Spearplay relied on the fundamental principles of swiftness and elusiveness. The tip of this spear weaved through the air, drawing patterns resembling heavenly constellations. Any Players watching would’ve clapped and cheered at the level of skill they were witnessing.
But Seo Jun-Ho kept his compliments brief. “Wow, you’re pretty good with the spear. Now that’s?spearplay.”
There was more to the spear than simply thrusting it forward from a guard position. It was able to instantly close the gap between the user and their opponent, leaving the opponent with no possibility other than to step back. In other words, the spear could be used to corner one’s opponent. They would have no chance to get close, and would ultimately fall under the spearman’s attacks.
This was the proper way to use a spear.
“But you still need to take more space. You have too many openings.”
Bang!?
As Seo Jun-Ho pulled the trigger, a bullet shot out from his revolver. The spear’s lines of movement filled out like a spiderweb, leaving no visible space for the bullet to come through. But as it approached, the spear somehow seemed to have moved out of the way on its own and created an opening.
“…!”
The spear-user looked down with wide eyes, staring at the hole in their chest.
Was it magic? Luck?
No, it couldn’t be either.
‘They read me. They read the trajectory of my spear perfectly.’?
Thanks to the Unknown System, the spear-user’s body was completely blacked out, like a suspect in a detective comic. They looked up, the system only making their eyes visible. They looked at Seo Jun-Ho, conflicted, and then spoke.
“…Thank you for teaching me.”
Fwoo!?
Seo Jun-Ho blew on the barrel of his gun. “I was worried because Players these days have no determination, but I’m glad that there are people like you.”
‘I’m level 120. What would a level 76 newbie know…!’?
The spear-user scowled, about to bark a retort, but they never got the opportunity.
[You have won.]
[You have received 88,000 points.]
[Returning to the waiting room.]
“Mmm.” Both Jun-Ho and his opponent were teleported back to their respective waiting rooms. He checked his new balance, feeling refreshed. “627,000 points… Man. They’re harder to earn than I expected.”
“If the other Players heard what you said, they would hit your head.”
The Frost Queen was right. What other Player could gather 550,000 points in merely two days? He had unofficially cheated the matching system. But therein lie the problem.
“Tsk. I thought I’d be able to get them all in no time…”
“Not all your opponents are idiots,” she said.
Seo Jun-Ho’s nickname had already spread far and wide across the matching forums. They had even given him numerous nicknames like zero-losses, monster newbie, point predator, bastard, and so on… Perhaps that was why he was no longer able to fight for hours as he had done on his first day.
“I’m telling you, kids these days have no spirit. Back in my day, we’d run into battle first and think about the consequences afterward.”
No one wanted to fight against him. He still needed to fight a few more matches to fulfill the bribe—no, the points?that Reiji had ordered him to prepare.
“Ugh, I should’ve just let myself lose a few times to adjust the ratio.”
“What did I say? I told you to do that,” the Frost Queen remarked.
Seo Jun-Ho had won every battle because he didn’t want to taint the holy score on his status window with a single loss… Though this had eventually become the very thing holding him back.
“Ugh. I didn’t think I would get caught, so I even changed my nickname…”
The Players weren’t idiots. There were little to no Players who were level 76 and had zero losses. Now, because of that, his duel would be rejected merely a second as soon as a match was made.
“Still, that spear-user just now had a good mindset.”
“…Is it not the opposite? The ones who still fight you have a few screws loose in their heads,” the Frost Queen said. They still fought him, knowing that he was a monster. She just couldn’t understand them.
“That’s why it’s impressive. The people who are still accepting my matches are fighting me to learn something new. It’s not easy to do that when your opponent is some low-level kid.”
Players like the spear-user excel no matter what they did. As long as one continued to learn, one would continue to grow.
“But Contractor, is it not starting to be a little dangerous?”
“Hm? Oh…” He nodded slowly. Right now, he was using the challenge system to challenge level 120 Players. He had no reason not to do so because it gave him bonus points as a reward. However, he hadn’t been matched with someone as strong as one of the Nine Heavens.
‘The matching system is held to a certain standard.’?
So, he would only get matched with Players without a huge difference in stats compared to him. But as he continued to get rejected, the ones he got to fight were getting stronger and stronger.
“Yeah. It’s starting to get a little dangerous for me. I won’t be able to just kill normal Players like before.” At this rate, he could even be matched with someone on Kim Woo-Joong’s level. Though, even if he lost, he would only lose 10-20,000 points out of the hundreds of thousands he had…
“But I don’t want to lose. It’ll hurt my pride.”
He would not let that happen, not as long as he was still in the running. Seo Jun-Ho let out a light sigh, muttering with a dejected expression, “Please, someone, anyone, accept my matching request…”
[The opponent has declined to match.]
[The opponent has declined to match.]
[The opponent has declined to match.]
…
And he kept getting rejected as if the System was mocking him.
‘What should I do? Should I start looking for other ways to earn points?’?
There wasn’t much time left until the Administrator’s shop opened. He only had five hours. He started to consider this seriously.
[You have been matched with a new opponent.]
Name: Heat Hunter
Level: 120
Stats: 375 battles, 370 wins, 1 loss, 4 ties
Bet: 100,000 PP
He had been matched with an opponent. Not only that, but they were a cocky Player who had bet 100,000 PP against him.
‘100,000 PP! With the challenge system bonus, I should be able to get the remaining 180,000 points once I win.’?
With this one battle, he could finally let go of his worries and concerns and stop using the matching system.
But the Frost Queen thought differently. “Why are you excited? They will refuse you as soon as they see.”
“…Right?” Seo Jun-Ho looked disappointed as he pressed ‘accept.’
[Matching has been accepted.]
[The name of this battlefield is ‘Antarctica’.]
The landscape changed. They stood on a glacier, surrounded by a freezing cold ocean. The map that had been chosen was Antarctica.
“They accepted?”
“…They accepted?” Both Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen looked confused. ‘Newbie 76’ had already become a household name. “Maybe it’s someone who came to learn something, like the spear-user from earlier.”
“They must have a few screws loose, then.”
“Well, I don’t know…” Seo Jun-Ho studied his opponent. Their figure was petite, and their height could only reach his chest.
‘That’s not a man, right?’?
If they were, they would be a boy who hadn’t finished growing. But based on their silhouette, it was more likely that his opponent was a woman.
‘Well, regardless of gender, they’re still my opponent.’?
He thought about what weapon he should show off and settled on the sword. It was a normal sword that could be found at any forge, bearing no distinctive traits.
“…” He felt his opponent staring at him. A moment later, the countdown appeared in front of the two.
“Contractor, do not let your guard down simply because they are petite…”
“No need to worry.” His opponent was a veteran that had won 370 out of their 375 matches so far. As such, they were definitely powerful.
‘I wouldn’t let my guard down at an opponent like this.’?
If he lost, he had a lot to lose. 100,000 points were riding on this match.
“…”
The battle began, but his opponent did not move. ．
‘Are they trying to read me?’?
He got the strong sense that they were evaluating him.
“…Then I should show them.” The amusement quickly left his face. It seemed like he had become a different person in a mere instant.
Shing!?
The sword let out a cold, vicious scream as it was unsheathed.
***
Seo Jun-Ho’s opponent, Heat Hunter, was actually the Team 2 Leader of Goblin Guild, Gong Ju-Ha.
‘So that’s the rumored Newbie 76.’?
She swallowed and hastily checked the information one more time.
‘They really are level 76… right?’?
As they unsheathed their sword, their aura changed completely. It was as if they had gone from a soft spring breeze to a winter gale.
“Impossible,” she muttered.
Not only that, but she was momentarily overwhelmed by this new energy.
‘The Guild members weren’t lying.’?
They really were a monster. As long as Newbie 76 wasn’t a fiend, she wanted to recruit them if she discovered their identity.
‘I should take this seriously too.’?
Gong Ju-Ha didn’t fit under the typical classifications of Players, such as swordsmen, mages, and aura-users. Those Players were classified based on what abilities they had and their preferred fighting style.
But Gong Ju-Ha had always been described using a single phrase—flame-user.
There were definitely Players who were stronger than her, maybe even more of them than she thought. There were also countless Players weaker than her. But Gong Ju-Ha was stronger than every flame-user who came before her and was stronger than every flame-user who would come after. No Player could refute that.
Crackle!?
She summoned a flame at the tips of her fingers. Seo Jun-Ho didn’t know this, because he didn’t pay much attention to these things, but ‘Heat Hunter’ was also a famous figure in the matching system. The only person with such a petite frame, and such powerful flames was none other than Gong Ju-Ha.
She saw her opponent flinch. They had probably realized her identity by now. They must have been pretty shocked as they were even muttering into the air.
“…I feel bad.” But she had no intention of going easy on them when the match had already started.
Fwoosh!?
Flames exploded around her. She would usually whine about how hot it was, but this time she didn’t. She watched him closely, eyes focused.
‘I’m glad that the map’s Antarctica.’?
It was her favorite one because it negated the heat her abilities exuded.
‘They’re coming.’
Her opponent pulled themselves together and started to accelerate. Their steps were broad, and their feet were wide.
‘Amazing.’?
Veterans like Gong Ju-Ha could evaluate someone else’s skills from that person’s gait alone. And as she watched her opponent approach, she saw just how strong they were.
Fwooooah!?
She raised her flames’ heat and stood on guard when she saw how her opponent was walking.
Tadada!?
As they kicked off the glacier, they raised their sword. Gong Ju-Ha squinted.
‘They’re still trying to face me head-on.’?
Had Newbie 76 never fought a Player with an elemental skill before? She felt greatly disappointed.
‘…That’s such a shame. They just lack experience. But I’m not gonna go easy on them just because they made a mistake.’?
Even an idiot would not do that on the battlefield. She decided that she would have to teach her hubae a cruel lesson as a sunbae.
Fwooosh!?
The flames fanned, swallowing Newbie 76.
“…!”
As they did, she saw a beautiful streak of light. The air sizzled with white vapor as her flames screamed against the Antarctic cold. The serene blade looked like it could freeze everything.?
1. The word “principle” (??, 妙理) is commonly used in a murim setting to refer to the ultimate essence of a technique, the absolute fundamentals that allow a technique to be executed perfectly (e.g. the principles of strength, flow, speed, etc.).