Chapter 62: Momentary Thoughts Part 9.5 Part 2
Chapter 62: Momentary Thoughts Part 9.5 Part 2
I managed to deflect that at the last possible moment, huh? Dragonfly tried to put some distance between us again, but since his extended limbs began to pull him back in, I was waiting for him, ready to strike where he would least expect it.
But rather than resisting the natural pulling force of his body, Dragonfly used the momentum it gave him to launch himself forward at an even faster pace. He was approaching my face at a speed that was really astonishing.
「Eeeiii!!!」
「Whoa, there.」
It was an ordinary punch, with no tricks attached to it. The timing of this attack really caught me off guard and I had no other choice but to let that one connect. I was already in an interception motion anyways, expecting a “Pilebunker” and nothing else. But oh well, hard to blame a newbie that he would act in an unpredictable way.
「I, I did it!」
「Don’t get too full of yourself! You managed to land but a single blow, the battle doesn’t end with just that!」
「Uwah!」
Who said that counter-based fighting style cannot be used in an aggressive way?
Throwing small punches all the time where you least expect them to be thrown. Always being on the offensive, not giving a moment to fight back. Even if he would try to put some distance again, I would be perfectly ready and waiting.
「In, in that case!」
「Uwah!」
Thinking that I was going to use “Shield Bash” on him again, Dragonfly reflexively tried to guard. It was a good call, but unfortunately that’s wrong here! Bzzt, bzzt! Only sixty points!
「There we go.」
「Ehh…… Guaah!」
「Guard Break is an essential move to know in every game out there.」
And speaking of which, Shield Bash was not a defensive technique, but an attacking one. Not to mention that it was also buggy. But as an attack skill it was realistically possible to incorporate it into some nasty combos that would leave most of the unsuspecting opponents pretty much dead. I manage to blow Dragonfly away with a powerful punch and he got up relatively fast, but I was already there to greet him with yet another blow.
「Now then, what do you want to do? My Iai Fist can easily be activated in a radius of one meter around me.」
「Kuh…… If that’s the case!」
A duck? Seriously? No, I mean, points for trying and quick thinking, but a duck? How is that going to accomplish anything?
What are you going to do from here on out? Rush straight at me? Stop suddenly right before me and change directions? Going for some special technique of yours? Or maybe something even more desperate…… Hmm!?
「Eh, what the hell is this!?」
「TOOOOOORRRYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!」
Was I going to lose? No, as long as it’s this one round, it should be absolutely fine. More importantly, I must observe this new, never-before seen bug that was happening right in front of me.
The special attack of all-rounders in this game was called “Fist Wave” and it was shockwave projectile that was fired in a straight line in the shape of a clenched fist. I stopped trying to avoid it and took it directly upon myself, which as a result reduced my HP to about fifty percent of the gauge.
Even though this guy was a beginner, he had some basic knowledge about the game, and he wasn’t afraid to go on the offensive when the opportunity would present itself. After that my HP continued to drop and Dragonfly won the first round for himself.
「I, I did it! I managed to win my first round!」
「Ah, time, time!」
「Oh, r-right!」
I wasn’t here alone with Dragonfly anymore. More and more people started to show up, and our duel was gathering more and more attention.
「Do you want others to see that? Or would you like to keep it to yourself?」
「It is technically similar to “Pilebunker”, so it shouldn’t be that much of a problem. The only problem would be if people realized that basic “Pilebunker” doesn’t allow duplication of extra skills.」
「By the way, is this bug in any way related to the “Doppelganger” skill?」
「No, together with one of my senpais we verified that the starting coordinates needs to be different for this maneuver to work. So instead of “Doppelganger” I would call it a “Chimera”……」
「Hmm, there might be some additional things that you might want to confirm later if you have the time……」
With the consultations finished, we both return to our original positions.
「Umm…… Dragonfly-san?」
「Y, yes!?」
「Congratulations. You are probably the first one to discover that bug, so you should feel proud about that fact.」
「Eh…… Eeeehhhh!?」
I see…… So it was possible to pile up special attacks like that, huh? In other words you quickly cancel one action and perform another one, so that the system fails to recognize them properly and on time……
「That is why if you happen to find a new bug, you get the privilege to name it in some way. That’s how we do things around here.」
「Eeehhh!? No way! Even if you tell me something like that so suddenly……」
Don’t get me wrong. It is for the sake of this bug receiving a good and proper name. There were cases in the past that when one player found a bug he chose to name it “Nyan-Nyan Silver PureBuster!”, so it was to avoid things like that happening ever again.
But since it was already in circulation on the Internet, the damage had already been done and there was no way in which players could do anything to fix that. Hence, whether someone was to use the “Nyan-Nyan PureBlaster!” they would always have that really complicated expression all over their faces.
「Oh well, you can decide on the name later. For now, let’s finish our little duel here. Of course, it’s going to be totally my win!」
「I, I’m not going to lose!」
I have to show it to him. That even though I’m behaving in a friendly manner I am a high wall that he will need to try and traverse one day.
Round two of the duel started, and Dragonfly tried to do the same special bugged action on me, which I managed to avoid just barely by dodging right when the technique was activated. This bug had a lot of potential in it, but I could already see that it would be difficult to pull off by others, since you needed precise timing for it to work and wait until the special gauge would be filled.
「Eeehhh!?」
「It’s amazing, isn’t it? This is only a game, but we can be someone that’s completely different from our normal selves and do things we wouldn’t normally be able to do.」
Coming back to special gauges in this game, if a certain number of seconds passed after its activation you were unable to cancel them. But aside from that, everything was just like with ShanFro. You just had to initiate the skill, and the system would do all the work.
But if the player was to perform the evasive action with nothing but one frame left before the moment for cancellation would expire, he would be able to perform that evasive maneuver and STILL be able to pass the special attack action. So in summary, it was nothing but positive……
「I’m actually at a loss on how to name that technique. So far I have considered “Shadow”, “Swampman” and “Doppelganger”.」
Against that I used the Iai Fist Style technique called “Iai Reversal”. It was the slowest in my arsenal, but would allow me to reflect virtually any kind of attack, assuming that I would nail the timing just right.
「Ahh, of course something like that won’t cause me any harm.」
「Iiiiiiihhhhhh……!?!?!?」
Instead of hitting me, the long and powerful shockwave crushed against Dragonfly’s body. Once the initiative was on your side, it was almost too easy to overwhelm the new players just like that.
「Umm, thank you so much for your help! I’ll try to come up with a cool-sounding name!」
「Ah, oh, yeah, good luck with that.」
The bearded giant bowed his head to me in a sign of gratitude…… After that I logged out of the game while being filled with a fluffy feeling of doing a good job as a senpai towards my kouhai…… Now that I think about it, what was my original purpose again?
After all, I ended up logging in yet again.