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He hadn’t expected Starry to attack without a word. He had already witnessed the power of Icy Moon Slash. If he tried to take it head-on, he might very well end up dead.

“Blink!”

At the same time he activated the teleportation skill, the Autumn Moon Sword sliced through an afterimage. Starry turned around and finally got a clear look at the player’s ID: Inkseason

“Phew…” He let out a shaky breath, still visibly rattled. “Don’t attack the moment you see me! I wasn’t even done talking!”

“What was there to talk about?”

Seeing that Starry was finally willing to respond, Inkseason quickly put on a flattering smile. “Here’s the thing. I was already here when you stepped onto the arena. You’re currently on a four-win streak, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then that’s perfect! You only need five consecutive wins to become a Small Arena Champion. There’s still six minutes left on the countdown, so as long as you stall a bit and win one more match, you’re good.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Well…” He raised an eyebrow. “Miss, that guy just now was a plant you hired, wasn’t he?”

“…”

“I knew it! That acting was terrible. Only these NPCs were dumb enough not to notice.”

Honestly… this wasn’t the first time Zane had been insulted to his face like this. He had built up quite a bit of resistance to it by now. Even so… Starry raised the Autumn Moon Sword and pointed it straight at him. It still pissed him off.

“W-Wait!” Inkseason yelped in panic. He no longer had Blink available. “Miss, you’ve got the wrong idea! I’m here to throw the match!”

“…？”

***

At the final second of the countdown, Starry casually hoisted Inkseason into the air. His hands trembled as he looked down at the height below, pleading pitifully, “Miss… please be gentle… Aaaaah!”

**Bang!**

The instant he hit the ground, his HP dropped to 31%, meaning his total health was just shy of four thousand.

‘The players in the Dark Faction all seemed to have pretty decent gear. Maybe I should consider developing my character here someday,’ Zane thought to himself.

Meanwhile, after consecutively defeating Zane and Inkseason, Starry’s experience bar rose by another 10%.

It couldn’t be helped. The experience awarded by players was nowhere near comparable to that of bosses, especially with the level difference involved.

‘Got it!’

Although the last two opponents had been feeding him free wins, the first three had genuinely been defeated by his own strength…

…Wait, no.

Thinking about it carefully, the Bewitching Flower Maiden had been overwhelmed through sheer force, the Deceased One had been defeated after being thrown off the arena, and the Assassin had nowhere to hide against Windblossom, ending up chased down and defeated.

So after all that…

‘Was I only capable of soloing Epic-tier monsters? Sigh… I’ve still got a long road ahead.’

Starry leaped off the arena platform. Meanwhile, Zane and Windblossom headed straight down another street. There were five arenas throughout the city. They couldn’t keep pulling the same trick at one location forever, or they’d eventually draw everyone’s ire.

Although Starry had already secured the qualification, it was still better if all three of them qualified. That way, they could look after one another whenever necessary.

“Hey, wait for me!” Inkseason called as he jogged after them.

Come to think of it, his goal had also been to become a Small Arena Champion. According to him, however, the strongest opponents he could handle were Epic-tier, and only those his class naturally countered, such as slow-moving brutes.

It was obvious he had no chance on his own. After witnessing Starry’s performance, he had decided to deliberately throw a match first to earn Starry’s trust, hoping Starry would later arrange a few plants to help him farm his own Small Arena Champion title.

Coincidentally, since they were completely unfamiliar with the Dark Faction, having a local player guide them around wasn’t a bad idea. And just like that, the win-feeding squad gained a new member.

“So, Miss, what should I call you?”
“Stardust. Just call me Starry.”
“Oh, got it, Miss Starry.” He glanced around. “Where’s the plant you hired? I don’t see them.”
“They headed the other way. Just across the next street.”

“I see…” Hearing that finally put him at ease. If there weren’t any plants waiting, then he’d have thrown away a match for nothing. After all, the Blessing of Azure increased one’s item drop rate after every defeat, and after accumulating ten losses, it would trigger an automatic self-destruction.

“By the way, your performance in the first three matches was seriously impressive! If I hadn’t seen the ID floating above your head, I’d have thought you were some hidden NPC expert!”

“It was alright…” There really wasn’t much to say. She had taken every shortcut and exploited every advantage she could.

“What do you mean, ‘alright’?! Just taking half of the Bewitching Flower Maiden’s HP in a single exchange was already incredible. Not to mention the two Unique bosses afterward. Honestly, I was sweating bullets just watching. I never expected anyone besides those few people to pull off something like that.”

“…?” Zane had no idea who he was referring to.

“Oh, right. You just arrived here, didn’t you? It’s only natural you wouldn’t know them.” Inkseason spoke enthusiastically, as though he’d been holding back a mountain of conversation for ages. Once he started talking, the words poured out nonstop.

“It’s pretty difficult to obtain a Dark Faction identity, so there aren’t many players here. There are fewer than thirty players in all of Noctilune City. Even though the population’s small, there are a few absolute monsters among them. Hmm… though I still think you’re even stronger.”

“…” Starry had already crossed swords with two exceptionally powerful players before. She wondered if they were among the people he was talking about.

“Oh, and another thing! The NPCs who’ve been showing up these past few days are ridiculously strong! This is the first time I’ve ever seen so many of them…” Inkseason continued rambling tirelessly.

“…”

‘Is this guy a chatterbox or something?’

***

**Splash!**

A single undead spell from a Departed Spirit instantly sent Lordsey back into the Pet Space. As the game progressed, even Epic-tier pets were gradually losing their edge. They could no longer hold the front line on their own.

Of course, if an average player heard that, they’d probably explode with jealousy. A single goblin was already stronger than they were. How were they supposed to live with that?

With Lordsey down, the party’s only frontliner was gone as well.

DumbCitrus wore a grim expression as she hid at the very back of the group. The boss had been lurking behind her the whole time just now, and when she turned around, she’d nearly died from the shock.

“…This is getting troublesome. I didn’t expect this boss to hit so hard.” Shiu frowned at the Departed Spirit. “I’ll tank from here on. My magic resistance is higher, so I shouldn’t get one-shot.”

“We don’t have much choice…” Dukeette nodded. “I’ll do my best to keep you healed.”

“Me too,” Yoyo added. With Electrobunny by her side, her healing output was roughly a third of a Priest’s.

“And me!” DumbCitrus chimed in. Leaping Melody wasn’t just for show.

“Alright, then I’m going in!” He nodded. ‘First, I just have to dodge the opening attack. The telegraph is so obvious…’

“Watch my *amazing* footwork!” Shiu zigzagged wildly, his feet darting back and forth as his body swayed from side to side.

**Whoosh!**

By sheer coincidence, he stepped directly into the spell’s trajectory. The thick blue-violet critical damage number erupted above him, instantly turning him into a pillar of white light.

One Hit Knock Out!

“…” The three girls stared blankly as the target they had been preparing to heal suddenly vanished before their eyes, their minds unable to process what had just happened.

“…What was it he said just now?” Dukeette asked, utterly bewildered.

“I think it was… something about his footwork?” DumbCitrus replied, equally dumbfounded.