“Ahhh… damn it, Andraste was the only one supposed to be here…”

I expertly navigated myself through the various obstacles presented by the forest. Having spent an unnecessarily large amount of time on the area, I had a complete [Map Data] of the location as well as an accurate grasp of what locations to avoid so that monsters wouldn’t get in the way.

I decided to put the battle between me and Andraste, a player I’ve encountered recently whom had challenged me to a fight, on hold on the account that there seemed to be some major interference in the forest.

“So… who are these people and why are they here…?”

The black cloak lined with great wolf fur I was wearing fluttered around the air. Each time it got caught in a stray branch or shrub, it would harmlessly pass through without fail.

was particularly realistic in those aspects. Articles like cloaks, capes, and large scarves would naturally get in the way of traversing a deep forest area in real life. In game, it translated to a movement speed penalty as well as having said equipment reduce its [Durability] faster than normal.

I was grateful for the fact that my [Great Forest Wolf Cloak] had special properties. It’s [Phase] ability made sure that its durability was never reduced when interacting with the environment and prevent its wearer from suffering the penalties associated with it.

It was a useful ability to have… though it was limited to just that. I did wish it gave me something to deal with persistent players trying to take me down.

“CLEAVE!”

I could hear several trees being cut down from the distance. That was probably Andraste trying to get to me. Honestly, if illegal logging was a punishable act in this game, I would’ve definitely reported her to the authorities!

I opened up a [Mini Map] of the area while running as hard as I could. The map showed my current location, indicate by a blue arrow, and a rather large circular yellow area that represented my [Field of Vision]. The field allowed me to monitor any movement from both monsters and other players that were moving within inside it.

Littered across the maps were red cross-marks that indicated areas were my [Traps] were placed. Each trap had a field of vision as well, effectively working as a convenient means for me to keep track of different areas at the same time.

A few of the red-cross marks disappeared, indicating that the traps were triggered.

All of them were supposed to be a something to be used against Andraste but…

“Six… no eight?! There’s no way I can deal with that many… I wouldn’t even survive in a one on one battle!”

I sighed in exasperation from the current situation. The ones chasing me were all probably battle-oriented players with skill and equipment builds suited for PvP and PvE situations.

My equipment, though recently upgraded, probably paled in comparison to theirs. That and my skill build was in no way focused for direct battles. In fact, my skill build was so broad and all over the place that I wouldn’t even qualify for any normal classification.

The best I could manage was fight on a one on one situation, trying my hardest to pull in and out of a direct duel, all the while trying to use the environment and traps to my advantage.

I never intended to be involved with other players to begin with. I just wanted to burn away some of my extra time messing around with the possibilities of this game!

“TEMPEST!”

“Guah…!?”

A large blast of wind suddenly came from behind me. Thankfully, the trees once again sacrificed themselves to save me.

Thank you tree number 3000, I will forever remember your noble sacrifice. Your death will hopefully not be in vain. Hopefully.

After paying my respects to the tree, I immediately changed directions in hopes of outmaneuvering the enemy. I had several [Skills] and [Titles] that gave me bonus movement speed in forests, something I’m sure none of the ones chasing would have due to the absurd requirements of getting such skills and titles in the first place.

“Andraste’s really not pulling any punches here…”

Andraste was a famed female [Sword Master] who’s known for being one of the stronger solo-players of the game. She specialized in PvE, though she was certainly no slouch in the PvP department.

She had been adamantly searching for me for the past few weeks since our first encounter. I honestly thought she would give up if she failed to find me… but unfortunately, she was too stubborn to give up and had sent out a challenge to me through the official forums of the game.

Knowing that it would only get worse if I let it be, I decided to show up for the fight after having made copious amounts of preparations. All in order to at least give me a sliver of a chance to give her a good fight.

I had no illusions of winning mind you, she wasn’t someone I could beat. The time she’s invested in the game was easily several times more than mine.

The plan was to fight with everything I had. I would lay traps in the forest for Andraste, then utilize the advantage given by my titles and skills to outmaneuver her and lure her into them. Then when Andraste was finally satisfied, we would end the fight with me losing, I would then be able to return to my usual, uneventful, non-descript, and casual gaming life.

It worked for the most part. Also, even though normally I wouldn't be able to any significant damage due to weaker equipment and lack of damaging skills, I was able to wound her a few times.

That's probably thanks to the fact that I had anti-player bonuses due to my status.

Why was I a ? Let's just say I'm never going to be careless in the character creation process again!

“… Haaaah, then these guys just had to interfere!”

I checked my status and considered my options. My [Stamina] was depleting fast due to the [Stamina Penalties] from being in the deep forest area, soon I wouldn’t be able to run continuously unless I get some time to recover. Quickly running out of options, I brought up my inventory, trying to find anything I could use.

“Maybe the—“

“BLADE PULSE!”

Before I could even take out anything from my inventory, a large wave of energy suddenly shot out from behind me, easily cutting down another nearby tree. Andraste didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me escape her today.

S-Scary. I’ve always managed to dodge that attack but thinking on it now, f that attack even grazed me, I’m absolutely sure all my equipment’s [Durability] would definitely disappear…

“No choice, I’ll need to resort to that!”

I made a sudden turn and jumped weaved around the trees. A bit more and he would reach a cliff. It was the only real option I had, considering the fact that my other opponents were closing in on me.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Guess it was a bit too optimistic for me to assume that the traps would either stop or discourage them.

“We’ve finally caught up to you !!”

As I jumped out of into the open field, I was greeted by several familiar faces.

In one group was my best friend in real life Katsuo, known in game as . Around him were his party members, and , also classmates of mine the real world.

The other group was my very own little brother Suisen and right beside him was my younger cousin, Renge. They were known in game as and < Nerum> respectively.

Behind them was an older and mature woman named , someone who happened to be part of the staff of the school I attend. Beside her was someone named , who may or may not one of my schoolmates.

Ahh… I should’ve checked the mini-map again. I guess one of them has tracking skills. Should’ve known…

I had no idea how it came to this, but I can only blame my bad luck and carelessness. The only thing I’m thankful for was that I remembered to keep my face mask on. I couldn’t risk having any of them find out I was spending a lot of time playing the game.

Considering the fact that I had ignored their adamant requests to play the game with them, I can only imagine the comeuppance I’ll face if they find out that I’ve been playing it in secret.

I really don't want a 36 hour gaming marathon again. I'm just a normal human being!

“!”

From beind me, Andraste had jumped out to the clearing. For some reason, she seemed rather surprised at the presence of the other people in the field.

Hmm… considering the fact that she was the one to send out the challenge to me, she probably never expected other people to take advantage.

“Phantom, those traps of yours had given us some serious trouble. However, we finally have you cornered!”

Katsuo, or rather, Conall had called out to me with an excited smile. Phantom wasn’t my actual name in game but it seemed like people had decided to call that due to my usual attire and recent actions. The effects of my cloak certainly helped such an image.

“Not gonna talk!?”

My younger cousin seemed to be far more aggressive in the game that she was in real life. Such a thing only served to tell me that I really shouldn’t have my identity found out.

“…”

I was rather nervous. Like I’ve said already, there was no way I could fight any one of the people present. Their equipment and skill build were superior. The only reason they hadn’t caught me immediately was because I had some advantages in the forest.

There was no way I would survive if I opted for a direct confrontation. However I did have one thing equipped that could help me.

I only had one shot though.

“It seems you have no plan on talking with us. That’s fine… we’ll simply have that talk after capturing you. You’re currently surrounded right now, you have no escape! Perun!”

“Understood Morana-sensei. Entang—“

Seeing an opportunity, I immediately grabbed my equipped item and threw it on the ground.

“Wait…!”

Before Perun could cast her skill, Andrate got in between the group and I.

“Exactly what are you people doing here!?”

“Ara… well, seeing that Andraste-chan had sent out such a heartfelt invitation of challenge to someone, Perun and I were naturally interested in what kind of player would make you so enamored!”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’ll see who this phantom’s true identity is!”

“Suisen and I area here to see to take down that Phantom Monster!”

“Renge… I think it really is a player if you look at him”

“Renge, Suisen is right, that’s definitely a player”

“Ahhh damn, oi Conall, what do we do now?”

“Ahh Andraste-san, we thought the rumors were some kind of quest so…”

It was utter chaos in the field as everyone seemed to have their own objective for trying to seek me out. Though I knew most of them, I wasn’t really used to how they looked in game. It was confusing keeping track of who was talking.

Haaah… what ever happened to just doing my own thing and not attracting attention?

Andraste seems to be talking things out though… should I escape?

Doing that feels rude though…

“Silence! Daimyo Morana, Perun, if you of the were aware of the fact that this was a duel between him and I, why had you come to interfere!?”

“Well… we technically didn’t intend to come. We just originally wanted observe you but…”

“We got caught in the traps… and then we lost sight of you so we had to find the way to your duel location and started to trigger more traps…”

“Those traps were specifically prepared for me by Phantom! Using the forest, his skills, and his traps are his specialty. Please vacate the area so that we can resume our battle!”

Andraste seemed pretty passionate about our battle.

That’s actually slightly embarrassing for me…

“Ara… I refuse!”

“Heck no!”

“No way! Phantom is ours!”

“We’re already here and it’s bothersome to have to come back”

“Walking in the deep forest is really draining too…”

“I wonder what skill build Phantom has to keep going in here for so long”

Haaah…

Faced with the collective refusal from the group, I let out another sigh. This was never gonna end unless I do something.

Sorry Andraste, let’s just have another battle some other time.

I retrieved the object I bought from the hunter’s association and threw it to the ground.

Smoke started to cover the whole area.

It was what could be considered a [Smoke Bomb]. It had an ability to temporarily inflict [Disorientation] to all players within range. The status effect wouldn’t last even a few seconds against well-built players but that was all I needed.

“Damn it! Someone cast a wind spell!”

Before they were able to recover their bearings, I threw one of my special throwing knives to Andraste’s location and then made a beeline for the cliff.

Without hesitation, I jumped off of it.

“Haah… this really isn’t what I imagined doing when I started this game…”

I let out a sigh of relief, confident that none of my opponents would be willing to chase me. I was falling fast, the river below quickly approaching my sights.

“I still have my equipment on… well guess I’ll have to see how bad the stamina penalty for this is...”

Was the last thing I could say before I hit the water.