Artifact-Devouring Player - Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Displaying Skills - (1)

"Isn't this too unbalanced? Joining the Eden Guild is a permanent commitment."

"Then should I become your training partner whenever you need? That seems like a fair exchange."

"Deal. I'll take it."

Sanghyun nodded.

If he could successfully block five moves, he would gain the best player as his training partner.

It was an opportunity he absolutely didn't want to miss. Of course, if he failed, things would get a bit more complicated.

On the other hand, if he lacked the skill to block Shin Taeri's attacks,

he thought it would be better to learn within the safety of the Eden Guild. That would simply mean he was lacking.

Anyway, all of this was just a verbal agreement. If things became more concrete, the details could change.

Thinking that this was an excellent motivation, Sanghyun spoke.

"Do you have a place in mind?"

"There are plenty of open spaces near town for training."

"True. There are a lot of great locations. We also have practice wooden swords."

Since the goal wasn't to kill each other, they had to use fake weapons.

'Knockback Burst is sealed.'

Without the Greatsword of Fighting Spirit, he lost a conditional status effect. It was somewhat disappointing.

However, as Sanghyun prepared for the match against Shin Taeri, he considered and prepared for various scenarios.

This was ultimately a test to see whether he could withstand an attack from a top-tier player—in other words, whether he had the skills to survive in real combat.

Since he needed to focus more on defense than offense, it wasn't a huge loss.

About 20 minutes later.

The two stood facing each other in a wide clearing, maintaining an appropriate distance.

Sanghyun held a wooden greatsword, while Shin Taeri wielded two wooden daggers.

'There's no way she'll use the same strategy as last time. I have to bring out my strength from the start.'

Sanghyun planned to use Psychedelic immediately.

Shin Taeri was not someone he could face with a relaxed attitude.

He was level 85, while she was a named player whose level was nearly six times higher than his.

Even in terms of raw strength and mobility, she had at least three times his capability.

Once she used her skills, the gap would widen further, tripling again.

Therefore,

if he didn't boost his combat power to over 100% from the start, lasting five moves would be impossible.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"I'll count to three before we start. Three. Two. One."

As Shin Taeri's voice rang through the chilly night air, it sounded colder than ever.

Sanghyun lowered his stance and took a defensive position.

If he relied solely on his eyes, he would react too late. He had to make his judgment the moment he saw her first move.

"Start."

Pah! Pah-pah! Pah!

Shin Taeri's figure flickered in and out of sight as she rapidly closed the distance. It was an astonishing speed.

'Behind?'

The terrifying aspect of an assassin player was their proficiency in targeting the back.

Their skills were specialized for such tactics—disrupting vision, creating illusions, or outright vanishing and reappearing behind their target.

The moment Sanghyun noticed her movement towards his rear and started twisting his body slightly,

'No, wait. No. '

He noticed a subtle difference in Shin Taeri's footwork, immediately correcting his posture and activating a skill.

A frontal barrier was deployed.

Sanghyun had altered his judgment at the last moment and completely changed his defensive approach. It was a risky move.

If his guess was wrong, he would expose his back completely. In a real battle, that meant instant death.

Clang!

"Hoo!"

But his prediction was correct.

Shin Taeri had only pretended to aim for his back but instead attacked from the front.

She had anticipated Sanghyun’s defensive insight and tried to outmaneuver him, but she had failed.

'His defense is stronger than expected. He can cover a significantly wide frontal area using his sword. '

Shin Taeri had put all her strength into her dagger strike, but she failed to break through the barrier and had to retreat.

She was surprised by the sturdiness of the barrier. It was like using a shield without actually carrying one.

'Compared to Jinho Oppa’s shield usage, this is better in terms of mobility and coverage. '

Naturally, she found herself comparing Sanghyun to Jo Jinho. In this aspect, Sanghyun seemed superior.

'He countered my feint with another feint. '

Shin Taeri’s lips curled slightly. She had lost the first exchange.

With the first move failing, she had four chances left.

The second move began.

Whirr! Whirr!

Shin Taeri threw her two daggers toward Sanghyun.

The problem was that this seemingly simple attack forced the defender to block.

The daggers moved incredibly fast.

Had the blades been properly sharpened, they would have carried a lethal threat.

As soon as she threw the daggers, Shin Taeri vanished.

It seemed impossible for a moving person to disappear from sight, yet she could.

If he ignored the daggers and focused solely on Shin Taeri, he would inevitably be hit by them.

It was a predictable maneuver, but one that only Shin Taeri could execute flawlessly. Sanghyun was impressed.

By using the daggers to steal his vision, she created an opportunity to attack his back. Even knowing this, there was no way to avoid it.

Sanghyun used Backstep, instantly retreating five meters. At the same time, he deployed another barrier.

It was a tricky maneuver that caused extreme strain on the body by shifting weight both backward and forward.

However, apart from a brief groan, Sanghyun executed both moves almost flawlessly.

Clang! Clang!

"Ah..."

A series of rapid events unfolded and ended in an instant.

First, Shin Taeri's daggers were blocked by the Defensive Sword barrier.

Second, Shin Taeri, who had used stealth to move behind Sanghyun, found her strategy thwarted.

Due to Sanghyun’s Backstep, she ended up in front of him rather than behind.

'Fast. A swordsman, who is naturally heavy and sluggish, can move like this?'

Shin Taeri forcibly calmed her lips, which had been about to twitch in surprise.

Even if a swordsman player had focused on training their agility stat, they could not be faster than an assassin player’s movements.

However, Sanghyun had completely covered that limitation with his own skill.

The worst situation for an assassin player was when their ambush was exposed, leaving their front completely open to the enemy, just like now.

"……."

A sudden chill ran down Shin Taeri’s spine, darkening her expression.

She had previously considered the five-move exchange in their last match a mere coincidence that ended in a draw due to Sanghyun’s luck.

But with just these two moves, she realized such thoughts were a ridiculous underestimation and an insult to Sanghyun.

‘Enforced defense is quite tricky.’

Sanghyun recalled the tense situation from earlier and let out a sigh of relief.

As expected, Shin Taeri was truly formidable.

How many assassin players could match the speed of the thrown dagger and their approach at the same time?

To do so, their agility stat and related skills would have to be honed to an extreme level.

At that moment—

‘Damn. That’s complete invisibility. Did she already have the Silent Steps skill at this point?’

Shin Taeri vanished.

Silent Steps.

It was a skill of Shin Taeri’s that Sanghyun knew well—one that made her completely invisible until she used mana for an attack.

This was known as complete invisibility.

Even abilities that could see through illusions or grant X-ray vision were powerless against it, making it a perfect concealment.

The world of players was a battlefield where victories and defeats were determined by stats and probability.

In such a world, the word "absolute," which guaranteed a 100% success rate, was terrifying.

Especially since invisibility was the most lethal ability against those who relied heavily on visual information.

Shin Taeri was not the only one with complete invisibility.

As players ventured into higher-level dungeons and gates, they would frequently encounter monsters with similar abilities.

‘The Unique Hunt will feature Shadow Hunters too.’

Shadow Hunters were monsters with the same complete invisibility ability as Shin Taeri, making them highly troublesome opponents.

Regardless, most players panicked when facing an enemy with complete invisibility. In fact, almost all did.

At first, they would try to stay calm, but soon they would start attacking wildly in every direction.

Since they couldn’t see the enemy, striking blindly provided psychological relief—a form of defense mechanism.

Of course, this was exactly what assassin players wanted. It made finding an opening much easier.

Sanghyun checked the state of his active Mana Reflux.

Thanks to Mana Reflux, his mana gathered at a faster rate, and his responsiveness improved significantly.

This allowed Sanghyun to sense the flow of mana around him to some extent.

It was also a skill honed through decades of experience in his past life—detecting even the slightest anomalies.

‘There’s a tiny disruption in the flow.’

Sanghyun read the flow.

Northwest point.

The mana flow in that area felt particularly uneven. But that alone wasn’t enough evidence.

From the start, True Duelist Instinct had been activated since it was a one-on-one fight with Shin Taeri.

However, one condition of Isolation was that the targeted player had to be within Sanghyun’s line of sight.

Even while completely invisible, if they were within his field of view, Isolation would activate.

Swish!

But the moment Sanghyun turned his gaze, the Isolation effect vanished. Naturally, the mention of Shin Taeri disappeared as well.

Holding his breath, Sanghyun gradually shifted his gaze to locate Shin Taeri’s position.

The boundary where the mana flow kept breaking and reactivating Isolation.

‘I found her.’

Although he had caught onto Shin Taeri’s trail, Sanghyun did not reveal it, pretending to search his surroundings.

Having even played dead in dungeons before, acting oblivious despite knowing the truth was second nature to him.

‘She’s coming!’

At that moment, Shin Taeri, convinced of an opening, approached Sanghyun.

Sanghyun confirmed that the flow of mana was swirling, drawn toward Shin Taeri’s movements.

Without hesitation, Sanghyun activated Rising Airflow at Shin Taeri’s predicted approach point.

“Ack!”

Pop! Pop!

Caught off guard by the unexpected Rising Airflow, Shin Taeri barely managed to somersault backward, narrowly avoiding the updraft.

Had her reaction been a second slower, she would have been airborne, gazing at the sky.

‘Never mind the airborne effect—how did he pinpoint my exact location when I was in complete invisibility? How?’

Shin Taeri’s face twisted in disbelief.

She had gone all out, carefully aiming for an opening, determined to bring Sanghyun to his knees.

Yet, out of five attacks, three had already been completely neutralized.

What grew was her admiration for Sanghyun, and what faded was her confidence in her own tactics.

“…….”

The eyes that had remained composed while observing Sanghyun now wavered intensely.

Like a candle flickering in the wind.