The virtual reality game [Knight Arc] sometimes serves as a meeting ground.
The magic-infused virtual reality device syncs perfectly with the user, meaning you can’t tweak your avatar.
In other words, the players you see in-game are exactly as they are in real life.

“Uh, hi there.”
“Oh, I’m streaming right now. Sorry!”

Three seconds after starting the conversation,
streamer Gu Yohan could only watch as the female player walked away.

– lolololol
– Got rejected again, huh?
– Simp cut!
– Please find romance in real life, dude.

Gu Yohan was blatantly a simp.
For a former Challenger with a peak rank of 17th, he was a rather pathetic user.

“In real life, I’m a total loser. I’m so mentally screwed up, I can only function in games!”

– Fix your mental issues.
– Ugh, three years of the same whining.
– Isn’t meeting people in virtual reality basically the same as in real life?

“It’s different. In the game, there’s no status or hierarchy—we’re all just players. In real life, I’d panic and freeze up the second I try to talk to someone.”

– Hit the gym, it’ll cure your panic attacks.
– This guy’s just absurd to watch.
– Honestly, everyone playing this game is a camgirl. You think they’d fall for you? They’re here to make bank too.

“I know, I know. They’re all camgirls. Pretty much everyone who plays this game streams, so it makes sense. But isn’t there a chance for, like, a fateful encounter?”

– You’re just hoping for luck without putting in any effort?
– So pathetic.
– Wait, what? A fateful encounter?
– Wooyeon?
– Hold up, are you talking about Joo Wooyeon, the rookie streamer with monstrous skills?

“What?”

Lately, Gu Yohan’s stream and fan community had been buzzing with talk about Joo Wooyeon.

Her bright smile is adorable.
Her condescending glare is hot.
I want to beat her with skill and crush her.
I listen to her “lame” taunts as ASMR before bed.

The free-spirited vibe of his stream let the chatter run wild.
While he filtered out the overly wild stuff, Gu Yohan himself was undeniably intrigued by Joo Wooyeon.

Perfect timing, since her name came up.
His hand naturally moved to check her match history.

“This person’s climbing the ranks crazy fast.”

Joo Wooyeon’s record was anything but ordinary.
Her account was new, yet she consistently took first place in every match.

“And it looks like she only ever uses swords.”

Her last equipped weapon was always a sword.
Not a single exception.

While swords, axes, spears, and crossbows form one pillar of [Knight Arc], the reality is that as matches drag on, magic tends to dominate.
The engagement range is just too different.
Most players use weapons early on, then collect spellbooks to transition to powerful magic.
Even those sticking with weapons usually use magic as a backup.

That’s why the classic swordsman carries a certain romance.
In a world full of magic and ranged weapons, rising to the top with just a sword is the stuff of legends.

“This person’s been taking first place as a classic swordsman?”

– Damn!
– That’s some serious romance.
– She’d kill it streaming.
– She’s already streaming! Search Joo Wooyeon, go go!
– Good looks and gaming skills? That’s game-breaking.
– Taking first as a classic swordsman is insanely hard.

“But you know what, guys?”

The corner of Gu Yohan’s mouth curled up.

“I just got matched in the same game as Wooyeon.”

– Whoa!
– Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!
– What are you waiting for, dumbass? Run! lol

Joo Wooyeon’s account, which had been idle for a bit, was active again.
And now, she was matched in the same game as him.
The match confirmation on the record site made it clear.

Gu Yohan smiled at this stroke of luck.

Sure, he’s a simp, but he’s a streamer first.
Joo Wooyeon was undeniably a boon for his content.

His streams had mostly been about dominating weaker players.
Except for that one loss to Joo Wooyeon, he consistently placed in the top five.

His main account was stuck at rank 17.
The skill ceiling felt insurmountable, so he couldn’t climb higher.
The top 100 ranks, the “Challenger” tier, were filled with true elites.
But he couldn’t just stop streaming, so he made an alt account to grind, though it was inevitably less exciting.

A master like Gu Yohan in the beginner bracket.
Opponents fell too easily before him.

His audience was starting to complain about the boredom of his pub-stomping streams.
Joo Wooyeon, a hot topic, appeared at the perfect time.
She fit his simp persona perfectly and was undeniably skilled.

Whether he got an interview with her or defeated her to prove his prowess,
either way, it was great content.

– Checked her stream, it’s real!
– Wait, Wooyeon’s streaming?
– Heading to big sis Wooyeon’s stream, bye bye bye!

Some chatters mentioned going to her stream, but Gu Yohan didn’t mind much.
His viewer count didn’t drop significantly.

“It’s not just about Wooyeon herself—they want to see me interact with her.”

In [Knight Arc]’s waiting area, just before the match began,
Gu Yohan stood on the grassy plain, looked at the camera, and declared,

“Alright, let’s go find where Joo Wooyeon is.”

A vast plain dotted with city ruins.
A hundred players gathered, ready to compete in the same match.
Wandering around a bit should lead him to Joo Wooyeon.

As he scanned the area, his gaze froze.
The lines he’d prepared, the content he’d planned—it all slipped away.

“…”

Joo Wooyeon was sitting on a low hill, knees tucked in, intently studying something.
At the end of her gaze was a sword.
A zweihänder, a massive greatsword with a blade longer than her height.
The morning sun rising over the horizon glinted off the blade, casting sharp reflections, and the same light shimmered through her hair.

For a moment, an image of fragility and vulnerability flickered in the scene, then vanished.
Those watching from afar could belatedly catch something in her eyes.

How to describe it?
Determination? Or perhaps regret?
How could such depth be held in the eyes of a young, delicate girl?

Gu Yohan barely snapped out of it and started moving.

[Match starting.]

Blue particles rose from the ground, scattering the hundred players across the map.
To ancient kingdom ruins. To medieval merchant cities. To churches built on mountains.
The game began.

In [Knight Arc], you can try out in-game weapons in the waiting area.
Old equipment is scattered in certain zones for players to pick up and test.

The zweihänder was one such weapon.
A greatsword plunged into the soft soil of a low hill.

Not a weapon I often used.
It’s great for leveraging mass to break through guards or destroy weapons, but its swinging stance is restrictive and hard to adapt to varied situations.
In crude terms, it’s all about spinning with centrifugal force to capitalize on the massive blade’s weight.

Ultimately, it’s a tough weapon for real combat.
Especially against unpredictable monsters.

But games are different.
After playing [Knight Arc] for a day, I learned that low-rank zones were crawling with spearmen.

Spears are incredibly strong in PvP.
Their long reach makes approaching difficult, they excel in both offense and defense, and even less skilled players can get good results quickly.

Especially among beginners.
Plus, spears are easy to find in-game, so you run into them often.

Dealing with them all day was frustrating for someone like me, trying to climb ranks fast.
Lame players dragging out fights with weapon advantage.
Shields are annoying, but brainless spear users are just as bad.

That’s why I got interested in the zweihänder.

It’s got a long, heavy blade.
You can smash spear shafts to neutralize opponents or even break the spear entirely.

A longsword could do it too, but the difficulty drops significantly with a zweihänder.
That reduces my fatigue and makes climbing ranks easier.

– Oh, my heart…
– Hello!
– Hi hi!
– Do you know a streamer named Gu Yohan?

I started the stream, and viewers quickly filled in.
About sixteen to start?
Considering my first day had literally no one, this is a huge win.
Probably thanks to my looks more than my skill.

But I have zero intention of going the camgirl or clown route.

“Today, I’m focusing on the greatsword.”

I’ll win purely on skill.
Just then, a rusty greatsword caught my eye.

Meanwhile, streamer Gu Yohan
was brimming with confidence.

“I’m really good with spears.”

He’d mainly used spears on his main account too.
Getting a good spear early was rare luck for him.

“You guys know I hit Challenger with a spear, right?”

[Piercing Branch].
A growth-type weapon that gets stronger with item farming and combat wins, viable from early to late game.
When Gu Yohan got this weapon early, his win rate was near 100%.
Even on his main account.

– That cool, heavy feel.
– Piercing Gu Yohan hits different, lol.
– Gonna show us some real pub stomping?
– They call him washed-up, but his spear game is unreal.

Seeing the chat’s hyped reactions, Gu Yohan declared confidently,

“This time, I’m gonna beat Joo Wooyeon and show the real skill gap.”

He’d wash away the shame of his last loss to her.