Chapter 305
Chapter 305: Viewer Participation PVP 8
Just as one viewer's chat had noted, talk of the Dreaded Zone had long since gone quiet.
Originally, that was what people had called the restriction threshold where Battler and countless other pro players had broken—but Baek Woohyun was now enduring a restriction several times greater than that.
Grandly naming a threshold he had blown through without particular difficulty would only invite mockery, so it was, if anything, only natural that the term had faded.
That said, not many people went out of their way to belittle the Handicap Match records that Battler and the pro players had previously set.
Even a little thought made it clear that the current outcome existed solely because Baek Woohyun was an absurdly anomalous existence.
Setting aside the handful who were deliberately trying to stir things up, the general sentiment was much the same.
"Oh—this is where I get picked!"
"……Please take care of me."
"Ah, yes! Likewise! I'm only Platinum-Master but I'll give it everything I've got!"
- Can the Plat-Master beat the Hackphysical at 90% restriction I wonder - Given the last round had a Gold-Master, it's completely possible - Fr, if the Plat-Master shows some grit it might just work? - If they win here, Plat becomes the only one to escape the Bronze-Silver-Gold-Plat line
[Time until Round 1 begins—10 seconds]
As always, Baek Woohyun's eyes settled into a deep calm as he read the system message that appeared.
The heat that had been rising since the moment he truly realized defeat was right at his door was still boiling away without pause.
One might say it felt like every inch of his body, from head to toe, was burning. The will of I don't want to lose had transformed into I cannot lose, screaming endlessly inside him.
He found himself almost puzzled at where this relentless refusal to accept defeat was welling up from. Even Baek Woohyun himself was surprised—what more could be said.
Right up until the Handicap Match began, he'd been thinking something along the lines of I'll do my best, but if I lose, I lose, so whatever……
Now, a will that he absolutely could not lose had him bound tighter than the iron chains of the restriction itself.
Is it……normal to feel this way?
"Phew—"
Baek Woohyun exhaled a long breath as if expelling the excessive heat that had built inside him. Feeling a vague unease, he nevertheless focused his gaze on the opponent.
He had learned from experience on that side more than once that he couldn't afford to let his mind wander when combat was mere seconds away.
Self-reflection could wait until after the fight—until after he had survived. In a battlefield where lives changed hands moment by moment, that kind of luxury was not available.
[3 seconds] [2 seconds] [1 second] [Round 1—Begin!]
"[Lightning Arrow]!"
Crackle!
["Right out of the gate, 'I'm-a-Plat-Person' attacks with [Lightning Arrow]! Though the power looks considerably lower than you'd expect."]
["Either they deliberately reduced the power for a follow-up, or it's a skill specifically designed for harassment and zone control?"]
["The answer probably depends on what build they're running."]
- Plat person? - 'Plat' + 'person' = Plat-Person - Ugh lmaooo sounds like Oollari or something - Just call them Plat-Person and be done with it!!
Tap-tap!
The one to take the initiative was I'm-a-Plat-Person—Plat-Person for short, or Plat-Person for shorter.
Firing [Lightning Arrow] from the fingertips pointed at Baek Woohyun the moment the fight began, they didn't even watch their own attack land before immediately breaking into a run.
They had shot the harassment skill, but knowing it wouldn't land on Baek Woohyun regardless, they moved straight to their next action.
In a sense, one could say they held firm faith in Baek Woohyun. Faith that something this minor wouldn't hit him.
And indeed Baek Woohyun casually neutralized the rapidly approaching [Lightning Arrow] by hurling a single dagger—so Plat-Person's read had been correct.
By moving swiftly, they hadn't lost the initiative they'd seized from the start.
"Aaaargh! Here I come!! [Thunder God Descent]—!"
The instant Baek Woohyun's thrown dagger collided with [Lightning Arrow], Plat-Person screamed out the Art name alongside a battle cry that was barely distinguishable from shrieking.
At that, a rumble! of thunder rolled out and their body was engulfed in blue lightning, and their charging speed abruptly multiplied several times over.
It looked as though the Thunder God itself had taken up residence in their body and forcibly accelerated them.
["[Thunder God Descent]! It's been a while since we've seen the Thunder God build!"]
["Close combat against Woohyun…… Is it going to work?"]
["At this point, it might. Woohyun has all stats reduced by ninety percent, after all."]
["Hmm, though it may be precisely because it's now that they deliberately chose close combat. The gap in strength becomes most apparent when fighting in the same style."]
- Strength vs. technique? - Honestly close combat might actually be the easier path to winning here - If one side is outputting 100% and the other 10% while fighting the same way, well - A strategic choice from our Plat-Master!!
Whoom—!
Holding the advantage in all stats, Plat-Person struck first. The crack of lightning and the crunch of displaced air sounded simultaneously.
There was a power in that punch that sent a chill crawling up the spine on instinct, and Baek Woohyun extended his left hand forward, back of the hand leading, with a hardened expression.
Baek Woohyun's hand slipped in with perfect timing between the arc of Plat-Person's punch and twisted it. Just barely—just enough to keep it from landing on him.
A technique that bordered on perfection—which he himself described as just a little knack—deflected the ferocious strike clean away.
Crunch!
Of course, it wasn't entirely without cost. Given the overwhelming gap in strength between them, even just twisting the trajectory felt like it might shatter the back of his hand.
But regardless, Baek Woohyun had succeeded in deflecting Plat-Person's attack—meaning an opening had come for him.
"—!"
Baek Woohyun drove out his reserved right hand with force. His fist aimed precisely at the opponent's jaw.
Plat-Person, who had overextended attacking and lost their balance when it was neutralized, couldn't block—and thud!—a sharp impact resounded.
Plat-Person's head twisted slightly from the fist that had connected cleanly with the targeted striking point.
"Tch."
"Oh?"
But the reactions of the one who had struck and the one who had been struck were completely reversed.
Baek Woohyun clicked his tongue and quickly stepped back, while Plat-Person—who had just taken a punch squarely on the jaw, a vital point—merely let out a sound of admiration.
Looking at the subsequent exchange, it seemed almost as though the attacker and the one attacked had swapped places.
The actual damage taken reflected this as well.
Plat-Person was relaxed enough to smile, while Baek Woohyun had taken damage not only to the left hand he'd used to deflect, but also to the right hand he'd punched with.
It was a gap in strength so vast that even the word overwhelming felt inadequate.
["Plat-Person, who just took a solid punch to the jaw, grins. The expression says this is manageable. It looks like taking the hit told them just how far apart their strength levels are."]
["Honestly, if getting hit on the jaw—basically a vital point—did barely anything to me, I'd feel the same way."]
["Doesn't even flinch!"]
- Was the close combat build the right call?? - With ranged you at least had to find a way to close in first, but now that's no longer an issue - The Plat-Master's strategy is working!! - As expected—the hope of the Bronze-Silver-Gold-Plat line!
"Come on then, let's go!"
"—!"
Plat-Person rushing in, wreathed in blue lightning.
And Baek Woohyun charging back to meet them like a demon.
Whoom, thud! Whooom! Thud!
The two fighters' battle overall unfolded in much the same way as the first exchange.
Whenever Plat-Person—holding complete control of the fight—attempted to strike, Baek Woohyun somehow dodged or deflected it—unable even to attempt a full block due to the power differential—and countered.
At a glance it appeared as if Plat-Person was being toyed with by Baek Woohyun—but both the fighters and the viewers knew that wasn't the case.
After all, it was Baek Woohyun—who was doing the hitting—who was bloodied first, rather than Plat-Person—who was getting hit.
"Ughhh—!"
"I can win……! I can win……!"
- Is something big coming? - Something……big? Is it big?? - Actually kind of small; - The Hackphysical should've lost a long, long time ago even by this point lmaooo
Plat-Person using [Thunder God Descent] with a max-level build had physical capabilities several times greater than Baek Woohyun—and on top of that, the blue lightning wreathing them acted as an automatic—if unintended—counterattack.
If Baek Woohyun had been in full form, he'd never have been hurt by something as trivial as blue lightning wrapping someone's body—but right now he was under a restriction that reduced all his stats by ninety percent.
The only remarkable thing was that he kept forcing attacks through regardless, dealing considerable damage to Plat-Person in the process. Even if he was taking damage in return.
'ㅇㅇ' donated 1,000 won!
[Incredible bloodbath!! (All stats 90% reduced vs. perfectly fine Plat-Master)]
- The fact that this is even close is mind-boggling lmaooo - For a Plat-Master to go fifty-fifty against the Hackphysical, you'd first have to cut his ability into a quarter of a quarter - Just cements the conviction that the Hackphysical is a monster - Not human, confirmed
Dim.
Baek Woohyun gritted his teeth.
Every means he had intended to use in this fight had already been cut off.
Iron weapons acted as lightning rods, so he'd thrown them all away; the firearm, every bullet spent, had been discarded once it served its purpose.
Explosives detonating at close range would clearly deal him more damage than the opponent, so he'd scattered them all around the arena well in advance.
The only means of resistance left to him were his two bare fists.
And even that—attacking the opponent only hurt himself more, making it hard to call it meaningful.
I lose? Like this, I just……lose? Me?
The heat that had spread throughout his entire body surged like magma. His very instincts screamed that he absolutely could not lose.
The problem was that willpower alone could not change a merciless reality. The situation was desperate, and the physical deterioration from his wounds was something even he could not stop.
The flow he had barely been holding together finally crumbled before a single instant's crack.
The opponent's hand, wreathed in blue lightning, overpowered the hand he had extended to deflect it—and drove precisely into his chest.
Thud!
"……!"
Baek Woohyun's eyes went wide at the sight of a hand piercing his heart. A scene he had never imagined he would experience again since becoming a superhuman shook him to his core.
Not a single thought of so what if I lose came to him. Only the single-minded conviction that he had to keep struggling until the very end—that he had to survive—flooded his mind.
But Plat-Person didn't stop there, either. Even at this moment—their hand plunged through Baek Woohyun's heart—they felt uneasy and pressed the attack.
Absurdly, their expression was more desperate than Baek Woohyun's. The expression of someone afraid that a single moment's carelessness would invite a reversal and defeat.
"—!"
And once again, Plat-Person's judgment was correct.
Sensing death closing in at his back, Baek Woohyun resisted all the more violently.
Howling savagely and throwing himself into a frenzied attack without regard for his own body, he was terrifyingly dreadful to witness.
Had Plat-Person relaxed and thought this is enough, they would not have survived it.
The reason they came through was that they had unfailingly believed in Baek Woohyun's monstrousness and never let their guard down, not even to the very last breath.
What he had shown up to this point was so extraordinary that it had, paradoxically, worked against him—one might say.
And so, at last.
[Round 1 End] [Winner: (Anonymous)] [Loser: Baek Woohyun]
- Finally! At long last! - Wow, they actually won - Congrats Plat-Master, life achievement unlocked - It's only Round 1 so they haven't actually won yet lmaooo
The winner and loser of Round 1 had been decided.