Chapter 53
The guild 「The Gathering of Old Dudes」 is busily collecting fallen medals while hunting small fry monsters.
「Shoichi!」
「Leave it to me! Slice Range!」
Activating the first special technique of the rapier, Slice Range, Shoichi thrusts his rapier three times at a giant bipedal frog.
The frog then vanishes into particles.
<[Announcement] 10 minutes remaining until 2 PM. At 2 PM, the bottom 5 guilds with the lowest average number of medals will be eliminated. Please be aware.>
Simultaneously, a system message appears in front of each player.
「Oh, is it that time already? At this rate, we might be in trouble,」 Takashi says.
The total number of medals acquired by Takashi’s group is currently 13, including the one just obtained from defeating the frog.
With five participants and fractions rounded down, their average number of medals is 2.
Considering that they had an average of 4 medals at this point during the preliminaries, they’re clearly falling behind.
As Shoichi points out, they might be eliminated if this continues.
「You’re right. We don’t know how many the other guilds have collected, but they’re probably doing better than us,」 Shigeru says.
The other members nod in agreement, muttering 「Hmm.」
After a brief silence, Takashi suddenly claps his hands.
「No use thinking about it! Let’s just move our feet and search for medals!」
「Yeah! If we can collect two more and bring our average to 3, we should be safe for now!」
「Right. Alright! Shall we go?」
Takashi’s words reinvigorate the old guys.
As they’re about to move in search of medals—
「Hm?」
Takashi notices several players a short distance away.
「Everyone, there are players over there.」
「Oh, you’re right! But there’s quite a few of them.」
「…About 7 or 8, I’d say. We probably don’t stand a chance, but what should we do?」
「Hmm. The numbers are against us.」
「Well, they haven’t noticed us yet. Maybe we could catch them by surprise?」
「True. We might be eliminated if we do nothing, so it might be worth a shot.」
The old guys huddle together, discussing their options in hushed voices.
Eventually, they agree on a surprise attack and are about to move when—
「Ah! Enemies!!」
They’ve been spotted.
The plan has failed before it even began.
The other players start rushing towards them.
「Oh no, they’ve noticed us!」
「Can’t be helped! It’s a head-on battle now. Everyone, let’s do our best!」
The other four respond with a unified 「Yeah!」 to Takashi’s words.
Immediately after, the old guys kick off the ground.
As they close the distance and can clearly see their opponents’ faces, Takashi stops in his tracks, surprised.
The others halt as well, looking puzzled.
Oddly enough, the opposing team does the same.
「Y-You!」
「You are…!」
Two male voices overlap.
The speakers are Takashi and Kaiser, the pro gamer and popular streamer.
「Ah, that kid is…!」
「Hey, isn’t that old guy…!」
「It’s the super strong kid that Takashi defeated!」
「How dare you do that to Kaiser back then! I’ll avenge… wait, looking closely, he’s kind of ruggedly handsome.」
The guild members on both sides are abuzz at the encounter between the winner and runner-up of the inaugural event.
Ignoring this, Kaiser addresses Takashi directly.
「It’s been a while. Mr. Takashi, right?」
「…Yes. You’re Kaiser, if I remember correctly?」
Kaiser responds with a 「Yes」 and approaches Takashi alone.
As Takashi wonders if Kaiser is angry about the surprise attack in the previous event—
「Thank you for last time! I’ve been wanting to meet you!」
Kaiser says with a smile, extending his right hand.
Relieved, Takashi relaxes his expression and shakes the offered hand.
「Likewise! It’s an honor to meet you.」
「I’m glad to hear that! Wow, I never expected to run into you here.」
Kaiser’s expression suddenly turns serious as he continues.
「Now I can have my rematch. You’ll oblige me, won’t you?」
「…Of course.」
「Thank you. Shall we begin right away?」
Kaiser returns to his guild members and readies his golden spear.
Following suit, everyone in both guilds prepares their weapons, taking battle stances.
「Everyone! I’m sorry to be selfish, but I’d like to face that man myself. Can you handle the others?」
「Of course, if that’s what you want, Kaiser!」
「Understood!」
「Roger that!」
Hearing this, Takashi tells his guild members:
「…It seems he wants to face me alone. I’ll take care of Kaiser.」
「Roger that! Leave the rest to us!」
「Right. We probably can’t win, but we’ll do our best.」
「Good luck, Takashi!」
Having gained approval, Takashi turns back to Kaiser and his group.
「Mr. Takashi, and everyone else, thank you! Now then… here I come!」
Kaiser kicks off the ground.
This signals the start of action for everyone.
Takashi readies his dual daggers, preparing for Kaiser’s attack.
「Impale!」
Activating the spear’s first special technique, Kaiser thrusts his spear with all his might.
Takashi dodges by jumping to the side.
「Assassin Attack!」
He immediately activates the third special technique of his daggers, the same one that finished Kaiser in the inaugural event.
The blades of the two daggers turn black as they close in on Kaiser.
However, Kaiser easily avoids them with a backstep.
「I won’t fall for that technique again!」
Kaiser says as he takes a big step forward and swings his spear horizontally.
Unable to dodge this time, Takashi takes damage.
「Quick Tilt!」
Kaiser follows up with the spear’s second special technique, Quick Tilt, unleashing a series of lightning-fast thrusts.
「What?!」
But Takashi isn’t there to receive the attack.
He has once again jumped to the side just as the technique was activated.
「Assassin Attack!」
Takashi launches another Assassin Attack at Kaiser, who is now vulnerable after thrusting his spear into empty space.
The two black-tinted daggers pierce Kaiser.
But Kaiser doesn’t fall.
It seems the instant-kill effect didn’t trigger.
Kaiser’s expression shows relief as he regains control and takes several backsteps to create distance.
「…You’re good. I didn’t expect you to dodge so easily.」
「Haha, just luck.」
「Is that so! Then, once more! Impale!」
As a preparatory motion, Kaiser takes a big step forward.
Simultaneously, Takashi takes a large step to the side.
The next moment, Kaiser’s spear thrusts into the space where Takashi had been.
「Haaa!」
Seizing the opening, Takashi stabs Kaiser with the dagger in his right hand.
As he extends his left hand for another strike, Kaiser jumps backward, having completed his attack motion.
「I see, so that’s your game! In that case! Triple Spear!」
The moment Kaiser calls out the technique name, Takashi instinctively steps to the side.
Gripping the end of his spear with both hands, Kaiser swings it forcefully to the right.
The 180-degree frontal attack catches Takashi mid-dodge, unable to avoid it.
Without pause, Kaiser swings to the left, hitting Takashi again.
Kaiser then brings the spear down from above.
Takashi attempts to dodge with a backstep but isn’t fast enough, taking heavy damage.
One more hit and he’s done for.
Takashi tries to create some distance to use the healing magic he learned beforehand—Heal.
「Blades of wind, slice and dice! Air Cutter!」
Kaiser, however, is one step ahead.
Activating the first wind magic, green crescent-shaped objects fly towards Takashi.
Kaiser grins, seemingly certain of victory.
Just before the magic hits—
「Huh?」
Takashi vanishes without warning.
Surprised, Kaiser looks around, but Takashi is nowhere to be seen.
Moreover, the other old guys who were fighting Kaiser’s guild members have also disappeared.
「Could this be… the fifth special technique?! Everyone, be careful!!」
Wary of an unknown technique, Kaiser lowers his stance, ready for an attack.
His viewers awkwardly point out:
「Um, Kaiser… I think they might have been eliminated due to low medal count.」
「Yeah, there was an announcement earlier.」
Realizing this, Kaiser opens his menu window.
Checking the time, it’s exactly 2 PM.
「Probably… no, that’s definitely what happened. Man, how frustrating. We were so close to having our rematch.」
「D-Don’t worry about it!」
「W-Well, Kaiser was clearly dominating, so we can count that as a win, right?」
「That’s right! If it had continued, you definitely would have won!」
「Haha, thanks! Well, let’s go with that then. Oh, and I caught glimpses of your fights too—you were all amazing!」
As Kaiser smiles, his viewers beam with joy.
After praising each other for a while,
「Alright! Shall we get back to collecting medals?」
「Yes!」 everyone responds in unison.
Kaiser moves forward with his viewers, having regained his spirits.
☆
Rewinding time slightly to just after Kaiser launched his Air Cutter.
「Huh?」
Surprised by the sudden change of scenery, Takashi looks around.
He finds himself at the familiar fountain in Starting Town.
Nearby are the other members of 「The Gathering of Old Dudes」.
Realizing what happened, Takashi says:
「Well, I guess an average of 2 medals wasn’t enough after all.」
「Looks like it. Ah, how frustrating.」
「Can’t be helped. We should be glad we even made it to the main event!」
「True! We may have been eliminated, but it was fun!」
The other members agree with these words.
As they continue to praise each other’s efforts, Shoichi speaks up:
「Hey! I was watching a bit while fighting, but Takashi, you were dodging attacks like crazy! Your reflexes are insane, aren’t they?」
「No, I was just moving to the side whenever I heard something that sounded like an English word. You know, in the previous event, Kaiser only attacked straight ahead, so I figured anyone could do it if they just reacted to the words rather than the movements.」
During the final moments of the inaugural event, Takashi had been hiding in the shadows, watching the battle between Kaiser and Rayleigh.
He had seen Kaiser use two special techniques, both of which attacked in a straight line.
Takashi thought that if he could dodge sideways upon hearing the technique name, he might be able to avoid the attacks.
This strategy worked better than expected, leading to that series of successful dodges.
「Oh, so that’s how it was! Ah, that’s why you couldn’t dodge when he swung the spear sideways!」
「Exactly! I panicked at that moment. I was like, ‘What, sideways?!’ Thinking calmly, of course, a spear can also slash, so it’s only natural.」
「Haha, indeed! But that kid was truly strong. The other members too.」
「Yeah. Kaiser quickly realized I was reacting to technique names, so he’s really amazing. They might just win this whole thing.」
「You’re right! Oh, speak of the devil!」
Shoichi points at the giant display floating in the sky.
Looking up, they see the members of the Liberaltia Empire walking and chatting happily.
Picture-in-picture windows of Sieg and Teshigawara are also visible at the edge of the screen.
「It’s those kids from earlier. And there’s Sieg too. He’s working hard on the commentary.」
「Yeah. Alright! From now on, let’s cheer for everyone as viewers!」
After that, the old guys continue to watch the progress of the second event, while chatting among themselves.
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