The swordsman advances forward, parrying the rapidly flying dagger.
A sign appears indicating that the opponent has been incapacitated after being parried.
The swordsman, moving quickly with the sword sheathed at his waist, swings his sword, and with a flash of brilliance, the enemy falls.
Decisive.
The swordsman nonchalantly shakes off the blood from his sword as if nothing happened and sheathes it again.
“Ah… this is the thrill. This is why I became a swordsman.”
It was Su Ah, who had just taken down an opponent in a one-on-one match.
Lost in her own gameplay, Su Ah was swinging the sword around.
A voice came through her headphones.
“Who do you think made this all possible?”
“Thanks to you, teacher…”
“Why does your voice sound a bit weak? Have you been slacking off on your training? After this match, we should go again-.”
“It’s all because of you, teacher! Everything I’ve accomplished is thanks to you, hehe…”
“That sounds suspicious… For now, let’s heal and maintain the line as we move forward. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
With every kill, Mollu demanded praise from Su Ah as if proving the success of her training.
Exasperated, Su Ah replied in a flat tone, but she also acknowledged it.
Mollu’s training had been effective.
The one-on-one match, which lasted about three hours, awakened Su Ah’s previously lacking combat sense.
Some might think, “What can change in just three hours of training?”
Su Ah used to think that way, too.
Yet now, standing before the fallen opponent, she realized the effectiveness of the training.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was transformative.
Due to the training, Su Ah felt her perspective on the game had completely changed.
Initially, she had been tense during the first skirmishes, making minor mistakes, but soon her memories of what she learned in training with Mollu resurfaced.
“Stay calm.”
“Watch the motion until the end.”
“Mix in some fakes while attacking.”
“Don’t overextend; leave yourself some room.”
As she focused on each teaching that popped into her mind during the battle, the enemies tended to fall one after another.
Compared to Mollu, who was hard to predict, the opponents Su Ah faced as a low-tier diamond user were exceedingly easy.
Unlike Mollu’s unpredictable swordplay, the enemies moved far too slowly.
No one could possibly fail to parry such feeble swords.
It could be called a reverse perception.
Once you feel this sensation, there is no going back.
Just like how you can’t go back to the cheaper pair of headphones after using a more expensive one, it becomes impossible to return to what she knew before.
Thinking about going back is kind of embarrassing.
Ah, another victim is approaching.
An axe-wielding warrior armed with a shield raises his axe and swings it fiercely.
Though he believed he swung fiercely, it appeared slow to Su Ah.
She parried the axe, which was swung honestly without a fake motion, with a sharp sound.
Clang—
The unbalanced enemy character could not hide his panic.
He could have rolled to the side, but stunned, he got hit by the sword and died.
He seemed to have never imagined his initial attack would get blocked.
Su Ah snickered.
That slow attack could never hit her.
[Parry success rate 100% wow]
[Why is this person so good?]
[What? What? What? What? What?]
[Does it even make sense for there to be parries in an FPS game? LOL]
[But does it make sense for there to be daggers, axes, and swords in an FPS?]
[I can hear the rise of parry enthusiasts]
[I shouldn’t play ranked today]
“Ahm.”
As Su Ah easily won each battle, the chat was also buzzing.
Except for the viewers who had left due to the long training broadcast, the remaining viewers seemed drawn in by the gameplay.
As the public sentiment kept rising, Su Ah was again awakened by a voice.
“Don’t get cocky.”
“Yes…”
“When excited, your sword’s tip tends to shake.”
It was a natural statement, yet there was something mystical about what Mollu said.
It felt as though someone who had really wielded a sword was speaking.
It seemed Su Ah wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
[Mollu has become the very embodiment of a swordsman…]
[Are you a master?]
[The important thing is the heart, as long as you have a solid heart, you can break anything. Maintain your clear mind, Su Ah! @@]
[Here comes the ‘no rules’ fan]
[Su Ah’s heart is soft though]
[Whoa]
[This is romantic]
Leaving the chattering viewers behind, Su Ah once again dove into the game.
Winning streak.
She had won all three matches she had played so far.
Although she couldn’t claim to have overwhelmingly led her team, her skills were far superior to usual.
It was a rationale that was undeniable: the more you win, the more fun the game becomes.
Especially if it was a victory she hadn’t felt before.
“Let’s reach Diamond 2 today.”
“Isn’t Diamond 2 a bit too high?”
“If you just play like you learned today, you’ll get to Master in no time.”
A steadiness in tone came from beside her.
If someone else had said it, it might have felt like lip service, but it sounded as natural as saying the weather was nice today.
“You must go to Master.”
Without realizing it, Su Ah nodded her head.
*
The training broadcast ended successfully.
Although there were a few shortcomings due to being a hastily arranged content, they achieved results that outweighed those issues.
“Wow…”
Su Ah achieved Diamond 2.
Having played 7 matches today, she secured a total of 6 wins and 1 loss.
Her score had soared, finally reaching her goal.
She blinked repeatedly, unable to believe the tier she was seeing.
Su Ah was a student worth teaching.
Though it had taken some effort to erase her existing bad habits due to her slightly strong personality, she had a basic talent.
When assessing her physical abilities alone, it was evident she was superior to her former self when teaching her.
Seeing her so delighted, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as her teacher.
And I wanted to savor this lingering emotion, so I ended the broadcast.
It turned out the Switch had a great feature called hosting.
<Mollu, the one who breaks grandma’s cart, donated 1000 won!>
[It must be so rewarding for the teacher to see their disciple grow. What’s the next content? Should we do ranked lightly-]
I felt like a donation message came flying in, but since I had already ended the broadcast, I couldn’t respond.
I should prepare a reaction for next time.
The roughly 2,000 viewers who had been watching in my room moved over to Su Ah’s room.
What’s all this? So many people were watching her.
Since the protagonist of the day was Su Ah, it would probably be better to watch in her room.
I saw a few chats looking for me in Su Ah’s room, but I ignored them.
They were probably shocked after I abruptly ended the broadcast without a warning.
Not like I was a lost little kid looking for their mom; they’d figure it out.
I could have continued streaming, but I had something to do.
I stretched my stiff body and glanced at the clock.
It was 4 PM.
Time had slipped by, and it had already been six hours since I started the broadcast.
There was a reason I got up early at 10 o’clock on a late weekend to stream.
I had an appointment.
– Ji-yeon: Unnie, is the broadcast over?
– Ji-yeon: You didn’t forget our promise, did you?
– Ji-yeon: If you see this, please text me back.
Was having a younger sibling this bothersome?
I didn’t know since I had never had one, but it felt kind of cute that she was so concerned about me even when being annoying.
5 PM.
I had received a text from my younger sister yesterday saying she wanted to have dinner and go shopping together.
Since it wasn’t a difficult task, I agreed.
I forced my heavy eyes open.
I had been up since morning to stream.
Well, it wouldn’t be too bad to adjust my lifestyle a bit.
From the little hints she had been dropping about watching my broadcasts to casual checks like whether I had eaten or if I was sleeping well.
Ji-yeon was the type to inquire about even trivial matters.
No matter how I looked at it, she seemed more like an older sister – or perhaps even a mother?
I felt the maternal instinct worrying about her insufficient child from various perspectives.
I recalled what a friend once said: all women are born with maternal instincts.
Preparing to go out was a tiresome task.
To be exact, going out with someone made it so.
Usually, I’d just throw on any old thing and head out.
But the pressure of going with Ji-yeon made me pause.
Should I wear makeup, something I usually wouldn’t do?
I didn’t even know how to.
After about ten minutes of looking up makeup tips, I decided to skip it.
Applying makeup seemed like a skill that women had accumulated over a long time.
It just looked so complicated.
Makeup products lying around my vanity looked lonely, but messing it up would make me look ridiculous.
I figured I was fine without makeup since my base was pretty.
Deciding against makeup, I focused on my outfit.
This area was just as difficult.
But at least here, I could try some combinations on my own.
All I had to do was take the clothes I had and match them appropriately.
Was it normal for girls to have so many clothes?
That was something I felt every time I pulled Ji-eun’s clothes out of the wardrobe.
While I was contemplating between the hanging garments, a phrase I’d seen somewhere popped into my mind.
They say those who know fashion call it ‘coordination.’
I would be showcasing my coordination skills to Ji-yeon, who tends to baby me too much.
That I was an older woman than her.
Once the concept was decided, picking out clothes became easy.
Because anyway, the hangers were overwhelmingly outstanding.
As autumn turned chillier, I wore a black turtleneck with a black trench coat over it.
I also chose dark jeans that were jet black.
I liked the all-black look.
Why is black seen as such a clean color?
I wanted to give off a cool, mature city woman vibe, but I had no idea if I succeeded.
I looked at the woman in the mirror.
Her pale face stood out against her black clothing.
Her tightly closed lips and languid gaze looked tired.
From the way she seemed difficult to approach, I felt like I had succeeded.
Anyway, if I kept pondering this any longer, I’d be late for my appointment.
I stepped out of my cozy home.
