Chapter 203. The Calm Before The Storm (1)

Tadadadak!

BlackTea got shivers down her spine as she heard footsteps behind her.

"What the—! How's he so fast!?"

— LOL! Look at how many stacks he has.

— Four-stack chakra...

— Ask ChocoShroom…

Every time Almond killed ChocoShroom, he gained a stack of Ninja's Instinct. Almond's ninja, already fast to begin with, was now 40% faster than a normal ninja. No matter how skillful a player was, it was difficult to deal with that speed.

Swiff.

A light shone as the sword unsheathed.

Chaaak!

Lemon fell back as crimson blood shot up and covered her sight.

'She's dead?'

[Ally has been slain!]

The announcement answered her question.

'What the fuck? He can control that insane speed?'

The speed and accuracy were mind-boggling.

Creak…

Even while complaining, BlackTea pulled her bowstring. Her eyes eagerly followed Almond's movements. She kept her eyes open to not lose sight of his movements.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Paat.

At that moment, everything slowed down.

Pang...!

The arrow flew toward Almond's expected path as she released it from her bow.

'Bullseye.'

The Frost Archer was the perfect counter for a nimble assassin champion like him. If their lower body became frozen, there was nothing they could do. The arrow was flying perfectly toward Almond's legs, and the next one immediately followed suit.

Pang!

It shot perfectly toward where Almond’s other foot would land. Two arrows would consecutively land on Almond's legs, freezing him and causing him to fall.

"?"

However, something unexpected was unfolding before her.

Kagagagang!

'He deflected that?!'

Almond had deflected the arrow.

There was a limit to how much a player could deflect using a sword. It was an unbelievable reaction speed. He wasn't that quick earlier either.

'He changed his hand.'

The blade he had held with his left hand was now in his right. Was it because of that?

Just then, Almond stomped the ground and accelerated.

Slam!

The ground split as Almond's figure headed straight for BlackTea.

Swooosh!

'He's too fast.'

The speed was way beyond BlackTea's expectations. Almond already had 50% chakra, which meant his ninja was 50% quicker. BlackTea quickly readied her bow again.

Pang!

[Chakra Release Mode]

This time, Almond stretched his hand and used his chakra to deflect the arrow. The speed of the discharged chakra was the same as the speed of the arrow flying toward him. Almond was quick as an arrow.

A mighty gust of wind fluttered past BlackTea.

Chaaaak!

The blade cut through a chunk of her vitals. BlackTea lost her balance.

It was devastating.

'What the...?'

It wasn't just the opponent's speed.

'Why can’t I dodge it?'

She tried dodging the slash through the frames, but it didn't work. To be precise, he knew where she was dodging toward.

'He read my movements.'

Almond could read BlackTea's movements long ago. He had hit her three times in the previous game.

'So that wasn't a coincidence.'

She thought it was a coincidence because anyone could take a guess at where the opponent would be and shoot there. However, the current situation was different. Unlike the bow, a blade only gave the player one chance to get it right, and Almond had pointed his blade to the left with no hesitation. It was impossible to do so unless he was sure of it.

'What's going on? Did he study me or something?'

She got goosebumps and felt naked. Meanwhile, Almond was proud of himself.

'It's useful.'

Diligently studying BlackTea paid off. While thinking that, Almond set his foot once more to slash again. BlackTea took off as well, trying to dodge Almond's attack.

"Again...!?"

However, he saw through her again. Habits were terrifying.

The shining silver blade brushed her chin. A red silhouette shone and was reflected on the blade.

Chak!

[HP 5%]

She lost almost all of her HP.

'Damn it!'

The blade slashed her once again. If she was hit one more time, it would be over.

Swoosh!

BlackTea clenched her teeth. She had to overcome her habits and find another way to dodge.

Shshsk…!

Her back bent and she was barely able to dodge the blade.

'I dodged it this time!'

“Puha!” she tried to catch her breath and jumped.

[Hey! I'm going to die! When are you going to get here?!]

[I'm almost there! Just wait...!]

[He's almost caught up...]

She kept shooting her arrows back as she ran away while calling for the jungler.

Pang! Pang! Pang!

Despite shooting while retreating, her shots were clean, and four or five arrows cut through the air.

'Don't come near me!'

Even if they were being deflected, she could buy some time. However, the enemy was too quick.

Swooosh!

Almond's silhouette suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her path. BlackTea turned red as she saw him.

Almond’s mouth widened into a smile.

"Gotcha."

Thwack!

The blade pierced through her heart.

[Dead]

Thud.

BlackTea's world turned upside down. She looked up at Almond's frozen right arm. There were several arrows embedded in it.

'Ah...'

He had sacrificed an arm, using it as a shield while running toward her.

'He blocked everything with one arm.'

Almond was ready to die.

"BlackTea!!!"

Afterward, the jungler came and whacked Almond on the head.

Thwack—

Almond flew away and died on the spot. However, BlackTea could instinctively tell.

'Let's not take a look at the online forums for a little while.'

This game was over.

***

[Victory]

The enemy team surrendered as the game hit the 20 minute mark. Red Carpets vs. Balloon Stars ended with a 0:2 victory for Balloon Stars. Despite the overwhelming victory, Tako's feedback continued for a long time. It was already 9 P.M. when Almond came out of the capsule machine after their feedback session.

Chiik—

"Phew."

It had been a while since he had come out of the capsule drenched in sweat.

"Good work."

Ju-Hyeok tossed him a white towel.

Sang-Hyeon wiped himself lightly and cleaned the inside of the capsule. He could feel the towel getting wet.

'Is this because I used both hands today?'

Because of how formidable the opponent was, Almond had no choice but to give it his entire focus.

He removed his wet t-shirt, threw it in the laundry, and asked Ju-Hyeok, "How are the reactions today?"

He had beaten a Challenger player today despite it being a practice match. Almond would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about what people thought of it. Instead of replying, Ju-Hyeok gave him a thumbs-up in response.

"Very good! They're talking about you a lot."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you've been practicing a lot. It's paid off."

Intrigued, Sang-Hyeon went to the monitor to look for himself. Ju-Hyeok searched for Almond and passed the seat to him.

"... Wow."

Sang-Hyeon turned wide-eyed as he saw the overwhelming attention.

"Is this really LIL Pro?"

"Yeah."

Sang-Hyeon was in disbelief. It was the first time he had received such attention in LIL Pro.

"Take a look at this."

Ju-Hyeok pointed at a corner of the window.

5) Almond

It was one of the top searches on LIL Pro. Almond was fifth on the list.

***

Balloon Stars and Red Carpets. When the two teams were compared, it wasn't odd for either team to win. Red Carpets' bottom lane was strong, but their other lanes were terrible. Balloon Stars was unpredictable, given that a Silver player took over StrawberryShooter's position.

It was hard to say who would win. Hence, LIL Pro was divided in two.

[I knew Balloon Stars would win]

[Anyone with a brain would know Red Carpets would've won]

[Fact: Only noobs like Almond]

In the end, Balloon Stars emerged victorious. Because of the sub-positions, there was more interest for round 2 than round 1.

[They actually put Almond mid?]

[Almond playing mid with a champion he's playing for the first time?]

[Wow. This game probably affected their mentality]

[Playing as the ninja nonetheless]

On top of picking a champion for the first time, Almond picked the Storm Ninja, which made it the perfect story.

— ChocoShroom got fucked.

— This bad?

— Wow...

— Ninja's Instinct! How many stacks are you going to give him!?

— Almond as the ninja was so good.

Despite picking a new champion, he was able to overwhelm the opponent from the beginning and win the game.

— Did they really win this???

— I can't believe she lost to a first-time ninja.

— ChocoShroom, you should just quit…

They were mostly making fun of the opponent.

[Analyzing Almond's ninja play]

[Almond's ninja dodging through the frames]

[Almond sealing his powers in his right arm]

However, as his play analysis started to emerge, the public started changing their opinions.

— Wow. Look at him dodging BlackTea's frozen arrows using the frames. That's crazy.

— He changes chakra modes super quick too.

— His accuracy with the blade using the right hand is crazy too.

— The energy is being unsealed! Seal it back!

Several people refused to admit a Silver player's ninja skills, but the public started changing their opinion. As for his plays with Raina, there were only positive comments about it.

[Almond's perfect movements as Raina]

[Raina dodging Ran's damage or knockback by choice]

[Almond's perfect frame dodges using Raina]

Several posts like that came up, as did several comments on it.

— Wow. So he's able to dodge the damage or knockback by choice???

└ How is that possible???

└ There's a 0.01 second opening between the knockback and the damage.

└ 0.01 seconds? Are you sure it's not 0.1 seconds?

— No wonder he was so good. No, the ninja. He can move like that! I wonder how good he'll get once he gets used to the champion...

— You have my permission to take Raina's hand for marriage!

└ Who are you to decide that...

└ You're from the Damien Association, right?

Around 60% of the people admitted that Almond's ninja plays were impressive, but almost 90% recognized his Raina skills.

— Raina is now Almond's.

└ She was Almond's a long time ago...

└ He took her lips...

└ You have to take care of her!

— I thought he'd be rusty on her because it had been a while... But they're basically one...

└ They're basically one…?

└ LOL

— Raina, I admit. The ninja? I'm not so sure.

— We're living in Almond's age right now!

“Pfft.”

Sang-Hyeon couldn't help but laugh after seeing the community comments. Around ten years ago, people told him that Yu Sang-Hyeon’s time would come. It was their small archery community, but it was enough to resonate with Sang-Hyeon.

"Almond's age..."

They were telling him that it was now Almond's time. Yu Sang-Hyeon's time, unfortunately, slipped by. However, he didn't want to let go of Almond's. He didn't want to lose this opportunity. As he fell asleep, he was determined. In his dreams that night, So-Yeon reached out and grabbed his hand.

[It's alright.]

Sang-Hyeon smiled in his sleep.

***

After some time, all the practice matches ended. It was one day before the tournament.

"Alright. Tomorrow is the official day for the in-house tournaments, right?"

OrangeKing was in a suit. As always, the analyst with the red glasses sat beside him.

"That's right. But before that, we should go over a couple of things."

"Yes. There have been some significant changes in the power rankings, correct?"

OrangeKing pointed at the chart in the corner of his screen.

"Let's introduce the team that changed the most."

All 16 teams were on the list, but OrangeKing pointed at the team in the middle.

[7th] [Balloon Stars]

Balloon Stars started off as 15th, but now they were 7th.

"It's Balloon Stars!"

"Wow. How many ranks have they climbed?"

"8 ranks? Then they beat out almost half the teams."

Their win-loss ratio was 13:5 during their practice matches. It was an impressive result compared to what they had expected.

"We should take a look at their main player as well."

"This player is seen differently now."

"He's risen to the Diamond rank during his practice season. Of course, he's seen differently now."

"I agree. Should we take a look?"

[Player to look out for]

Nickname: Almond (Lazy Soldier)

Rating: S

Tier: Silver (Currently Diamond)

As expected, the center of attention for Balloon Stars was Almond. He was vastly different from when they had started practicing.