Chapter 18
[Ice Coffee: Already? That’s fast. Congrats.]
[Jin-Yu: Thx thx]
My friend read the message immediately and congratulated me.
And then another message arrived.
[Ice Coffee: But by the way, which difficulty did you go for?]
'Hmm…'
This was an awkward question to answer.
It was a bit difficult to honestly say it was Nightmare Difficulty.
I was hiding my identity, and more importantly,
'Even if I had told the truth in the first place, they probably wouldn’t have believed me.'
If I said a newly awakened newbie just straight up cleared Nightmare Difficulty, wouldn’t it sound like nonsense?
They might think my mental state has shattered from failing to find a job, and that I was just pretending to be an Awakener.
But I also didn’t want to lie.
'Uh… let’s just gloss over it.'
I racked my brain for a moment and decided to answer with an appropriate tone.
[Jin-Yu: Me, well, I went with the easy one]
'I did clear it easily, so it’s not a lie, right?'
It was Nightmare Difficulty, but anyway, I cleared it easily in 3 seconds.
I didn’t lie…!
[Ice Coffee: Ah, I figured as much.]
Of course, given the context, my friend naturally seemed to understand that I cleared “Easy Difficulty”.
[Ice Coffee: Don’t overdo it just because you’re excited about awakening, and let me know if you need help.]
[Ice Coffee: I’m still a High-rank Hunter in my own right, so I can help you out.]
“Oh~ trying to act cool?”
I smiled slightly at my friend’s words.
How high of a rank could a Hunter be if they were just playing games with me on a weekday anyway?
B-rank at most? Wouldn’t that be it?
Of course, that’s still amazing.
Anyway, I didn’t know if I’d ever need help, but I should still gratefully accept my friend’s offer.
[Jin-Yu: Ok ok I’ll tell you if I need it]
[Ice Coffee: Good.]
[Ice Coffee: Wanna duo?]
[Jin-Yu: Ok ok let’s go right now]
I accepted the Party Invite.
Today, we can do the duo we couldn’t do last time.
'Let’s go, let’s go~'
I beamed and warmed up my hands.
* * *
Gangnam’s Finest Hotel Residence.
Wearing comfortable pajamas, Baek Eun-Seol was quietly staring at her monitor.
It was a duo after a long time.
'Phew. I’m glad nothing happened.'
Only after receiving a reply from her friend did she feel the subtle weight on her mind completely lift.
With massive incidents like the Jin-Jo Incident erupting one after another, not being able to contact her friend had somehow kept bothering her.
But nothing had happened to her friend, and they had even cleared the 3rd Floor.
It was fast progress, to the point where she felt a bit embarrassed for worrying.
“If they have the skills to clear the 3rd Floor already… they must be quite talented, huh?”
To think they were already on the 3rd Floor when it hadn’t been long since they awakened.
They might have gotten a much better class than she thought.
She felt inexplicably good.
It was always like this.
Whenever she chatted or played games with her friend, she somehow felt her mind become peaceful.
Her friend was harmless.
They had a somewhat simple and lighthearted side, but it didn’t seem detestable; rather, it was cute.
While clearing the S-rank Gate in Europe, she was completely exhausted, body and mind.
Moreover, as soon as she came out of the gate, some Unidentified group and monsters, and the True Ancestor, appeared, complicating her thoughts.
Every single one of them was a massive problem.
But at least when she was with her friend, she could briefly escape from those headache-inducing matters.
That was why this time was precious to Baek Eun-Seol.
“I should play for a long while today before sleeping.”
A faint smile played on her lips.
Just then, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
“…Huh? Come to think of it, they cleared it at almost the same time as the True Ancestor.”
The True Ancestor had cleared the 3rd Floor earlier, and her friend also mentioned clearing the 3rd Floor.
It was the same day. Someone was climbing the same floor at almost the same time.
If so.
“Could it be that they saw the True Ancestor set a new record, got motivated, and climbed right away?”
It was such a typical thing for her friend to do that a laugh escaped her.
I should mention this later when I get the chance.
While she was having those thoughts, the queue popped, and they entered the Character Selection Screen.
Just then, the character her friend picked popped up on her screen.
-The sea will be dyed blood red!
A Vampire-type Mage wearing a red robe.
Blood Mage.
“…Huh? Did they originally play this character?”
Baek Eun-Seol tilted her head.
* * *
[Ice Coffee: Did you originally play Blood?]
'Ah.'
A Party message popped up right as I picked the character.
I felt a bit embarrassed.
“They noticed this right away.”
This was a character I didn’t usually play but had recently started practicing.
given my trait was [Lord of Blood]
I ran my Happiness Circuit, wondering if picking a Vampire character in the game would trigger some Hidden Synergy, making my reaction speed insanely fast and turning me into a super Expert.
Naturally, there was no such thing.
But once I actually tried it, the character itself was just fun, so I kept playing it after that.
Well, even if there really was a synergy that made my reaction speed faster, this game had a system called the “Maximum Reaction Speed Limit” anyway.
It placed a limit on character motion speed and Skill reactions so that both Awakeners and the Unawakened could enjoy the game as fairly as possible.
Also, there were various elements, so just having good mechanics didn’t mean you could dominate everything.
Of course, in the end, all the top-tier Rankers and Pro Gamers were Awakeners anyway.
But Ice Coffee, their mechanics were really good, maybe because they were a Hunter too.
<First Blood! The Allied Army has slain an enemy!>
Look at that. They already got a solo kill.
When I asked before, they said it hadn’t been long since they started… I had played LioHun for a really long time, yet our tiers were already the same.
Maybe in just a year, they’ll climb to a much higher place than I.
Honestly, I was a bit jealous.
“Sss. If I invest more in my Agility Stat, will my game mechanics go up a bit too?”
Of course, the Agility Stat in reality doesn’t directly translate to game Skill, but I heard it definitely has an impact on reflexes and Dynamic Visual Acuity.
Should I have saved a bit to invest in Agility instead of going all-in on blood power?
I was having these idle thoughts.
“Uh? Wait a minute.”
I suddenly came to a realization.
Come to think of it, when I awakened, I ended up with the trashy stats of Strength 3, Stamina 3, and Agility 4, didn’t I?
Since the average for a normal Unawakened adult male is around 10, I was nerfed to less than half.
If so, shouldn’t it be normal for my game mechanics to suffer that much of a loss too?
But why didn’t I feel it at all?
Was it exactly the same as my Unawakened days?
“…Then my original reaction speed was also at the level of Agility 4?!”
Facing this massive truth, I ended up falling into deep shock.
* * *
There was that incident of swallowing such a painful red pill, but anyway, the duo went quite smoothly.
Our win rate was good too, including a 5-game win streak.
Unfortunately, we ended up losing the last game because I got completely destroyed in the Top Lane.
-What is our top doing? He/She freaking sucks
-Why did they pick Blood when they haven’t even played it much ?
Right before our Base exploded, our teammates played the blame game in the chat window.
“No. How is that this body’s fault! It is a Jungle Difference!!”
I huffed and puffed, pointing my finger at the monitor in indignation.
Because of [Exalted Dignity], my tone was arrogant, but anyway it was the pure rage of a gamer.
However,
Paat-!
The very moment I spat out my complaints,
Katarina and Si-Yeon, who had been on standby, approached my side in an instant.
“U-uh, since when?”
“Liege Lord, is there someone who needs to be disposed of?”
A vicious killing intent erupted from Katari.
“Just give the command; I will handle it, Master.”
Si-Yeon’s nails grew longer.
'…'
It’s not to that extent, though?
I hated that butcher who abandoned the Top Lane and only farmed his or her own jungle, or the teammates who played the blame game without knowing the situation.
That’s not really high treason worthy of losing one’s life, right…?
And to confess with my hand on my conscience, I did get solo killed even when no gank came…!
If I told them to get rid of the teammates even as an empty threat here, they might actually go find them beyond the monitor and kill them, just like when Katarina annihilated the Gangsters last time.
I opened my mouth to stop the two of them.
Of course, as plausibly as possible to match my Passive Skill.
“Ahem, hem. Withdraw. I was merely playing along a little with the antics of lowly creatures. There is no way this body would truly be enraged by something like this.”
“I apologize, Master.”
“Pardon my intrusion, Liege Lord!”
Then, the two Retainers immediately bowed their heads as if they had never emitted killing intent.
Phew. I lived.
No, should I say I saved them?
Teammates. You guys really need to thank me.
That bout of commotion passed and I returned to the Game Lobby Screen.
[Ice Coffee: Good work. The last game was a shame.]
[Jin-Yu: So close so close]
I was about to wrap up the game while exchanging light greetings with my friend.
[Ice Coffee: Oh right, do you know the True Ancestor too?]
When those two words suddenly popped up in my friend’s chat window, my heart sank.
True Ancestor?
That’s me, isn’t it?
“Why are they suddenly talking about me…?”
[Jin-Yu: I do know them. Why?]
[Ice Coffee: Ah. Because you kept picking Blood Mage earlier. I wondered if you were a fan of the True Ancestor too.]
[Ice Coffee: The time you said you cleared the 3rd Floor also overlapped with when the True Ancestor’s record popped up. Did you go because you were motivated by the new record too?]
'Gasp.'
It seemed like something my friend threw out without much thought, but I couldn’t help feeling quite guilty on my own.
The times didn’t overlap; that was me.
I typed in the chat, pretending to be as nonchalant as possible.
[Jin-Yu: Yeah? It’s not like that. Just a coincidence.]
[Ice Coffee: I see. By the way, what do you think the True Ancestor’s identity is?]
My friend continued speaking in a curious tone.
[Ice Coffee: Honestly, with that level of Skill, they could have registered with the Association ages ago and been treated like a Hero. But they insist on remaining an Unregistered Person and don’t even communicate.]
[Ice Coffee: There are even rumors going around that they’re a criminal with something to hide, which is why they’re living in hiding.]
“Gasp.”
A short gasp leaked from my mouth as I looked at the monitor.
“How did they know? Am I a criminal?!”
To think such rumors were already circulating among Hunters.
As expected, it was a good thing I didn’t act out and just stayed quietly stuck in my Home Base.
But even so, being misunderstood even by my friend as a bad guy felt somehow unfair.
[Jin-Yu: Hmm… I don’t think they’re a bad person?]