When I came to my senses, I had already left the training ground. Looking around, it seemed like a sort of lounge located near the practical exam area.
Realizing that, memories of earlier came flooding back. In a desperate attempt to get away from him, I elbowed straight into him and ended up fainting like an absolute fool.
‘Ah… I must really be an idiot.’
Even the word ‘lost’ felt too generous.
Even without that incident, my hasty actions and terrible response left me with no excuse for my defeat.
If I had just waited for him to attack first or responded without panicking when he charged, victory would have been in the bag. But I accomplished neither.
Honestly, I had been too complacent. Even I knew I had been raised like royalty and had never faced criticism about my weaknesses.
‘Was his name Rudion?’
He introduced himself as an unremarkable person, but the fact that he had just finished the theory exam at that hour was already a clear sign of his exceptional skills.
To think I underestimated someone like him. Looking back, I feel pretty stupid.
As I recounted the events from earlier, I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me.
‘It’s the first time I’ve been that close to a guy.’
Not because of my blunder, but due to the awkwardness between us.
His forceful behavior, pulling me closer, kept replaying in my mind.
Lost in these thoughts, I found myself unconsciously fiddling with my left wrist when the door opened, and a woman walked in.
“Awake, huh? How are you feeling? Any headaches or anything?”
“Ah, no. I’m fine.”
“Well, that’s good. Still, should I give you one more treatment just in case?”
“Um, no. I think I’m okay.”
I knew my own condition best. I wasn’t just saying that; it was the truth.
“Really? Well, that’s great. Oh, right. I should introduce myself. I’m also a supervisor here. I did come here for something like this, though.”
She said that while poking my temple. There was something oddly teasing about her tone and expression…
But maybe since she was an adult after all, she gave me a little comfort as well.
“Don’t be too disheartened. From what I’ve seen, you wouldn’t beat him even if you tried your hardest.”
I wasn’t sure if that was reassurance or just insult.
Regardless, I couldn’t accept the idea that I would lose. I was certain that if I had just responded properly, my magic would’ve activated and the outcome would have been different from this situation.
“You look doubtful. Hm, since the exam is still ongoing… how about we go take a look?”
“…Sure.”
When I said it sounded noisy outside, it seemed the exam was still in progress.
Alright, let’s see how well they’re doing that I had to hear this kind of talk. I followed the supervisor out of the lounge.
Unlike earlier when it had been quiet, the exam area was now packed with a massive crowd.
It was so crowded that I thought it would be impossible to go through alone, but since the crowd parted for the supervisor, I focused only on keeping up with her.
We arrived at the front row of the spectators’ seats, which provided the best view of the training ground. Below, I could see Rudion still holding his ground against another opponent.
And the duel was nothing short of shocking.
“What the….”
“Crazy, right? I thought the same. Who knew there were guys like that?”
The supervisor’s words were neither comfort nor anything else; they were just the plain reality.
“Did you really think you could win if you hadn’t bashed your head in like an idiot and had used your magic properly?”
“….”
“Do you still think that way?”
I shook my head.
It was truly frustrating, but no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine winning against that man.
Perhaps it was because it was the first wall I had ever felt outside of my parents.
For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
///
Bullying newbies was easier than I thought.
The difference in abilities had to be overcome by skills, but look at Seria right now; she was still at a chick level, right? And the fresh newbies who were just taking their entrance exams needed even more training.
Look at that cute newbie, swinging around a sword and missing the distance control, digging around in a completely useless position.
‘So ridiculous.’
I could feel drool dripping. I seriously wanted to kidnap her and teach her various nurturing methods and sword techniques.
But that girl looked oddly familiar… Wait, could it be?
“What’s your name?”
“Artes.”
“Gasp.”
So she was the protagonist? I didn’t recognize her at first because she always had some weird customization.
She didn’t seem quite like the dependable character I had seen on the title screen, but she still had that boyish protagonist face.
Wow, seriously, don’t go to anyone else later; come to me. I’ll take care of you.
‘Right now, she’d be assigned to a low-level class anyway, so I don’t have to worry about her yet.’
I played around with her a bit, knocking her down and getting her to surrender.
Until the others show their true abilities, I figured this would be enough to not leave a terrible impression on the supervisors.
As I continued to pass the time by easily tackling these lower-tier opponents, I started to sense that properly skilled individuals were getting ready to come up to the training ground.
These were the upper-class students expected to enter. They were actually quite talented, frequently appearing in the story and influencing it.
So I knew who they all were… and honestly, they’d be tricky opponents compared to the others.
While it was true that my stats were at the top level, at this point, there were plenty of guys who wouldn’t fall behind in terms of brute strength.
Among them were those who had already honed the right abilities and skills suited for themselves, unlike me, who was just flaunting unutilized stats.
In other words, from now on, if I didn’t execute a proper strategy, I could really lose.
‘But what to do?’
Facing the newbies, I realized that definitely, reality wasn’t the same as the game. Unlike the click-clack of the keyboard commands, in reality, I had to move my own body.
Of course, maybe because of my high stats, I was moving better than I expected. I wasn’t tired at all despite having moved rigorously for a long time.
But still, reality was different from the game.
The game is made of 0s and 1s, where physical laws are completely ignored. In reality, one wrong step could mean stubbing your toe on a corner.
For example, in the game, things could look like they hit you and just breathe through, but in reality, just grazing it would be disastrous.
What good did it do to know all the attack patterns? If I couldn’t avoid them, it’d be pointless.
So at this point, I’d need to pick up some equipment that seasoned players consider taboo.
“What did he pull out?”
“Don’t you know? But he was fighting barehanded, and now he’s finally going to use something. Looks like he’s getting a bit nervous.”
“Well, the ones coming out now are all somewhat notable.”
“Is that a weapon? Looks like a shield.”
“A shield, huh?”
That’s right. The best defense is supposed to be offense. If I couldn’t avoid an attack, my only option was to parry!
Of course, even that would probably be made impossible due to the reality nerf… Parrying? I’d have to settle for just blocking or deflecting a hit or two.
Just as I was thinking that, it really seemed like the world wasn’t flowing as I wished.
“Wow, isn’t that him? A dwarf, and he’s a huge one at that.”
“His muscles are insane….”
“But by sheer size, he’s not outmatched, is he? Both are monsters, for sure.”
Suddenly, a prominent character from the story appeared.
He was an all-rounder and a cheat character skilled in weapon crafting and combat. The only tall muscular dwarf among purebred dwarves—Harold!
You might think, what kind of dwarf carries the basic hero name from some game-making tool? But this guy is a straight-up hero.
He seemed even more of a protagonist than the actual protagonist, and despite being a male character, he had tons of fans, leading to all sorts of fan art featuring ridiculous scenarios… Just thinking about that made my stomach turn.
No, wait. This isn’t the time to be imagining Harold in a belly shirt and garter belt.
Dwarf Harold. He would later become a MacGyver-like man, creating all sorts of equipment and using them effectively, but at this point, he was just a barbaric warrior.
His current weapon was a massive hammer.
And what happens if you block a hammer with a shield? That would be one of the dumbest things you could do.
It was a hard counter. I’d humiliated myself by picking up a shield, and it had all gone to waste.
Boom! Boom!
“Think a dude like you can swagger around, fighting only weaker opponents? Why don’t you try going up against someone real!”
With that massive hammer, he approached nonchalantly, and one hit would surely send me to the ground.
Was he in his 20s with that strength? I would seriously be done for.
Thus began the duel.
Using my high agility to avoid attacks, I was essentially just stepping back.
It was impossible to dodge while staying close; the hammer had a wide attack range.
I could see the attack patterns. But there were no openings to escape.
I tried to spot a gap, but his abilities activated and cut me off immediately.
As a result, I kept retreating until I hit the wall.
“In the end, is this all you have? You’re just another one pretending to be strong against weaker ones.”
Harold seemed to lose interest as he saw me running away, his voice tone falling.
“Still, I can acknowledge the stamina you’ve held up until now. It’s time for you to rest.”
With those words, he swung his hammer and charged forward.
I knew the motion for an ability I had, but unlike in the game, it felt impossible to dodge.
At this rate, my head would be smashed by that hammer.
What an anticlimactic end for a seasoned player like me.
‘Ah, so the karma for breaking Seria’s head is already coming back to me.’
Thinking that, I watched the hammer speeding toward me.
Now that I looked closely, it wouldn’t just end with my head being smashed. But I wouldn’t die… probably.
‘But that’s definitely going to hurt like hell.’
Maybe it was because of those thoughts, but moments before the impact, an image of me parrying the attack flashed in my mind.
Following that image, I raised the shield I held.
My body moved as if it had a mind of its own, responding to instinct rather than thought.
The motion I’d seen millions of times on screen. The technique I had thought impossible until just a moment ago played out through my body.
Parry.
A heavy mass connected with the shield and bounced off.
Thwack!
“What?!”
With a rebound that felt utterly unbelievable for such a light motion, Harold was sent flying back, losing his balance.
He looked genuinely flustered by the unexpected outcome, but honestly, so was I.
I didn’t even expect this! Wait, how did this happen?!
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