The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 69

Chapter 69 – Variable.Style.Bustar.Ria.

One of the major VRMMO game title, [Horizon Record].

It’s a fantasy RPG with a bit of a dark twist, and is a very popular game with an average of over 10 million concurrent players.

When time passed since the major update in early July and the players had calmed down, strange things started to happen from the beginning of August.

At first, a player gets occassionally mentioned on the game’s PK forum.

Since the name of the player-killer turns red after killing a player, there was no need to expose the player’s name.

However, in recent years, the forums had been used not only for PK complaints, but also for reporting and alerting people to where they have been hunted.

It was around mid-August that a player with the username “ISERIA” began to appear frequently on the forum.

One by one, high-level players in various locations were eliminated, with ISERIA’s name mentioned as well as writing their resentment.

[Horizon Record] is designed to be a competitive game, differences in level and equipment can be overcome by talent to some extent.

ISERIA’s level was only around 25 when her name first got mentioned in the forum. Considering the fact that the level cap was 85, it seemed that she became a player killer at an early stage.

Many MMORPGs officially adopt the player-kill system, and players are not punished as long as they observe public order and morals such as abusive language and sexual harassment.

Instead, good players will see Player Killers as an enemy, and they will be subjected to system restrictions such as not being able to use normal towns.

If one started killing players before one’s level is high enough, playing the game would be inconvenient in many ways.

Despite that, the player named ISERIA started player killing at only level 25, not even reaching the end contents of the game.

Since then, ISERIA, who frequently appeared in and out of the game and killed players, had gradually become a hot topic.

At one point, there was even a video of a five-man party being decimated by ISERIA alone, and the world became more and more excited.

As she began to attract attention, ISERIA suddenly began to livestream her exploits.

The sight of a beautiful and lovely looking girl knocking down players with her chicken build (a four weapon style consisting of two gauntlets and two swords) was overwhelming, refreshing, and fascinating to watch.

Ghosting countermeasures have been taken, so even if snipers watch the stream, they will not be able to ambush the streamer.

Players who earn money and reputation by writing articles began to write about ISERIA, and her fame grew rapidly.

Although she was claimed to be undefeated, there were a few reports of interceptions, and the videos of successful interceptions ended up with a lot of views across the board.

Eventually, many players began to realize that she was a tasty target to get views whether they win or lose, and those who make a living in the industry began to hope to be targeted by her.

Today, a three-man party is her prey.

“It’s ISERIA…!”

“Switch equipment!”

ISERIA standed in the way of the three members of the party: Kaito, Odin, who were physical fighters and Cuero, a magician.

Three camera icons flashed around her, indicating that ISERIA was livestreaming.

Odin, who was sure that it was ISERIA standing in front of them, immediately starts recording.

At this time, ISERIA was level 33.

Her level was quite low. Although it became harder to level up gradually, the experience requirement is low in [Horizon Record] that even casual gamers can easily reach level 50 by playing normally.

Since no player had seen her in the hunting grounds, it was speculated that she may be gaining levels only by player kills.

“Think you can overlook us?”

Kaito moved to the left with his shield held out in front of her and his sword at the ready.

“There’s no way I would do that.”

“I know right…”

ISERIA sticked out one hand and shoots a flashbang from the gun barrel of her gauntlet.

Two players held up their shields, thinking it was offensive magic, but Cuero got his eyes blinded by the light.

Cuero, who switched his skill set from PvE to PvP, counterattacked with flashbang of his own using his staff.

If both opposing sides gets blinded, they can maintain status quo.

“Too bad.”

ISERIA, who had covered her eyes with her gauntlet just before the counterattack, was already at Cuero’s throat.

His vision gradually came back, and then he was startled by ISERIA, who had managed to slip past the two vanguards and came to his side, he tried to defend using his staff.

Cuero, who felt his death was near, remembered the reason why ISERIA was famous for dismantling large parties.

ISERIA changes her fighting style at short intervals, but in terms of attacking, she basically specializes in critical attacks that increase critical damage via sneak attacks.

ISERIA always aims for the head, throat, or the heart.

He tried to predict the position of ISERIA’s attack, and succeeded in defending himself with his staff.

“Eh?”

The sword aimed at his heart was successfully repelled, but in the next moment a sword grew out of Cuero’s neck.

Cuero, who had never been a defensive fighter, was killed in a single blow.

“Cuero! Darn it!”

Odin unleashed a high-speed shield attack called “Blitz Shield,” but ISERIA narrowly avoided it.

Kaito activated [Fire Sword], flames engulfed his sword. The simple name of the skill tended to give the impression that it was weak, but with the increased attack range, the residue of flame left on the field, and the combustion damage are all high standard, and it was used even in the endgame content due to its high versatility.

It was a well-known fact that ISERIA specialized in mobility. When getting attacked, she prioritized in evading instead of defending.

When Kaito approached ISERIA, he cleaved his sword horizontally with a large swing.

The flames spread so widely that she could not avoid it by stepping alone.

ISERIA grimaced and leapt upward.

She jumped at least five meters above the ground.

Kaito immediately readied his shield and waited for her to land, watching out for attacks from the air.

If he kept his shield up, he can attack ISERIA, who was stuck on the landing.

If he stuns her with [Shield Bash] and hit her with a [Break] blow to her defenseless head, he should be able to hunt her with a single combo.

Even if he can’t kill her and she moved away from him, he can cut her down using his fire sword.

Seeing the moment ISERIA landed on the ground, Kaito was sure of his victory.

“Ah?”

But Kaito’s shield cut through the air.

Kaito’s head ias covered by his helmet, so his visibility is poor, and his shield occupies most of his narrow field of vision, so he didn’t understand what happened.

Before he knew it, Kaito’s HP was reduced to zero. The damaged part was his neck.

A sword was thrown at the gap between his helmet and his armor, hit Kaito’s neck as if it had slipped through, and it reaped Kaito’s life.

Odin watched the whole scene as Kaito was hunted.

The diligent Cuero, as well as Kaito and Odin, knew this.

ISERIA has a movement skill called [Heavenly Flight], which allowed her to make a double jump.

Before landing, she leaped toward the approaching shield, somersaulted right above Kaito, and killed him with her sword.

While anyone can evade a killing blow by using [Heavenly Flight], throwing the sword and killing a vanguard with a single blow with it was a skill that no ordinary player can imitate.

“That’s absurd!”

Odin was elated by the divine play he saw in front of him, and quickly invoked [Hammer].

His hammer was covered with lightning, and lightning strikes generated around it.

Lightning strikes are random and very difficult to evade, and getting hit directly by it stuns the victim.

It used to deal high damage, but it was nerfed because it was too powerful in group battles.

Even now, the unavoidable stun by the lightning strikes was still pretty stressful, thus the skill was still included in the foul play skills list.

Odin’s decision was to gamble on the random factor, though it was a long shot since there was only one opponent.

ISERIA decided that caution was not the answer, and she rushed through the lightning strike toward Odin.

“You should go down for once!”

Odin activated [Force Barrier], which enhanced his defensive capabilities and created an opportunity to counterattack.

While [Force Barrier] was activated, a shockwave was generated when the shield was attacked, blowing the enemy away. This blast cannot be blocked, and no matter how athletic the player is, they will definitely fall on their back.

She watches as ISERIA, who was coming toward him, with determination to block the attack at all costs.

The next moment, a bolt of lightning strikes the spot where ISERIA was standing.

“?!”

She slid sideways, leaving an afterimage behind her.

This is an evasion skill called [Sidestepping].

She thrusted her sword into the ground before she lost momentum, and used inertia to change her direction.

The destination was behind Odin.

ISERIA activated [Piercing] as she pierced Odin from behind with her sword, which glowed blue.

The tip of the sword pierces through the heart, dealing critical damage.

Even though Odin was a vanguard, a heavily armed warrior, failed to withstand the blow from ISERIA’s critical build, his HP got reduced to zero.

“How did you evade? The thunder of the hammer…”

“Ahaha. It was a fluke, a fluke.”

“You’re amazing, man.”

With a smile so innocent that it was hard to believe she was a player-killer, ISERIA waved goodbye.

Odin was waiting for the death penalty, but he was smiling regardless.

After seeing Odin off, ISERIA collected the sword she threw and the penalty drops dropped by the dead players.

As ISERIA pondered where to hunt the next players, a man who has been there for some time called out to her.

“You’re pretty cool, ISERIA.”

“?! When did you…”

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the man, Ria hurriedly readied her weapon.

Stealth skills are powerful, but they can’t hide her footsteps or tracks.

In [Horizon Record], footsteps echo a little more than in reality. If she didn’t hear them, it meant that he was stealthily approaching during the battle that had just taken place.

ISERIA wondered why he didn’t try a surprise attack despite being so close to her.

“Level 3…?”

ISERIA can’t believe her eyes.

The man in front of her, a player named HARU, was only level 3.

The average level of monsters in this area was over 60. Even though the difference in level can be managed due to talent, it was too much to handle at level 3.

The skill to disguise the level doesn’t exist in the game.

ISERIA let her guard down, puts away her weapon, and points in the direction of the city, urging him to leave.

“Since I can’t be bothered to hunt a level 3, I’ll let you off the hook this time. Go back to town.”

“I see. Thank you.”

HARU didn’t show any sign of leaving, though he thanked her.

ISERIA tilted her head at him.

“Run away, Haru-kun!”

A woman’s voice was suddenly heard.

This was followed by the sound of footsteps.

A player’s stealth effect is lost when they move violently, and the shimmering space revealed the outline of the player.

She ran straight to ISERIA.

“There’s another one?”

She pointed her gauntlet at the approaching player and fired a bullet at her.

The bullet was easily repelled.

The stealth was broken, and a girl appeared.

Her name was [MIYAKO].

She has a human avatar with long flaxen hair and red eyes.

She seems to have played this game for a long time, since her level was 85, the max level.

Underneath her neat and stylish blue-colored skin, she was wearing a lot of endgame equipment, which indicated that she was a very high-level player.

“Don’t go near her, Haru-kun! She’s a very dangerous player killer!”

MIYAKO warned HARU in a very exagerrated manner.

The name “HARU” and the name “MIYAKO” are both present at the same time, so no matter how dense she was, it was easy to recognize them.

“Haru-kun…? Fuh, I see…”

She stared at HARU, and he smiled and give a peace sign.

Just to be sure, Ria checked Haruka’s status and found that it showed [Horizon Record; playing].

Ria didn’t know why Haruka’s here. She guessed that he wanted to see Ria fighting, so he asked Miyako to bring him here.

“ISERIA~, Good Luck?”

When HARU cheered for ISERIA, who was supposed to be his enemy, Miyako gave him a reproachful look.

“Haru-kun, aren’t you going to support me?”

“Do your best, Miyako!”

“Yes, I’ll do my best, watch m—”

Miyako smiled as she talked to HARU, but a sword was thrusted into her neck, sending her flying backward.

Miyako rolled around, and then she was pronounced dead, and disappeared.

Silence fell over the field.

“……”

“……”

“When you look away from the battlefield…”

“Right”

“It can be fatal.”

“I know right.”

HARU sat down on the field with a wry smile on his face.

“I’ve been watching you up close, it’s much more impressive than it looks in the stream.”

“Oh yeah?”

As she spoke, ISERIA slowly approached and pushed HARU down, drawing her blade.

She held the blade close to his neck and smiled.

“Don’t resist… You’ll die if you resist…”

In a small voice, she brought her face close to HARU’s and kissed him softly, threatening him happily.

Normally, threatening a person with a weapon and doing something sexual without his/her consent would result in a ban, but this was not the case here.

“Ria…Nn”

HARU unintentionally whispered her real name, but it was interpreted as an abbreviation of her handle “ISERIA”, so there was no problem.

“Haruka-, wuv, chu… Nn”

Ria hugged Haruka and kissed his lips and neck repeatedly to show her love.

They kissed each other for a while, and Ria looked happy as they hugged each other.

She remembered that she was in the middle of a stream, but she didn’t care about it and concentrate on the sensation of Haruka’s avatar.

“Summer vacation will be over soon, won’t it?”

“It was so short!”

Ria kissed him in between conversations and continued their talk.

Ria’s avatar’s cheeks are reddening, as if she is feeling shy.

With what little reason she has left, Ria stopped the steam. She was going to say something that would not be good if it was broadcasted to the world.

“Ya know, Haruka.”

“Yes.”

“When the new semester starts.”

“Yeah.”

“When you’re in the mood.”

“Yeah… Hmm?

“Ya know… I want you to tell me whenever you feel like it.”

“Um… What do you mean?”

“When it’s recess, Let’s go to the school bathroom.”

“Okay?”

“And I’ll do it with my mouth, Ehehe.”

Ria said embarrasedly said something ridiculous.

Though she was looking at Haruka with serious eyes.

“I think that’s a bad idea…”

“Ehh… Come on, it’s my wish from the bottom of my heart.”

“Well, I don’t know about that…”

Haruka smiled wryly but kissed her deceitfully.

“Okay. I’ll ask Ria to do it then.”

“Yay!”

Ria expressed her joy with her whole body and rubbed herself against Haruka, as if being spoiled.

“riaaAA!!”

The sound of a vindictive scream echoed throughout the deserted field.

Both of them turn their heads in the direction of the voice.

A few meters away, Miyako was standing there, out of breath.

It seemed that Miyako, who had respawned in a nearby town, had returned to the field at full speed.

“Duel! This time, I’m going to kill you!”

Miyako drew her sword and charged at Ria with a force that seemed to slice through Haruka as well.

“Stay back Haruka.”

Ria stood up, and blocked Miyako’s strike.

“I was streaming too! Ria is being unfair!”

She put her personal grudge into her sword and slashed at Ria again.

“I’ve always wanted to fight Miyako… This is a good opportunity…”

Ria pushed Miyako’s sword away with her two blades and flew backward to distance herself.

“Now let’s get down to business…”

“Let’s fight!”

The fight between the two was recorded by a party who happened to be passing by, and the battle of speed has received over a hundred million views.