Chapter 6
Mag stared ahead with eyes full of disbelief.
“Ah!”
She had brought her here to a hunting ground to force her to face reality.
Explaining things with words wouldn’t work, so she gave a brief rundown of how combat worked and sent her in right away.
She’d even gotten ready to rush in and save her friend the moment she went down—
Bang!
—but it turned out she didn’t need to.
Even without help, her friend was fighting just fine.
“H-how long do I have to—ah!”
It sounded like a scream of agony, but it probably wasn’t.
“Ghk!”
Even while complaining, the moment she sensed the monster’s presence, she instinctively took a stance.
She tightened her grip on her only weapon, the guitar, and kicked off the ground at the same time.
—Kirik!
The wooden training dummy’s arms slashed repeatedly through the spot she had just vacated.
She avoided the vicious attacks with perfect timing, clean and efficient.
‘She was crying about how hard it was, but she was tracking the situation the whole time?’
Her judgment was excellent too.
If she’d turned her back, she would’ve been hit instantly, but she kept the enemy in sight, maintained proper distance, and dodged precisely into open space.
It was hard to believe this was someone playing a game for the first time.
There was just one problem—
‘…That shouldn’t be possible.’
That movement was impossible for a bard.
With low agility and zero movement skills, pulling that off required buffs. Mandatory ones.
[Agility +35%]
[Movement Speed +40%]
⋮
Sure, Mag had taught her beforehand, so she’d stacked buffs before entering combat.
She knew bards had wide utility and could stack buffs—
‘…But even that shouldn’t be possible.’
Those numbers were still nearly impossible for a bard.
And yet, she did it.
From here on, Mag’s head started to hurt.
‘Were bards always this strong?’
Bards.
Supporters who sing songs to apply effects tied to the music.
Their names change after second job advancement, but everyone just called them bards.
‘…No, that’s not right!’
Because the distinction was meaningless.
They were all garbage.
No matter how many balance patches they tried, second jobs or extra skills didn’t fix anything.
“「Blessed by the sun’s touch—」…!!”
KRAAASH!
Watching her get hit mid-song, Mag let out a quiet sigh.
‘…This is why bards are hopeless.’
A bard’s defining feature: skills activate only after finishing a song.
It was both their identity and their fatal flaw.
You had to finish at least one verse, meaning no immediate response, massive aggro draw, and more.
[Attack Power +19%]
But the biggest problem was that you had to sing well.
Even after completing the song, the effect value was clearly reduced.
Mag frowned.
“Is this right!?”
Even the player noticed.
She kept glancing over mid-fight, clearly upset that the effect was less than half of what the description promised.
“I’m doing fine, right?!”
“You are!”
“Is this really correct?!”
“Just try a bit more!”
“Are you sure this is right?!”
But all Mag could do was cheer.
‘I’m sorry… this is actually one of the better outcomes.’
She couldn’t tell her that the average was even worse.
Especially when this system was the very reason most bards quit.
***
[Blime, please]
Can you get rid of this goddamn bard skill system
Why do I have to sing every time I use a skill
I’m seriously losing my mind
All we have are buffs and you make it like this?????
Bards were infamous for a system where effect duration and strength depended on song performance.
—Who told you to play bard? lol
⤷ Yeah, they didn’t threaten you
⤷ But they didn’t not threaten us either, they just told us to f*** off through game balance
⤷ Blime says it’s your fault for singing badly~
⤷ lol just sing better bro
The devs later claimed it was meant to reward good performance with bonus effects.
No one believed them.
⤷ Then lower the damn standards, how are we supposed to do this in real-time combat
⤷ Blime: lol not my problem
First, the criteria for “good” were absurdly strict.
Second, failing to meet them resulted in penalties.
Miss a note and you get downgraded, all while performing live in front of enemies.
Even pros couldn’t handle it.
You’d pour your heart out for barely 10% of the listed effect.
[I just started bard recently]
Please recommend another class lol
⤷ Finally came to your senses!
That’s how bards died.
Completely. No hope of revival.
‘That’s why I was going to tell her to make a new account ASAP…’
Even with a hidden piece, hopeless was still hopeless.
Bards’ only strength was buffs, and even those were crippled.
Their damage was trash, they had no healing, and zero survivability.
Mag thought she’d fall before the sealed relic ever showed its real power.
But—
[Lv.2 Training Wooden Dummy has fallen into Light Sleep.]
Mag’s eyes widened.
That was meaningful crowd control.
‘She didn’t even play the guitar.’
A technique almost impossible in real combat had succeeded.
And it wasn’t over.
She sidestepped the staggering monster, twisted her entire body—
“Die!”
—and swung the guitar hard.
KWAANG!
A thunderous explosion echoed.
The bard’s only attack skill, [Melody Attack], landed cleanly.
The monster collapsed, twitching on the ground.
“Huff… huff….”
Libera stopped regulating her breathing and lifted the guitar again.
Her arms were shaking, but she didn’t let go.
“…Die!!”
Boom!
She used [Melody Attack] again.
It didn’t matter that the damage multiplier was terrible.
It didn’t matter that the range was awful.
“All because of you!”
She poured all her resentment into the enemy that had put her through hell.
She staggered from the recoil every time, but never stopped attacking.
That was proper gamer spirit.
[You have defeated Lv.2 Training Wooden Dummy.]
“!”
In that moment, Mag felt something surge inside her.
“Huff… huff….”
Seeing Libera refuse to relax even at the very end, Mag covered her mouth.
“I can’t… anymore….”
Only after the monster vanished did Libera collapse onto the ground.
Dirt smeared her clothes.
Her face was drenched in sweat.
“I really… can’t…”
“Yeah, yeah. Good job.”
And yet, Mag’s awe didn’t fade.
She quickly moved Libera to a safe area before she could pass out.
Passing out was unacceptable.
Carefully pouring [Blessed Healing Holy Water] into her mouth, Mag thought—
‘Our Libe is going to be a ranker!’
If Libera heard that, she’d wobble like a newborn giraffe, then glare instantly.
‘Danha is actually amazing at games!’
Mag was completely sincere.
She was overflowing with excitement.
“Libe!”
“Hm…?”
“You’re a genius!”
“…I fought once and collapsed though?”
“No! You’re a genius!”
She tried to share her excitement, but Libera clearly didn’t get it.
“You hunted right after just hearing an explanation! That’s insane!”
“…Everyone does that.”
“No! It’s different!”
No matter how much she explained, it didn’t get through.
Mag stomped internally in frustration.
‘The fact that you killed it at all is insane!’
She hadn’t expected a win.
Not with that class.
And not with a friend unfamiliar with combat.
‘Most people can’t fight properly their first time, even with system assistance.’
It was natural.
Hurting others while enduring pain yourself was instinctively repulsive.
Even more so in close combat.
So bodies didn’t move the way people wanted.
But this fight was different.
‘She thought it through.’
Bards had low stats and trash skills.
She’d fought and won without relying on the system.
A newbie, after a single explanation.
‘If she’s this good already, a little practice is all she needs.’
Insane gaming talent.
It erased the bard’s flaw of needing melee sense despite being a supporter.
Sure, leveling would be rough—but that was secondary.
‘And she sings well too.’
That wasn’t bias.
There was proof.
‘She passed Cain’s quest.’
Why else would a sealed relic still exist after three years?
Because no one passed Cain’s quest.
‘Cain is famous for both his personality and inhumane standards.’
Even music majors and professional singers failed.
Now no one even tried because bard performance was public knowledge.
“Libe, you sing amazingly even in combat—you’re a total genius!”
“…Why are you like this?”
She not only passed that quest but perfected it and obtained the sealed relic.
Her live performance was leagues above others.
Meaning she could fully utilize bard buffs.
‘And with the sealed relic, even innate limits get fixed.’
Weaknesses blocked.
Strengths maximized.
And eventually, she’d even get a legendary item that completely rewrites her class.
“Ufufu.”
“Why are you like this, seriously…?”
This was basically a guaranteed ranker.
She might even surpass Mag herself.
‘Danha’s going to be an influencer.’
Just imagining it made Mag smile.
In her head, Libera was already a ranker—popular, rich, successful.
Past memories? Bye-bye.
Daily raids together.
“Ufufu!”
“…….”
She fueled her happiness engine, drawing a bright future.
Libera looked uneasy, but Mag probably imagined it.
“Libe!”
“Mm…?”
“You worked so hard today!”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
There was only one thing left to do.
“Want to keep going just a little longer?”
“…Huh?”
Hunting.
“You’re new, so there were awkward parts. Especially your footwork. Fix that and you’d be amazing!”
“Ah, no, I—”
“You need to level anyway, so let’s practice! This place is too easy, let’s go somewhere else. I can’t give you potions right now, but I can help you get them—”
“…….”
No answer.
Looking down, Libera’s expression was dark.
“C-can I just change classes? I’ll keep bard as a side job….”
Her confidence finally cracked.
“Well… if you really want to, I guess…”
“I’ll do it right now!”
That was the only moment her face brightened.
She excitedly hit [Delete Account] without hesitation.
Mag felt a pang of regret.
“But that’s going to be hard right now.”
Ding!
“…Huh?”
You should always listen to the full sentence.
[This account cannot be deleted while holding a unique achievement.]
“See? As long as you have the sealed relic, you can’t delete it.”
She explained gently as Libera froze.
Slowly, Libera looked up.
Her eyes were dead.
“Then what do I do…?”
“For now….”
Mag answered confidently.
“You need to reach at least level 10!”
“Oh.”
“And that’s the bare minimum. Realistically, it’ll take time—”
She finished with a bright smile.
“No matter what, you’re going to keep hunting!”
“…….”
No response.
Libera just squeezed her eyes shut.
***
This game is insane.
And so is Mag.
‘I want to go home.’
“D-don’t lie on the ground!”
When I flopped over, my friend hurriedly picked me up.
I ignored her.
I’d used up all my mental stamina just stopping her from making me keep going.
Thank god I had a Light device that forced logouts.
Otherwise, she’d have dragged me further.
“Was it really that hard?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re being kind of firm…”
Firm?
I had to sing, attack, block, dodge, and perform live nonstop for an AI.
While dodging attacks.
How could I not be firm?
‘And people do this repeatedly?’
And even enjoy it.
They’re insane.
I shuddered.
‘This place is crazy.’
I couldn’t believe so many people liked getting beaten dozens of times for one win.
And now I had to become one of them.
“Ghk!”
“Okay, okay, we’re done for today! Really!”
Just thinking about it made my blood pressure spike.
Seeing that, Mag hurried to calm me down.
At moments like this, she really was the Uyeon I knew.
Earlier, she’d felt like a stranger.
“I won’t make you do anything else. Just take this.”
Still shaking from the aftereffects, I received a note from her.
“…What is it?”
“Open your system window and redeem it. Geez, it’s not something weird!”
It was an exchange code.
After what I’d been through, I was suspicious.
So Mag showed me something.
“It’s because of this.”
My eyes widened when I saw it.
