The Count’s Youngest Son Is A Player - Chapter 3

Episode 3

Chang~Chae Jaejaeng!

Wow~!!!

The sound of swords clashing repeatedly erupted from the training hall set up in the castle’s central square.

And cheers rang out not only from the surrounding audience seats but also from all over the castle where the video was being transmitted.

The sixth match of the coming-of-age ceremony tournament finals was already underway. And the spectators watching this game were cheering louder than any previous game.

“That’s right~!! Oh my…!”

“Oh my!!”

Various sighs and cheers continued, and the target was clear to anyone.

A handsome boy with blonde hair that shines brightly in the sun, a small face with clear features, and his slender, stretched out limbs taunting precariously.

It was none other than Raoul, the 3rd prince of the count family.

Jjiik~Chaeng!

Raoul swiped away the thick bastard sword stabbing at his chest with a thin long sword that was less than half that size.

However, he was pushed back a couple of steps as he was unable to withstand the aftereffects of that force.

Nevertheless, his longsword was pointed at the opponent, preparing for additional attacks, and his gaze was straight ahead without distraction.

Twenty minutes had already passed since the match started.

Considering that the previous five matches were decided in less than five minutes on average, this was an extremely unusual event.

“What a rat! How long are you going to run away!! Are you not ashamed of being a member of the count family?!!”

Edmund, Raoul’s opponent, shouted with a bright red face.

He was almost 190cm tall, which was inappropriate for a 15-year-old, and he was like a monster who wielded a large bastard sword with one hand that even an adult would have difficulty holding with both hands.

“Whoa.”

Raoul caught his breath while Edmund stopped his sword.

This is because I had to use up my already lacking stamina to last 20 minutes against that tough guy.

Pop. Pop.

Blood-stained sweat dripped down Raoul’s slim jawline.

And the sweat droplets ran down the dented and dented armor and soon dried.

Raoul’s armor, heated by the hot sun, was so disorganized that its original shape was unrecognizable.

In particular, the side of the body was cracked in several places, exposing the inner skin, and the leather protection on the limbs was torn and tattered.

However, despite the numerous traces, Raúl actually suffered very little damage.

This is because most of them were just marks created by letting go of the attack.

There were some wounds on the face and limbs, but they were only scratches.

After catching his breath, Raoul lowered his sword and stabbed his longsword at Edmund, who was talking about a fair fight.

Naturally, Edmund was slow to react and hurriedly swung the Bastard Sword from bottom to top.

Burst!

However, Raoul, who dodged the trajectory slightly like a swallow filled with water, stabbed him twice in the chest with his long sword and stepped aside.

Unfortunately, Raoul’s stab did not pierce the armor and bounced off.

In the first place, as a man of great strength, Edmund came out wearing armor twice as thick as others.

“Such a coward!!”

Edmund’s angry bastard sword was aimed harshly at Raoul, but it did not even pass through his body.

‘It’s pathetic.’

During a match, don’t you shout for fairness and fairness? Don’t you swing your sword recklessly when you’re angry?

If he didn’t have what he was aiming for, this idiot would have been brought to his knees in a minute.

Wow!!!

When the battle began again, cheers erupted from the audience. And the response from the female audience was explosive.

“Confucius~ You’re so cool!!”

“Ahh, how can you move so beautifully?”

“Please quickly defeat that gorilla guy!!”

Everyone, from a young girl to a curvaceous woman, exclaimed in exclamation at each of Raoul’s movements, and screamed as drops of sweat and blood spattered into the air as he moved.

The reason people were so excited wasn’t just because of Raoul’s appearance.

This was what most people thought before the match started. Game 6 will end faster than the previous game.

‘How did the count’s weak third prince get to the finals?’

‘The Third Confucius doesn’t even know how to hold a sword properly? ‘I heard you’re lazy and don’t even bother to train?’

‘I heard that the Count gave up on teaching him because he had no talent for swordsmanship.’

Raoul barely left the mansion, but most of the people in the territory already knew what kind of person he was.

The shame of a count who was born into a famous swordsmanship family but gave up on swords!

There were even rumors going around that the count was so embarrassed that he wouldn’t even let him out of the mansion.

On the other hand, his opponent, Edmund, is a mana user who possesses strength beyond that of an adult and can use the Mana Sword.

Among the finalists, he was one of the favorites to win, so the result was great.

It was as everyone expected until 5 minutes after the match started.

Edmund literally attacked one-sidedly, and Raoul was busy blocking and dodging without even being able to swing his sword properly.

I was pushed around on the floor several times by the force. The armor also turned into a mess.

“Wow!! “You’re the best, Edmund!!!”

“Hurry and finish off the weak 3rd Confucius!! “I bet my entire salary this month on you!!”

People cheered at Edmund’s powerful sword and felt exhilarated at the scene where the self-control of a high-ranking nobleman who could not usually even raise his face was unilaterally defeated.

But at some point, people’s cheers disappeared.

‘I was hit so hard that my armor was tattered. Doesn’t it hurt? ‘Oh, look at the blood flowing down that face!’

‘Why don’t you give up? The difference in skill is already clear…’

‘Edmund, what is that guy doing? ‘Aren’t you having fun by dragging the game on purpose?’

Although he continued to roll on the floor due to the one-sided attack, Raoul did not give up.

He stood up like a roly-poly and aimed his sword again, never looking away and burning his fighting spirit.

On the other hand, Edmund deliberately attacked while avoiding critical points, as if he was playing a prank, and also relaxed with his arms crossed while making a mocking expression at Raoul.

Before we knew it, people began to cheer on Raoul, who stood up resolutely even though his body was bleeding and covered in dust.

I realized that he was not an arrogant and noble nobleman, but just a boy who did not give up and worked hard.

‘Something strange?’

Edmund was taken aback by the sudden change in the atmosphere of the stadium.

It was nice to beat up Raoul like we usually do when sparring.

Unlike giving up right after getting hit a few times, I felt bad about continuing to attack, but it wasn’t a bad thing because I was able to show off my skills while receiving cheers from people for a longer period of time.

But it seemed like it had to come to an end soon.

Dion told them to beat him until he was dead so that he wouldn’t resist at all, but there seemed to be no need to waste time listening to boos.

‘Knocking it for 5 minutes would be enough. Should I end it by breaking an arm or a leg?’

However, the match did not go as Edmund expected.

For some reason, despite the sincere attack, Raoul held on and at some point even counterattacked.

During the 20-minute match, the audience completely took Raoul’s side.

People like exciting matches where the strong player they support crushes the opponent, but they are also enthusiastic about a come-from-behind victory where the clearly weak team dramatically defeats the strong team.

Chaejaeng chaeng!!

Now, if Edmund attacks twice, Raoul successfully counterattacks once.

Of course, I wasn’t able to land an effective hit, but that was the same for Edmund.

Rather, it was Edmund who had been getting marks on his armor for some time.

Was it because of that?

At some point, Edmund’s expression changed to that of an angry bull.

He powerfully swung his sword, pushed Raoul back, and grabbed the Bastard Sword with both hands for the first time.

“Hwaap!!”

A faint light emanated from the bastard sword raised above the head along with a loud shout.

“It’s the Mana Sword!!”

“It’s dangerous, Confucius!!!”

While the audience was buzzing, Edmund rushed towards Raoul.

The mana-activated body moved much faster than before, and the bastard sword imbued with mana looked as if it could split Raoul’s sword in half.

But Raoul’s expression did not change at all.

He was calmly aiming his longsword at Edmund, and the moment Edmund’s sword fell through the sky, he chose to jump in front rather than dodge backwards.

Wow!! Cheaeng!!

The dust cloud created by the cave-in in the training ground settled and the game was decided.

The knight standing between Raoul and Edmund shouted loudly.

“Winner Raul!!”

Wow!!!

And at that moment, the audience all jumped up from their seats and cheered. They were happy, jumping around as if they had won.

But only one. There was someone who could not accept the result of the game.

Edmund protested to the knight in a grumpy voice.

“Why is Raul the winner? “I can’t admit it!”

He pointed at Raoul, who had even dropped his sword and was sitting on the floor.

“You idiot. Check your neck! “If I hadn’t stopped you, you would have already been dead.”

“…?”

Embarrassed, Edmund unconsciously placed his hand on the lower part of his neck, and a small drop of blood came out.

‘how…!?’

I quickly touched the neck cover and found that there was a slight gap in one of the vertical iron plates.

‘Could it be that he thrust his sword through this gap in that brief moment??’

While Edmund was standing there blankly, Raoul took the sword and left the arena.

And even after Raul left the stadium, the cheers of the audience continued for a while.

* * *

[The level has risen.]

[The Ashton family’s swordsmanship has reached Beginner Level 9.]

Returning to the room after receiving treatment, Raoul threw himself on the bed and checked the system message.

As expected, my level went up a few levels and my swordsmanship skill level increased to a satisfactory level.

‘It’s definitely on a different level from training or preliminaries. It was worth it to force the fight to drag on. If things continue like this, the goal will be easily achieved, right? As expected, hardcore mode!!

Connect had two game modes.

Normal mode where you are given three lives by default and can be revived by paying an additional cost. And that’s the hardcore mode, where your character is deleted once you die.

Of course, hardcore mode had great advantages. The fact is that leveling up and increasing proficiency are more than twice as fast as in normal mode.

But there were hardly any hardcore players to be found. The world of Connect was too rough to survive with only one life.

In fact, hardcore players who were doing well by maintaining high rankings in the early stages of the game disappeared after less than a year.

Still, why is Raoul in hardcore mode?

‘Well, because I had no choice.’

The moment I opened my eyes and checked the status window, I realized I was already in hardcore mode.

Thanks to this, I was able to erase the complacent thought that I might be in a game.

Regardless of whether you are in a game or not, if you die, it ends the same way.

I had no particular complaints about the fact that I only had one life.

‘If there was only one hardcore mode, I wouldn’t know it, but if there are ‘things’, how can I be dissatisfied?’

Raoul let out a chuckle and spoke into the air.

“Open status window!”

(Continued in the next part)