hotmtlnovel Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Breathing is Difficult
Breathing is supposed to be a simple, natural act for any living person. But once you become conscious of it, it can suddenly feel burdensome.
In a way, breathing is like death.
Even though every human will eventually face death, we go about our lives forgetting that fact. But the mere thought of our own mortality can make us uneasy, just like how focusing on breathing can make it feel laborious.
Is this what they mean when they say that life and death are intertwined?
Anna had a moment of realization, but that didn’t change her current situation.
Thud.
Thud.
Footsteps echoed from a distance.
Anna’s heart pounded in her chest, and she pressed her face closer to the gun she held.
“Unboxing.”
She silently repeated the skill’s name to herself, focusing intently.
Flash!
Suddenly, her vision felt lighter.
No, to simply call it “lighter” wouldn’t do it justice.
It was like the feeling of a blind person suddenly regaining their sight, or the clarity of understanding the truth of the universe. A refreshing clarity swept through her mind.
Anna could now understand the layout of the dungeon.
Not only that, but she could see the types and locations of the neutral mobs. She could even sense the approaching Dark Knight in real-time.
This was the power of the Mechamancer’s ultimate skill, Unboxing.
According to the skill description, the Mechamancer analyzes the magical particles dispersed in the air, reading the structure of the world in real-time.
In simple terms, it was a map hack.
Given how important information is in Labyrinthos, the Mechamancer’s ultimate was incredibly powerful.
But it wasn’t invincible.
10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds, 7 seconds, 6 seconds...
5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second... zero... the ultimate ended.
It was a short window of time, but she had gathered the information she needed.
The Dark Knight appeared.
Exactly as she had predicted using Unboxing.
As she had seen in the highlights, the Dark Knight wasn’t wearing armor. In fact, they were even barefoot.
The Dark Knight entered the room and scanned the surroundings.
For a moment, their eyes almost met, but fortunately, the Dark Knight didn’t seem to notice her and continued moving.
Anna breathed a sigh of relief and tightened her grip on the trigger.
She had the perfect position.
She aimed the reticle squarely at the back of the completely exposed head.
She held her breath, ensuring not even a whisper of sound escaped.
This time, she was confident of her victory—Anna pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A loud gunshot echoed.
And then,
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal clashing.
The magic bullet, which should have pierced through the Dark Knight’s head, was deflected by their blade and ricocheted far off course.
All that was left were a pair of piercing eyes staring right at her.
“Footprints.”
“...What?”
“If there are footprints, even using Optical Camouflage won’t help much.”
Tock tock.
The Dark Knight tapped the ground with their foot.
I was eager to queue up, but... I decided to spend time with Anna instead.
Thinking about it, queuing for 30 minutes wouldn’t be very satisfying anyway. I’d become so accustomed to playing in five-hour chunks that anything less felt insufficient.
I logged out and sat down in front of my PC.
[Are you here, teacher? I hear some clattering—are you making tea again?]
Anna’s voice came through the speakers.
I guessed she must have lain down on her bed; I could hear the sound of her blankets rustling.
“I just felt like having some tea.”
[You really like tea, huh? But isn’t black tea as high in caffeine as coffee? Is that okay?]
“It’s decaf.”
[Ah, I see.]
“So, is there something you wanted to talk about?”
I asked as I sipped my tea.
[Um? Oh, I just thought it’d be boring to rest alone, so I figured it’d be nice to chat.]
“Is that so?”
[Actually, that’s not the whole truth. I just want to get to know you better, teacher.]
Anna’s voice sounded a bit shy.
[The truth is, I’m not the type to try to make friends with people. Don’t you think relationships are a hassle? It’s fun to hang out with people, but it’s also exhausting.]
“You’re not wrong. But most people are willing to deal with that exhaustion.”
[Yeah, I think it’s because they’re afraid of being isolated. I understand that, but I guess I’m just not that type of person. That’s why I don’t have many friends.]
“You’re quite frank. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
[I’ve said as much to my viewers during streams. But when I saw you, teacher, I immediately thought, ‘Wow, I want to get close to this person!’ I don’t usually get starstruck, but I did with you.]
“Well, it can’t be helped, right?”
After all, I am beautiful!
I am the noble lady that many admired back in the duchy. When I attended the Academy, I even had about ten followers trailing me. That’s how exalted I am.
Even though I lost my status as a duchess when I returned to Earth, it seems my noble aura couldn’t be hidden.
Ah, the charm of being me.
[Wow, the confidence... Isn’t that a bit too self-absorbed?]
“I’m simply stating the obvious. The sun is bright, summer is hot, the sea is blue... My beauty is just another one of life’s truths.”
[Your narcissism could pierce the sky. But I don’t dislike people like you, teacher.]
“I’m glad to hear that. I was planning to train you rigorously, but if you like me, I guess that means you’ll stick with me until the end, right?”
[...I was hoping you’d go a little easier on me. Do you know I’ve been dying even in my dreams lately?]
“Is there a reason you feel you must participate in the tournament despite that?”
I asked.
This had been on my mind for a while. Anna was very fearful—perhaps excessively so.
There’s nothing strange about that. Some people are naturally more fearful than others.
But typically, such people wouldn’t choose to play this kind of game.
Just as someone who can’t handle spicy food would avoid eating it, a fearful person would likely avoid horror or action games.
‘And Anna’s main content isn’t even gaming.’
After browsing through Shiroki Anna’s channel, I found that her main content was ASMR and singing.
She did play games, but they were mostly short, one-off experiences or mobile gacha games.
She didn’t seem to play horror or action games at all.
So, her desire to participate in the Labyrinthos tournament felt out of place.
[Well... It’s hard to explain. To put it simply, there’s someone I really want to meet at the tournament.]
“Someone you want to meet?”
[Yeah. They’re a streamer I really admire, and there’s no other way to meet them....]
Anna sighed as she spoke.
[I really want to get better at this game. About the Mechamancer... Could you show me how you play it, teacher? I think I’d learn better that way.]