Chapter 221. New Card (1)

"Almond! Without hesitation, he picks Raina!"

"Ah~ Is this okay, GreenTea!?"

"Why didn't they ban her?"

The casters discussed why Raina wasn't banned because Almond's Raina was never left open ever since the tournament began. Of course, this was part of the reason why GreenTea didn’t ban her.

"Ah. I kind of understand where they're coming from. He must be rusty since he hasn't played Raina in a while, right? That's what they're thinking."

The caster nodded, "I get it. Even I've never seen Almond's Raina in action. I'm curious if she's as strong as the rumors say.

The caster only watched official games and had never witnessed the Raina that destroyed everyone in the scrim games.

"Yes. At least in the scrims, he was infamous for using her. Almond’s Raina was like the elite four, up there with ForeverAlone's Solia."

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"It was rated as high as ForeverAlone’s Solia!?"

"When he picked Raina, he destroyed everyone regardless of rank!"

"Then why did they leave her open!?"

"Like I said earlier, maybe they think it's a smart strategy. He's never played her since the tournament began. He hasn’t had any practice."

"Ah! Anyway!" the caster received a message from the staff. "From what I've heard, I hear Almond and Raina are quite close."

"Yes! He's famous for achieving three stars in Raina's story mode!"

— And her lips too...

— Don't even mention it...

— Raina's lips were stolen by Almond!

— Demian Club is going to lose their minds.

"They're that close! Won’t his rapport with her be affected since he hasn’t practiced her?"

"They're beyond rapport and well beyond a normal relationship," OrangeKing said with a sly smile.

— LOL! He's saying it like that to piss off her fans.

— What do you mean beyond a normal relationship?

— Give back our Raina! Give back our Raina!

The analyst changed the subject, "Anyways, GreenTea quickly picked the Biker. He must have a plan."

"That's right! Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth!"

"Ah! Then he must have a plan! Because he hasn't been punched yet!"

The audience laughed upon hearing OrangeKing and the caster.

Meanwhile, the analyst continued to explain and elaborate on their comments, "The Biker doesn't falter against Raina in close combat... and GreenTea also has three stars cleared for the Biker’s story mode. His shots will have knockback as well."

"Ah, that's right. The biker recently received a buff too, correct? Enemies will have a harder time dealing with the new changes."

"That's right. His passive Macho became stronger and his flying leather jacket skill synergizes well, making him tanky as an ADC..."

The casters explained GreenTea Bagging's strategy while news of Almond's Raina spread beyond the chatroom and into the communities.

[Big!] [Breaking News: Almond's Raina is unbanned.]

The post made it to Big Pro immediately and showed how much of an issue this was. More posts about it popped up...

[Almond's Raina released!]

[Demian Club is crying]

[How's the skill of the guy who stole Raina's lips?]

Several posts started to surface with several comments already. Among them was a comment similar to OrangeKing's prediction. It talked about how Almond could be rusty from his lack of practice with her.

— I don't think he'll live up to the hype.

— But for real. Is he still good with Raina?

└ I believe in Almond.

└ Raina, you forgot to log in.

— He's been practicing mid-champions a lot. Raina's going to get jealous.

└ I want to see Raina get jealous.

└ You're too serious, LOL

Aside from that, most conversations were filled with petty jealousy concerning the relationship between Almond and Raina along with speculations about GreenTea's dubious champion picks.

— Wow, a challenger player lost to someone wearing a bikini because he's never dated. Not only did Almond steal Raina's lips, but you're flirting with Miho too! I'm going to send a complaint email.

└ What do you mean he's flirting? All he did was take one photo with her.

└ Please touch some grass...

└ Where are you going to send the complaints?

— Freaking GreenTea. I bet he left Raina open just to get some attention.

— Wait, why did he leave Raina open? Is he an attention whore?

└ The frost archer must've bothered him more.

└ GreenTea always sucked at banning. It's probably just a mistake.

└ ADCs are usually pretty dumb. For example, Almond & BlackTea.

└ True!

└ Almond's not smart, but Peanut is different...

└ What multiverse is this...

└ Don't talk to the Almond cult members.

└ NutsPunk multiverse is crazy.

└ NutsPunk, LOL

└ Hahahaha.

It was discussed endlessly even in an online community far removed from the actual events. What would the real scene be like?

"Let the game begin!"

Just the sight of Raina walking out of the base had everyone screaming.

— Wowwwwwww!

— Raina! Raina! Raina!

— Marry me, Raina!

Of course, they also cheered for Almond.

— Almond! Almond! Almond!

— Give back Raina's kiss!

— Wowwww! Bro! Kill them all!

— Oppa, I'm dying!

As everyone cheered for Almond, GreenTea swallowed a dry gulp.

'All the attention naturally went away, huh?'

GreenTea was always sensitive to attention as a streamer. However, today's spotlight was entirely focused on Almond.

'Yet he's so calm.'

One would expect Almond to feel burdened with all that attention, but he showed no signs of that. He seemed even more relaxed than usual.

"Hey... can we pull this off?" a supporter hesitantly asked.

That ignited the wick of the tense GreenTea.

He shouted back, "You’re saying that even after seeing my rampage!? I'll show you why Raina is such a trash character!"

GreenTea went forward with those words.

"Hey, why are you going ahead already?"

"We have something to show too."

After making that claim... Snap! He moved closer to Almond and lowered his thumb. This was a clear, provocative gesture, and cheers erupted from GreenTea's side.

‘At last, a reaction,’ he thought. Feeling pleased with the appropriate attention, GreenTea met Almond's eyes and smiled leisurely.

However, Almond could clearly see GreenTea's underlying anxiety. ‘I've seen that kind of false relaxation before. I can tell genuine from fake,’ he thought.

"He doesn't seem too confident," Almond mused.

GreenTea must have prepared some strategy leaving Raina open, but he didn't seem too confident in the strategy itself.

"If I'm right..." Almond quickly calculated. "Shall I make about twenty?"

"Yes."

Snap!

He suddenly dashed out.

Raina's unique advantage was her inherent passive, which exhibited the greatest firepower at a low level. After landing a combo, early exchanges almost always ensured victory. GreenTea, with his thumb lowered, repeatedly crouched and stood. He quickly grabbed his shotgun when Almond rushed toward him.

"... What!? Damn!"

It was a master's reaction speed. However, two targets on his shoulders were already struck before he could pull the trigger.

Boom! Boom!

Three shots erupted, and his mana shield exploded.

Blue flames enveloped GreenTea. Although he quickly fired at Raina, his sudden counter was limited. Almond mostly avoided the buckshot by preemptively moving. Some pellets tore through his blue cloak, but no significant damage had been inflicted. GreenTea quickly aimed his shotgun again, but Almond's arrows were much faster.

[Boom!]

[4 hit combo!]

The blue mana attached to the arrows shone even brighter.

Boom! Boom!

[6 hit combo!]

The blue mana radiated an increasingly fierce light.

Raina fired three to four arrows for every shotgun blast, which was an incredible firing rate.

'Raina doesn't need to nock her arrows. That's the beauty of it."

Just pulling the bowstring like mad automatically shot arrows. In reality, the developers implemented this system to compensate for the difficulty of aiming. At least one would hit while shooting multiple arrows.

Pop-pop-pop!

[12 hit combo!]

For Almond, it turned out to be an excessive consideration. The rare experience felt satisfying.

[You're the most thrilling, after all.]

Raina said a line that the Demian Club would collectively riot against.

[First Blood!]

GreenTea's corpse fell...

Thud!

His shotgun fired into the sky after he fell and made a futile sound.

"Uh... What..."

GreenTea's supporters couldn't say anything after the situation rapidly unfolded. Even Tako couldn't react while standing far away.

"... Ah, yes. Something was buffed," Almond recalled the conversation he heard from Tako during the ban-pick phase.

The Biker received a buff, so they told him to be careful. He had forgotten about that. Almond guessed that it was a defense buff since 2-3 more arrows were needed.

“Woooaaahhhhhhhhhhh!”

Cheers erupted a beat late, unable to catch up with Almond's speed.

The subsequent game naturally became a highlight reel for Almond.

***

"Ahhh! Almond! Triple kill!?"

"That's insane! This is Almond's Raina!!"

"Don't you mean Almond AND Raina?! Multiple emails complaining are coming from the Demian Club!"

"Ah! I'm sorry! This is Almond AND Raina!"

"It's been a while since they cleaned up the bottom lane so well!"

GreenTea had been covered in blue flames the entire game.

[LazySoldier is unstoppable!]

[LazySoldier is legendary!]

"LazySoldier owns the battlefield! There's nothing they can do!"

"Ah! GreenTea! How is their voice chat right now?

"Pickle is probably yelling at him for his mistake!"

"Yes! Wait, was GreenTea the one who lost to the Silver player!?"

— LOL, the casters are so mean.

— Was GreenTea the one? LOL!

— Can't believe they're mentioning it.

— Wasn't it StrawberryShooter?

— I bet their team is in shambles.

— The team got into a fight before as well. It'd be a miracle if they don't disband.

[LazySoldier is legendary!]

The game announced Almond's achievements.

"Wow! Almond is legendary!"

"That's right! LazySoldier is legendary!"

Pung!

The bottom turret blew up only nine minutes in. The falling turret perfectly represented the current state of GreenTea's team. It didn't take long for their nexus to fall next.

"Well, we moved on to the second set in just 17 minutes."

Balloon Stars had secured victory in only 17 minutes. Their gameplay required no feedback. The team simply relaxed until the next ban-pick phase began.

"Ah, I have a feeling we'll get off work early today."

"Yes! I have a strong feeling about that too!"

The commentators thought the games would quickly end.

"If Almond can play Raina again!"

"Ah! But Raina is banned just as you say that!"

Raina was banned, but that didn’t shake up their team. It was to be expected.

Rather, Tako felt relaxed about their level of play and gave Almond a new command.

"Let's practice using mid-champions this time."

Tako felt this was an opportunity to expand Almond's champion pool.

Almond nodded and had something in mind as well.

[Spiritmaster - Melly]

Viewers had recommended this pick after he successfully controlled the wind champion last time.

Boom...!

A menacing purple light soared up.

[What's this? It seems fun, hehe.]

Just then, an ominous-looking girl appeared behind Almond, and thunderous cheers erupted from the audience.

Was the Spirit Sorcerer a popular character? No.

"Ah! This is a clear taunt!"

"Is this a shop pick? I can't believe we're actually seeing this!"

"He must have recalled GreenTea's tea-bagging just now! It's not like Almond to just let it go!"

"He's going to make them pay for that taunt!"

The champion had just been purchased from the shop.