Chapter 189: New Challenger (3)

After Green Tea Bagging faced their miserable defeat, OrangeKing and the analyst with the red glasses tried to finalize the stream because the match they wanted to watch was over.

"And that was the scrim between Green Tea Bagging and Balloon Stars. It was short, but we got a lot out of it."

— You got a LOT out of it.

— He's so happy to beat the analyst, LOL

— Red Glasses is going to break in and beat him up, haha.

— LOL

— OrangeKing: (beating up red glasses) We got a lot out of this!

The analyst knew OrangeKing was making fun of him, but he replied with a gentle smile.

"Well... it was fun for me as well. It was an interesting match and an interesting finish."

— Opposite effect?

— Liar!

— Interesting is one way to put it.

— That is an interesting way to verify.

The analyst was wrong about his predictions, but he was pleased because he obtained a friendlier image with the viewers.

"Huh!?"

However, he responded strongly to something he read in the chat.

"Really?"

The analyst fixed his glasses and examined the chat. What was the reason for his surprise towards the end?

"Apparently, they're practicing with SweetRadish's team!?"

"Huh?"

Even the caster was shocked to hear it.

'If it's SweetRadish's team, it's High Protein...'

It was an intriguing matchup not just in diplomatic terms, but sincerely captivating. High Protein's formidable team was against the recently surging Balloon Stars.

First and foremost, the team compositions were impressive. Tako had been undervalued in the support position despite an overwhelmingly successful career as a professional. The highly acclaimed king with no crown, SweetRadish, didn’t have a championship career, but was always praised. In addition, the matchup featured WhiteChicken, who took a three year break after being the strongest amateur ADC. Then there was Almond, who was currently the center of attention.

'He participated as a Platinum player, but he's probably around Grandmaster at least.'

If WhiteChicken practiced and brought out his old skills, he'd at least be as good as a Grandmaster by now.

"This is really interesting. And I mean it this time."

— So you were lying earlier, LOL.

— Hahaha

— I suddenly like red glasses

— You should start streaming too!

— LOL, red sunglasses, the liar

"Anyways, don't you think we need more data to verify Almond?'

The analyst decided to accept the joke of him verifying Almond and laughed.

"Yes, it's a shame. If we want to verify, we need to verify until the end, right?"

"That's right!"

OrangeKing sounded excited.

"Let's go out and verify!"

"Sounds good!"

— Go verify!

— Perfect!

— Red glasses, the inspector.

— How many times do you need to check?!

— This guy is so picky!

***

When the analyst and caster started watching, the game had already begun.

"Wait, Miho and BubbleGum already died once?"

The kill score was 2 to 0. It was only a two-kill difference, but the situation was much grimmer.

"The situation doesn't seem too good right now. They've died once, and High Protein is pressuring them already."

Bubblegum and Miho were barely clinging onto their remaining HP by the turret.

"This is called hugging the turret. Just like the term says, it's when the players hug the turret."

"Yeah. As ridiculous as it sounds, it means the situation is that bad."

"Why's that?"

"In terms of war, tower hugging is like when the soldiers just hide behind the safety lines. But what happens when wars are won?"

"They run there and sweep them!"

"That's right. The enemy is going to slowly start pushing and claim their territory. The point of siege mode is to push until they reach the nexus, so the worst thing they can do is hug the turret."

"That's an excellent explanation. Since we're comparing to wars, the jungle is like the medical team."

"Yes. This is the worst case for junglers because they need to go to each lane and support them, but they're being pushed into the corner by the opponent."

"If they're being driven... that's not good!"

"That's right."

"Meanwhile, High Protein's jungler, AcornJelly, must be having an easy time playing!"

"That's right. He's having the time of his life. Except for the bottom lane with Almond, the rest of the map is for him to roam freely."

In summary, the situation was playing out poorly for Balloon Stars.

"The bottom lane needs to do something."

Almond and Tako needed to do something. If not, Balloon Stars would naturally lose. However, it wasn't easy to get something done.

"That's right! Almond and Tako need to do something!"

"You've just said their biggest weakness... their team heavily relies on their bottom lane."

"Bottom needs to do something... In contrast, all team High Protein needs to do is hug the tower."

"That's right. Almond needs to drag them out and kill them, but WhiteChicken is no ordinary player, so it won't go as planned."

Tako and Almond were fully aware of the situation.

“Then the next question should be, why is he playing so defensively?”

“Why... is he playing defensively?”

“Yes, we need to know the reasoning behind it. Try to read the opponent by changing roles.”

“Because... they're winning...?!”

“That's right. Then how are we going to answer back? The enemy is trying to gain the upper hand. It's easy if you know it.”

The casters were impressed as they heard Tako's voice chat.

"Tako is teaching Almond the basics of

LIL

... but he's explaining it well.

"When you see it this way, you can tell Almond really is a beginner. Even though it may be hard to believe."

"There's something more shocking. That means he's pressed on his opponents all this time without knowing that."

That was when Almond stepped forward.

“I think I know what to do.”

Did he have an epiphany at this crucial point in the game? After Almond took a deep breath, he charged forward.

Bzzzt...!

White mana gathered at the tip of his thumb.

'... Will it work?'

Tadadak.

The caster spoke as he saw Almond running through the minions.

"

Ah.

He's trying to use himself as bait to get the enemy out."

"If the enemy is rational, he won't, right?"

"That's right. He might just grab the bait and run away. He's good enough."

"That's a dangerous tactic, but it might work!"

"Alright! The opponent wins as long as he doesn't take the bait! It's a scary gamble!"

***

A scary gamble, a rational decision... Almond couldn't hear anything the casters were saying, but was already aware of it.

'It'll work.'

Almond was well aware of how emotionally volatile humans were in sports. How many times had there been a soccer match where a team, already in the lead, tried to score more goals only to be overturned? There were basketball players who, in critical moments amid the audience's jeers, missed the chance to score despite having the ball in their hands. There were baseball players who intentionally hit their opponents. It would be the same in games. Even if it was just a practice match, if it involved competition, the same would apply.

'Especially if it's a team game.'

Tako tried to think from the opponent's perspective. The opponent was once considered the strongest amateur player and had recently made a comeback. Their current rank was underrated. On the other hand, there was Almond, who had a relatively low Silver rank. Despite that, Almond was leading the game and securing kills along with the rest of the team.

'What would I have done? If I was in that situation, what would I do?’

Would he throw away his greed, hide, and let the team win? Especially in a practice match where winning or losing didn't matter?

‘What if the opponent had the same competitive spirit as I did... what would he do? He won't be able to resist.'

Tak—

Almond stepped into the gunner's range. He noticed WhiteChicken stopping in his tracks.

'Come out.'

Almond took another bold step forward. Tako was right behind him, but it was clear to anyone that this positioning favored the sniper. It was a strategic sacrifice of range, one of Ran's strengths. At that moment, the enemy's rifle subtly shifted toward Almond. A brief moment of silence passed.

Gulp.

Almond swallowed a dry mouthful and took a breath. The enemy did the same. He could see intense conflict in WhiteChicken's eyes. However, the conflict was merely brushed by. It didn't linger for long. Almond's eyes gleamed fiercely.

WhiteChicken shouted to the support, "It's a kill! Run!"

Chuk.

].

At the same time, the gun resting on his shoulder turned and faced Almond. The trigger was pulled.

'He bit the bait.'

Almond focused and entered a state of intense concentration. It was the same feeling he had experienced in Fantasia's survival game. The sound of the wind, Tako's shouting, everything began to play in slow motion. Brilliant sparks gradually emerged from the muzzle of the enemy's gun.

Taa─

Aaaah─

The trail of red gunpowder stretched out. The sparks pushed aside the lead, and the bullet pierced through the air. All the firepower converged into a single point. It was Almond's eyes.

Within the pupil of Almond's eyes, a gleaming bullet was reflected. Almond exerted all his strength and tensed his waist. His body tilted sharply to the right.

── Aaaang!

The deafening sound erupted at a high speed.

Thud!

A red line appeared on his left cheekbone.

"!?"

The gunner's first shot missed. WhiteChicken's eyes widened in disbelief.

'He dodged the bullet?!'

The gunner didn't miss. He fired exactly towards Almond's head, but Almond evaded it.

Almond didn't even predict the bullet. He dodged it by sight. It was an unbelievable reaction.

'Perfect.'

Thump!

Almond came back to his senses. He quickly aimed his finger at his opponent and fired the mana he collected.

[Discharge]

A white light shot out from the tip of his finger.

Paaang!

The white energy pierced through the air.

Baam!

A white explosion burst at the gunner's head. His waist snapped back and his body staggered. Ran's full-charge attack had tremendous destructive power. Once hit, one would momentarily lose balance. Taking advantage of that opportunity, Almond escaped from the enemies' range. The ring of light thrown by the enemy's supporter futilely cut through the air and disappeared.

Clang!

Tako was also ready to counterattack with his gun.

Almond had already gone far away.

"Good job!" Tako shouted. "That's right. You figured it out well. You found the solution."

"Yes."

"If we repeat that, we have hope."

Almond cut 25% of the enemy’s HP. In theory, he could kill him if he could do this four more times.

'It's not easy.'

Was it because the opponent was Grandmaster?

'They said players were different starting from Grandmaster.'

It wasn't anything like before to get a kill against the ADC. He was pressing on, but the enemy was fighting back strong.

"It's a lot more difficult than anything else I've faced."

Tako nodded as if that was obvious.

"Of course, it won't be easy to get a kill. Play it slowly."

‘Slowly?’

Almond checked the minimap. The mid and top were about to die again.

"But.. he took the bait pretty easily."

Almond wanted to resolve it quickly. Once again, he exposed himself as bait, stepped forward, and moved into WhiteChicken's range. Their eyes met. The corners of Almond's mouth curled up. It was a provocation as if to say,

‘You can't hit me anyway.’

"!"

Then he started reacting.

When WhiteChicken turned his gun and stepped forward, Almond saw that the enemy support was out of place.

"A kill..."

This time, Almond was confident in getting a kill.