.｡.:✧ Chapter 8 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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During our move to the training grounds, Lizé never stopped talking to me even for a single moment. I wondered what one had to do to live so actively and energetically.

She particularly tried to dig into why I was cursed by a witch, but I dodged all those leading questions by saying I couldn’t remember due to the curse or that I wasn’t sure.

Then, as if understanding my intention, she eventually changed the questions themselves.

I tried to send pleading looks to Iris and Erica for help, unable to endure the barrage of questions, but it was of little use.

Iris shook her head in exasperation, saying that Lizé wasn’t someone who would stop even if she tried to stop her, so I should just accept it.

Erica pointed out Lizé’s every word and action, telling her to maintain some decorum, but later, she seemed to give up on pointing them out and apologized to me, saying she was sorry. Lizé’s proud smile was an added bonus.

In the end, it was solely up to me to handle all the attention.

After enduring Lizé’s constant chatter right next to me, Iris finally stopped walking.

“This is the training ground.”

‘What, why is it so big?’

In front of me was a vast plain that looked at least three or four times wider than the training ground in the game. Was this also an effect of the knighthood’s quarters changing from an ordinary building to a large castle?

I slowly looked around. Although the size had become much larger, the overall scenery hadn’t changed. It was closer to simply extending the in-game location sideways.

I could see a warehouse far away, and wooden swords were lined up against one wall. The ground didn’t seem to be particularly tidied up, as dust flew up whenever the wind blew.

Lizé, who had been whispering something to Erica until just now, suddenly approached me and spoke softly.

“What do you think, newbie? Do you like it?”

“I just feel like it’s ordinary— Wait, newbie?”

“Yeah, newbie. Why? Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is. I haven’t even taken the entrance exam yet.”

“Iris couldn’t have misjudged someone. And didn’t you hear her confidently say that you don’t need to worry? If she can say that, then passing is a foregone conclusion, so you’re a newbie. Don’t worry too much, I’ll go easy on you too. Ah, but not too easy.”

Lizé winked as she said that. If the enemy enhancement mod wasn’t installed, I would have agreed, but since it was, I barely managed to lift the corners of my mouth as a response.

“The exam format is a one-on-one duel, and if a majority of the remaining knight commanders, excluding Knight Commander Iris, agree to your admission, you pass. Since Knight Commander Claudia is absent, if either me or my sister agrees, it should be sufficient. It’s not a majority, but it can’t be helped.”

“Claudia is not here?”

Iris expressed her question at Erica’s explanation.

That was the same for me. There was no character named Claudia in my memory either. It seemed more accurate to think that all the major NPCs had simply been changed to women.

I’d have to do some research on where this matched the game and where it differed.

“Claudia? She went to hunt monsters. She received an order from the lord and left shortly after you departed, so it’s understandable that you don’t know. She’ll probably be back in two days.”

A monster extermination requested by the lord. That was enough to identify the original NPC.

Iris had already figured it out, and now I had figured out Claudia as well. The only ones left were Lizé and Erica. I felt like I was roughly grasping the characters’ outlines.

I had to keep it a secret from those three, but the knight commander named Claudia would probably return after failing the subjugation and being severely injured. That’s how the game’s story went.

Of course, the player could defeat it too.

That was when the real beginning started. The tutorial area was just a place to show the direction and orientation of Brightest Darkness 4, and this entrance exam was also like a basic combat to explain the game’s system.

The problem was that with the enemy enhancement mod installed, it wasn’t basic combat but rather fighting half of a boss battle.

“I see.”

Iris nodded briefly.

“The opponent for the duel is—”

“Me, me, me, me, me! I’ll do it! It has to be me!”

Lizé raised her hand in a flash. The breasts wrapped in a thin sleeveless top swayed greatly from the motion. Iris looked at me with eyes asking if it was alright.

Seeing her wanting to have a match with me to that extent, I had no choice in the matter. I nodded. As soon as I accepted her request, Lizé grinned and hopped up and down.

Erica approached behind Lizé.

“Here, Sister.”

She was holding a pair of daggers in both hands, having brought them at some point. As Lizé accepted them, a chilling air swirled around. One side of the daggers’ blades turned blue and frost formed on them.

Ah, so the original NPC for her was that guy.

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly. Was it because of the blue hair that she had an ice attribute?

I had hoped for a twist where she used blue-colored flames because of her blue hair, or used red-colored ice because of her red hair.

“Since you can use that weapon, there’s no need to give you a different one, right? If you want to use something else, let me know. I’ll lend it to you.”

Iris pointed to the Blood-Stained Sword hung at my waist.

Just as it was accepted as natural for women to wear modern clothing as the game and reality merged, it was also accepted as natural to use real weapons for the entrance exam.

Not only Lizé but even Iris and Erica only mentioned controlling their strength properly, without any thought that the match itself was wrong.

The only mercy was that instead of depleting the health completely, clearing the match required only reducing it by half.

‘And of all things, the opponent’s original had to be that guy.’

The NPC that served as Lizé’s original was the boss in Brightest Darkness 4 who could inflict “Frostbite,” which would undoubtedly be ranked first if you were to name the dirtiest, most underhanded, and most annoying status ailment.

When the Frostbite gauge was fully accumulated, the player character would be frozen for 4 seconds, unable to perform any actions, and even after being released, for 30 seconds, the movement speed, natural stamina recovery, and natural combat fatigue recovery would be greatly reduced, and even the speed, evasion distance, and invincibility duration of rolling would be cut in half.

Frostbite alone had more than five debuffs that were dirty as hell even if there was only one of them. In contrast, other status ailments had only one or at most two debuffs.

It couldn’t be seen as anything other than the developers doing it on purpose.

What was even more annoying was the fact that such elemental attacks couldn’t be perfectly countered with deflection. To perfectly deflect elemental attacks, you needed a corresponding medium shield or greatshield.

Although the accumulation was very slight, the fact that the gauge would gradually build up even if you perfectly deflected attacks without a shield was already stressful.

“What’s that weapon? The blade is red?”

As I drew the Blood-Stained Sword, Lizé, who had been swinging her daggers with a chilling aura, asked curiously.

“It’s a weapon I obtained after defeating a monster in the prison.”

“Huh? A monster? There was a monster in the prison too? And you defeated it, who? You, Iris?”

Lizé’s eyes widened. Come to think of it, I hadn’t explained what had happened in the prison yet.

“It’s a long story if I were to explain. I’ll tell you after the duel is over. I need to write a report to submit to that lord too.”

“Ah, right. We have to report to that pig bastard too?”

“We can go see him this evening. Although I don’t want to.”

The lord of this city seemed to have the exact same personality as in the game, not only did the always-stoic Iris openly express her dislike for him, but even the friendly Lizé called him a pig bastard.

Even Erica bit her lip with a tired expression upon hearing those words.

“Enough with the unnecessary talk. Both of you, get ready.”

As if she didn’t want to think about the lord any further, Iris forcefully proceeded with the duel. Lizé and I faced each other, while the two who weren’t participating in the duel stepped back a considerable distance.

The chilling air whirled from the daggers, gradually emitting a white mist. It was a mist made of ice and frost. The blowing wind carried a chill with it.

‘To think I’d see that right in front of my eyes.’

I had seen it many times on the monitor.

I held the Blood-Stained Sword with both hands, slightly tilting its tip to the right and lowering my stance. As I inhaled, the chill penetrated deep into my lungs. Surely this wouldn’t accumulate the Frostbite gauge, right?

Unlike me, who was highly tense due to worrying about all sorts of trivial things, Lizé began to approach with a relaxed expression.

“Why are you so nervous, newbie? Are you afraid I might kill you or something? That will never happen, so you can relax your shoulders a bit.”

‘You killed me plenty in the game.’

I quietly swallowed those words inwardly. Recalling how I had died an insane number of times trying to clear this when I first installed the Darkest Light Mod, it wasn’t exactly a trustworthy statement.

“Instead…”

The surrounding chill intensely swirled. It seemed to be preparing to lunge forward. I also prepared to deflect the attack.

“It’s going to hurt quite a bit!”

Bang, the distance was closed before her words had even finished.

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