[ROUND 1. FIGHT!]
The countdown concluded, and Kanghyuk, expertly maneuvering his character, Tsubaki, calmly created distance between them.
He refrained from a reckless charge.
Though this was merely the first match of the placement test, his opponent had selected Kagerou—a character rarely chosen by anyone who wasn’t a genuine eccentric.
‘Could this be a high-ranking player, like myself, running placement matches for a different character?’
Kanghyuk assessed the possibility of facing a player of his own caliber, prompting him to cautiously probe for an opening move.
Yet, in that very instant, something peculiar caught his eye.
Adjacent to his opponent’s health bar, directly beside the inscription [ID: Unknown], a small icon was prominently displayed.
Accompanying the sprout-shaped icon was a title, emblazoned with stark clarity.
[Beginner]
‘…Huh?’
Kanghyuk’s razor-sharp focus momentarily fractured.
This title was exclusively bestowed upon users whose accounts were less than a month old.
While it could have been an alternate account, the game’s system stipulated that the [Beginner] title vanished permanently upon reaching Gold tier, making it impossible to re-equip.
This implied that his opponent was a pure, unadulterated novice—someone who had never even attained Gold tier with any other character.
A wry chuckle escaped Kanghyuk’s lips.
‘…So a total greenhorn, utterly clueless, picked Kagerou simply because it looked cool.’
The tension, which had gripped him moments before, melted away like snow.
“Alright. For this first match, I’ll take it easy, starting with a combo I’ve been practicing on the test server.”
[Blazing Whirlwind Kick!]
Tsubaki executed a low sweep of the ground with a kick wreathed in vibrant flames.
This was a low attack; failure to block it would send the opponent soaring into the air, destined to become a helpless victim of a hellish aerial combo.
Kanghyuk remained indifferent to whether his opponent blocked or took the hit. He had already resolved to initiate an assault with this attack, intending to apply pressure and shatter their guard.
However.
‘…They’re not blocking?’
Kagerou made no defensive maneuvers whatsoever. As if daring Tsubaki to strike, they absorbed the flaming kick with their unshielded body.
Thwack-!
[Kagerou HP: 100% → 95%]
“Ugh…!”
With a dull thud, Kagerou’s body was propelled skyward.
For Kanghyuk, this was a flawless opportunity.
“Hyaah!”
Tsubaki, in mid-air, swung her sword, batting the launched Kagerou even higher, then used the resulting momentum to propel herself further upward.
Following this, she exhaled crimson flames, momentarily stunning her opponent, and then, with a final, forceful downward strike of her sword, sent them plummeting to the ground.
Aerial Slash—Flame Breath—Downward Strike.
In the blink of an eye, a storm of a dozen or so attacks rained down.
Crash-!
Kagerou was slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Their health bar plummeted by nearly 30% in an instant.
[Kagerou HP: 95% → 67%]
“…What was that?”
Despite having executed the combo flawlessly, Kanghyuk found himself unable to shake an unsettling feeling.
His opponent’s movements had been peculiar.
It was as if… they were intentionally allowing themselves to be struck.
However, he quickly dismissed the thought with a shake of his head.
‘Nah, no way.’
Kanghyuk chuckled dismissively.
Indeed, they were merely a beginner. He had foolishly expected too much from someone sporting the [Beginner] title.
Most likely, they were clueless about defense, let alone counterattacking, and were simply being pummeled like a scarecrow.
“My apologies, but I have no intention of going easy on you.”
Kanghyuk, without a trace of mercy, unleashed another relentless offensive.
He pressed Kagerou relentlessly, his intention to test the full repertoire of Tsubaki’s skills.
Flaming shurikens soared through the air, followed by teleporting assaults from behind. Yet, Kagerou remained utterly passive. They simply endured every strike in silence, much like a mere punching bag.
Thwack! Thump-thump! Crash-!
It was a one-sided pummeling.
The fight proved so anticlimactic that even Kanghyuk found himself questioning its legitimacy.
Before long, Kagerou’s health bar began to flash crimson, signaling imminent danger.
[Kagerou HP: 20%]
At this point, a mere graze would spell defeat.
“Let’s finish this.”
He initiated Tsubaki’s most fundamental three-hit combo.
A standard finisher, beginning with a low kick, transitioning into a mid-level slash, and culminating in an overhead downward strike.
The very instant Tsubaki’s foot arced toward Kagerou, Kagerou—who had, until then, merely absorbed every blow—moved for the very first time.
Clang-!
“…!”
Kanghyuk’s eyes widened in utter disbelief.
His three-hit combo, as if by prearranged design, was entirely parried with flawless timing.
Three consecutive parries, executed with zero margin of error, not even a tenth of a second.
[Mind’s Eye Stacks: 0 → 12]
‘…This is!’
In that precise moment, a specific passive skill belonging to Kagerou flashed through Kanghyuk’s mind.
[Passive: Death Line (死線)]
[Effect: Gain increased Mind’s Eye stacks as HP decreases]
A shiver of profound unease coursed through Kanghyuk’s entire body.
‘That madman…!’
The reason they had remained utterly passive, absorbing every attack from the outset, wasn’t due to an inability to defend.
On the contrary, it was precisely the opposite.
‘To push the passive’s effect to its absolute limit… they were intentionally taking hits? What kind of twisted, perverse playstyle is this?’
An extreme gamble, staking their own health on the chance of a single, devastating counterattack.
That alone was utterly deranged, yet something even more chilling lurked beneath the surface.
‘And someone who can parry all of that… such players are virtually nonexistent, even in Transcendent tier!’
Parrying a three-hit combo in quick succession was a feat almost impossible for human reaction speeds.
‘…Is this a hack?’
Upon arriving at that chilling conclusion, Kanghyuk’s mind grew utterly cold.
Indeed, no other explanation seemed plausible.
A malicious user: someone who creates a new account, adorns themselves with the [Beginner] title, and employs illicit programs for automated parrying. This was a breed of player he had encountered all too often.
His opponent was no monster, but merely a cowardly deceiver.
‘This has become boring.’
In that precise moment, Jihyeon’s Kagerou surged into action.
A guard-breaking dash skill, executed by expending 10 Mind’s Eye stacks.
[Flash (一閃)]
Kagerou crouched low, her hand closing around the hilt of the katana sheathed at her back.
It was a drawing sword stance.
Upon witnessing this, Kanghyuk let out a dismissive snort.
‘Predictable.’
A hallmark of hack users was their over-reliance on their program’s performance, coupled with a profound lack of understanding of the game’s intricate systems.
That skill, Flash, was undeniably unguardable. Yet, every technique invariably possessed a counter.
Kanghyuk expended two bars of his special move gauge, activating Tsubaki’s evasive counter skill, [Flying Fire (飛火)].
The very instant Kagerou’s blade carved a straight flash through the air, Kanghyuk’s Tsubaki’s form shimmered, dissolving into a heat haze.
‘What was that skill?’
Jihyeon’s eyes widened in alarm. Her special move had missed its mark.
Tsubaki, having successfully evaded, soared into the air and unleashed a torrent of flames.
A guaranteed counterattack.
It was an inescapable situation; neither dodge nor block was possible.
Whoosh-!
A colossal burst of flames completely consumed Kagerou’s body, which was already in a critical state.
[KO]
[Kagerou HP: 21% → 0%]
Jihyeon gazed blankly at the defeat message that materialized before her eyes.
Flash, which she had believed to be a perfect counter, had futilely missed, leading to her being countered instead.
[Unknown: Excuse me, what was that skill?]
Driven by pure curiosity, Jihyeon typed her question into the chat.
It was a skill she hadn’t recognized; she absolutely had to learn its name.
Yet, Kanghyuk, even after seeing the chat message, offered no response.
‘What a shameless individual. Using hacks and then, upon losing, blaming the skill itself.’
He unequivocally branded Jihyeon as a quintessential hacker, a player utterly devoid of skill and solely reliant on illicit programs.
[Unknown: Aren’t you going to answer?]
Kanghyuk casually ignored the repeated chat message. There was no value in conversing with a hacker.
****
[ROUND 2. FIGHT!]
As Round 2 commenced, an entirely different dynamic unfolded.
Jihyeon’s Kagerou surged toward Tsubaki like a tempest.
‘A grab.’
Through the first round, Jihyeon had recalled the only other reliable offensive she knew besides parrying and Flash.
Kagerou extended her hand toward Tsubaki.
“Hmph.”
Kanghyuk scoffed. A grab? It was preposterous.
‘A hacker would typically have a forced grab function as standard…’
If his opponent truly was a hacker, they would bypass his grab escapes and force a grab. Kanghyuk, half-skeptical, nevertheless input the same grab command, successfully escaping Jihyeon’s attempt.
Clack-!
Kagerou’s grab was thwarted.
However, Jihyeon, in turn, flawlessly escaped Kanghyuk’s subsequent grab attempt, which he had tried to capitalize on her post-grab recovery frames.
Clack! Clack! Clatter-!
The two characters exchanged grabs and grab escapes a dozen times over.
Without an inch of concession, they perfectly read each other’s moves, maintaining a fierce back-and-forth.
‘Did they turn off the program? Or is this a cheap hack without a forced grab function?’
Kanghyuk’s mind became a tangled mess.
Yet, his conclusion remained unchanged.
That absurd parrying skill was inexplicable without the presence of a hack.
‘Whatever it is, I’ve already reported you, so you’ll definitely be suspended after this match.’
Kanghyuk muttered inwardly, refocusing on the grab exchanges.
‘…This could go on forever. What am I even doing, fighting a hacker like this?’
Ultimately, it was Kanghyuk who first retreated.
He decided to temporarily set aside his pride as a pro. He feigned a grab motion, then executed a back jump.
His intention was to create distance and regain control of the pace.
‘Even a hacker is useless if the pilot is trash.’
Kagerou and Tsubaki now faced each other from a distance.
Kanghyuk thought calmly, steeling his resolve.
Indeed, that opponent possessed a remarkably low understanding of the game.
Crucially, they hadn’t even properly mastered basic attack commands, and their knowledge of Tsubaki’s skills or operational style was entirely nonexistent.
‘Stay calm. This isn’t the first time you’ve faced hackers.’
They were merely flashy on the outside, rotten to the core. An auto-parrying program couldn’t handle psychological warfare. Ultimately, in a true battle of skill, he would never lose.
Kanghyuk once again seized the initiative in the offensive.
He employed a dazzling array of feints, disorienting Kagerou.
He crouched as if to launch a low attack, then slashed mid-level; he feigned a dash, then retreated, throwing flaming shurikens.
But Kagerou merely parried every single attack.
It was then.
Kagerou suddenly leaped into the air. A smile of certain victory spread across Kanghyuk’s lips.
‘Could a cheap hack program react within 0.5 frames?’
At the precise moment Kagerou swung her wakizashi for an aerial attack, Kanghyuk activated Tsubaki’s anti-air skill.
[Blazing Swallow Dance (火燕舞)]
Soon after, her body pushed off the ground, soaring upward.
It was an elegant yet deadly dance, like a burning swallow ascending into the sky.
Clang-!
“…This madman!”
The burning swallow’s dance froze in mid-air.
Thud-!
The beautifully dancing firebird was brutally slammed into the ground.
“No way…!”
Kanghyuk watched his stunned Tsubaki, aghast.
And before the stun could wear off, Kagerou, having landed, moved.
Jihyeon showed no mercy.
She expended 10 of her [Mind’s Eye Stacks], which had surged well past 20 from her perfect parry just moments before.
[Flash (一閃)]
Kagerou crouched low, her hand closing around the hilt of the katana sheathed at her back.
It was a guard-breaking dash skill.
Kanghyuk knew this.
He struggled desperately to break free from the stun, but it was already too late.
Swoosh-
A straight flash of light pierced clean through Tsubaki’s prone body.
[Tsubaki HP: 100% → 65%]
Struck by [Flash], Tsubaki stumbled, unable to recover from the stun.
[Ephemeral Dream (夢幻泡影).]
His vision was consumed by pitch-black darkness and scattering cherry blossom petals.
…Click.
With the sound of a katana being sheathed, Tsubaki’s body dispersed into numerous crimson lines.
[KO]
