Chapter 2-2 : Head Hunting Princess’ Unlucky Day (part 2)
「I challenge you to a PVP match!」(Umika)
「Huh?」(Alice)
「If I win, you will be my follower!」(Umika)
「Huuuh??」(Alice)
She wants to fight me? This girl really is a pain…
「If I win, will you leave me alone?」(Alice)
「Sure. IF you can win~」(Umika)
She sounds so confident for some reason.
She does realize that she’s still a beginner and I’m a veteran player, right? Where does that confidence come from?
Well, there’s no way I will lose to her. If she will leave me alone, I have no reason to refuse.
「Alright. I accept your duel.」(Alice)
「Duel? I never said duel.」(Umika)
「What? It’s a one-on-one fight between you and me, isn’t it?」(Alice)
「Are you stupid? I’ve just been playing this game for a couple days. No way I can win against a veteran like you. I never said duel. I said I challenge you to a PVP match. You will be fighting us!」(Umika)
「Us…?」(Alice)
Don’t tell me… I also have to fight her followers too!?
Now I can see why she looks so confident…
「That’s right! Us!」(Umika)
As she put her hands on her waist and said that out loud, her followers took a step forward and glared at me altogether.
Except for one.
「U, Umika-sama, forgive me, but… I don’t think challenging her is a good idea…」(veteran follower)
He was the veteran player from yesterday. For some reason, he looked at me with a scared face. I could feel fear from his eyes.
「What did you say? We have this many people, and she’s alone. There’s no way we lose!」(Umika)
「That might be true, but… She is… She is…」(veteran follower)
「She is what!? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of her! You’re a veteran just like her, aren’t you?」(Umika)
「Well, yeah, but…」(veteran follower)
From his expression, I can tell that he’s afraid of me. I think I’ve seen such expression before.
That’s right. It’s the same expression the spectators made after I won my first match in the PVP event.
I see now. He must have watched my match.
I’ve fought swarms of monsters many times, but I’ve never fought a group of players. However, this girl doesn’t seem to want to back out no matter what. I guess I’ll have to entertain her.
「You’re right. A one-on-one fight with a beginner won’t be interesting. Fine. I’ll accept your challenge. I’ll fight all of you!」(Alice)
「Oh, you’ve got guts! I like it~!」(Umika)
「U-Umika-sama!」(veteran follower)
「You shut up and fight for me! Or you want me to kick you out of my fan club!?」(Umika)
「No, please no! I just… I… Yes, Ma’am… I’ll do my best.」(veteran follower)
「Good!」(Umika)
This guy seems to have strong loyalty toward this girl. I’m unfamiliar with internet idols and stuff like that, but I’ve heard the word ‘gachikoi’. Perhaps he’s one of them.
*/TL : Gachikoi is a Japanese slang term for having a romantic feeling toward a celebrity, idol, or streamer like Vtuber.
「Let’s not waste time. You can create the match now.」(Umika)
「Aight.」(Alice)
I’ve never created a match since I never fought someone outside the event, but I know how to do it.
I opened my UI, went to the PVP tab, and created the match.
「The format is team elimination mode. The area range is one kilometer in diameter. No time limit. Sounds good?」(Alice)
「Wait. Team elimination? Are you sure? You can set it to leader elimination, you know? It’ll be easier for you that way, right?」(Umika)
In the team elimination mode, you have to kill all the members of your opponent team to win, but in the leader elimination mode, you only have to kill their leader.
I could have set it to leader elimination mode and aim for their leader, which is this girl, but I want to use this opportunity to test my skills.
I still have the feeling of frustration from losing to Rin in the PVP event. That’s right… I have a goal, which is defeating my best friend. To do that, I have to get stronger.
「No, it’s alright. I’m gonna kill every last one of you.」(Alice)
「Khu! Ahahahaa! I like your confidence! Very well then! Let’s do it!」(Umika)
The match format is a team match, but I’m alone. On the other hand, she has twenty people who are ready to fight for her. Moreover, one of them is a veteran player who has watched my match before.
Since you can only have seven people in one party, she formed three squads. She’s in the same squad with the veteran player.
I have twenty-one people to kill, including her. Even though they’re all beginners, excluding that veteran player, killing them all and winning is going to be extremely difficult, but for some reason, my chest is filled with excitement instead of worry.
I sent the match request to her, and she accepted it. Then, a countdown appeared above us along with a bot-like announcement voice.
『The private match is about to begin.』
3… 2… 1…
『Match started!』
ーBwoosh!
I put strength in my legs and jumped backwards as soon as the match started, disappearing into the forest.
ーーーーーーーーーーー
ーUmika’s perspectiveー
「Aa! She’s running away!」(Umika)
She disappeared into the forest.
The match has just started, and she’s running away already!?
I can’t let her get away!
「Umika-sama, wait!」(veteran follower)
I was about to chase after her, but this guy grabbed my arm.
I let him join me because he’s a veteran player, and I thought he could be useful, but it turns out he’s useless and has done nothing but get in my way.
My other fans are chasing after her into the forest, but I’m left behind thanks to this useless guy.
「Why are you stopping me!? We must go after her!」(Umika)
「No! You mustn’t fight her in the forest! It’s too risky!」(veteran follower)
「Huh!? Stop talking nonsense! We should hurry!」(Umika)
「Umika-sama, please listen to me! She is… She is no ordinary player!」(veteran follower)
「What do you mean?」(Umika)
「Her name is Alice. She’s one of the renowned players in this game. She even has a nickname.」(veteran follower)
「Nickname?」(Umika)
「Yes. People call her The Headhunting Princess.」(veteran follower)
「Huh? That’s such a stupid nickname. Does she collect heads or something?」(Umika)
「A, anyway, she can’t be underestimated, especially when she’s in the forest. We have chosen the wrong place to fight her…」(veteran follower)
I don’t understand what he’s talking about.
A renowned player? That girl?
She doesn’t look like a strong player at all.
（（The king of hearts called for the tarts～♪ and chopped the knave’s head off～♪ ））
Suddenly I heard a singing voice echo through the trees.
「What is this? A song?」(Umika)
「Dammit, it has started! Umika-sama, cover your ears! Quickly!」(veteran follower)
「ー!?」(Umika)
I have no idea what’s happening, but this guy urged me so desperately.
He seems to know something, so I decided to do what he said and covered my ears.
After a while, he signaled me with a nod, telling me it should be fine now.
As soon as I moved my hands away from my ears, I heard a scream.
「Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyyy!!」
「Stay away from me!」
「Gaaaaaaahh!!」(followers)
「Eh?」(Umika)
It’s my fans’ voices. Are they being attacked somewhere?
I checked on my party interface and noticed three names had turned grey and their HP bars were gone, meaning that they had been killed.
「This is not good! She’s started the hunting!」(veteran follower)
「What?」(Umika)
Start the hunting? Does he mean she’s hunting us now?
「Mo-Monsteeerrrr!!」
「Please! Spare my life!」
「Gaaaaaaaahhh!!」(followers)
Not long after, I heard more screams from different directions.
「What the hell is going on!?」(Umika)
「Looks like the other squads are being attacked. Dammit, we shouldn’t have gone in separate directions.」(veteran follower)
「What now!?」(Umika)
「Please send a message to the other squads. Ask them the situation and tell them to get out of the forest quickly.」(veteran follower)
「A-alright!」(Umika)
I panickedly opened my message and started typing as quickly as I could. I asked my fans in the other squads what their status is, but the replies never came.
「They’re not replying!」(Umika)
「That means they’ve been wiped out. Dammit!」(veteran player)
「How come!? The other two squads have fourteen people! They are just beginners, but how in the world did she kill that number of people so quickly!?」(Umika)
「I’ve watched her match before. She seems to have a special skill that allows her to take down an enemy in just one hit.」(veteran player)
「One hit!?」(Umika)
「Yes. According to the rumor, this ability is very difficult to master, and people speculate that she’s the only player who has completely mastered it currently.」(veteran player)
「No way…」(Umika)
Looks like she’s way stronger than I thought.
「To kill her enemy in one hit, she targets their neck most of the time. So, please watch out for your neck.」(veteran player)
「Neck?」(Umika)
「People call her The Headhunting Princess for that reason.」(veteran player)
「I see…」(Umika)
Not just stronger, she’s way more dangerous than I thought.
Did I just pick a fight with the wrong person…?
I lost my strength and kneeled on the ground.
「Umika-sama!? Are you alright?」(veteran player)
「Ha… Haha… Looks like I’ve made a huge mistake…」(Umika)
「That’s right. You made a mistake the moment you picked a fight with me.」(Alice)
「ー!!??」(Umika)
Suddenly, I heard the girl’s voice. She was slowly approaching from the shadow.
I just noticed that the names on my party interface have turned grey except for my and the guy’s names, meaning that we’re the only ones remaining.
「Shit! Umika-sama, stay behind me!」(veteran player)
The guy stood in front of me and held his sword toward the girl.
「Honestly, I doubt I can win, but as your number one fan, I will protect you with all my might!」(veteran follower)
「Th, that’s my fan! I’ll reward you a private talk with me for ten minutes if you defeat her!」(Umika)
「Ten minutes of private talk!? I’ll do my best!!」(veteran follower)
「Now show her what you got!」(Umika)
「UWOOOOOOGH!【Berserker】!!」(veteran follower)
His body glowed in red upon activating a skill. He then charged toward the girl.
「HAAAAA!!! HAAA! HAAAA!!」(veteran follower)
「…….」(Alice)
The guy was swinging his sword with all his power. I could even feel the wind from his swings.
However, the girl dodged his attacks one after another like they were nothing. She is incredibly fast!
「You have powerful swings. I would suffer a huge damage if I took a hit, but, too badー」(Alice)
「ー!!??」(veteran follower)
ーSLASH!!
「ーYou’re too slow.」(Alice)
Thud!
I have no idea what just happened…
It was like the girl disappeared for a split second, and then the guy’s head fell off to the ground before I knew it.
「….Eh…?」(Umika)
It happened so quickly that my brain couldn’t process it.
After killing the guy, the girl shifted her gaze toward me.
「You’re the only one left now, Internet Idol-sama.」(Alice)
She was slowly approaching me.
Her eyes were so cold that it gave me chills down my spine.
「Khh!」(Umika)
I can’t win… There’s no way I can win…
I know that, but I can’t just give up.
I put all my strength into my shivering legs, trying to stand up. I then stretched my hand forward and cast the beginner spell I had just learned today.
「【Fire Baー」(Umika)
ーSLASH!!
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