Chapter 76

EP.76 The Saint Who Dropped a Glass Slipper

The confrontation with the concept player ended like that, no matter what I did.

Most players of this game know, and sometimes even do, that if you are strangled or your mouth is covered for a long time, you will eventually die.

But I doubt there's any other player who would suffocate their opponent by wrapping their head with breasts.

Thanks to this, I muttered to myself like someone in shock.

“No, no, this isn’t right….”

I participated in this tournament, of course, for the prize money.

However, once I was in, I couldn’t help but want to show everyone a fantastic play.

Because, I crave compliments.

Victory through high-level psychological warfare and extreme physical prowess,

Every time I overcame a move and secured a win, people would cheer for me.

Then, I would feel embarrassed but secretly proud, and I was fully prepared to enjoy the tingling sensation in my chest from the recognition of others….

But….

“Wh-What is this….”

I knew without looking in the mirror that I was making a pained expression.

The good news was that the people watching the tournament were cheering, though not in the way I wanted.

[ What is this lolololololol ]

[ That top-tier player got completely owned lololol ]

[ I wish I could get such a thorough education lol ]

[ Holy shit, is this real? ]

[ lololololololololol So envious lololololololololol ]

[ Where did the epic battle between the great heroes go, and why did it turn into a magical girl anime where the protagonist gets strangled by a monster? ]

[ The magical girl being strangled (laugh) ]

[ Perverts, get out ]

[ I actually like it ]

[ Our Saint is the best, really lololololol ]

[ I knew from the moment she had those huge boobs lolololol ]

[ They’re not just for show lololololololololol ]

[ They’re weapons lololololololol ]

[ They’re deadly weapons lololololol ]

[ What are the limits of this game lolololololololol ]

[ Boobs… jiggling jiggling…. ]

People were now talking about my chest, which had been exposed in an unfortunate accident the last time,

Thanks to this, I couldn’t calm down my rising embarrassment until the winner’s interview, and I ended up stammering and rambling.

Meanwhile, I felt,

Of course, not directly in real life,

But people were continuously praising me,

For example, they said my flustered and stammering voice was cute,

And that it was delightful to see me so flustered,

I felt a different kind of embarrassment, one that arose from being teased and harassed, filling my body.

If the praise had been about my gaming skills, it would have been perfect….

“….”

This isn’t bad….

...

...

...

The next match was arranged before the day ended.

The number of participants had significantly decreased due to the tournament's progress.

As a result, the Saint now faced a towering man.

He was someone I knew well.

Not only had we met many times in the same rank range,

But a few weeks ago, when I logged in with a secondary account to relieve stress, we had almost fought dozens of times, not exactly skin-to-skin, but rather rolling on the ground, or rather, matching bellies….

“….”

Why do only strange expressions come to mind?

Anyway, due to these reasons, he was a user I was very familiar with.

This might be a bit difficult.

Such thoughts naturally began to form in a corner of my mind.

Of course, the current opponent was the first one I faced in this tournament, who was, what, a strong contender for the championship? He was much lower in rank than the dual-sword user.

However, rank is not an accurate measure of skill in this game, and especially in 1v1 matches, this tendency is even more pronounced.

There must have been a reason why he had made it this far with two consecutive wins, and I knew that reason well.

Grabs are not actually the most efficient playstyle in this game.

In a 6v6 match where you can receive support from teammates, even if you get grabbed by mistake, they can come to your rescue if you call them.

But now it was 1v1, and there was no one to come to my rescue.

If I got grabbed by mistake, the game could end in one hit.

The most important things when facing a grabber like this are strength, endurance, and body type. Even if you max out the secondary stats, if you don’t change your customization, there’s not much you can do about body type.

However, I don’t give up just because it looks unfavorable.

Let’s see how it goes.

The setting for this match was a monastery modeled after the Celestial Palace, where Gaia resides beyond the sky and the universe, to oversee the continent.

The Saint, who usually wears a nun's habit, is now clad in a full suit of iron armor, but her basic appearance still fits the battlefield well.

However, the opponent has a physique that really doesn’t fit the monastery.

His body is covered in thick muscles, and even his bald head, devoid of a single hair, has veins bulging as he towers over me, his height at least two heads taller.

I thought about it before, but why is he so scary….

I’m afraid he might even appear in my dreams.

I feel like I might pee my pants if I saw him in real life.

This guy is a complete barbarian who has invaded the monastery to defile the nuns.

The nun resists until the end, but ultimately gets completely overwhelmed….

While I was having these unnecessary thoughts, the countdown to start the match began.

3. 2. 1.

Start.

I first put some distance between us.

The Saint, holding a large hammer, jumps back.

The opponent, of course, didn’t hesitate to charge at me.

The muscle-bound man leans his body and launches a shoulder tackle.

It was the shoulder tackle I had used effectively in this tournament.

I had already predicted this, so I executed the key inputs I had planned.

The Saint, holding the massive hammer like a baseball bat, swings it and hits the charging giant.

Full swing.

Thud.

Despite clearly hitting a person, it sounded like hitting a dough.

Unable to withstand the pain, the opponent lets out a groan and is forced to retreat.

The shoulder bone shattered instantly, and the skin began to necrotize.

It was a clear hit.

[ Dlpkchoptimizationmuscletraining6years: ? ]

The opponent sent a question mark chat, unable to hide his confusion.

I could understand his feeling.

He seemed surprised that his movement had been predicted.

Well, I had faced it many times before.

I still vividly remember how I was pinned and groaned when I was hit by that shoulder tackle right at the start.

Now, if I let it happen, I’d be a fool.

The game continued in the same pattern.

Grabs are a playstyle that relies heavily on psychological warfare.

If you don’t know how to counter them, you’ll get caught, but if you know the methods and the opponent’s habits, it becomes relatively easy to counter.

I can’t deny that facing him on my secondary account was very helpful.

The battle continued.

...

Surprisingly, despite my initial worries about this match,

I was doing quite well.

At just the right timing, I managed to escape the opponent’s grasp by the thinnest of margins,

And my play, which went beyond physical strength and involved understanding the opponent’s habits, kept appearing.

The Saint, using her relatively small build, slipped out of the opponent’s grabs.

Not as quick as Mesgaki, but she slipped out like an eel.

Attacks that seemed impossible to avoid were deflected with the hammer, dealing continuous damage,

But despite being hit with full swings nearly ten times, the opponent still hadn’t fallen.

The giant, with his entire body bruised and bones shattered, continued to charge.

[ Dlpkchoptimizationmuscletraining6years: You ]

[ Dlpkchoptimizationmuscletraining6years: You can’t be ]

He kept sending incomprehensible chats,

But I ignored them, not understanding.

However, the match was almost over.

Anyone watching would feel that way, and almost everyone would be predicting my victory.

The giant, whose body looked like it was about to collapse, and the Saint, who was breathing heavily but unscathed.

No matter how tough he was, I could intuitively feel that only one more attack was needed to finish him off.

But I didn’t let my guard down.

The match wasn’t over yet.

Didn’t I win the first match by taking advantage of the opponent’s complacency?

What about a cornered giant?

“...As expected.”

Sure enough.

The opponent was preparing his ultimate move.

To deliver the final blow, as the Saint approached,

The giant crouched and then suddenly lunged forward.

The most concise motion he had shown so far.

For most people, used to the slow speed of the giant, it would be really hard to avoid.

But I wasn’t just anyone.

I quickly input the keys to escape.

Once again, the Saint slipped out of the grasp by the thinnest of margins.

Too quick for her build,

It was truly a last-resort move,

Even with my highly sensitive senses,

If I hadn’t become familiar with this player’s style, I wouldn’t have been able to react like this.

What did the opponent think of this?

[ Dlpkchoptimizationmuscletraining6years: . ]

[ Dlpkchoptimizationmuscletraining6years: . ]

Did he say something like, “You avoided it?”

I could feel his confusion when his ultimate move was countered.

Now,

It’s time to finish this.

...

...

...

“Unfortunately, the person who lost is having some communication issues, so we’ll start with the winner’s interview. Hello!”

“Hello.”

“Wow, that was really amazing. To be honest, I thought the Saint would be eliminated here. Grapplers are really tough to deal with in 1v1 matches.”

“Yeah.”

“Most people struggle with grapples, but you never got caught. Can you share the secret to that?”

“It’s not really a secret. Um, I’ve faced this player many times, so I was able to win.”

“So you were already familiar with him?”

“Yes.”

...

...

...

“Ah, the connection is back! You really lost to a strong opponent. He’s a powerful contender who has made it this far.”

“...”

“Still, it was impressive. Actually, there aren’t many players who play with grapples.”

“...”

“Even though you lost this match, I hope to see you again next time.”

“...”

“Oops, did I say something wrong? I know you must be upset. Well, the interview ends here….”

“Can I say one thing?”

“Yes, of course!”

“I found you.”

Author's Note

Please be very kind to the author who barely made it before the deadline…. Aww….

And actually, I should have said this yesterday, but Happy New Year!

By the way, I’ve been shivering since the day before yesterday. It might be because of the cold weather, and I think I have a cold.

I once complained, yes, that I get sick at least once every season, even though I don’t have a set schedule…. It might be the cycle, or it might not be.

Sniff%^_^

Anyway, thank you for always reading,

I’ll come on Tuesday night (if possible)!