Just then, the impact felt different. Almond could definitely tell.

"Oh... So there was such a thing?"

It was too one-sided when he was randomly beating Heo Won-Mu, so he hadn't completely realized it.

'This time, I deliberately aimed for the solar plexus.'

It was different just now. Almond struck with a specific target in mind. He remembered because it was effective.

'There are bonuses for striking vital points.'

Tap.

Almond's footsteps felt much lighter. He had gained even more confidence.

"Let’s finish this quickly."

— Wow~!

— Shudder

— Confidence

— Is this the alpha of nuts?

Although Almond generally felt confident in all physical aspects of the virtual world, he was most confident about precision striking. In that alone, he thought he could rank number one in the world.

Precision striking was similar to archery. It involved concentrating intensely to aim at the very center of the target from a distance despite the distance being just enough to extend a foot.

In this game with a considerably long reach, this range could be considered a long distance and the mechanism was the same.

“Almond is going in again!”

“Choi Seo-Yeon! This time she’s coming in too!?”

Whirl!

Almond prepared to kick.

— Whoa

— Wow

— Has he really adapted now?

It was completely different than the first time he faced Heo Won-Mu. Choi Seo-Yeon's bamboo sword desperately blocked Almond's kick.

“Almond is pressing on!”

“Spin kick! Turn kick! Reverse kick!”

Boom! Bang!

She managed to fend off the kicks with the bamboo sword.

“Choi Seo-Yeon! What's happening!? Parrying isn't working!?”

She was unable to parry and stun the opponent. This forced her to simply block.

'How could this be?'

Choi Seo-Yeon’s heart raced with bewilderment.

'He's figured it out already.'

The range of a bamboo sword was longer than that of a taekwondo kick. Theoretically, the kendo jet would have an advantage in a range fight.

However, that was only theoretically. In practice, most kendo jet attacks were with the sword's edge, except for stabbing attacks. Swinging attacks required large movements. Even if the hand moved a little, the sword's tip moved in a large radius. The attacks were very visible and an experienced player would exploit this gap.

'But this guy…!'

From a developer's point of view, he was extremely skilled and experienced. How could a newbie play like this for the first time?

It happened repeatedly.

Bang.

No matter how much she blocked.

Bang.

He eventually broke through.

Boom─!

"Ugh!"

Choi Seo-Yeon’s jaw was knocked up.

“

Aaaaaah!

Finally, a strike lands! What is this!? She's utterly helpless!?”

“She can't do anything!? Choi Best Seo-Yeon!!!”

The following sidekick precisely struck her solar plexus.

Flash!

With a flash of light, Choi Seo-Yeon flew.

Crash!

[HP: 52%]

Nearly half of Choi Seo-Yeon’s health had disappeared.

‘...’

She stood up again and wielded her sword. Her expression looked significantly different from the beginning. It was quite fierce.

"This won’t do..."

An uneasy aura began to take form.

“Ah! Choi Best Seoyeon! Is this her phase two!? She feels like a completely different person!?”

“Is this now Choi Worst Seo-Yeon?”

— Choi Worst Seo-Yeon lol

— What a boss mob lol

Flash!

Choi Seo-Yeon disappeared as she launched a preemptive attack.

"Head!"

Whooosh!

Almond lightly stepped to the side to dodge.

Whirl!

Choi Seo-Yeon spun around and threw something.

Clang!

It struck Almond.

[HP: 85%]

Something unknown had hit Almond.

‘A bottle?’

It turned out that she threw a champagne bottle.

‘So this too was a weapon.’

Choi Seo-Yeon held a bottle in one hand again and swung her bamboo sword with the other as she charged.

Whoosh!

Whooosh!

Following the bamboo sword combo, she threw the bottle.

Clang!

Almond crossed his arms to block.

"Waist!"

With that blocking motion, his waist was left exposed.

Thump!

[HP: 74%]

Typical of the kendo jet, she dealt high damage in exchange for being slower.

“Ah! She’s neutralizing the sluggish attacks of the kendo jet by throwing bottles!”

“Wow...! I thought the Plum Sword Goddess bloomed plums with her sword! Turns out she blooms them by throwing plum bottles!?”

“It was an alcohol-induced hallucination!?”

— It’s clearly champagne though?

— Plum bottle lol

— It was a plum bottle lol

— Is this why she's called the Plum Sword Goddess?! Lol

Choi Seo-Yeon gradually pressured Almond by simultaneously using her sword and the bottles.

From Almond's perspective, who still wasn’t accustomed to using the weapons around him, it was tricky to handle since the opponent’s fundamental skills were also strong.

Clang!

Thump!

Unlike before when Almond was the only one attacking, they were now exchanging damage.

‘How did it turn out like this?’

Almond pondered how the dynamics of the game suddenly changed.

Clearly, he could have kept beating Choi Seo-Yeon without giving her a chance to grab a bottle.

‘The break after the combo was the problem.’

He thought back to how things all started changing after he sent her flying with a hit to the solar plexus. Dealing massive damage with precise strikes that sent the opponent flying was good, but...

During a combo, or when the flow of the match was favorable, it was better to keep hitting continuously without letting the opponent get too far away.

‘Precision striking isn’t always good.’

He deliberately refrained from launching powerful attacks and continually struck with smaller ones. In fact, this was a commonly used grappling technique in

JetPumped

. However, this was still a foreign concept to Almond. At least, it had been until now.

“Ah! The liquor bottles have all run out!”

“The Plum Sword Goddess can no longer bloom plums!”

Choi Seo-Yeon attempted to move to another party table.

Almond saw this as his opportunity.

Tatatat.

He followed her and began a combo. Naturally, relentlessly pursuing with attacks wasn’t completely effective. However, he mixed in appropriate fakes and slightly delayed offbeat attacks.

Thump!!

His instep solidly connected with her neck.

“Wow! An offbeat kick!!”

“Choi Seo-Yeon counters!”

Choi Seo-Yeon seemingly gave up on blocking and simply struck at Almond with her sword.

"Waist!"

Thump!

Almond blocked it with his arm guard.

“Ah! There it is! Another advantage of the taekwondo jet! Since it focuses on leg attacks, it can attack and guard simultaneously!”

Of course, blocking was the most passive defensive technique compared to dodging or parrying. It also resulted in taking minimal damage, but there was no way to restrain the opponent or counter. Still, it was much better than just getting hit.

Above all, hadn’t Almond successfully struck his opponent?

Thump!

Almond's foot continuously struck Choi Seo-Yeon.

“Wow! A flurry of kicks while keeping his foot raised!”

“But he’s not using the combo to the end?!”

After only two hits, he skipped the third and final blow. He wasn’t continuing with the precision strikes, which made the damage significantly less. However, this allowed him to strike for a much longer duration.

Thump!

Thump!

Choi Seo-Yeon was forced into a disadvantageous exchange. Her sword mostly blocked as his foot kept hitting her. Since her body wasn’t sent flying, she couldn’t reset to a new position.

“The strategy has changed, hasn’t it!?”

“Yes! He’s switched from a lottery-style exchange to an annuity-style! He plans to hit for a long... time!”

“It’s just the hell of offbeat hitting! There’s no escaping!!”

The same pattern of striking continued. Almond attacked with kicks and blocked with his hand.

Choi Seo-Yeon was gradually cornered.

"…Uh!"

Eventually, she had no choice but to launch a major attack.

Teeing─!

She activated the kendo jet’s finishing move and stabbed.

In kendo, a stab was the most powerful and dangerous attack. This lethal blow concentrated force from the foot planted on the ground through to the waist, wrist, and the tip of the sword.

Whoosh!!

However, this critical strike came at a far too predictable time.

"… Ah."

Almond easily leaned his body to avoid it.

“Almond! He dodged it!”

“Too obvious!”

If a big attack failed, it was met with similar punishment.

Flash!

Almond's back kick precisely struck her solar plexus.

“Aaaah! A precise back kick! There it is again!”

“It seems like it's over!?”

Kaboom!

A unique flame effect from the successful precision strike burst forth. The flames consumed Choi Seo-Yeon and she turned into ash.

[Victory]

Almond had won.

***

As Almond's victory was confirmed, the chat quickly surged.

— Wow~!

— Crazy

— ??? Choi Best Seo-Yeon!? From today on, you're the minimum wage!

— Almond is the best!

— Choi Worst Seo-Yeon! Choi Worst Seo-Yeon! Choi Worst Seo-Yeon! Choi Worst Seo-Yeon! Choi Worst Seo-Yeon! Choi Worst Seo-Yeon!

— Just pure skill demolished her this time, shudders

— Mom, I want to be like Almond when I grow up!

The commentators also excitedly discussed the results of the match.

"No! Choi Best Seo-Yeon! You said the first two were just meat shields, but it seems like you were hit the most!?"

"That's right. It's probably because Almond kept hitting with small attacks for a very long time!"

"If the first two were just meat shields, this was like pork cutlet here!"

Their match had more exchanges than any of the previous matches. As a result, Choi Seo-Yeon got hit a lot.

— For real lol

— Pork cutlet lol lol lol

— She was a meat shield herself~

— Mixed meat three kings lol

"Ah, it was an overwhelming win, right?"

"Yes, the only time she could compete was when she performed the plum sword technique?"

— Plum sword "technique" lol

— lol lol lol

— Is that even a technique lol

— lol lol lol

"Ah, yes. Are you talking about when she was throwing the bottles?"

"Yes… Is Choi Best Seo-Yeon going to get cut from the team now? Does she need to change jobs? It's not Choi Best Seo-Yeon anymore. It's minimum wage. There's a lot of talk..."

"How is the game company supposed to operate if the three kings all get cut?"

— Such a disastrous defeat lol it figures

— lol they’re really getting roasted

— ??? Hey, Plum Sword Goddess, let's see if you can still bloom plums after your salary is cut lol

"It seems like Choi Best Seo-Yeon has a lot of male fans worried about her."

"Yes, yes. Calm down, everyone. That won’t happen. Why?"

Dududung…!

As if on cue, a drumroll echoed out.

Dudung!

Dudududung!

The noisy crowd unwittingly fell silent for a moment. The long-awaited moment had arrived.

"Our boss is coming out to resolve everything!!!"

"Yes, that's right! He finally appears!"

"The CEO of WePlug! A genius developer who has made numerous hit games! But what does that matter!? He got his talent from a deal with the devil!!"

"The game devil who writes patch notes instead of a death note!"

The two commentators stood up and exclaimed simultaneously.

— Game devil lol

— Oh wow lol

— Wow~!

— Death note to patch note lol

"Kim! Yiiiiiiiiii!!! Seeeeeeeeeooooooo!!!"

Bababam!

With a resounding trumpet, the instigator of all this trouble appeared.

"Ah. Ah."

As usual, the interviewer pushed forward a microphone for an interview.

Kim Yi-Seo naturally snatched the microphone and started talking without waiting for any questions.

"Wait a minute. Almond, come out here."

Kim Yi-Seo told Almond, who was inside the capsule, to come out for a moment.

"You need to rest anyway."

Creak.

The capsule opened and Almond emerged, soaked in sweat.

"So, everyone? Fighting only with basic jets. Does that really mean anything?"

After asking Almond to come out, Kim Yi-Seo suddenly turned the question to the audience.

— ??

— Could it be lol

— So what are we supposed to do

— This guy is setting something up lol

— Guess he thinks fighting with basics isn't going to cut it lol

He made a special offer.

"I think it's amazing that a player who just finished the tutorial has come this far. As a reward, I will personally give ten million Jetter cash to Mr. Almond."

The audience murmured in surprise at the amount. Ten million Jetter cash was equivalent to ten million won in cash.

Obviously, he was offering it for a reason.

"Use that ten million to pump up your chosen jet however you want. I will face you with my own type of jet. How about it?"

All eyes turned to Almond at Kim Yi-Seo's proposal. Would he accept? Or would he push forward with basic jets?

Amid the anxious silence, Almond retorted without much hesitation.

"Do I still get the ten million cash if I refuse?"

"…?"

— lol lol lol lol lol lol

— Is he a gangster? lol

— lol lol lol

— Almond knows nothing! Only money!

— ??? Give those conditions to the dogs. I'll just take what I want lol

— Let's fight with the basics and take the ten million cash

— As expected of Almond, the one who defeated the Plum Sword Goddess.