Chapter 26
「–This time it’s the southeast part of the forest area! And there’s a player here… Oh, there she is!」
(Oh, it’s Shuka!)
The screen switches to show a young girl holding a crimson-dyed sword in her right hand–Shuka.
She slowly and cautiously advances through the dense forest, surveying her surroundings.
「Shuka is the youngest participant in this main event! This 7-year-old genius girl amazingly passed the preliminaries! We definitely want her to do her best in the main battle too!」
(Go Shuka, you can do it!)
As a commentator, Isamu must maintain a neutral stance.
So instead of cheering out loud, he silently roots for Shuka in his heart.
「Now moving on to the next area… Oh?」
Immediately after, Teshigawara makes a sound as if he noticed something.
Hearing that, Isamu takes his eyes off Shuka and looks closely at the screen from corner to corner–
(Whoa, it’s Kaito! No way…)
At the edge of the screen, the figure of a blond young man who wasn’t there before–Kaito–appears.
Though there’s some distance between him and Shuka, if the two keep going straight, they’ll run into each other soon.
If that happens, a battle will obviously start and one of them will be eliminated.
Isamu is close with both Shuka and Kaito, so naturally he wants both of them to survive as long as possible. He’d prefer this matchup not to happen if possible.
「Oh, Kaito has now entered the screen! If this keeps up, a clash with Shuka is inevitable!」
(One of you, please change direction!)
If either of them changes course, they can avoid encountering each other and a battle.
Isamu wishes for this in his heart, but–
『Oh.』
『Ah.』
His wish doesn’t come true.
Kaito and Shuka run into each other.
「The two have encountered each other here! Now, what kind of battle will they show us?!」
Kaito readies his greatsword while Shuka brandishes her one-handed sword–Crimson Edge.
(So they ran into each other after all… Well, it can’t be helped. Do your best, both of you!)
『…Haa, seriously? Running into a little kid like this, I’ve got no luck.』
『I’m not a little kid!』
Shuka responds indignantly to Kaito’s mutterings as he drops his shoulders.
『Yeah, yeah. Alright missy, here I come–』
As soon as he finishes speaking, Kaito starts running to close the distance with Shuka.
『Flying Edge!』
Shuka retaliates by activating the one-handed sword skill Flying Edge, launching a crescent-shaped projectile at Kaito.
『Whoa.』
(…Hm?)
With the distance between them, there’s leeway before it hits. And it’s not auto-piloted by skill activation.
So it should be easily avoidable, but Kaito doesn’t dodge the incoming slash.
「Shuka’s attack hits! Did Kaito let his guard down?!」
『Take this!』
Even while taking the attack, Kaito reaches Shuka and this time slowly swings his greatsword down from an overhead position.
His movements are so slow it’s like watching a slow-motion video. Shuka easily evades the downward swing.
『Rapid Thrust!』
Shuka immediately counters with the multi-hit thrusting skill Rapid Thrust.
The attack is a full combo hit, but Kaito still doesn’t fall.
『Aw man, at this rate I’m gonna get done in. Dammit.』
Right after, Kaito mumbles those words in a monotone voice and slowly swings his greatsword down at Shuka again.
Of course, Shuka nimbly dodges and swings her one-handed sword left and right.
「Kaito is completely outmatched by Shuka! However, this is…」
(I see, so that’s how it is… Kaito is really a good guy.)
Isamu judges that Kaito is clearly not serious and is trying to let Shuka win.
Kaito would probably win if he fought for real, but he likely considers that unsportsmanlike.
『Hiyaah!』
Shuka’s spirited blow causes Kaito to disintegrate into particles.
『I did it!』
Being young, Shuka innocently rejoices in her gifted victory without doubting it.
「Match decided! Kaito is eliminated here! He was visibly holding back, but the reason doesn’t need explaining, right Sieg?」
「Yes. I would have preferred if he went about it a bit more skillfully though.」
Isamu replies to Teshigawara with a wry smile.
He then glances at the tablet in his hands–
『That flashy guy was surprisingly a good dude.』
『Well, with such a small kid as his opponent, of course.』
『Keep it up Shuka!』
『I would’ve handled it better!』
『Little girls, haa haa…』
There are no comments criticizing Kaito’s actions.
(Phew. That’s good.)
Looks like everyone understood Kaito’s intentions. What a relief.
「Now that we’ve been healed by Shuka’s bright smile, next up is… Oh, once again players have clashed! Staff, camera 22 please!」
At Teshigawara’s direction, the screen shows two players fighting in a wasteland.
(It’s Elena! The other one is Kaiser if I remember right.)
「Ooh, the ones fighting are Elena and Kaiser! This matchup is hot!」
Facing off against Elena is Kaiser, a professional gamer and streamer who was active in the training videos Isamu watched before.
He’s a refreshing ikemen with short brown hair and sharp facial features. In his right hand he grips a spear.
A battle between two super popular players.
As Teshigawara says, this pairing could truly be called a dream match.
『Freezing air! Become an azure blade and slice apart my foe!』
『Rock! Rise up and become a shield to protect me!』
The two have already begun fighting.
Elena chants first, followed immediately by Kaiser.
『Frigid Blade!』
As soon as Elena voices the technique name, multiple ice daggers fly towards Kaiser.
『Stone Wall!』
Just before they hit, Kaiser also activates his magic.
Rocks vertically extend from the ground in front of him, intercepting the flying ice daggers.
『Ehh! What’s that?!』
「Kaiser easily blocks Elena’s magic! Is he already confident of victory? Even Elena is surprised!」
Then immediately, as the rock wall vanishes, Kaiser starts running to close the distance with Elena.
『Impale!』
Once in range, he takes a big step to pierce his opponent with the spear skill Impale.
Elena can’t avoid it and gets skewered by the gold-tinged spear.
『Somersault Kick!』
In response, Elena attempts a counter but–
『No way?!』
Kaiser backsteps to dodge the attack.
He then stabs his spear into Elena who is just flipping in the air.
『Quick Tilt!』
Immediately after, the skill is unleashed as Elena lands, and Kaiser thrusts with blinding speed.
『Eh? Ah, wait! Geez, so quickly–』
Muttering something, Elena vanishes.
『Thank you for the match!』
「Match over! As expected of a pro gamer, Kaiser wins with ease! And he doesn’t forget to show respect to his opponent!」
(Elena got unlucky. To suddenly face a pro gamer. But that was a nice fight, Elena!)
「So Sieg, looking back on that match, what are your thoughts?」
「Well, being used to it, Kaiser was very composed. That Stone Wall at that timing was splendid.」
「Ah yes, that magic that created the rock wall!」
「Indeed. He chanted it after properly confirming the magic was coming, so I thought it was amazing.」
「I see! That’s Kaiser for you, who has won battle royales in other games too! Will he take the crown in Dream Fantasy as well? Now, let’s move on to the next area!」
After finishing his commentary, Isamu casually glances at the tablet.
(…Ugh.)
The comment section has turned into a hellish scene of arguments between Elena and Kaiser’s fans.
Isamu pretends he didn’t see that and returns his gaze to the display to observe the event’s progress.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link