Chapter 126 Veteran or Hacker

Words : 1120 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

With a hiss of hydraulics, Noah's pod slid open. Kelvin's form blurred and vanished, leaving the arena in his place. In his hand, Eclipse Blade pulsed—a sleek blade that devoured the surrounding light. His name floated above his head: [Shadow Oracle] Across from him, Ronin stood alone. ViralPsycho had vanished, leaving Ronin to face Noah one-on-one. Noah cracked his neck. He wasn't about to fumble this. 'Kelvin took a beating, but he bought me enough time to study their fighting style.' His gaze locked onto Ronin's posture—the way he held his katana slightly forward, weight shifted onto his back foot. 'Waiting to counter. I see.' Ronin vanished. A blur of red and black as he teleported behind Noah. But Noah was already moving. He activated Void Blink— Flickering out of existence— —And reappearing five feet away, already swinging. Eclipse Blade slashed through the air, forcing Ronin to pivot hard, barely dodging. Noah didn't let up. He dashed forward, blade cutting in precise, controlled arcs. Ronin parried once—twice—third strike slid past his guard. -15 HP Ronin stumbled back, but he wasn't shaken yet. Noah smirked. 'That got his attention.' Ronin's red katana flared with energy as he came in fast, faster than before. A diagonal slash—Noah sidestepped. A follow-up thrust—Noah parried, redirecting the blade. A flicker of red—Ronin teleported behind him. 'Predictable.' Noah Void Blinked before the attack could land. Reappearing above Ronin. He descended like a shadow, blade whistling through the air— -20 HP Ronin hissed, rolling away. For the first time, he looked visibly confused. Noah stayed silent, watching. Ronin flexed his grip on his katana. He was re-evaluating. Noah could tell—he'd played hundreds of PvP matches in different games. He knew that moment when a player realized something was wrong. Ronin's stance shifted. More careful. 'Yeah... he's wondering why I'm not fighting like a newbie.' Ronin teleported again, but this time, Noah waited. 'Where's the angle?' Behind. Ronin appeared, swinging—Noah ducked under the blade, spun, and slashed up. -10 HP Ronin winced. His health had dropped by 45 in under a minute. Noah had only taken one hit— and that was Void Slash. -3 HP That was what stunned Ronin the most. Noah caught the micro-expression. 'There it is. That moment of doubt.' Ronin stepped back, gripping his katana tighter. This wasn't right. He and ViralPsycho had chosen this match specifically. Two players with zero wins, zero losses. 'This guy's stats should be garbage. Why does he feel like a top-ranked player?' Noah lifted Eclipse Blade. "What's wrong?" he said coolly. Ronin's grip on his weapon tightened. He wasn't going down without a fight. Noah smirked. 'Good. Neither am I.' The Dance of Shadows – Shadow Oracle vs. Ronin The arena pulsed with neon streaks as Ronin and Noah flickered in and out of existence, teleporting just beyond each other's strikes. Noah's Eclipse Blade hummed with void energy, leaving afterimages of black slashes in its wake. Ronin's red katana shimmered with compressed plasma, cutting through the air in bright arcs. Neither landed a hit. It didn't take long. Within seconds, the thread exploded. Forum Replies: [Top Comment – User: PixelReaper] "Bro, look at his movement. That's not some random button-masher. He's reading Ronin like an open book." [User: GameGuru99] "Veteran, 100%. Probably some pro playing on a smurf account. No way a fresh player moves like that." [User: NoobSlayerX] "Smurf or hacker, dude's cracked. He's not just reacting—he's predicting." [User: LaggyMcGee] "Lol if this guy's hacking, I need his cheat codes. But tbh, it feels like skill. Dude's just too clean with his dodges." [User: SaltLord] "Hacker. End of discussion. The dodges, the perfect counters, the way Ronin's barely landing hits? No way." [User: GhostFrame] "I'd say veteran. Probably someone from the ranked leaderboards messing around. Either way, Ronin's getting washed." [User: ControllerSweat] "Could be an AI-assisted script. Seen it before in other games—movement tracking, automated dodges. If that's what this is, we got a serious problem." [User: NoLifeGamer] "Man, you guys love crying hacker every time someone's better than you. Some people are just built different." ViralPsycho scrolled through the comments, his stomach twisting. 'Hacker or veteran, huh?' Either way— He wasn't about to let this guy get away with it. --- Noah could feel it now. A faint pull at the edge of his consciousness. A creeping exhaustion settling into his muscles. It wasn't in-game fatigue—it was real. His Void Energy was draining fast. [Void Energy: 300/450] 'Damn... so it really does burn through my actual reserves.' Noah clenched his jaw. He had been relying too much on Void Blink, using it instinctively to counter Ronin's teleportation. But if this fight dragged on any longer, he'd burn himself out. He needed to end this. Now. And he already knew how. Breaking Down Ronin's Teleportation Pattern Ronin was fast, but speed alone wasn't enough. Noah had been studying him. Every teleport. Every movement. Every strike. It wasn't random. It wasn't chaotic. It was a pattern. 'His teleport distance is about five meters max. He never uses it twice in quick succession, which means a cooldown. And he always reappears either behind or to the side of his opponent.' A strategy formed in Noah's mind, the steps clear as a blueprint. 1. Bait Ronin into teleporting. 2. Predict his landing point. 3. Use Void Blink at the same time— 4. And finish him before he can react. He took a slow breath, steadying himself. 'Time to execute.' Noah sprinted forward, Eclipse Blade low in his hand. Ronin, sensing the aggression, tightened his grip on his red energy katana and prepared to counter. At the last second— Ronin teleported. Noah smirked. He knew he would. 'There you are.' His body vanished in a flicker of black energy— —appearing exactly where Ronin was about to materialize. Ronin's eyes widened a fraction of a second too late. Noah's fist was already moving. [Null Strike Activated] Dark purple energy rippled around his knuckles, distorting the air itself. A single devastating blow slammed into Ronin's back before he had fully reappeared. BOOM! The impact distorted the space around them, like a miniature black hole collapsing inward— Ronin's body pixelated instantly. Silence. For a moment, the entire game world froze. Then, Ronin's defeat message flashed across every screen. ViralPsycho and Kelvin—watching from the sidelines—were speechless. Millions of players around the world stared at their monitors, wondering the same thing. What the hell just happened?

Chapter 126 Veteran or Hacker

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