Playing Tricks

The idea of skipping class was incredibly tempting.

But after carefully weighing it up, Lu Xiu still shook her head. That wouldn't work... If she really left an author shortcut in, there was a hundred percent chance the system would reject it.

Besides, there was a well-known saying among Sekiro players: every class you skipped would have to be made up for later.

The whole point of creating this dungeon was to practice. If she skipped everything from start to finish, it would lose all meaning.

Most importantly... she had been thinking about it the wrong way. She didn't have to skip class openly. She could do it sneakily.

As she thought, Lu Xiu looked at the system window before her.

In her previous life, when she played games, she preferred facing enemies head-on. Now that she was creating dungeons, she likewise valued the ability to trade blades directly.

But that didn't mean Sekiro was nothing but sword clashes. Though the game's core revolved around high-tempo, high-precision offensive and defensive exchanges, the Prosthetic Arts were just as varied. Skipping class, rushing through maps, playing dirty—there was everything.

Mist Raven could evade long, difficult-to-deflect combos.

Divine Abduction was especially effective against monks.

The Loaded Spear worked well against the Guardian Ape and could break armor.

The Finger Whistle could be used against the Demon of Hatred.

That was without even mentioning the Loaded Axe, Sabimaru, Loaded Umbrella, Shinobi Firecracker, Loaded Shuriken, and Flame Vent.

The Prosthetic Arts did have one fatal flaw, though: they were purely game mechanics.

Unless the system actually rewarded her with a prosthetic tool after clearing the dungeon... there was simply no way to recreate that kind of fighting in reality. She couldn't exactly carry a pocketful of firecrackers into a fight, could she? Real people wouldn't be scared of them, either.

But just because pure mechanics were impractical in reality didn't mean they were impractical in a dungeon. If she really got stuck—

Then she would use them.

As long as most BOSS traits were retained, such as weakness to fire or interruptible actions—

The Prosthetic Arts would still be godly.

Of course, she would avoid using them whenever possible during the build process and impose a few restrictions on herself.

The Prosthetic Arts could let her skip class, but reality didn't have such convenient cybernetic prosthetics.

If she could trade blades, then she would trade blades.

Direct offense and defense were the best way to hone reaction speed and rhythm.

If she got stuck, she could change strategies then.

She would prioritize combat solutions that were feasible in reality and treat most BOSSES as challenges without prosthetic tools or items.

But that didn't mean abandoning the Prosthetic Arts entirely.

They were her final trump card, like being allowed to bring cheat sheets into an exam. She had to first try to finish the paper without relying on them, and only glance at them if she truly couldn't solve something.

And if that still didn't work...

Then she would go completely crazy, switch personalities, and play the dungeon like it was a game.

That counted as an "author shortcut" too—and an extremely, extremely well-hidden one.

After thinking it over carefully, Lu Xiu decided it was feasible. She was no longer in a hurry to fight the next mini-BOSS. Instead, she planned to sort through the various schools in Sekiro while she was at it.

"There were five skill texts in the original game."

Lu Xiu sat down, summoned the system window, and opened the design document. "Shinobi Arts, Prosthetic Arts, Ashina Arts, Senpou Temple Martial Arts, Mushin Arts... If divided by school, they cover combat arts, shinobi martial techniques, passive effects, Shinobi Executions and ninjutsu, and miscellaneous things."

Not counting the Senpou Temple Martial Arts, which she had planned to remove from the beginning.

That left the other four skill texts. Those skills related to the character's basic abilities... such as Stealth Sprint, Mid-air Deflection, Mikiri Counter, Grappling Hook Attack, and most follow-up attacks, could not possibly be made into skills.

The dungeon couldn't impose restrictions like that. Take Grappling Hook Attack, for example—it was simply an attack performed after grappling. If players really had to unlock a skill before they could use it—

The system would probably reject it immediately.

After all, players couldn't possibly be incapable of even swinging a sword.

So she first had to remove every skill involving the character's basic abilities.

That meant the skills that could truly be turned into abilities mainly fell into two categories. The first was buff skills such as Suppress Presence, Breath of Life: Light, and Breath of Life: Shadow.

These skills had one thing in common: they were all passive. Suppress Presence, for example, allowed one to suppress their presence while hidden, making them harder for enemies to detect.

There was no problem with making those unlockable skills.

But the other category was much more troublesome: combat arts, such as Whirlwind Slash, Great Shinobi Thrust, Ichimonji, Ashina Cross, and Mortal Draw.

Some of them could be performed entirely through the player's own ability, like Whirlwind Slash.

But others were completely impossible to achieve through one's own abilities, such as every attack with special effects.

How should she restrict those?

"..."

Lu Xiu recalled the four hours of bloody battle—getting beaten up—she had just endured, and roughly came up with an idea.

For skills like these, she could add the original game's Spirit Emblems and let the system handle the automatic corrections... Put simply, players could consume Spirit Emblems and activate the skill with the same button input, allowing the skill to attack along its preset trajectory and letting the system move their bodies for them.

For example, Whirlwind Slash could be executed automatically by the system, with every movement perfectly standardized and excellent aerial momentum.

But on the other hand, players could also jump, spin, and swing their swords on their own. Though the aerial momentum would not be as good... it would still count as Whirlwind Slash.

The same applied to Ichimonji.

Players could perform it themselves, but whether its impact and posture-breaking power matched a system-executed version depended on their personal ability.

As for skills that could not be achieved through one's own movements at all, those could only rely entirely on the system—for example, Spiral Cloud Passage.

There was also a rather special skill, one that could practically be called a wheelchair: Mortal Draw.

This skill would also be added to the system-assistance list... to prevent anyone from not even knowing how to draw a sword. Of course, those confident in their drawing speed could draw it themselves, but every slash they swung would still consume Spirit Emblems. The charged version worked the same way.

The shinobi prosthetic skill Living Force would also receive system assistance, except it would not consume Spirit Emblems.

As for skills obtained by clearing the game, such as Dragon Flash and One Mind, she would decide whether to remove them depending on the circumstances.

After all, the dungeon had no New Game Plus.

As for items, there did not seem to be anything that particularly needed changing. Whether it was Floating Passage increasing Spirit Emblems, or the various Sugars and Spiritfalls with their differing effects, they were all perfectly normal methods. The system probably would not reject them.

The only things that needed to be changed were those involving New Game Plus.

Mainly the bell charm and ringing the bell.

There were also some things involving collectibles... but they would not be difficult to modify.

About an hour passed.

Lu Xiu went through all the items in broad strokes. After confirming that the text she had submitted not long ago had no major problems, she closed the window.

There might still be a few bugs.

But that was fine.

Although for this dungeon, Lu Xiu would not build everything strictly according to the original progression as she had with [Resident Evil], but instead choose suitable bosses based on her own rate of growth before piecing them together.

Once the dungeon was complete—

Lu Xiu would definitely run through it several times herself. If she found any problems then, she could slowly fix them.

"There shouldn't be anything missing, right...?"

Lu Xiu got up from the floor and thought for a moment. Then she suddenly slapped her forehead. "No, how could I forget about Shinobi Executions?"

The shinobi prosthetic was a last resort—weren't Shinobi Executions one too?

If there was really no other way, then aside from the shinobi prosthetic, she could also retain some shortcuts based on Shinobi Executions.

For example.

Right after the Samurai General came the Chained Ogre, a minor boss with constant super armor. There were also two Ashina soldiers before him. Under normal progression, when players reached this point, they first had to kill the two Ashina soldiers, then slash at the Chained Ogre tied to the frame. Once the Chained Ogre broke free, they had to take down his two health bars.

Stage cleared.

It sounded simple enough.

But in an actual fight, that might not be the case. The Chained Ogre's flashy, deadly scissor kicks and loving embraces would leave players with unforgettable memories.

But if they put in just a little... thought, this boss would become extremely easy.

For example, after killing the two soldiers in front of the Chained Ogre, the player could charge forward, turn left, and ignore the Chained Ogre entirely. They could brute-force the mob on the left, jump down behind it, then circle around to lure the Chained Ogre to the Tiger's Mouth Stairway.

At that point, the player could stick close to the edge, circle behind the Chained Ogre, and directly assassinate one of his health bars.

Then, by combining that with the Flame Vent and the fact that super-armored bosses stagger when set on fire, they could easily defeat the Chained Ogre.

Timid and cautious when clashing blades.

But pair a Shinobi Execution with the Flame Vent, and it was time to throw heavy punches!

All Lu Xiu needed to do while creating the dungeon was make some minor plans for the behavior patterns of bosses like the Chained Ogre and control the range of their aggro... then this kind of gameplay could be achieved.

Other bosses more or less had similar shortcuts as well.

And the dungeon itself already had a stealth-assassination style... namely, the Shinobi Execution system. Keeping some reasonable shortcuts was called enriching the gameplay, not cheating!

The system probably would not reject it.

She might not need to use them! But they absolutely had to be there!

If she trained well enough, and did not end up spending four hours on a minor boss, then she could just fight her way straight through.

If she did not train well enough... then she would cheese it! Cheese it using dungeon mechanics!

She would not suffer if she could make everyone else suffer instead!

"Genius!"

The more Lu Xiu thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. Unable to resist, she straightened her slender waist and praised herself. There was no one else around anyway.

Having thought of a solution, she was in such a good mood that she immediately raised her hand and began constructing the area where the Chained Ogre was located, preparing to test it out.

Very quickly.

The scene before Lu Xiu began expanding outward. The towering, ruined sight of Ashina Castle Town slowly unfurled through the white space like a painted scroll.

That long mountain path leading to Tiger's Mouth Stairway slowly emerged...

The wind and snow had just cleared.

Atop Tiger's Mouth Stairway, the Chained Ogre's bloodshot red eyes glinted with feral, bloodthirsty light in the gloom. It let out low, continuous growls, swinging its head from side to side as it searched for the human who had disturbed it.

Meanwhile, beneath the wall on the left, Lu Xiu crouched low, using the terrain to silently circle around behind it.

Then—

Before the Chained Ogre could react, she pounced, grabbed its shoulder, leapt onto its back, and raised Kusabimaru in her right hand.

Squelch!

A perfect Shinobi Execution.

Kusabimaru's sharp blade plunged without resistance into the Chained Ogre's thick nape. Blood spurted out like a fountain, instantly dyeing its tattered clothes and the snow beneath it red.

"Roar—!!!"

Having suffered a devastating blow, the Chained Ogre lost one life and dropped to its knees, immediately letting out an ear-splitting, agonized howl.

A dark crimson danger symbol flashed above its head and vanished.

It spun around, its red eyes locked onto Lu Xiu like a starving ghost newly escaped from hell. Without pausing, it dragged its massive body forward two steps, spread its iron-pincer hands, and lunged at Lu Xiu with a vicious grab-and-slam!

After landing, Lu Xiu did not panic much in the face of the unstoppable attack. With a light tap of her toes, she slipped sideways with an agile quickstep and dodged it.

Whoosh—

The Chained Ogre's huge hands swept past Lu Xiu's nose and missed. The immense momentum sent it staggering several steps forward before it crashed heavily into a nearby rock.

Its attack had missed.

The Chained Ogre became even more enraged.

It turned around, leapt high into the air, and used the force of its descent to swing its tree-trunk-thick right arm down at Lu Xiu like a falling mountain!

Lu Xiu sharply flicked her wrist and held her blade horizontally.

Clang—

The somewhat muffled collision echoed across the mountain path.

Though Kusabimaru was slender, it firmly blocked the Chained Ogre's earth-shaking smash.

Sparks burst forth.

The backlash from the blade surged through her arm. Lu Xiu used the force to leap backward, landing lightly on the snow and steadily widening the distance between them.

She could not help but smile.

Apparently, not every boss took four hours to beat.

The Chained Ogre probably wouldn't either...

The thought had barely formed.

Lu Xiu lost focus for just an instant.

Not far away.

The Chained Ogre suddenly burst into motion!

Its massive body charged almost flush with the ground, its oppressive presence rushing straight at her.

Lu Xiu snapped back to attention and narrowly avoided the frontal charge with a quickstep.

But before she could adjust her position—

The Chained Ogre had already raised its thick right leg, its muscles tensing like a fully loaded cannon.

Then it kicked out with a thunderous blast!

A shriek of tearing air! Unmatched brute force!

Bang—

The kick landed squarely on Lu Xiu's chest.

Her breath caught. It felt as though a thousand-pound hammer had struck her head-on. Her body instantly spun out of control, and she was kicked into the air like a kite with its string cut.

She flew straight off the cliff.

[Death].

One minute later.

The scene reset.

Lu Xiu returned to where she had been, torn between laughter and tears... She had been kicked away.

Sure enough, she couldn't get cocky.

Let's go again.

Lu Xiu gripped the hilt of her sword again and charged forward.

This time, she did not try another stealth kill. It was enough to confirm that stealth kills worked and that she had a way out.

Next came a head-on clash... as she had said before, direct offense and defense were the best way to train her reactions and sense of rhythm.

Otherwise, after stealth-killing this boss, she could have simply used the Flame Vent and cleared it.

Very soon.

Roars, footsteps, and the constant clang of blades echoed without end.

This was only the second mini-boss. It was easy to foresee that Lu Xiu had plenty of fighting ahead of her.

Her true training had only just begun.

But even Lu Xiu had not expected that once she started fighting, she would spend an entire week battling mini-bosses...

From the Chained Ogre to the Blazing Bull, from the Seven Spears to the Armored Warrior, from Jinsuke Saze to the Moon-Hidden Headless.

Over that week, she had honed responding to every move into instinct. Every deflection pushed her reactions to their limits, while every clash of blades refined her timing and the transitions between offense and defense.