Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities-Chapter 64: Spoiling Martin

Martin opened his eyes in the respawn room. The little wooden shack stood quiet on the cliff, almost insultingly calm after the blast that had just killed him.

Wind brushed the walls, and for a moment, he only sat there, hunched forward, replaying the spars with his teammates while the last traces of tension still clung to his body.

Even after respawning, he could almost still feel the violent snap of Fire Thunder swallowing the end of that exchange.

Unless I lock down melee DPS or threaten them with my own damage, I don’t stand a chance. Most of them will have healing skills sooner or later, and in real PvP, there’s always a healer on the team anyway.

I need to work better with crowd control skills.

Aegis Tumble was a short movement skill that didn’t really work well with a warhammer or spear. The former was too heavy, and the latter was too long.

It would take time for Martin to learn how to reposition with a tumble without losing sight of his enemies, all while wielding different weapons.

Bulwark Rush needed to hit harder and matter more. Right now, it got him in, but it still didn’t let him seize the fight the way he wanted.

He also needed a single-target stun he could fire off immediately, something that could jam an enemy’s rhythm for even half a beat.

Those skills would let Martin control the pace of a fight or rip it out of his enemies’ hands.

Against melee DPS, that was crucial.

Against ranged classes like Rangers and Mages, mobility mattered most. If they got to choose the distance and angle, he was the one being led around.

He needed something that would let him stay glued to them and make them panic at close range.

The tether skill from Control Devil’s Shield is actually a really good one. I should do my best to keep it for as long as possible. Maybe I’ll find a way to extract it and transfer it to a different shield.

But yeah, once I’m in melee range against a Ranger, it’s over for them. Mages can use Mana Shield and other defenses, but if I can switch to the warhammer quickly, I’ll be able to break those defenses and dominate them.

The more he replayed it, the less Encore’s win looked like flashy chaos and the more it looked like a trap he had walked into with both eyes open.

She had not just thrown magic at him and hoped something landed. She had layered pressure, blurred his read for a beat, then punished the path he chose.

Martin clicked his tongue. He had answered the obvious threat, not the real one.

By the time he realized where she actually wanted him, he was already there.

Damn it. It had been clean.

He had fought with a spear, but of course those battles would have gone differently if he had used the sword. Maybe they would have gone better. Maybe worse.

Martin didn’t mind. He wanted to keep practicing with his teammates until he got the three masteries he needed and evolved his class to Warden.

Wins and losses didn’t matter to him right now.

People learned from losses too.

And having such strong teammates only lit something hotter inside him. Every loss, every hard exchange, every moment they forced him to think faster and move cleaner only made him want his class more.

Of course, Martin had no intention of lagging behind them. He wanted to become the kind of tank they could all rely on, the kind of player who planted himself in the worst spot on the battlefield so everyone behind him could breathe.

But damn, Encore really outdid herself. I like it when she gets confident and her eyes shine gold. Is that some kind of skill, though? I should ask her.

Martin rose and rolled his shoulders. Three spars weren’t enough for him, let alone for his quest, since he hadn’t received so much as a single mastery.

He needed more practice with other weapons, and he wasn’t about to let his teammates rest before he felt satisfied.

He stepped out of the respawn room.

—

"Ah, Martin messaged me!" NukEncore jolted at the notification sound. She had been waiting so eagerly for a sign from him that the message made her sit up straight.

[Emperoar: You really got me there, Encore. I didn’t expect you to get into my melee range at all, and that Fire Thunder blasted me to death! Haha!]

Relief loosened the tight knot in NukEncore’s chest so suddenly that she had to steady her breath. Her full chest rose and fell beneath her robes as the tension drained out of her in warm waves.

Then her eyes narrowed, and she reread the message.

"You really attract misunderstandings, don’t you?" she muttered at the screen, even as the corners of her lips kept trying to turn up.

Martin had not turned prickly, defensive, or weird about it. He had simply admitted she got him. Properly. No excuses. No bruised pride thrown back at her through the screen.

That relief sank deep into NukEncore and came back up as something brighter, softer, and far more dangerous to her composure.

NukEncore lifted her chin at once, trying to recover her usual diva poise, but the bright flutter inside her refused to settle.

[NukEncore: I am not falling behind any of you! I saw how all of you planned ahead, so I came up with this plan to make sure I at least got my hands on you! Want an Encore?]

[Emperoar: Yeah, I want one. Let’s fight again. This time, I’ll use the warhammer. You’d better be ready.]

She could practically hear his smirk through the message.

Chaosgraphy had already caught the change in her face. The sly curve of her lips deepened as she leaned back, one brow lifting as if she had just stumbled onto something delicious.

Kill Clause said nothing. Her eyes moved from the screen to NukEncore instead, calmly noting the faint softness trying and failing to hide beneath that proud little act.

She slowly turned to Chaosgraphy and Kill Clause like a robot. "Uh, I have a problem."

"What’s up?" Chaosgraphy asked.

"He wants to spar more, and this time he’ll use the warhammer! That crystal warhammer! Isn’t it too powerful?!" NukEncore grabbed her cheeks and stared at the duo in horror. "That is not a spar. That is an assassination attempt against my beauty!"

She turned half sideways and protected her face with both hands as if an invisible hammer might come flying at her at any second. "What if he actually lands it? What if my poor lovely features get smashed? I cannot live like that."

You say that after unleashing your epic skill on him?

"Don’t you dare look at me like that, you two!" NukEncore planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. "None of us wants our bodies bruised by that warhammer! What if he hits my face?! I can’t even imagine it! Just thinking about it hurts."

Chaosgraphy sneered. "I’ll definitely egg him on to hit your face now."

"Don’t you dare!" NukEncore exploded.

Kill Clause shook her head. Watching the two of them bicker always brushed against an old instinct, one carved into her from years of looking after her younger siblings in her mother’s place.

Back home, she would have stepped in by now, cut through the noise, and restored order before either side pushed too far. Here, she let them burn through it on their own. These two were at their best when they were allowed to spark, snap, and settle.

Today’s schedule got packed, but we have time until next week. It’s about time we let the other guild members claim the blue crystals as well and influence the market. I also need to switch characters and offer Martin an appropriate price for the spear.

If I pay $24,000 for it, he’ll get $6,000, which should be enough...

Kill Clause held that number in her mind for a second, fully aware that she was overshooting on purpose. It was not a clean deal. It was indulgence dressed up as practicality.

I am clearly being influenced by my own feelings. And Alexandra’s pressure.

That realization should have bothered her more than it did.

Oh well... I can spoil him.

Kill Clause had not yet realized that spoiling someone was never really her way. She rarely even indulged her own siblings unless the occasion was truly special, like a birthday or some other important milestone.

But spoiling Martin somehow sounded just right.

Kill Clause’s arms folded lightly around herself before she fully realized what she was doing. The gesture lasted only a moment, but in that quiet pause, a faint loneliness brushed against her chest, too soft and shapeless to neatly name.

Then she exhaled through her nose and let her hands fall, her usual composure settling back into place.