[Title: Skill-Oriented Healing Broadcast]
[‘Elderlyn’ is live.]
For a moment, silence reigned.
Ordinarily, this would be a situation the streamer should be wary of while broadcasting.
The silent broadcast featured a black screen with system messages floating around.
[You were killed by an unknown adventurer.]
[Death Penalty: Login Restriction (4 hours).]
[You can log back in 3 hours 56 minutes and 43 seconds.]
Some kind of response was necessary.
It took her too long to arrive at that realization.
“Uh… I’ve died. Was that… Lady Gawol, correct?”
Elderlyn gently scratched her temple.
Most comments in the chat were worried about her.
Fortunately, no one remarked on the brief audio silence.
However, views toward Gawol had grown increasingly hostile.
Elderlyn’s streaming style was the kind that deeply engaged her audience.
While she didn’t lead a vast following tied to a major corporation, she had a loyal fanbase.
It was natural for the viewers to be indignant when she suffered an unexpected setback during her hunting session.
“Hm, everyone, please calm down. Anyway, it seems today’s session of Infinity Black will have to conclude here. Unless… shall we chat a bit before wrapping up?”
Elderlyn began to slowly calm down her viewers.
In truth, she didn’t feel too regretful about her death this time.
Even though dying during hunting was never pleasant, she had planned to end the broadcast anyway.
She would have quit the game shortly regardless of Gawol’s intervention.
Upon further reflection after a short pause, the incident didn’t leave much of a painful memory.
At first, she had been startled by a constriction in her throat, but her sensory immersion rate was set at 25%.
Among those settings, she had intentionally minimized the immersion for pain, so all she really felt was a mild tightness around her neck.
Conversely, her other senses felt especially acute.
For instance, the faint sound of breathing from behind her neck stood out.
‘First, I should switch the broadcast screen and delete the replay footage, just in case…’
Though it probably wouldn’t be noticed much in the stream, the slight heat from that breath lingered.
The subtle laughter had even been quite alluring.
And in that final moment… Was that… an embrace?
While it was a bit unpleasant, it wasn’t entirely out of place.
Rather than uncomfortable, she experienced something like pity.
Was she overthinking this? Mentioning it might only confuse the situation.
“Lady Gawol is new to me, but she’s definitely skilled. I’ve heard it said that top-tier players have a different style of movement, and it’s true. She felt almost like someone from a whole other world. I couldn’t do anything.”
– She’s definitely skilled.
– If she couldn’t PK all day long, that’d be the problem.
– I’ve heard she was pretty active when she was with the mercenary guild during a siege.
– Someone said she would be among the top tier if she went pro.
– But sometimes players who dominate in solo rank matches fall apart when they go pro.
– Nonetheless, she did take down a Traveler in a 1v1.
“Oh, I’ve heard of the Traveler you mentioned. That’s right—Lady Gawol is an Assassin, isn’t she? Hmm… I wish I could play that well too. But I personally found it too hard.”
Elderlyn spoke with a hint of envy.
She was currently a Wizard, but until a few months ago, she had been primarily growing her Assassin character.
That path had simply proven too difficult, and she had given up.
Combat in Infinity Black was movement-based.
Meaning the player had to manually control characters with superhuman agility.
While the system offered some assistance in various ways, it was by no means easy.
The Assassin class, in particular, took it to the extreme.
When Elderlyn first tried her hand at the Assassin class, she learned the hard way just how challenging focusing on “dodging” and “speed” could be.
Her cognitive abilities simply couldn’t keep up with the physical demands.
It felt like her body was out of control, doing whatever it wanted.
“I noticed you were using a Chain Scythe earlier. I haven’t seen anyone else using that domestically. Did I try it? Of course, I did. But I touched it in the training grounds and immediately discarded it.”
– Isn’t she the only one in the domestic scene using a Chain Scythe?
– There are a few in the Japanese league, and occasionally they show up in North America and Europe.
– The Japanese league is where all the fun happens in the assassin category.
– Land of ninjas, after all. hahaha
「BeaWaChaeSoRi gave a 5,000 won donation」
「The highlight from the Japan vs. UK international match really made me lose focus」
「(Attached video)」
Time spent with the viewers watching the clip sent by a spectator.
A ninja-like character elegantly moved through the battlefield, assassinating the enemy Wizard.
True to the level of an elite Professional Gamer, there were cinematic scenes worthy of a film.
However, a different chat caught Elderlyn’s attention.
– I’ve heard Gawol is also good with a Swordsman.
– Yeah, that sometimes comes out in sieges or ranked matches.
– If you check her records, the stats are impressive.
– Is that true?
“Hmm… Oh, I see.”
A spark of interest in Gawol began to grow in Elderlyn’s heart.
*
Menstruation wasn’t just an unpleasant but also an inconvenient period.
Since blood had to constantly be drained from the body, menstrual pads had to be replaced at regular intervals.
There were other sanitary products besides pads, but the thought of using them was too off-putting, making it impossible for her to even consider them.
She even felt somewhat awkward while changing her sanitary pad.
Still, if there were problems with her precious device for connecting to the game, it would be troublesome.
It was not something easily replaceable elsewhere, so proper care was the only option.
[Timer 3 – Notification in 04:59:57.]
Having changed for now, she could relax for a few more hours.
Scouring the streaming platform yielded no worthwhile prey.
My ebbing and flowing mood continued to crave blood—causing me to keep fiddling with my dagger.
Eventually, the only choice left was this.
[Infinity Arena – Secondary Qualifiers – 4th Phase]
[Random matchmaking starting.]
[Searching for an opponent… Estimated wait time: 02:40.]
Personally, I prefer combat in the variable-filled fields,
but when opponents aren’t available, this method is the only option.
As time went by, the survivors in the Infinity Arena had decreased significantly.
After all, with every phase concluding, many players were eliminated in large numbers.
Apparently, these days, it was common to encounter foreign players in the matches.
A few days from now, the final phase begins, and after that comes the Main Tournament.
[Infinity Arena – Secondary Qualifiers – Final Phase Match has been completed.]
[Would you like to accept the match? Y/N]
[…Moving to the battlefield in 20 seconds.]
Now, it might be reasonable to start looking forward to my match with Luche.
With fewer people, it feels like there’s a higher chance.
Since I’m streaming this, I’m also considering enabling “Audience Participation.”
Although it might be too soon to meet, I can’t be entirely sure we’ll run into each other in the future.
This isn’t being done maliciously, so it wouldn’t constitute as a headshot.
Since it’s a famous quote, it’s probably true.
Perhaps I can decide about the Arena a little later.
[Infinity Arena – Secondary Qualifiers – 4th Phase]
[Battlefield: Realm of the Dead]
[vs Unknown Adventurer (Guardian)]
Let’s focus on the fight.
This opponent turned out to be bothersome.
Guardians are the class with the highest defense in this game.
It’s not exactly an unfavorable matchup, but they take a long time to defeat.
What was supposed to be a long and tedious game…
However, a faint smile crept onto my face.
A method came to mind to enjoy this match.
“Hm.”
At the “Realm of the Dead” battlefield, numerous undead monsters appear as described in the name.
The undying zombies that emerge are mostly useless to eliminate and move very slowly, serving only as obstacles chasing after the players.
The battlefield was designed for players to keep moving while engaged in combat.
And the Guardian is one of the slowest classes in this game.
My steps moved toward the high ground.
About 10 minutes later,
The Guardian was kicked hard in the legs and rolled down the slope.
When the zombies grabbed onto the Guardian, he had to twist and turn his body to get free.
While trying to push the undead away with his shield and breaking the grabbing hand with his holy mace, the Guardian tried to take a step forward.
But when he did, an Assassin kicked him in the back of the head and disappeared.
No, it wasn’t just fleeing.
[You’ve been poisoned by Neurotoxin.]
[Your strong sacred power resisted the poison.]
[Although immune to toxin damage, movement speed has decreased by 10%.]
The Assassin constantly disrupted his every move.
When the slowed Guardian tried to move or finally managed to escape the zombies, the silver-haired Assassin returned, pushing him back into undead-infested areas before vanishing again, laughing joyfully.
“Hmm… Ahah!”
If she’d genuinely intended to finish him off, she could have done so, but she avoided any lethal injury.
At this point, even a fool would realize they were being toyed with.
In the fourth instance of being kicked in the back of the head, the Guardian’s patience finally broke.
You are a terrible person!
Engaging in the game this way is an outrageously disrespectful act.
Such unsportsmanlike behavior inevitably makes one question your upbringing.
The Guardian was attempting to express this in somewhat raw terms.
As a result, the Guardian boldly proclaimed,
“You’re a bad person! Enjoy the game! Check on your health!”
A system filter censored the harsh words, resulting in a ridiculous translation.
Ignoring the zombies gnawing at him, the Guardian kept yelling for a while.
But realizing his words weren’t getting through, his head dropped deeply.
“Sayonara in sorrow…”
[The opponent has forfeited.]
[Victory achieved! Earned 28 points.]
