Even now, although the young man looked like he had also started taking things seriously.
Yet his flaws were still very obvious.
His footsteps were unsteady, his openings were too numerous, and his eyes wandered, clearly lacking focus. He held the sword with both hands, the blade was unstable, and he made far too many unnecessary movements during the match.
He was completely like an opponent in his first-ever battle, entirely clueless about how to remain calm.
Yet a person just like this had won a round against her.
It was truly incredible!
If this was supposed to be disguising himself as a rookie to play low-tier matches here, was not this disguise a bit too convincing? It was so convincing that almost no flaws could be seen.
Mei gripped the hilt of her katana tightly.
Precisely because the disguise was so convincing, it had caused Mei to suffer a setback. Mei decided to ignore these flaws and quietly wait—wait for the young man in front of her to take the initiative and launch an attack.
She would find a genuine opening to launch a counterattack.
Li Pu was not trying to posture or expose endless flaws here. He truly did not know what to do! He had no idea what had happened during that recent counterattack either.
It felt completely like instinct, or rather, simply actions performed by his own body.
"Hmm..." Mimicking the sparring scenes he had experienced inside that machine, Li Pu hopped to the left and hopped to the right. He wanted to seize the initiative, as it was often said that striking first gained the advantage, while striking later subdued the enemy.
Maybe taking the initiative himself or getting into the fight would bring about the kind of effect he had just experienced.
Yet Li Pu felt that, if his intuition was correct, Mei's current state seemed to be precisely waiting for him to make the first move.
Mei was gathering her momentum, leaving absolutely no openings for him to attack.
Why does this feel like a battle of attrition?
Li Pu jumped back and forth repeatedly, yet refused to make the first move. Even though he was losing a bit of patience, he felt that the time to attack had not yet arrived for him at this very moment.
Endure, endure—only when Mei moved would there be openings, right?
The battle entered a stalemate.
Across the screen, watching every move of the scene unfold, Otto put down his teacup and said, "Alright, you don't need to watch anymore."
"You aren't watching anymore?" Rita said with some surprise. "Is it because Li Pu is going to win the next game anyway?"
"Of course not." Otto shook his head. "Li Pu is going to lose, and he's going to lose this round miserably."
"Why?" Rita asked with some confusion. "Since you are certain that he is the reincarnation of the Valkyrie Artoria Pendragon, then as one of the strongest Valkyries of that era—"
"He should be able to win, right? Although Mei is also outstanding enough."
"Yet as a new generation of Valkyrie, she hasn't awakened yet."
"Nor has she experienced any actual combat."
"Yes, if it were King Arthur," Otto said, "then Mei would have zero chance of winning right now. But he is Li Pu. Although he is the reincarnation of King Arthur—"
"He is still not King Arthur. Equipment was used to awaken a tiny bit of his past-life memories."
"However, these memories are far too few; they don't help at all."
"He is still far, far away from being the true King Arthur."
"Yet he still won once," Rita said. "He beat Mei once."
"Because he is King Arthur," Otto replied. "If he couldn't even win a single time, he truly would have lived up to his infamous reputation!"
In the second round, Li Pu retreated with his hands holding up his pants.
The combat process was very simple: Li Pu felt he could do it, Li Pu felt he had found an opening, Li Pu rushed in, and Li Pu got GG'd.
The three great illusions of gaming: I can do this, I can pull off a counterkill, and I can win.
Li Pu fell for every single one of them without missing a beat!
Having won a round, he thought he was capable, and Mei indeed lost her patience just a bit. However, she did not plan to attack proactively lest she get caught by Li Pu again like before and suffer a brilliant defensive counterattack.
Mei feigned an opening; she slightly drew her blade and lunged forward a fraction, putting on the appearance of launching a proactive strike.
This was an opening, and Li Pu noticed it just as expected.
He immediately swung his sword to slash down, the knightly broadsword carving an arc through midair as it came straight down in a vertical chop.
Mei nimbly dodged.
Evading the sword, she capitalized on the moment when Li Pu's old force was spent and his new force had yet to rise, drawing her blade to slash horizontally.
A single exchange sliced right through Li Pu's belt...
Chapter 24 Maybe We Can Equip It
"That's why I'm saying~"
Kiana said with an arrogant puff, looking even happier than if she had won the match herself: "As long as Mei gets serious, she can handle any kind of opponent."
"Just a mere custodian, how could he possibly beat Mei?"
"Kiana." Mei's brows furrowed into a tight knot as she said, "You are going way too far with this."
"I know you don't like Mr. Li Pu, but after all, he is my opponent."
"You should learn to respect Mr. Li Pu."
"And as for the winner this time—"
"Mr. Li Pu." Mei's voice carried a slightly subtle tone. It could not be said she was angry, yet she seemed somewhat angry; mixed within that anger was also a bit of doubt and incomprehension as she called out to Li Pu, who was holding up his pants and preparing to leave: "Did you hold back?"
The counterattack in the first round and the offense in the second round were simply like two completely different people.
The counterattack in the first round had been fierce and executed with exceptionally well-timed precision, its moves flowing without a single pause. A heavy knight's greatsword was wielded by him as flexibly as a one-handed light sword.
The blade's edge pressed straight against her forehead yet stopped precisely at a distance of less than 0.01 centimeters from her brow.
What kind of realm of strength control must one reach to achieve such effortless mastery of offense and defense!
Asking herself, Mei reckoned she was still far, far away from that level.
Yet the second round was simply unwatchable—his footwork was an absolute mess, and he fell for a casually exposed opening right away. That New-Year-greeting style of wild, heavy chopping followed a trajectory that wasn't even straight.
It was simply like a completely different person compared to the counterattack in the first round.
If he hadn't held back in the second round, Mei genuinely couldn't find a better reason to explain this situation.
"I didn't," Li Pu said, holding up his pants. "The school asked me to help test a learning machine, and I just happened to learn a bit of swordsmanship from inside it."
"It's a rather unstable style of swordsmanship, so it's hit-or-miss."
"Right, Teacher Li Yiyi?"
Anyway, there were no confidentiality requirements on the volunteer form; him saying these things shouldn't be a big deal, right?
"Oh, right, Teacher Li Yiyi." Li Pu tugged at his pants and said, "This is my last belt. Can you report this for damage compensation? Approve some budget so I can buy another belt."
"Also, are we testing again today?"
"There is no test today," Li Yiyi pushed up her glasses and said. "I'll notify Mr. Li Pu when testing resumes tomorrow."
"As for the belt, buy one yourself first, and then bring me the receipt for reimbursement."
Having received his answer, Li Pu walked away holding up his pants.
Li Yiyi also packed up her notebook and the assistants responsible for recording, leaving only Kiana and Mei staring at each other in the suddenly empty space.
"Why does Mei think that guy was holding back?" Kiana asked curiously. "He clearly didn't look very strong at all."
"I feel like if I went up there, I could easily defeat him."
"Is that so?" Mei glanced at Kiana.
Although she wanted to criticize her, she let it go; Kiana simply had this kind of carefree, straightforward, willful, and self-righteous personality. She harbored no malicious intent, yet she easily looked down on people.
Just like how she was looking down on Li Pu right now.
However, Kiana looking down on Li Pu was backed by her own genuine capabilities.
Although Kiana didn't know any swordsmanship, when it came to no-holds-barred combat, she was also formidable. She could make use of whatever was at hand, and if they really fought, she wouldn't fall behind Mei by much.
"Kiana," Mei asked seriously. "What did you think of Mr. Li Pu's counterattack during the first round?"
"How was it?!"
"Don't let your gaze wander," Mei said, staring directly into Kiana's eyes. "Evaluate it seriously, fairly, and without bringing any personal emotions into it!"
Mei still felt she needed to talk some sense into Kiana, otherwise, she would definitely suffer setbacks because of this personality of hers!
"Ah... well~ I don't understand swordsmanship, either."
Kiana crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her gaze away to avoid meeting Mei's eyes as she said, "Wasn't it nothing special?"
"Really?" Mei stared intently at Kiana, not allowing her to look away.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Feeling a bit creeped out by Mei's stare, Kiana finally conceded: "Alright, I admit it. That guy's counterattack in the first round was indeed very strong."
"But was that just an accident? Mei wasn't taking it seriously and accidentally got caught in an opening, right?"
"Is that so?" Mei unbuckled the katana from her waist and handed it over to Kiana's hands. "Do you want to try it?"
"Find random objects to imitate the scenario from just now—don't imitate the process of his counterattack."
"Just imitate the very final step: swing it down with full force, yet manage to stop the blade precisely at that final millimeter."
"Without harming the target you're about to cut down in the slightest."
"This... ah... seriously..."
Clutching the katana, Kiana grew flustered, yet she was cornered by Mei into having to admit: "Fine, I admit I can't do it!"
"That guy actually has some genuine skills!"
This looked very simple, but it was difficult! Extremely difficult! When slashing down with full force and maximum speed, the inertia generated solely by the weapon's own mass alone would make it impossible for you to retract your strength and halt it right there.
Without powerful control, it was simply unachievable!
Pushed and cornered by Mei in these few steps, Kiana finally had to face a problem she couldn't avoid.
That being that Li Pu—whom she looked down upon somewhat and with whom she had minor friction—actually possessed some real skill.
"Oh right?" Kiana suddenly recalled a remark from earlier. "Didn't he mention a learning machine?"
"Kiana, if it were truly that useful," Mei put away the katana and said, "would people still need to exhaust so much effort practicing? Everyone could just hop on that learning machine and study."
"Wouldn't everyone become a swordsmanship master in a matter of minutes?"
"Oh~ that's true," Kiana said. "Then why would that guy hide his strength?"
"That is the crux of the matter."
Mei thought for a moment and said, "I think his reason for choosing to hide his strength is the key to those somewhat subtle things Kiana mentioned earlier."
Meanwhile, in the locker room, Li Pu was indeed planning to change into a fresh pair of pants.
Yet at this moment, a different thought struck him.
"Hmm..."
"I suddenly feel like I've come up with a bold idea."
Li Pu sat on the wooden bench, pinching his chin.
A daring thought gradually formed in Li Pu's mind. Although he wasn't entirely certain, after today's events, he felt as though he had discovered certain aspects that the system hadn't explicitly explained.
Though it hadn't been confirmed yet and he hadn't tested it, it seemed that some things weren't as troublesome as the system claimed.
Perhaps, maybe, conceivably, possibly...
He could give it a try!
Chapter 25 The Crucial Point of Equipment
I reckon I might actually be able to equip it.
Equipping characters he had drawn—this wasn't just baseless random daydreaming on Li Pu's part.
Before you continue