according to the ranking as the Arena season ends.

But I couldn’t find the nickname xiao on the first page of the Arena rankings.

He’s an extreme concept충. There was a possibility that he deliberately lowered his ranking by losing on purpose.

So I searched for his nickname separately, but no character with that nickname was found.

He must have deleted the character.

“Have you only been doing Arena all this time?”

Harang, who was lying on the living room sofa, asked as if surprised.

I nodded. I didn’t particularly intend to hide it.

It seemed like he had checked the Arena ranking on Deron’s website with his phone.

“Wow… you got 2nd place? They say they’re giving out a Silver Sword costume as a reward?”

“They won’t give it to me.”

The season ended with me in 2nd place in the Arena ranking.

I did get 1st place a few times. But I couldn’t maintain it.

The status of being a student and the shutdown law followed me like shackles.

The points I earned in a limited time could not catch up with the time of a 백수 (baeksu – unemployed person).

In the end, I had to give up the 1st place.

Arena ranking rewards are only given to 1st-3rd place.

It’s a sword costume that can be attached to the back, with 1st place getting a Gold Sword, 2nd place getting a Silver Sword, and 3rd place getting a Bronze Sword.

It’s a sparkling costume. It looked really, really cool.

“Sell it to the 아저씨 (ajeossi – middle-aged men). It looks like it will sell for a high price.”

“Why would I sell this?”

“It’s a design that only 아저씨 would like.”

I glared at Harang’s words.

A design that only 아저씨 would like, absolutely not.

The sophisticated curve of the sword blade, the sword’s handle engraved with a dragon’s head, and the long, red tassel.

This was enough to be called a work of art.

“You’re just jealous, aren’t you?”

“…Do you really think so?”

“If I try to sell it, you’re going to try to buy it, right?”

“Why would I buy something like that?”

“You’re just jealous. You want to take my sword.”

Harang opened his mouth blankly at my words.

He seemed surprised at my ability to grasp his sinister intentions at once.

I will never sell it.

I raised the corners of my mouth. A mocking smile hung on my face.

Harang frowned at my smile.

“If you want it, you can do Arena too.”

“I won’t.”

“Let’s say it right. It’s not that you won’t, it’s that you can’t.”

“Ha…”

Harang couldn’t refute my words.

He let out a long sigh and got up from his seat and left the living room.

It was clear that he had fled the scene due to my sharp fact attack.