Chapter 242 - The Day After the War, On a Certain Chat Board
――――――――――…… ――――――――…… ――――――……
'Way too many war archives with similar titles. It's total chaos.'
'Can't be helped, it was the biggest festival ever.'
'Gonna check out that video someone recommended. Which camera feed is this based on?'
'Mostly No. 22, with bits of 6, 15, and 29. A lot of unedited footage.'
'Ah, minimal slow-mo and editing. Sounds good, thx.'
'Dammit, I've rewatched it so many times and I still can't figure out the trick. How is Crown making these decisions to dodge? There's no way he can think and move at that speed without some kind of thought acceleration.'
'Either it's a special thought acceleration skill that doesn't produce an effect, a special ability from an unknown Anima, an enhancement from a unique title, or... just intuition...'
'The Anima is apparently that white sword that accelerates after being thrown, so that's out. There are a bunch of theories, but right now, intuition seems the most likely...'
'There's no way intuition alone explains it. His high-speed evasion and counter-attacks weren't limited to just the fight against Lady Iris.'
'His super high-speed movement itself is just plain weird, you know?'
'Well yeah, if you spend half a day rewatching that, your sense of speed is bound to get messed up.'
'It's on a whole other level from something like AGI: 500...'
'I saw some analysis article that clocked his instantaneous speed at over 800 km/h.'
'lol'
'That's after two months? In another two months is he gonna break the sound barrier? (rolling my eyes)'
'Crown is insane, but the Princess's insanity has also reached new depths.'
'Every single scene where she was on the back foot was against some impossible-to-handle trick. Everything else she dealt with perfectly on the first try...'
'That modified 《Seven Stars》 scene is so confusing it's making me sick. How many skills do you think she's using in parallel? C'mon, that can't be her raw movement, right?'
'I want to say no way, but she is the disciple of that Sword Saint.'
'If the disciple of a skill-less superhuman is achieving superhuman feats without skills... well, I guess it's not that surprising.'
'The moment she showed off Shukuchi, we lost the ability to deny any of her technical feats.'
'Leaving aside avatar specs and technique, am I the only one who thinks her fundamental combat sense is just insane? She's almost always the one charging in, but her timing and everything is always perfect.'
'I think the way she forces the pace is god-tier. She faltered for a moment against Maru II, but she's basically never pushed back when she's on the offensive, so you never feel her fragility despite her paper-thin durability.'
'Yeah, it really seems like intuition and talent make it all work... plus her sheer intensity. When you think about it, she's the exact same type as the Princess.'
'She's building technique on a foundation of talent, so yeah, they're completely the same type now.'
'Talent, huh... The theory that he has a gift is totally plausible.'
'Plausible? I think we can call it confirmed at this point. Please let it be confirmed...'
'Everyone focuses on his personal performance, but his armaments are also pretty damn crazy.'
'Caladbolg!!'
'Enrei Kagura!!'
'Angalta!!'
'Too many weapons with ultimate moves, man.'
'Kagura-neesan, you've done it again...'
'I really love her [Pyromancer] quality surprise weapons.'
'Isn't Angalta the [God-Wedge Sword-King]? A Terror Armament from a hidden boss is just insane.'
'That makes five confirmed ones now, huh...'
'The most 'normal' one is an absurdly huge battle-axe, which is nuts.'
'Isn't it the katana?'
'It's the Sword Saint's disciple's blade, it's obviously a top-tier item just by looking at it, and it clashed with an Extra-class weapon over and over without a scratch... It's obviously a custom piece from the Sword Saint herself. What I'm trying to say is, there's no way it's 'normal'.'
'If you look at it from the perspective that it probably doesn't have any special effects, you could maybe say it's normal. But the specs are probably off the charts.'
'What even is a player-crafted weapon that can go head-to-head with an Extra...? '
'While everyone was distracted by the flashy weapons, I did not miss that brooch.'
'F a i r y o f A q u a m a r i n e'
'That last-second stun & cancel effect... it means what we think it means, right?'
'A j e w e l i m b u e d w i t h m a g i c... In other words, they have a special relationship, one where he'd offer an eye for her............'
'If even I'm this shocked, her followers must be in absolute pandemonium.'
'It'd be nice if it stopped at just pandemonium.'
'He's a ranker and he's that strong, so of course he's popular, but still...!'
'Being Ui-sama's one and only disciple was already enviable enough...!!'
'Is he going to steal the idol of the common folk too, that damn Acrobat!!'
'Nia-chan isn't exactly common folk, you know.'
'The former fifth seat of Vestol is a celestial being. Show some respect, you plebs.'
'She's a top-tier bugged character who excels at both jewel crafting and tailoring.'
'And of course, the comment section for this video is also flooded with off-topic stuff.'
'It's not that they don't want to talk about the content, it's that they can't.'
'The more you analyze it, the deeper the mystery gets. It's a real rabbit hole.'
'Well, at this point, all we can do is hope he talks about it himself, right?'
'Looking forward to seeing Haru-shi make more public appearances after tonight's celebration.'
'Speaking of appearances, what was with hiding his face under the hood, anyway?'
'Who knows... for dramatic effect?'
'I was wondering what kind of face would be revealed, and then it was just a normal-looking guy. Kinda anticlimactic.'
'He's got a pretty plain face for someone over there, right?'
'Plain is an exaggeration, isn't it? I'd say he's handsome enough.'
'You've all just gotten too used to the handsome men and beautiful women of the virtual world. If you call that a plain face, this old man is gonna look in the mirror and cry.'
'Well, the template for guys is either pretty boy, handsome young man, hot old guy, rugged old guy, or muscle-head. A moderately well-featured young man's face is definitely rare.'
'He has an unpretentious vibe. I actually don't dislike it.'
'I get that.'
'It's nice and natural.'
'The way he smiles so genuinely is a huge plus.'
'I see, and so his female followers increase.'
'Guilty as charged.'
'That damn Acrobat...'
'I'll never forgive you for Nia-chan, you damn Acrobat...!'
'Judging by her smile at the end, the Princess might have fallen for him too.'
'Huh?'
'Oh?'
'What?'
'Don't screw with me.'
'You've crossed a line.'
'Not allowed.'
'No.'
'The death penalty is unavoidable.'
'I'm about to lose it.'
'The instant hostility is hilarious. I'm dying.'
'Dude, that's the world's Princess you're talking about.'
'Please, just not Lady Iris. People will die.'
'Not just Lady Iris, the Sword Saint is off-limits too. People will die.'
'I don't know about the Princess, but the Sword Saint seems to have a high opinion of him. The whole 'I want a disciple, but...' thing was a famous story.'
'There's zero info on their interactions so I can't say for sure, but her long-awaited disciple achieved such a huge victory in his first battle, so... at the very least.'
'At the very least?'
'Hey, at the very least what, spit it out.'
'Well, you know. She'll probably praise him a lot...'
'Praise...'
'Hmm...'
'He gets to be praised by the Sword Saint...'
'............For some reason, I'm starting to get angry.'
'Urgent Request: A method for regular players to defeat the Acrobat.'
'Seeking: A plan to purge Crown.'
'Recruiting party to take down the Acrobat @35.'
'lol'
'The way everyone started recruiting at once is hilarious.'
'Don't try to form a full raid to go hunt him at the end, lmao.'
'To challenge the one who beat the [Sword Queen] out of sheer jealousy... you fools (brave heroes) are...'
'He didn't win!! You can't get that part wrong!!'
'He didn't wiiiin, it was a draaaaw!!'
'A self-destruct charge is totally not allowed, so it was basically Lady Iris's win!!'
'Well, Istia won the war itself, though.'
'Those obnoxious followers of the Princess are running wild everywhere...'
'She just has too many fans...'
――――――――――……
――――――――……
――――――……
Draw faster. Bring out the partner faster. I'm not responsible if I have a seizure.