Monster Hunter (2)

Hwi-i-i-ing.

The wind blows coolly.

Even though I’m wearing leather armor, the wind is blowing so strongly that I can feel the coolness, and it’s full of sand.

If this were reality, I would close my eyes and go home, but this is a virtual world, and they’ve made it so I don’t feel those unpleasant sensations, so I’m just swallowed up by the overwhelming scenery in front of me.

,Wow… I get to see that magnificent environment that I used to see on the screen directly…’

Monster Hunter had changed a lot from before.

First of all, what surprised me the most was that I could choose between Story Mode and Survival Mode.

Story Mode is, as the name suggests, a mode where you play while watching the story, and Survival Mode is a mode where you hunt monsters in a vast open world.

I was wondering what to start with, so I searched for a bit and found out that you can just play Survival Mode if you don’t want to see the story, and the only difference between Story Mode and Survival Mode is whether you see the story or not.

Like before, Monster Hunter’s story isn’t that great, so unless you’re a streamer, almost everyone plays Survival Mode, so I chose Survival Mode too.

The place I arrived at after finishing the simple tutorial is right here where I’m looking, the Arid Zone.

Little water and sandstorms blowing from the desert area far away. Small monsters and few plants around.

My heart is already pounding.

There’s no story, but there’s an overall flow to the game, and that exists in the form of quests.

Before hunting the first quest monster, I warmed up my body.

Even though it’s been quite a while since I’ve been living as Arang-i, I’ve still lived as a man for much longer, so there was no awkwardness.

Moreover, maybe it’s because Arang-i’s talent is outstanding, but I quickly adapted to my body that had already completely transformed into a man.

After finishing adapting to my body, I took out the huge greatsword that I had stuck in the ground next to me.

As expected, when you think of Monster Hunter, you think of a greatsword.

A huge greatsword as tall as me.

People didn’t really prefer the slow attack speed and heavy greatsword, but if you’re a man, you have the desire to wield a greatsword with both hands towards a huge monster.

I picked up the basic greatsword and ran forward to enjoy Monster Hunter.

==

Monster Hunter is a game that’s been out for almost two years.

Everyone who was going to enjoy Monster Hunter has already enjoyed it and left, and only the users who sincerely love Monster Hunter remain.

This Monster Hunter open world is basically an 8-player multiplayer. There are 8 hunters in each open world, and it’s automatically played as multiplayer.

Today, as always, a veteran user who came into Monster Hunter moved his steps to catch any passing monster and discovered a user.

,A newbie…!? A newbie in a game that’s been out for two years!’

The veteran, who was shining his eyes at the basic leather equipment and basic weapon greatsword that you wear when you first start the game, started to follow the newbie stealthily.

,But the nickname is unique? Isn’t [Chicken Without Leg Wings] trash?’

The veteran who was following the newbie watched the newbie’s first monster subjugation.

As it was made into a virtual reality VR game, the difficulty of Monster Hunter increased exponentially.

Before, you could just press a button to make a motion, but as it became a VR game, you had to move your own body to do all the attacks, so physical fitness became important.

In particular, understanding how to use strength and weapons was very important, so there were many users who played Monster Hunter for a long time but didn’t improve their skills.

Of course, there is a correction system, but it has become a game with a higher barrier to entry than other games.

Because of that, the veteran, who was thirsty for newbies, cheered in his heart for the newbie in front of him to successfully complete his first subjugation.

No matter how easy the first subjugation monster is, it’s the easiest in Monster Hunter, but if you think about the overall difficulty, even the first monster is difficult.

In particular, the greatsword has a very long wind-up and follow-through, so if you mess up, your health will drop drastically from the monster’s attack and you’ll die in an instant.

I’ll watch for a bit and help by eating a wide-area health potion when it’s critical.’

The veteran was watching the newbie’s subjugation, thinking about helping him right before he died, when something started to go strangely.

He’s definitely a newbie.

He doesn’t use any of the attack motions or attack combos that the system corrects.

He doesn’t know any of the monster’s patterns and is just headbutting it…

,Why is he so good…?’

Originally, veterans would figure out what kind of attack it is from the monster’s minor actions and prepare in advance to dodge or block the attack.

But the newbie in front of him used the greatsword’s special motion, Tackle, at the very moment he was hit by the attack.

Tackle, which exists for the slow greatsword, has so-called super armor.

You can fight without your stance being broken by most attacks.

He was perfectly controlling the greatsword, which is difficult for newbies to get used to at first, as if it were his own body, using Tackle and Dodge appropriately.

Since the concept of a sub-character disappeared with the introduction of the virtual world, it’s true that he’s playing Monster Hunter for the first time.

But how can he have such good physical skills?

,This is 100% a gamer who is a top-ranked player in another VR game or an athlete…!’

He doesn’t seem to be used to the game Monster Hunter yet, but he started to slaughter the monster with overwhelming physical skills.

The veteran felt something strange while watching the newbie’s monster subjugation.

,Why isn’t he getting stunned?’

One of the reasons why this game is difficult is that if you take a certain amount of damage, you get stunned and there’s a time when you can’t do anything.

If you get hit by a monster’s attack during that time, you can die, so later on, you definitely need the stun nullification trait.

But newbies don’t have that, so you always have to be careful of getting stunned.

Of course, the newbie is playing the game well, but it’s not like he’s not taking damage.

The newbie has drunk two healing potions so far. On top of that, his current health is also down to almost 50%.

If you think about the damage he’s taken so far, he should be stunned.

But the newbie is continuing to move without getting stunned even once.

,That’s amazing? How is that possible?’

==

,Is it because it’s a 2-year-old game? It works here too?’

The no-flinch system that received a hotfix from LeoRe because it was such a broken system.

There was a crazy system where I could completely nullify the flinching that came from my arms and legs because I didn’t have arms and legs, but it was so broken that LeoRe immediately hotfixed it.

But Monster Hunter is a game that’s been out for 2 years and is no longer being updated.

So, maybe that’s why the flinching in LeoRe and the stun in Monster Hunter are the old systems.

I’ve also enjoyed Monster Hunter on my computer since before, so I know about the stun system.

Since it’s a game that was released 2 years ago and the updates ended 1 year ago, I tentatively got hit only with some of my arms and legs.

As expected, I didn’t get stunned.

I need to do an accurate experiment to find out about the system regarding stuns, but what I can know now is that even if I take damage to my arms and legs, the stun gauge doesn’t build up.

,Ugh!’

As soon as I said that, the monster’s tail brushed against my waist and I got stunned.

Starting from my waist, my whole body tingles as if it’s been electrocuted, and all movement in my body stops.

,What, it wasn’t completely ignoring stuns…!?

Peo-ok!

,Ugek!’

While stunned, I couldn’t block or dodge the monster’s huge tail that was coming next, and the monster’s tail hit my abdomen head-on.

,I found out right away… it wasn’t completely ignoring the stun gauge.’

I wasn’t getting stunned, so I thought I wouldn’t need to get the stun nullification skill later on, so I thought it was a great deal, but that wasn’t the case.

It’s not that the stun gauge doesn’t build up when I get attacked on my arms and legs, but the stun gauge does build up, but I just don’t get stunned.

,If I get hit even slightly, I get stunned right away.’

It seems like a free ride was impossible.

Of course, it’s definitely a great deal just with this right now.

Because I can control the stun timing if I want to.

,That’s right, and as expected, Monster Hunter.’

The duel with a huge monster with a greatsword as tall as me made my heart burn.

The greatsword feels heavy, but the pleasure of attacking the monster through the weight of the greatsword is considerable.

The sense of impact felt throughout my body, the pounding background music, the cool monster.

And me, fighting a bloody battle in that situation.

I’m not used to the game yet, so I get hit by the monster’s attacks often, but the monster flinches and falls down with each of my attacks, so it’s so much fun.

Of course, I also flinch, fall down, and get stunned, but the 1-on-1 battle between me and the monster is quiteㅡ

Suddenly, the background music started to change.

The refreshing and adventurous background music gradually became more intense and changed to a high and magnificent one.

,Could this be…?’

I, who remembered Monster Hunter from my computer days, know the case when the background music changes.

The surroundings suddenly darkened, so I raised my head and there was something huge in the sky.

,What the Fㅡ’

,No, I’m just a newbie doing my first subjugation, is this possible!?’