Breathing is Difficult

Breathing is supposed to be a simple, natural act for any living person. But once you become conscious of it, it can suddenly feel burdensome.

In a way, breathing is like death.

Even though every human will eventually face death, we go about our lives forgetting that fact. But the mere thought of our own mortality can make us uneasy, just like how focusing on breathing can make it feel laborious.

Is this what they mean when they say that life and death are intertwined?

Anna had a moment of realization, but that didn’t change her current situation.

Thud.
Thud.

Footsteps echoed from a distance.

Anna’s heart pounded in her chest, and she pressed her face closer to the gun she held.

“Unboxing.”

She silently repeated the skill’s name to herself, focusing intently.

Flash!

Suddenly, her vision felt lighter.

No, to simply call it “lighter” wouldn’t do it justice.

It was like the feeling of a blind person suddenly regaining their sight, or the clarity of understanding the truth of the universe. A refreshing clarity swept through her mind.

Anna could now understand the layout of the dungeon.

Not only that, but she could see the types and locations of the neutral mobs. She could even sense the approaching Dark Knight in real-time.

This was the power of the Mechamancer’s ultimate skill, Unboxing.

According to the skill description, the Mechamancer analyzes the magical particles dispersed in the air, reading the structure of the world in real-time.

In simple terms, it was a map hack.

Given how important information is in Labyrinthos, the Mechamancer’s ultimate was incredibly powerful.

But it wasn’t invincible.

10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds, 7 seconds, 6 seconds…
5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second… zero… the ultimate ended.

It was a short window of time, but she had gathered the information she needed.

The Dark Knight appeared.

Exactly as she had predicted using Unboxing.

As she had seen in the highlights, the Dark Knight wasn’t wearing armor. In fact, they were even barefoot.

The Dark Knight entered the room and scanned the surroundings.

For a moment, their eyes almost met, but fortunately, the Dark Knight didn’t seem to notice her and continued moving.

Anna breathed a sigh of relief and tightened her grip on the trigger.

She had the perfect position.

She aimed the reticle squarely at the back of the completely exposed head.

She held her breath, ensuring not even a whisper of sound escaped.

This time, she was confident of her victory—Anna pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A loud gunshot echoed.

And then,

Clang!

The sharp sound of metal clashing.

The magic bullet, which should have pierced through the Dark Knight’s head, was deflected by their blade and ricocheted far off course.

All that was left were a pair of piercing eyes staring right at her.

“Footprints.”

“…What?”

“If there are footprints, even using Optical Camouflage won’t help much.”

Tock tock.

The Dark Knight tapped the ground with their foot.

There, faintly visible, were Anna’s footprints.

No…

“How… how was I supposed to notice that…?”

“Is that so?”

The Dark Knight slowly closed the distance between them.

Anna reflexively aimed her gun, but deep down, she knew it was pointless now that she’d been discovered.

“Then it seems you’ll need a few more deaths before you start paying attention.”

With a soft smile, Aurora spoke those words.

Three Days of Coaching

Three days had passed since I began coaching Anna.

Today, once again, I devoted myself to killing her.

“You’re improving little by little.”

I muttered without much thought, causing Anna to lower her head in bewilderment.

“Th-Thank you…?”

“Of course, you’re still not ready for the tournament.”

Not wanting to praise her too much, I quickly added.

“I’ll say it again: the most important thing for stealth characters is not being detected. The Mechamancer, in particular, is a ranged DPS without survival skills.”

I emphasized this point.

The Mechamancer has a stealth skill called Optical Camouflage.

It’s rather unique, considering that stealth is usually a trait reserved for assassins.

The greatest advantage of stealth is the element of surprise.

You get to strike first.

If you can eliminate at least one enemy before the fight begins, that’s ideal. Even if you don’t kill them, significantly reducing their health is still advantageous.

While your allies will engage with full health, the enemies will be forced to fight in a weakened state, creating an uneven battle.

Stealth is incredibly powerful, but characters with stealth are usually given drawbacks to balance them.

For example, they may have reduced survivability once their stealth is broken, or they might lack the damage needed to secure kills.

In the case of the Mechamancer, it’s a ranged DPS without any dash or survival skills, making it difficult to kite.

As a result, positioning is crucial for this character, which means it relies more on strategic thinking than on raw mechanical skill.

In that sense, it was the perfect character for Anna, who struggled to fully utilize her physical abilities due to fear.

“Of course, at lower ranks, opponents won’t pay much attention to things like footprints, but if you’re planning to participate in a tournament, your rank will inevitably rise. It’s better to learn how to play properly now rather than trying to correct bad habits when you reach Diamond rank.”

“Understood… I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Let’s have another duel with the Mechamancer. After that, we’ll queue for a ranked game, then return to individual training.”

“Um, teacher… Can we take a short break?”

“Hm?”

I tilted my head in confusion.

I checked the time; only three hours had passed.

It had only been three hours.

‘…I guess I shouldn’t use myself as a standard.’

Back in my PC gaming days, my average playtime was about 13 hours. I used to spend up to 20 hours a day in Duel Mode.

If I really set my mind to it, I could game for five days straight without sleep. Though, admittedly, I’d get a bit tired. That’s why I made sure to sleep at least two hours a day.

While I could easily handle three hours of gaming, it must have been exhausting for Anna and most other normal people.

“Alright, let’s take a 30-minute break.”

“Then I’ll log out and rest.”

“Okay.”

I considered queuing up for a match in the meantime.

“How about you log out too, teacher? We could chat on Discord during the break.”

—That was what I had intended, but Anna made this suggestion.

I was eager to queue up, but… I decided to spend time with Anna instead.

Thinking about it, queuing for 30 minutes wouldn’t be very satisfying anyway. I’d become so accustomed to playing in five-hour chunks that anything less felt insufficient.

I logged out and sat down in front of my PC.

[Are you here, teacher? I hear some clattering—are you making tea again?]

Anna’s voice came through the speakers.

I guessed she must have lain down on her bed; I could hear the sound of her blankets rustling.

“I just felt like having some tea.”

[You really like tea, huh? But isn’t black tea as high in caffeine as coffee? Is that okay?]

“It’s decaf.”

[Ah, I see.]

“So, is there something you wanted to talk about?”

I asked as I sipped my tea.

[Um? Oh, I just thought it’d be boring to rest alone, so I figured it’d be nice to chat.]

“Is that so?”

[Actually, that’s not the whole truth. I just want to get to know you better, teacher.]

Anna’s voice sounded a bit shy.

[The truth is, I’m not the type to try to make friends with people. Don’t you think relationships are a hassle? It’s fun to hang out with people, but it’s also exhausting.]

“You’re not wrong. But most people are willing to deal with that exhaustion.”

[Yeah, I think it’s because they’re afraid of being isolated. I understand that, but I guess I’m just not that type of person. That’s why I don’t have many friends.]

“You’re quite frank. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

[I’ve said as much to my viewers during streams. But when I saw you, teacher, I immediately thought, ‘Wow, I want to get close to this person!’ I don’t usually get starstruck, but I did with you.]

“Well, it can’t be helped, right?”

After all, I am beautiful!

I am the noble lady that many admired back in the duchy. When I attended the Academy, I even had about ten followers trailing me. That’s how exalted I am.

Even though I lost my status as a duchess when I returned to Earth, it seems my noble aura couldn’t be hidden.

Ah, the charm of being me.

[Wow, the confidence… Isn’t that a bit too self-absorbed?]

“I’m simply stating the obvious. The sun is bright, summer is hot, the sea is blue… My beauty is just another one of life’s truths.”

[Your narcissism could pierce the sky. But I don’t dislike people like you, teacher.]

“I’m glad to hear that. I was planning to train you rigorously, but if you like me, I guess that means you’ll stick with me until the end, right?”

[…I was hoping you’d go a little easier on me. Do you know I’ve been dying even in my dreams lately?]

“Is there a reason you feel you must participate in the tournament despite that?”

I asked.

This had been on my mind for a while. Anna was very fearful—perhaps excessively so.

There’s nothing strange about that. Some people are naturally more fearful than others.

But typically, such people wouldn’t choose to play this kind of game.

Just as someone who can’t handle spicy food would avoid eating it, a fearful person would likely avoid horror or action games.

‘And Anna’s main content isn’t even gaming.’

After browsing through Shiroki Anna’s channel, I found that her main content was ASMR and singing.

She did play games, but they were mostly short, one-off experiences or mobile gacha games.

She didn’t seem to play horror or action games at all.

So, her desire to participate in the Labyrinthos tournament felt out of place.

[Well… It’s hard to explain. To put it simply, there’s someone I really want to meet at the tournament.]

“Someone you want to meet?”

[Yeah. They’re a streamer I really admire, and there’s no other way to meet them….]

Anna sighed as she spoke.

[I really want to get better at this game. About the Mechamancer… Could you show me how you play it, teacher? I think I’d learn better that way.]