Chapter 18

Chapter 18: [Limitless War] Hmm, Am I Doing This Right？ (3)

‘Startup’.

In every movement, signs of motion known as preparatory movements, or preliminary movements, were bound to be observed beforehand.

Martial arts were no different.

Rather, martial arts were about predicting each other’s movements through nothing but startup, and even going further to deceive the opponent with it.

Inferring the strength, direction, and flow of force, then displaying movements where truth and falsehood were intermingled, was the most basic of basics.

For a Pro-Gamer, that was even more so.

‘An ordinary person… Looks like he’s done some gym training, and he’s tall with long arms and legs, but not to a level where he can really make use of the reach difference. He isn’t someone who learned professional martial arts.’

Even while smiling lightly and flicking- flicking- his hand, Crack instinctively analyzed him and made his judgment. 

The handsome black-haired man standing before him was not that much of a threat.

There was no sign at all that he had learned Gaming Martial Arts, one of the modern martial arts, nor did he look as if he had acquired the Ancient Martial Arts that fighters of the old era supposedly used.

Just from the way he stood still in front of him, one could infer that he had lived a life unrelated to martial arts.

Naturally.

Because while Crack seemed to be swaggering, he still had the basic posture, that is- his form, established, whereas Ju Seo-jin was holding an utterly messy stance that could collapse no matter where he was attacked from.

‘Hmm- I don’t know why he’s so confident he can beat a Pro-Gamer. Doing a bit of gym training doesn’t mean you can face off against a Pro-Gamer.’

Crack was an athlete who had been called a genius among geniuses, and since his first year of middle school, he had professionally learned Gaming Martial Arts at ‘VEN’s team academy.

Since he had learned Gaming Martial Arts focused on [Eternal Saga], mainly boxing · wrestling, it might not fit [Limitless War] all that well… but even so, there was no problem.

Modern Pro-Gamers were killing weapons developed in a different direction from mixed martial artists. 

Among them, Crack was a player who belonged to a fairly exceptional group.

In practice, there was no way an ordinary person with a decent body who had done a little gym training could beat a Pro-Gamer like him.

‘Well, there are people like that sometimes, aren’t there? People who think they can beat a professional athlete just because they’re tall and have a good body. He didn’t look like that, but I guess he’s one of them too.’

Furthermore… considering Ju Seo-jin’s Player Character, ‘Nameless Monk,’ which higher-ranking players in [Limitless War] increasingly stopped using, the possibility of losing became even slimmer.

‘Nameless Monk. Its Martial Skill, Time Shadow Style, presets a minimum of seven and a maximum of fourteen movements in advance, then traces them with acceleration. There’s nothing I can’t respond to.’

Nameless Monk- that Player Character had a Martial Skill that preset movements beforehand and then ‘accelerated’ through them.

It's one and only Martial Skill─── ‘Time Shadow Style.’ 

The value inherent within it was that the more ‘continuous movements’ were repeated, the more stacks built up on its ‘acceleration,’ making it faster and faster.

In theory, the Nameless Monk Player Character could activate the Time Shadow Style Martial Skill and ‘set movements down to the millisecond.’

And. 

According to Pro-Gamers’ analysis, Time Shadow Style’s movements were said to work such that ‘───if the Martial Skill is broken up and activated in millisecond units, the acceleration stacks are maintained’ …or so they said.

It was the greatest advantage and the worst weakness.

Because, conversely, it meant that ‘if one could not continuously break up and activate movements in millisecond units’ -then ‘if one changed the preset movements in the middle, the acceleration stacks would disappear’ …as well.

Crack had no intention of letting himself be hit even once by obvious preset movements.

Even in the unlikely event that his opponent tried to use Time Shadow Style’s acceleration as an advantage, he would give him no opening.

‘At most, he’ll just accelerate straight forward recklessly and throw a punch or a kick. I can react to and dodge that much instantly as much as I want. No problem.’

He would win.

“Pfft. Ah, well, I’m fine with that. But in exchange, you can’t say anything different after losing, all right? I’ll yield the first attack. Come o…”

And yet……

The next moment.

BAAANG───!

Ju Seo-jin. 

The gloomy-looking handsome black-haired man standing before him… vanished from his field of vision as though melting away. 

Without startup─── without a preliminary motion.

‘What?’

Shock. 

And then, a sense of danger that arrived a beat late. 

Crack’s eyes followed the movement one beat too slowly… and then, he could see it.

The sight of Ju Seo-jin almost clinging to the ground, sliding as he launched a kick from below to above.

Both knees, the hip joints, and even the shoulders─── he had relaxed each body part, minimizing the preliminary motion and lowering his center of gravity.

With his palms planted on the ground, in order to make the flow of kinetic energy smoother, he relaxed the muscles in specific parts and rotated rapidly from his central axis.

That was clearly a single system, a technique, and further, a martial art.

‘…What! That makes no sense! Here, he’s aiming for my side like this? Damn it, but it still isn’t too late! I’ll suppress him with a follow-up response!’

However- Crack was also an athlete who had learned Gaming Martial Arts─── his movement changed in an instant, and he curled up while taking a posture that blocked his left side.

Conversely, before the sliding kick could explode into his side, he intentionally closed the distance, moving to reduce the force at the moment of impact.

If the kick, with rotational force strongly built up from a low central axis, did not land squarely in his side, the initiative for the counter would inevitably come to Crack.

───After the Guard. 

He would strike the defenselessly exposed upper body hard with a straight, then cut off the linked movement and make the decisive move with a Takedown.

‘After the counter, I’ll collapse his weight balance with a Takedown, and from top position… strike a vital point with Flash Attack…! It isn’t too late!’

Having made that judgment in a split second, Crack gritted his teeth and finished preparing to throw a straight along with his Guard.

Swish.

And───

‘Ah-?’

At the same time, Ju Seo-jin slightly raised both arms planted against the ground… and adjusted the ‘point of impact’ of the kick heading from below to above a little higher. 

─That was, precisely, the head.

On top of that, the high kick, which had been prevented from displaying sufficient power because Crack had closed the distance, succeeded in securing the proper range through that sequence of adjusting the point of impact.

The result was obvious.

‘He calculated even this far───!?’

The next moment.

THWACK─…!

“───!!”

Ju Seo-jin’s swift kick, loaded with centrifugal force, drove squarely into Crack’s face─── and his body flew backward in spectacular fashion.

CRASH-THUD───!

…It was exactly as foreseen.

***

Silence.

The streaming window. 

A moment of silence arrived, where none of the viewers watching Crack’s Personal Broadcast could easily open their mouths. 

It was unbelievable.

He was a Pro-Gamer. 

A core member who had belonged to ‘VEN’ of ESK in [Eternal Saga] and won the World Championship two times in a row together with ‘Black Moon.’ 

And he had lost one-sidedly.

-What is.. this..?

-How..?

-Did I really just see that..?

-What is this, how did that happen?? Seriously, what?? What the hell is going on????????

-Crack lost?????? Does that make sense?? Shit?????????

To make matters worse, it was to an ordinary person who had never played [Limitless War] even once, and who was, on top of that, nothing at all.

Cough, cough-

Crack lay collapsed on the training ground of Peach Blossom Spring, coughing a few times… then barely stood up.

Even if it was a Virtual Reality Game, he was still strictly connected to the brain · nervous system.

Though pain values were restricted to prevent unexpected accidents from shock, that did not mean there was no pain.

The pain carved into his heart was no different.

‘Did I lose…? Me? To that ordinary person? Really?’

Crack got up like a person whose soul had left him, wiped away the fresh blood streaming from his nose, and half-opened his eyes.

‘No. …That wasn’t an ordinary person’s movement. Not just the combat sense to use [Limitless War]’s Martial Skill- it was a systematic technique.’

For an instant. 

Crack’s thoughts became chaotic. 

Nearly hundreds of guesses appeared and disappeared repeatedly, tormenting him.

‘Was it capoeira(Brazilian Martial Arts)…? No, from that brief glimpse, it also looked like some Japanese old-school martial art…… Was it modified into Gaming Martial Arts? What the hell is going on?’

His head hurt.

‘A Pro-Gamer…? No. If so, he’d be a skilled player I should know. Is he perhaps a trainee affiliated with a team academy? A prospect? Was there a place that taught that kind of Gaming Martial Arts? Damn it!’

Huff- Crack exhaled, nervously frowning.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it! I don’t know what anything is……! What the hell is going on? When I searched his record, he was definitely an ordinary person! Shit!’

However- that too lasted only a moment. 

Because before much time had passed, Ju Seo-jin approached him and calmly moved his lips.

“Earlier. You said it would be enough if I landed just one hit- so, can I count this as my win?”

“That…….”

“Ah… as expected, this isn’t enough. I understand. Then I’ll face you again, and this time I’ll win completely.”

“What… did you say……?”

“I said it’s fine to do it again.”

Ju Seo-jin moved his lips with a mechanical expression that seemed to hold no malice at all… and then, Crack’s face became colored with self-loathing and faint anger.

“You see. If we do it again this time, I think I won’t just land one hit… I might simply win.”

***

-Shudder shudder shudder shudder shudder shudder shudder

-Wow.. Crack.. His face has gone bright red.. Crack usually just smiles all the time..

-Whoa.. Crack must be really angry.. That ordinary person? Is he even an ordinary person? Who is he??

-I don’t know.. Who is he, seriously?? With that skill, isn’t he a Pro-Gamer from [Eternal Saga].. or if not, maybe from [Gun Ground]..?

-Big bro Crack.. let’s go for a revenge match!! Earlier, you lost because you were careless!! That guy is cosplaying as an ordinary person!! If you get serious, you’ll win!!

-This is intense..

Peach Blossom Spring.

Contrary to the murderous atmosphere, peach leaves gently drifted down on the peaceful-looking training ground. 

Crack warmed up and declared in a voice that could not have been colder.

“In one minute… we’ll start the game. The game format is ‘Default’─── we’ll fight including defeat by Ring-Out Ruling. Any objections?”

“None.”

“We’ll choose the same Player Characters as earlier. In the first place, you should have only one Player Character too. Do you agree to this as well?”

“Well… that isn’t something I particularly care about.”

Clench.

With a face utterly heated with anger, Crack exhaled roughly, haaaa-, and continued speaking.

“…I will not be careless anymore. I will approach this match as if I were formally challenging a Lord of Martial Arts.”

“Lord of Martial Arts?”

“…It refers to the highest-level Player Tier of those ranked within the top 400 in [Limitless War]’s all-region ranking. In my opinion, you seem like a skilled player comparable to them.”

“Ah. So there’s something like that too. …I’m not really to that extent, though.”

“…….”

Nonsense. 

Crack wanted to dismiss it that way, but barely held himself back. 

Instead, he asked what he was truly curious about.

“There’s one thing I want to ask. Are you… affiliated with a pro team academy? Earlier, was that Gaming Martial Arts? Are you perhaps already active as a Pro-Gamer───”

“―No. Hmm, I only started playing Virtual Reality Games yesterday. Well- I haven’t learned anything separately… and I’m not a Pro-Gamer either.”

“…Please don’t joke. I’m being serious.”

“It isn’t something you particularly have to believe.”

Ju Seo-jin had not told even a single lie, but Crack thought all of it was deception and answered with a cold gaze.

“…Then I will not believe it either. A skilled player good enough to beat me has never learned even a single bit of Gaming Martial Arts? There is no way that makes sense.”

“Hmm. I’m sorry, but may I ask one thing?”

“…What is it?”

“This thing called a Pro-Gamer. Is that considered good?”

“Huh. What kind of nonsen-”

“Ah… I was simply curious.”

The next moment.

“Whether being a Pro-Gamer- whether that degree of skill is enough. That was all.”

“……….”

At the same time as the game start sound rang out, READY-, ‘START!’─── Crack lunged at Ju Seo-jin with a beast-like expression.

***

At the same time.

[Dustnet(=Category: {Game / Streamer}]

*Post Title: Hey... isn’t this Ju Seo-jin?? Why is Ju Seo-jin in Crack’s Personal Broadcast??

└Author: Anonymous(OP)

━{ Photo: Crack and Ju Seo-jin standing facing each other }

━Wow.. This is 100% Ju Seo-jin, right?? I dunno what’s going on, but I went to Crack’s Personal Broadcast and Ju Seo-jin is there lololololol

━Looks like he’s even about to have a match with Crack in [Limitless War]?

━Seriously, what is this??? lololololololololololololol

…Like a butterfly effect, one post written in the community was about to stir up a massive storm.