Dusk (BL Light Novel)

From the way he said it was a “restless night,” it seemed he was already aware of the situation. I heard him answer in response to viewers explaining it in the chat. His voice was exactly what I’d expected — calm, unconcerned, unaffected.

“So why did I show up [N O V E L I G H T] two minutes early today? It’s nothing, really, just…”
Just?
I paused in the middle of placing map markers and focused on his voice.

“I saw the rankings and got so pissed off I logged in immediately.”
There it is. Now that’s an answer worthy of the number-one Medic ranker.
“I mean, yeah, I’m a light user who only plays four hours a day or so. But how… how could there be a three-rank difference?”

He really had a way of acting like he wasn’t a hardcore player, waving it off like he was just a casual. Back when he really was new, he still hit max level in six weeks and earned Commander rank with unenhanced PvP gear.
Granted, back then the enhancement cap was only +5, and accessories couldn’t be upgraded yet, so if your skill was good enough, it was still possible to beat fully-enhanced players even without full gear.
Still, Commander wasn’t a rank just anyone could earn. Especially for someone who’d only just reached max level, it was a rank that normally required three or four months of nonstop grinding.

Commander was an elite rank earned by placing within the top 100 based on combined PvP fame and raid scores from high-difficulty dungeons. On top of that, making the top 100 gave you bonuses — Commanders could enhance gear up to +6, and Supreme Commanders up to +7. Every serious PvP player wanted that rank, so the competition was fierce.
And he got it in six weeks — and he dares call himself light? Is he “light” because he gathers points faster than light speed?
His long-time viewers must have called him out in the chat, because I heard Retaking let out a playful laugh.

“C’mon, that was then. I really am a light user now. Right?”
Yeah, right. Says the guy sitting at number eleven on the overall leaderboard.
“Anyway. I’m just so mad right now. I really want to meet that person as soon as possible. If anyone could please tell him to come out to the field right now, that’d be great. Just don’t spam it in faction chat — that’s bad manners, obviously. But if anyone from Honeybread’s guild is watching, please pass on the message in guild chat. Okay?”

He dragged his words out like a child sulking, saying he wanted someone else to go call me out for him. The tone he used sounded like he’d be squinting with a half-smile if he were saying it in person — like he was being cute on purpose.
Guild chat lit up right after Retaking’s words.
[Guild] Ceylontea: Hey, Retaking’s calling you out. Wants you to come to the field right now.

[Guild] Summoner: That’s the guild master.
[Guild] Ceylontea: I know you’re probably already watching, but I’m saying it anyway for formality’s sake.
[Guild] Summoner: Retaking, are you… already watching?
[Guild] soloist: lololol

They must’ve tuned in because they knew our guildmaster often popped up on that famous streamer’s channel. They were watching the stream again today and came to pass along his message.
Not that they needed to — I was already planning to find Retaking fast and get a few kills in. Normally, it would’ve been cheaper to use the teleport statue from the Atelierna base, but since Retaking had just said that on stream, people would be running straight at me. Better to burn a teleport scroll and avoid the mess.
As I opened my inventory to grab one, the faction and region chats were exploding. Despite Retaking’s request not to, some people were already calling me out in chat. He usually didn’t ask viewers to do things like this, precisely because some fans and haters were always the kind to do exactly what he told them not to. He must’ve really been in a hurry, or genuinely pissed today — enough to risk summoning me this way through his viewers.

I didn’t mind personally, but with all the attention from the midyear ranking posts, this was only going to get me flamed even more…
Grumbling to myself, I right-clicked the teleport scroll and debated which base to warp to. Just then, through my headset, I heard Retaking go “Hmm…”
“I’m sure the message will get to Honeybread somehow. So where should I go?”

You should say it yourself. I’m listening.
“Pick a location? If I say where I’m going, just like last time, people are gonna swarm me — stream snipers and viewers alike. I’m not falling for that twice.”
He sounded like he was scolding his viewers, but then let out a chuckle, probably after reading a funny comment. He replied a few times in that smiling voice of his, then returned to his usual calm, drowsy tone.

“First, I’ll just check the areas where he usually roams. Today, my first kill has to be him. No one else will do.”
Cocky bastard. If you’re that mad, go ahead and try.
Whether it was coincidence or my telepathy actually getting through, just as he said he’d go to my usual spots, I heard the sound effect of him activating a warp statue. Moments later, the background music and spellcasting sounds from the base vanished. No more jumping grunts or movement effects — then, as the loading screen likely passed, I heard the distinct sound cue that signaled entry into a contested area. Tense field music began playing in the background.

So my telepathy… worked. That was good. The problem was, there were way too many places I roamed. You could break them down pixel by pixel and still have too many to count. And the paths I usually took were also the ones Retaking liked to wander — which meant I still didn’t know where exactly to go.
I rolled my eyes and racked my brain. Maybe just this once… should I monitor him? No, that’s wrong. But… he’s looking for me this desperately. Maybe just this once is okay?
Arguing with myself like I had a split personality, I finally came to a decision. He’s looking for me too. I’ll just listen for where he is this one time. I’m not outright watching the stream, right? Besides, he’s the one who challenged me to a duel without saying where. That’s on him. (Well, not that he could say where.) He’s not the kind of guy to hold a grudge over something like this anyway.

With my rationalization complete, I reopened the map I’d marked earlier before the stream started and turned up my headset volume. I focused on the sounds coming from the stream — background music, the sound of footsteps on grass, when he jumped or spread his wings to glide, what kind of monsters I could hear nearby, whether they were elites or just trash mobs… I closed my eyes and focused all my senses on triangulating his location through sound alone.
The background music was a light but sorrowful chime, soft and tinkling like little bells — the kind that played in the southern Jeopa zones where the pixie forests were. Only the sound of grass being trampled repeated, no dirt, and he wasn’t gliding much — which meant he was in a flat grassland area.
Then I heard a soft, clear, almost wet droplet sound — like water falling. That was the sound effect near one of the elite monsters: the “Raindrop That Cannot Return.”

My eyes flew open. There was only one place in the thickly overgrown southern Jeopa grasslands where that monster spawned — Outpost 27. I grinned triumphantly and tore open a scroll to warp to Outpost 45, the closest base to Jeopa territory.
“That person’s ranked three spots above me, so today, I’m planning to kill him three times in a row.”
Just as I was about to close the stream, having figured out his location, Retaking’s voice rang out, firm and determined. I smirked, laughing silently at how he’d just declared his whole plan without knowing I was listening.

There’s no way that’s happening.
At 10:00, just before I head off to the party PvP, I’m going to tell him: “I wanted to kill you eleven times since you’re ranked eleven, but the number was too high and I ran out of time.” I have to. I absolutely will.