The scarecrow drew its long sword and quickly swung at the walking Dwayne.

‘Stay calm, stay calm.’ Dwayne calmly deflected the scarecrow’s longsword away with a thinly gloved fist. The glove was thin and looked like it would be torn by the scarecrow’s longsword, but it was actually a unique item. It was also quite good among the unique rated items. That’s why he was able to deflect the scarecrow’s attack without difficulty.

At this moment, Dwayne’s mind was filled with Hyeonu’s words.

-If the opponent isn’t using a ranged attack, then the opponent’s attack itself can be an opponent for Dwayne.

Dwayne’s new form suddenly changed. This was a close-ranged fighter’s movement skill, Seombo. When Dwayne arrived in front of the scarecrow, his choice was Iron Mountain Attack. This was the skill linkage that Hyeonu taught him, and it was the most powerful and easiest skill linkage. Dwayne pushed his shoulders with enough momentum to crush the scarecrow’s heavy armor, striking it with his Iron Mountain Attack skill.

As a result, the scarecrow’s body became defenseless, and Dwayne didn’t miss this opportunity. He indiscriminately struck at the body of the scarecrow floating in the air. This was the closed-ranged fighter’s Linked Seven Strikes. Dwayne’s fists continued to move, digging into the scarecrow’s armor little by little.

After attacking continuously for a moment, Dwayne suddenly stepped back. It was due to Hyeonu’s advice.

-Don’t be in a rush. If you can’t do it the first time, then try two or three times. Take a long look. If you are in a hurry, you will be beaten.

Dwayne had already used quite a few skills. As things stood, it would be impossible for him to cope if his skill missed and the scarecrow fought back. This meant Dwayne took a breather at the right time.

Hyeonu nodded when he saw it. Dwayne had really accepted his advice.

‘Why is this guy ranked 67,342,332nd? Is it because he wasn’t taught?’ Hyeonu’s speculation was correct. Arena was the first virtual reality game Dwayne had played in his life. He was busy working as an actor, and it was a luxury to take a break, let alone play games. For Dwayne, the arena was for hardcore players.

Unlike Hyeonu, there were some people who were in shock. They were the viewers. Dwayne currently looked no different from a pro gamer.

-Wow, it’s shocking. Can a person change like this?

-Can I learn too? A few days ago, Dwayne was just like me...

-Crazy. Is it possible to make such progress in just a few days?

-Crazy. This is crazy.

-Believe in Alley Leader has gifted you 112 gold coins.

-I’m the Second Student has gifted you 555 gold coins.

Gold coins started to explode as they sought to be the second student of Alley Leader Academy.

“Everyone, do you think I’ll win this bet? If Dwayne wins a bronze medal today, I won’t see you next week.” Hyeonu smiled.

The chat window was filled with backlash from the viewers.

-Hey, isn’t this a scam? How is this the same Dwayne...

-This scarecrow is actually easy, right?

-Take a break if Dwayne gets a bronze medal.

-This person is small-minded. It is naturally a joke.

‘Should I just hunt and leave the proceedings to him? I think I just gave him a spoon.’

Hyeonu didn’t care about what the audience was saying. He was busy thinking about how he would spend the next week proceeding with the main scenario. “Everyone, there is a saying in the east about how once something is dropped to the ground, it can’t be picked up. From now on, think twice before chatting!”

-Stingy

-Narrow-minded.

-A scam.

-Cold-blooded.

Dwayne once again aimed at a gap in the scarecrow while Hyeonu and the audience were in conflict. Defending against the scarecrow’s continued strikes, Dywane seized the opportunity and stretched out his fist like lightning. His goal was the scarecrow’s face.

The scarecrow’s helmet soon got crushed. As the scarecrow was distracted, Dwayne’s elbow once again struck the shattered helmet. The elbow, which was surrounded by a blue light, smashed the helmet. Then the scarecrow literally collapsed. Dwayne saw this and ran toward the fallen scarecrow without thinking.

-The opponent has fallen? Then make sure to kick it. Is it shameless? This is a game, Dwayne. It isn’t reality. There is no need to hesitate.

Dwayne ran forth and kicked the scarecrow’s head. As a result, the scarecrow became a dullahan. Its head was blown off, and the headless scarecrow no longer moved.

“Everyone, did I win? Huhuhu.” Hyeonu saw the scene and let out a gloomy laugh.

It was confirmed.

He got a week of rest.

-No, I don’t want this!!

-My Dwayne isn’t like this!!!

-Let’s do it once. How many gold coins do you need?

“Tsk. Now it can’t be helped. I always keep my promises. Let’s interview Dwayne, who won against the hardest level scarecrow.”

Dwayne looked like he had lost his soul. He couldn’t believe he had beaten the scarecrow at the highest level.

‘Did I win?’

Not long ago, Dwayne never thought he would be able to win against the most difficult scarecrow. That wasn’t all. It was always common for him to be ignored when he was talking with friends as he was 67,342,332nd in the Arena rankings.

‘Now it is different.’

However, he was different now. Alley Leader taught Dwayne, and he gained the ability to beat even the most difficult scarecrow. If he got a bronze medal, he could ignore his friends instead.

“Dwayne, you did it. Now you just need to place a bronze medal around your neck.” Hyeonu patted Dwayne’s shoulder.

Dwayne looked emotional after hearing Hyeonu’s words. A bronze medal—he had thought he would never obtain it for the rest of his life.

“Thank you. Really.” Dwayne grabbed Hyeonu’s hand with both his hands.

***

Dwayne continued the momentum from beating the most challenging scarecrow by immediately jumping to the ranking matches. In his first few battles, he showed some tense and inflexible movements. Then Dwayne soon composed himself and won a clean victory.

Hyeonu called out to Dwayne after a victory, “Dwayne!! Come quickly!”

Dwayne rushed over when Hyeonu called, eager to see what he had done wrong.

“Dwayne, let’s review it together. I’ll give you feedback on this match. It is exactly what we have been doing so far.”

“Yes, Alley Leader.”

Hyeonu meticulously pointed out Dwayne’s mistakes and what he missed. Then he asked, “Dwayne, what should you have done here?”

It was an unbelievably chilling atmosphere from Alley Leader.

“I should’ve connected with my shoulders, not my fists.”

“Won’t a person who knows fists well have countermeasures here? When are you going to use what you have learned?”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do this in the next match.”

Hyeonu patted Dwayne’s shoulder. There was the whip and then the carrot. “It’s fine. Well done. It was perfect except for this. It is enough to get a bronze medal today.”

The viewers saw this scene, and the number of messages increased.

-Wow, our leader’s charms are showing!

-Isn’t the chemistry between these two too good? A super fun chemistry.

-However, it’s a bit different from usual. He isn’t pretentious and is like a real craftsman.

-The value of the gold coins is certain. It is expensive. I would learn if I had gold coins. These are real tips. It is true education.

***

“Isn’t this amazing? Just a few days ago, Dwayne was ranked 67,342,332nd. Take a look now. How many consecutive wins has he achieved?”

Dwayne's momentum was astounding. After winning against the first opponent, he gained confidence and was on a roll in the ranking matches. It didn’t matter what type of class they had. He literally destroyed them, regardless of whether they were a swordsman, a magician, or a knight with a shield. As a result, Dwayne was on a nine-game winning streak.

-Wow, nine consecutive wins...

-I’m really envious. I’d like to learn that.

-No. Are you supported by items like Dwayne? Or do you have a class like that? Most crucially, you can’t learn from Alley Leader.

-Shivers. It is an assault of facts.

“What is your current ranking?” Hyeonu asked Dwayne, who had returned from the rankings match.

“I’m currently 42,272,932nd. I rose around 25,000,000 rankings.” Dwayne’s voice sounded as usual like he hadn’t won a single victory.

It wasn’t because he had gotten victory without joy. He had just adapted to victory itself.

“You will have to rise by 32,000,000 to get the bronze medal. I think it is possible. Dwayne, your current skills are enough to gain a bronze medal.”

Hyeonu didn’t whip a running horse. He just increased the other person’s confidence. Dwayne’s skills were enough. Moreover, his personality made it clear that he wouldn’t become complacent, no matter who praised him. This was why compliments would stir up confidence in him.

‘The problem is the proxy knights... I don’t know about items, but Dwayne will definitely fall behind in skills.’

There were risks. The proxy knights, those who got paid to run to the arena instead—except for them, there was nothing else that would prevent Dwayne from getting a bronze medal.

“The next match has already been decided. Then I’ll be going.”

In the meantime, another match started for Dwayne, and he disappeared again.

“Let’s watch Dwayne’s match once again. He’ll win this time.”

-How do you know that?

-Things can happen.

-Does it make sense to win unconditionally?

“Why? Who taught him? It is Alley Leader, Alley Leader.”

-Kuek... It came out again—his pretentiousness.

-Yes, the Pretentious King.

-He is consistent. This isn’t a concept. It is his nature.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. What does he need to eat to be so confident? I’m really curious.

Hyeonu had a strange expression as he watched the chat window once again present him as a man who was only pretentious.

“Then do you want to bet again? Will Dwayne win this time? I’ll stream next week if I lose. Then what if I win? I will take two weeks off. How about it?”

Hyeonu threw bait toward the audience again. The idea was to spend as much time as possible doing the main scenario before the huge patch was released.

-Accept, accept unconditionally. This time we will win.

-Won’t we be watching a stream next week?

-However, two weeks of absence if we lose? Just don’t do it.

-Hey, it is 13 consecutive wins. Accept unconditionally!

At first, the public opinion in the chat room half welcomed it. There were those who accepted Hyeonu’s bet and those who didn’t. Their logic was simple. Dwayne’s skills had definitely improved and he had nine straight wins so far, so he was likely to win again. The opinion of not accepting this bet momentarily surged.

However, as soon as the information about Dwayne’s opponent was revealed, the ones opposing the bet became waste like a delisted stock. Dwayne’s opponent had won 13 consecutive matches. Additionally, the items he wore were items that increased movement speed. They were precious and difficult to obtain.

-That one is a proxy.

-I’m accepting it unconditionally. I’m going to watch a stream next week. We are!!

-I’ll take this bet, Alley Leader.

-It has fallen to the ground and can’t be picked up.

Hyeonu’s expression obscured by the mask was rotten. He didn’t expect Dwayne to be matched to a proxy knight here.

“Ugh. It can’t be helped. Let’s go. If Dwayne wins this match, I won’t stream for two weeks. However, if Dwayne loses, I’ll stream normally next week.”

-Good. ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ

-Everyone, let’s have the stream next week.

-ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ No matter how good Dwayne is, he can’t beat a proxy knight.

-This is obvious. A knight is at least a silver medal.

Hyeonu was forced to accept the bet with a feeling of weeping and eating mustard. ‘My mouth, my frivolous mouth! Ah!!!’

***

Dwayne was looking at the information of his matched opponent without knowing Hyeonu’s circumstances.

‘13 consecutive wins? Wow...’

The opponent had won 13 consecutive matches. Compared to Dwayne, the opponent had won an additional four more times. However, Dwayne thought that was it. The opponent had simply won four matches more than he had.

‘He should be a bit better?’

Dwayne never dreamed that his opponent was a proxy knight. It was because his knowledge of Arena was extremely shallow. Dwayne just enjoyed playing Arena and didn’t study. He didn’t know things unless it was information that everyone knew and information about the proxy knights wasn’t something that everyone knew.

[The ranking battle has started.]

This message rang out to mark the beginning of the battle. Dwayne raised his guard and slowly approached his opponent.

‘A warrior class with a sword. I just have to measure the distance.’

The other man rushed toward Dwayne as he thought this. Dwayne didn’t panic, and his eyes followed the warrior’s movements to the end. The warrior’s sword moved sharply toward Dwayne.

‘Stop and counter.’

It was a natural judgment. It was an act of suicide for a fighter to just watch a swordsman, as if he had given up the fight. Dwayne stretched out his fists to block the warrior’s sword. At this moment, the trajectory of the warrior’s sword changed.

‘What is this?!!’

The sword that had been aiming for his shoulder shifted paths and flew toward Dwayne’s abdomen.