Chapter 118 - Shadow Linker (2)

How Hyun and Ain dueled was different from most users.

—Both of them moved constantly.

Even after tens of seconds had passed, no one had attacked yet.

But there was a reason behind those complex movements—they were looking for the perfect opportunity.

The balance broke for a very short time.

Fwoosh-!

Ain's eyes shone, and flames rose.

Attacks mixed with numerous feints came flying so that they couldn't be dodged or blocked.

At the same time, Hyun's smile deepened.

'I'm not the same as before!'

Crack-!

The moment a dark magic circle appeared in the air, Hyun's figure was devoured by a pitch-black darkness.

«Shadow Shield»…

That skill, which could absorb up to a certain fixed amount of damage, could perfectly devour Ain's flames.

High damage was the strong point of the Elemental Berserker!

But suddenly, it was also its biggest weakness.

The flames died down.

Ain's high attack increased Hyun's.

Hyun's figure was tinted in darkness, just like the figures they'd seen during the awakening quests.

The more Demonic Energy he absorbed, the darker he became.

'What…?!'

An alarm bell rang in Ain's head.

After turning into a shadow, Hyun charged toward her at an incredible speed.

Ain quickly twisted her body.

'I dodged it…!'

Vroom-!

The «Sword of Darkness» brushed past her clothes.

No, the moment she thought that, the shadow created an explosion in the air.

[The shadow has bound your soul!]

[Your speed has decreased by 30% for 10 seconds!]

The moment the shadow exploded, Ain felt her body getting heavier.

'Is this a debuff skill?'

The one she thought had charged toward her seemed to have been Hyun's shadow rather than the real him.

Just being brushed by that was enough to create an explosion and debuff her.

'It isn't over yet…!'

Ain felt Hyun's shadow approaching her again.

It was once again an incredible speed.

If she fell for the same skill again, would she become even slower?

Then it was too dangerous!

Fwoosh-!

Ain covered her body with fire.

As a path of fire 30 meters long appeared on the floor, her body also moved that distance.

She was able to dodge him by using «Steps of the Incarnate».

Hyun's shadow couldn't touch Ain, and there was no explosion that time.

'What, again?'

Ain was surprised.

The skill was being activated again for a third time.

The shadow was once again charging toward her.

'How frequently can you use that skill?!'

Because her movements had become sluggish, she had a hard time dodging the attack.

«Latent Potential Increase»!

Ain was forced to increase her Agility.

Her body became lighter, and she regained mobility.

Thanks to that, she was able to dodge the shadow for the third time.

Then something unexpected happened…

Ain's eyes widened.

Paf!

The shadow suddenly changed directions.

It was as if it were alive.

Then it immediately charged toward her again!

Even Ain wasn't expecting that.

The hands of the shadow drew a black half-moon.

Ain's HP dropped to 1.

It was over.

[The duel has ended!]

'Fufu… Perfect, just as expected!'

Hyun's lips twitched.

As the devastated Ain sat down, Hyun made a victory smile inside.

Louise, who was watching next to them, clapped.

That was a historical day.

How many hardships had he gone through since he began playing with the Support job up until then when he was able to beat Ain?

That made him like his new job even more.

"How did you do that…?"

"What?"

As Ain asked him after coming back to her senses, Hyun asked back with a sly tone.

"That skill has a weird cooldown time."

"How is it weird? They're just normal skills."

"Didn't you use the same skill three times in less than a second? Hyun, didn't you use a bug?!"

Ain was having a hard time admitting her defeat.

While doing his best to hide his smile, Hyun showed her his status window.

"Check it out yourself."

Ain read the description of the two new Shadow Linker skills.

The «Shadow Shield» that absorbed her flames…

And then she began reading about the skills he’d used next.

[«Phantom Run» Lv.2]

- Send a soul of darkness forward.

- It explodes if touched by an opponent.

- The speed of the opponents touched by the Demonic Energy is reduced by 30% for 20 seconds.

[«Illusion Run» Lv.2]

- Generate a shadow that copies the effect of the last skill you used.

- The shadow doesn't have any effect.

[«Shadow Run» Lv.3]

- Leave an afterimage and rush forward.

- Every time you use the skill, you recharge [Empathy] X 30 Magic.

Except for the «Shadow Shield», those were the three new skills he'd learned.

The original names were different, but Hyun had simplified the names by adding the word “run” to all three of them.

With her eyes on fire, Ain read the description of the skills while Hyun was satisfied with the result that he had produced.

'Haha, that was a perfect chain of attacks.'

Hyun thought of that build after realizing that the effect of those three skills was very similar.

«Spirit Run» was a debuff skill that sent forward a shadow that looked like the user.

«Illusion» copied the effect of the previously used skill.

«Shadow Run» was a skill that made him rush forward.

Then, most users shouldn't be able to tell the difference between those three skills, right?

Hyun was right.

Ain had mistaken the first phantom for him and ended up touching it.

Because her speed had decreased by 30%, she’d become warier.

Ain became alert as soon as she saw another shadow coming after her once more.

She’d used her only moving skill, «Steps of the Incarnate», and successfully dodged it, but…

'Well, if I didn't know the details of the skills, I would have also probably fallen for it.'

The second skill Hyun had used was «Illusion Run».

It was a shell skill with no real effect.

Ain, who had fallen for the trap, had used Steps of the Incarnate to dodge the Illusion.

And then the first shadow…

She probably would've never guessed that he was the third shadow.

A perfect psychological flaw!

For the final attack, he’d personally run up and put in the final blow.

'«Phantom», «Illusion», and «Shadow»… A perfect three-skill combo.'

He had been able to read the opponent correctly.

Hyun was proud.

He was more proud of the fact that he'd been able to beat Ain using only the new skills.

'What if I also use the old skills on top of these?'

Hyun's heart began beating faster just at the thought of all the possible strategies he was going to be able to use from then on.

'If I keep going on like this… Won't I also become the best in PvP?'

"…"

Ain was silently looking at the recordings of the battle.

While she was looking at the video, her eyes burned with intensity.

One-on-one PvP was the area in which she was the most confident.

Although it was a single round, Hyun could imagine how Ain was feeling at the moment.

Even Louise kept a distance from Ain.

While Hyun and Louise looked at her, Ain's lips suddenly moved.

"Hyun… Let's do it again."

"Huh…?"

"I think I understand how to tell the difference between the effects. Although they look similar, there's definitely a difference between them. Now I finally see it."

Ain smiled while standing up.

"Let's fight again."

"Right now…? But I already tested the new skills, so I don't think we'll need to duel anymore."

He wanted to keep the sense of achievement that defeating Ain in a one-on-one duel gave him, so Hyun wanted to avoid dueling any further.

"Let's duel!"

"Come on!"

"Aren't you going to duel me again?!"

But Ain didn't know how to give up.

Should he say it was expected from a duel fanatic? Hyun seemed troubled as Ain persistently followed up.

"You just lost once, don't take it to heart. It's not like we fought seriously. After all, it was a friendly match."

"Then do you want to do PK?"

"Huh…?"

"Fighting without going easy on the other person."

It seemed like Ain had become interested in Hyun's skills.

Hearing her make that proposition with a smile gave him goosebumps.

She wasn't going to give up until the end. More than wanting a simple victory, Hyun was starting to feel a killing intent from Ain.

Surprised by her zeal, Hyun quickly tried to fix the situation.

"No, th… There's no need to take it that far, right?"

"A friendly match would be better, see?"

"Yes, that sounds better!"

In the end, Hyun and Ain kept dueling for a few more hours.

It looked like Ain got used to the Shadow Linker's skill during that time.

As Ain became used to the skills, Hyun was forced to use the old ones too.

There was only one thing he could do to guarantee a victory…

Victory depended on how much damage he could absorb from Ain with his «Shadow Shield».

The only offensive attack that the Shadow Linker had was the «Sword of Darkness», so the result of the fight depended on that skill.

The final result was five victories and five losses.

Ain begged for more, but Hyun quickly changed topics, and they stopped dueling for the day.

After all, that was a result that sort of satisfied both of them.

'I shouldn't mention dueling in front of her. Although I want to test a little bit more…'

Hyun went to the duel arena because he wanted to test his new skills.

Hyun went to the duel arena alone one day when Ain wasn't there.

He met a wide variety of users there.

Most were Knights, Thiefs, Magicians, and Priests who hadn't reached level 100 yet, but rather than winning, Hyun cared about testing the new skills.

But the problem was that users were surprised by Hyun's controlling abilities.

"Woah, what skill is that?!"

"Why are you still here? Just go to the upper rankings!"

Judging by the fact that he didn't have a normal job, it meant that he was over level 100!

Most users lost their will to fight after looking at the unknown shadow skills.

On top of that, he mixed feints with «Spirit» and «Illusion»!

Although it was just three skills, he could combine them in numerous ways.

But sadly, there wasn't any user who showed him a proper reaction.

'Finally, I'm in Gold…'

After moving upwards in the rankings, Hyun noticed a problem.

—The fights were starting to get longer.

How the Shadow Linker's attack worked was that it absorbed the opponent's attack and then used that attack to deal damage to an opponent.

If the attack of the opponent was weak, he also became weak.

The worst case was when he was matched with an extreme tanker.

[Time’s Up! The winner will be decided by the % of HP left!]

[You've won!]

After winning against the tank, Hyun sighed in relief.

It took him 30 minutes.

After that, if Hyun thought the opponent was a tank, he silently said a few words.

'I give up…'

While facing opponents with a low attack, it was better to give up. That way, he'd be able to save some time.

Hyun had gone there to test the new skills, so winning or losing didn't matter to him.

Unlike tankers against Magicians, it was better to end the fight as soon as possible.

"Wh-what?!"

Surprised because Hyun had suddenly charged toward him, the Magician used a defensive skill.

—The Wizard tried to protect himself with a translucent membrane.

But as if it were magic, the shadow went through the membrane.

«Illusion Run»…

The skill he used after «Illusion» was another «Illusion».

While the Magician was distracted by the numerous Illusions, Hyun had already moved behind him.

As the «Sword of Darkness» cut him, the Magician became light and scattered away before he could scream.

[Three consecutive victories! You've earned 22 battle coins!]

As he moved on through the categories and kept a winning streak, he was matched against an Assassin who had completed the job ascension quest.

According to the message, he was at 25 consecutive victories.

Maybe he was a ranker who had just started to use the duel arena. Still, he wasn't a match for Hyun.

"Damn…!"

The Assassin groaned after being hit with the «Spirit».

Hyun then used an «Illusion» to trick the Assassin and then used «Spirit» again.

There was no way he wouldn't fall for a strategy that had even tricked Ain.

As the Demonic Energy exploded and his movements slowed, the Assassin started visibly struggling in terms of mobility.

"What are these shadows…?!"

The Assassin couldn't concentrate because dark figures were flying around everywhere.

—It was as if a spiderweb of shadows had trapped him.

An «Illusion» suddenly appeared in front of him. Surprised, he swung his sword.

But just like the «Illusion», his sword went through the black shadow.

He swung his sword again, but it just cut through the air again.

"This is also a fake?"

That was the last thing the Assassin said.

Soon, Hyun, who had followed the trail of the «Illusion», smashed him with a huge sword.

—It was a swift and smooth hit, like a shadow.

The Assassin died without being able to tell what skill had killed him.

[You've reached Platinum 3!]

"Hmm, I guess this much is okay," Hyun quietly mumbled after seeing he'd reached Platinum.

He returned to his senses after spending almost five hours in the duel arena.

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