Hmm… Around the Center? (4) – [It Kills Two]
021.
“Phew… Did I take care of it?”
Ido Hyuk said, sharpening his axes.
– Huh.
– hahahaha.
– Saying that here?
The forbidden phrase ‘Did I take care of it,’ like a magical spell reviving opponents since ancient times.
When the enemy hears that phrase, they resurrect like ghosts, a long-standing cliche.
Swoosh-
But right now, it didn’t seem like that would happen.
Even though it’s a rule of the game for enemies to revive when that phrase is uttered, there’s a limit to everything.
Ding-
[“‘SecretAdmirer’ donated 1,000 won.”]
– So will they come back to life?
At that moment, a donation alert rang out.
– Yeah, hahahaha.
– hahahahaha, will they stay alive?
– You killed them!
– You? Is Dohyuk Sensei your friend?
– Even if they survive like this, their name wouldn’t be Sucker but Immortal.
– Did you take care of them? You did!
The chat of viewers, filled with laughter, continued.
The special creatures Dohyuk had faced moments ago were called Suckers.
In the game’s setting, they were special creatures that had mutated due to a variant of the virus within some zombies, resulting in grotesque appearances.
As the name suggested, they had giant mouths resembling octopus suckers all over their bodies.
Moreover, due to their appearance itself being a repulsive sight with human skin completely peeled off (although some game elements were adjusted to consider the mental stability of gamers), they were among the creatures that “It Kills Two” users avoided encountering.
The difficulty level rose from their utilization of the suckers on their hands and feet to attack players indiscriminately, leaping across ceilings, walls, and more.
“Ugh, creepy.”
“Hmm.”
In any case, Dohyuk faced ten Suckers.
No matter how much he shouted, “Did I take care of them?” it seemed unlikely they would stay down for good.
They were Suckers just moments ago, but now they were S/uckers.
Each one with their head and torso separated.
While most special creatures in “It Kills Two” boasted formidable vitality, enduring continuous damage, there was no escape once they were dismembered.
“They don’t seem too tough. A precise shot to the groin seems to do the trick.”
– That’s because you aimed for their privates.
– Normally, even shooting them with a grenade launcher won’t take them down in one shot hahahaha.
– Yeah, by hardcore standards, it takes a full charge of spark grenade or two fireball shots to deplete their health.
– But why do they go down so easily?
– How can they survive if you chop off their privates with an axe?
– True masters take them down with a knife hahahaha. If you slash with a cold weapon, it causes prolonged hit-stun.
“Ah, these monsters were designed for me to take down like this. No wonder it’s easy.”
-?
– What nonsense.
– Yeah.
Ding-
[“ChickenShopStealingPartTimeJob” has donated 1,000 won.]
– Oh dear;; We sneak up quietly from behind for surprise attacks.. That’s when we sparingly use fireballs.
Knife assassination, one of the playstyles of “It Kills Two” masters.
In modes higher than hardcore, this strategy emerged due to the limited availability of ammunition and secondary weapons for farming.
Since there was a shortage of ammunition to use during boss battles, saving wherever possible was crucial.
This also aimed to prevent other creatures from gathering upon hearing gunfire.
Of course, it didn’t mean they fought like Dohyuk had just shown a while ago.
– We can’t fight head-on like you hahahaha.
– Sneaking up quietly from behind for a silent strike is the best choice.
– Damn, even against ten opponents?
As soon as two of them show up, I’ll pull out the grenade launcher.
“Oh… Really? Judging by their patterns, they seem to only aim head-on. So, if we predict that and dodge at the right timing, wouldn’t that work?”
Ido-hyuk said that nonchalantly with a straight face.
“······.”
Jian, watching him from behind, had a slightly disgusted look on her face.
In truth, one of the many reasons Jian rated Ido-hyuk’s chances of success on the broadcast highly was precisely because of that.
The shameless demeanor that came out so effortlessly.
Thinking it might be his own concept, Jian even asked him directly after the broadcast ended yesterday.
If all the strategies he talked about during the broadcast were sincere.
The answer was, of course, ‘yes.’
“Well. Look here. His arm length is about this long, right? So, if you extend your nails, the maximum attack range will be about this far. Therefore, you anticipate that and adjust the distance accordingly. Of course, since it’s the first time encountering this type of enemy, they might have elongated arms or perform ranged attacks, so you should keep that in mind while attempting the actual attack······”
Look.
At the way he’s sincerely explaining to the viewers right now.
‘Perhaps he’s elaborating more in detail at the viewers’ request, asking me not to abbreviate the strategies too much and explain it more thoroughly···?’
But when you look at the essence, yesterday’s brute strategy of ‘Swiftly dodge and stab deeply!’ is not that different.
In fact, the reactions in the chat box were similar to back then.
-Oh!
-Is that so?!
-What a method?!
-Isn’t this too easy?
-hahahaha, this is a really simple method···
-LOL
Just like last time, viewers who actually like this side of him.
Perhaps, unknowingly, this aspect of him might be very suitable for broadcasting.
Ding-
[Donation of 1,000 won from ‘ChickenJointStaffEatingChicken’.]
“So, the idea is to anticipate this, and if the prediction is wrong, you evade. Is that it?”
“Exactly. You’ve understood it well.”
-hahahaha LOL
-hahahaha LOL
-Exactly, got it
-Way to avoid attacks: Dodge before getting hit
-Oh, that’s what it was!
Ding-
[Donation of 10,000 won from ‘IdoHyuk’sDisciple’.]
“I understood it correctly. Master. For humanoid enemies, in addition to here, you predict the next move through shoulder, waist, and leg movements, right?”
“Oh! That’s right. That’s how you do it. Of course, if they are wielding a weapon like a sword or spear, you need to consider that distance as well······”
-Disciple appears, whoa
-hahahaha, why believe this
-This guy is seriously hilarious, LOL
Even the viewers who mock him after hearing the explanation and the viewers who fall for it and play along with him.
As Jian, there was a moment when I couldn’t help but wonder if that was her true talent in broadcasting.
“My brother wasn’t the type to be clueless…”
From this perspective, she was surprisingly clueless.
Well, perhaps she didn’t even realize that it might be natural.
It must be incredibly difficult to explain to someone with the innate talent for singing how to sing well to someone who doesn’t even know what notes they are producing or how to raise their voice.
“Alright. Whatever happens…”
As long as the broadcast is entertaining.
“Oh, what you said is correct. Like the way I mentioned avoiding acid like last time…”
“Brother. Stop explaining and let’s move on to the next stage now.”
With such thoughts, Jian grabbed her brother, who was lecturing on the ‘Lee Do-hyuk Style,’ as everyone listened with one ear and let it out the other.
**
A similar scene to Lee Do-hyuk passionately addressing the viewers.
Someone’s broadcast.
“Ugh!”
With a scream, someone in a flashy martial arts outfit vigorously swung a sword towards the front.
Swish—
Pressuring the opponent continuously, a female martial artist in flashy attire drove them to the corner.
Thud! Thwack!
If other gamers experienced in fighting games like Ultimate Fighter or Iron Fist had seen it, they would have been amazed.
To an unfamiliar viewer, it may seem like just inserting a combo, but to those who know, each of her movements contained a high level of psychological warfare.
Instead of swinging the sword at honest timings, she mixed in delays, pretended to aim for the upper part with the sword blade while inducing a guard, then attacked the opponent’s midsection with the blade on the opposite hand, intentionally pausing after a hit to take the next tempo, inducing the opponent’s movements and continuously applying mix-ups and feints.
“Ah!”
The opponent, full of confusion, struggled.
Though she managed to defend against the incoming combos quite well, she started to get disoriented.
Whoosh!
Finally, the relentless strikes from the female martial artist’s attire broke through the opponent’s defense.
Crash!
Followed swiftly by a dash attack.
A strong impact hit the opponent whose guard was broken.
Pushed back, the opponent staggered.
Desperately trying to evade by retreating with a backward dash, they found themselves cornered due to the previous offensive moves.
Boom!
Colliding with the wall, a loud noise accompanied by swirling dust.
But it didn’t end there.
“Argh!”
Already airborne, the opponent was struck again in mid-air.
Continuing the assault, the female martial artist in flashy attire unleashed a flurry of strikes without discrimination.
Even though their head slammed against the wall, their whole body was lifted upward and then back towards the wall.
The opponent tried various attempts to break free from the combo but the female martial artist effortlessly dodged them, countering in return.
[Victory]
In the end, it was the woman in Muhee’s attire who emerged victorious as the opponent’s stamina was completely depleted.
She was the Black Girl.
“Hoo.”
The Black Girl, exhaling deeply the breath she had been holding.
Although she had won with almost no loss to her HP, victory was not as one-sided as it seemed.
There were several instances where the timing was snatched away, almost causing her to be pushed back.
Since it was a ranked game, her opponent was also quite high in the Grandmaster tier, with just a 200-point difference.
Looking at her record of 26 wins and 2 losses, it seemed like a sub-account.
Now, with one more loss added, it would be 3 losses, but considering her climb to the Grandmaster tier with such a win rate, one could infer the tier of her opponent’s main account.
‘Probably top tier.’
“Seems like a sub-account. Smells fishy. The character doesn’t seem like a main.”
-Kya
-A Grandmaster sub-account with a record of 26 wins and 2 losses? Ka-To
-Who am I? ‘The Flower of Elpha, the Black Girl’
-It was satisfying to dodge the opponent’s attacks and counterattack in reverse.
Praise poured in the chat box directed at her.
The Black Girl could gauge her opponent’s skill level throughout the match by observing their movements and motions.
And that’s why it was even more perplexing.
‘She could handle top-tier players.’
Why, then, was she unable to do so earlier?
Beyond not being able to handle it, it felt like her thoughts were being read one by one.
Even if she mixed in fake moves, she couldn’t deceive her opponent, and whenever she tried to strike, thinking she had an opening, it was actually a deliberate gap left to lure her into a counterattack.
That feeling of helplessness, where she couldn’t do anything, was still vivid.
‘So, maybe that’s why I couldn’t focus on Elpha for a while.’
But considering her current winning streak in ranked games, maybe that’s not the case.
‘Who was it, really?’
The current pro of Elpha? The former pro?
Or perhaps not Elpha, but could be from Iron Fist.
One thing she could be sure of was that in any game, she would be hearing the best of the best.
While Anatol was the unparalleled GOAT in Elpha, in Iron Fist, he was just one of many vying for the undecided throne.
Perhaps the mysterious master the Black Girl encountered could be one of those competing for the title of the world’s best alongside Anatol.
‘Right. Someone like that would probably say those things to me···’
Maybe··· Perhaps···
Was there not a hint of malice?
Looking at it from a positive perspective, maybe the opponent wasn’t teasing but genuinely had those doubts···
“Hey? Everyone. Hold on a moment.”
Suddenly, an alert popped up in her eyes.
The Black Girl briefly switched the screen showing her broadcast.
‘Friend request? It was there?’
She was a dark girl who usually kept her information private.
Therefore, the only ones who could send her friend requests were those who had battled her before or acquaintances who had her personal code.
Tap-
“···?”
It was obvious which of the new friend requests she had received this time.
“Wha-what…!”
The dark girl, checking the friend request sent to her, shivered.
Although her reaction wasn’t shown on the broadcast screen, her cursing was clearly heard.
-Munde
-??
-What’s up?
“No way—!”
The dark girl even spat out profanities strong enough to trigger automatic filtering.
How could she not react like this?
Suddenly appearing, at first pretending to be a newbie to deceive her, then ridiculing her, the mysterious expert.
His gameplay seemed to be firmly ingrained in her mind like-
[Friend Request]
[Hmmm, a newbie?]
It was a friend request with those unforgettable five letters still written on it.
“Now you’re even changing your nickname?!”