Chapter 32

EP.32 How the Holy Maiden Deals with Trolling

The sword swings.

The sound of rain subsides.

The flow of time stops.

A neat solid line is etched where the blade's trajectory occurred.

The moment the sword, which had swept through the area and silenced all noise on the battlefield, returned to its scabbard,

the decisive strike that had consumed the entire battlefield finally completed its preparation, a step late.

The space that had been cut apart resounded.

The world began to split, like a toy with the wrong gears,

or like magnets facing the same pole.

Everything under its influence loses its life.

『The Holy Maiden has eliminated Ribbonnu.』

『The Holy Maiden has eliminated Nii-motomitsuket.』

『The Holy Maiden has eliminated Zenkoku-no-irejirou.』

『The Holy Maiden has eliminated Zouru.』

There stood the swordsman who had decapitated the four great heroes of the enemy army with a single stroke.

It was hard to believe that this person, who had displayed such overwhelming prowess,

had a body that drew curves so beautiful they were almost violent.

The woman turned around without a care for her great achievement.

Her eyes were filled with a giant gem glowing blue.

It was something she would protect with her life.

But the gem, which was already heavily cracked and the fissures were deepening,

eventually shattered into pieces.

In the midst of the blue shards, the woman lamented deeply,

and lowered her head like a wilting flower.

…

Rainbow Tales is a game that primarily deals with battles among twelve players.

As the word "battle" implies,

it's impossible for all users to win.

While six enjoy the thrill of victory,

the other six must swallow the bitter taste of defeat.

Like the two sides of a coin,

or the rising sun and the moon,

the greater the joy of victory,

the more profound the despair of defeat.

An unwelcome guest, who hadn't shown up in my game for a while, appeared in the match history with red shoes.

In other words,

I lost.

“….”

[14 consecutive wins broken]

[Just one more turn and it would have been a comeback ㄷㄷ]

[Would I have lost even if I were a priest?]

[Probably lost faster ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[At least I could do this much as a warrior]

[How did I win with such teammates?]

[I was carrying the game and then slipped]

[It's more surprising that we got this far with a troll]

[The room leader is good with long swords]

[ㄲㅂ You used the ultimate well]

[You really have a hipster vibe, building a long sword warrior like that ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Still better than a Gaia's Disciple…]

[After playing for 10 years, you know all the builds? How did you pick such a niche one?]

[Well, I guess;;]

[Your ultimate is so cool]

[The name of the ultimate is awesome too ㅋㅋ World Cut ㅋㅋ]

[Middle school syndrome ON]

[If it's this cool, why is the win rate so bad?]

[Style and performance are separate things]

[It's a meme pick ㅋㅋ]

[Choosing based on the ultimate's coolness alone is a bit…]

[With the rise of stats sites, only toxic players are left in the game. Back in my day, we just played what we wanted, but now if you pick a low win rate trait, people start yelling in the pick screen]

[Uncle, how old are you?]

[4-man quadra kill, damn, that was good]

[The interface splitting in an instant, is that real? It's so cool]

[The only screen-splitting skill in Rainbow Tales ㅋㅋ]

[What's the point if we lost the game anyway? ㅋㅋ]

[Really ㅋㅋ]

What went wrong?

Starting the game with weapons and traits I had never used in an in-game match for ten years?

After all, the only time I used a long sword was when I taught Mohé, who was a long sword warrior, during a tournament preparation.

Although I had no problem handling the weapons based on what I had seen and heard, using them effectively on the battlefield was a different matter.

In a battlefield where the situation changes constantly, there is clearly a difference between knowing the usage of weapons and traits in your head and having them ingrained in your body.

The number of games played is a more important metric than you might think.

Whether professional, amateur, or just a casual player, there's a reason why no one easily decides to change their position and equipment.

One could say that skill is the ability to handle countless situations with ease, so taking on the penalty that inevitably comes with unfamiliar equipment and a changed position might have been a bit arrogant.

But I shook my head inwardly.

Compared to the priest who had played over 8,000 games, my long sword warrior play had no significant flaws.

There were certainly times when I made imperfect judgments and found myself in danger,

but I overcame those situations with flashes of physical prowess.

If I had won the game, I could have proudly said that I was the key to victory.

The match was made up of players with MMRs around Yellow 2,

and there was no one on the enemy team who could handle the long sword wielded by the Holy Maiden.

So why did I lose?

There's no need to beat around the bush.

The problem was the team.

“….”

Of course, I didn't intend to get angry or scold or blame anyone just because some teammates didn't meet expectations and contributed to the loss.

Everyone has their shortcomings,

and everyone makes mistakes.

Pointless criticism only causes conflict,

and I knew it would significantly impact the game's outcome.

But the problem with the team wasn't that.

I looked at one teammate's KDA in the results screen.

『Hariho2: 0/23/1』

A statistic that wouldn't appear if the game were played normally.

There was a teammate who, instead of playing the game, insisted on helping the enemy team.

No matter how much I excelled, it was impossible to win with such a teammate.

From the chat, it was clear that he was very displeased with my sudden change in weapon and trait selection.

It had been over ten years since Rethe was launched.

User development wasn't limited to in-game play.

To help gamers who wanted to win, some people devised ways to significantly improve win rates outside the game.

For example, match history searches.

He must have searched my nickname.

Perhaps he couldn't understand why a player who had only played the priest for 8,000 games suddenly picked a long sword and played as a warrior.

Even I would have been annoyed if a player who had stuck to one build for 8,000 games suddenly changed their pick and said they were going to play as a warrior.

The desire to win is a natural human urge, and wanting a more reliable player on your team is not wrong.

Sure, my pick might not have been to his liking.

He might have judged that winning with such a teammate was impossible.

But it was clearly his fault to go as far as to engage in so-called trolling.

It's a pity to give up on your own potential without even trying.

Even if I had committed a grave sin deserving punishment, it shouldn't have been like this.

What did the other teammates do wrong?

Thinking about it,

I felt a bit sorry for the teammates who lost points due to this unnecessary incident.

How could I have ended up with such a guy?

The team cohesion, excluding the troll, was above average,

and based on my performance, we had a chance to win.

That possibility made the eventual defeat even more disappointing.

“Well, there's nothing I can do.”

For the viewers watching my stream, I let my thoughts slip into the microphone.

How frustrating must it have been for them to watch a game where the outcome was almost decided by a single troll,

especially a streamer's loss?

It's not good to vent my anger first.

The best thing is to act as if nothing happened.

Well, it's not that I'm completely unaffected,

but I just found another match for the next game.

These trolls often emerge to disrupt other players' legitimate games, despite the strict penalties from the game company.

As a ten-year player,

and someone who had received all sorts of criticism and harsh reviews for a concept that would surely make others frown,

I had encountered countless players who spewed hatred and quit the game because they didn't like me.

If this match is just an extension of those incidents,

it's just a bit of unpleasantness, like stepping on a sticky piece of gum.

Moreover, I couldn't easily vent my frustration at them,

as I had also engaged in troll-like play.

Sticking to the concept and giving in to physical contact when approached closely—no, that's too explicit. Anyway, it was clearly problematic behavior… I had nothing to say.

Every time my teammates reported my account, I got banned a few times.

So, venting my anger at trolls, even though I've paid my dues and been released,

is like a person with a criminal record pointing fingers at other criminals.

Ugh, thinking about it, I feel a bit sorry for the teammates who were affected by my actions.

…Experiencing an unexpected troll in this body makes me reflect on my past.

The match was found.

And what caught my eye was,

[ Hariho2 has joined the room. ]

A message from the cross-selection indicating that the troll from the previous match was on the same team.

“….”

I was about to pick the priest build obediently,

but suddenly felt very annoyed and locked in the long sword warrior build from the previous match.

In response, all sorts of curses flooded the in-game chat.

They are filtered by various characters due to their intensity.

Despite hearing such foul language,

I felt a bit amused and chuckled.

He's acting like a spoiled child who doesn't like something.

It won't be easy to break my stubbornness.

Let's see who wins.

Author's Note (Afterword)

Thank you, Soxl, for the 100 coin donation!

(Looking out)

A whopping 9 hours and 20 minutes late…

I was supposed to come on Sunday, but I was late…

Please hear my excuses…

Since the end of this chapter builds up,

I wanted to show you the resolution of the tension and kept writing…

I inadvertently fell asleep. Yes, I'm a bad author…

I woke up in a hurry and am posting it now…

I'm sorry, but I've written about half of the next chapter,

so although I have to go to work today,

I'll try to post it tomorrow or the day after…

I'm sorry (bow).