Streamer Crazy About Slaughter - Chapter 19

***

‘PVP.’

One of the words every user hears when playing an online game.

If they are a gamer who only enjoys solo games, they might not know, but the fact is that everyone who plays games knows this term.

And whether intentionally or not, game companies strive for this game system in almost all games to curb the rapid consumption of content by users.

Not a fixed framework of user vs game.

A system of user vs user. In some ways, that single, seemingly trivial fact creates a truly vast array of infinite content.

The patterns that monsters may have differ for each user, and with various skills, classes, matchups, equipment specs, and so on, there are countless elements to consider, making it filled with immense variables — which makes it a given.

Moreover,

From 1:1 duels to 2:2, 3:3, and even 5:5 games. Looking at it on a larger scale, there are siege wars that exceed 20:20.

And now.

Another World was currently the number one game in the modern era, supporting all these PVP formats.

In short, it’s a game where users hit and k*ll each other.

……

After Seoyoon left, Han Serin hurriedly logged into Another World after a quick shower. As soon as she connected, she entered the arena and immediately began a ranked match.

She considered hunting monsters, but honestly, there was such a huge difference in impact feeling between PVP and PVE that she didn’t really feel the urge to k*ll monsters even within this game.

So now she found herself in the Colosseum.

“…This system totally reminds me of ‘that game.’”

Running the match, or in other words, queuing up.

It was exactly like the system from a game she used to enjoy in the past.

While she was queuing, there was the unique background music, and once the match was found and the queue was set.

—Ding ding!

With the distinctive sound of the queue being established, the words ‘Accept OR Reject’ appeared.

As she pressed the holographic accept button, a smile escaped her unconsciously.

“Really… all games are essentially the same once you think about it.”

Wielding her Crescent Moon Blade in the air a few times to get used to the sensation, a light burst appeared inside the Colosseum shortly afterward.

That meant her opponent had appeared.

From the opponent’s perspective, it was probably seen as if they had appeared in the Colosseum in the form of that light burst.

“No… it’s a placement test.”

As soon as she saw her, the female character blurted that out. Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be some sort of Elf.

‘The character customization is really… awful.’

Perhaps because she was feeling rather relaxed at the moment, the appearance of the character caught her eye more than anything like their weapon.

In fact, she took pride in customizing her character’s appearance, so it was a habit of hers to evaluate other characters’ appearances without even realizing it.

In truth, she was even a character named Lin that had been hot in the community for years due to character customization. She had her own unique character design that she never shared, even when users asked her to.

“Oh, is it a placement test right now?”

“Yes…”

The woman replied with a face that conveyed she already felt defeated at her question.

Considering her reaction, it seemed she had probably seen her on NewTube or some other community, but there was no reason for her to care about that.

As the opponent said, this matchmaking level was indeed a placement test.

It was a clash of people who were doing ranked games for the first time.

The Outlaw, who had faced her just once, found it funny to think that being cautious or even feeling tense at this placement test stage was ridiculous.

—The duel will begin soon.

Not long after, a hologram indicated that the duel was about to start, and she felt a sensation as if her body was being restricted.

It seemed they couldn’t move beyond a certain area until the duel began.

Well, if it were a ranged class, they would benefit by creating distance against a melee class, while conversely, a melee class would close the gap, so it felt like a necessary system.

Soon, the countdown began.

—3. 2. 1.

Without paying much attention, when the countdown ended, she jumped and swung her Crescent Moon Blade.

With a single leap, her Crescent Moon Blade reached the opponent, who was some distance away.

“Ah!?”

The woman was startled and hurriedly lifted her dual-wielding weapon.

—Thud!

Her Crescent Moon Blade had already struck the woman’s head at that very moment.

As she stared at the strange bl**d clump that had solidified at the point of impact, a hollow laugh escaped her.

“No… isn’t that more brutal?”

Seeing something stuck in the bl**d clump brought certain associations to mind.

And didn’t they say that humans are imaginative beings…?

‘No, don’t think about it.’

Gently pulling her right hand, the embedded blade let out a sharp sound as it came out, and as usual, it smoothly returned to her right hand.

The experience of her first ranked match was truly empty, and she felt nothing at all.

It ended in mere seconds.

Just like a simple action of ringing a bell, it was a result she found very natural.

—Victory!

Immediately after, the sound of light fireworks along with the hologram that proclaimed her victory elegantly adorned her field of vision.

Though it seemed like they had put in some effort for her to enjoy her victory, she truly felt nothing at all.

———

[Iron Tier 5]

—1000 LP → 1050 LP

———

And another hologram followed.

LP, or League Points, indicated her tier progress, and seeing that she earned 50 points for the single victory during her placement test, it was likely set so that 50 points were awarded from the start.

“No, starting from Iron…”

Looking at the tier rather than anything else, her expression unintentionally scrunched up.

It wasn’t that she was frowning because tiers were hard to raise or points were low.

Much more than that, the thought of what might happen during the process gave her a strong sense of discomfort.

If it’s a placement test, of course, starting from the lowest tier would be expected. Denying that is just absurd; starting from a high tier would be unfair.

However… she had already reached a level where she could be considered a master of PVP in this game.

‘What about the newbies?’

How many newbies would she need to k*ll to find a tier that fit her skill? That was what troubled Serin more than anything else.

In the past, whenever she encountered a game, she would quickly enter the ‘veteran’ stage, which humorously referred to someone as a Gosu.

The term veteran isn’t exactly a good one, as it alienates newbies and raises the entry barrier to the game itself.

“…Well, there are many users, so it’s fine.”

But Han Serin’s worries weren’t prolonged.

Another World was currently a number-one game in every sense. Thus, it was considered a ‘trending game.’

In such a game, did she really need to worry about such things? It was certainly different from ‘Black Ark,’ which had been called a ‘miserable fail’ in the past.

Another World wasn’t a game from a bygone era played with a keyboard and mouse but featured operations, scale, user pool, and futuristic virtual reality systems that had numerous differences when examined one by one.

Thus, she wasn’t the kind of person who would elevate newbies whenever she saw them while playing that ‘Black Ark’ game.

She remembered how she had cherished each guild member in that game that was slowly fading away, providing advice to newbies on the beginner channels regarding transportation or anything else.

Looking back, her actions seemed laughable.

As if players who were about to quit would be stopped just because of her efforts, it’s just so absurd that a single user would struggle to hold onto the game when the company was failing at operations.

‘It was all futile.’

“So let’s grow stronger, newbies. I’m technically a newbie, too.”

With that somewhat unrealistic declaration, Han Serin began to queue for ranked matches without hesitation.

……

Not long after she started ranked matching, she swiftly completed 6 matches.

And the results were 7 consecutive victories.

It was truly a one-sided victory and could be described as an unstoppable momentum.

Whenever Han Serin swung her arms, a mosaic of bl**d clumps would materialize.

Including her initial match, all 7 ranked matches concluded with one overwhelming victory for Han Serin.

Even after an additional 6 matches, only around 10 minutes had passed.

And all were clean hits resulting from a single swing.

Han Serin was achieving something absurd called ‘one hit, one k*ll’ in ‘Another World,’ which belonged to the RPG genre, while quite literally massacring newbies.

While Another World certainly had something known as ‘specs’ implemented, it was possible because of a strangely realistic system where a headshot led to ‘instant d*ath’ in PVP, provided the damage exceeded a certain level.

———

[Iron Tier 4 → Iron Tier 2]

—1050 LP → 1350 LP

———

Before she knew it, she was at Iron Tier 1.

Seeing that her tier moved up by 1 level for every 100 points, if she won three more times from here, it was likely she would reach the Bronze Tier.

—Ding ding!

As Han Serin contemplated this, she unconsciously accepted the next queue when the sound rang out.

Once again, a light burst erupted, and a user entered her Colosseum.

“…?”

Naturally redirecting her gaze toward the newly appeared user, Han Serin couldn’t help but clench her fist.

No way, how could anyone customize a character to look that terrible?

‘Don’t they have any affection for their character?’

“…Surely not Lin-nim?”

Voices calling her “Lin-nim” from every opponent she met already struck her several times.

Han Serin felt she was more famous than she expected.

How could every opponent she encountered in this Colosseum call her ‘Lin-nim’?

“Ah, yes, well… do you know me?”

Despite her thoughts, Han Serin still responded.

“Yes, yes!! Of course, you’re famous in the community and on NewTube…! No, that’s not the point, it’s just that meeting you here is… just… wow.”

Suddenly, the opponent muttered to themselves, hesitating.

“I’m really sorry, Lin-nim, but could you please lose just one match for me?”

“…What?”

Suddenly asking her to lose was puzzling.

In a moment, Han Serin thought she must have misheard that.

And after a glance, her expression evidently scrunched up as if it were visible to anyone looking at her.

“…Really. I’m sorry, but I’m currently in a promotion match. I genuinely want to reach Bronze… How can I get you to understand that if I ask like this?”

As she stared at the bizarrely customized opponent with a blank expression, Han Serin heard the most absurd request she had ever received throughout all her time playing games.

To lose because she was in a promotion match.