"Blank-kun, I'm second place!"
Arthur looked at Maple, who was practically bouncing beside him in excitement, and a doting smile appeared on his face.
"Hm. Maple-chan worked hard too."
If one ignored the surrounding players, who had also been teleported out of the event map and were staring at them like they were looking at monsters, the scene might actually have felt heartwarming.
"You really got me…"
A blond man approached from the crowd, stopping in front of Arthur. His gaze carried curiosity rather than hostility.
"Blank, I have a question. If it involves confidential information, feel free not to answer."
Arthur gave a small nod, signaling him to continue.
"In that battle just now, even though your evasion was flawless… there should have been at least a few moments where my attacks or Flame Emperor's connected. Including the Fire Prison at the end."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But from start to finish, I never saw your HP drop. Not even once. Was that a skill… or something else?"
As expected, he noticed.
Against the joint assault of two top-tier players, even with S-rank swordsmanship experience, Arthur couldn't realistically dodge everything. Their judgment had been correct: with his points fully invested in attack, any clean hit from either of them should have been fatal.
If he hadn't possessed that special title…
Limit Breaker (Title): Awarded to players who clear event conditions beyond the intended difficulty. Grants a bonus equal to 50% of the user's highest attribute, distributed across all other stats. Additionally provides minor resistance to control effects and more defence.
"…."
Originally, Arthur had been slightly concerned about how to conceal his extremely polarized stat build.
But with this?
His weaknesses were softened, without disappearing entirely of course.
His defense and HP were no longer paper-thin, yet far from Maple's monstrous durability.
It was Balanced, but at the same time specialized.
The way Maple looked at him after seeing the reward still made him uneasy.
"Blank-kun… your defense…"
Her voice trembled.
"It… it's way higher than before!"
She had worked endlessly, eaten nonstop, endured brutal training, and obtained Immovable Fortress, doubling her defense. Even then, she had only just surpassed the 3000 mark.
Arthur, meanwhile, had gained a significant boost... but nowhere near that level.
His attack still reigned supreme, while his other attributes had risen just enough to remove his instant-death weakness.
After seeing the title screenshot Arthur shared in the temporary voice chat, Payne let out a small, wry smile.
"It seems the title of 'Strongest' may have found a new candidate."
Yet his eyes still burned with fighting spirit as he extended his hand.
Arthur clasped it firmly.
"Even so… I won't lose to you next time, Blank."
As expected of a pro player, Payne didn't give up. Even after that defeat, his mind was already set on surpassing him.
"Mm."
Arthur didn't know if they would ever have another chance to cross swords, but he had no intention of dampening Payne's spirit right now.
It didn't take long before Payne was surrounded by his companions and escorted away.
A moment later, a small red figure shuffled over toward Arthur.
"Th-this time… you won…"
"Oh~? Flame Emperor, you're not crying anymore?"
Arthur found himself rather fond of this contrast-filled girl. He'd been too immersed in the heat of battle earlier to pay her much attention, but now that the event was over, he couldn't help but wonder how this guild leader... whose composed persona he had thoroughly shattered was going to face her subordinates afterward. The thought made him a little curious.
"Hmph—"
At his teasing, the girl's lips drooped into a pout.
"My name is Mii… 'Flame Emperor' is just a nickname those people forced on me because of my class when they formed the guild…"
At first, she'd thought the title sounded kind of... well, a little cool?
But ever since her true personality had been exposed, being called "Flame Emperor" felt unbearably embarrassing.
Especially when it came from the very person who had defeated her.
"A-Anyway!"
As if remembering her original purpose, Mii suddenly straightened, looked up at him, and jabbed a finger forward.
"Next time… I'll definitely take you down!"
After saying that, she turned around and hurried off.
Based on Arthur's understanding of her, though, that little girl was probably going to find some quiet corner to hide in and start sniffling again.
How pitiful.
Seriously… how could anyone mess with such a cute little girl in this world?
What a devil.
…Oh. Wait.
That was me.
Never mind, then.
His attention quickly shifted away as a series of system notifications began flooding his vision.
[You have completed the quest: "Event Ranking Tournament" and achieved 1st place. Quest Rating: S]
[You have completed the quest: "Skill Collector."Acquired Skills: 53 Common / 27 Rare / 3 Special. Completion Rating: S]
[You have completed the Special Challenge Quest: "Strongest Player." As a solo player, you challenged the top-ranked player Payne and achieved victory. Quest Rating: S]
[You have cleared the Dungeon: "BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense." Overall Clear Rating: SSS]
[Dungeon clear rewards will be distributed after exiting the dungeon.]
[Remaining stay time: 24 hours. Do you wish to exit the dungeon?]
----
Every Reincarnator had some questions on their mind after Blank cleared the dungeon with an SSS rank this two days:
Who is he?
Could he do it again?
Or at the very least… would he secure a S rank?
Discussion threads had already exploded across social platforms: Instagram, X, TikTok... everywhere you looked, people were talking about the same thing.
"Is Blank actually a genius… or not?"
Some argued it was luck.
Others insisted he must've gathered enough information beforehand—through hidden channels, repeated attempts, or trial and error.
After all…
Clearing an instance like that twice in a row sounded completely unrealistic.
…Right?
If he really managed to earn another SSS Rank in such short time...
Then everyone might be witnessing the rise of the greatest Reincarnator in the entire 30-year history of this system.
"Impossible," they said.
"A one-in-a-million fluke," they said.
So then why…
-----
[Ding! Global Announcement!]
[Reincarnator "Blank" has perfectly cleared the Reincarnation Instance"BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense" with outstanding performance, obtaining the highest mission evaluation: SSS-Grade!]
[Reincarnator "Blank" has perfectly cleared the Reincarnation Instance"BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense" with outstanding performance, obtaining the highest mission evaluation: SSS-Grade!]
[Reincarnator "Blank"…]
-----
…He'd done it again?