Yuki didn’t think today was anything special.
Like usual, she logged into Silia Online to fight against monsters, beasts… and occasionally, people.
When the late evening came, she’d return to reality and fall asleep.
The variation was just whether she had the stream on or off; in reality, Yuki’s daily life was no different from a spinning hamster wheel.
But Yuki liked this routine.
Life had gotten a bit stimulating, and she could earn money while having fun—what’s not to like?
They say that when a hobby becomes a job, you lose the fun and interest.
But that certainly didn’t apply to Yuki.
Fighting for her life wasn’t just a job for her.
“Haah…”
Canaria.
Yuki pretended to be indifferent to the girl she randomly deemed her master, but honestly, she was a little surprised.
Kana’s demise.
The way she fought against the magician from the Empire was undeniably the image of the master Yuki knew.
She understood that monsters and players—the ‘mobs’ they called them—could respawn.
But the moment she saw Kana meet her end…
‘This is the end.’
Even if she had once been a raid boss, the finale was someone’s connection, after all.
It didn’t easily occur to her that someone who met such a death would revive like any other mob.
“But you came back.”
“What are you mumbling about now?”
Yuki quietly smiled at the voice coming from behind her.
Still nonchalant, and at the same time, it had a cocky undertone.
Yuki accepted Kana’s revival easily, thanks to the resemblance to the image she had in her memories.
‘I’ve been feeling a bit frustrated lately.’
Yuki often felt a nagging sense of “this isn’t it” every time she swung her sword.
Someone who has never seen a wall doesn’t know how high it is, nor how small they are.
But once someone witnesses a tall wall blocking their path and faces the mountain behind it, they realize their own insignificance.
What Yuki was feeling right now was exactly that.
She had unwittingly raised her standards while watching Kana and the Empire’s strong ones fight, resulting in dissatisfaction with her own swordplay.
The more monsters she killed, the stronger her mana and body became, but that wasn’t the kind of strength Yuki wanted.
Even when training while watching the footage Da-eun left behind, she didn’t feel like she was improving.
While thinking whether she should seek out a strong person and ask for advice, Yuki headed out once again, embracing her frustration.
And that choice turned out to be the best decision she had made recently.
She had found someone who could help solve her worries.
“A satisfying fight…!”
It wasn’t exactly a difficult spell.
Yuki always fought with her utmost effort.
So hearing such words didn’t change much.
After all, Kana probably didn’t think she could take down this giant either.
“…But this is too big.”
Yuki looked up.
A colossal shadow loomed over the ground.
It was so huge that it felt like the whole area had turned to night.
Yuki’s great sword, which usually smashed monsters’ heads with a single swing, seemed like nothing more than a toothpick before this giant.
Even if she jumped with all her strength, would she even reach its knee?
Honestly, she had no idea how to fight it.
But that was Yuki’s issue.
Boom—
“Ugh…!”
The giant, in its monstrous form, had no intention of considering Yuki’s situation.
Just a simple action of lifting and placing its foot down.
With hardly any force, that light movement shook the earth, and Yuki’s stance wobbled in response.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Yuki’s spine as she lost her balance.
Crash!
Without much thought, Yuki threw herself sideways.
In reality, “throwing” was more like “tumbling,” and it looked quite ridiculous.
She thought that if the broadcast had been on, it would have been a laughingstock.
But she wasn’t ashamed of actions taken to survive.
Even so, Yuki didn’t enjoy being a target for the viewers’ mockery.
“Thank goodness I didn’t turn on the stream.”
As she pondered while feeling the storm-like wind brushing past her head, a soft giggle floated around her like a bird’s wingbeats.
A delicate laugh that didn’t belong on a battlefield where lives were at stake.
‘…That’s right.’
In that moment, Yuki suddenly remembered that there was someone else here besides her.
While some were rolling on the ground to survive, others were casually watching and laughing.
With rising anger, Yuki managed to steady herself and caught a glimpse of what had just passed over her head.
A hand the size of a decent mid-sized monster.
The hand that had failed to squash Yuki returned to its owner, crushing innocent debris.
The giant’s eyes were obscured by the heavy, slow-moving hand that fit its massive size.
‘This is my chance…!’
Having eyes meant having a line of sight.
Right now, with her view blocked by the palm, was the perfect opportunity.
Now was the chance with my vision obscured.
Of course, the eyes might just be for show, and there was a possibility that I could sense my surroundings with other faculties.
“I can’t consider that much.”
The gap in power was too great to account for every possibility.
If a weakling like me wanted to grab even the slightest opportunity, certain things had to be excluded.
Yuki, having quickly reached a conclusion, sprang to her feet and charged toward the giant.
The falling dust and debris when she stomped the ground didn’t matter at all.
“—Huff!”
Yuki puffed her chest out and inhaled deeply, drawing air deep into her lungs.
As the air filled her, her muscles expanded, and maybe it was just in her head, but she felt it.
Thud-thud—
Boom!
After a moment of a running start, Yuki took off, making a sound like a cannonball firing as she soared into the air.
Like a bowstring pulled tight, she arched her body back.
If she were an average person, the weight of the great sword secured behind her would have sent her tumbling backward, or at worst, her spine might have snapped.
But her sturdy body and the mana flowing through her prevented such an accident.
“Weight, strength, potential energy… something like that.”
Yuki gathered all these thoughts into one singular aim: swinging the sword to achieve what?
There were plenty of wishes and reasons, but ultimately, wouldn’t all of it boil down to ‘fighting and defeating my opponent’?
“What I wish for—”
The enemy’s silence…!
Her bent back straightened out.
Without resisting the weight of the great sword, she spun in mid-air—
And just like that.
Whoooosh!
A meteor struck the giant’s foot.
Impossible to believe it was just the sword and foot colliding, a heavy shockwave struck the air.
Zing…
For a brief moment, she frowned at the vibrating aftershock that rattled her body.
Forcing her trembling arms to regain control, Yuki retrieved her great sword and swiftly backed off.
Whether the attack succeeded or failed, she couldn’t tell.
“Surely there’ll be some kind of reaction.”
Even if the giant merely lifted the foot Yuki was perched on, she would soar up into the sky only to crash down.
Yuki didn’t want to be a dried fish just yet.
“─────!”
Yuki’s prediction hit the mark.
A sound echoed, indistinguishable from a scream or a wrathful roar.
“Gah… Urgh…!”
Merely a noise, but an unbearable shock reverberated through Yuki’s insides.
Cough!
Without even realizing it, her mouth opened, and from deep in her throat, a hot lump surged forth as if waiting for its moment to leap out.
A hot lump surged up from the depths of Yuuki’s throat, as if it had been waiting for its moment to burst forth.
Yuuki let out a chuckle at the crimson puddle soaking the floor.
“This is insane.”
Just from a shout, is this the damage done?
After being attacked by Kana, the health bar that had barely been refilled was already down by more than half.
It was strong enough to make her think it was a miracle she wasn’t dead in one hit.
…The word “despair” couldn’t encapsulate the whole situation.
“-Heh.”
But Yuuki laughed.
She saw the giant’s right foot awkwardly slipped out.
Because it was dripping a violet liquid from its instep.
Though compared to the giant’s size, the wound was like being poked with a needle—no, more like a pencil.
“Well, at least I got one hit in, right?”
There was nothing quite as delightful as landing a hit against an overwhelming foe.
Did the giant understand Yuuki’s mocking words?
Gragrgrgrg…!
The ground scraped roughly beneath its foot.
The atmosphere surrounding the giant became even heavier.
“You acted cocky and got hit, so why are you angry?”
Getting mad now would just be pathetic.
With a tongue stuck out, Yuuki downed a potion.
As she felt a bit of vitality return to her body, she readied her great sword, and the giant moved its arm while glaring at her with glistening eyes.
‘Something like this…’
Just dodge it.
…Or so Yuuki thought, but her body froze.
‘So fast…!’
A massive shadow loomed over her.
Was this how Goku felt being under Buddha’s palm?
Seeing the palm approaching her at a speed that was incomparably faster than before, Yuuki sensed her impending doom.
However.
“Are you giving up already?”
Sjaang—
The palm that surely would’ve turned Yuuki into a puddle of blood collided with something and bounced back.
Under the brightened sky, Kana stood there wielding a red sword.
“Even if you die, you’ll come back, so don’t give up so easily. When I was your age, I fought tooth and nail for my life…”
“…Sensei, you’re such a boomer.”
Yuuki muttered, feeling a mix of relief and absurdity.
But in a corner of her heart, she thought,
‘If it’s sensei, maybe that really was true.’
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