The countdown finally ended. Across every level of the library, glowing circles appeared—bright, pulsing halos that drew every eye. Seven or eight of them shimred on Rita's floor, each with a glowing number floating in its center.
At the sa ti, a small book appeared in her hand, about the size of her palm.
She didn't bother to check what it was. Instead, she tossed it straight into her dagger's storage space and flashed aside just in ti to dodge both the incoming spear and the crimson mist blade.
Before running, she raised her hand and pointed at Maple Syrup, activating a skill she had chosen specifically for her—[The Mysterious One].
[The Mysterious One] (SSS): Choose one target. That target will completely forget your existence and will be unable to rember you again. At the sa ti, no being in existence can speak your na, describe your appearance, or recount your deeds. Each use consus any one attribute point. Duration: 6 hours. Cooldown: 12 hours.
The next second, a glowing white question mark appeared over Maple Syrup's head.
She froze mid-charge, expression blanking out for a heartbeat before confusion filled her eyes.
Rita seized the chance, darting away from Mistblade's pursuit and slipping into the maze of bookshelves in a predator's blur, vanishing from sight.
Mistblade frowned, stepping back beside Maple Syrup. "What skill was that?"
Maple Syrup blinked. "Huh? What skill?"
That was wrong. Maple Syrup wasn't the type to waste breath on aningless repetition. Mistblade's frown deepened. She opened her mouth to say, "BS-Rita just used a skill on you," but the words warped as they ca out. "That person just used a skill on you."
What?
Her brows furrowed tighter. Maple Syrup's puzzled stare didn't help. Mistblade tried again, but her sentence twisted once more at the last instant. "That… that person…"
A sharp throb stabbed behind her eyes. What kind of ridiculous ability was this?
For most players, a top-tier skill set looked like this: thirty percent offense, twenty defense, twenty healing or buffs, twenty escape or survival, ten special.
Rita, on the other hand, was built like this: fifty percent survival and escape, twenty special, twenty healing or defense, ten offense or buffs.
Mistblade switched tactics. "Who did you co here to kill?"
Though still confused, Maple Syrup sensed sothing was off. Mistblade wasn't one to babble without reason. So she played along. "To stop GodDraw77 from appearing."
"When Maple Burn revived, who had her wings?"
"They disintegrated," Maple Syrup replied, giving Mistblade a look that clearly said, why are you bringing that up again.
"In the last match, who were you fighting?"
"So student from Arisentna?"
"And who won the Fun Match and Team Battle?"
"Uh… that one girl?"
Mistblade pressed her fingers to her temple. Fantastic. Rita's skill had completely erased herself from Maple Syrup's mory.
Even worse, Mistblade couldn't say her na or anything about her.
When Maple Syrup realized it, she asked, "Then just tell her na."
Mistblade's mouth opened, but what ca out was, "That person."
Maple Syrup stared. "…"
Now she was starting to wonder if Mistblade had been hit by sothing instead. Otherwise why did she sound like such an idiot?
Around them, the other students were already fighting for numbers while the two of them just stood there, staring at each other.
Maple Syrup tried again. "What has she done?"
Mistblade's mouth opened and closed several tis like she was trying to yawn but couldn't. Every attempt failed. Not even the simplest mory—like her ridiculous Fun Match stories—would co out.
At last, she managed to blurt out one sentence. "We studied together at Moonlight Marsh… she… she liked inviting us to go to the bathroom together."
"…"
Mistblade gave up.
Maple Syrup's tone went flat. "I can already tell how much she deserved to die."
Originally, their plan was simple. As soon as the match began, they'd ignore everything else and go straight for Rita—full power, no hesitation.
Even with all her defensive tricks, she couldn't possibly withstand both of them at once.
Now? The plan wasn't dead, just more complicated. Maple Syrup could simply follow Mistblade's lead. Whoever Mistblade attacked, she would attack too.
…
By then, Rita had already examined her Sudoku board—the little book that had appeared in her hand at the start of the match.
Opening it revealed a deep, grid-shaped recess: nine rows, nine columns, eighty-one empty squares. The Sudoku puzzle.
Fifteen of the squares were already filled with numbers. That ant she'd need to find sixty-six more.
She imdiately activated [Waste Guide], solved the Sudoku in her head, and began scouting.
The library, unlike in the Fun Match, now allowed movent between floors without specific triggers. Each level was already alive with fighting; players were scrambling for glowing number circles that had just spawned.
Even though few had solved their puzzles yet, that didn't stop anyone from hunting numbers first.
Each digit shone brightly, and once picked up, it hovered above the player's head for everyone to see. That must have been the "free looting period" from the rules.
The distribution pattern wasn't obvious yet, but she quickly noticed one key difference from before: the bookshelves were indestructible.
Several had been hit by powerful elental attacks, yet not even the books were scorched.
The shelves effectively divided the battlefield, breaking up the chaos and giving players who excelled at pursuit or guerrilla combat a fair chance.
For Rita, that was both blessing and curse. It made it easier to hide from Maple Syrup and Mistblade—but harder to exploit her [I'm Just That Idle] combo chain bonus.
After touring every corner and confirming she could reach any location instantly with [Absolute Freedom], she settled in the fifth-floor corner.
She made a small snowman, carved her pumpkin die, and finished every bit of preparation before lying down to rest until the ti-stop ended.
When it lifted, she drew her dagger and sprinted toward a glowing number she had already marked—the number five.
She didn't bother disguising herself with [Unverified Identity]. Her weapons, her distinctive, violent combat rhythm, her signature moves—anyone who knew her would recognize her instantly once the fighting started.
And no one in this world, aside from Lightchaser, knew her better than Mistblade.
She had just grabbed the glowing "5," barely ten minutes after the first numbers had descended. The symbol now glead brightly above her head for all to see.
A chain of players chased her from behind. As she burst out of the bookshelf maze, she locked eyes with Mistblade and Maple Syrup stepping out of the stairwell.
The mont Mistblade saw her, she pointed and yelled to Maple Syrup, "That's her!"
Rita froze.
Why did this suddenly feel like getting caught bullying soone, only for that soone to show up later with their big-sister gang leader for payback?
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