We wandered around the street vendors and filled our stomachs with snacks.
The next destination was the game center that Seo Ye-in had been looking forward to.
Like other places, the game center was extremely crowded with barely any room to step in.
Despite that, we persisted, squeezed our way in, and headed to the student-only corner in the back.
Because the mini-games required a fair amount of points, the crowd thinned out noticeably in this place, but it was still more crowded than it had been two weeks ago.
Then, Seo Ye-in’s steps suddenly halted as she quietly stared at one spot.
“Gunslinger Adventure…”
“It’s gone.”
The arrangement of the arcade machines had changed, and most of the games, including <Gunslinger Adventure>, had been replaced with others.
It wasn’t just the prizes that were updated regularly.
Especially since <Gunslinger Adventure> was a strong candidate for replacement as we had practically won the highest score and the prize.
As Seo Ye-in gradually became more sullen, the ever-positive Go Hyeon-woo consoled her and I added a comment of my own.
“Haha, Miss Seo. Don’t be too disheartened. Surely, there are other fun things to enjoy?”
“Other games might be fun once you try them.”
“Mhmm …”
“Let’s check out the prize list first.”
If we set a new goal, her interest would come back.
<This Week’s Prize List>
– Invisibility Scroll – Accessory
– Equipment Enhancement Stone
– Rank Up (E)
– Dreadful Teddy Bear
…….
The list was similar yet different from two weeks ago.
Back then, there was [Random Rank Up] which I picked right away, but it was missing now.
It’s not a reward that appears very often.
So as a second choice,
I should pick Rank Up.
The [Air Burst] I bought at the graduate market was relatively easy to rank up, but adding a Rank Up would save me even more time.
I asked the two of them,
“Is there anything that catches your eye?”
“Rank Up.”
Go Hyeon-woo was still pondering, and Seo Ye-in chose the same Rank Up as me.
It seemed like she planned to use it after raising [Bullet Time] to E, which wasn’t a bad choice.
So, how could we obtain this?
[Rank Up (E)]
▷Acquisition Condition 1: Achieve 20 kills or 15 assists in <Weapon Master>
▷Acquisition Condition 2: Die fewer than 3 times
Go Hyeon-woo who had been peering from the side asked me,
“What kind of game is Weapon Master?”
“That one.”
Among the newly installed arcade machines, one game took up half of the student corner.
The competitive survival game, <Weapon Master>.
The simple rule was that participants wandered around a designated space for a set amount of time and fought when they encountered enemies.
If you died, you could continue by inserting another token, but naturally each token cost 300 points, and our target [Rank Up] required us to give up if we died three times.
“It won’t be easy to get 20 kills or 15 assists with only 2 deaths.
That meant you had to get 10 kills for every death.
The good news, however, was that it could be played in teams of two.
If one person aimed for 20 kills and the other aimed for 15 assists, it would be perfect.
“So we can’t do it together?”
“No, it has to be in pairs.”
“I see. Then I’ll proceed alone. I’m very interested.”
“What will you choose for the prize?”
Go Hyeon-woo glanced over the prize list again and replied.
“There’s nothing that particularly interests me, so I’ll just enjoy the experience this time.”
“That works too.”
Just then, a game ended and a lot of spots opened up.
The next round of participants who had been waiting nearby filled those spots.
The three of us also took seats in a row.
Seo Ye-in inserted a token first.
A large “?” appeared on the screen, then quickly morphed into various silhouettes of different people.
There’s a reason the game is titled this way.
The class and weapon of the character controlled by the player were randomly assigned.
Except for the player’s own class, of course.
For example, Seo Ye-in’s class was a gunslinger, so she would never get a long-range character.
Instead, she could end up as a Paladin, Mage, or Priest.
To win, players needed to master any weapon they were given, which is why it was called <Weapon Master>.
The rapidly changing silhouette soon settled into a fixed shape and Seo Ye-in’s character was revealed.
It was a dark-skinned, bald, and heavily muscular man.
His clothes were half-worn and his body was covered in red marks which could be tattoos or paint.
In his hands was a rough single-handed sword, and at his waist was a hand axe.
Seo Ye-in had become a barbarian warrior, or a “Barbarian” for short.
The Barbarian on the screen let out a loud roar, as if to announce his presence.
– Guuuuaaaah—!
“……!”
Seo Ye-in’s gray eyes sparkled.
It seemed like she quite liked it.
It was good to see her interest return.
Next, my character was also decided.
It was a scrawny man with a back bent like a shrimp.
His clothes were similar to Seo Ye-in’s Barbarian, and he had a long tube in his mouth.
He resembled “Skinny” whom I saw at the Feathered Serpent Altar.
Barbarian Poison Dart Shooter.
If you were hit by one of his darts, you would experience various status ailments, such as blurred screen, control reversal, and slowed movement.
It was a character focused more on control than defeating enemies.
Of course, there was the condition that the darts had to hit, but who was I?
The king of mini-games.
And with this, our roles were clearly defined.
“You do the killing, and I’ll assist.”
“Mhmm.”
Seo Ye-in nodded her head.
Meanwhile, on Go Heyon-woo’s screen appeared a beautiful female mage dressed in elegant and neat attire.
As she swung her staff, a blizzard swirled around her.
Go Heyon-woo let out an exclamation of admiration.
“Oh, I’m a mage. I’ve always been curious, and now I get the chance to experience it.”
“Be careful. That body is really weak.”
“Haha, I’ll be careful.”
Soon, it seemed all participants’ characters were decided as the screen quickly changed, and the next moment, Seo Ye-in and I were standing in a large ruin.
Torches burned here and there and they cast a dim light around.
At the bottom of the screen, a scoreboard displayed the kill/death/assist counts.
[Barbarian-Seo 0K/0D/0A]
[PoisonDartShooter-Kim 0K/0D/0A]
The countdown soon began, marking the start of the match.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
“Okay, let’s get going.”
“Let’s go.”
Seo Ye-in took the lead with her melee character.
We moved down the large passageway. We turned left and right at each fork and continued forward.
As we walked aimlessly for a while, a massive shadow flickered in the light of the torches and gradually drew closer.
– Clang, clang,
A pair of a knight wearing thick armor and a priest following behind.
It seemed they were just as unfamiliar with melee classes as Seo Ye-in since their movements were extremely awkward.
– Guooooo!
Seo Ye-in’s barbarian let out a roar and charged forward.
After getting close to the opponent…
She swung her sword wildly.
She was still not accustomed to the controls, but that couldn’t be helped.
The opponent seemed to be in the same situation and the knight clumsily thrust his shield forward to block.
Hmm, unnatural.
The barbarian and the knight exchanged attacks with creaking arms.
This kind of disaster often happened when one was controlling a class they never experienced before.
Amidst this childlike battle,
– Whirr—
The knight’s body was enveloped in a bright light.
The priest in the rear was casting a healing spell.
With only one side recovering health, Seo Ye-in would fall first at this rate.
Of course, I wasn’t just going to watch.
I had started preparing a poison dart as soon as the battle began, and now it was loaded.
I aimed it at the opponent and,
Whoosh!
The poison dart slipped through the gap in the knight’s helmet.
Then the knight’s movements noticeably slowed down which indicated he was afflicted with a slowing debuff.
They were in the middle of exchanging blows.
When one side’s movements slowed significantly, it inevitably exposed major openings.
Seo Ye-in struck the knight’s shield with all her might and broke his stance. Then she brought her sword down with all her strength.
Clang!
The iron helmet dented under the barbarian’s brute strength.
Despite that, Seo Ye-in didn’t stop her sword from coming down.
Bang, bang, bang!
[Barbarian-Seo 1K/0D/0A]
[PoisonDartShooter-Kim 0K/0D/1A]
“Hey, that one’s running away.”
The priest immediately turned his back and ran.
However, a poison dart struck his nape, and Seo Ye-in quickly approached, grabbed him, and cut his throat.
[Barbarian-Seo 2K/0D/0A]
[PoisonDartShooter-Kim 0K/0D/2A]
“You’re pretty good for your first time.”
“I’m strong.”
“Yes, very strong.”
The Barbarian was a class that fought purely with physical strength. It was the epitome of a strong man.
“Let’s keep going.”
“Mhmm.”
As we continued walking along the passageway of the ruins, we saw two more shadows flickering in the torchlight.
Two more warriors appeared.
They wore the same leather armor and wielded the same swords and shields.
Since classes were assigned randomly, it wasn’t unusual to encounter duplicates.
The twin warriors noticed us and charged quickly.
I loaded a poison dart and instructed Seo Ye-in as well.
“Axe.”
“Axe.”
Seo Ye-in pulled out a hand axe from her waist and threw it straight ahead.
The spinning hand axe flew through the air and embedded itself in Twin Warrior A’s shoulder.
I thought it was likely to miss since it was her first time throwing a hand axe, but as expected, she was good at throwing things since she was originally a long-range class.
“Let’s deal with the one hit by the axe first.”
“Mhmm.”
The Barbarian character strode forward, ready to clash with the two warriors.
Whoosh—!
I shot a poison dart.
A thin dart embedded itself in Twin Warrior B’s neck.
“Ah! What is this?!”
A confused shout came from somewhere.
It was probably the player controlling Twin Warrior B.
Judging by the way they were floundering around, it seemed they were hit with the “control reversal” status ailment.
It must have been disorienting, especially since the player was using a class he wasn’t used to.
Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in aggressively pressured Twin Warrior A.
He was already significantly weakened with a hand axe lodged in his shoulder.
Twin Warrior A tried to block with a shield, but Seo Ye-in kicked it away and stepped forward before slashing diagonally with her sword.
Crunch!
Twin Warrior A was sliced in two, and Seo Ye-in immediately charged at Twin Warrior B.
Twin Warrior B who had just recovered from his control reversal status ailment steadied himself and prepared to counter.
Whoosh!
Until the next poison dart struck.
“No! What is this really?!”
Another confused shout echoed through the student corner.
After examining Twin Warrior B’s condition, his movements became as slow as a slug.
He was hit with a slow status ailment.
An opponent under the slow status ailment was easy prey for the strong Barbarian, Seo Ye-in.
Crunch!
[Barbarian-Seo 4K/0D/0A]
[PoisonDartShooter-Kim 0K/0D/4A]
“Strong.”
“Strong.”
We exchanged a light high-five. Clap.
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