Chapter 43
In the world of the internet, countless memes are born and just as many fade away.
However, amid the disappearance of so many memes, there’s a game that holds its ground, beloved by the fish within the community.
[Who does it better?]
It’s a game called ‘Line Up’.
The targets of this game are different each time.
Sometimes it’s famous singers, sometimes skilled pro gamers, and sometimes even formless concepts like movies or games.
And of course, Silia Online was no exception.
Having a lot of popularity means there are many players enjoying it, which coincidentally means there are plenty of people playing the game.
[So who fights the best?]
Is Yuki the best, then??
[Comments]
– Yuki just has a high level; she’s not really that good, is she?
┗??? What is this nonsense?
┗ Do you even know her PVP win rate?
┗ If I had a high level, I could cut through anything, too!
With that, it was pretty common to wonder who among the players was the strongest.
And among them were those who had these thoughts.
[Don’t know who fights best, but]
Isn’t Joanie the strongest?
If she thinks she’s going to lose, she just asks Kana for help, right? ㄷㄷ;
[Comments]
– She wasn’t a knight, she was a summoner;
┗ The sword is just ‘a hobby’…
– Why is the summon stronger than the master?
┗ How can a can opener be stronger than its owner?
┗???
– Go, Kana! Body slam!
– Kana is just a kid. Kana tears people apart…
Joanie couldn’t be counted as a strong player by spec or skill.
Even viewers of Joanie’s channel, who were friendly towards her, and even Joanie herself knew this well.
So, it seemed like the topic didn’t really stir up any drama, but…
People’s curiosity got stuck on something bizarre.
[But just how strong is Kana?]
(Art of the Dimension Beast.jpg)
This time, it’s the dimension beast from Joanie’s stream.
Its size was as big as a decent-sized house;
Doesn’t that just mean it’s big and weak?
(Dimension Beast level and health bar displayed.jpg)
A whopping level 78 dimension beast!
As everyone knows, a normal person struggles to fight one of the same level one-on-one.
Naturally, winning against a monster that’s higher level one-on-one is even harder.
Even that crazy dog, Yuki, struggles when fighting monsters of higher level than her.
Even if it’s just a few level differences.
Thinking about that gives you a rough idea of how strong that dimension beast is.
(Kana and Dimension Beast fight.gif)
But Kana took it down without a scratch.
She didn’t even seem tired at all;
Of course, it’s not an absolute rule that even players of the same level can lose to NPCs, and vice versa, but it still serves as a decent judgment benchmark.
In other words, Kana, who literally ‘smashed’ the level 78 monster, means she is much higher level than the beast.
Even if that’s not the case, it means she’s strong enough to wipe out a level 78 monster.
When everyone was busy raiding trying to get a kill off Kana, due to a lack of information, there were no names or levels displayed, but maybe that’s different now?
Roughly guessing, she might be an Expert rank or possibly a Master.
If we could see how other Masters fight, we might know for sure, but unfortunately, data is scarce.
But even if Kana is indeed a Master, it poses a problem, as the average age of someone reaching Master rank in the Silia world is said to be in their 60s.
You might say she has no talent, but they say if you don’t have talent, you can’t even become a Master.
Among those, even the exceptionally talented, dubbed unparalleled geniuses, most don’t reach Master rank until they’re over forty.
So if our small and precious Kana is indeed a Master, it’s one of two things.
Either she’s a super ultra mega genius who defies the heavens and reached Master rank at a young age.
Or she’s a seasoned expert who gained enlightenment after a long training process.
[Comments]
– What’s the conclusion here?
– Sick? Weak.
┗ Ah, but being weak is still funny, haha.
┗ But that makes it more appealing.
┗ Gotcha, you little rascal.
– It was pretty much confirmed she was a Master from the start when she diced those knights.
– So Kana was actually legal, huh???
┗ So it’s fine to pet and mess around with her freely, right???
┗ This kid is really dangerous;
┗ If she has about nine lives, it might be possible?
┗ Even dying and coming back is just fine~
[This time I watched Joanie’s stream and switched my job to knight ㅇㅇ]
(Kanaria-style emergency.gif)
Honestly, how could anyone hold back after seeing this?
I thought knights looked frustrating fighting, but after seeing Kana wielding a sword, I switched right away.
[Comments]
– What was your original job?
┗ Mage.
– Aren’t you the one who used to trash talk knights?
┗ That’s right. So if she’s in the party, knights are out.
– A mere light can reform even the worst villain…
– That was totally incredible. When I showed it to my friends who don’t play Silia Online, they were so hyped they immediately downloaded it.
┗ A real sales trap ㄷㄷ.
[Wait; does being a Master really matter that much?]
What matters is that Kana is cute!
In that sense, go watch Joanie’s stream where the cute Kana appears!
Joanie is currently teaching Kana Arkish.
With her expressionless face and awkward speech, the gap makes it just so adorably funny, haha.
(Joanie’s stream link)
Hurry up and go watch it ㄱㄱㄱㄱ.
[Comments]
– Why are you only watching? Why are you only watching? Why are you only watching? Why are you only watching? Why are you only watching?
┗ I wanna watch too! I wanna watch too! I wanna watch too! I wanna watch too!
┗ I just linked it. Go watch it.
┗ I’m working right now.
┗ Who’s threatening me with a sword to live my life??
┗ Jeez;
-(Kana thank you letter)
*
“What’s this?”
“An apple.”
“Good job. Then what’s this?”
“A cart.”
“Our Kana, you’re super smart! Then what’s this?”
“Fool.”
“…”
“Loser?”
“…No! Not ‘fool’, it has to be ‘human’! At the very least, call me Joanie!”
At Kana’s reply, Joanie, who had pointed at herself with her finger, looked like she was about to cry.
After the fight with the dimension beast, Joanie hadn’t seen a single monster.
As if she had crammed a week’s worth of experiences into just two days of escorting.
It wasn’t just the monsters that changed.
“Um, it’s meal time.”
Aren’t the merchants bringing food directly to her and Kana?
“Hmm? This seems different from what others are eating?”
“Oh no, there’s no way. We served the same to everyone else.”
A meal even more luxurious than what the merchants and mercenaries eat!
Also, it started happening where they openly gazed in awe, or came over to engage in conversation with her.
It made sense treating Kana with such respect.
After all, she was the person who took down the Dimension Beast without a single scratch, so it’s only natural they’d want to build some connections.
‘But why me too?’
While Joanie was pondering that, she thought it’s not entirely unreasonable.
The situation was arranged by Kana.
And Joanie was the one who brought Kana to the merchants.
Moreover, Joanie had been introducing Kana as her sister to people.
Even if people didn’t believe this, she figured they couldn’t afford to neglect them since there was clearly some sort of relationship.
‘But that’s not the main point.’
That vastly different treatment? The village folk’s gratitude?
Of course, it’s nice.
But arguably Joanie’s greatest gain was something else altogether.
‘She asked me to teach her Arkish.’
Who would have thought she’d make such a request?
At first, Joanie was bewildered, unsure if this was a dream or reality, but soon she realized it was real and was filled with uncontainable joy.
On the surface, it appeared to be a request for language lessons, but it was anything but simple.
It was a small step Kanaria had taken towards Joanie.
After that, Joanie seized every opportunity to teach Kana Arkish.
On the very first day of their lessons, Joanie asked Kana.
“Do you know any Arkish?”
Knowing the student’s level is most critical when teaching.
In response to Joanie’s question, Kana answered.
“Save me. Monster. Bastard. Die. Pain. Retreat. Kid. AAAAH…”
“Wait, wait a second!”
With the chilling line of words spilling out, Joanie hurriedly covered Kana’s mouth.
‘And the last one is a scream, not a word.’
Joanie recalled that Kana had been a knight who fought in wars.
It’s not strange that a person learns bad words faster than good ones, especially since on the battlefield, there aren’t many chances for kind words.
In any case, realizing that Kana’s Arkish skills were practically blank, Joanie began teaching her the basics, like letters and words.
Truth be told, Joanie wasn’t that knowledgeable with Arkish herself.
She hadn’t studied Arkish formally; it had always been that the game system automatically translated whatever she said to Arkish.
Thus, to teach Kana, Joanie had no choice but to study Arkish herself.
From Granic to Arkish.
In an instant, the amount to study doubled, but with Kana relying on her, Joanie didn’t feel any burden at all.
“Kana, are you doing this on purpose?!”
“?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know!”
“I don’t know. Me. Arkish.”
“…Ugh, just because you’re cute doesn’t mean you can get away with everything!”
If she thought that…
…she was spot on.
Seeing Kana blink her eyes while speaking awkwardly, Joanie clutched her heart.
Whether calling her fool or loser, she knew those words were from knowledge, yet the adorable image erased her desire to interrogate her.
“Those are bad words, so don’t use them again. Got it?”
“Fool?”
“Yep. That’s the one.”
“Loser?”
“…That too.”
“Cough!”
Just then, while Joanie was conducting her Arkish lesson with Kana, the cart driver from the front cleared his throat and called out.
“Is there anything you need?”
“We’re approaching Liberi soon.”
“Wow, already?”
The driver’s voice marked the end of a long escort mission.
Thanks to Kana, the long ride had been enjoyable, but the hardships were real, and Joanie’s face lit up at the thought of finally resting comfortably.
No more jarring bumps from the cart, no need for a power nap, and instead of sleeping in a capsule mode, she could lay on a cozy bed…
“Today’s class ends here!”
With Joanie beaming, she announced the end of the session.
Kana suddenly diverted her gaze from Joanie, who was in a flurry of activity, to look out the window.
Outside the window, the scenery of Liberi was drawing nearer.