Chapter 3

Drunken Fist is one of the unique traits that is measured as B-level despite having passives, unlike A-level traits that fundamentally include passives.

The trait known as The One Loved by the World (S) possesses a passive that provides an overwhelming advantage in all games or probabilities, significantly increasing luck during combat.

Furthermore, the trait National Hero Without Equal (S) grants exceptionally high stats as a passive in strategy and intelligence, overwhelming other traits.

So, what kind of passive does our Drunken Fist (B) possess?

It responds unconditionally to the opponent’s first attack.

It is an ability ideally suited to thwart assassination attempts.

Moreover, the counter is triggered regardless of the assumption that one cannot even react, and its power increases proportionally to the opponent’s attack power.

At this point, it sounds quite excellent.

However, there is a reason why this trait is merely rated B.

[*It also reacts to fake motions.]

In short, it means that it unleashes Power Release at full force even against attacks that do not carry intent to kill.

It seems that this technique is unsuitable for various situations.

Furthermore, it creates situations where one can easily waste a one-time invulnerability skill that can block an attack.

What happens afterward? Naturally, one is left defenseless.

And that situation was exactly what happened at this moment.

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Clearly, it was a being that had never moved, as if it were a decoration in the game.

Whether it was a Red Giant or a Crimson Giant, anyway.

Having ignored it while digging into the ground, suddenly that guy lifted his foot and slammed it down towards me.

“Huh?”

Boom!!!!!

The threat I felt instinctively led to an automatic use of my counter.

Without realizing it, the Power Release I uttered coincided with a massive body comparable to the 10th floor of an apartment springing into the air.

Thud!!!

And the vibration caused by the giant falling to the ground was sufficient to lift up the girl whose body was stuck to the earth.

“Uwaaaah!!”

Once her body came unstuck from the ground, she stumbled and stood up, holding her head with her hands.

“Oh~ So reality is different from the game…”

Not to mention the nausea caused by the alcohol, that shock made me feel like I would throw up right away.

“Bueeeh… Uugh.”

The sudden surge of saliva and nausea prompted me to vomit into the pit I had dug, which made me feel a bit better.

Ugh…

The dust cloud still rising around me obscured my vision and only showed me the remaining time floating in the sky.

[8:32]

“What? There’s still this much time left?”

[8:31]

“Yeah.”

[8:30]

I thought time was still remaining, but instead felt my mind cool down when I saw the time slowly decreasing per second.

“Wait a minute…”

It was fortunate for me, who had no sense of time due to drunkenness, but the harsh reality of only having 8 minutes left was overwhelming.

Damn, if I hadn’t been drunk, I would have been looking for my summoned creature by now!!

And the time floating in the sky was soon down to a mere 7 minutes.

At this point, it would be a tight call to open frozen food and pop it in the microwave.

“Ugh…”

Oh, as I started to think slowly, my head began to hurt again, so I took another drink.

That damned alcoholic trait must have activated.

I had intentionally been diluting weak drinks to sip on them longer, but every time my drunkenness diminished even slightly, a headache came rushing in, preventing me from stopping.

“Oh~ I don’t know.”

The Red Giant isn’t moving right now, but Drunken Fist is meant for fighting humans.

Drunken Fist is martial arts intended to deal with human-like opponents, not to knock down a 30-meter tall giant.

I simply sat there drinking.

“Phuaah…”

Even if the giant attacks again, I am incapable of responding since I have already used my counter once.

I just lie back and think that the test-tube folks will take care of it~.

“Surely they won’t actually try to kill me, right?”

No matter how much those humans have a tendency to look down on ordinary people, there’s no way they’d go that far.

…Probably?

But as always, predictions can be mistaken.

The giant once again rises from its position and looks down at me from high above.

“Huh?”

Feeling something amiss, I threw my body sideways as quickly as possible at that moment.

Crash!!!

The ground splits beneath the fist that came crashing down.

The stage collapses and the protective barrier in the sky shatters.

“What the heck!!!”

Even so, the Crimson Giant is a summoned creature of a professor from the Academy that only unleashes its power in the later stages.

But did it have a reason to attack me with full force like this?

Boom!!!!

Yet the giant continues its assault without giving me time to think.

I could avoid it, but there was no way to counterattack.

A mistake would surely lead to shattered bones…!

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

“Hmm…”

As I continued to dodge, I realized that these attacks were depressingly monotonous to a serious degree.

“If I had been squished, I would have ended up as dried fish by now~”

It felt as if something was being expected from me.

Rustle rustle!

To prove that, I entered the forest and hid my presence.

Then the attacks stopped.

Instead of indiscriminately targeting my location, it was as if I had to intentionally miss.

“Hmm, hmm. I see!”

At the moment I realized this, my head started spinning quickly amidst the tipsiness.

And I reached one conclusion.

The professors up there are expecting me to show a counter like before.

Given the subject, it made sense that the power of the counter would escalate significantly as well.

“If that’s the case…”

[5:11]

I check the time floating in the sky and calculate.

“Yeah! That will work!”

***

“Was it all just a coincidence?”

“To say it was a coincidence, that was too precise an attack. No… it was a counter.”

The previously subdued heat and curiosity began bubbling like lava among the professors.

An attack that could wipe out the Crimson Giant in one go? They themselves could pull that off too.

There’s no doubt about that.

However, they were seasoned veterans who had been working in this combat field for decades, masters of situational response.

In contrast, the student over there has just been tossed into a combat situation.

Yet they unleashed a destructive attack capable of momentarily incapacitating even the Crimson Giant with a technique whose nature was completely unknown?

And all this without even properly positioning themselves?

That’s… something they could hardly say they could do easily.

“Hey, Aileen. Did you see what just happened?”

“No… I didn’t see it.”

Moreover, what further piqued the professors’ interest was that the attack the girl launched was completely unseen.

That alone was a test for them concerning the girl.

They hoped she would show the same technique just once more.

[The participant has disappeared from sight! Hiding their form in the forest!]

In that moment, the girl concealed herself in the forest.

Until then, she was still red-faced and intoxicated.

“Hmm… what should I do? I can’t figure out her exact position like this.”

She had deliberately missed her attacks until now, which had allowed the girl to dodge, but the situation was different now that she had vanished from sight.

“Should I just swing anywhere?”

“No, no matter how amazing her previous attack was, it’s hard to say what might happen.”

A life could be lost in the testing grounds due to a blind strike.

No matter how curious and interesting it was, they were not the kind of people to gamble with another’s life for their own desires.

[Where on earth could she have gone!!]

Time continued to flow, and the clock in the sky showed that only one minute was left.

[Oh! The participant has emerged again!!]

Just one minute.

While it might seem short, one minute in a battlefield could mean the difference between life and death for many.

“You didn’t just come out without any basis, did you?”

“I don’t think so.”

All the lights and cameras on the stage focused on the girl.

Everyone in the stadium anticipated what would happen next.

“Please, let her have something ready.”

***

This was an experiment.

Isn’t it common to suddenly have strange hypotheses while walking or developing curiosity about various paradoxes?

…Or maybe not.

It might be just my oddity, but I always enjoyed thinking about something.

And this was no different.

The [Counter] of Drunken Fist does not have a cooldown until the Drunken Fist ends.

And right now, my Drunken Fist was being forcibly maintained by the Cursed Alcoholic.

So then, what would happen if the drunkenness ends and the alcoholic trait is lifted?

“The cooldown of the counter might reset.”

As the alcohol wore off, the Drunken Fist extinguished.

“Ugh.”

Then came the throbbing headache, but this wasn’t enough.

I had to be fully sober.

My head hurt.

I wanted to give up.

Why do I have to go through this?

I want to lie at home, crying while mocking my miserable life.

Why am I here being such a fool instead of just drinking?

“Ugh!”

Gulp, gulp.

However, at the moment I felt completely sober, I immediately downed the drink.

“Phew~ That was close.”

Indeed, the curse was not just a curse.

Even just for a brief moment, I had thoughts of suicide.

But there was no time to think about this.

Only one minute remained.

Only my future self would know what stories would unfold ahead.

Step by step.

And so I quietly left the forest and moved forward.

What lay before me was the massive body of the giant, akin to a colossal fortress.

As if asking if I was ready, the giant’s eyes met mine, and as its massive hands raised above me…

I took a stance, steadied my breath, and quietly said.

“Power Release.”

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All I could hear was the loud ringing in my ears.

Beeeeeep—————-!!!!!

“Uwaaaah!!”

I felt a staggering wind pressure enveloping me and lost consciousness.

Boom!!

“Ugh!”

To be honest, it was more about my head being knocked by the bottle I held than the wind pressure itself, I think.