CH 6

"Man, I can't believe that guy used a doll to try to get out of that mess."

"Hah, yeah, and you were so desperate when you were fighting that fucker. Hey, that trader took out a lot of my HP. Heal me, would ya?"

"Say what? If you'd actually fought right instead of --"

The PKers continued bantering back and forth like they didn't have a worry in the world. They hadn't noticed me yet -- this was my chance.

The last one I'd ever get.

I had to kill them this time.

Readying my axe, I guesstimated the distance between myself and them.

Yeah, that seemed about right. I could do it, but I'd probably need, what, dexterity, right?

"Let's see, just one more to go... Wha, hey, he's still -- ?!"

"What'd you say?"

It seemed like their Perception skill had caught me, but it was already too late.

"Wait!"

"What? What?! Hey!"

I was no longer holding onto my one-handed axe. Actually, it had already pierced and sliced through the archer's neck. He'd already turnt to dust, so my axe was just laying on the ground now. A surprise sneak attack plus hitting a vital point gave me a triple damage bonus, and poof went his remaining ten percent health.

"You... How did you revive yourself?"

Virtual reality astounded me sometimes -- I could easily tell when others became angry about something. And, if I ignored him, I'd bet it'd piss him off even more.

"Tch. Ignoring me now, huh? But you know you don't have a weapon anymore, right?"

I couldn't deny that I no longer had a weapon in my hand, whereas he had his dagger and was ready to throw down.

"Whatever, you're so fucking annoying. You traders have a habit of struggling to stay alive, but sorry to say, this is the last fight you'll ever have."

I watched him start making his way towards me. He seemed sure of his victory.

"Take this!"

I hadn't even bothered to recover my health past its thirty percent, but that was just to lure this guy into thinking he had the upper hand. If I'd recovered to full health, he would've been more on guard than now. He might've even prepared for more evasive actions instead of rushing me like this, and I couldn't have that. If I put myself in a "near-death" condition, it'd be like drawing a moth to a flame.

He was coming to strike at me, for that sweet carrot I was dangling in front of him, and that's where it would end for him.

"Guh..."

He had some insane killing intent towards me. I couldn't run from that -- the only path left to me was forward.

That's how it had to be. Whatever next attack I made had to connect. Any attacks I made after that didn't matter, because if this one didn't connect, it'd be all over for me.

I had to anticipate my opponent's movement -- I couldn't be off by even the slightest degree. I couldn't miss this strike, no matter what the cost. There was only one point to take note of in all of his attack movements, and I had the smallest of windows to strike. In the barest fraction of a second, I needed to read every single movement he made...and then strike right then and there.

I'd use every last penny I had. This was the real thing -- my grand finale!

"Gold Quietus!"

I'm sure that dagger of his meant to slash through my neck, finishing me, but right before it reached me, a blinding golden path of light flared straight towards dagger dude's stomach as I chanted my attack. The fifty percent of health he'd had remaining zipped down to absolutely nothing left.

"...Wha?"

It was an end to his life that came too swiftly for him to realize. And for me, in turn, it was an end to my entire RL existence -- not that anyone knew that much.

With a pitiful cry, he turned into bright dust. He probably will figure out he'd died when he respawns again.

[Exhausted 6,087,820G.]

I heard the announcement as soon as everything was all said and done.

"Gold Quietus" was a skill that could only be used once per battle and used up a preset amount of gold to launch a powerful attack. Obviously, the amount of damage it would do depended on how much gold you used, and so, I used every last bit of gold I had. And the result was as seen earlier. Who knew? Maybe if I had even saved one gold instead of using it all, the guy might still be standing here now.

"It's all over..."

I won. I won against the PKers that I never thought I'd have a chance against, and now that girl could...

I looked up at the sky of this virtual world. Although it should've been the same bright sunlight as ever, for some reason, it looked a bit brighter this time around.