Artifact-Devouring Player Chapter 51

51
“Isn’t that a bit unbalanced? Entering the Eden Guild is permanent.”

“Then, should I be your training partner whenever you need me? I think that’s a fair exchange rate.”

“Call. I’ll take it.”

Sang-Hyeon nodded.

Once you can block five moves well, you will have the best player in the world as your training partner.

It was an opportunity I absolutely did not want to miss. Of course, if it were the other way around, things would get a little more complicated.

But on the other hand, if my current skill level is not enough to block Shin Tae-ri’s attacks… … .

I thought it would be better to learn a lot within the confines of the Eden Guild, because that means it’s lacking.

In fact, all of this talk is just a verbal promise. If it really becomes concrete, the content may be different.

“I think it was a great opportunity for motivation anyway,” said Sang-Hyeon.

“Have you looked at any places?”

“There are a lot of empty lots near town, right? For training.”

“Yes. There are many great places. There are even wooden swords for practice.”

Since the goal isn’t to kill each other, it’s only natural that they’d have to use fake weapons.

‘The Knockback Burst is a seal.’

I lost one of the abnormal status effects that was conditionally activated only when I had the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit. I secretly regret it.

However, Sang-Hyeon also calculated and prepared for many situations in the process of preparing to compete with Shin Tae-Ri.

This is a place to test whether you can block the attacks of a top player, or in other words, whether you have the skills to not die in a real fight.

So, it wasn’t that disappointing as we had to focus more on defense than offense.

About 20 minutes later.

Two people stood in a wide open space and looked at each other from an appropriate distance.

Sang-Hyeon was holding a greatsword made of wood, and Shin-Tae-Ri was also holding two daggers made of the same material.

‘It can’t be the same repertoire as last time. I have to start from the beginning and get my strength up right away.’

Sang-Hyeon planned to use psychedelics right from the start.

Shin Tae-ri is not someone you can deal with with ease.

It is a named person whose level is 6 times higher than mine, who is level 85.

Even when simply comparing aspects such as brute force and mobility, it has an advantage of at least three times.

If you use your skills, the gap will get bigger. It will increase by 3 times.

therefore.

If you don’t raise your combat power to over 100% from the start, it’s impossible to last five moves.

“Are you ready?”

“yes.”

“I’ll start by counting to three. Three… … . Two… … One… … .”

Shin Tae-ri’s voice, carried by the cold wind of the late night, sounded colder than ever.

Sang-Hyeon lowered his posture and took a defensive stance.

If you judge everything by looking at it with your eyes, it will be too late. You have to make a judgment in the short time you see the first movement.

“start.”

Pot! Pot pot! Pot!

Shin Tae-ri’s figure disappeared and appeared repeatedly, approaching quickly. It was an approach at incredible speed.

‘Is this a rear-view mirror?’

What’s scary about assassin-type players is that they are good at sneaking up on others.

Skills are also specialized for that type of thing. They can disrupt your vision, cause optical illusions, or just turn around and go away.

The moment when Sang-Hyeon tried to twist his body slightly as he clearly saw a movement to aim from behind.

‘No, it’s not.’

Sang-Hyeon turned his body back halfway to Shin Tae-Ri’s slightly different footsteps and used his skill.

『Defensive Sword』

It was a forward defense shield.

Sang-Hyeon’s response was to change his judgment in a split second and completely change his course. It was a very risky response.

If this guess is wrong, it will lead to a situation where you are completely defeated. If it were real combat, it would mean instant death.

Kyaaang!

“after!”

But Sang-Hyeon’s prediction was correct.

Shin Tae-ri pretended to aim for the rear, deceived them, and then attacked the front, aiming for the reverse.

It was a twisted idea that took into account Sang-Hyeon’s judgment, who was good at trickery, but it ended up being a spectacular failure.

‘The barrier is sturdier than I thought. Using the sword, I can reliably cover a fairly wide frontal range.’

Shin Tae-ri tried to break the barrier with a dagger full of power, but failed and fell back.

I was surprised at how sturdy the shield was, which was stronger than I had expected. I felt the same effect as if I had used it without using the shield.

‘Rather than using Jin-ho’s shield, it is better in terms of securing mobility and the coverage range is also wider.’

A picture that can only be compared to Jo Jin-ho. In this part, Sang-hyeon actually looked superior.

‘The judgment to know how to turn a bad move into a bad one… ‘

One corner of Shin Tae-ri’s mouth twitched. She had also been hit by a trick.

So the first number ended in failure. There are four chances left.

* * *

The second number has begun.

Whirlirik!

Shin Tae-ri swung the two daggers she was holding at Sang-hyeon.

The problem is that this attack, so honest, forces the defender to defend unconditionally.

The movement of the dagger was that fast.

If the direction of the blade had not been reversed, it would have been a speed that could have felt like a death threat.

The moment the dagger was swung, Shin Tae-ri had already disappeared.

It seems impossible to not see someone moving around normally, but she was the player who could do that.

If you only think about Shin Tae-ri without blocking the dagger, then you will inevitably end up getting attacked by the dagger.

Although it was a typical repertoire, Sang-Hyeon was amazed at the picture that Shin Tae-Ri was able to create.

In front, she clearly steals the view with a dagger, and in the meantime, she aims for her target, her back… … .

It was a development that I knew would happen, but had no choice.

『Back Step』

『Defensive Sword』

Sang-Hyeon took advantage of the back step and retreated 5 meters in one go. At the same time, he deployed his defensive barrier once more.

This is a skill that can easily put an overload on the body because the center of gravity of the body is suddenly shifted back and forward respectively.

But Sang-Hyeon skillfully performed both responses almost simultaneously, except for a very brief pause.

Clang! Clang!

“oh…….”

And in an instant, several situations occurred and ended.

First, the two daggers Shin Tae-ri swung were blocked by the defensive shield of the Defensive Sword.

Then, Shin Tae-ri’s plan to sneak behind Sang-hyeon and escape to the rear with Eun-shin was also blocked.

This is because Sang-Hyeon took a back step, so he ended up in front of Sang-Hyeon instead of behind him.

‘It’s faster than I thought. This kind of mobile warfare is… for the inspection world, which is inherently heavy and dull…’

Shin Tae-ri forced her lips to close in surprise.

Even if you are a swordsman player who has focused on raising the agility stat, you cannot move faster than an assassin.

However, Sang-Hyeon perfectly covered that limitation with his own skills.

The worst situation for an assassin player is when their plan is discovered like just now and they give their entire front line to the enemy.

“… … .”

Shin Tae-ri’s expression darkened as she felt a cold sweat run down her face.

I had secretly thought that the last five moves we competed against each other might have ended in a draw because Sang-Hyeon was lucky.

But these two numbers made me realize that such thoughts were an absurd disparagement and an insult to Sang-Hyeon.

‘Forcing defense is tricky.’

Sang-Hyeon let out a sigh of relief as he recalled the precarious situation just now.

As expected, Shin Tae-ri was Shin Tae-ri.

How many assassin players can match the speed of their daggers with the speed of their approach?

To do that, your agility stat and related skills must be at their absolute limit.

Right then.

‘Damn. This is absolute stealth. Was the shadow walk skill there since then?’

Shin Tae-ri’s appearance disappeared.

Shadow walk.

It was a skill that could not be seen in any form until Sang-Hyeon used mana to attack with Shin Tae-Ri’s skill that he knew of.

This is called absolute hiding.

Because it is a perfect stealth that even nullifies piercing eyes and clairvoyance.

The world of players is a fierce battle of probabilities where success or failure is determined by stats.

In such a world, it is a very scary thing to have a word like absolute, something that can guarantee 100%.

And for someone who relies heavily on visual information, isn’t stealth the most fatal thing?

Shin Tae-ri isn’t the only one with absolute stealth abilities.

Now, as you go to increasingly higher level dungeons or gates, you will encounter such monsters more frequently.

‘You’ll meet the Shadow Chaser in the Gaeseong Expedition as well.’

Shadow Stalker was also a very tricky monster with the same absolute stealth ability as Shintaeri.

Anyway, when encountering such an absolutely stealthy opponent, many players are confused. In fact, almost all of them are like that.

And at first, you try to stay as calm as possible, but soon you start firing attacks here and there.

Because you can’t see it, you have to hit it anywhere to get psychological stability. It’s a kind of psychological defense mechanism.

Of course, this is the situation that assassination players want the most. It’s easy to find an opening.

■ Mana Reflux

Sang-Hyeon checked the status of the mana flow that was being activated.

Thanks to the mana flow, the speed at which mana is collected is faster and responsiveness is also improved.

So, Sang-Hyeon was able to sense the surrounding mana flow to some extent.

It was also a know-how that I had honed over decades in my previous life: finding the subtle differences.

‘There is a place where the flow is very slightly blocked.’

Sang-Hyeon read the flow.

Northwest point.

I felt like the flow of mana was particularly uneven on your side. But that wasn’t quite enough to prove it.

【Isolation: Player Shin Tae-ri. There are no support troops within a 5m radius other than you. Your instinct for a real fight is triggered.】

From the beginning, it was a one-on-one match with Shin Tae-ri, so his instinct for a real fight was triggered.

However, one of the conditions for isolation is that the player must be in Sang-Hyeon’s sight.

Even if you are absolutely hidden, isolation will be activated if you are in a position where you can see… … .

slap!

As soon as Sang-Hyeon turned his gaze, the isolation effect indicator disappeared. Naturally, the mention of Shin Tae-Ri also disappeared.

Sang-Hyeon held his breath even more and moved his gaze little by little to determine Shin Tae-Ri’s position.

Isolation is activated when a part of the mana flow is particularly disrupted, a boundary that repeats disappearing.

‘Found it.’

Soon, Shin Tae-ri’s tail was stepped on, but Sang-hyeon didn’t show it and looked around, acting as best he could.

It was really easy to pretend not to know something even though I knew it, since I had already tried pretending to be dead in a dungeon.

‘Coming!’

At that moment, Shin Tae-ri approached Sang-hyeon, as if she was certain of his weakness.

It was confirmed that the flow of mana was guided by Shintaeri’s movements as if it was caught in a whirlpool.

『Rising Current』

Without further ado, Sang-Hyeon sent an upward airflow skill towards Shin Tae-Ri’s expected approach point.

“Ahh… … !”

Pa-pa-pa-pa! Pa-pa-pa!

At that moment, Shin Tae-ri, who was caught in an unexpected upward current, barely managed to avoid the current by doing a backflip.

If I had reacted just a little bit later, I would have been caught in an airborne blast and would have been looking at the sky.

‘Even though I was airborne, my location, which was perfectly hidden by absolute stealth, was discovered. How on earth?’

Shin Tae-ri’s face distorted.

Sang-Hyeon tried his best to find an opening and was forced to kneel.

But already, three out of five attacks had been blocked without any effect.

What kept piling up was admiration for Sang-Hyeon, and what kept disappearing was confidence in Norim-Soo.

“… … .”

Shin Tae-ri’s eyes, which had been looking at Sang-hyeon calmly the whole time, were shaking suddenly.

Like a light in the wind.