NoveLight ™
I hadn't spent much time with MountainBird. In total, it was just a few hours, really. I knew something like this could happen, and the death of a character wasn’t exactly a big deal. MountainBird himself probably just considered it a slip-up, and he'd be back online in four hours.
With the party disbanded, I doubted we'd ever meet again.
[MountainBird was killed by DongmiCham.]
Still, for some reason, I felt irritated. I recalled his eager face when he said he was a fan. The irritation simmered inside me, and my blood began to boil.
The image of that massive character hurling the tiny halfling around replayed in my mind. By the time I heard that cocky “bug exterminated” remark, my dagger was already flying toward the enemy mage.
[You have forcibly killed Adventurer Shindosimish Hunter.] [No PK penalty applied due to their initial attack.]
"What the hell? Stop them!"
With the support dead, the hunt was already ruined. The justification was secured. Now, whether I fought or fled was entirely up to me.
With all eyes on me, I was sure our sniper had already hidden. The Martial Artist would join us once his setup was complete. There was no need for me to overcommit just yet. The mage was down, and utilizing our sniper’s long range was the best strategy.
At least, that's what most people would do.
But small-scale skirmishes like this? They’re my specialty.
[Your shadow accepts the deal.] [Defense decreases by 10%, but action speed increases by 15%.]
Killing the priest wasn’t feasible just yet. DongmiCham’s class, Grappler, was a sub-class of the Martial Artist. From what I saw on his stream, his build was defense-heavy. Unless I struck a critical point like his head or neck, I wouldn’t be able to take him down in one blow.
So, targeting the assassin was a better option. The first one rushed at me, but I dodged his dagger. In the distance, I saw a flash of light from the priest.
[You are exposed to the Light of Truth.] [Temporary removal of name concealment.]
What a waste of effort. What did they hope to gain by revealing my name?
It was obvious. They’d remember my name and threaten to hunt me down later. But perhaps it would’ve been better for them not to know.
“Holy—! You’re Gawol?”
“Missed me, did you?”
Infamy usually came with risks. It was harder to gather allies, and enemies popped up everywhere. But during fights, it often worked to my advantage.
Some players got so scared they made mistakes, assuming defeat before the battle even started. They became so defensive that they missed opportunities they should’ve taken. If they’d been a little more daring, they might’ve stood a chance. Instead, they froze and self-destructed.
I hoped these guys wouldn’t make the same mistake. It would be such a weak conclusion to my fan's untimely demise.
I reversed my grip on the dagger, pushing off with my right foot. I aimed a wide slash at the assassin, but couldn’t land a killing blow. I had to settle for stabbing his arm.
“Why the hell are you even here?”
“Why? I need to hunt to level up and gear up. What kind of question is that?”
“I didn’t know it was you! If you join us, we can assign a priest to you—”
“What the hell are you talking about? Why would I party up with the people who just tried to stab me?”
I kicked his annoying face and deflected another assassin’s attack. I barely dodged, leaving only about 7 centimeters between my face and his blade. His attack was sloppy, and the other assassin had retreated too far.
Looks like I need to give these rookies some advice.
“You two are hopeless. Quit being assassins. You don’t have the talent for it.”
Lack of precision in an attack means they’re weak in the fine details of combat. Pushing my advantage, I aimed for their extremities—arms and hands—and it wasn’t long before they dropped their weapons.
This game leans toward realism. If you get a severed finger or tendon damage, you can’t grip a weapon. I threw the dagger they dropped right into their face, blinding them in one eye.
“Can’t even protect your hands? What am I supposed to do with you? This means you’re useless as warriors too. Maybe you should switch to mage, something that requires less physical skill. I could help you figure it out.”
“You damn—”
“Damn what? Go ahead, keep talking. Or should I save the rest for later?”
“...”
Is it too early for a finishing move?
The assassin who rejoined the fight had activated his skill, closing the distance between us. The black energy trailing from his blade was a familiar sight—a signature assassin skill. If that hit me, the situation could turn against me quickly.
But his movements were far too obvious. I knocked his dagger off-course with my own, guiding it upward. The blades clashed, and I left a deep cut across his fingers.
Normally, I would’ve backed off at that point. But his panic gave me another opening.
“You really have no talent. Just do whatever you want, because you’ll never be good at this.”
If you get hit, you should be preparing for a counterattack, not checking your wounds. If that fails, at least know when to retreat. But instead, he was preparing some big, slow skill, leaving himself wide open.
I stabbed my left-hand dagger into his thigh and grabbed his wrist. Now we were both down to using one arm. But unlike him, I still had one good hand.
And now he didn’t even have that.
I drove my blade into his unguarded neck. He tried to block with his bare hand, but it was a pointless effort. Now he had both a wounded neck and a shredded hand.
[You have forcibly killed Adventurer BunnyGirlStockingThief.] [No PK penalty applied due to their initial attack.]
[You have forcibly killed Adventurer KidnapImprisonCorruptBrainwash.] [No PK penalty applied…]
With one assassin dead, the other followed soon after. After disarming the second, I killed him quickly. Gunfire rang out—the signal that our sniper had finally joined the fray, ready to finish the job.
But wasn’t it already over by now? A bit slow, don’t you think? And that Martial Artist from the siege guild was practically useless.
[Whisper from TorchBearer]
How did you handle them all by yourself?
Those DongmiCham assassins were supposed to be good. “They’re ‘good’? You must have... never mind. I’ll finish this up.”
???
Sensing the situation had taken a bad turn, DongmiCham and his priest started running. I... I wanted to check the stream chat.
Even as I kept reading the chat, I didn’t stop my pursuit. I knew from the stream exactly where DongmiCham was running, so I quickly left the Ancient Weapon Hangar and headed into the forest.
With a quick leap, I jumped up into the old trees and dashed across the branches.
My best weapon, of course, is the longsword. Anything under 120 cm, weighing more than 510 grams, is within my ideal range—the same parameters as a traditional bamboo sword. But instead of choosing a swordsman class, I opted to become an assassin.
Why? For one simple reason.
Assassins are the fastest class in Infinity Black.
People aren’t stupid. If they sense a power gap, they’ll avoid confrontation. And if they think they’re being targeted, they’ll run. My biggest interest in this game isn’t fighting enemies—it’s chasing them down.
To put it simply, not many players can escape me.
Unfortunately for DongmiCham, he wasn’t one of those rare exceptions.
"What the hell?! Why is she so fast?!"
DongmiCham’s voice echoed as he glanced over his shoulder, panicking. By then, I was close enough to hear him clearly. I turned off the stream, knowing I wouldn’t need it anymore, and canceled the alert settings.
I caught up to him in no time. Grabbing a branch, I swung down and launched myself toward him.
“Hello?”
“Ugh—huh?”
I landed on him, almost like sitting on his shoulders. His expression was one of utter confusion.
Man, his character is huge.
He’d maxed out both height and body mass, probably because he specialized in grappling. If I could’ve, I would’ve set my own avatar to match my old body.
In reality, I’m shorter than the average Korean woman, so the size difference between us felt even more dramatic. But right now, I had gravity on my side, and as I squeezed his head between my legs, I used the momentum to flip his massive body over.
In that moment, I drove my dagger into a critical spot. In this game, vital areas like the neck, head, and heart deal several times the normal damage. Once you’re exposed, even the sturdiest Grappler can’t survive.
DongmiCham was no exception. His massive frame collapsed, and the system message appeared.
[You have forcibly killed Adventurer DongmiCham.] [No PK penalty applied due to their initial attack.]
Is this the end? I still need to hunt down the priest, but he’s so slow that it won’t be much of a challenge. As I was about to send a message to TorchBearer, I realized that several whispers had already arrived while I was distracted.
[Whisper from TorchBearer]