Chapter 338: Super Rookie (1)

Kai looked at Huey with an expression of disbelief. Then, he saw Huey looking at him with the same expression.

Rubbing his forearm as if he had goosebumps, Huey took a few steps back. “Damn, that was surprising. You really have gotten stronger,

huh?

”

“How did you...?” Kai asked in a confused voice, unable to understand the situation. “How did you manage to keep up with my movement? My stats are...”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t keep up,” Master Huey cut him off mid-sentence.

Clearing his throat, he put on the dignified expression of an instructor for the first time in a while. “All living beings, whether big or small, have their own habits or tendencies. There's hardly a creature that doesn't have them.”

“I’m listening.”

“I had no idea how strong you had become. I only heard the rumors and figured you would have gotten moderately stronger.”

Catching Kai’s questioning gaze of how he managed such movement, Huey tapped his temple with his finger.

“Your eyes. I might not know your current strength, but I know your gaze. The same gaze you had when I used to teach you. The look you had whenever you sparred with me. No matter how much your body and mind have changed, that tiny habit remained.”

“My gaze?”

“Yes. Before you charge at your opponent, you quickly scan your opponent’s whole body, and then you move 0.4 seconds later. Plus, you move straightforwardly, like classical music without improvisation. I figured, if you were confident in your speed, you would aim to get behind your opponent to gain the advantage, and my prediction was correct. For the record, it wasn’t even possible for me to physically track your movement with my eyes.”

“

Wow

...”

Kai was genuinely impressed. Even though Huey’s stats and level were lower than his, Huey had wielded a sword his entire life. The insight built through that lifetime was not something Kai could easily challenge.

“I merely read your habits and thoughts, and swung my sword before you moved. In a sense, you could say my sword was waiting for you.”

“Please teach me,” Kai knelt down and pleaded.

But Master Huey shook his head. “This isn’t something that can be taught. Do you know what martial artists who have reached a certain stage do to break through their limits?”

“No, I don’t.”

“They erase themselves.” Master Huey closed his eyes. “Over a lifetime, you pick up unconscious habits, patterns, and mannerisms. You must reflect on them and erase them one by one. That’s why most of the historic masters of swordsmanship had no form and no obvious weaknesses.

Ah

, of course, swinging your sword randomly doesn’t mean you have no form.”

Listening to the explanation, Kai wore a serious expression, deep in thought.

Now that I think about it, he’s right. Before charging, I always scanned my opponent. I was looking for weaknesses. And I do rely on overwhelming them with my speed whenever possible because if I can get behind them, the fight becomes so much easier.

These were patterns he hadn’t realized about himself until someone pointed them out. But then a new question arose.

“But Master, can you read the habits and tendencies of someone you’re meeting for the first time?”

“

Hm.

” Huey stroked his chin. “Well, in your case, I was able to do it because I’ve observed you closely before. Normally, it would be impossible with someone you’ve just met. However, you must remember, there are monsters in this world who go beyond the bounds of normal."

“I see...”

Monsters beyond the range of normal. That must refer to beings like Atroc. And assuming he truly was the real Atroc, he would be someone who had lived for hundreds of years.

He’s on a whole different level compared to me in terms of experience.

He might be able to read Kai’s intentions just by looking into his eyes. No, it was highly likely he could. In their last battle, he had toyed with Kai effortlessly. If Krom’s body hadn’t broken down, Kai probably would have lost.

“Is there a method you could recommend? On how to erase myself, I mean.”

“

Hm

. The best way is secluded training and meditation in a closed-off place. But you’re not the type who’s good at that, are you?”

“That’s right. Unless I’m forced into it, I’d rather not...”

“In that case, there is an alternative.”

“What is it?”

Looking at Kai, who looked so eager, Huey smiled. "What else? You have to put yourself through battlefields swarming with mad dogs, until you wear yourself down to nothing."

What people crudely called the battlefield of mad dogs, its formal name was none other than the Duel Arena.

***

In the garden of online games, all kinds of flowers bloomed, spreading their unique scents, such as hunting, leveling, raids, crafting and gathering content, and so on. But when talking about games, there was one thing that could never be left out. PvP content. The same was true for

MID Online.

The Duel Arena was the name of the brightly blooming PvP content in

MID Online.

Naturally, the Duel Arena was incredibly popular. Since it wasn’t like PKing innocent players without consent, it was one of the few legitimate places where players could test their skills against each other.

Thanks to that, the champions of the Duel Arena rose to fame and enjoyed overwhelming popularity. If one had to name the most popular among them, people would unanimously point to one person.

Katherine, the master of the Limitless guild, one of the world’s top eight guilds, and the number one ranked champion of the Duel Arena.

With a distinctly Western figure and face, long wavy golden hair like a waterfall, and unmatched dagger techniques that easily overwhelmed countless Duel Arena rankers, she was a perfect bundle of traits that made her impossible not to be popular.

On top of that, she had appeared in the popular entertainment program Masked Ranker, where she remained undefeated for ten weeks under the alias Meow Meow Catwoman, ultimately retiring honorably.

Known even as the Goddess of the Duel Arena, she recently had a great worry.

"

Hmmm

..."

Katherine tapped a black letter that arrived for her, turning it this way and that.

Then, turning her head suddenly, she asked, "Hey, what do you think?"

"About what...?" Reload, her subordinate and vice master of the Limitless guild, answered awkwardly.

He was always terrified whenever Katherine asked questions like that. Whatever the public said, within the guild, Katherine was notorious as the district’s crazy woman.

"Aren't you curious? What the hell does the bastard who sent me this letter have in that rotten brain of his?"

"I have no idea."

"You're useless. Did you at least look into what I asked you to?"

"Yes, but we couldn’t determine the exact location."

"

Tsk

. What am I, a punching bag? Why are they getting slapped somewhere else and coming to take it out on me? So annoying."

In a burst of irritation, she tore the letter she had been tapping.

The sender of the letter marked with the emblem of the Revenge guild was Goliath. As expected, the contents of the letter were a duel challenge.

"Sure, I get that I'm the Duel Arena champion, ridiculously pretty, elegant, and sexy, but seriously, isn’t this crossing the line?"

"

Yeah

... It really is."

"Right? Honestly, it’s obvious why he sent this to me after getting wrecked by Kai. He just wants to take out his frustration on me."

"Exactly."

"Wouldn’t you be mad if you got a letter like this?"

"

Um

..."

Reload hesitated for a moment. That hesitation irritated Katherine’s sensitive nerves.

She glared at Reload as if she would kill him and asked, "Hey, are you joking? You think I'm weaker than Kai?"

"What? No, I didn’t even say anything..."

"But you thought about it. That’s why you hesitated, right? You traitorous bastard. Split yourself in two and die."

"No, seriously, I swear I didn’t!"

Reload had to plead his innocence for a full ten minutes before he could escape her hysteria.

"So, are you going to accept Goliath’s duel challenge?"

"Do you think I’m crazy? You think I'm on the same level as that guy? Tell him to fuck off."

"That's a relief."

"

Oh

, they’re not totally useless. Mark them down."

Katherine was watching matches from the VVIP seats overlooking the entire Duel Arena, a room granted only to champions.

"Marked. Come to think of it, the level of the recent ranked matches seems to have risen."

"

Oh

, that’s good news."

The Duel Arena of

MID Online

was divided into several modes. Normal matches, where one could play casually without worrying about points. Ranked matches, where one gained or lost points depending on wins and losses. There were also event matches, duo matches, trio matches, and more, but the most popular among regular players was undoubtedly solo ranked matches.

"

Ugh

, but seriously, watching this is only fun for a day or two. Anyone, just anyone, please step up as a challenger," Katherine, the champion of ranked matches and the only player with over 3,000 Duel Arena points, grumbled.

Come to think of it... our crazy woman... no, Master really is a monster.

It had been fifty-two in-game months since she first entered the Duel Arena. In all that time, she had never once lost her champion title. The undefeated empress, Katherine. That was the biggest reason she had so many fans.

"If you're that bored, why not do a normal match?"

"That’s just full of trolls or noobs. Boooooring."

"Just be patient a little longer. You never know, maybe a challenger will show up this time."

"They would need to have over 2,800 points to challenge me. Will someone like that really show up?"

A few players had surpassed 2,800 points before. Of course, they received Katherine’s fierce welcome (read: total annihilation), and their Duel Arena points plummeted.

"

Hmm.

Should I just lose on purpose next time? Losing now would only drop my points by a few hundred."

"You're joking, right? Absolutely not."

Reload, who was usually obedient, put on a serious face. And that was only natural. The fact that their guild master was the Duel Arena champion had an enormous promotional effect.

Master must never lose. Maybe in the field, but never in the Duel Arena.

Though his title was vice master, Reload’s main role was actually to support her so she would never lose. In fact, he was known as the queenmaker within the guild. He went around the ranked matches, gathering not only personal information on players but also details about their equipped gear and skills to increase her chances of victory.

“Well, that's unfortunate. Any rookies worth keeping an eye on?”

“

Hm

, just a moment.”

Reload pulled out a book as thick as an encyclopedia. It contained every bit of information he had collected on ranked match participants so far.

“You might need to be a bit more cautious this time. A lot of former champion players have come back and are stomping around the ranked matches."

“

Hmph.

They're just washed-up relics who pretended to be champions before I debuted. They’ve all been crushed by me at least once.”

“Well, that is true, but... you do know there’s a certain amount of stat adjustments that happens in the Duel Arena, don’t you?”

“Hey, I'm the Goddess of the Duel Arena. You think I wouldn’t know that? You're really getting on my nerves today.”

“My apologies. Anyway, my point is, while you would easily win in the field, you can't let your guard down against opponents in the arena, even if you've beaten them before.”

“

Hehe

. I never let my guard down. That’s the one thing I fear most.”

“As expected of our Master.”

Reload might not admire everything about her, but when it came to her attitude toward duels, he held deep respect. She gave her best even when hunting rabbits. She believed that was the proper respect to show her opponent—a true warrior’s spirit.

“How’s the situation with the anonymous participants?”

“As you know, it’s hard to gather info on anonymous players... but there are only about three this time. I don't think you'll need to worry.”

“That’s fewer than I thought. It's always the ones with nothing going for them that hide their faces and names.”

“

Yeah,

that tends to be the case. Especially the ones who wear those Unknown masks, all of them are total chumps.”

“

Oh,

I totally agree!

Bahahahaha!

”

As the two laughed and chatted, a figure wearing a Black Gnoll Helmet stepped through the entrance of the Duel Arena.