Hard Carry Support

Chapter 49 - The Day One of the Veils Fell Off (4)

[You're currently ranked 998!]

After winning 48 consecutive times, Ain entered the Grand Master category.

And after reaching 50 victories, the Aura changed from blue to purple.

[All your stats have been decreased by another 10%!]

The extra Battle Coin bonus was at its maximum rate, 120, so it didn't increase anymore.

There was a limit to it even in Asra, so she didn't complain.

Right then, Ain was accumulating Battle Coins at a frightening speed!

To understand how she had earned so much, one needed to understand the reward system better.

In the bronze category, you received 2 or 3 coins per win. In Diamond, the reward was between 30~40. But once you entered Master, you received approximately 60.

In the Grand Master category, you received more than 100 coins per victory.

On top of that, you needed to add the 'Battle Aura' bonus.

For example, if you earned 100 coins and had an x120 bonus, you'd receive 12000 coins.

You also couldn't ignore the bonus that defeating users that had achieved 10, 20, or even 30 consecutive wins gave.

After all, each one gave 200, 1000, and 3000 coins!

As a result of battling constantly, Ain had accumulated an enormous amount of Battle Coins in her inventory that made her smile.

<Battle Coins: 701830>

'I can buy one.'

Ain's speed of earning Battle Coins was unbelievably fast.

Even users that spent all their day dueling rarely earned more than ten thousand coins in one day.

Taking into consideration the Grand Master category, if you earned 100 coins per battle, you had to win at least 100 times.

Even if your win rate was 50%, you had to battle at least 200 times. And what if each battle took three minutes?

You had to keep fighting for 10 hours without taking a rest.

Also, thanks to the advanced Artificial Intelligence, if it concluded that someone was an Intentional Deranker, that person wouldn't be surrounded by the Battle Aura. That was why earning Battle Coins was so hard.

How people viewed her had changed too.

Because she had a purple aura surrounding her, everyone moved away from her path the moment she began to walk.

Most people knew their place. If they concluded that someone was in another league, they just looked from a distance.

Ain didn't care about the attention she was getting. She entered the shop to buy the couple’s ring.

"I want that."

Ain's short words caused a lot of commotion.

The buzz of the users and the reaction of the manager, who was an NPC, was worthy of seeing.

The amount of Battle Coins Ain had surpassed logic.

Clack- A few users took pictures or videos of Ain buying the unique ring.

'Hmm?'

But in Asrian, because of how similar it was to real life, privacy was a serious matter.

After hearing the sound of people taking screenshots and seeing the video recordings flash, she turned her head around.

"Did you just take a picture of me?"

"Ah..."

The user who had made eye contact with Ain froze.

Recording another user in the game wasn't illegal per se, but some people might dislike it.

If the other person who was definitely ranker began having a grudge against him, he would be in trouble.

"Sh... Should I delete it...?"

"I'm feeling good today, so I'll let it slide," Ain said while going out of the shop with a smile on her face.

She was wearing on her finger the ring she had just bought.

Before the consecutive win rate was broken, she wanted to buy one more of it.

She could earn 120 times more coins per victory.

But her stats had been reduced by 50%!

As her stats had plunged from being comparable to those of a level 130 user to one at 65, she couldn't relax.

In the Grand Master category, there probably wasn't anyone who had fewer stats than her with the penalty applied.

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

On Reddit's biggest Asrian community, one thread became a trending topic almost instantly.

<Who is Ain?>

There were many people who had been looking at Ain since she achieved 40 consecutive victories. There were screenshots that showed her with a blue aura and then the purple one.

The moment her name appeared on the Grand Master list, her name was covered with a purple light that showed that she'd won 50 consecutive times.

That basically meant that she'd entered the Grand Master territory by winning 50 consecutive times.

「How is it possible that she hasn't lost even once? I guess there was some sort of luck involved in it, too.」

That commentary summarized what most of the users thought.

Asrian's battle system made it possible that a newbie could win against a more experienced player.

If you made small consecutive mistakes, you could lose half of your HP instantly.

Even master users in platinum tended to lose at least 1 match out of 10.

「No, it's pure skill. I've seen Bishop Man's stream. He just couldn't do anything against her.」

Ain's existence had become known to the public thanks to her match with a famous streamer 'Bishop Man.'

Bishop Man was a level 84 Thief who had become the first person to achieve the Grand Master category as soon as the Battle Arena opened its doors.

He was a popular streamer among girls because of his looks, skills, and how he just silently dueled.

Although he had lost some viewers after losing against Ain, he was still a popular streamer.

「Where's everyone who used to say that Bishop Man wouldn't lose on a one vs. one match against Lattice?」

「The truth is that he didn't last even five minutes against a girl no one had heard about.」

Because it was a big community, some users had recognized Ain.

「Isn't that girl famous too? She looks like the girl who fought against the Darkness Guild... There's no way Bishop Man would be able to win against someone who beat Darkness.」

「That was an NPC! She's a completely different person!」

「Bishop Man's fans are now making an NPC human, lol. Stop shielding him so much. The one that hunted down Darkness was an NPC.」

The opinion on the threads was divided into two.

Was Ain a new player they'd never seen?

Or was she the Dark Priest that had defeated Darkness?

Previously, after a long discussion, people on the boards had concluded that the Dark Priest was an NPC.

But because someone who had the same job and skill set had appeared, some people said they should reevaluate the previous conclusion.

「I think they're the same person.」

「No, let's think about it reasonably. At that point, Lattice still hadn't reached level 100 yet. You need to be at that level to change jobs. What I want to say is that Ain and the Dark Priest that fought against Darkness are two completely different people.」

「But take a closer look! Look at the footage Bishop Man uploaded. Even the skills are exactly the same...」

「That's because she's also a Dark Priest. There are already five people who have surpassed level 100, didn't you know? If she also changed her job to a Dark Priest, she also can use the same skills...」

「But on the Hall of Fame, among the people that did the job transfer, there isn't anyone with the ID of Ain.」

The buzz didn't seem to end because the user's level was hidden on the Battle Ranking, unlike the Hall of Fame.

「 There are a lot of users who haven't registered yet!」

「Friends. Don't you think that there are too many coincidences? I also believe that they're the same person. Their appearance is very similar too.」

「Why are Bishop Man's fans so stupid? She's probably cosplaying to look identical to that Dark Priest. After all, you can customize your looks as you wish in this game!」

「Well, at least now we know that even among rankers, there are many people who play in silence!」

「That's true. Even if she's not that Dark Priest, she isn't someone who can be taken lightly. Because she's over level 100, it's understandable that Bishop Man lost.」

「I agree. The only reason why everyone is criticizing him now is because of his popularity!」

Darkness Guild.

The commotion Ain had caused had reached their ears.

They also knew that people were discussing if they were the same person or not on Reddit.

Mayday finally spoke after looking at the Bishop Man's video for a while.

"I... Think that she's a little bit different."

Mayday frowned.

She had previously fought against the Dark Priest.

The despair she had felt that day was greater than that.

"I also think the same!"

Pias also agreed with what Mayday said.

"Her movements are different from before. How should I say it... It's almost as if there are more gaps in her movements? Of course, she's still great. But previously, it was as if we were fighting against a machine."

"Yeah, I also felt the same!"

Mayday spoke while clapping.

"Also, the Dark Priest from that time was someone who looked like a frighteningly cold-blooded person... But this person, on the other hand, is more aggressive."

"Yes, their battle style is too different."

"Exactly."

Mayday still remembered that day vividly.

While battling, she had done her best to launch a surprise attack, but the dark priest had easily dodged them all. It was as if she had eyes in every direction. Not only that, but she had smiled at her.

That frighteningly cold attitude couldn't be seen in the video.

Instead of that, she could feel a strange sense of madness in her... She was too different from the person she remembered.

"But except for that, there are too many similar things. Her looks, her clothes... Honestly, I'm having a hard time concluding."

Mayday's confusion was understandable.

Who would have thought that the Dark Priest of that day was actually Hyun and Ain fused together!

It had been an impossible task to figure out Ain's real identity from the beginning. After all, they didn't know about the «Assimilation» skill.

"Hmm, I see..."

The guild's leader, XL, had his arms crossed.

XL's specialty was strategizing, but he didn't know many things about top rankers’ movements or characteristics.

—That's why he left some decisions to the guild's top rankers.

From his point of view, they were clearly the same person, but Mayday and Pais saw some differences in their playstyle.

As his doubts deepened, the guild's vice leader Reina, poked XL's stomach.

"Hey, why are you thinking about it so much? Even if they aren't the same person, it would be great if we could make her join us. Right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

After nodding, XL decided on what they should do next.

First, they had to meet her.

Once they met with her, they could ask her directly.

Then… the fastest way should be to go directly to the Duel Arena.

"How many Grand Masters do we have in our guild?"

XL asked while looking at Mayday and Pias. But somehow, the room became silent.

"Hmm... I'm not sure."

"I've never been to the Duel Arena because I've been busy hunting."

"Hmm, although I'm at one of the top positions in the Master category... I don't duel that much..."

Pias seemed to be the only one with the rank of Master.

Because PvP wasn't XL’s specialty, he was only ranked gold.

Because of a Priest's characteristics, Reina couldn't easily obtain a high ranking in one vs. one combat.

"I've heard that 'Dancing Slayer' is a Grand Master, but he doesn't seem to be online right now."

"What about the other guild members...?"

"Hmm... Probably..."

Thump- Reina, who was annoyed, hit the desk.

"How is it possible that the number one ranking guild can't incorporate a single Grand Master?"

Reina turned her head around and looked at Pias as if he were prey.

"Then, Pias, get to Grand Master ranking as soon as possible."

"Me?"

"Yes, in you're in the latter half of Master, you should be able to easily reach Grand Master."

"Today, after the meeting, I've arranged to go hunting with—"

"So?"

Reina's sharp eyes applied a lot of pressure on Pias.

Cold sweat dripped from Pias.

"No.... I'll do it. Duel..." He mumbled.

With a sullen face, Pias walked toward the city's Duel Arena.

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