Dusk (BL Light Novel)

“......And let's not forget about Honeybread’s track record! He’s been famous since the early days for his monstrous reaction time and instantaneous decision-making skills. Right now, he’s ranked number one across all servers as a Holy Knight—and ever since Dusk first opened, not once! Not once has he ever lost that number one spot during the Holy Knight seasons.”

“Exactly. He's already considered a living legend among Holy Knight players. His understanding of the class and mastery in operating it are second to none! Everyone’s eager to see whether the very pinnacle of the Holy Knight class will continue to dominate here in the Arena.”
“Since Honeybread’s so remarkable, there was a lot of speculation about his identity too. A lot of people were shocked to see that he was actually very young. They were expecting someone with strong backing, considering how long he’s been maintaining the top Holy Knight rank in Dusk.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t that surprised. The older you get, the harder it becomes to maintain that kind of godlike physicality Honeybread has.”

It was a bit disappointing to hear there were so many people curious about my identity. They probably all expected some useless, middle-aged unemployed guy to show up, but instead, they got a young guy with actual skills. Must’ve been an eyesore.
I shoved the commentators' idle chatter to the back of my mind and fiddled with the heavy headset. I was getting nervous again. Even though it was just another boring fight against Retaking a Class—same as always—the change of venue somehow made it feel different.
I took a deep breath and put on the headset, trying to steady myself. The noisy sounds of the stadium blurred into muffled white noise.

Using the in-game sounds from the headset as background noise, I refreshed myself on the Arena rules.
Each team was assigned three additional "Weights" based on race—worth 2, 5, and 8 points each. The Jepa Tribe and Via Tribe could only collect the Weights that matched their own race. All six Weights would respawn at designated spots around the map’s edges.
Once a Weight was picked up, it had to be placed on a giant Scale at the center of the map. The players would fight ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) to place as many Weights as possible before time ran out. Whichever side reached 40 points first—or whichever side tipped the Scale further in their favor by the end—won. It was simple, at least on paper.

Naturally, going after the heaviest Weight was ideal, but the 8-point Weight was located closer to the opponent’s respawn area. If you got greedy and tried to grab it without thinking, you risked getting counterattacked while interacting with the Weight and losing all your momentum.
So it was important either to rack up kills and hoard even the 2-point Weights or force the opponent into a disadvantageous position and snag the 5- or 8-point Weights with minimal resistance.
The time limit was ten minutes. Each match had three rounds, with a map change every three minutes to keep things dynamic. Each map had its own distinct characteristics that could strongly influence the battle, depending on how well you used them.

That was what I was most worried about. Gang Jaegyung was the kind of bastard who excelled at exploiting those environmental quirks.
Still, if I kept my composure, I could win. I started hitting the practice dummy on the screen, loosening up and getting used to the unfamiliar keyboard and mouse sensitivity.
An alert popped up in the in-game chat, announcing that the match would start soon. A few moments later, I was moved into the Arena waiting room for a short prep period.

[General] Retaking a Class: .
While quietly waiting for the match to start, a single line popped up in the chat. Not sure what he was aiming for, but I mirrored him anyway.
[General] Honeybread: .

[General] Retaking a Class: !
[General] Retaking a Class: <- <|0
[General] Retaking a Class: '-`)9!!
Once it became clear that chat was enabled, Gang Jaegyung immediately started spamming emoticons. Looked like he was trying to taunt me, all cocky like he already had the win in the bag.

It was kind of cute, honestly. Hope the broadcast doesn't show this, I thought, hesitating for a moment before tapping out a response.
[General] Honeybread: 7 | 0=| 9-| ^^
[General] Retaking a Class: ..

[General] Retaking a Class: %...
At first, I couldn’t tell what he was trying to say, but then I realized it was a sulky "……yeah..." Judging by his reaction, he was absolutely horrified that I called him cute. It made me feel incredibly satisfied.
Right after that, another notification popped up, and the waiting room background faded away, revealing the first match map. It was a fairly standard battlefield—good terrain for a straightforward fight.

The Weights would respawn atop a hill, with a massive pit like an antlion’s nest dug into the center. Because of the terrain, knockbacks or stuns could either prevent spacing altogether or forcibly widen the gap, making positional fights tricky.
Since both Holy Knights and Harmonizers had plenty of crowd control skills like knockback and stun, it was going to be a brutal slugfest.
After teleporting to the map, we were given a 15-second countdown.

Off in the distance, I could see Gang Jaegyung busy wrapping himself in every possible doping item and buff skill. Meanwhile, I had nothing left to do besides gulping down my doping items and tapping the spacebar rhythmically, waiting for the match to start.
Gang Jaegyung's frantic preparations only lasted about five seconds. After that, with no buffs or skills left to apply, he started hopping and strafing around like me. Honestly, the wait felt a little too long. It would've been better if we could start immediately once both sides were ready.
As I was spacing out, the countdown dropped to five seconds. I pressed the W key, getting ready to charge forward the instant the match started.

The countdown numbers climbed up onto the screen. They ticked down steadily, and finally—1 turned into 0.
[0]
[Your shackles have been released.]

My character, trapped behind a gate until now, finally surged forward.
[Prove your worth to the new god, Evebria, by defeating your enemy.]
Beneath countless gazes in the live audience, the pride of the most underappreciated class was on the line. The official PvP showdown had begun.

(MomI'mSorryMomI'mGoingToHell) 앋압악개 @dsk_dkekadkqmtkrnla · 1m
Ughㅠ why are they being this cute even during a live match
ㅈㅅㄱ: <- victory!

ㄲㅃ : so cute^^
ㅈㅅㄱ : …yeah,,
AAAAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAA

h
h
cracking up

LOL
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
I'll try to calm down.

***
I sprinted toward Retaking a Class, using the hill's slope to glide. Thanks to the Holy Knight’s passive skill, my charge speed increased significantly while gliding.
Gang Jaegyung was already prepared, standing still while marking me as his target. He didn't have many options anyway until I closed the distance.

Without hesitation, I lined up my aim and used a charge skill. At the same time, he popped an immunity skill and immediately cast a DoT (damage over time) spell as soon as I entered his range.
That was probably a feint.
I kept my shield up, charging fast at Retaking a Class, and just before closing in, I used Shield Block. Sure enough, I caught him trying to switch into a self-defense skill.

[Combat] Blocked Retaking a Class’s “Rapid Disrupt” effect with Shield Block.
[Combat] Landed a counterattack on Retaking a Class for 4,911 damage.
I barely blocked the self-defense move, but as if expecting that, his next skill fired immediately.

[Combat] Took 1,497 damage from Retaking a Class’s “Miasma Discharge.”
[Combat] Took 1,652 damage from Retaking a Class’s “Miasma Discharge.”
[Combat] Retaking a Class canceled the Miasma Discharge effect using “Vaccine Override.”

[Combat] Retaking a Class recovered 1,360 HP with Vaccine Override.
[Combat] Retaking a Class evaded Swordsmanship Form V using Emergency Dodge.
He widened the gap instantly, just as I expected. I swung a basic attack at him just to check, and sure enough, he used a dodge skill to slip further away. When I turned to follow, I caught sight of him in the distance, already casting another infuriating DoT.

Fighting a Harmonizer meant you'd inevitably be buried in DoTs. It was just part of the deal.
I aimed a Capture skill at him to cut off his escape.
[Combat] Took 736 damage from Retaking a Class’s “Experimental Virus IV.”

[Combat] Took 790 damage from Retaking a Class’s “Experimental Virus VII.”
[Combat] Captured Retaking a Class with “Enforcer’s Bind.”
[Combat] Retaking a Class is now stunned by Enforcer’s Bind.

[Combat] Took 1,949 damage from Retaking a Class’s ongoing DoT effect.
Even though he knew a capture was coming, Retaking a Class had already burned his evasion skill and had no way to dodge. He kept layering DoTs on me as he got caught, but it didn't matter. Now stunned, I dragged him right in front of me, chaining my combo perfectly.