Chapter 1-46 : My First Match (part 2)
『Everyone, thank you for your patience. The next round will start soon. Virgo and I will be your judges and commentators for this round.』(Taurus)
Taurus and Virgo’s faces appeared on the big floating monitor above the arena.
Taurus greeted us with a smile, and Virgo was just folding her arms, looking somewhat sulky as usual.
I don’t think they will notice me, but I couldn’t resist waving my hand at them.
『First, let me explain the rules. They’re pretty simple. The competitors will fight against each other in 1 v 1 matches on a flat, circular earthen arena about 100 meters in diameter. There will be no ring-outs, which means you won’t win the match even if you knock your opponent out of the arena. To win a match, you have to kill your opponent or make them surrender.』(Taurus)
Killing your opponent doesn’t literally mean that you’re actually ending their life, obviously. It means that you have to attack them until they run out of HP.
The players that have been defeated will disappear and automatically respawn in the chapel, that specifically built for this event, next to the venue.
『There are no specific restrictions on items you can bring. You can use any items in your matches. Throwing weapons, buff items, or special items for magic rituals, it doesn’t matter. However, there’s a limitation for recovery items such as HP and MP potions. You can only bring twenty of them.』(Taurus)
To have a balanced amount between those two potions, you may want to bring ten HP potions and ten MP potions. However, you have to consider how you will fight in this round.
I’m likely to end up using a lot of MP potions since I will use my skills many times. As for HP potions, I don’t think I will need that many. I’m confident with my speed, and I will try my best to dodge my opponents’ attacks as much as I can, so that I won’t suffer any damage.
『That will be all for the rules. Virgo, do you have anything to say to our competitors?』(Taurus)
『Hmph. I hope you pigs will entertain me.』(Virgo)
Saying that, Virgo glanced at the camera with cold eyes, and soon after, some male players started cheering.
「Virgo-samaaaa!!」
「Please look at us with those cold eyes more!」
「Please insult us more!!」
「I will fight for your entertainment, my lady!」(male players)
「These weirdos…」(Rin)
「Ahaha…」(Alice)
『W, well, I guess that’s it from Virgo. Let’s move on. But, before we begin, there’s someone who wants to join us in the commentator seat. Please welcome, the creator of this world, the one and only, our Lord Creator!』(Taurus)
『Hello, everyone!』(Shinji Todo)
The face of a familiar man appeared on the monitor.
It was Shinji Todo, the president of Avenir, the game development company of this game.
The entire stadium became even noisier with people’s chatter as the most important person in this business made his appearance.
『You might have never thought I would be here, but this is our first big event, and as the leader of the development team, I want to see the faces of my beloved players with my own eyes! I want to say that I’m really happy that you guys are enjoying this game so much! Also, I have to thank Taurus and Virgo for managing this event. Thank you, you both!』(Shinji Todo)
『You honor us, My Lord. We’re very happy to become part of this big event. Right, Virgo?』(Taurus)
『Hmph. Yeah, sure.』(Virgo)
『Hahaha! Virgo, you’re as cold as always. Well, I was the one who created her with such a personality, but, anyway, let’s move on, shall we?』(Shinji Todo)
『Alright, without further ado, we will begin the first match. Both players, please enter the arena.』(Taurus)
The first match began. It was a male player in heavy armor holding a big shield versus another male player in leather armor holding daggers in both hands.
The one in heavy armor seemed to be a knight, while the other one seemed to be an assassin-type like me.
As expected, the assassin player was speedy and agile, but speed meant nothing to a defensive-type player. Even though the assassin managed to land hits, his attacks barely damaged the knight.
The knight waited for an opportunity and landed a severely damaging shield bash on the assassin.
The assassin didn’t seem to have high defense. He suffered so much damage that his HP bar was reduced to about twenty percent in just one hit. While he was trying to get up, the knight quickly took out an axe and threw it at him. The axe hit his head and depleted the rest of his HP.
The assassin then disappeared into thin air, indicating that the knight was victorious.
「A throwing axe, huh?」(Alice)
「Who would have thought a knight would use a throwing weapon~」(Rin)
「Using a hidden weapon. Cleaver. I like it.」(Ruka)
After the knight claimed his victory in the first match, the event continued.
Taurus and the president were doing their job very well, commenting on the matches. Virgo was sulky, but she properly commented alongside the two sometimes.
Meanwhile, I kept watching and learning as much as I could from the other competitors while waiting for my turn.
「……..」(Alice)
「Alice, don’t be so nervous. Relax~」(Rin)
「Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.」(Ruka)
I felt nervous as my turn got closer.
Rin and Ruka noticed it and talked to me to make me feel better.
This will be my first PvP match, so I can’t help but feel nervous. However, I can’t make these two worry about me, so I shook my head to clear my mind and continued watching the matches.
『The third match is over!』(Taurus)
『The swordsman was quick, and I thought he would win, but the archer was much quicker. She also had amazing accuracy with her bow. What a great match!』(Shinji Todo)
『A great match, indeed! Congratulations to the winner! The fourth match will be Alice versus Kenya. Both players, please head to the arena.』(Taurus)
Hearing my name called, I stood up from my seat.
「Alright, guys. Wish me luck!」(Alice)
「You got this~!」(Rin)
「We’ll be cheering for you!」(Ruka)
I nodded at my two supportive friends with determined eyes and left my seat. I walked down the stairs leading to the arena.
When I got to the arena, my opponent was already there. He was looking at me with a smile on his face, looking confident.
He was wearing plate armor with a huge sword on his back. He seemed to be a warrior/barbarian-type of player.
「Hello there. I’m Kenya from the Blue Dragon Knights. Nice to meet you.」(Kenya)
「Hello, I’m Alice. Umm, nice to meet you too.」(Alice)
「I see. Alice, this may sound weird coming from me, but I pity you.」(Kenya)
「Pity me? What do you mean?」(Alice)
「I heard from my guild member from Group E that he saw you with the Tempest Queen in the preliminary round. Are you friends with her?」(Kenya)
Tempest Queen… He must be talking about Rin.
「Yeah, I’m her friend. What about it?」(Alice)
「No, it’s just… It must have been a pain being friends with such a barbarian woman. I bet she forced you to enter this tournament, didn’t she?」(Kenya)
Huh? What is he talking about? Is he insulting Rin?
「Aa-ahh, can’t believe that woman would force such a fragile girl like you into this fierce tournament. She’s so cruel…」(Kenya)
「You don’t know Rin, so don’t talk like you know her!」(Alice)
「Haha, it’s true that I don’t know her very well. I shouldn’t have said that. As my apology, I’ll let you hit me once.」(Kenya)
「What?」(Alice)
「Don’t you understand? It pains my heart to fight a fragile lady like you, so I’m giving you a free hit. Don’t worry, I won’t dodge, block, or counterattack you.」(Kenya)
「…..Should I thank you for that?」(Alice)
「Well, you don’t have to since I’m going to defeat you in the end, but don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you. Let’s enjoy our match, shall we?」(Kenya)
「…Yeah, right…」(Alice)
He’s completely underestimating me, and above all, he was insulting Rin, and he will pay for that!
『Now that the two competitors have exchanged their greetings, let us begin the match… Get ready…….. FIGHT!』(Taurus)
As soon as the match began, I drew my wakizashi, activated my【Sever】Skill, and dashed toward my opponent.
He was folding his arms, smiling. He said he would give me a free hit.
It kinda irritated me, but I would gladly use this opportunity. I would kill him in one hit and move on to the next match.
However, as I got closer to him, his expression suddenly changed from a confident-looking face to a panicked face.
「ーー！！」(Kenya)
I swung my wakizashi, aiming for the red line on his neck, but he blocked my blade with his left hand.
He had a steel arm guard on his hand, but my blade went through it and cut his arm halfway through.
Panicking, he jumped away from me, creating a few meters gap between us.
「Khh!」(Kenya)
「What’s wrong? I thought you would give me a free hit.」(Alice)
「Ha… haha… That strike… It would have killed me instantly…」(Kenya)
「Oh? So you noticed it.」(Alice)
「I have a skill that boosts my survival instinct as a warrior. It will tell me when my life is in danger.」(Kenya)
I see. He was so confident at first, but then his expression suddenly changed when I got closer. So that’s why.
He felt an immense danger coming from my blade.
「Alice, looks like I have underestimated you. You’re much stronger than you look. My apologies.」(Kenya)
「It’s alright.」(Alice)
「Well then, I’m sorry, but no more free hits for you. From now on, it will be a serious duel between us!」(Kenya)
Saying that, Kenya drew his claymore sword from the sheath on his back and pointed it toward me.
TOC
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