Chapter 8: Assassin’s Downfall

Exitra unpaused the game.

Immediately, the scene transitioned into a cutscene.

Brain crossed his legs arrogantly and spoke.

“Listen carefully. The winner of this duel will officially become my heir and inherit my title and this territory. That’s why this duel—”

The text turned garbled for a second before continuing properly.

A knight standing beside Brain stepped forward.

“I am Ray, and I’ll be serving as the referee for this duel. Let me explain the rules briefly,” he said while glancing back and forth between the two contestants.

“Striking vital points is prohibited. You may not kill your opponent. If there is excessive violence, we will intervene. The duel ends when one party surrenders, becomes incapacitated, or can no longer continue. Victory will be declared based on that.”

This wasn’t a battle to the death—it was a duel to determine the next heir.

That’s why rules were necessary.

Alfredo looked at Exitra and smirked.

“You know, Brother, there’s always the chance someone might die… by accident~”

His face was filled with arrogance and contempt.

He was confident of his victory, even subtly threatening to ‘accidentally’ kill his opponent.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of myself,” Exitra replied.

He was ready.

Normally, one would draw a weapon at this point, but Exitra was a Spirit Mage.

Spirits began to appear around him.

Meanwhile, Alfredo drew two daggers.

It was the signature weapon of an assassin.

“Very well. Shall we begin?”

[Do you want to begin the duel? (Y/N)]

The cutscene ended, leaving a choice prompt on screen.

At that moment, the chat exploded.

— [Dual daggers!]

— [An assassin has appeared!]

— [Kyaa~ He’s even got fingerprint and iris recognition enabled!]

— [Worst possible matchup.]

The pairing of an assassin and a spirit mage was widely considered the worst possible matchup.

A spirit mage fights by controlling spirits.

In other words, their power lies not in their own body, but in the spirits they command.

And to control those spirits, a mage must devote their full concentration.

If the enemy focuses solely on the spirit mage’s physical body and attempts an assassination, there’s no way to stop it.

The worst compatibility.

That’s why the viewers began throwing missions like crazy.

Apparently, they considered Exitra a completely safe bet for failure.

— [Wow, this is insane~ lol]

— [I’m placing a mission too!]

— [Fair gambling is okay, right~?]

The mission money surged like wildfire.

Everyone seemed convinced Exitra would lose.

But then, Exitra smiled.

‘Lucky me.’

He didn’t know why Dogry had set things up this way, but it was a stroke of fortune.

The stage was perfectly set.

If he couldn’t capitalize on this, then making it big in the future would be nearly impossible.

‘I’ll show you… the true power of a Spirit Mage.’

“Accept!”

[You have accepted the duel.]

As Exitra accepted, Ray raised one hand.

***

“Ready!”

Then he brought it down.

“Begin!”

This was the start of Exitra’s spectacular debut—the debut of the man who would later be known as the Neuro-God.

“I’ve won this one!”

Dogry grinned.

He was a little nervous.

And for good reason—he hadn’t been able to confirm his younger brother Alfredo’s Class until just before the duel.

Since Classes were randomly assigned, there was always a chance his brother might have gotten something non-combat related like “Merchant.”

If that had happened, he’d have no choice but to shave his head in shame.

‘If Exitra had chosen a non-combat Class like Merchant, then the duel would’ve taken another form entirely.’

In Molgahub, the player determines everything.

So the method of competition changes depending on the Class selected.

If someone had chosen “Merchant,” then the duel might have become a contest to see who could earn more gold in a few days.

‘Assassin vs. Spirit Mage? There’s no way he loses.’

Assassins and Spirit Mages had the worst compatibility.

Dogry had tried playing a Spirit Mage before.

It was a nightmare Class.

“You could summon a lot of spirits, sure, but they didn’t have free will. You had to give each one specific commands, and that alone was insane.”

You had to command the spirits while moving your own body in battle.

That meant you needed to juggle 2–4 simultaneous thoughts at all times.

Even moving a single spirit was hard for beginners.

And the real problem started after the battle began.

Spirit attacks weren’t standardized.

Unlike a wizard who just shouted “Fireball!” or “Ice Blast!” and cast spells, a spirit mage had to issue every command manually.

Honestly, it was madness.

A Spirit Mage could summon up to 20 spirits.

At a glance, it seemed like you could overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers.

But even summoning one made your brain feel like it was about to explode—who in their right mind would summon more?

Probably no one.

And that wasn’t even the end of the issues.

Even if you summoned more spirits, your damage didn’t increase.

Each spirit had a fixed range and function.

The reason for summoning multiple spirits was just to expand your area of control, not to increase your attack power.

More spirits didn’t mean more firepower.

‘You had to assign their positions and define their attack methods… ugh, it was a mess.’

One wrong command and your spirit might even attack you by mistake.

And if you lost focus for even a second, the spirits could be attacked and forcibly dispelled.

Compared to all that, just being a normal swordsman and swinging a sword seemed way easier.

“Let’s be real—Spirit Mage was probably added just to pad the Class list.”

Dogry trusted his physical prowess.

He used to be a top-ranked player in several other virtual reality games, and even in FPS games, he consistently ranked near the top.

But even someone like him couldn’t manage this.

Because—

‘To perfectly control spirits, you have to be able to think two to four things at the same time. But do you think that’s easy?’

‘Maybe for a short while.’

But battles last a long time.

‘Could someone maintain such complex multitasking throughout?’

Their concentration would never last.

There was a reason spirit users were always rated the worst.

There was a reason for everything.

“It’d be easier to just choose another class with better aptitude.”

Dogry leisurely watched the broadcast.

***

As he did, he casually ran a hand through his hair, which he’d carefully maintained over the years.

‘How much money had he spent on keeping this hair silky and shiny?’

If his mom ever found out, she’d definitely smack him across the back.

“Hehe, maybe I should go get a treatment once I get the mission payment.”

“Hyung, I warned you, but you ignored me… This is the result of your own choice.”

Two daggers gleamed sharply in the light.

They looked like top-tier weapons, specially prepared for this very day.

“Get ready.”

Whirl—!

Alfredo twirled his daggers like a circus performer, striking a dramatic pose.

It was impressive acrobatics.

It might have looked like a clown’s act, but it was proof of just how skilled he was with daggers.

He wielded them with complete control.

Seeing that, someone clapped in awe.

Clap, clap, clap!

“That was a cool trick. So instead of studying dagger techniques, you went and learned party tricks? Entertaining. What do you think? How about becoming a clown instead of the heir to your family? You’ve got talent.”

“Kkkkkk”

— [Wow, what a burn.]

— [Alfredo must be shaking…]

— [Exitra looks like a total villain lol]

“Tsk… I was trying to go easy on you, but I guess that’s not going to happen.”

Thud!

Alfredo’s body suddenly sank into the ground.

When he reappeared, he was right behind Exitra.

It was Alfredo’s assassin skill, Ambush.

A skill that allowed an assassin to instantly close the distance and appear behind the target.

There was a condition that required being within a certain range, but Ambush was a core, essential skill for any assassin.

“Die!!”

A surprise attack, with no time to react!

Alfredo’s dagger was aimed straight at Exitra’s heart.

He planned to end this duel with a single blow.

‘If I call it an accident, it’s over.’

There was a rule against killing.

But “accidents” happened all the time in duels.

This would be one of those times.

If someone asked why he killed him, he could just say it was a mistake—he couldn’t stop in time.

‘If my brother dies, I’m the only heir left anyway.’

Win or kill—it would all be his in the end.

In that case, it was best to eliminate any chance of future retaliation.

There was a deadly gleam in Alfredo’s eyes.

He was determined to finish this in one strike.

But—

***

Whoooooosh!

“What the—?!”

Alfredo gasped in shock.

A gust of wind blocked the tip of his dagger.

Seeing this, he immediately jumped back to widen the distance.

Exitra chuckled as he looked at him.

“When did you get behind me? What, even after a sneak attack, you still failed? Pfft…”

— [That roast tho!]

— [Pffft lol!]

Alfredo clenched his teeth in frustration.

His surprise attack had completely failed against someone he usually looked down on.

And on top of that, Exitra was mocking him.

His face twisted with anger.

“Tch!”

Boom boom boom!

“You won’t get lucky again!”

Alfredo dashed forward.

His speed was so fast, it was almost impossible to see him move.

Then—he appeared directly in front of Exitra, lunging his dagger straight at his neck.

“You can’t block this one!”

The human reaction time limit was 0.1 seconds.

That’s how long it took for someone to see, understand, and respond.

It would take even longer to physically react.

Only someone who had trained to the extreme could reach that kind of speed.

Exitra, lacking in physical ability, couldn’t possibly reach it.

He had no time.

Alfredo had aimed at the perfect opening—there was no way to dodge or block it in time.

Even the viewers watching shook their heads, thinking it was over.

Dogry was already cheering and wondering which hair salon to visit.

But they had all forgotten something.

Exitra was a spirit user.

‘I don’t need to move. Just recognizing the attack is enough. I’m not the one who has to react.’

He didn’t need to move his body.

Why?

Because he had spirits.

All he had to do was give a command.

“Block his strike.”

Whoooosh!

Clang!

A sudden gust of wind condensed in front of Exitra, blocking Alfredo’s dagger.

“What the—?!”

Alfredo’s eyes went wide.

He had aimed perfectly.

He could tell Exitra had reacted too slowly.

And yet—he still blocked it?

“No matter how fast you are, you can’t be faster than the wind.”

“What the hell!”

“Don’t get cocky. If you just stand there, you might die.”

“What are you even talking abo—?!”

Fwoooosh!

Flames burst from the ground.

Alfredo had to quickly leap back to avoid being burned.

“Ugh!”

Exitra took a breath and focused as he watched Alfredo retreat.

Spirit attacks weren’t pre-programmed.

You had to define the target, the direction, and the form before issuing a command.

His body didn’t move at all.

Every nerve and thought was focused on his spirit.

He defended and attacked entirely through his spirit.

Thanks to that, he didn’t need to move his body.

Looking directly at Alfredo, Exitra said, “Be careful. If you’re not, you might actually die.”