Hard Carry Support
chapter-46

Chapter 46 - The Day One of the Veils Fell Off (1)

Ain was standing on top of a rock, under which there was a water current that ended in a waterfall.

The falling water broke into droplets that reflected the sunlight.

It was a place that one would think belonged to a martial arts novel.

The map was chosen from one of Asrian's top locations, so it was a real place that existed somewhere.

She could see the opponent in front of her.

[vs. Louis (Bronze. 3)]

[Three, Two, One, Fight!]

During the countdown, Ain tried to analyze the opponent.

Thanks to the experience gained in Asra, she could guess the opponent's level by judging their equipment.

'Hmm... He seems to be around level 20.'

She got bored.

In Asra, she used to be matched only with the top players; that's why she'd rarely fought someone so weak.

She could do nothing about it since she hadn't been placed in a category yet.

It seemed like, finally, the opponent had seen her.

From his point of view, Ain must have looked like a novice—even more than him.

She wasn't holding any weapon, and the only protective gear she had was an old and dusty robe.

Not only that, but she was a frail-looking female user!

"A kid? This is going to be an e—"

He couldn't finish the sentence.

Ain, who had instantly reduced the distance between them, had used flames to blow away his head.

[You've won!]

[You've gained two battle coins!]

Ain had returned to the lobby five seconds after the battle began.

'What...?'

Ain couldn't believe it.

In the battle arena, every user's damage was reduced to 1/10. It was a system that had been put in place to avoid things like the victory being decided instantly.

The damage had been locked by the system.

—That's why the 33% rule was rarely activated there.

The fact that the opponent had died with one hit even after those debuffs meant that he had lower HP than she had expected.

'It would be more fun if I could fight ten guys like this simultaneously.'

Whish-

Just like before, her sight changed almost instantly.

The map was a forest.

[vs. LenaLena (Bronze. 1)]

[Three, Two, One, fight!]

"Oh, I'm looking forward to a... Ugh!"

The opponent had bowed as soon as she had found Ain, but she didn't bow back.

The moment she bowed, Ain reduced the distance between them by 20 meters.

Even though she was level 67, thanks to the achievement bonuses gained, her stats were similar to those of a user at level 130.

Basically, she had the agility of a level 130 user.

The moment the claws covered in fire penetrated the opponent's chest—!

[2nd win in a row!]

[You've gained three battle coins!]

[If you keep the winning streak, something special will happen!]

Paf- Again, the battle ended as soon as it began.

Another match.

[vs. Sandor (Silver. 4)]

[Three, Two, One, fight!]

Swaaa- A heavy rain began pouring in a ruin.

In maps like that, where it was raining heavily, the amount of damage fire attacks dealt was reduced.

But…

Paf- Ain stepped on the roof and then targetted the opponent's side.

When the opponent noticed Ain and tried to dodge, it was already too late.

Ain had already successfully landed five fire attacks by the time he activated a skill.

All the people she had been fighting until then were newbies with no experience with dueling.

It would be impossible for them to catch on to Ain's speed.

[3rd win in a row!]

* * *

Ain's winning streak continued.

The most amazing thing was that she had won five times in just a minute.

The moment a battle was decided, she disappeared. Moreover, she went back to the lobby as soon as she finished.

Because she kept doing so, she kept disappearing, appearing, disappearing, and appearing.

The eyes of a user that was looking from a distance narrowed.

Ain hadn't noticed it, but at a table located in the corner of the lobby, someone had seen her.

'What's up with her?'

It was a weird sight.

Once the match was decided, it took at least a minute, even if it was short. Most matches took at least five minutes before the winner was decided.

But that girl had reappeared in front of the portal almost instantly!

It was hard to classify it as normal play.

"From her outfit, I’d guess she's a Priest."

Her appearance resembled the Dark Priest that had appeared on 'The Gamez.'

Those past few weeks, most users who wanted to become Dark Priest were going around wearing black robes.

Also, during the Count's Quest, Ain's face couldn't be seen very well because of the backlight; that's why the users hadn't noticed her.

"Isn't she an intentional deranker?" he asked his partner, who was also looking at the girl.

"What's that?"

"It's someone that loses on purpose to lower the ranking. Judging by how she's coming out as soon as she enters, she's clearly an intentional deranker."

"Why lose on purpose?"

"She's trying to fight against only weak newbies! Because of people like that, many people who are just starting to play get demoralized!"

"Are there many people who do that?"

"Not really, but there are some people like that from time to time. Judging from her job, I guess she's a typical user that rides the bus to gain some free experience! People like that are always the ones who do things like this."

He said that last thing in a higher tone of voice.

Ain had just returned to the lobby after winning her 9th consecutive match. She turned her head around angrily.

Behind her, some users were pointing their fingers at her.

She approached them slowly.

Their eyes meet.

Unlike when she talked to Hyun, Ain's voice was cold and dry.

"Are you talking about me? Hmm?"

A dry tone.

Ain replied shortly and looked at them.

'What the...'

They suddenly felt chills.

But when they came back to their senses, they thought about themselves as lame.

Now that they looked at her closely, she was a little girl who seemed to be a middle school student.

They didn't want to admit that they'd been intimidated for a moment, so they replied back louder.

"Did I say something wrong? You're clearly an intentional deranker!"

Ain's fingers wriggled for a little bit but soon stopped.

She remembered that there was a protective system in the duel arena that protected users from taking damage from other users.

"What are your ids?" Ain asked with cold and sunken eyes.

"Why are you asking that...?"

"Because I'm curious?"

Ain didn't try to justify herself.

She also didn't talk loudly.

They had only exchanged a few words, but they were starting to get anxious.

They couldn't understand why she was suddenly asking for their ids.

'Is there someone behind her back...?'

'Hey, the atmosphere isn't good... We should act as if we hadn't seen anything.'

After talking to each other, they took the opportunity to get up.

Ain saw them ignore her and leave the duel arena without saying anything.

"Hmm..."

Because the number of players had increased, the chances of getting into meaningless conflicts had also increased.

She hated the people who talked too much despite not having skills.

Ain thought it would've been great if she'd meet them outside of the duel arena.

'Tsk, the flow has been broken.'

She ignored the stares of other people and went to duel again.

The last placing match.

The moment the portal shone, her surroundings changed.

Ain suddenly felt her body becoming lighter.

'This...'

It wasn't her imagination. Her body really felt lighter.

'A satellite?'

The reason why she felt that the sky was dark despite the sunlight being strong was that space could be seen from there.

The reason why her body felt lighter was because of the gravity.

She looked up.

In the dark sky, she could see the sun and the planet 'Asra.'

The scenery of the fight was one of the abandoned satellites that were floating in space.

The old structure was floating in space, lonely.

Although she wasn't that familiar with the place, she calmed down. The reason was that she knew where she was.

[vs. Karen (Platinum. 2)]

[The opponent has won seven consecutive times!]

More than the map, she focused on the user.

'Magician's clothes... The level should be around 60.'

The opponent was looking around, probably because she would've never guessed that the fight would occur in space.

Ain didn't give her time and leaped immediately toward her.

Maybe it was because the gravity was weak there, but just putting a little bit of strength on her ankle was enough to approach the opponent at a pretty fast speed.

The moment she got near, she attacked!

The flames that covered her fingers hit her opponent’s chest!

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 312 damage!]

This opponent hadn't died with just one hit.

Not only that, but her reaction speed wasn't bad either.

The moment she was hurt, she summoned her «Ice Shield». She also used her skill «Emergency Retreat» to back off.

But she would've never imagined what was about to happen.

Crack-! That her Ice Shield would break after just one hit!

"Ugh, what's happening...?!"

Karen shouted before her neck was cut by the fire attack.

That was the last thing she said.

As soon as she finished the ten matches, her rank was decided.

[10 consecutive victories!]

[You've gained 15 duel coins!]

[Congratulations! You've been placed in Platinum 1!]

[You're currently among the top 1.3% of players! You'll be able to read more about it on the status window!]

The system message kept going for a little bit.

[Because you've won 10 consecutive times, the 'Battle Aura' has been activated! You'll keep it until you lose!]

[While the Battle Aura is activated, you'll gain twice the amount of battle coins, but your stats will be decreased by 10%!]

"Woah...!"

A red light began coming out from her body.

Every time you won 10 consecutive times, the color would change, and another effect would be added.

If you won 20 consecutive times, it would turn red, and if you achieved 30 successive victories, green.

Of course, there weren't many users who could maintain such a winning streak.

The battle aura had three effects:

—The first one was that you gained more battle coins.

—The second one was a penalty. It decreased all your stats by 10%.

—The third one was that if you had the battle aura, you would get the attention of everyone around you!

As the colors changed, they became more intense, so you gave a tremendous presence just by standing in the lobby.

"Woah! It seems like someone has achieved 10 consecutive victories!"

As a new user with a Battle Aura appeared, the lobby became noisier.

Also, the words “Intentional Deranker” disappeared.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, someone who does something like deranking intentionally wouldn't be able to gain the Battle Aura.

Although, since Ain didn't care about what other people said, that didn't matter.

'I'd better get some more items.'

After completing the category placement matches, Ain walked toward the battle shop.

Next to the bar, many people looked at the items on display.

Battle Shop…

It was a place where you could use your Battle Coins to buy some equipment.

Ain slowly walked while looking at what was available.

Because the items were displayed as a hologram, it looked like a futuristic place.

Many rare and unique items were catching the users’ attention.

It didn't matter how strong or luxurious an item was, they didn't catch Ain's attention.

Ain crossed the hallways without even taking a glance at them.

She only stopped walking after reaching the place where accessories were on display.

"Ah...!"

A pair of rings.

She'd been looking for that since she entered the Battle Shop.

That ring with a subtle gold color felt more luxurious and mysterious than any other item.

Ain took a deep breath after looking at the information window.

The name of the item had caught the girl's attention.

[ The Heavenly Couple Ring (Unique) ]

<Limit: Rank higher than Grand Master>

<A ring for your soulmate>

Durability 20/20

- All your speed is increased by 4%.

- Your Magic Defense increases by 10.

- Critical Hit Damage increases by 15%. If the opponent is a user, the damage increases to 30%.

- If you're with a partner with the same ring, all your stats are increased by 20%.

- You can summon your partner if both of you have the same ring. (Cooldown Time: 10 minutes)

- You can sense your partner's feelings.

<Price: 690000 battle coins>

"Why is it so expensive?"

Ain clenched her teeth after reading the price.

The number was too big.

If it were back then in Asra Online, she would've been able to buy it without thinking about it twice, but at the moment, she only had 150 battle coins.

But... She really wanted it!

'Although one isn't enough.'

She needed two rings.

It was the perfect opportunity to show Hyun what she was capable of and also send him a special message.

To reach her goal, she needed more battle coins.

A lot more battle coins!

'Will I be able to save so much?'

Ain suddenly became motivated.

'I can buy it! No, I'll definitely buy it!'

Her eyes were shining more intensely than on other days.