'Wait, we can't use pets......?'

  For me, who had been safely pulling my bowstring from behind reliable meat shields up until now, this was news that I couldn't help but be shocked by. To think such a terrible variable would pop up.

  However, the panic was brief. After racking my brain, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

  The fact that my opponent also couldn't bring out a pet might actually act as a 'godsend' for me.

  If my opponent had a Legendary-grade pet that could chew up my Epic-grade Griffon, I would have been helplessly at a disadvantage. That worst-case variable had been blocked at the source.

  Moreover, a fatal question flashed through my mind.

  It was still unknown whether the system had accurately restricted only the 'Pet System', or if it had blocked the 'Summon' skill itself entirely.

  'If I can just summon the goblins...... this will be an easy match......'

  [System: Do you wish to participate anonymously?]

  While I was staring intently at the match rules displayed on the screen, lost in deep thought, a new selection notification window popped up before my eyes.

  'Of course, absolutely anonymous.'

  There was no reason to needlessly reveal my real nickname and draw aggro. I answered firmly without a single shred of hesitation.

  "Yes."

  [System: Your character's appearance will be changed through random customization for anonymous participation. Please state the temporary nickname you will use in the main tournament.]

  '.........'

  "You Suck."

  It was a temporary signboard I would use once and throw away anyway. Since I was making one, I decided to go with a nickname that blatantly provoked the opponent.

  If they saw that obnoxious nickname floating above my head and lost their cool in a fit of rage, I'd be truly thankful.

  Nothing ventured, nothing gained; it was a strategic, one-time nickname that wasn't bad in many ways.

  [System: Changing to random customization for anonymous participation.]

  The reflection in the mirror was completely that of another person.

  Seeing the obnoxious nickname 'You Suck' floating above my head, a chuckle leaked out.

  [System: The 1st match of the Round of 64 will begin in 10 minutes.]

  The red timer floating in the air slowly ticked down. Soon, the moment the short yet long 10-minute countdown finally hit 0.

  [System: Moving to the arena.]

  A dazzling magic circle of light surged from beneath my feet, and my vision flashed white once more.

  Along with my vision clearing, the dry smell of sand hit my nose.

  "......!"

  An exclamation escaped me involuntarily. A sandy floor so massive the end couldn't be seen, and a clear, wide-open sky above it.

  "WAAAAAAH-!!!"

  Tens of thousands of spectators packing the stands of that majestic colosseum erupted in cheers in unison.

  It was an overwhelming heat that made the ground rumble.

  And beyond the fluttering dust, I saw the figure of the opponent who would become my first sacrifice.

  A swordsman gripping a blue longsword with sharp eyes.

  Above his head, the nickname 'Sword Demon' flashed along with the grandiose modifier [Overall Ranking 19th].

  Originally, Liberty Online didn't have an official ranking system, but to add tension to the tournament, the operators seemed to have separately tallied and displayed the rankings of non-anonymous players.

  '19th??;;...'

  Unlike a nobody like me, he seemed to be a veteran with quite a bit of name value.

  Unlike me, who had curled up the corners of my mouth into a faint smile while assessing the opponent, the expression of the Sword Demon standing far away was twisting in real-time.

  The mere three words floating above my head.

  [You Suck]

  In the eyes of the ranker facing an anonymous nickname that seemed to blatantly mock him, a dark murderous intent slowly began to fill up.

  Bwooooo-!

  Finally, a majestic horn announcing the start of the duel resounded through the arena.

  It's true that I shrunk back for a moment at the flashy title of Overall Ranking 19th.

  But I thought about it carefully. This is just the first match of the Round of 64.

  To grab the prize money and throw my resignation letter here, I had to secure at least six more victories starting with this match.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  'If I chicken out here, I'm stuck as a factory worker for the rest of my life.'

  Strangely enough, at that thought, my stiff body began to loosen up smoothly.

  The Sword Demon before my eyes was not an insurmountable wall, but merely the first obstacle blocking my path to resignation.

  "Summon......!"

  To confirm the clear definition of the rule 'Pet System Use Prohibited', I activated the Goblin Royal Guard summon skill first.

  "Grrrrrr......"

  Goblin Royal Guards popping out from the pitch-black smoke. A smile naturally spread across my face at the reliable sight of them summoned normally, just like always.

  As expected, pets and summon skills were judged separately.

  As the guys blocked my front, the pressure of having to face a ranker vanished into thin air, and a pleasant confidence enveloped my entire body.

  Erasing his momentary wavering, the Sword Demon kicked off the ground and flew forward, emitting a chilling glint in his eyes.

  The momentum of the swordsman closing the distance was fierce, but my fingertips rather calmed down.

  Clack-clack-!

  I immediately switched the state of the Goblin Royal Guards to 'Aggressive Mode'.

  While they blocked the charge with their shields at the forefront, I drew my bowstring to its limit towards the red dot floating on the bastard's forehead.

  Thwip-!

  The arrow that left the string surged at a split-second speed, but the Sword Demon lightly ducked his head and let the arrow flow past him.

  Evading the attack with minimal movement, the bastard swung his sword like lightning, cutting down one of the goblins blocking his path in a single strike.

  Before the goblin's scream could even erupt, the Sword Demon used the momentum to spring into the air.

  From the tip of his sword, slashed diagonally in mid-air, a chillingly blue, transparently wavering sword energy spewed forth.

  Along with the sound of tearing air, a brutal flash of the sword rushed towards me at terrifying speed.

  In that split second, I strongly kicked off the ground and threw my body to the side.

  Was it thanks to the newly equipped Rare boots? As if my reflexively moving nerves had gained acceleration, my body bounced away much lighter and more nimbly than usual.

  BOOM-!

  The ground where the sword energy embedded itself blew up miserably, kicking up acrid dirt and dust.

  The moment I confirmed the massive, hollowed-out crater, a chilling thrill ran down my spine.

  The power of that sword energy defied imagination.

  'Crazy...... Just a graze and it's instant death.'

  Th-th-thwip-!

  Arrows poured like rain from my fingertips as I retreated, sliding backward.

  While checking the Sword Demon's approach with the activation of the [Rapid Fire] skill, I quickly recalled the Goblin Royal Guards.

  "Grrrr!"

  As soon as the command dropped, they gathered by my side and overlapped their shields.

  Th-th-thwip-! Thwip!

  Through the gaps in the shield wall of the goblins enclosing me in a circle, I mercilessly poured arrows at the Sword Demon.

  The movements of the bastard, who was digging in while deflecting the frantically pouring rain of arrows, misaligned for a split second.

  One of my arrows had sharply torn through his right shin as it passed.

  At the same time, the red mark that had only been floating on his forehead clearly bloomed above his right knee as well.

  'Got him.'

  Creeeak-!

  There was no way I'd miss the opening when the bastard lost his balance and staggered. The string, drawn to its limit, had already left my hand.

  Whoosh- Thwack!

  Along with the sound of tearing air, the arrow accurately lodged into the red dot. Simultaneously, his knee blew out miserably.

  "Kueeeugh......!"

  [You Suck]

  Collapsed on the sandy floor, the bastard's two eyes glaring at my name were already emitting a dark murderous intent that went beyond anger.

  "Uwaaaargh-!!"

  Soon, along with a rough shout, the bastard's entire body flushed red, and hot steam rose from it.

  Surprisingly, the torn flesh of his knee writhed grotesquely and slowly began to reattach itself.

  It seemed to be a powerful regeneration skill, a final struggle befitting a ranker.

  But I'm not some clichéd cartoon protagonist; what kind of idiot would just stand there and watch a guy so defenselessly running a recovery skill?

  For me, it simply meant a perfect 'stationary target' had appeared.

  Thwip-! SMACK!

  Thump.

  I unhesitatingly drove a second arrow right into the forehead of the bastard who couldn't budge an inch.

  Only after confirming the corpse of the ranker tumbling over in vain with an arrow stuck in his forehead did I finally lower my taut bowstring.

  'Phew......'

  "WAAAAAAH-!!!"

  Simultaneously with the ranker's vain death, the passionate roar of tens of thousands of spectators filling the circular arena echoed as if shaking the earth.

  "Hey, what's up with that anonymous player? His nickname is weird as hell, but his skills are no joke?!"

  "Crazy, look at him using a class summon as a loophole in a rule where you can't use pets! Isn't that cheating?"

  "What do you mean cheating, it's skill allowed by the system! Wow, that's seriously epic!!!"

  The shouts of people excited by the shocking twist result tangled here and there.

  With the appearance of an unnamed dark horse, the inside of the arena instantly created an enthusiastic and boisterous atmosphere.

  After that thrilling first victory, I gained solid confidence. Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, and up to the Semifinals.

  I literally swept away the named players blocking my path like falling autumn leaves, continuing a winning streak with unstoppable momentum.

  Funnily enough, the higher I went, the easier it was to deal with them compared to the Sword Demon I met in the Round of 64.

  Due to the nature of the game, the higher the ranker with a high-grade pet, the more abnormally high their reliance on the pet was.

  The whales (heavy spenders) who sucked the honey by crushing their opponents with the cheat-like performance of their pets rather than the control of their main bodies.

  Once the pet system was sealed, they were reduced to punching bags, no different from tigers without teeth.

  [System: Server Opening Commemorative Event Tournament PK, the highly anticipated Final Match is about to begin!]

  A flashy golden system notification filling my vision. It was finally the last stage.

  'I wonder who the opponent for the finals will be. Could it be that monster called 'Martial God' who reportedly pulled a Mythic grade first on the server early in the game......'

  Lost in thought for a moment, I soon shook my head vigorously, tossing away the distracting thoughts.

  'It doesn't matter. Whether the opponent is the Martial God or my grandpa, what does it matter.'

  I'm really here now. This long, hellish tournament will end with this one match.

  If I just win this, I can grasp that dream-like prize money of 10 million won and throw my resignation letter at that damn factory tomorrow.

  I gripped my bowstring as if to break it, my eyes flashing.

  There was no way the internet broadcasting world would miss the biggest event of a virtual reality game.

  Famous streamers and official game company streamers scrambled to turn on their live streams and heatedly cast the final match.

  The viewer count skyrocketing by the minute and the explosive firepower of the chat window scrolling crazily perfectly proved just how massive this stage was.

  "Alright! The matchup for the finals has finally been revealed! Huh? But I don't see the 'Martial God' player everyone was expecting?"

  "Ah, according to a tip we just received, the Martial God player didn't even register for the tournament at all. Does this mean he has no interest in such competitions?"

  The disappointed chat from the viewers at the casters' words was brief.

  When the nickname of the final opponent was displayed in huge letters on the screen, the broadcast window began to heat up crazily for a different reason.

  [Finalist: (Toxic Guild) Tyrant]

  "Wow, crazy! The one who came up instead of Martial God is 'Tyrant' from the Toxic guild?!"

  "Those bastards are that malicious guild that goes around locking down areas and doing PKs (indiscriminate Player Killing) lol"

  "But who is the opponent? [You Suck]? How did a nobody like that make it to the finals?"

  An executive of the massive guild 'Toxic', notoriously famous on the server, and a mysterious anonymous player whose nickname alone drew aggro.

  Hundreds of thousands of viewers went wild over this unbelievable matchup and started popping popcorn.