"I got a newbie! Finally, some luck!"
He kept repeating the same thing over and over, celebrating over getting matched with me. However, I wasn't exactly sure why, given his statistics. He was Bronze Ranked and his win rate was terrible.
[Map Selection Completed]
[Map Type: Underground]
I smirked when I saw the duel would happen underground. I was already confident in winning against him. However, if we were to fight in a cave, then he had no chance.
[Teleportation...]
Once more, my avatar disappeared from the white endless space as I found myself in the middle of a cave in the complete dark.
When I tried to take a step forward, an unknown energy locked me in place.
[Please wait five more seconds before moving.]
'Who even built this?' I thought to myself as I could finally move.
"Where are you, newbie?" DarkSlayer123 practically screamed across the cave, instantly giving out his position.
'He's even more stupid than he seemed.'
I dashed forward in his direction, making sure to make as little noise as possible when I finally spotted him, walking carelessly, not even looking at his surroundings.
"I'll at least give you a small chance at winning. So, come on out!"
'Wait, why is the training dagger from the Lix Estate inside the game?' I thought to myself as I instinctively reached for it. 'I didn't tell the angel anything about that.'
What was even stranger was the fact that the dagger was in the exact same condition here and in real life. It was as if the two worlds were somehow connected.
I frowned and dismissed the thought to the back of my mind.
"Stop hid-"
[Shadow Manipulation]
Before he could even finish his sentence, I cut his throat in one swift motion, assassinating him on the spot.
[DarkSlayer123: How did you kill me?!]
[DarkSlayer123: You're cheating, you have to be!]
I saw his messages and just smiled internally.
[You have won your first placement duel.]
[W/L Ratio: 1–0 (100%)]
[Rank: ? (1/5)]
In the blink of an eye, I found myself back in the middle of the endless white space with the angel patiently waiting for me.
"Welcome back, Unknown! You did amazing!"
I frowned, annoyed. "Were you watching?"
"Of course, I have to watch to properly evaluate your future rank."
I nodded. However, unlike before, I remained careful about her words. There was definitely something off about this world. The recreation of the dagger also kept ticking me off.
"How is this virtual world capable of recreating weapons from the real world?"
The angel smiled and gently replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to disclose such information. As for your dagger, it was recreated inside the game because you are currently wearing it in the outside world."
'How did she know that I was thinking about the dagger? I didn't even mention it.'
I sighed and shook my head.
"Whatever. Send me inside another placement duel."
As much as something was ticking me off about this virtual world, I couldn't help but admit that it could become a great source of training.
"Ugh... finally."
[You have won your last placement duel.]
[W/L Ratio: 5–0 (100%)]
[Your Rank is Diamond I.]
It had taken a little over one hour, but I had finally done it. I had won all of my placement duels. I wasn't sure if being Diamond I was good or bad. However, none of my duels had been hard.
They were all very one-sided since, from what I noticed, none of the players had any real fighting experience.
Everyone I had faced relied solely on their abilities and lacked physical coordination. It would probably change the more I won. It still felt lackluster even now.
Even the angel was shocked by my performance.
"Are you sure you've never played this game before?" she kept bugging me.
"No, I never did."
"Then... how are you so good? The only reason you're Diamond I right now is because that's the highest rank you can be after placements. If it was based on what I had witnessed, you'd be much higher... maybe even at the top of the leaderboard."
[Top 500 Leaderboard]
[Top 1: GoldenLineage]
[Top 2: The_Honored_One]
[Top 3: Athex]
...
As she talked about the leaderboard, it suddenly appeared before me with all kinds of nicknames written on it. Trying to scroll down, I mistakenly pressed on the Player Profile of the Top 1 player.
[GoldenLineage]
[Rank: Challenger (Top 1)]
[W/L Ratio: 321–1 (99%)]
[Add Friend]
[Close]
"Uh..." My eyes widened. "Ala?"
She came back flying, hearing the tone of my voice, worried something might have happened.
"What's wrong?"
"I pressed the wrong button by error. Is that a big deal?"
[You have sent a friend request to GoldenLineage.]
Ala saw my mistake and burst out laughing.
"Oh, that. It's fine, there's no way GoldenLineage will add you back. As far as I know, that user barely plays the game anymore. It became too easy for them."
However, only a few seconds later, I received a message.
[GoldenLineage has accepted your friend request.]
[GoldenLineage wants to chat. Do you accept?]
"Uh... sure?"
[GoldenLineage: Do I know you?]
I instinctively looked toward Ala, who was more knowledgeable about this. But when I glanced at her, she seemed even more shocked than me, not moving a single muscle.
"GoldenLineage accepted your friend request?!" She rubbed her eyes. "T-There's no way, and they wrote to you first?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know the identity of the person behind that account?"
I shook my head. I wasn't sure why Ala thought it was such a big deal. However, it seemed GoldenLineage was quite private. Since Ala didn't seem interested in helping me, I decided to reply on my own.
[Unknown: I'm sorry. I didn't add you on purpose.]
[GoldenLineage: Do you know who I am?]
[Unknown: No, sorry. This is just a coincidence.]
[GoldenLineage: I'm a little bored right now. How about a duel?]
I glanced at Ala, who was peeking at our conversation over my right shoulder, whose eyes widened.
"A-Accept! This isn't an opportunity you can miss."
[Unknown: Sure.]