Chapter 211

"Let me tell you more about why the [The Witch of the Magic Bullet] was hailed as a legend."

Suu said as she started to sing the tale of [The Witch of Magic Bullet] to us.

A Superplay.

A spectacular and fascinating play.

An extraordinary battle record.

There are two main reasons why The [Witch] is still hailed as a legend, overshadowing the many others that exist.

One is her phantasmal existence. It's as if she never existed outside of a certain video series.

The Zero Wars series that Rinne put up when she was starting to make a bit of a name for herself in Kurokuro RTAs, [Unlimited run until we lose]. {my best guess is that's a parody of niconico douga}

The video itself is simply a video of her game that won't end as long as she keeps winning, but that is not why it become famous.

In this series that has gone viral, one could see the first and last appearance of the [Witch], who was said to be Rinne's friend.

She has not appeared in a single video before or after. There was not even a report of a match with her, and even Rinne kept her mouth shut about it.

As a result, only a mystery of the unidentified super-player has remained.

As the story was told, it became exaggerated, and before anyone knew it, it was called a legend, half for fun and half out of respect.

"Until that point, that was a common story. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was treated that way on the Internet."

"You mean something like [Suupaa the AI]?."

"I didn't interact with anyone, so I couldn't even deny that accusation... But that's basically how some stories got exaggerated. Even so, the reason why The [Witch of Magic Bullet] became a legend is simple and clear. It's because even with all the cheats and tools, no one has been able to reproduce her [Magic Bullet]."

The [Magic Bullet] is a term synonymous with the [Witch of the Magic Bullet].

This headshot is fired at an extremely irregular angle, utilizing the [ricochet system] that has been featured in the Zero Wars series since its birth.

Ricochet is a phenomenon in which a bullet gets deflected when it hits something. Although this is a rather bit far-fetched example, you can compare it to the phenomenon when a ball of a baseball hits something and bounces back. The difference is that a ricochet happens at the speed of a bullet.

The original Zero Wars is the first practical application of this feature.

The shooters genre had long ignored it because of the extremely complex processing required to implement ricocheting bullets in a 3D game.

Gamers rejoiced. They looked forward to the arrival of a new gaming scene where they could make full use of ricochets and aim for unreal kills.

And as you might already know, those dedicated maniacs always exist in every world.

Right after the first Zero Wars was released, the ricochet system was studied day and night.

"I don't know much about the detailed history of the ricochet system since I was a child back then, but the research on the ricochet system has continued ever since that time, and analysis by volunteers still continues to this day,"

And through the efforts of volunteers, it was discovered that by launching bullets with the same weapon, at the exact same position, at the exact same angle, and from the exact distance, theoretically, the bullets would ricochet with the exact same behavior.

The allowed margin of error is one kilometer per hour in bullet velocity and one millimeter at the point of impact. And if the angle is off by 0.5 degrees, it will fly in a different direction.

Shortly after this information was released, the ricochet system became a top-class element in the Zero Wars.

Bullets flying at the speed of sound, the trajectory of bullets governed by random numbers, and the gameplay of a TPS of the Battle Royal type that forces you to move constantly.

All of these factors did not mesh well with the overly delicate ricochet system.

Not to mention that most of the so-called [strong weapons] were not equipped with this ricochet system.

Not only in Zero Wars but also in other shooting games such as FPS and TPS, strong weapons have one thing in common.

These are roughly divided into five elements: [bullets that do not stray, serious damage, long-range, excellent rapid-fire capability, and a high number of rounds in its magazine]. The better these elements are, the stronger the weapon is often said to be.

And the weapons that tend to be superior in many games are so-called medium-weight or medium-range weapons.

All five elements are dominant there because of their all-around versatility in both close range and long-range. That's how the term [strong weapon] is born.

These medium-range weapons, which are the main weapons of most players, do not benefit from the ricochet system as a whole. This was fatal because it invalidates the existence of such an element in Zero Wars system.

In the beginning, some people tried to [aim for a first-place using only ricochets], and many [ricochet system research videos] popped up. But they did not go beyond the realm of theory.

It was then, after the game had finally matured to a certain degree, The [Witch of Magic Bullet] descended.

Without any prior sign, she has suddenly mastered the ricochet system to perfection, a divine feat that turns the very foundation of shooting games upside down and renders the shield's existence meaningless.

A part of the scenery, a once meaningless object like an iron pipe, has become a beacon for the [Witch] to bite your throat.

No matter whether you hide or run away, as long as you are in a theoretically [hit] spot, you cannot escape from the Witch's vicious fang.

She is a divine sniper who will surely hit where she wants to.

Above all, the [Witch of the Magic Bullet] has come to be called a legend because of the degree of sophistication in the way she makes use of her divine skills.

"I said before yesterday's practice that there is nothing I can't do in this game, but to be honest, one thing that I haven't mastered is the [Magic Bullet]. My success rate is only 20% in favorable situations. And it's not accurate enough to be called as aim, and it's still at the level of a game of luck."

"But it's still amazing, isn't it? Am I wrong?"

"Don't worry, Touka. There's nothing wrong with your assumption."

"I see...."

Ignoring Touka-chan and Rin-chan's intrusions, I understood the case from Suu-chan's explanation.

Certainly, yeah, I think the person called [Witch of Magic Bullet] was me.

I remember taking Zero Wars videos with Rin-chan, and I also remember using the [Magic Bullet] as Suu-chan said.

"The [Witch of the Magic Bullet] is the person who became the foundation of my play style. One of the reasons I decided to join HEROES was the hope that I would be able to get some information about the [Witch] here."

Suu continued with her eyes a bit downcasted.

"...certainly, if Nana is the [Witch of Magic Bullet], some things started to make sense to me. The accuracy of her shoot is in the realm of another dimension to be called a beginner, and considering Nana has not played at all since that time, she might even be too good. Still, even though I have played against her, my image of the [Witch] and Nana's style just don't overlap. It's not about technique. It's simply that the way she plays makes her look like a different person..."

My Style when playing the game called Zero Wars, huh?

I am sure that the discomfort is felt only because Suu-chan has studied that [Witch of Magic Bullet] so extensively. But the fact remains that my style didn't make any sense to her.

To be fair, I didn't know that I was called [Witch of Magic Bullet], and I'm not interested in that title.

But, well, yes.

I know the answer to the discomfort Suu is feeling.

"M-mm, I think you're right."

"What?"

"Because at the time, I was playing with the instruction Rin-chan gave me."

You know, the Zero Wars [unlimited run until we lost]project was something Rin-chan initiated just for fun.

Basically, the objective was for Rin-chan to have fun playing as the reckless player, and I was helping out as extra support of Rin-chan.

In fact, of the more than 150 victories, more than 80% were won by Rin-chan, almost all by herself.

I only helped with the remaining 20%. And the time I really did get involved was when Rin-chan died first.

I did the recon.

I pulled the trigger.

I did all the guiding.

But all of that winning strategy was the result of following Rin-chan's instructions.

She was the brain. She used the information I had gathered to formulate a strategy for winning the game.

Perhaps because this part of the story was slightly exaggerated, and thus the [Witch of Magic Bullet] is born.

So, to put it simply.

I am the [Magic Bullet].

Rin-chan is the [Witch].

The two of us together are the [Witch of the Magic Bullet].

The Witch with the Magic Bullet is not one person. My technique and Rin-chan's strategy are combined to create one persona.

"Two people...?"

"Yes, So I think it's natural that if I go alone without receiving any instructions is causing a mass of discomfort from Suu's point of view. I'm not very good at that kind of thing."

I'm terrible at making a strategy.

The only strategy I can make is something like, [I'll take care of this part, and you guys do your best with the rest].

That's why I'm no good as a party leader, and it's probably even worse if you left me alone without guidance.

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and I am more suited to being [used] than [using].

On the other hand, Rin-chan and Touka-chan are probably on the [using] side, and Suu-chan is somewhere in the neutral zone.

"I see... true. No one has ever confirmed that the [Witch of Magic Bullet] is one person. When you combine Nana's skills with the champion of WCGS - Rinne's wits, it makes sense that such a monster would be born."

"It's rather strange that Suupaa has been so obsessed with that. You were pretty cool just now."

"I agree. I think Suu is amazing. I'm really bad at strategy and stuff."

"Ehehe...... I'm glad to hear that from you."

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Suu-chan smiled.

"Now that the mystery is solved, let's go wild on the second round. There's hardly any time left until the games! It's not too late to examine how we can use Nana-sama after that is over."

"I agree. Let's get going."

Touka-chan gave the order after the conversation had settled down, and we hurried ahead to the machine room of the venue.

We had to set up the VR machine, so we ran a very tight schedule for today.

As we made a short run to the venue, Suu-chan called out to me.

"Um, I have one more question for Nana..."

"Hmm?"

"How did you get a 100% success rate with [Magic Bullet] back then?"

"Intuition."

"Eh..."

===*

Rinne never says anything about the [Witch] because she did not want to expose the existence of "Nana" back then. Just simply a matter of privacy.

One more thing. Although Suupaa considers [Witch of the Magic Bullet] as a legendary persona, it is only a story of the past. Most people had lost interest in her true identity and assumed that the person behind it was just that monstrous.

Even so, there are a certain number of dedicated followers like Suupaa. Those people were treated as a land mine in the Zero Wars community.