.
The water tornado was roaring all around me. I held both hands up, trying to control the vortex with the blue light bleeding from my palms. Fireballs were raining down on my head, and the tornado was the only thing keeping me from being vaporized. Suddenly, a sword sliced right through the wall of water, grazing my neck and leaving a sting before spinning away.
I could hear the sound of steel clashing everywhere. I slowly stepped back, pushing the tornado forward as a shield. As soon as I stepped out of the eye of the storm, I saw Roy's swords slamming against my water barrier.
"Come out, Rio, you coward!" Roy's voice boomed. "If you don't, I'll blow the ground right out from under you!"
I gritted my teeth and whispered to the system, "Zero, you ready? I'm playing every card I've got today." I yelled out, "Ultimate Skill: Divine Rain!"
Energy surged from my body, and suddenly, it started pouring across the entire map. Rain splashed onto Roy's character, and the system gave me an alert: Master, your attacks are ineffective. He's using a Divine Barrier.
"I know that!" I snapped. The cool rain was giving me a bit of peace. "He has to drop the barrier to attack me, and that's exactly the opening I need." I touched the falling droplets and whispered, "Body Double!"
The rainwater began to take my shape. Dozens of 'Rios' started sprinting in every direction. Roy scoffed, "These cheap tricks won't work here!" One by one, my clones were blown apart by explosions.
"If you're trying this hard, then come get me," Roy challenged.
My clones cleared a path, and I gripped my sword, sprinting over the surface of the water. Man, this device was insane—I could feel the wind in my hair, and everything felt 100% real. I coordinated with my clones to attack from every angle—below, above, and a direct strike from the front. But the moment I got close to Roy, I hit a massive barrier.
Alert! Get out of there! His level is 10 times higher than yours!
The ground turned glowing red. "Teleport!" I screamed. The second I vanished, the spot I was standing in blew up in a massive explosion. Smoke and darkness filled the air. When it cleared, Roy was still standing there, smirking. "How was that? Now try dodging this!"
The ground beneath my feet turned red again. I used my second teleport. My lungs were burning, and I only had one teleport card left.
"Enough cat and mouse," Roy growled. He pointed his hand at the sky, and the whole world went dark. Black rain started falling. The moment the first drop touched me, my HP started ticking down fast—120... 119... 118... it plummeted straight to 90.
"Game over," Roy said.
Suddenly, lightning struck me, and my character shattered into a thousand pieces. But in that exact second, I used my last teleport and appeared right behind Roy, swinging with everything I had. CLANG! My sword hit his barrier, and the sound effect sent me flying backward.
Roy closed the gap and landed a brutal punch right in my gut. I crashed into the dirt, blood coughing out of my character's mouth. My HP was down to 20. I was struggling to breathe, and my eyes were closing. Everything felt so real that it felt like my character was whispering to me—Don't lose, I'm scared.
Roy turned off his 'Reality' skill and walked toward me with a twisted smile. I asked the system, "What are the chances?"
Master... 0.000001%. One mistake and it's all over.
I noticed something: from the start, Roy hadn't changed his movement pattern once. "Dump all the Mana I have into my body!" I ordered.
Master, it's dangerous! This could fry your brain!
"Just do what I said!"
Blue light started exploding out of my body. Roy walked up and said, "Have you lost it? You trying to take me down with you?"
"That's exactly the plan," I hissed, and I released all that Mana directly into the ground. Roy went into shock. The entire floor turned neon blue, and a black volcano erupted right under our feet.
To stop the blast, Roy loosened his barrier for a split second, and my body exploded with Mana right then. We both got thrown far away. I landed in a freezing trap—HP zero. I was a block of ice. But then I saw it: Roy had only 10 HP left, and he had landed right on top of a mine. BOOM!
[You hit 1 Kill]
His character was gone. I thought I'd won, but then a Goddess descended from the sky and brought Roy back to life!
[Winner: Roy]
"WHAT IS THIS TRASH?!" I screamed at the system. "Where did this Goddess come from? She's a Final Arc boss!"
Master, the map was customized. Roy added the Goddess as a 'Special Event'.
I was shaking with rage. I saw my level had jumped to 123. I hit logout immediately.
Darkness took over, and then light hit my eyes. "Sir, are you okay? Answer slowly," a staff member said. I opened my eyes and felt layers of cold cloth on my head. My head felt like someone had hit me with a sledgehammer. They gave me a cold drink, and I started to feel a bit better.
I climbed out of the pod. Roy was already standing there, smiling.
"You freaking coward!" I lunged at him, but I was so exhausted I just collapsed. The staff caught me. "Sir, stay calm. Your body has been under too much pressure."
"You cheated!" I glared at Roy. "You said only special skills. Where did that Goddess come from?"
"I didn't cheat," Roy said, acting all innocent. "I sent a mail updating the terms. If you didn't read the English properly, that's your fault."
"You hid those words on purpose! You're a snake!"
Roy just shrugged. "Say whatever you want, but you lost. Your luck finally failed."
That's when I saw Frierena sitting on the sofa, wearing glasses and sipping a drink. She was smiling. "That was fun," she said. "Better than the actual match."
"Shut up, you brat," I snapped.
"Lucky Boy, you want a beating?" she barked, but then she walked over and started stroking my hair. "I'm in a good mood, so I'll let it slide. You remind me of my little brother... you've got a good fighting style, even if you rely on luck too much." She gave me a light punch on the head and walked out, pouting.
Roy walked up. "The score is 10 to 9 now. I'm catching up. Next time, I'll take the lead."
"Get out of here!" I yelled. "The confidence on this guy... wait. Roy, tell me where Ishika and Ayesha went."