NOVEL NEXT Chapter 59
[Title]
Aren’t the Arena Balances Off? (+514)
[Content]
Isn’t the ranged class way too advantageous in 1:1 PVP?
Just look at the number of top 100 rankers.
36 Wizards, 23 Onmyoji, 18 Spirit Masters.
The ones trailing behind are hybrid ranged fighters and sturdy physical classes, but they’re still relatively few.
What’s with the single-digit count for swordsmen and fighters? LOL
[Comments]
– Since item specs are neutralized in the arena, balance really stands out.
– Isn’t it just that there aren’t many skilled swordsmen? They have invulnerability skills and better hitboxes than tackle.
– The top of the arena right now is Fighter Deathly Death, right? It’s just that you guys can’t do it~
– If there’s an arena tournament, there’ll be a lot of melee classes in the top ranks, right? The distribution in the top 10 is quite even.
– In a virtual reality game with synchronized limitations, ranged classes are generally disadvantaged. Ranged classes just need to time their invulnerabilities and shoot from afar, requiring less physical skill. Melee classes rely on individual physical skill, but not everyone with good physical skill plays melee classes.
.
.
.
– I’m a Spirit Master near the 100 rank in the arena, and I got shredded by a swordsman yesterday; I couldn’t hit them even once. Seriously, a good swordsman seems like a total cheat.
– Isn’t it just that you weren’t doing well? How could you not hit them even once?
– (Commenter) No, no, I have an over 80% win rate against swordsmen. I really hit a wall. They dodged and blocked all my attacks and closed the distance in a flash.
– Is this the ID? [* Rain] 96th place, a swordsman. This person is the only swordsman near the top 100.
– Win rate of 100%, huh? LOL 18 wins, 0 losses? Without any defeats, I guess they gained points without losing any by winning streak bonuses?
– Even if they meet only newbies in 3 placement matches, if they win three in a row, they’d get matched up with people within the top thousand and get wrecked, right? Is an 18 win streak even possible?
– (Commenter) IDs aren’t shown in the arena field, and voices aren’t transmitted, so I don’t know who it is. But the character is white, small, and cute.
– Oh, it’s Chris’s little swordsman. They got famous in the industry when they were showing off during bus rides, thanks to word-of-mouth from customers. Swordsman skills are top-notch.
– Whoa… whoa… LOL So that’s Rain’s ID? Thanks for the info.
– What are you thinking? You know you can’t friend request without knowing their full name, right?
– I thought they quit since I hadn’t seen them near the fortress in a while and hadn’t heard about them shuttling, but turns out they’re still gaming?
*
Wooow.
The scenery around me changed, and my body arrived in a rocky mountain area.
It seemed to be a rocky mountain field near the ‘Demon Lord’s Forward Base.’ There were quite a few terrain objects to hide behind, making it favorable for the swordsman.
A short distance away, I spotted a black-robed human male wizard.
This was the person matched with me, my last opponent of the day.
Tatata!
Immediately, I began moving swiftly between the large rocks around me.
At this distance, the wizard’s ranged magic wouldn’t reach me, but since it’s a field favorable for melee classes, I had to use the terrain to my advantage. I aimed to approach under cover.
Taat!
The wizard seemed quite skilled in the arena. He quickly moved near the rocks to a relatively open area.
It looked like the opponent wizard found a good spot. He stopped moving and was preparing to cast magic while watching my movements.
There were a few rocks around, but they were all at the edge of the wizard’s range. To close the distance, I would have to face some of his attacks head-on.
Using an approach skill would allow me to close the distance quickly, but it would move in a straight line with no invulnerability frames. I couldn’t cancel while using it. If I recklessly used an approach skill, I might end up as the wizard’s punching bag under a status effect.
Taht.
While moving my body here and there to disrupt the wizard’s line of sight, I hid behind the rock nearest to the wizard.
Coming out from behind the rock would place me right within his attack range.
I wouldn’t give the wizard a chance to think of a countermeasure. First, I needed to close the distance to where my attacks could reach.
Tatata!
As I stepped out from behind the rock, I quickly rushed towards the wizard.
Papap!
In an instant, ice and fireballs hurled towards me, having caught me quickly.
The safest approach is to respond to the attacks calmly.
I tilted my head to dodge the ice and turned my body to evade the fireball. The wizard’s skill casting speed was pretty threatening. But dodging small projectiles coming straight at me wasn’t too difficult.
Flap.
As the wizard stretched his hands out, his robe fluttered. It was a preparation for a powerful technique.
Puffpuffboom!
With a loud explosion, three massive projectiles appeared in an instant and filled my view.
One was directly in front of me, while the other two were aimed at the sides. He wasn’t leaving me any space to dodge.
In that split second, I analyzed which skills I had to block and which I had to evade.
The ice block on the left, shaped like a dragon, could be blocked, but it would freeze my feet the moment it bursts.
The medium-sized fireball on the right? I couldn’t block that. It would inflict a ‘burn’ status effect and deal devastating damage.
And the gigantic fireball in the center? It looked the most threatening, but I could block it.
The wizard was clever. He fired a powerful-looking skill directly at me to lure my evasions to the sides.
I halted my movements and raised my guard.
Kabam!
A loud explosion occurred, and the shock briefly jolted my body. But I blocked it perfectly.
Before I knew it, I was quite close to the wizard.
Taking advantage of the brief pause in the wizard’s long cooldown, I closed the remaining distance and turned around without hesitation.
With this skill, I would close the remaining 8 meters.
[Backward Evasion (B)]
[Quickly leaps 8m backward to evade frontal attacks (Invulnerable during casting)]
[Cooldown: 8 seconds]
[(E-Rank) Movement speed increases for 5 seconds after skill activation]
[(B-Rank) After using the skill, switches to ‘Sword Drawing Technique’]
Papapat!
With the sensation of small ice and fireballs whooshing past me, I arrived right next to the wizard.
Grin.
I smiled at the wizard. His expression twisted in shock.
Tat!
The wizard also used his backward evasion immediately. It was to create distance again.
But with powerful skills gone, the wizard had no way to stop my approach.
Zooooom!
As the wizard moved backward, my body that used the approach skill surged towards him.
Even after using backward evasion, the wizard couldn’t shake me off. The moment my sword filled with starlight touched the wizard’s body…
Splurt.
The wizard’s body froze. It was the Ice Prison skill. As the ice shattered, flames swirled around the wizard’s body. His personal invulnerability.
Crack!
In the meantime, the wizard steadied himself and immediately summoned an ice barrier to block my sword.
Desperately deploying every invulnerability skill and counter skill he had, the wizard attempted to escape my attack range.
Papapapa!
But the wizard had a hard time fighting a swordsman in close combat. My sword tirelessly pursued the wizard. The wizard’s HP was rapidly depleting.
Zwoom!
Bang!
I lightly ducked under the wizard’s clumsily swung ice blade and took advantage of the lowered stance to sweep his legs out from under him.
“!”
The wizard’s stance crumbled. As his startled expression passed over me, a beam of light shot by.
Swish!
My sword sliced through the wizard’s body, draining his remaining HP entirely.
Wooom!
The wizard’s body emitted a strong light and soon vanished from the field.
[You have won!]
[Daily Quest ‘3 victories in the arena’ 3/3 (Completed)]
Twirl.
I spun around in place and gestured a V sign in the air.
Ending it perfectly with One Flash. Well done, Rain.
Today, I completed my daily arena quest!
In fact, the wizard had more options to shake me off. He was so flustered that he couldn’t even use skills from the Training Tower. I was thinking of countermeasures for after I pulled back from the wizard again.
I checked the magic stones I earned from today’s daily quests, smiling broadly.
I was a bit unhappy that they put enhancement items in the daily quest rewards for PVP content, but I could understand the game’s intention of encouraging PVP users.
1:1 PVP content, ‘The Arena.’
At first, I hesitated to engage here, thinking I might get hurt from being attacked by other users and hold a grudge, but once I learned about the ‘surrender’ system, I decided to at least complete the arena daily quests.
If it looks like I’ll be taking a lot of damage, I can declare a surrender and exit the PVP field. Fortunately, I haven’t lost yet.
Anyway, I’m not very interested in PVP. I just need to complete the 3-victory daily quest.
Now that I’ve finished a round of daily quests, it’s time to proceed with the sub-quests in the next area, explore general dungeons, and continue my adventure.
Wooom.
My body emerged in the middle of the ‘Berveia Plains’ after exiting the arena field.
This was the next adventure region following ‘Silva Plains,’ the last area of the plateau.
The adventure stage for users, starting from the central region of the continent, was gradually moving north. The next area would probably be a cold place with falling snow.
Maybe it’s because we’ve come up to the northern part of the continent or because winter is approaching in the Continent of Astria, but the temperature in the plains is slightly lower.
Whoooosh!
A strong wind blowing from the north created green waves across the plains.
I buttoned my coat to keep the cold wind out.
This surely feels like a game in these aspects. Even though it’s thin clothing, it keeps warm.
And I grumbled lightly.
“I miss Sister Chris.”
Chris has been a bit absent these days. They say she has to take care of Lee Seulbi while catching up on work. But she always has breakfast with Lee Seulbi.
She should start leveling up soon too.
Chris’s leveling up is delayed because of the weak ‘Lee Seulbi.’
The skilled swordsman hired by Chris, ‘Rain,’ has to take responsibility and help level up Chris.
Okay, today, let’s find a field where I can gain experience well or explore a general dungeon.