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The Neutral Interaction City Valhalant had a PvP arena in its center.

Usually there would be excited cheers from the audience and attempts from the rivals to appeal to potential recruits, but today it was more tense, everyone looking attentively.

“I’m really sorry this had to happen the first day you logged in.”

They were the center of attention now. Though many looked with disdain at their opponents, the men that had approached them in the restaurant.

I can’t say I’m a fan of this.

Crim felt like they had become the targets of a public execution. But she shook those thoughts out of her head. Their opponents were the leader of the group, the person who had approached Crim before, and two mages, likely an attacker and a healer.

At first glance it seemed like they had tried to have an equal structure as Crim’s group, though it was hard to say how fair the matchup actually was. Crim could not help but feel bad for her friends though, getting them involved in this almost as soon as they arrived.

“What’s wrong? I don’t mind at all.” Frey said to Crim, holding his fist out.
“When have we ever lost a fight together, never right?”
“Right…”

Crim bumped his fist, then focused on their opponents again, then brought out her magic shadow dagger with Shadow Light-Weapon. A moment later the countdown reached zero.

«3 vs 3 Battle Start!!»

As soon as the fight’s start was announced, the six sprang into action.

One hour before, back at the restaurant…

“You..!!”

It was the same man wearing knight armor that had ruined Crim’s first visit to that city. Crim got enraged the instant she recognized him, and was ready to continue insulting him.

“I’ve been looking for you to apologize. I’m really sorry for what happened!”
“…What?”

Just as Crim was about to shout something in return, she was left speechless seeing him lower his head. He remained that way as he continued to talk.

“So umm… a friend actually told me that our encounter was posted all over the gossip forums, and I finally realized how badly I treated you so…”
“Huh? Gossip forums? That actually happened?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah, you didn’t know?”
“Ouch…”

Crim usually avoided looking at such threads to protect her mental health, so she never knew that had happened there.

But seeing how profusely he was apologizing she could imagine the extent of such posts. Not to mention there would be plenty of trolls exaggerating or adding flavor to the story.

“So your plan was to bring me to your guild the entire time?”
“No, I mean…well, back then I just thought that maybe it could be fun to have a cute girl in the guild.”
“And now?”
“…I saw a cute girl so I figured I could try to make an invitation to my guild.”
“Really…”

In other words, every time he saw a girl he would try to invite her to his guild.

But considering he had continued with his antics even after he gained a bad reputation in the forums… Crim was almost amazed by his determination to paint a target on his back for more trolls to dogpile on him.

“You’re dumb.”
“Guh…just… I know this might be too much to ask for, but please give me just one chance to restore my honor!”
“…Restore your honor?”

Crim was starting to feel puzzled by how intensely he was bowing, almost kneeling onto the ground.

“Fight us in a duel! I want you to know I’m actually playing this game and not just being a lowlife!”
“Please! He’s not a bad person, promise! He just gets a little excited when he sees girls.”
“Ghah-!”
“Me too! He might get some tunnel vision whenever someone cute is nearby, but he’s actually really nice and kind!”
“Blurgh?!”

Their desperate attempt to prop their leader up did not seem to come from a place of malice. It sounded like the man in knight armor was getting stabbed as they joined in, but that was not important there.

“Hmm…what do you say, Frey?”
“Just do whatever you think is right, Crim. I’ll go along with anything, it’s not like I have a choice.”
“And Freya..?”

When Crim turned to look at Freya, she just nodded with a smile, not uttering a word.

“Alright… we’ll fight you. But they’re still beginners, so I won’t join your guild even if we lose.”
“Thank you!”

And that’s what led to the current events.

…He’s actually being careful to not take a Critical Hit and die instantly.

Crim told herself as she carefully stepped over, her eyes focused on the man’s neck so she could lunge and attack the instant he lowered his guard.

He was unexpectedly strong. She did not have much respect for his skirt chasing tendencies, but in battle he was no wimp. He carefully held his shield to cover his heart and neck, stopping Crim from attacking straight away which made her slightly annoyed.

Leaving his personality aside, he was quite strong compared to the men who ambushed Crim earlier during the day. The man in knight armor and his guild had left the Starting Hill and had gotten stronger in other areas.

That also meant he had more fighting experience, and was likely painfully aware of deadly Critical Hits. On the other hand, that also put Frey and Freya in danger, as this was their first day playing and had a lot to learn.

The enemy healer and Freya were standing back taking cover, so they were not exactly relevant in the fight yet. But Frey and the enemy mage were exchanging blows, though as Frey only had on his starting skills he was taking some damage.

Worried about that, Crim turned around to look at Frey, but then she noticed his eyes. They were filled with conviction, refusing to become a burden no matter what.

Don’t worry about me, do it.

Crim felt like she could hear Frey talking through his eyes. So she lowered her stance to activate her combat arts.

“…Divine Strike!”

Her feet kicked off the ground, propelling her forward. The man in knight armor noticed that and grinned, believing he had already won.

“Hahah, I knew you’d get hasty seeing your friend like that! Shield Ba..!”

As powerful as combat arts could be, they also had a downside. The movements were largely automatic and could not be stopped once activated, making them easy to read.

Especially straightforward attacks like Divine Strike. A seasoned PvP player could easily tell where their opponent would go when using it, creating the perfect window to attack with no chance of counterattack.

So the man in knight armor held his shield ready to intercept Crim as she moved and…

“…Dimension Pocket!”
“Huh? Woah!”

He lost his footing, as Frey’s magic snatched a piece of the ground that was shaped like a sphere with a radius of 5cm, transporting it into his Inventory.

Now that his balance was broken, his combat art was canceled and his body went stiff, Crim easily passed by him and headed to her initial target, the mage who had been exchanging blows with Frey.

“…Huh? Agha?!”

Everything happened so quickly that the mage could not react and Crim’s dagger sliced through his neck.

“Keep going, Crim, Balance Break!”
“Uwah?!”

Frey quickly launched his next attack, Balance Break. It was the starter spell in the Spirit Magic group, which borrowed the power of a dark spirit to make the target feel light headed and disoriented for a short moment.

The knight staggered on his feet as Crim turned around and activated her own magic.

“Shadow Bind!”
“Wh-what’s happening? Hands…hands?!”

The knight’s shadow seemed to turn into hands that sprouted up and firmly held onto his unbalanced body, pulling him down and holding him onto the ground. That was Shadow Bind, obtained with 50 Skill Points in Shadow Magic.

It was a spell that momentarily restrained a staggered enemy. In the knight’s case, his heavy armor only made the effect worse on him.

Seeing that, Crim quickly looked away and dashed toward the remaining mage, the young boy who was their healer…

“Wait what, you’re coming here?!”
“…I’m sorry.”

In a panic, he tried to swing his mace, but Crim’s blade was faster as it passed through his throat. His eyes were filled with regret, realizing he had failed at his role and had been defeated even faster than the frontline, and he turned to particles of light, appearing again outside the arena next to the first mage.

“Alright…now it’s only you left.”

Crim faced the knight again, who was still held onto the ground by the shadow hands. At first he looked in terror, but then…

“I won’t let myself fall here… I’ll bring…prestige…a cute girl…to my guild!”

Even with the countless hands pulling him down, he used all his strength to force himself on his feet. He might have indecent thoughts constantly, but Crim was gaining a little admiration for his resilience, until something unexpected happened on the battlefield.

“…Freya?”

She had been standing back watching the fight unfold, but now she stepped forward to the opponent’s leader, the man in knight armor. There she extended her hand and held his, which was guarded by a gauntlet while smiling.

Seeing that, like an angel that came to smile at him, he just stared at her in a dumbfounded daze.

“…I believe you just said you’d really like a girl to join your guild?”
“Y-yeah…”
“You know, I believe your despicable attitude of ignoring your target’s feelings and desires, simply wanting anyone as long as they’re a girl, is the reason why you’re so useless.”
“…Ghah?!”

Ah, he died.

Freya had smiled like a kind nun listening to someone’s confession, but her words were filled with derision and merciless judgment. Hearing that, life seemed to vanish from the knight’s eyes, and he impulsively used the suicide command and vanished in particles of light.

The system announced Crim’s team’s victory, but Crim, Frey, and even the onlookers, looked at the defeated with a bit of compassion.