CHAPTER 86: GENICHIRO

It had been half an hour since Natalie made her bold declaration.

At first, her face was full of excitement. Then, it twisted into frustration. Now, her expression had grown heavy and serious.

She no longer joked with the audience. Instead, she attacked the Squad Leader again and again, like a bull ramming into a wall. When she grew tired, she would stop, take a sip of water, and dive right back in.

During this half hour, Natalie had been killed by him so many times that the giant red word [DEATH] barely fazed her anymore.

The viewers felt their heads tingle just watching.

"My god... I’ve been staring at Natalie fighting this one guy for half an hour!"

"At this point, I bet she’s more familiar with the road from the attic to the city gate than her own living room."

"Hahaha, a ’master level ninja,’ yet can’t get past a single squad leader in Ashina Village."

"Still, Natalie’s stubborn as hell. She’s playing like she’s possessed!"

"Come on, come on, I’ve almost figured him out!" Natalie suddenly said, her voice full of focus. "He only slashes straight down from above. I just need to get the deflect timing right! He’s fast, but once I nail it, I can beat him!"

Another run. Another death. Another restart.

She cut down the first three soldiers with practiced precision, then once again stood before the looming figure of the Squad Leader.

"Breaking into this place, you’re seeking death!!!" he roared, charging with his blade raised.

This time, Natalie didn’t flinch. Her eyes locked on the descending sword.

Now!

She raised her blade and deflected with all her strength.

Clang!!!

Sparks exploded. The deflect worked perfectly, throwing the Squad Leader off balance. Natalie instantly followed up with a slash of her own, carving a bright wound across his body.

He staggered two steps back, blood spraying, then steadied himself and swung again.

Clang!!

Another perfect deflect! Natalie struck twice in quick succession.

"Damn you!!!" he roared, bringing down a third strike.

Clang!!!

The deflection rang out crisp and sharp. Three in a row!

The Squad Leader’s posture bar overflowed. He groaned, faltered, and dropped to one knee. A glowing red dot appeared on his chest.

This was it, the moment for a Deathblow!

Without hesitation, Natalie surged forward. With the game assisting her movements, she kneed him to the ground, then drove her blade straight into his throat.

"AHHHH!!"

The Squad Leader let out one final scream before collapsing lifelessly. His health bar emptied in an instant.

"I did it! I finally did it!!!" Natalie shouted, leaping up excitedly. She spun in circles, waving her arms in triumph. "Everyone, I killed him! This bastard is dead, haha, this feels amazing!"

For the first time, Natalie understood why people loved hardcore games. The sense of achievement from beating an enemy through her own effort was beyond satisfying.

"Holy crap, Natalie is savage!"

"She killed him without taking a single hit!"

"Half an hour of grinding, and in the end, a few perfect deflects and he’s gone. That was beautiful to watch."

"Yeah, just now Natalie looked like a real swordswoman from some ancient tale!"

The viewers were thrilled, their excitement echoing hers. Half an hour of watching her struggle had finally paid off. But many of them couldn’t help but wonder, if they played Sekiro, would it really be just as hard?

Still, none of them could deny it, the feeling of deflecting steel on steel, the sharp sound of clashing blades, the brutal satisfaction of a perfect strike, this game was irresistible.

After all, hadn’t Natalie died dozens of times, yet still refused to give up?

At that moment, a stream of light rose from the Squad Leader’s corpse and entered Natalie’s body. A prompt appeared on the screen.

[Item acquired: Medicinal Pellet – Slowly restores health over time.]

"Heh, another healing item? Not that I need it." Natalie smirked. She had killed the Squad Leader without a scratch, her health bar still full.

"Tsk tsk, listen to her bragging."

"Yeah, acting cool after thirty deaths."

"Still, not bad, took half an hour, but you got him."

Laughing, the viewers watched as Natalie moved forward to the massive city gate. She pushed, but the doors didn’t budge.

Looking up, the gate towered more than twenty meters high. Not even a wolf could leap over it.

"Right... didn’t Kuro say there should be a passage by the moat?" Natalie muttered, turning to search for another path.

Thinking of this, Natalie wandered around again and soon discovered a narrow path near the city gate that led down toward the moat of Ashina City.

Calling it a road was generous. In truth, it was little more than a jagged trench, full of holes, steep drops, and uneven cliffs.

But that didn’t matter. For the Wolf, such terrain was nothing.

She carefully made her way down to the moat, scaling rocks and leaping across gaps. After another round of exhausting climbing and long jumps, she finally spotted a closed wooden door on the far side.

After circling around, she reached it at last. Pushing it open revealed a dimly lit tunnel that curved outward.

"This must be it," Natalie muttered. She opened her inventory, pulled out the reed flute, and held it to her lips. A sharp, clear note rang out on its own.

The screen suddenly faded to black. When it cleared, Lord Kuro was standing before her.

"Wolf, you actually managed to find this passage. Let’s go quickly," he said, his tone carrying a trace of excitement.

"As you command," came the Wolf’s solemn reply.

"Alright! Time to take our young master and escape this place!" Natalie echoed the line dramatically, but then she tilted her head. "Wait... I wonder if I can pick him up. This little guy looks so cute."

She immediately tried to interact, reaching out with her character, but nothing happened. It was as if an invisible barrier stood between her and Kuro. No matter what she did, she couldn’t touch him.

"Tch, figures..." Natalie pouted.

The viewers laughed in chat.

"Of course you can’t!"

"The dev isn’t going to let players mess with characters like that, especially not the young master!"

"Exactly. If they allowed it, who knows what kind of creeps would abuse the system."

So, the two, one tall, one small, walked side by side through the tunnel. After a while, the Wolf asked, "Where will we go once we leave the castle?"

"First, we must escape the borders of Ashina," Kuro replied softly. "After that, we’ll need a place to hide. If Lord Genichiro’s men find us, there will be no end of trouble. What do you think?"

"I will follow your orders," the Wolf answered without hesitation.

"Wolf... you’re still the same as before. No matter what, you always obey me." Kuro sighed.

Soon, they emerged from the shadows of the tunnel, and light flooded their vision.

Before them stretched an endless field of reeds. The pale stalks rose nearly a meter high, swaying in the night breeze like waves of a silver sea. The moon above cast its glow across the field, giving the entire scene a serene, dreamlike beauty.

"Wow... this place is stunning," Natalie whispered in awe.

"Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!"

"Only New World would put this much detail into scenery."

"Yeah, it’d be a crime not to showcase something this beautiful."

The chat erupted with praise as Natalie’s character walked beside Kuro, the reeds brushing softly against them. The sensation was captured perfectly in-game, gentle, almost real.

But then, Natalie suddenly froze.

In the middle of the field stood a lone figure. A tall man, nearly two meters, his back turned to them. He wore a hood and armor, a massive bow strapped across his back.

"Long time no see, Kuro..."

The man turned slowly. His face was striking, but shadowed by an air of grief that never seemed to lift.

"Lord Genichiro..." At the sight of him, Kuro’s voice faltered. He instinctively stepped back, fear written all over his face.

"So that’s Genichiro," Natalie muttered. "Kuro looks terrified of him... Uh oh, I think another boss fight is coming."

"Stay back, my lord. Leave this to me," the Wolf intoned gravely.

"Yeah right, don’t try to act tough, it’s me who’s going to get beaten up!" Natalie complained, rolling her eyes.

The viewers burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, facts!"

"Wolf: acts cool. Player: prepares for pain."

Understanding the danger, Kuro quickly nodded and ran, leaving Natalie to face the man alone.

Genichiro’s gaze fell on her. His eyes narrowed as he drew the blade from his waist. "A servant... and you think to oppose me?"

"Did you just call me a servant?!" Natalie snapped. "Alright then, let’s see who’s left standing!"

Weapon in hand, she squared up to him, her earlier frustration replaced by eagerness. "This guy looks stronger than the commander before, but I’m not afraid. I’ve learned how to parry, I can handle this! A real warrior fights warriors stronger than themselves!"

Her victory against the previous enemy had filled her with confidence. The thrill of steel on steel combat was addictive, and she was itching for more. That rush of pushing past fear, of dancing on the edge of life and death, it was exhilarating.

"Yes, Natalie, go for it!!"

"No way the dev would throw two super hard bosses back to back... maybe you can actually take him down!"

"Yeah, maybe this is just a story fight."

The chat tried to reassure her, but deep down everyone was tense.

"Genichiro Ashina, joins the battle!"

At that moment, the nameplate appeared, along with a full red health bar. Genichiro’s low growl followed, and with a burst of speed, he charged.

He was far faster than the last boss.

"So fast!" Natalie tensed. She raised her blade into a defensive stance.

Her mantra repeated in her head: Parry, parry, parry!

But Genichiro suddenly leapt high into the air, vanishing from her sight before crashing down toward her.

"What the Fuck?! He’s too fast!!" she gasped. Instinctively, she abandoned the idea of parrying and went straight for a block.

Clang!

Steel clashed. The weight behind his strike was overwhelming, forcing her stance bar upward in an instant.

"Crap, even blocking, he’s going to break me in three hits!" she shouted in panic.

Genichiro didn’t give her a chance to breathe. With lightning speed, he slashed horizontally, then immediately followed with a vertical strike.

Unlike the previous officer who relied on brute force, Genichiro’s swordsmanship was sharp, refined, relentless.

Slash! Slash!

Two cuts landed before she could react, tearing through her health bar and maxing out her posture gauge. Her character stumbled back, wide open.

Genichiro advanced without mercy, raising his blade again.

Then pain exploded through her left side.

Her vision blurred, blood spraying across the screen. Something spun through the air in front of her, glinting in the moonlight.

Her arm.

"My... my left hand got cut off?!" Natalie’s voice trembled in shock. Her character collapsed, helpless.

1848 Words.