Season 2: Chapter 224: Chicken Game (1)
They discovered each other in this village, full of complex and obscured alleyways, because both of them were moving across the rooftops.
"BubbleSniper and Almond encountered each other!? They are still far from each other!? And on the rooftops!"
"But BubbleSniper might recognize him. Will Almond recognize him?"
"It's doubtful from this distance."
It was obvious, but Almond wouldn't recognize him even if their eyes met given the distance and the fact that BubbleSniper wore a mask with only his eyes visible.
"It seems like BubbleSniper also might not know it's Almond right?"
"Moreover! It's not just the two of them. There are five other skilled players! They need to be cautious so they can't fight right away!"
"Correct. Excluding the twenty ordinary participants, the remaining forty are skilled streamers who came for the challenge. Among them, now only seven are left! None of them are easy opponents!"
Only seven of the skilled streamers who came for the challenge remained. All of them were trying to kill each other. That was the current situation.
Even though Almond had been playing aggressively until now, it would be difficult for him to act rashly from now on.
'There's someone over there.’
‘One on that rooftop.'
For now, they simply noted each other's locations before moving.
"Moreover, each of them currently possesses several ninja techniques! Especially player one, who has as many as three ninja techniques! Two of which have been evolved!"
Ninja techniques were the biggest variable in this game. Even if there was a skill gap in handling swords, not anticipating what ninja technique the opponent would use could result in immediate decapitation. It was somewhat of a rock-paper-scissors game.
Perhaps in this game, luck was more important with seven players remaining.
[The encirclement will shrink in thirty seconds.]
Now, there was even less space to move.
"If the area shrinks one more time, the remaining space won't even be two hundred meters. It's time to make a decision, isn't it!?"
The current standoff between the seven players was in the alleyways modeled after the alleys near old Korean fortresses. It also resembled those commonly seen in undeveloped neighborhoods.
In this bustling space where houses outnumbered streets, it wasn’t easy for ninjas to find each other. Whoever attacked first would become the target.
"Both Almond and BubbleSniper are now descending to the ground. Maybe being on the rooftops was too conspicuous?"
"That could be, or they might have spotted prey."
***
Thump.
Almond landed on the ground floor of a house.
"Eeek, my goodness!"
A commotion came from the backyard across from him. A female NPC made a fuss while hanging laundry.
Almond approached her while placing the sword hilt near his mouth.
Shh.
As he drew his sword, the NPC fell silent as a mouse.
"Hmm… ugh..."
— He’s getting used to it lol
— Wow
— Poor NPCs lol lol lol
He had learned this during the brief time playing. Making noise and killing or assaulting NPCs would only make the next NPC scream louder.
From then on, the situation would become uncontrollable. His location would be completely exposed. However, gently threatening them like this kept the NPCs quiet.
Almond approached the frightened woman and asked, "I'll just leave if you answer my question. Was there anyone dressed like me here? I think they passed through this area."
"..."
He learned another fact while playing. NPCs were both obstacles and witnesses. They promptly confessed what they had witnessed when he threatened them with a blade.
'I was tricked before.'
Almond personally experienced and learned this when roughly only seventeen players remained. He had been searching through a bookshelf in a certain house. When a ninja entered and threatened an NPC, the NPC immediately revealed his exact location.
Fortunately, Almond could hear them and prepared. That ninja, including the NPC, met an unfortunate end. This time, he planned to use this knowledge to his advantage.
'The one I saw on the rooftop earlier definitely entered here.'
Almond knew someone was around and followed them in.
"That..." the woman stammered.
"?"
It wasn't so much that she was stammering. Rather, she spoke so softly that he couldn't hear.
'Is it because I told her to be quiet?'
Suddenly, the woman's voice shrank back. The only explanation was that he told her to keep quiet earlier. Due to possibly having inferior artificial intelligence compared to other NPCs, this was plausible.
Almond assumed that was the case and moved closer to ask, "Where did he go…?"
Swoosh!
The moment he entered in range, the woman thrust a knife at him as if waiting. Was this some NPC event? For a moment, such an absurd thought crossed his mind.
'Camouflage!'
Almond reacted immediately since he already experienced this ninja technique once.
Squeak!
A red line appeared across his nose bridge. He had dodged it by bending his waist. However, dodging the strike was not enough.
Whoosh!
The woman changed her expression and swung her sword again. Having already bent his waist to the limit, Almond couldn't dodge unless he was an invertebrate.
After being surprised, it was a mistake to dodge in such an awkward posture like dodging a sword strike in a limbo pose. It wouldn't be surprising if his upper body were sliced in two at this point. However—
Almond sneered in this limbo pose.
Click, click!
He crossed his hands while half-lying down and a blue hue flashed before his eyes.
[Illusion Clone Technique]
Another Almond sprang out, batting away the woman's sword strike with his bare hands.
Swoosh!
Blocking the sword with bare hands naturally led to a disastrous outcome. The clone lost its arm and disappeared into white smoke.
"A cl… clone?!"
She was surprised that Almond possessed the clone technique and widened her eyes.
In the meantime, the Almond in limbo kicked off the ground using his chakra.
Boom!
He somersaulted and landed on the woman's elbow.
Crack!
With such a tremendous impact, her arm bent at a bizarre angle. The remaining two clones grabbed her from behind and pulled her down.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Almond stood up and threw a flurry of shurikens.
Splatter!
She didn’t collapse and white smoke billowed out instead of blood.
Boom!
"!"
As the smoke cleared, a log riddled with holes replaced the woman. She had prepared for this unforeseen situation by using the substitution technique and replacing herself with the firewood in the yard, which happened to be behind Almond.
Swoosh!
The chilling sound of a blade came from behind. Without any time to turn and block, Almond closed his eyes and pinpointed the exact location with his hearing alone.
Then, he sidestepped and shifted his sword to the anticipated position. Even if he missed, this position would minimize damage to his vital areas.
His sword shimmered sharply and sparks flew. The heavy impact transmitted to his shoulder informed him.
'I blocked it.'
He had blocked the sword strike coming from behind.
'It was worth learning from Mr. Balm.'
Suddenly, the reason Almond could skillfully handle a sword became clear. He had been training daily with the Civil Empire scrims and received swordsmanship coaching from the commander Bread.
'?!'
Naturally, the enemy was unaware of such a fact and felt surprised. Blocking a sword strike without looking. Who wouldn't be thrown off by that?
'What kind of person is this...!?'
The thought involuntarily crossed their mind, given their surprise attack had failed. However, as if to say it was premature to be surprised, the swords sliding against each other began to slip.
'Uh... What?'
Unknowingly, the enemy’s balance had been disrupted. They were being pulled along by their sword, which had been enhanced with chakra.
Almond had anticipated the enemy would overextend if they couldn’t properly strike or cause fatal damage. He didn't merely block, but created leverage to alter the sword's path.
Screech!
The friction of the clashing blades rang out.
'It's over.'
The woman's life would end with this clash.
Almond's sword diverted the strike and calmly continued attacking as if nothing happened.
Like a wolf blinded by prey unable to see the human trap, the woman despairingly continued slashing down and struck the ground.
Crash...!
Her neck became exposed at the same time as if saying, "Please strike me."
Almond didn’t hesitate to oblige.
Swoosh!
[1 → 17]
[Instant Death]
[6/60]
— Is this a Ninja Battle!? Is this a Ninja Battle!?
— Insane
— What kind of swordsmanship is this!?
— Is, is this Civil Empire combat swordsmanship?! Is, is this Civil Empire combat swordsmanship?! Is, is this Civil Empire combat swordsmanship?! Is, is this Civil Empire combat swordsmanship?!
— Stop spamming Cookie and log in
— Civil Empire’s viral marketing is crazy lol
"Sigh," Almond sighed in relief and wiped off his sweat. "That was a bit dangerous."
The enemy convincingly acted like an NPC, which nearly cost him his life.
"Now, let's do some looting."
He searched through the woman's belongings.
"!"
Almond discovered a pleasing item.
[Short Bow]
He didn’t know she had been carrying a bow due to the camouflage technique.
***
"Wowwwwwww!!! Almond!! This is huuuuuge!!! Can he win this!? It was a disadvantageous situation from the start!!!" the usually calm commentator turned red and shouted.
— lololol
— Wow lol
— What is this?
— My ears hurt
— That was almost like the old legendary JeonJaPa mirror match
"Did, did you see that just now!? I couldn't follow it with my eyes!"
"Yes. I completely missed the part when he used the clone technique. I had no idea what was happening. Before I knew it, Almond slashed the opponent's neck!"
— Really lol
— I didn't see it either
— This Ninja Battle is awesome lol
— Fantasia is going wild!
The spectacular clash between Almond and player seventeen raised excitement and anticipation for the game. This challenge was an event to promote the new ninja mode and it was going well according to its purpose.
"Ah, that battle was quite exciting! Now, the encirclement is shrinking again!"
[The encirclement is shrinking.]
After the battle between Almond and player seventeen, the encirclement began to narrow. Now, the active area was reduced to within a two hundred meter radius.
"Will they fight even more now?"
"Hmm, no. Due to the characteristics of this alleyway map where it's hard to see each other, it doesn't seem like there will be dramatic fights just yet unless it narrows down so much that everyone can see each other!"
However, their expectations were wrong.
"Uh...?!"
Thump!
[1 → 25]
[5/60]
Splatter!
[1 → 60]
[4/60]
[1 → 32]
[3/60]
The elite ninjas suddenly started dying one after another due to the same cause.
Arrows.