Chapter 17
「Rapid Thrust!」
「Icicle Shot!」
As soon as the signal for the match to begin sounds, both of them spring into action.
Isamu rapidly closes the distance with Elena by activating Rapid Thrust, a skill that allows him to repeatedly dash towards his target.
Meanwhile, Elena chants an incantation and unfurls a magic circle.
「Icicle Shot!」
Immediately, sharply pointed icicles fly towards Isamu.
(No way!)
Without avoiding them… no, unable to avoid them, Isamu takes a hit as he approaches Elena and thrusts his sword countless times with blinding speed.
「Whoa!」
The consecutive thrusts are a full hit.
That must have taken a big chunk out of her HP, but Isamu also took a shot.
This was unexpected.
Isamu was sure that Elena would chant a more powerful ice magic—Frigid Blade.
In that case, the incantation would be longer and take a little time before activation.
If she took damage while chanting, the deployed magic circle would be canceled, so he had intended to prevent its activation by attacking first, but—
(Rapid Thrust backfired…)
When activating a special move, one’s body cannot move freely until the attack is finished.
Since the forward motion is also part of Rapid Thrust’s attack, Isamu couldn’t dodge the icicles even if he wanted to.
「Freezing cold, become a blue blade and slice the enemy to pieces!」
(Oh crap!)
While he was reeling, Elena, who had kept her distance, made her next move.
「Frigid Blade!」
Multiple ice daggers from the magic circle fly towards Isamu at tremendous speed.
He reflexively deflects the daggers with his sword, but he can’t block them all and takes a few hits.
Having eaten two spells, Isamu’s HP has already fallen below half.
However, that’s not enough to discourage him.
「Haaa!」
He dashes to Elena and swings his sword down diagonally to the left.
「Double Slash!」
Furthermore, he activates the special move Double Slash, slashing twice.
Both attacks hit their mark.
This should leave Elena with only a sliver of HP remaining.
Isamu raises his sword to finish her off.
(Got her!)
「Somersault Kick!」
「What!?」
Elena backflips and kicks Isamu upwards.
「Foot Stomp!」
As she lands, she does a high forward flip and stomps on Isamu with both feet—
☆
Isamu is transferred to the fountain square in Starting Town.
His body is in ghost form. That’s right, he lost to Elena.
(She got me good. I can’t believe she leveled up her kicking skills.)
Elena was holding a staff.
A staff slightly increases the power of magic while also serving as a melee weapon, albeit with substantially lower attack power.
That’s precisely why Isamu thought he had nothing to fear from a counterattack and was confident of victory, but Elena surprised him with her kicking techniques.
Since she’s equipped with a staff, he assumed she only leveled up magic.
That rigid preconception was the cause of his defeat this time.
(Heh, I still have a long way to go.)
「Siiieg!」
As he ponders this, he hears Elena’s voice.
He sees that she too is in ghost form.
「Huh? Elena, why are you dead?」
「Ah, I had everyone attack me so I could transfer here! Sieg, thank you for the match!」
Elena deliberately died so she could transfer to Isamu’s location and tell him this.
It’s a so-called death warp.
「I see, you came to tell me that! I should be thanking you! Wow, Elena, you’re amazing!」
「Hehe, thank you! Oh, Sieg, listen to this! After the match, I checked the broadcast page and guess what!」
「What?」
「The viewer count reached 150,000!」
Before the match, it was around 130,000 if he remembers correctly.
It increased by another 20,000.
He’s not sure why, but it likely got featured on the streaming site’s trending rankings or something.
「Whoa, congratulations! That’s incredible!」
「Yes, it’s all thanks to you, Sieg! I’m truly grateful!」
「No no, you’re very welcome! I should be thanking you, I had a great time today!」
Afterward, as they discuss their thoughts on the match, players returning from Rookie Forest surround them.
The players praise their battle, and a lively, buzzing atmosphere flows.
☆
The next day, past noon.
On break during his part-time job, Isamu is having lunch at a nearby beef bowl restaurant.
(Huh, that actor and actress are getting married. Well, they do make a good match~)
He holds his smartphone in his left hand, reading online news while eating his beef bowl.
This is how he always spends his break time.
As he continues scrolling to see if there are any other interesting articles,
「…Huh?」
The moment a certain article appears, Isamu freezes.
The title of the article at his fingertip reads—
「Popular streamer Elena’s stunning feat of surpassing 150,000 concurrent viewers! The hot topic is her showdown with ‘Tutorial Guy’」
(Wh-What the heck is this!?)
Unbeknownst to him, the legend of Tutorial Guy keeps spreading further.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link