NOVEL NEXT WORLD Episode 36
Episode 36
“Kuh, you!” Two men who were closing in simultaneously drew their swords.
…Their coordination isn’t that great.
I tightly gripped the dagger I pulled from my inventory and parried their attacks.
“What’s wrong? Just defending won’t cut it, [Slash]—”
In response to the skill the man used, I also activated a skill.
—[Parrying].
“What!?”
I deflected the attack easily. This level of skill, even a first-timer could counter with ease. Indeed, offensive skills have predictable patterns.
With the man deflected by my parry and vulnerable, I prepared to finish him off with my dagger when,
“There’s still one here!”
Another man, still unscathed, thrust his sword from behind.
I narrowly dodged it, drawing him in just close enough before evading. As he desperately tried to stop his thrust, I pushed his back with a smile.
“Guaaaah!?”
Result: friendly fire. His comrade took the blow meant for me and, incapacitated by the parry, collapsed.
“Oh, congrats on the PK!”
“You…!”
I deflected the sword swung in anger with the belly of my dagger, then swiftly slashed his throat with my left dagger.
A fatal blow, found with [Deadly Strike]. As I finished him off in one stroke, the man who had been hit by the arrow rushed in.
Furthermore, there was another archer. The direction of his aim was towards Kujou-san, not me.
Ah, got carried away with the PvP, forgot to pay attention.
“At least, I’ll get rid of her…!”
As he said that, an arrow was released.
I threw my dagger in line with its trajectory.
Clang! A metallic sound echoed as the dagger knocked the arrow aside.
“…Huh!?”
The archer seemed surprised.
As I redirected my gaze, the charging man raised his sword.
“Don’t look away!”
Even without looking, I can tell.
There’s too much wasted movement, sounds are audible. Footwork, the behavior when preparing the sword…
…With this level, as long as I have ears, I can respond infinitely.
While deflecting with the dagger, I pulled out another one from my inventory.
It only took a few seconds in close combat. I sent the man’s sword flying, then sliced his neck with the intersecting dagger.
He fell, his body dissipating.
As I smiled at the archer,
“H-Hiiii!”
He screamed and ran away, turning his back.
Does he think he can escape?
While chasing after him, I threw a dagger at his calf.
“Gua!?”
Though I didn’t finish him off in one strike, he fell dramatically.
In real life, aiming for the Achilles tendon… He won’t be able to move properly.
I smiled at the trembling archer, tears streaming down his face.
“Are you streaming?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Oh, in that case, let me use it for a bit. I’ll let you off if you do. Deal?”
Saying so, I pressed my face close to his while pressing on his stomach.
He seemed really scared, trembling uncontrollably.
“Oh, thanks to the viewers. I’m Clown Brother. I’ll start streaming soon too, so stay tuned. Also, there’s a Vtuber named Kirikiri Mai, she’s my little sister and super cute, so make sure to subscribe to her. Alright, I’ve done my promotion, see ya.”
“…Eh? Y-You’ll let me off!?”
“Eh? Did I say that? Well, I take it back.”
After smiling, I swung my dagger to decapitate him.
Alright, that should be enough for promotion.
I collected the dropped items and plenty of gold, feeling satisfied.
“Big brother… that was amazing! When you went like ‘whoosh’ and their heads flew off, I got excited!”
“Eh? Their heads flew off?”
“Yes! It was beautiful!”
…Even though their heads disappear the moment they’re struck, Lulura is excitedly shouting. It smells dangerous, so I kept my distance.
“Now then… um, Kujou-san are you okay?”
“…Huh? Y-Yeah, I’m fine, but…”
She seemed dazed, looking at me.
Is she scared?
“It’s fine. I do PKK, but not PK. So, don’t worry.”
(Note: If you don’t know PKK is just Player Killers Killer, not that complicated)
“Ah… thank you for helping me. I was playing with my friend, but, um… they got taken out first…”
“Oh? You were playing with a friend?”
“Y-Yeah… We’re both part of the VTuber agency called ‘Many Friends’… We were streaming together, but then those guys attacked us…”
I see. It’s a popular game after all, and everyone seems to be playing it. And since they were streaming while playing, they became targets for those kinds of people.
“That’s unlucky, being targeted.”
“…I think it was for publicity, maybe?”
“Well, at least nothing serious happened.”
No, something did happen. Her friend got taken out, so maybe their equipment is among the dropped items.
“Is your friend’s gear in here? How much gold did they take?”
“…Huh? Oh, maybe this?”
There’s a sword and shield, one each. They just started, but these are pretty decent equipment, probably dropped from monsters.
Also, there’s about 10,000 gold. Probably what’s left after buying skill books with the gold received from clearing the tutorial.
“In that case, please give these to your friend.”
Original Author’s Comment:
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Thank you for reading this far!
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