Willow really took after their father. At least, that was what Evangeline believed.

“Hehehehe!”

Watching the fresh goddess shoot up a storm with such a bright smile made her wonder whether she should intervene.

“Wow. What a menace...” She’d figured Willow would struggle at first, just like she did.

Battle Over Strike. It was an FPS game famous around the globe, often hailed as one of the greatest of all time. It also held an all-time video game record, having once hit five million concurrent users.

Being such a lasting staple, the game was ruled by veterans, making it difficult for newbies to get into. When Evangeline herself had tried the game, she’d quickly given up when faced with the absurd relative difficulty, saying it just wasn't her thing.

However, Willow seemed to grasp it after only a few tries. Once she got the hang of it, she took off like she had a turbo engine strapped to her back.

She demonstrated incredible trap-setting, psychological warfare, and shooting skills that almost never missed. It was hard to believe that she had only started the game three hours before.

“Be honest! This isn't your first time, is it? You're, like, pretending to be a noob because you want to show off, right?”

“What are you talking about? Of course it's my first time. Do I look like I have the free time to play games?”

“Yes,” Evangeline bluntly replied.

Her expression immediately soured. “You brat.”

Evangeline could hardly believe the level of performance. “It’s weird no matter how I look at it. Talent only goes so far, after all. How is this even possible?”

“Why not? Like you said there’s only beginners here. They’re all newbies, so isn't it ridiculous to be splitting us all up into skilled and unskilled?”

Evangeline's gaze narrowed. Looking Willow straight in the eye, she said, “I don’t think so.”

“It is, I'm telling you! Ugh. The others all died again, right after the match started.” Irritably clicking the mouse, she adjusted her posture. “This guy’s a little different from the others, though. This will be fun.”

She grinned, licking her lips with her tongue.

What followed was a rampage that was nothing short of miraculous.

Quickly taking out two opponents, and realizing the last one was no ordinary player, she used the nearby tools to set up a double and triple layer trap.

She then did something so bizarre that others would only consider it insane.

Boom!!

She silenced the opponent easily. “Hmph. Some nobody is acting like they’re the shit.”

It really didn't look like she was just a beginner, no matter how Evangeline looked at it.

* * *

“So I have a question for all of you,” Evangeline asked her chat. “There’s a lot of people here who are good at B.O.S, right?”

[B.O.S. lololol]

[The game Boss rage quit after thirty minutes lmao]

“Ah. No, it's not about me. Actually, Willow started B.O.S. recently. I don't know if it's just me, but she seems way too good at it.”

Naturally, their reactions to her assessment were lukewarm at best.

[Ah. Sure she is, bud.]

[Considering how you are? The credibility is... ASS]

“No! Then, how about you guys see her for yourselves?!”

In the end, she dragged Willow, who was absorbed in B.O.S. in another room, into her stream room.

“Willow, stay here for just a second.”

“What is it? I was busy shooting everyone down.”

“No, no. It’s alright. Just sit down for now.”

“Haah. What did you all say to her this time?”

When she blamed the innocent viewers, they immediately tried to defend themselves.

[Hey, what did we do...]

[This is oppression, you know?]

[We heard that you’re really good at B.O.S.]

Inferring the situation from their comments, she waved her hand dismissively. “She's just making a fuss. I haven't even been playing the game for two days yet.”

Lately, Willow had been holed up in Evangeline’s lair.

Part of it was to get used to things right away and increase the duration of her descent, but Neltarid’s disappearance was also suspicious. Even if she had awakened, her state of descent was still hard to accept.

She was currently descending without completely losing her power. In other words, she was not at the level of a completely ordinary person like before, but in a state where she could use some of her authority.

[User WhattaCuteDragon has donated 5,000 Won.]

- Right? You always have to watch out for Boss making a fuss.

“Everything's fine, but that username is a bit...” Willow muttered with a look of disgust, but the user was clearly a lunatic beyond her imagination.

[Sorry. I only like dragons now...]

“He must be insane...”

Completely fed up, she shivered all over and backed away.

After that minor incident passed, she officially started the game.

“Ooh. Nice!” she exclaimed, picking up a standard weapon.

[???]

[She’s using that first?]

[That piece of trash???]

She had landed in the middle of a popular battlefield. It was a place where even a veteran could get a bullet hole in their head if they landed carelessly.

“Wow! So many people are coming here...”

[No shit lmao. So many good items spawn there]

[Everyone lands there these days after watching so many streams KEKW]

[Imagining Willow screaming is already cathartic lol]

The viewers were convinced Evangeline was overreacting, and Willow would soon meet her end.

The first items she picked up were one of the worst pistols, known as a hand cannon, and a sniper rifle that dealt massive damage on headshots. That insane damage was exclusive to headshots, however, meaning it was nearly impossible to get a kill when hitting an enemy anywhere else.

“Wow, what a haul! It's rare for me to get this good of spawns.”

[??? Where is she going?]

[Is she seriously ditching the M4 and picking that up...?]

[Wtf bro, I'm gonna riot T-T]

[Pick up the M4 instead!!!]

The viewers, eager to backseat her gameplay, were trembling in frustration, unable to comprehend why she would only pick up such bad guns.

“A scope would be nice... But just because I don't have one doesn't mean I can't shoot.”

[No... you can’t use that ass gun without a scope pepeHands]

[I’d only recommend that gun to someone who’s put in a thousand hours into B.O.S. at least. Is she just trying to look cool?]

Most looked on disapprovingly.

Having roughly equipped herself, she began her hunt. “You get more points the more you kill, right?”

“I think so?” Evangeline, who knew a bit, nodded in agreement. “But are you sure you wanna go with those guns? They’re really hard to use...”

“Eva,” Willow abruptly called out.

“Yeah?”

“All I have to do is shoot them dead.” Having said her piece, Willow, who had been sprinting like crazy, instantly slid into cover and spotted an enemy. “Found one.”

Then, she quickly aimed and fired.

Bang!

The kill feed instantly showed her name next to that of a freshly-killed player.

Even while zoomed in, she barely peeked out. In that instant, she’d sniped the enemy with a single shot, even though the target looked like nothing more than a tiny dot on her screen.

Not just Evangeline, even all the viewers were confused about what had just happened.

[???]

[Wtf was that???]

[Did you see? I didn't.]

[Crazy how she could even see something like that! Pog]

[Wait up. That’s insane, but how in the world did she do that using a sniper rifle with no attachments?]

Of course, not having attachments didn't mean a shot couldn't land, but most would shake their heads saying such a thing was impossible.

Just because something was theoretically possible didn't mean it was probable.

“Guys, this is just the beginner zone. That's why it's easy. Stop making a big deal out of it.”

[No, Teacher... Even in the pro lobbies, there aren’t many people who shoot like that.]

“Hold on! I think two more are coming.”

As soon as she entered a building, she faintly heard footsteps rushing in. She figured they were drawn by the sound of her gunshot.

Willow took cover inside one of the rooms and took stock of her inventory. She looked at the objects around her and grinned.

“Wow! There's a lot here I can use to make traps.” She used a nearby rope to set up a smoke grenade trap, then jumped out the window without hesitation.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side.

‘Damn! How long has that dude been camping there?’

Evangeline immediately shouted, “Shoot!”

The user, who seemed to have been waiting for her to come outside, pointed a gun at her.

Willow only had the sniper rifle in her hands. Due to the nature of a sniper rifle, it was hard to land a proper hit without zooming, even at close range.

However, if she tried to zoom and aim for a headshot, she knew she’d be killed before even getting the first shot off.

Just when everyone anticipated her death, she swapped to her secondary weapon, the infamous hand cannon. It was a handgun that offered a powerful single shot in exchange for tremendous recoil and a frustratingly slow rate of fire.

Weapon readied, she unceremoniously buried a bullet straight into their head for heavy damage, rolled backward, and repositioned with a slide.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

The distinct sound of bullets hitting the floor echoed through the room. Since the opponent had already prepared the ambush, some of the bullets they fired did successfully hit her. However, they had used a full-auto gun, sacrificing damage for a high rate of fire, so a hit or two wasn't instantly fatal.

Of course, the same went for the bullet Willow had fired.

It brought the opponent near death, but stopped just before she could finish them.

“Geez, how’d they survive a bullet to the head? Ugh. This wasn't how I planned to use it. Guess I have no choice.”

The opponent, whose reaction was momentarily delayed seeing her successfully evade their spray, frantically swung their gun toward her, but her cover proved well-chosen.

The bullets they sprayed scattered into the air with ricochets, and a moment later, she sent another bullet barreling outward, silencing the opponent completely.

Both shots had been headshots, effectively eliminating the enemy.

After that, she continued to dominate the area, moving freely across the map.

The traps she set confused opponents by blocking their sound and movement. She used them to send her enemies to the digital afterlife.

She eventually reached five kills in her match. There in the midst of the chaotic bullet-littered scene, she was humming a little tune while rummaging through the corpses, scavenging for decent armor and items.

[Is that even possible?]

[Both guns are theoretically great if you can hit your shots, but considering the bullet drop and how often a person will miss, it is insanely hard...]

[Is this really the B.O.S. I know?]

Everyone realized something was seriously up when she easily won the game. Getting first place was never an easy thing in B.O.S., especially for a noob. It required skill and good judgment, but also luck.

When exclusively beginners were playing each other, the one with better judgment or a bit of luck often ended up winning. However, she had instead won by executing meticulous plans and strategies.

“Should I play another round?” Willow turned her head and asked Evangeline, who was staring blankly.

She nodded. “Yeah... one more round...”

Willow, her eyes lazily held half-open, quietly gave a nod. “Sure, why not.”

* * *

Frankly, one could argue that Willow and her skills were overhyped. They could say that her level of playing wasn’t difficult for truly skilled players.

Furthermore, no matter how much freedom the game allowed, it was still a computer game, so there were limits on how creative one could be. As a result, most of the tactics she used had already been seen before.

Of course, it was still rare for those tactics to be executed well, like she had done against Kang San.

What surprised people the most was the otherworldly and miraculous quality of her aiming. It was a level of accuracy appearing so close to aimbotting that it even sparked a lot of controversy in the community.

[So. Is she cheating?]

[Dunno.]

[What do you mean, you don’t know? How could someone streaming with their facecam on use cheats, you dumbass?]

[Does having your face on stream mean you can’t cheat??? Cut the shit, lil bro]

[She has a camera for her hands too, dumbass!! Her hands even looked so pale and pretty~]

[Kick that pedo bastard out.]

Of course, there were those who strayed onto strange topics.

[First off, it’s valid to be suspicious. These days, cheat programs include godmode wallhacks that only the player can see, and aimbotting can be configured to avoid detection.]

[How’s an aimbot undetectable, dumbass? If she lands every shot, that’s clearly cheating.]

Of course, there were also those who defended her.

[But seriously, did Evangeline's streaming PC ever have anything like that installed? She doesn’t even play B.O.S.]

[That’s exactly why we’re suspicious. Maybe she installed it when she wasn't streaming? But honestly, looking at how the bullets jumped a bit, it's a bit of a stretch to say she’s cheating.]

[No way, are you guys accusing our goddess of being a cheater?]

The hot topic was simple—was Willow cheating or not?

However, since she hadn’t been playing long-term, only briefly showing up for a few rounds, it didn't draw a ton of attention.

Yet, as she became increasingly engrossed in the game and her ranked tier rapidly skyrocketed, the story changed.

Seeing her closing in on the high-level diamond tier after just a few days, the accusations of her cheating gained momentum.

As for Willow herself—

“Huh? These bastards are really just crossing the street like that?”

Bang! Bang!!

The truth was, even targets that were barely visible to the naked eye or fights happening at lightning speed were just no big deal to her. She was, after all, a goddess, a superior transcendent being that just happened to have a human-like appearance. The sheer volume of information she could process in a single instant was naturally superior to that of a human, and the level of control she could demonstrate was also otherworldly.

Willow, intoxicated by her repeated victories, went to a community forum to gather information on the game. There, she happened to find a discussion about her.

“Huh?”

She couldn't believe the insane clickbait title of the post.

[That bitch Willow is definitely cheating.]