CLAAANG!
The two swords collided, scattering sparks in every direction.
The effect resembled a parry, but the size of the effect was smaller than that of a Parry Great Success.
Clash.
A judgment that appeared not when one attack was deflected, but when attacks unleashed at similar timing collided with each other.
Because of that, the clash judgment usually occurred at a timing where the initiative in offense and defense was not clearly decided.
CLANG!
Most often in player PVP.
A fierce fight where attacks collided with attacks, not offense against defense.
The more intense a fight was, to the point that it was hard to determine which side was on the offensive, the more each side’s attacks clashed and scattered sparks everywhere.
And the PVP between the level 1 newbie Kylo and KingdomOldHand was taking on the form of exactly that kind of close fight.
CLANG!
“Wow......”
“This is still the tutorial zone......”
“How does he keep clashing with a weapon like that?”
CLANG! CLANG!
KingdomOldHand’s and Kylo’s swords kept colliding, and clash after clash occurred in succession.
Clash was easier to trigger than an unassisted parry, which had a judgment window of only a few frames.
However, that was only when opponents of the same caliber were fighting PVP.
CLANG, CLANG!
‘How, how......!’
KingdomOldHand could not hide his shock at the clashes occurring one after another.
‘How the hell is he clashing with my attacks?!’
No matter how similar the timing of two slashes was, a clash did not simply occur unconditionally.
Especially,
‘I’m ten levels higher!’
when there was a clear gap between the players’ levels.
In that situation, no matter how similar the timing of their attacks was, a clash would not occur.
That was because even if it was an ordinary attack, the level of the attack changed according to stats such as Strength or Dexterity, level correction, and the player’s control!
But what about his opponent?
‘That bastard definitely shouldn’t have even unlocked leveling yet!’
That was right.
His opponent had not even unlocked leveling. He was level 1. No, he was a newbie who was not even level 1 yet!
And what about his weapon?
‘I’ve been doing quests in the tutorial zone since yesterday! I put together the strongest weapon in the tutorial zone!’
KingdomOldHand’s weapon looked like an ordinary sword, but it was the highest-grade mass-produced weapon that could be obtained from the supply base.
At KingdomOldHand’s level of knowledge, that was the strongest weapon obtainable in the tutorial hidden quest zone!
Then how?
‘How can he clash with my attacks?!’
At level 1, with a trash weapon that was no different from a black club.
How on earth was he not being pushed back?
‘This shouldn’t be possible.’
He had picked a fight so confidently because he had already been certain that his opponent was level 1.
Having learned utility skills in advance from the hidden quest, he could use not only [Duel Request] but also the [Observe] skill to grasp his opponent’s approximate information.
That was why he had looked down on a level 1 opponent, been certain of victory, and picked a fight.
And yet.
CLANG! CLANG! WHOOSH, CLANG!
No matter how hard he swung his sword, the swords on both sides only kept colliding and clashing.
‘I can’t break through his defense......!’
It was impossible.
‘Elysium should have level correction, shouldn’t it?!’
[Elysium Online] was an RPG, so aside from stats, level differences also affected combat judgments.
The greater the level difference, the greater the difference not only in specs, but also in poise and judgments.
In other words, KingdomOldHand was fighting with an overwhelming system correction behind him!
Normally, with such an overwhelming difference in specs, the moment their weapons met, Kylo should have been pushed back.
And yet.
CLAAANG! CLANG!
The clashes did not stop.
As if neither the level difference nor the weapon difference had existed from the start.
‘No way......’
There was only one explanation for this.
‘No way?’
A method to cause clashes while ignoring the difference in specs.
That was,
‘Is he deliberately matching the timing?’
only when the opponent countered the attack with an absurdly precise timing.
The more perfectly the timing matched, the easier it became for a clash to occur even when there was a large gap in attack correction values.
And if clashes were occurring to the point of ignoring a level gap of 10,
‘Then I can only think that he’s countering at timing close to a parry......’
And not just an ordinary parry.
In reality, it would require a judgment infinitely close to perfect.
‘No, that can’t be! It’s impossible!’
The problem was that it was realistically impossible.
A parry that countered an attack?
Let’s say, with incredible luck, he somehow triggered a parry using only physical ability and no support skill. That parry that only occurred within a few frames.
But what about the current situation, where their attacks were clashing?
CLANG, CLANG!
The current sword dance was not one side receiving the other’s attack with a parry. Both of them were swinging attacks at almost the same timing.
To make such a phenomenon possible.......
‘He has to predict my attack trajectory and move first.’
In other words.
Kylo was continuously triggering parries, and on top of that, he was doing so after reading and predicting all of KingdomOldHand’s attack trajectories, staying ahead of the timing.
Without a single mistake!
Could such a thing really,
‘Be done by a human......?’
CLAAAANG!
“What is this?”
“The newbie has lasted for several minutes......!”
“How can he fight that long?”
“Considering the level difference, he shouldn’t be able to receive attacks like that, should he?”
“Is he parrying......?”
“No, you can’t chain parries like that......”
“No, those are clashes!”
“Impossible. Look at the level difference! Clashes shouldn’t be happening like that!”
A level 1 was completely shutting out attacks from a [Swordsman] over level 10.
At that absurd situation, the watching players also began to be shocked one by one.
The onlookers had begun to notice too.
Between KingdomOldHand and Kylo, there was a difference in skill that overwhelmed the level gap.
“Kh......!!!”
Heat surged into KingdomOldHand’s head.
“Uryaaaaah!”
Letting out a roar, he put even greater force into the sword he swung.
As a result, the attack KingdomOldHand swung was judged by the system not as an ordinary attack, but as a heavy attack, a Smash Attack.
A heavy attack judgment could not even be clashed with an ordinary attack.
Especially not against an opponent with a level difference of 10!
‘With this, I’ve won!’
It was a distance that could not be avoided. KingdomOldHand was certain he had defeated this infuriating newbie.
But.
CLAAAAANG───!!!!
With a tremendous roar, sparks flew in every direction.
‘W-what......?’
At the phenomenon he had never imagined, KingdomOldHand gaped in shock.
‘What is this? A parry?’
But for a parry, the sound effect was far too intense.
KingdomOldHand, who had experienced the original server, knew that sound effect.
‘It’s Perfect......?’
A Great Success parry that appeared only when a stronger attack was countered at perfect timing.
That Perfect Parry had occurred right before his eyes.
“N-no way!”
[Elysium Online]’s Perfect Parry had a judgment frame far narrower than an ordinary parry.
So narrow that even most pro gamers could not trigger it intentionally without the aid of skills!
But where was this?
Was this not the hidden section of the tutorial zone, where only basic skills could be obtained?
It was a phenomenon that absolutely should not be able to occur in this situation.
‘Then how......?’
How could a newbie with no skills trigger a Great Success parry?
“What are you doing?”
Kylo asked with a grin.
As if mocking KingdomOldHand, who had stopped moving in shock after the Great Success parry.
TAP!
Then, instead of following up with an attack after the parry, he lightly struck KingdomOldHand’s chest with the end of his sword hilt.
And so the distance between them widened again.
“What, what?!”
“Was that Perfect? It was perfect, right?!”
“Insane!”
“Is that possible?!”
“It must have been a fluke!”
“No, does this game’s Perfect Parry happen by fluke?!”
The onlookers were also shocked after seeing the Perfect Parry.
Even the players who had not noticed the strangeness from earlier could recognize the effect of a “Great Success parry.”
“I-it must have happened by chance!”
“Hey! No-skill Perfect has a 4-frame judgment! It doesn’t happen even by chance!”
Old-generation games did have techniques with timing windows of only a few frames.
The problem was that the short input timing in those games came from the fact that dedicated controllers were mostly simple devices that could be operated by hand.
However, [Elysium Online] was a VR game. It was not controlled by a simple keyboard or controller, but by sensation.
And not only sensation. You had to move your body.
Because of that characteristic, frame judgments in VR games were extremely harsh.
And yet.
‘He did that intentionally......?’
KingdomOldHand was a player who, in addition to [Elysium Online], enjoyed the extremely PVP-oriented game [Kings of Dominion].
He had faced quite a few experts, had once been obsessed with raising his score in rating matches, and had even been matched against pros in [Kings of Dominion]!
Even that KingdomOldHand could never trigger a Perfect Parry at this stage.
‘Even a pro couldn’t aim for a Perfect in Elysium at level 1.’
And yet, no matter how he looked at it, that parry had been triggered intentionally.
If that was possible.
‘A monster......’
In KingdomOldHand’s eyes, the opponent before him, Kylo, began to look different before he knew it.
A mountain.
A mountain he could never defeat.
It was a feeling similar to when he had met a pro in a rating match in Kings of Dominion.
Chill.
“Ugh!”
For an instant, KingdomOldHand felt a shiver and froze.
“What’s wrong?”
A voice tinged with laughter reached KingdomOldHand, who had unknowingly blanked out.
“Weren’t you going to teach me a lesson?”
Kylo smiled as he twirled the black sword as if playing around.
An attitude with not a hint of seriousness.
‘No, no!’
KingdomOldHand shook his head, wiping the mountain-like pressure he had felt until now from his mind.
‘As if a bastard like that is some kind of pro!’
A master of an RPG was also bound to have excellent information-gathering ability.
But what about Kylo?
He had charged into an early quest, and a tutorial-section quest at that, without knowing anything.
He could not possibly have that much skill.
‘He must be pulling some dirty trick!’
A dirty trick.
The moment he thought that, one thought flashed through KingdomOldHand’s mind.
‘Could it be......?’
A powerful guess that could prove why a player named Kylo was strong enough to match him while still level 1. No.
‘No, was that possible in Elysium? But......’
A powerful suspicion.
‘That would explain it......!’
A Great Success parry that could not realistically be triggered. That was the only reason he could think of why a beginner could trigger that Great Success parry.
At least, within the imagination of KingdomOldHand, who had never experienced the heavenly realm, the skill of legend-class rankers.
And the suspicion that appeared in KingdomOldHand’s mind was the thing KingdomOldHand hated most.
“Y-you bastard, don’t tell me......?”
“Why?”
Toward the shocked KingdomOldHand, Kylo asked back innocently.
“Are you the one getting scared and bowing your head now?”
With clear intent to provoke him.
“Kh......!”
KingdomOldHand’s head instantly went white with rage.
“Y-you bastaaard!!!”
Having forgotten the pressure because of his anger, KingdomOldHand attempted to attack again.
If only to confirm the suspicion that had appeared in his mind.
SLAAAASH!!
A blue effect surrounded KingdomOldHand’s sword.
He had activated an attack skill, which he had been unable to use because the continuous clashes had left no opening.
***
SLAAAASH!!
A blue skill effect wreathes KingdomOldHand’s blade.
It seemed to be the basic slashing skill, [Slash].
‘Oh, is he getting a little serious now?’
The bastard had even learned [Duel Request], but he had only been swinging his sword without using a single skill, so I could feel that he was looking down on me a great deal.
‘That’s what happens when you take it easy because you think you’re stomping a lowbie.’
It was obvious he had wanted to win with only basic attacks and no skills, stomp me, then swagger around afterward.
So I had deliberately blocked every attack and waited for him to show his real skill.
It was not particularly difficult. Honestly, only clashing was boring. The only time it had some impact was when I parried the one heavy blow he unleashed.
But.
SLAAAASH!!
Now an attack using a skill was coming.
‘He said he was KingdomOldHand, right......?’
I had never played it, but I had heard Kingdom was a PVP-oriented game where tournaments were held often. Even in the army, there had been at least one junior soldier who was an avid Kingdom player.
If he had barged into another game and was swaggering around with a name like that, he had to have some confidence in his skill in his own way.
That kind of player had now begun attacking in earnest, even using skills.
‘Then let’s see......’
Should I start doing this properly too?