Chapter 161: The Exhibition Match Begins
“… Phew.”
Johan steps into the stadium and takes a deep breath to calm his nerves.
Facing him is Kakeru, who is riding a big black motorcycle, which is rarely seen on national roads in Japan.
And DINE, who is wearing jeans and a topless top, has a guitar in his hand, and his tongue is sticking out as if he provokes me.
(Ignore… Focus. Focus.)
I concentrate so hard that the announcer’s voice becomes distant as he explains the situation to the viewers of the video. I told myself not to let myself be carried away by the atmosphere.
“Moxie.”
A few moments after the sounds had died away, the daisy overhead made a short cry.
And now, the game is about to begin!
Johan lvl 53 Summoner & Roland lvl 60 Swordsman
versus (vs, v.)
Buddha Qi Kakeru Lv200 Machine-Beast Manipulator DINELv200 Musician
The announcer announces the game and the crowd erupts in cheers. But it is only for a moment. The crowd’s voices become muffled, as if there is a wall between them.
Perhaps the sound was cut off so that the opponents could concentrate.
Come on, Johann. Follow the plan.
Roland quickly sheathed his sword and watched for the enemy. Johann nodded and tapped his finger on the hinadora above his head.
You’re up, Hinadora.
“Mooo!”
The Hinadora, which had switched from a walking state to a summoning state, let out a powerful cry and leapt out of the way bravely.
And then, activate the skill.
“Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Hinadra’s figure is enveloped in light and a large magic circle spreads out. And out of it appeared the Chronodragon, a powerful summoned beast.
This is Johan’s specialty, summoning Chrono Dragon by [Evolution Summon].
“Activate skill– [Monster Rider].”
Roland activates his skill as soon as he sees the Chronodragon. He leaps onto the Chrono Dragon’s head.
“Squeeze… Mwah…”
“Greetings, Chronodragon. Now let’s fly!”
“Mow-mow-mow-mow…”
The skill [Monster Rider] used by Ogre in the past. By riding, the player gains control of an allied summoner. The summoner’s agility status is added to the summoner, and the summoner’s strength status is added to the player who activated it.
Johann-san. Kronodragon, you seem to be making a very unpleasant noise…”
It’s all in your mind.
The Chronodragon appears wings of light like a butterfly and soars into the sky. It climbs into the sky, spinning and twisting along the way.
“Mr. Johann. I feel like Chronodragon is trying to shake me off…”
It’s all in your mind.
Johan sees that Roland and the others have taken to the sky and turns to face the enemy again.
Stay out of this, Dine.
“Yes, yes.”
“Oh dear…” With a look of “Oh dear…” on his face, Dine went to the wall at the end of the stadium and leaned against it with his arms crossed.
Come on, girl.
As soon as he gripped the handlebars, the motorcycle [Death Wheel] that he was riding roared its engine. Then, the bike drove towards Johan in a way that was impossible for a normal bike to do.
“Fast?
Zecca is surprised. The bike, which normally reaches its maximum speed while slowly increasing its speed, has been rushing at him at super-speed from the very beginning.
“The Demon Lord has overwhelming agility. But he doesn’t have the player skill to handle it.”
“The more agile you are, the harder it is to use your body. If that bike guy is a speedy type… he might have a hard time.”
“I guess so. You’ve got to hold them off with Guts and see if you can cut down their HP while they’re down. I guess that’s the game, isn’t it?
The speed of the enemy is not a good match for Johan. Zecca and Kong in the audience predicted that it would be a contest to see who could defeat the enemy within [Guts] 20 times.
But…
Johann…
Did he dodge your attack?
Johann dodged an enemy attack. He dodged an attack that was not slow. Everyone who knew Johan was surprised.
“… Huh.”
Except for Roland, who’s alone in the sky watching over Johan.
**
**
**
“Johann, why do you dare to take the enemy’s fire?”
I’m running around the Ultra Mask Collaboration Event. Roland paid me a visit.
“What?”
“Sure, I understand that you don’t have to avoid them because of Guts. But some of them have additional attacks that cause abnormalities. It’s not a good idea to get hit by them just for the heck of it, is it?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m embarrassed to say it’s not that I can’t avoid them, it’s that I can’t avoid them.”
“Can’t be avoided?”
Roland tilted his head.
From Roland’s point of view, Johann is not a bad athlete. He’s seen him dodge the Pirate King’s attacks before when he was stripped of his gear.
He predicts the direction of the enemy’s ankle and the direction in which he swings his sword and makes an early evasive manoeuvre. Johann has the observation and reflexes to do this, but right now he’s being pummeled by the enemy’s attacks.
“I’ve been duplicating my summoner’s skills to boost my stats. I’m boosting my agility by 500 points with Evil Bat’s Fast Movement ability. But it’s hard to control my body when I have 500 points of Agility.”
It can certainly move quickly if it wants to. But it’s speed doesn’t match Johann’s human senses, and he can’t handle it properly.
If you try to move as fast as you can, there will always be a breakdown somewhere. Johan’s play style is to rely on his Guts and Stats for defense, and not to make any unnecessary moves.
“Come to think of it, you said the same thing in the last round of the Killing Festival.”
Johan had gained an overwhelmingly high status, but he couldn’t handle himself properly because of it, and as a result, he had to leave his increased status to Hinadra.
“I see… So that’s how it is.
“Yes, I’m glad you understand.”
Roland didn’t nod at Johann’s words. He thought for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Can I have half of that Evil Bat?”
“What?”
Johann pleaded with her with his eyes.
“No. If your agility is too high, if it’s restricting your movement… Why don’t you just lower it? That’s what I was thinking.
Johann’s eyes darted.
“That… I didn’t… I didn’t even think about it.
Johan had been under the impression that the higher the status the better, but Roland’s suggestion made his eyes pop out of his head.
At the same time, I wonder why I had not thought of it before.
After a lot of trial and error, we succeeded in finding the best agility value for Johan.
**
**
**
“What? You evaded my attack!”
Avoiding Death Wheel’s thrust attack, Johann quickly regains his stance. He keeps his eyes on the entire field with [Visual Sharing] from the Chronodragon in the sky, and he also keeps his eyes on Qi Buddha.
We don’t know what kind of gimmicks or attacks are left on that black motorcycle.
I’m still going.
The Frenchman made a U-turn and accelerated again. He lunges towards Johan.
“…. …”
In the real world, you’d die in an accident. But in this world… we can avoid them if we know they’re coming.
Johan has 4 Evil Bats. This is the optimal number for Johan to be able to control his body the best.
(But we can’t be too careful. You have to watch your enemy more carefully.)
I’d say we’ve done a good job optimizing his agility status. But Johann is not to be outdone.
At level 200 and 20x status points, the total amount of status points you gain is approximately 20 000 points. You are sure to have more status than Johan.
“Damn… What the fuck is going on… I can’t hit anything.
But as you continue to evade the enemy’s attacks… a question arises. Evasion is too easy.
“Get the fuck out of here!”
Easily avoids a Death Wheel that is rushing at you at full speed. The crowd is starting to get tired of his attacks, wondering if that’s all he’s got. The crowd is getting tired of seeing nothing else to do.
(Is he…? Oh? )
Johan gets a message from Roland in the sky when he comes up with an idea. He reads it while avoiding the message, and it seems that Roland has come to the same conclusion as Johan.
(The Buddha Qi Kakeru itself has a tremendous status. But the bike he’s riding isn’t that good… Then…)
Johan chuckled behind his helmet as he realized that the plan he had prepared was going to work.
“Hey, Kakeru~? Is it going to take much longer?”
A half-smiling DINE said agitatedly as he lay on the edge of the stadium.
Shut up! Shut the fuck up.
“Yes, yes.”
The two of them were originally partnered together in this project, but they probably didn’t get along that well. Dine didn’t show any signs of helping out, and Buddha Qi seemed to want to win on his own.
But Johann and his men don’t need to play along.
“Next time I’m gonna hit and kill… What? What?
As he was increasing his speed towards Johan, he noticed the attack coming from the sky and changed his course to avoid it.
The Chronodragon attacked from above. His special attack [Geocide Force] misses, but it shows great destructive power, gouging the ground.
Oh, I must’ve missed it.
“…. Also …”
“Don’t worry about it, chrono dragon. Let’s just keep on typing.”
“… Moxie Moxie.”
“So why do you seem so displeased with me since just now?
Chronodragon lets out a sound of utter disgust as he unleashes [Geoside Force] again. Since [Time-space Reincarnation] is still alive and well, he can fire attacks from the sky for as long as there are no enemy attacks.
“Damn it, he’s just going to pull us down from the sky… I’m gonna drag you down!”
Avoiding the attacks from the skies above, the French Qi began to counterattack. The rear hatch of the Death Wheel opens, and dozens of missiles are launched one after another. They spread out like a barrage of bullets, aiming at Roland and the others in the sky.
“–Meteor Rain!”
But now Johan moves. He activates his Meteor Bird skill, which causes five meteorites to fall from the sky, cancelling out the missiles. One of the surviving meteorites falls to the ground, creating a blast.
“Tee-hee-hee.”
The Buddha’s Qi that clenches its teeth.
“Woman, you’re in my… Fuck…
But Johann didn’t let up on his attack. He jumped and kicked from the side of the stopped Qi.
The bike was treated as a piece of equipment, and Buddha Qi and the Death Wheel did not separate, but instead blew up together and rolled on the ground.
“Damn… You fucking… you fucking…”
But he seems to have a high status, and he gets up as if no damage had been done.
“Next time… I’m gonna beat you!”
The engine sounds again. But.
“Hmm, no use. Take a good look at the ground.
“Oh, the ground? What?
I see you’ve finally figured it out.
As Johann asked, Buddha Qiye looked at the ground and was astonished. The ground of the stadium which had been covered with grass had become as bumpy as the surface of the moon due to the repeated attacks of the Chronodragon and Johann.
“That’s… That’s ridiculous…”
In a field full of holes, the bike couldn’t make it far enough to stay stable. There was no distance to move. For someone like Qi Feng who only knew how to hit people from a straight line, this situation where he couldn’t gain any distance in a straight line was a dead end.
We have a gap… –Geocide Force!
“Aaaaahhhh?”
Johann never misses an opening. He clasps his hands together and unleashes his Chronodragon ulti.
He couldn’t damage the enemy, but the impact of his attack succeeded in blowing him away. Buddha Qiye and his motorcycle fell into a huge hole.
“Gaaaahhh… I’m not listening to you… I’m not listening… I’m not… I’m not…
“Oh, no. You look like crap.”
Looking down at the rolling Buddha Qi at the bottom of the crater, DINE said mockingly.
“Shut up. You shut the fuck up! Watch… I’m gonna get us out of this hole with my riding skills… Huh?”
When Buddha Qi woke up the bike, a warm liquid was on his face. He touched it to see what it was. It was the spit that DINE had spit on him.
“Tameeeeeeeeee!”
“I can’t leave it to you anymore, Buddha Qiye. If you lose then I lose too. I mean, if you just run without thinking about the game, how can you win? That’s why you lose in both games and real races.
“You… You… I’ll kill you…!
“Ha, kill… I’ll kill you… I’m used to people saying that. In real life and online. That’s why it doesn’t work.
With a smirk, DINE kicks the ground and drops sand into the hole.
He took up his guitar and faced Johan and the others.
“Oh, will you be my next partner?”
“Well, you know. Sorry, but my battles aren’t as easy as that idiot’s, okay?”
