NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16
The girl lifted a long sword that was as tall as her body.
With a slender build that seemed out of place on the battlefield, the girl bent her knees and raised the sword high above her head, as if she were preparing for something.
It looked almost like a pose from a dance.
At first glance, it might seem comical, but the knight staring at her didn’t let their guard down.
After all, there were more than a couple of comrades who had already fallen to the girl.
They could not afford to be careless. That was a monster wearing the guise of a young girl.
The moment they were deceived by her beautiful appearance, the knight would surely find their face planted in the ground.
With a tense heart, the knight maintained their stance.
The girl simply stepped forward with a blank expression.
That bizarre standoff broke in an instant.
While the knight was keenly watching the girl’s every move,
Thud-
Something like a droplet fell from the air.
The knight, with sharpened senses, quickly realized what the droplet was.
It was blood. Blood from the end of the girl’s sword that had just taken down the knight’s comrades.
Droplets fell from the blade’s tip, dripping plentifully.
Having experienced multiple battles already, the knight knew that this was a clear sign of an imminent fight.
They tightened their grip on the shield they had been holding quietly.
And just as expected,
Boom-!
The girl charged at the knight. It was a fast and powerful strike, but one that the knight could handle.
It was a weak attack command.
It seemed she had intentionally held back her strength for the first blow, considering her stamina.
Looking only at this first exchange, the knight hadn’t suffered any losses. A successful defense through the shield would have additionally chipped away at her stamina.
However, they couldn’t get cocky just because they did well on the first move. The scary part about their opponent was the sharp flurry of attacks that would follow the initial strike.
Swoosh!
The sword sliced through the air.
The rapid strikes aimed at vital spots were deadly and perilous.
At this point, the knight abandoned the thought of defending based on seeing the attacks.
They could only rely on instinct. That was the only path to victory.
In the end, the knight’s choice was half-right. They managed to evade some of the girl’s rapid strikes but allowed a few to land.
The problem was that all the attacks aimed for critical spots, so even allowing one hit would significantly decrease their health.
Even if it’s allowed, it drains a lot of health.
The knight, spitting blood, let out a hollow laugh.
All critical hits… No matter how much they aimed for the vital spots, it was simply ridiculous.
Does she have some kind of radar in her eyes?
The abyss’s critical judgment shouldn’t be this easy to get through. That girl was executing it as if it were a walk in the park.
Now I understand why my teammates were mercilessly knocked out. They just couldn’t endure that combo. If the critical hits keep coming, there’s no way they lasted more than five hits.
However, the knight managed to withstand the girl’s strike, meaning that the knight had at least one opportunity coming.
The girl’s breaths were ragged. It was clear she wasn’t in good shape, having exhausted all her stamina.
I mean, she couldn’t possibly be fine after such an indiscriminate barrage of attacks. So now, it was the knight’s turn to act.
An experienced warrior never misses an opportunity.
—-!
The knight roared and lunged at the girl.
Raising his shield like a club at an angle, he swung his one-handed sword forward, continuously attacking.
The girl elegantly deflected his strikes, her silver hair flowing as she did.
Parrying. This performance, only those who could break time down to frames could witness, unfolded relentlessly in front of the knight.
If the offensive was blocked like this, the turn would inevitably shift back to the opponent. Not to mention, the knight was bleeding from allowing that earlier strike. He was clearly at a disadvantage.
Yet, the knight’s face was serene.
Indeed, it made sense. As he launched a series of attacks with a look that hinted at a strategy, the girl’s guard momentarily faltered.
The way she dodged the blade of the longsword was impressive, but there was always a limit to endurance.
Stamina. She must have been running low on stamina.
The cause of her stamina shortage was that earlier combo.
The girl had set her victory plan on taking down the knight with her first barrage. But since he didn’t go down, her plan went up in smoke.
Then, having successfully endured the combo, the knight seized victory through his counterattack.
In the end, it was a battle of wits. Among users who know the game to some extent, one-on-one matches often come down to subtle differences in builds or item trees, which are not easily noticeable on the surface.
It often came down to the differences in builds or item trees that didn’t really yield much.
The girl fell into a semi-paralyzed state. It was the knight’s turn to reap the sweet fruits of victory after winning the tactical duel.
Confident of victory, the knight calmly exhaled and thrust the sword to take the girl’s breath away.
Thus, the knight’s blade penetrated the body of the girl, who could barely retaliate.
That was when the knight noticed an anomaly.
An advanced intuition sent a warning signal. Only then did the knight realize that something was going wrong.
Why wasn’t the girl in front of him collapsing? Despite having allowed an attack to her vital spot.
A lightning bolt struck in the knight’s mind. With a face filled with horror, he raised his head, but it was already too late.
The girl’s eyes turned a fiery red.
The knight, unable to either thrust the sword deeper into the girl’s abdomen or retrieve it, froze upon seeing the girl’s crimson eyes.
Ah, that was it. In the end, the essence of all battles was in the tactical struggle.
He thought he’d won, but in reality, he had merely been played with like a puppet on a string.
Perhaps he had been defeated from the very start.
That was the knight’s last thought as he saw the girl, who had been expressionless until now, smiling.
*
“So, using Zombie Camilla’s instantaneous HP recovery, we can take down the enemy bruiser!”
[What was that at the end?]
[How did that happen?]
[I wanted to play Camilla, but after seeing this, I think I can’t.]
[A real newbie intimidator broadcast, wow.]
[HP restoration, what… Camilla is so overpowered.]
[The opponent performed the combo perfectly but still lost.]
[High-skilled players were all cautious, each gauging the other’s moves; it was epic! LOL]
It was a battle that I was satisfied with.
As expected, as the tiers increased, the level of opponents rose alongside, and the previous skirmish required quite a bit of effort.
It was lucky that my ploy of intentionally leaving openings paid off. Had my opponent not been deceived, I might have had to endure an endless exchange of blows.
The chat window was rapidly scrolling up.
It seemed to be even faster than before… I wondered if the number of viewers had increased, but I didn’t really feel like checking. Whether there were many viewers or few, it didn’t matter at that moment.
The viewers seemed busily discussing the scene from just moments ago. It was a sight that made me smile just by looking at it.
Some even expressed one-sided praise or compliments about me.
A genius who even defies the gods, or saying I’m the embodiment of Camilla… The chat was both burdensome and blushingly embarrassing to read. Yet, on the flip side, a corner of my heart felt tingly; I couldn’t deny the joy of receiving compliments.
It was a chat that made me feel overwhelmed and my cheeks hot just by looking at it. But at the same time, I couldn’t deny that a part of my heart was tickling with joy from the compliments.
Apparently, since I was a gamer too, I had a sort of recognition craving. That desire was being satisfied in real-time right now.
Even if I played decently, there was no one to watch, and compared to the past when I occasionally posted in galleries, the current situation was extravagantly lavish.
It felt a bit regretful to just end the stream…
But with every meeting, there comes a parting. Sadly, we were reaching the moment of goodbye.
After all, there’s a saying about leaving when the applause is still ringing. It’s only natural to wrap up things with a slight sense of regret if you want to hold on to that memory and want to do it again next time.
“It’s time to end the stream, everyone.”
[Huh?]
[Suddenly?]
[Just a bit more ranking, please, it’s almost Master!]
[Noona, don’t go ㅠㅠ]
[Please show us Zombie Camilla one more time.]
Honestly, I hadn’t planned on streaming for long today.
I didn’t even expect this many people to show up.
Telling people about Camilla and showing various build gameplay was somewhat improvised content.
I played one game per build, so I thought that would be enough for today’s stream.
[Don’t talk nonsense ㅇㅇ]
[Then stop the game and just chat, that’s what everyone else does.]
[Is there a Part 2 stream?]
[Chat spam chat spam chat spam chat spam chat spam]
[Please do a Q&A.]
[It’s the unwritten rule to chat for about 10 minutes after finishing the game before leaving.]
Hmm, it seemed that people were satisfied with today’s stream.
With the cheers of the viewers, I prepared to end the broadcast. I wanted to read each nickname one by one to say goodbye, but it felt like it would never end.
“I’ll see you in the next stream, bye.”
I finished by whispering closer to the mic.
As I clicked the end stream button, the abrupt darkness on the screen was quite striking.
In contrast, the chat was still actively flowing even though the broadcast had ended. Most of it was about enjoying the aftermath of today’s show or looking forward to the next stream.
There were just over 600 viewers. I only realized that the number had doubled from what I saw right after I started streaming after I turned it off.
Watching that steadily decreasing number that didn’t quite feel real, I shut down my computer.
The moonlight streaming in through the window felt oddly bright.