Squelch!
Jenny's sword struck the soldier first. The soldier stumbled backward, instantly paralyzed. Jenny quickly followed up with another slash. She watched as the health bar above the soldier's head instantly emptied, and a bright red dot appeared on his chest.
[Aim for the red dot to execute a one-hit kill.]
Jenny hurried to follow the prompt. Aided by the exoskeleton rig equipped on her haptic suit, her body moved automatically. Gripping the sword with both hands, she dropped into an incredibly stylish thrusting stance and drove the sword straight through the soldier's chest.
"Gah!" the soldier screamed, his body going limp as he collapsed to the ground.
[Holy crap, Jenny is a badass!]
[First blood achieved!]
[Damn, those last few moves, especially that final strike, were actually pretty sweet!]
[Yeah, Jenny's final thrust was so clean. She actually looks like a real swordsman!]
The viewers showered her with praise as Jenny yanked the blade out. She stared at her own hands in utter disbelief. That fluid, flawless strike was entirely her doing.
'Did I really just kill someone?' Looking down, she noticed the soldier's corpse wasn't gruesome at all. There wasn't a single visible wound on his body. With his eyes closed, he just looked like he was fast asleep.
It was exactly as Lucien had promised. The game wouldn't feature excessively gory visuals.
"I get it now. During the final blow, the haptic suit physically guides my movements so I can pull off all these stylish, assassin-like executions. Lucien's design is pretty damn good."
'Not bad at all,' Jenny marveled inwardly before letting out a laugh. "Hehehe, chat, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."
With her first kill secured, she pressed forward. Soon, she spotted another soldier standing ahead. Just behind him was a patch of tall grass.
[When you initiate an assassination without being detected, you can perform a one-hit kill. Try it now.]
"An assassination?"
Catching on quickly, Jenny ducked into the tall grass and swiftly closed the distance between her and the soldier.
When she was barely ten feet away, the red dot lit up on the soldier's body once more. It was the signal for a one-hit kill.
Without a second thought, Jenny charged right at him!
Swish!
Driven by the haptic suit, she practically leaped onto the soldier in the blink of an eye. Tackling him to the ground, she drove the sword straight through his heart.
The soldier died on the spot without so much as a scream.
[Holy crap, that was clean!]
[How did Jenny make that kill look so effortless?!]
[A sneak attack actually one-shots them. I think I understand this game now. It must be encouraging players to focus on stealth!]
While the viewers chatted excitedly, Jenny smugly tossed out a one-liner. "Heh, piece of cake. Next."
She kept moving. Up ahead, a wall standing about fifty feet tall blocked her path. It was no challenge for Jenny. Using a combination of double jumping and wall climbing, she scaled it with ease. As she reached the top, she spotted yet another soldier standing a short distance away.
A new prompt. appeared.
[You can also perform assassinations from mid-air]
Seeing the red dot on the soldier, Jenny broke into a grin and leaped down without hesitation.
Guided by the haptic assist, Jenny landed perfectly squarely on the soldier's shoulders, using her momentum to crush him to the ground while slicing cleanly across his throat!
[Damn, that was freaking badass!]
[Jeez, if even a girl like Jenny can look this cool playing, wouldn't I be an absolute god at this?]
[Yeah, just watching Jenny play is insanely satisfying!]
[Looks like New World finally saw the light. They actually designed a game that lets the players feel like absolute beasts!]
The viewers continued to rave in the chat, and Jenny was equally hyped. It felt amazing. It was just too satisfying!!!
Right now, she truly felt like a martial arts master.
Compared to Sekiro, all those older action games weren't even worth mentioning.
"Haha, chat, watch me slaughter my way through this entire Ashina Castle!" Having chopped down three enemies in a row, Jenny's confidence was bursting at the seams as she began her trash-talking phase.
Fueled by adrenaline, she pressed onward and soon arrived at a massive set of castle gates. The gates were tightly shut, and a lone soldier stood guard in front of them.
This soldier looked different from the rest. His cloth armor was of much higher quality, and he had a noticeably bulkier build.
"Here comes another one. Watch me go on a killing spree!" Fearless, Jenny strutted straight toward the guard.
Just then, another prompt popped up on the left side of her screen.
[You can use your sword to deflect enemy attacks. This will prevent health loss but will build up your Posture gauge. When your Posture gauge is full, your guard will be broken, leaving you highly vulnerable. Please keep this in mind.]
"Deflect..." Jenny was still pondering the tip when the distant soldier spotted her and immediately drew the longsword from his waist with a sharp ring.
A health bar materialized above the soldier's head, revealing his name.
[Leader: Shigeyama]
"Whoa, this guy's a squad leader!" Jenny said, slightly surprised.
"Trespassers will die!" the leader named Shigeyama roared, raising his blade as he charged at her.
"You think I'm scared of you?!" Jenny shouted back, raising her own sword to meet him!
Clang!
A crisp sound of clashing metal rang out. Once again, Jenny's sword reached the enemy first, but this time, Shigeyama managed to block her strike with his own blade.
The two swords locked together, sending sparks flying. The sheer force of the impact left Jenny's hands tingling numbly around her hilt.
"He actually blocked it?!" Jenny froze. Before she could even figure out her next move, Shigeyama instantly swung his blade in a fierce counterattack!
Squelch!
The strike landed squarely on Jenny's body. Instantly, an icy sensation washed over her chest and shoulder!
It felt exactly as if she had taken a real sword slash!
Glancing at the bottom left corner, she saw her health bar immediately drop by a quarter!
'Damn, that's a ton of damage for just one hit?!'
While Jenny was still reeling in shock, Shigeyama delivered a second slash, sending another wave of icy pain through her and dropping her health bar to exactly half!
Almost instantaneously, Shigeyama unleashed his third strike!
"Why is this guy so aggressive?!"
Jenny was truly panicking now. She turned and tried to run, only to hear another squelch as a blade bit deeply into her back. The tremendous force behind the blow threw her completely off balance, sending her crashing to the ground.
"I'm dead, I'm dead!" Jenny screamed from the floor. She barely managed to roll over before she saw Shigeyama looming over her, bringing his sword down for the fourth time.
Squelch!
"Gah!!!"
The next second, accompanied by the Wolf's muffled groan, the screen faded to pitch black. A single, blood-red word materialized: "DEATH!"
Without a doubt, Jenny had died, and it had happened incredibly fast.
She had breezed through the first three grunts like an absolute god, only to get completely utterly decimated by this fourth enemy, a squad leader.
[Ah, Jenny, the tutorial literally told you to deflect, why didn't you block!]
[Exactly, just running away is useless! You literally have a sword in your hand, don't be a coward!]
"Sigh, I panicked," Jenny admitted honestly. "Damn it, that Shigeyama guy was pressuring me way too hard. The second that first slash hit me, I lost it."
Those brief few moments alone had left Jenny drenched in nervous sweat. It was too terrifying, too intense. The sensation of crossing real, lethal swords with someone was overwhelmingly visceral.
It was an entirely different breed of fear. Silent Hill capitalized on the terror of the supernatural and bizarre; Subnautica fed on the dread of the deep ocean and massive leviathans. Sekiro, without a doubt, delivered the sheer, heart-pounding terror of fighting for your very life!
"Let's try that again, chat. This time, I'll actually try deflecting," Jenny said, taking a deep breath.
Soon, the game reloaded, and Jenny found herself back inside the Moonview Tower.
"Seriously, I have to start all the way back here?" Jenny grumbled before pushing the tower doors open.
She forced her way through the first soldier, assassinated the next two, and soon stood face-to-face with Squad Leader Shigeyama once again.
"Trespassers will die!" Shigeyama bellowed, charging at her with his weapon raised and bringing it down directly at her head.
This time, Jenny raised her sword to block.
Clang!
Just as expected, Shigeyama's heavy strike was safely deflected by her blade. At the same time, Jenny noticed a yellow energy bar appear at the bottom of her screen.
'This must be the Posture gauge the tutorial mentioned,' she realized. Glancing at Shigeyama, she saw that he had one above his head, too!
The only difference was that Shigeyama's Posture gauge was still completely empty, whereas hers was already starting to build up!
Meanwhile, another prompt appeared on the left.
[If you swing your weapon at the exact moment an attack lands, you can perform a Parry, knocking the enemy's weapon away. Parrying throws the enemy off balance and severely damages their Posture.]
"Parrying? What is that now?" Jenny was utterly bewildered. An instant later, Shigeyama brought his blade crashing down again!
Intimidated by Shigeyama's sheer ferocity, Jenny simply kept her sword locked horizontally above her head in a pure defensive stance. Fortunately, Shigeyama's AI seemed relatively basic; he didn't try to aim anywhere else, stubbornly hacking away at her upper guard.
Over the course of several strikes, Jenny's health bar remained untouched, but her Posture gauge at the bottom was rapidly filling up.
Clang!
With one final blow, the Posture gauge at the bottom of Jenny's vision completely maxed out. She suddenly felt an unbearable weight behind Shigeyama's sword. Unable to withstand the force, her arms gave way and slumped uselessly to her sides as she stumbled backward and fell to the dirt.
Taking advantage of the opening, Shigeyama closed in and rained down a flurry of slashes, tearing ruthlessly into the defenseless Jenny.
A moment later, Jenny's screen went pitch black again, and the blood-red word "DEATH" floated before her eyes.
"..."
[Tsk tsk, Jenny died again. And this is literally only the fourth enemy in Sekiro.]
[I get it now. You can't just block forever. Blocking saves your health, but it builds your Posture. Once your Posture is full, your guard breaks and you fall over, letting the enemy execute you. It's a guaranteed death sentence!]
[Damn it, I take back what I said about this game making you feel like a badass!]
[This sword combat is incredibly hardcore. You can't just blindly attack, and you can't just blindly defend either!]
[According to the tutorial, Jenny's only option is to try parrying!]
[Yeah, try parrying!]
"Sigh. Alright, I'll try it again." Jenny took another deep breath, feeling an immense pressure bearing down on her.
All of her previous arrogance had completely vanished. Why did fighting this squad leader feel like a totally different game compared to the first three grunts?!
She was supposed to be playing as the highly agile and lethal Wolf!
Why was she struggling so much against these minor enemies?!
The game reset at the tower once again. Stepping outside, Jenny quickly dispatched the first three soldiers and arrived in front of Shigeyama for the third time.
"Trespassers will die!" Shigeyama roared, charging at her with his blade for the third time.
"Parry, parry, parry!" Jenny kept chanting under her breath. Watching closely for the exact moment Shigeyama brought his sword down, she violently swung her own blade to meet his!
Clang!
Jenny immediately felt a sharp numbness in her hands. She didn't lose any health, but her Posture gauge jumped up a chunk. The parry had failed; it had only registered as a normal block!
Shigeyama's second strike swiftly followed!
'I'll parry again!'
Jenny swung her sword once more, but this time, she reacted way too early. Before Shigeyama's blade even began its descent, Jenny was already slashing at thin air. As a result, Shigeyama's blade carved cleanly into her body, carving away a quarter of her health!
"Damn it, this is so hard!" Feeling the blade-like icy sting across her chest and face, Jenny shuddered violently and screamed in frustration.
Before she could recover, Shigeyama's blade fell for a third time. This time, Jenny spotted her opening and swung with everything she had!
Clang!
Amidst a brilliant shower of sparks, Shigeyama's hands were violently thrown outward. The impact forced his entire body to stumble a step backward, and his Posture gauge instantly shot up!
"Fuck, I actually did it!" Jenny was ecstatic.
[Don't just stand there celebrating, Jenny, keep attacking!]
The viewers desperately reminded her, but Jenny was far too busy celebrating to capitalize on the opening. By the time she realized it, Shigeyama had already recovered his balance, straightened his posture, and launched another vicious assault against her.
Clang, clang, clang!
Jenny failed to parry every single one of his subsequent strikes and was unceremoniously slaughtered by Shigeyama once again.
[DEATH!!!]
The massive red text appeared for a third time.
"I get it now, chat, I've figured out the trick!" Even though she had just been killed again, Jenny wasn't the least bit disheartened. Instead, she sounded incredibly thrilled.
"It's all about timing! The timing of the parry is absolutely crucial. As long as I get the timing right, parry him a few times, and weave in my own attacks, I can definitely take this Shigeyama guy down. Trust me, just give me one more chance, no, three more chances, and I know I can kill him!"
[ADVANCED 30 CHAPTER ON PATREON .COM/EDGYREADER]