Chapter 301: Job Hunting Is One Turbulent Turn After Another
Sunraku: "Fuck...! I don't really get what's going on, but if you're picking a fight, I'll take it, asshole!"
I haven't done any PKs, so no penalties, right? Right? Tell me there aren't any. Still, if I've got a chance to fight a Bounty Hunter, it'd be a waste to pass it up. The worry about possible penalties hasn't gone anywhere, but screw it — let's do this!
Sunraku: "Oi, Tango. Hold this for me a sec."
Tango: "Huh? Oh, uh... sure. This scarf is weirdly warm."
The scarf (Emul) I'd placed in Tango's hands twitched for a split second. Hang in there and keep up the disguise—it'd be rough trying to fight while protecting Emul at the same time. I ready Duxram, Blade of Aspiration and quietly move to the center of the ring formed by the surrounding crowd.
A sudden target switch — and to a player with no connection to any PK. Maybe because it was an unexpected development, the "Dress-Up Tias-chan Squad" clan members didn't try to call me out or anything as the intruder who'd barged in. Which means, at this moment, you could say a one-on-one between me and Lutia has been established. Silent tonfa-blades and dual one-handed swords face off. Under countless watching eyes, my confrontation with the Bounty Hunter Lutia quietly began.
???: "..."
???: "..."
Now then. What to do. Both of us are dual-wielders. Lutia's probably a close-range fighter with high TEC. The tonfa-blades switch their reach depending on which way the tips are pointed — with TAS-level performance, no doubt she'll be switching them up at a dizzying pace mid-fight.
I, on the other hand, am mobility-specialized. One hit and I'm definitely near-death, but because of that, my evasion performance is cranked up. Do I go hit-and-away to rack up damage safely, or push the offense all at once and overwhelm her... whoa, looks like she's taking the first move.
Lutia: "...!"
Sunraku: "Whoa, shit!"
A horizontal slash aimed precisely at my neck. A preemptive strike from infighting range, close enough to graze my fist. I answer by ducking low to dodge. For fastest neck-sniping attacks, I'm reminded of Wethermon's Tachikaze, but that was a single ultimate technique pushed to its speed limit. This is part of a combo that chains immediately into the next move.
Sunraku: "I saw that coming... ngh!"
She keeps the momentum of the horizontal slash and even accelerates it, sending the other tonfa-blade in a spinning slash coming right at me. I answer in kind, slamming Duxram, Blade of Aspiration into it for a blade lock. Maybe my reaction was a little slow — no crit feedback. The STR clash ends with me losing the power struggle and the lock breaking.
Sunraku: "Guh... ngh... you bastard!"
A motion combo like a flipbook — each page linking into the next to form one continuous movement — flows seamlessly and comes for me. Don't think you can end the interception with a single block. Her weapons aren't just the tonfa-blades. Leg techniques that crush the gaps left after a weapon swing — if those hit, they'll be the starting point of a combo.
Force a crit and she'll use that opening to capitalize. So I resolve myself to some durability loss on Duxram, Blade of Aspiration and focus on blocking and deflecting Lutia's onslaught. No good. If I stop moving, I'll just get ground down. I seize a split-second gap, fire a skill, and somehow manage to steal the attack turn.
Sunraku: "Alright, eat this!"
Skill activated — a strike with sudden burst speed, slammed straight into Lutia. She blocks it, but as long as I hold the offensive initiative, I can still move. I reverse-grip Duxram, Blade of Aspiration, which I'd just slammed down, activate Unbroken Lightdance, and suppress Lutia's assault with a multi-hit flurry. But as expected of a Bounty Hunter — the option she chose was to let a certain amount of damage through in exchange for seizing back the initiative.
Lutia: "..."
Sunraku: "Guh, ngh...!?"
Dual-wielding means "sword" range. But Lutia closes the distance even further, dragging it into "striking" range with the tonfa-blades — in other words, ultra-close-range infighting. A flash grazes my side as she closes in. I dodge the left strike aimed at my solar plexus, then lean back to avoid the hook aimed at rocking my jaw that was placed right where I'd dodged to. Shit, that was close. If I hadn't leaned back enough, my jaw would've literally been split.
Sunraku: "You... ngh!"
Normally I'd have lost momentum and fallen flat on my back, but I use skill correction to force a backflip. A somersault kick forces Lutia to put some distance between us. The crowd goes "Whoa!" at the flashy exchange, but I've got no time to acknowledge it. Still pitched forward in a posture almost on all fours, I launch ahead like a sprinter out of the blocks.
Sunraku: "Self-defense!"
Lutia: "...!"
A thrust aimed at my gut — the tonfa-blade swats it aside. But that's a bluff! Formula Drift activated and offensively repurposed! I whip around her with a sharp spinning motion like a top, and the accelerated leg sweep connects with Lutia's leg, throwing her off bal— she's not off balance! She jumped to dodge!? No way, oh shit!
Sunraku: "Nnnngh!!?"
Using Flit Float — a midair kick at ultra-low altitude, almost like a breaststroke — I kick off the empty space like pushing off a pool wall and leap back. Right where I was, a tonfa-blade stabs into the ground.
Lutia: "...!"
With a harsh scrape, the blade draws a line through the dirt as it chases me. If that hits, I'm getting carved in half.
First rotation — roll along the ground.
Second rotation — plant an elbow to lift my body.
Third rotation — use the fist gripping my sword as a pivot to build momentum.
And on the fourth rotation, I spin up and rise.
Sunraku: "Uwooooh, hang in there, my vestibular system!!"
My vision swims. I scold my wobbling legs and catch the rising slash — leaving two lines in the dirt — with both swords crossed. I can't fully block it with inferior strength, but Possessed by the Great Asura King is still active. Blades grind against each other, scattering sparks. A simultaneous back-jump barely gets me out of the lethal zone.
???: "..."
???: "..."
Both of us pay the price for our reckless maneuvers with a moment of freeze. A brief rest is inserted into the relentless storm of blows, with not a second to breathe.
Sunraku: "...Fwah."
A small exhale, so the thread of tension doesn't go slack. When I listen to my surroundings, I can hear several similar breaths being let out.
Sunraku: "...How about a quick time-out or someth—"
Lutia: "...!"
Sunraku: "Yeah, figured! Eat shit and die!!"
A Bounty Hunter, and a mysterious half-naked man suddenly called to the stage of confrontation. At this exchange, for which "unexpected" doesn't even begin to cover it, even the members of the "Dress-Up Tias-chan Squad" — the very ones who summoned Lutia here — were holding their breath.
???: "Whoa... moving that much and taking basically zero damage..."
???: "Isn't he about as strong as Saba-san?"
Firstia is the very first town — which means it's also the spawn point. So it's pretty common to see players who sold off their equipment at character creation and are running around unequipped. The half-naked player with a mask you can select at character creation had been mistaken for "a newbie who just started" by many, but that sequence of moves made it clear just how wrong that was.
???: "What's going on? Was he disguised as a beginner?"
???: "Makes no sense. What advantage would a high-level player get from disguising himself in Firstia?"
???: "More importantly, that's the first time I've seen anyone besides Saba-san handle Lutia-san's demon combo."
???: "Yo, someone call my name?"
???: "Ah, Saba-san... you were logged in!"
A reply came to the name they had just mentioned. The Dress-Up Squad member turned around and found a player standing there with an expression that said he had no idea what was going on.
Saba-san: "Finally got my real-life crap sorted out... wait, who's that?"
???: "Well, about that... we managed to call Lutia-san, which is good, but... for some reason her aggro switched to a completely unrelated player."
Saba-san: "Huh? That's not one of our members? Who is it?"
An extremely reasonable question. So the player who was asked gave the obvious answer.
???: "I caught a glimpse a second ago... I'm pretty sure the name was 'Sunraku'..."
Saba-san: "What'd you just say?"
???: "Huh?"
And that's why they were caught off guard when the atmosphere around that slightly rough-around-the-edges but big-brother-type person changed entirely.
Saba-san: "Sunraku...... you say?"
With a gaze sharp like a beast's, yet strangely mixed with a hint of joy, the player using a female avatar (male in real life)... "Survival"... stared at the half-naked bird-head. And then, Survival muttered something under his breath that probably only the player he'd been talking to could hear. Though its meaning was impossible to grasp.
Survival: "No way... from the Mu Server?"
Before anyone could ask what that meant, the half-naked bird-head and the Bounty Hunter Lutia clashed once more, and the question was swept away by the frenzy.