The Rise and Fall of Solitude

[Floor 3-1 Goblin Elite Warrior] [Clear (1/3)]

The skittish [Goblin Elite Warrior] was cut down in one [Slash] by Skilla’s greatsword.

“Americano, do you want to try fighting one?”

“M-Me?”

And so, she faced the next monster.

“Don’t use your Ability.”

“Okay.”

She drew her sword and waited as the monster climbed the stairs.

[Orc Warrior]

Gray text.

It was a very weak [Orc Warrior].

At a glance, it was a rookie [Orc Warrior] full of bluster.

As Americano approached the [Orc Warrior], Tang So-hye said from behind,

“You can use your Ability if you think it’s dangerous.”

“….”

Hmm…

Americano checked her condition.

Her fingertips were stiff.

The hands gripping the sword were rigid.

Her legs were heavy.

Every joint felt like it was locked.

That’s how much her body’s movements were affected by [Outsider].

The thought of being watched made her muscles tense unnecessarily.

What would you call this?

Stiff but sensitive?

Like setting the mouse sensitivity to maximum, her muscles were tense, ready to snap.

Not minimum.

Maximum.

A tension where she had to apply force delicately to move precisely, so it wouldn’t suddenly burst out.

Even a small movement made her fingertips twitch as if the frames were skipping.

The tip of her sword wavered.

“Hoo…”

This was the reality of the effect [Outsider] gave.

It increased sensitivity by tensing the muscles.

The twitching made it hard to control.

Americano took a deep breath to minimize the tension and relaxed her muscles slightly.

‘Tch.’

Easier said than done.

She felt someone behind her.

“Fighting~.”

The muscles she had worked to relax tightened again.

Tang So-hye, the encouragement is nice, but can you shut up?

I can’t concentrate.

She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Three pairs of eyes.

All three of them were people who thought well of her.

She wanted to live up to their expectations.

That feeling made her unable to ignore those people, stimulating [Outsider].

‘What kind of contradiction is this?’

Had it taken a while?

“Orc!”

The [Orc Warrior] swung its axe.

She dodged.

She lowered her body far too deeply.

“Eek…!”

Her hand touched the floor.

She raised herself again and swung her sword.

The Orc’s torso would be empty───

───She couldn’t.

She understood her condition.

If she attacked here, she could slash it, but her head would be split by the axe.

Her stiff body was heavy and slow.

The axe was already above her head.

She threw herself to the side to avoid the axe.

The [Orc Warrior] completely began to see Americano as inferior to itself.

It smirked, looking at the other three, and she knew what it was imagining in its head. It probably thought they were having a fair one-on-one match.

Americano was figuring out how much her body could move.

It felt like she was in someone else’s body.

“Oooorc!!”

Not giving her time to adjust,

The [Orc Warrior] charged.

Americano raised her sword to block the axe with [Block].

[Block]

Haven’t I barely used this before?

Have I ever used it before?

As the axe hit [Block], she immediately realized, ‘Ah, this is the first time.’ [Block] was a [Skill] that hardened the body to withstand impact.

She hardened her body and sword like a stone statue for a moment.

Clang!

She blocked the axe.

She endured.

Even though [Outsider] made it hard to put strength into her muscles, [Block] made it possible.

As she continuously poured Magical Power into [Block], its endurance increased, and she didn’t falter even when the [Orc Warrior] applied force.

In the first place, Americano was level 30.

‘Weak.’

The Orc was.

Her base strength was stronger.

The Orc’s strength was high enough to be equal if she used Magical Power, but this [Orc Warrior] showed no signs of using Magical Power at all.

It had been pushing with only its physical strength.

But the Orc was losing in that physical strength.

‘If the attack motion comes out well, I can end it in one [Slash].’

She blocked the axe with [Block].

The [Orc Warrior] didn’t pull the axe back and pushed with force.

It swelled its muscles to the fullest and put its weight into it, intending to crush her. If she released [Block] here, she might be struck down and killed by the axe.

She could gradually grasp her condition.

How much strength she could exert.

How agile she was.

She grasped and estimated such things.

It would be difficult to avoid even this clumsy axe of the [Orc Warrior], she thought.

‘Wow… just how weak have I become?’

She had only [Enhancement] [Outsider], but it was severe compared to before the [Enhancement].

Wasn’t this basically telling her not to do party play?

‘No, is it not that bad?’

Based on her experience as a support, she reasonably suspected that the [Geass] was probably made for mages to use.

“Orc!”

The [Orc Warrior] pulled back its axe.

It raised it high.

It plunged it down again.

She should [Thrust] now.

[Thrust]… Ugh.

Too late.

She threw herself to the side to evade.

‘Humiliating.’

Her face turned red.

Her body trembled.

Because of the shame.

She had not only knelt before an opponent who was only that much, but she had also dodged. Her face flushed red, and she felt like her head would explode from shame.

She felt like she was going to die.

At that moment, she reflexively responded to the [Orc Warrior]’s next action.

───She only managed to react.

Her backstep was half a beat late.

When the [Orc Warrior] approached in one step, Americano’s foot was half a step.

Annoying.

Infuriating.

Embarrassing…!

“Dodge!”

“You should have pushed through there!”

Tang So-hye and Skilla were watching.

It was so bad that they were even giving her advice.

Especially Skilla.

She had said she respected Anonymous.

Goosebumps ran down her spine.

Americano wasn’t bold enough to disappoint someone who had said they respected her.

Her mind was set on fixing it.

She impulsively released the reins of [Berserk].

She hadn’t yet balanced [Outsider] and [Berserk], but so what.

This moment was a dark history.

The reason she hadn’t used [Berserk] was that the combination of [Berserk]’s unique, explosive resentment and [Outsider] was like a relationship where they were holding each other’s leashes, but in reality, it was like a three-legged race.

They were holding each other’s ankles, but if they didn’t coordinate, they would fall.

She had been calculating the angles to avoid falling, but this wouldn’t do.

Falling was a dark history, but struggling against the [Orc Warrior] was already a dark history.

If falling was inevitable, Americano decided to fall magnificently and unleashed her [Berserk] resentment.

Whether [Outsider] grabbed her ankle or not, the violent force roughly pulled even [Outsider].

Expressed in numbers, [Outsider] was 10 percent, [Berserk] was 60 percent. The remaining 30 percent was reason.

She activated a [Skill].

[Slash]

She swung her sword.

But it was weak.

Kuh..!

Her muscles twitched as if she were lagging.

The rhythm of the battle breathing given by [Outsider] and Americano’s original battle breathing were different.

The mismatched rhythm weakened the [Skill].

She had made a mistake in activating the [Skill].

It was a basic [Skill].

A basic skill…!

I’m definitely getting rid of [Outsider].

No, I’m definitely getting rid of [Outsider:Enhancement].

It’s the worst for party play.

‘What the hell is this!!’

She swung her sword [Berserk]ly.

Delicacy and everything else were no longer needed!

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was [Outsider]’s turn.

So she fought without thinking, relying only on instinct.

Clang!

She knocked away the axe.

“….”

Stiff body.

Weakened [Slash].

She understood.

She couldn’t unleash her usual skills with this pathetic body, but then she just had to find the best performance she could unleash with this body.

If it was stiff, then stiffly.

If it was weak, then weakly.

She charged at the [Orc Warrior], showing the optimal movements to become the strongest.

[Slash]

[Block]

[Slash]

[Block]

[Slash]

[Block]

She repeatedly blocked and slashed, increasing the wounds on the [Orc Warrior]’s body.

Slash, slash, slash, slash.

Block, block, block, block.

Slash, slash, slash, slash.

Block, block, block, block.

Slash, slash, slash, slash.

Slash, slash, slash─── slashed.

It was the [Orc Warrior] who was running out of strength.

Her body was stiff due to [Outsider], but her senses weren’t. She pushed the tip of her sword into the exhausted gap, and it went in without resistance.

[Thrust]

It pierced the [Orc Warrior]’s solar plexus.

“O…rc.”

Thud.

The [Orc Warrior] knelt.

“Haa…”

‘Tired.’

Her body wasn’t tired.

Her head was tired.

The mental labor was so intense that she was even sweating.

She raised her sword high.

It became a guillotine.

[Floor 3-2 Orc Warrior] [Clear (2/3)]

“Good job.”

Skilla ruffled her hair roughly.

A strange feeling, as if she was happy and not happy at the same time.

The praise was appreciated… never mind.

Praise was a good thing.

She happily accepted it.

‘Is it okay to be happy?’

Haha.

Haha.

Haa…

‘What kind of disgrace is this?’

Anonymous, whom Skilla respected, was struggling against an [Orc Warrior].

It was too unsightly.

“It’s not common to defeat an [Orc Warrior] at level 3. I heard you had talent, but this is beyond my imagination? Why don’t you be happier?”

“I’m happy.”

Probably.

Not at all.

She wasn’t happy.

She was happy, but it was purely because Skilla’s praise made her feel good.

But is this all it takes to have talent?

You’re not teasing me, are you?

Is defeating an [Orc Warrior] at level 3 enough?

‘No, Orc Warriors came out around floor 10 during Grandmaster Solo, too.’

She had a hard time back then, too.

She didn’t know swordsmanship well either.

Certainly, if she had met an [Orc Warrior] on floor 3 back then, that would have been her first death.

But…

‘Whatever the case, I ended up showing a much worse performance than my original skills..!’

I’m getting rid of [Outsider].

I’m definitely getting rid of it..!

But there was something to do first.

Americano had seen the conditions for a Murim physique in that [Custom Room].

Second [Rebirth].

From that point on, Murim physiques were unlocked depending on the state of [Geass] and [Stats].

If there was a Murim physique that required the [Enhancement] [Geass] or [Outsider] as a condition, it would be more beneficial to leave [Outsider:Enhancement] alone.

The 20 [Wish Stone]s that would be consumed for a [Wish] to remove [Outsider:Enhancement] simply because she didn’t like it caught her eye.

‘First, second [Rebirth].’

After detaching the [Geass] with [Rebirth], if it still didn’t come off, she would remove [Outsider:Enhancement] with a [Wish].

So first.

‘That condition.’

She needed to know the conditions for doing the second [Rebirth].

Of course, it was a job that required points.

She had to raise her level to accumulate points.

So she had to climb.

‘At least 50 floors.’

She had been looking for the conditions for the second [Rebirth] in the [Community] for a while.

She had also posted a thread, but there were 0 comments.

Should she ask Tang So-hye?

But considering the possibility that Tang So-hye might not know either, she concluded that she had to climb to at least floor 50.

If she leveled up from level 30 to level 50 and accumulated an additional 60 points, she would be able to do the second [Rebirth] comfortably, no matter what [Stats] she raised.

50 floors.

‘Yeah, let’s just climb to floor 50 and then remove it after [Rebirth].’

She could just fill the spot where [Outsider] was with another Murim physique.

Like [Nine Yang Severed Meridians].

She could feel the power of yin and yang.

Good. Let’s climb to floor 50.

‘…Even so, I feel like I’m going to die.’

She’d probably die once in the middle.

Haa…

‘Let’s work hard.’

So what if she died.

As long as it’s fun.

‘Skilla.’

She didn’t want to be held back by [Outsider] and disappoint Skilla. She didn’t want to taint the untainted respect with disappointment.

Americano, who had learned the joy of being respected by someone.

She didn’t want to lose that joy.

She began to worry.

‘I didn’t have to worry about this when I was alone.’

The story always ends with being solo.

‘Indeed…’

Being solo was comfortable.

Skilla patted her on the back.

“Then now, try clearing it using your Ability.”

“Okay.”