The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 18

[???’s Perspective]

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[Magic Sword of Crystal Steel (Provisional Name)]

Rarity: 7

Quality: High

Durability: 1000/1000

Creator: Gaga

Performance: Physical Attack +124 (Slash Attribute)

Magical Attack +87 (Fire Attribute)

Notes: An artificially created magic sword by Gaga, the master craftsman of the Demon King’s realm. It can inflict both physical and magical damage simultaneously by scorching the cut area with fire magic. An extremely rare sword.

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“Hehe…”

A laugh escapes unbidden.

Learning about this game was purely by chance.

Stuck in a cycle of overtime at work, constantly pestered by my rural parents about finding a partner, I had half-resigned myself to a bland, uneventful life stretching out before me. That’s when it happened.

My eyes were instantly drawn to the words that popped up in an online ad.

“Forge a new life in a new world!”

This is it, I thought.

I didn’t want to continue living such a listless life.

I wanted a fresh start, a do-over for my life.

After beating the fierce competition, I finally won the lottery to play the game and eagerly began.

When starting the game, I first obsessed over appearance.

Looks matter. You can’t judge a person’s character without spending time with them, but appearance immediately affects how people perceive you. I’d experienced this countless times in real life.

So I chose to be a vampire – a race that allowed me to retain parts of my original self while becoming stunningly beautiful.

Vampires are a unique race.

They’re quirky, with a debuff that reduces all stats by 0.8x during the day and a buff that increases them by 1.2x at night.

While the need for blood seemed to be more flavor text than a gameplay mechanic, as I didn’t starve without it, one racial skill did allow me to gain power by drinking blood.

And for my unique skill as a vampire, I chose [Godspeed].

It boosts Intuition and Agility stats by 1.5x, but initially I picked it simply because the name sounded cool.

However, I quickly realized through combat just how broken this skill was.

Agility primarily determines movement speed in battle.

Running, punching, kicking – the speed of all these actions is directly tied to Agility.

Intuition, on the other hand, speeds up decision-making before taking action.

Even if you think “I’ll punch,” with low Intuition, it takes time to actually start throwing the punch.

While Agility affects the speed of the punching motion itself, Intuition influences how quickly you can string together different techniques and movements.

Intuition is often thought to develop a sixth sense, which it does to an extent… but with the buff to this parameter, I noticed my movements becoming significantly faster than other players.

To capitalize on this advantage, I focused my character build on maximizing Agility and Intuition.

After completing my initial build, what was supposed to be a virtual world suddenly transformed into reality.

A death game.

A world of madness where death means the end.

But for me, who had been resigned to the mundane real world, it offered daily doses of excitement.

Days spent hunting monsters, wielding godlike speed no one else could match.

Despite supposedly risking my life in battle, I alone could take lives without ever being touched by an enemy… This gave me a sense of omnipotence.

As a result of running wild in this insane world, my player name “Sara” was eventually elevated to the status of a hero among monsters.

For someone who had led such a monotonous life, this was nothing short of a grand achievement.

But I knew this wasn’t enough.

In my eagerness to leverage my unique skill, I had built a character overly focused on speed.

As a result, I often lacked the attack power to break through monsters’ defenses.

I could still defeat them, but it wore down my weapons and took too long – there were no upsides.

So I decided to acquire a powerful new weapon.

At a general store in the monster town, I asked about the best blacksmith in the area.

The man’s name was Gaga, apparently.

He was said to be one of the finest swordsmiths in the country.

And luckily, he lived near this town.

I visited his workshop, intending to have him forge a sword for me.

That’s when I saw it.

The silvery shimmer in the man’s hands–

And I knew I had to have it.

I begged earnestly.

But the man stubbornly refused my request.

I desperately needed a sword forged from that ingot.

Why couldn’t he understand?

At that moment, the phrase “death game” flashed through my mind.

When our lives could end at any moment, why should I back down out of consideration for some insignificant NPC?

We risk our lives every day, while they don’t seem to be in any real danger.

So what’s wrong with being a bit forceful?

— That’s what I thought.

And before I knew it, I had stolen the completed sword from the man.

He resisted fiercely, but… I didn’t care.

I’m flesh and blood, while he’s just data. It didn’t bother me at all to hurt him.

And finally, I had my sword in hand–

“GROAAAR!”

A bear monster, a Murder Bear, bursts out from deep in the forest. In an instant, I slash at it three times.

Its fur normally deflects even steel.

Usually, I’d flee from an opponent that takes too long to defeat, but with this sword…

Three lines appear on the Murder Bear’s body, then suddenly erupt into flames, burning the beast alive.

“Not only physical damage, but magical damage at the same time, plus burn damage over time…”

Just three strikes.

That’s all it took to defeat an opponent that would normally take an hour to bring down.

“Hehe, this sword was truly born to be wielded by me…”

A normal longsword has an attack power of 12.

Even the weapons of the top attackers on the front lines probably only have around 20 attack power.

But this weapon is on a completely different level with 124 attack power, plus additional magical damage. A next-generation weapon like this needs a suitable wielder.

It’s not something to be hoarded by some rural swordsmith.

“With this weapon, I won’t have to worry about attack power for a while. Now I can fully specialize in speed…”

With that, I’ll have nothing to fear.

Surely they’ll call me a hero again. The message boards that are currently full of talk about some “Yamamoto the EOD Killer” will once again be praising me.

Just imagining it lifts my spirits a bit.

“EOD Killer? Please. I’m the real protagonist of this game…”

I prowl through the night forest, seeking my next prey.

I don’t mind if strong monsters appear.

In fact, I welcome it.

Because right now, I’m arguably the strongest there is.

A rustle in the underbrush.

I turn to see a woman in silver armor illuminated by moonlight.

A human in the middle of the forest at night…?

The word “PK” immediately springs to mind.

But something nags at my memory.

Why do I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before?

I can’t recall.

If I can’t remember, it probably wasn’t a significant encounter.

That’s how I rationalize it.

“That sword…”

The PK woman immediately notices my sword.

In this mad world of a death game, she must be the type who enjoys killing. At least she’s not so stupid as to not recognize value.

“So it was you…”

The silver-haired woman sighs dramatically.

Her face is impossibly perfect, beautiful enough to pass for an idol or model.

While I wonder how much work she’s had done, her beauty is at that frustratingly ambiguous level where it could potentially be natural.

A thorn of rivalry pricks my heart. I feel a flicker of jealousy ignite.

“I’m sorry, but–”

I move before she can tell me to die.

It’s her fault for wasting time chattering.

This is a world where death is final.

In such a world, the lukewarm way of living from our lives in Japan won’t cut it.

To live, you kill others; to obtain, you take from others – that’s the rule of this world.

So, I’ll end this woman who’s trying to kill and rob me in an instant–

“Whoa, that was dangerous.”

“Huh?”

I should have slashed her as we crossed paths at high speed.

But she was standing there as if nothing had happened.

Did I hold back, fearing

Did I hold back, fearing hidden tricks from a PK? Or did I just happen to miss?

I lower my gaze to the blade that felt no resistance.

If it had connected, flames should be enveloping the sword, but there’s not a trace of that.

So, she dodged it?

“No, that’s impossible…”

“Hey now. That’s two strikes. Swinging at me without a word… If you bow down and return the sword now, I might just turn you over to the town guards. But if you get three strikes, well… it won’t be pretty, you know?”

The silver-haired woman’s playful tone.

It’s hard to believe she’s been through countless battles in this death game. For a moment, I doubt she’s really a PK, but the situation says otherwise.

That’s why I say with confidence:

“Don’t get cocky just because you got lucky and dodged once, old lady.”

“…………”

The silver-haired woman’s expression tightens for a moment at my words, as if I’ve hit a nerve. Then she starts grinning.

The “old lady” part was just a shot in the dark, but I can’t imagine someone who’s clearly done that much to their face being young.

I would know… I have experience with that myself.

“That’s more than three strikes. We’re up to ten strikes. Actually, twelve strikes and we’re in the top of the fifth inning. What are you going to do?”

It seems I was right on the mark.

The silver-haired woman steps forward.

I don’t know if she’s enraged, but her ability to dodge my sword, even if by chance, is nothing but unfortunate for her.

Because she doesn’t know this sword’s true power.

She doesn’t realize that if this sword’s attack connects, it can instantly kill even top-tier players – that’s how much power this sword possesses.

“Ignorance is such a pity.”

“It really is.”

I don’t know why she agreed, but I slowly begin to circle her, aiming to confuse her senses–