It didn’t take long for Annath to utterly overpower me. I blocked and dodged, desperately defending myself from the deadliest sword in the whole game.

  Blocking was now even more difficult without supportive frost or time magic. It became apparent that Veyra’s presence alone had slowed Annath’s dance by a tiny bit, forcing her to divide a bit of attention to Veyra’s spells. Without Veyra present, Annath could put all of her attention into the duel, and that made all the difference.

  Annath’s armor was also too tough to crack. She wasn’t wearing a helmet, which I could hit for a critical strike, but I still struggled to find opportunities.

  And it wasn’t just her equipment or skills. Annath’s [Sword Dance] was genuinely the most insane showcase of skill I’d ever fought against. She must have practiced the sword in real life even before Wonderwind.

  I just couldn’t keep up. She was simply too good in all aspects.

  Lichfang wasn’t charged either. To kill her, I’d need to store damage in the dagger. I quickly glanced in my inventory, only to find Soul Orb Of Rathax missing. Had I forgotten to bring it with me?

  Annath’s sword found me in that moment of confusion, and I had to use [Shadow Dash] defensively just to live. A heavy blow landed on my block straight after, and I was blown into the air.

  “I wondered if you were a cheater as well from your connection to Seven,” Annath said. “SoulShadow seems to believe so. Looks like you’re just a fool.”

  I ignored the blabbering and quickly recovered. She approached, and I focused on her footwork.

  [Sword Dance] was widely considered a predictable fighting style in the game. If I looked closely, Annath’s little hops between swings were telegraphed as well.

  Problem was, Annath was still too fast. Throwing a predictable attack didn’t matter if that attack would still crush the target anyway.

  Slowly, however, I found myself getting into her rhythm. The next swing came, and I blocked, not by desperately reacting to it at the last second, but by reading the movements of her arms and feet.

  I can keep up! Read her footwork!

  I watched closely. Her next elegant hop took her ever so slightly backward to bring her out of my dagger’s reach. Simultaneously, she turned the momentum of her sword around. [Sword Dance] added a glow to her blade. She planted her foot on the ground for a stance that could only deliver a heavy uppercut.

  Now! I thought, activating [Shadow Dash]. I didn’t just dodge; I dashed straight through her sword, thrusting Lichfang at her face.

  The blade collided with something, but my hand felt resistance, and the thrust stopped in place. A cling resounded, not a slash, until my eyes registered what I’d hit.

  Annath’s head was suddenly protected by a full-coverage knight’s helmet with a blue plume poking out of the end.

  No way. Did she just equip that on the spot?

  Annath had her inventory open, having clicked the helmet on the instant I’d [Shadow Dashed]. The heavy uppercut was a bait, inviting me to hit her unprotected head.

  A cheap tactic, perhaps, but she had performed that while dancing and swinging her sword.

  Next I knew, her sword pierced my heart, pinning me against the ground.

  [You have died.]

  [Experience Progress Reduced by 67%]

  [Gear Piece Lost.]

  [Character Time-out Remaining: 1:59]

  [Logging out…]

  She’s insane, I thought. No wonder she’s one of the five gods…

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  The world blurred. With my last seconds of consciousness, I smirked up at her. Not to provoke her or anything like that. The expression just genuinely came on its own.

  I had lost to Annath, as was expected.

  But I had made progress. I could almost keep up with her sword dance.

  If I just practiced a little more and hunted for better equipment, I could honestly stand a chance against one of the game’s five gods.

  ***

  Smells of pure must and something that resembled piss welcomed me to the real world. My room was entirely dark. The lamp had gone out. I could hear whimpering from the next room over.

  So that was to say, The Cave, in all its glory, was as great as always.

  I need to move out of here… I thought with a sigh. My living situation was easy to forget when online, but waking up always hit with a strong whiplash, and sleeping was genuinely uncomfortable. At least living here saved money…

  I just died again, I thought, and my chest felt a little heavier than usual. This time, my cloak wasn’t the only item I’d hate to lose. I also had two daggers, and SoulShadow’s boots. Thankfully, I’d at least forgotten to bring Rathax’s orb with me. I must have been too distracted and nervous waiting for Veyra.

  I usually liked to wait until logging in to see what item I’d lost. A weird habit, perhaps, but it always helped me stay focused in bad situations. I did the same now, leaving the moment of truth for later.

  Instead, I opened the text chat between me and Veyra, and began writing a message.

  Mid-way through the message, however, I paused to think.

  Veyra was SevenStrife. A notorious, semi well-known cheater in Wonderwind’s community. I hadn’t known her personally, but I had of course been present when the cheating scandal happened. Even today, her reputation had not been forgotten, but that was mostly because cheaters were so rare in Wonderwind.

  Is that why you’ve been so secretive? I thought, while staring at the empty chat box. You’ve been trying to hide your real identity?

  While I was erasing my previous message, hesitating, a message suddenly popped up, making me flinch.

  Veyra: “Well, there’s one red flag about me.”

  I stared at her message, and before I could think of how to respond, she sent another one.

  Veyra: “As I’ve said, I’m the solo mage for a reason. People just hate me here. And they’ll hate anyone that hangs out with me.”

  Assassin: “You’re not cheating, though. Why would anything here be a red flag?”

  There was a pause, and the text box read, “Veyra is typing…” for a good ten seconds, until it disappeared as Veyra deleted whatever she was writing.

  Veyra is typing…

  Nothing.

  Veyra is typing…

  More nothing.

  I had my own message written by now. Nervously, I clicked the send button.

  Assassin: “Your identity is not a red flag. I’m not going to suddenly leave the guild just because of some cheating allegations. The haters can hate.”

  Her next message came much quicker.

  Veyra: “Your reputation will be butchered as well, though.”

  Assassin: “Meh, I don’t assassinate people with reputation. It’s not like my playstyle will change whether I’m liked or hated. I’ll have a cool date prepared for tomorrow. Let’s talk there, if that’s okay.”

  Veyra: “I’m SevenStrife. Everyone knows me as a cheater. Why would you still want to go on a date? Don’t you see the red flags?”

  Assassin: “If you’re not cheating, which I don’t believe you are, I don’t see any other red flags.”

  Veyra is typing…

  She typed for a long time.

  Veyra: “So you seriously still want to go on that date?”

  Assassin: “Of course I still want to go on a date lol. I’m a bit surprised about your identity, but it’s not like I’ve been mind controlled to dislike you.”

  Veyra: “You really don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

  For some reason, I found myself confident. Something about her slow writing speed, her nervousness, just made me write my next text fast, and I didn’t hesitate to send it.

  Assassin: “That’s true. I don’t know nearly enough about you. But that’s why I want to go on a date, to learn more. Sure, I have a few questions regarding Annath’s claims, but more than that, I’d hate it if things suddenly just became awkward because of some cheating allegations.”

  Assassin: “So let’s just log in tomorrow and talk about how we feel about things.”

  Another long pause followed, my heart thumping while I waited for her response.

  Veyra is typing…

  Veyra is typing…

  Veyra is typing…

  Veyra: “Sure… I guess I can agree with that. Let’s meet tomorrow.”

  I was about to write a message, but I saw that she was still typing more.

  Veyra: “And sorry for being an asshole. I’m a handful to deal with, aren’t I?”

  I smiled at my phone screen like an idiot.

  Assassin: “Your spells are still sexy as hell, though.”

  Veyra: “Oh, shut up xD”

  Assassin: “Lol, I’ll have to head to sleep now. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

  Veyra: “Good night. See you and sorry for that >.>”

  With that, I closed my phone and held it against my chest while I stared at the ceiling. I wasn’t really looking at anything; I just smiled at nothing at all.

  After the way that chat started, I just felt happy to see it end with her usual emojis.

  My phone buzzed. I checked the notification to see if it was another message from her.

  It was not. Instead, it was a new post on Wonderwind’s forums posted by Annath herself. It read, “Cheater SevenStrife is back with an alt account. The quick-casting cheat still hasn’t been fixed. Wind Virtual, please fix your game.”

  Of course… Our lives would get much harder now, wouldn’t they…

  20 chapters ahead on !