Oh no.
I should’ve finished her off earlier.
An ominous aura radiated from Camellia’s body.
In an instant, the gap in strength widened, and the dagger that was about to stab her heart was pushed back.
Naturally, my body, which had been in the superior position, was also pushed away.
No. If I stay like this, I’ll end up on the bottom.
It’ll be hard to endure in close combat with an assassin’s frail body.
As I rolled to break free, Camellia shouted.
“Don’t win and run away!”
Shut up. Before I tear your mouth apart.
I didn’t run because I wanted to.
“You might be speculating, but I’ve watched quite a bit of your matches. A lot.”
“So?”
“I thought you wanted to go pro.”
“That’s delusional. It’s a grandiose illusion; you should go to the hospital. Psychiatric medication is quite effective.”
“You’re surprisingly bad at lying. You use deceit well, though. How peculiar.”
“…”
Upon reflection, Elderlyn said the same thing.
I’m not very good at lying.
Apparently, when someone points it out like this, there’s nothing I can say.
Should I just say it’s obvious?
I’ve seen footage of my own matches as well.
It’s important to analyze opponents, but reviewing my own matches is equally crucial.
I occasionally had a pleasant expression.
It was like admiring someone else and enjoying it at the same time.
Was it simply that I enjoyed being noticed?
I don’t think so.
I’m a patient with affection deficiency who craves the love of others and thirsts for victory with a strong desire for recognition.
It’s greedy to have two dreams when neither is achievable. That’s who I am.
So, maybe it showed somewhat.
Maybe a lot. After all, one may understand by sparring personally.
“You have everything. You were born with talent incomparable to someone like me. Yet you have…”
“Ah, it would’ve been better if you hadn’t said that.”
“At first, I thought you were mocking my dream. But…”
“I can’t.”
“You could. You could’ve gone anywhere.”
“Shut up already.”
My head feels hot.
I know. I shouldn’t get excited over such words.
If I keep running until your rant ends, victory will be mine.
But I just can’t bear it.
Unknowingly stepping forward, I blocked the thrown spear head-on.
My wrist tingled, but the parry was perfect.
Kicking her side I had split earlier—gave me a slight sense of relief.
“Ah… answer…”
“I said I can’t! You, who knows nothing, stop talking nonsense! Do you know how many hours, how many years I thrashed around like an idiot in that damn water tank?”
“Water tank…?”
“Until my mouth smelled of metallic taste. Until my head heated up and became dizzy! I gritted my teeth and endured despite hearing that I should’ve just given up!”
I screamed like crazy.
I didn’t know I could shout this loudly.
The memories of grinding my teeth and moving in rehab seemed to constrict me.
Possess everything? What do I have exactly?
I need none of it. This body of a woman, which I’ve never yearned for, I hope you take it away now.
Instead, return what I’ve lost.
Return my peaceful home, my healthy body.
Let me wield a wooden sword again.
Let me walk with my legs, not this damn crutch.
Let me wield a sword in reality, not in this game.
Let me look at others without the feeling of inferiority.
—Return the warmth and my dreams to me.
I bit my lip too hard.
It bled and hurt because I bit it too forcefully.
“Stop meddling in others’ wounds!”
It hurts.
Clearly, I’ve seized the initiative.
I pressed Camellia’s knee and pushed away her spear’s shaft, then stabbed the short sword into her neck.
It felt like the knife pierced my own neck.
Yet, my anger wasn’t fully vented.
I stomped on Camellia’s head repeatedly, even after she fell.
It was only after her avatar disappeared that I noticed her health bar had depleted quite a while ago.
The aimless anger only had the battlefield left.
I turned the communication back on after momentarily turning it off.
“Kang Yuhan, are you there?”
– Oh, what is it? Is it over on your side?
“Where should I go now? Just tell me that.”
– Still at the east gate. Is there something going on with you…?
“I’m coming.”
—
[Title: Live Broadcast of the Ancient Kingdom Territory Siege]
[‘Yurang’ is broadcasting.]
Yurang thought he’d made a mistake in naming the broadcast.
It seemed less of a siege battle broadcast and more like a Gabol relay.
It was unavoidable.
The besieged side, being overpowered, resorted to desperate time-stalling tactics, leaving nothing to see at the main battleground.
As the old saying goes, “A famous banquet has nothing to eat.”
The only thing worth watching was Gabol performing high-risk operations alone.
“Wow, Camellia’s still at a disadvantage. Is it really true that the number one in the Arena is always the best? Wasn’t the Dark Moon buff still on cooldown too?”
– Camellia’s really good.
– They seem to be saying something to each other.
– Can you turn up the volume?
“No. If I broadcast all the sounds from the siege, my channel would disappear. There are plenty of guilds here with deep-seated grudges.”
Though Yurang said that, it felt like cold sweat was trickling down his brow.
The conversation between the two was surprisingly deep, making him feel guilty for eavesdropping.
If it wasn’t for the broadcast, he would have stepped aside.
The fight like this would make the channel disappear.
He adjusted so that the voices wouldn’t be heard and barely managed to steer it away.
“Reaper or Cerberus might be embarrassed if they saw this. They have their styles so profoundly absorbed.”
Yurang’s specialty was his innate insight.
He could see who Gabol was imitating.
Cerberus’ skill, it seemed, had quite a bit of personal flair put into it, but it still stood as the backbone.
The intense battle rushed towards its conclusion.
Camellia’s final desperate fight. Gabol’s bold re-entry.
And… Gabol’s kick filled with rage.
I showed emotion, so I turned the camera.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too late.
“The expected result… Is it right to say I expected it? Camellia is quite a formidable fighter among the first-tier players. Nevertheless, one-on-one battles have reaffirmed their positions again. Should I check the east gate quickly?”
There’s no way.
If I broadcast that, I would become the center of all sorts of fiery disputes.
Yurang’s motto for broadcasting was thin and long. People just wouldn’t believe him.
The most intense battleground among the four gates was without a doubt the east gate.
The place where the Federation’s firepower was concentrated.
It was also the area where the defending side was most heavily pushed back.
The gate had long been completely destroyed.
They were barely holding out by cramming in any fortifications they prepared.
“Wow, with this level of pressure, they’ll break. Considering the remaining time… about 20 minutes if we think about the main continent fortress, they might push through soon. Right now, the siege side seems to have a higher chance of winning.”
Just as Yurang was making his cold evaluation.
A shadow suddenly poked its head out from behind the east gate.
The flickering at the edges of the clothing was a trace of the Dark Moon buff.
The pitch-black line bisected the battlefield.
Each movement was devoid of hesitation.
It made sense. With the enemy’s main force charging in while forgoing artillery fire and flanking maneuvers.
By conceding defeat in the assassination-style combat, the siege side effectively finished all their significant tasks.
So at this point, it doesn’t matter much if Gabol gets killed now.
Rather, it’s more beneficial to take out an enemy caster before dying.
‘No, it’s something else.’
This movement wasn’t based on such calculations.
His rough and aggressive appearance was noticeable compared to usual.
Rather than aiming to take out as many enemies as possible, he seemed like someone plunging recklessly into the inferno, a nihilist.
Only his peak-level skill prevented it from being obvious.
His movements, weaving through shadows and using enemies as cover, stemmed from almost instinctive reflexes.
Evidence of this was that his damage calculations weren’t as clean as usual.
Instead of dealing the exact required amount of damage, sometimes there was excessive firepower.
Other times, he fell slightly short, forcing unnecessary movements.
So, to Yurang, it felt more like Gabol was venting his frustrations.
Gabol’s rampage didn’t stop until the siege ended.
When the defenders narrowly won the war,
Gabol disconnected with an empty expression, as if all his lingering regrets had dissipated.
—
[Author: AnonymousCross]
[Title: Guild Disbanded]
—
[Author: ?? (810.11)]
[Title: Why hasn’t Gabol been seen lately?]
Has anyone seen her since the siege ended?
There were people who’d upload screenshots whenever she showed up, but recently it’s quiet.
—
[Comment]
– She probably hasn’t logged in lately?
└ How do you know?
└ Gabol was a mercenary for our guild once, so we’re friends.
└ What? WTF, I want to be too!
—
[Author: Gabol]
[Title: I’ll be taking a break from the game for a while.]
I might appear as a guest on my sister’s stream.
I don’t know how long I’ll be on hiatus.
Thank you all for the good times.
