Chapter 253. We Were Not Wrong (2)

The casters got excited and shouted when Flashy Blade reappeared.

"No way, they didn't ban him?"

"And they're sticking with their initial picks!?"

The caster looked surprised and asked the analyst for an explanation.

"It's nice for us to see Almond's Flashy Blade again... but is this okay? Storm Ninja is banned, so who will be used to counter him?"

The classic hard counter, Storm Ninja, was still banned even though High Protein had intentionally given up Flashy Blade.

The casters and viewers couldn’t comprehend it.

— Why didn't they ban Flashy Blade?

— They must have a plan.

— Flashy Blade wasn't powerful enough to ban. They can't just ban him because Almond showed off one super play.

— Do you guys really think they should just ban the champions they don't like? WTF.

The viewers expressed divided opinions. Some questioned why High Protein didn’t ban Flash Blade. Others argued that banning him just because he worked out once would undermine the whole ban-pick system.

The casters sided with the second opinion.

"I think I know what High Protein is thinking! This is common in professional games!"

"What, what is it?!"

"You're picking Flashy Blade? It's no big deal. They think they just lost unexpectedly earlier! In other words, they believe that they didn't make an error and the first set was simply a mistake!"

Indeed, the first set wasn't a total defeat. There had been moments when the game could have turned around. They simply lost because they couldn't stop the powerful Flashy Blade in the late game.

Was there really a reason to ban him? By professional standards, the answer was no.

"If you ban him just because of one super play, the whole ban-pick system gets messed up! One reason they allowed it is precisely because they knew the opponent would definitely pick Flashy Blade!"

"Ah, is that so? That could be the reason why they didn't ban him?"

"Of course! Usually, you can't strategize because you don't know what the opponent will pick. What if it's obvious though? Why bother banning it then? Otherwise, another unpredictable champion may come up!"

"Wow! I get it! You can counter the champion if you already know! Folks, they lost the first set because they didn't know!"

"Exactly!" OrangeKing nodded and suddenly slammed the table. "And!"

He pointed at SweetRadish and passionately spoke, "SweetRadish is human too! As a professional player! As a challenger! His pride must have been hurt!"

There was a reason for OrangeKing's sudden comments. It was because High Protein's pick for the mid-lane had just been confirmed.

[Wind Sword - Seiko]

Boom!

Seiko landed with a flashy gust of wind.

"He must want to fight again!"

— Sword vs. Blade Revenge!

— WOW.

— Holy shit! Is this going to be a revenge match?

— LOL.

— We weren’t wrong!

— Let's go, Team We Weren’t Wrong!

"Damn, look at all those comments in the chat!"

High Protein finished their picks.

— Wow, they're crazy af.

— Are they really doing this again?

— Literally?

— This is the true We Were Not Wrong team!

— Showing too much pride, OMG.

"Woah~" OrangeKing exclaimed in awe.

"Wow, is it a complete rematch?"

Both teams picked the same champions.

"Apparently, High Protein thinks they were just unlucky in the first set! Balloon Stars seems to be saying, 'It's not luck. It's your skills!’"

"This is interesting! We've seen this sometimes in LCK or Worlds, haven't we?"

"Yes. Strong teams will usually say, 'There's nothing wrong with our ban-picks! We just made mistakes in our play!' This kind of feedback usually comes after the match."

"In reality, there have been many cases where the results were different, right?"

"Of course, there have been many cases where the ban picks remained the same, but the outcome changed."

Ban picks were just a way to set the stage. The most important thing was how they played within that framework.

— But I think that Flashy Blade is too OP.

— I like how I get to watch another game with Flashy Blade.

— Flashy Blade is overrated just because he got first blood. It’ll be different this round.

Both teams finished their picks, and the casters had nothing more to say. The teams chose the same picks as the previous round.

"There we go! They’ve finished their picks! Will SweetRadish's We Weren't Wrong Revenge Tour be successful? Let's find out in the second round!"

***

The game certainly flowed differently from the first one at the start.

First, no early skirmishes occurred because SweetRadish didn’t intentionally provoke one.

"It’s already different from the first game, isn't it? The flow is quite different!"

"Yes, the first game’s main event was definitely when Almond drew first blood in the mid lane. It's not happening now, right?"

Both sides focused on farming each other's minions, and a peaceful period followed.

This benefitted Almond, who needed to reach Level 6.

However, High Protein wasn't planning for it to go smoothly.

"Huh? SweetPotato's movements seem unusual. Do you see?"

"Why is he there?"

Junglers usually took the most efficient path to kill monsters. Only a few variations of the most efficient path existed. Therefore, the movement of junglers could often easily be predicted.

Casters watching from a third-person perspective could make predictions even easier.

However, SweetPotato was moving along a completely different path.

"Is he going to kill Almond without caring about optimizing his play?!"

SweetPotato ran toward the mid lane.

"SweetPotato is slowly approaching!"

"Almond doesn't know yet!"

"SweetRadish is standing still. He suddenly moved forward! Almond should notice right away!"

[Whirlwind]

Bang!

Wind Sword used his Whirlwind.

Almond would’ve usually just dodged it by jumping, but he felt something odd and quickly threw his blade back.

"Almond noticed! Will he be able to escape..."

Then, he instantly flashed away.

Pop!

Almond arrived at the completely wrong place.

"What!?"

"Wow! SweetPotato!"

The blade pierced SweetPotato in the Beast's flank, but his body also pinned Flashy Blade.

"Is this an all-out attack!?"

"There's no way to escape now!"

"Almond! It’s do or die! He’s just hitting him!"

Almond decided it was better to kill the Beast and started attacking.

Clash!

Their claws and blades slashed and stabbed at each other. Almond successfully dodged several of his attacks.

"But why is he so strong in the middle of this...!?"

"They're really fighting their asses off!"

[SweetPotato]

[HP: 73%]

The situation was odd because SweetPotato initiated the ambush, but had lower health.

"Wait until SweetRadish joins!"

Wind Sword joined from behind and stabbed Almond in the back.

Thud!

Almond's health dropped to below half. He moved to the left, adjusting his position, and pointed his blade at them.

Clash!

Almond blocked the charging Beast's claws.

Clang!!

He also deflected the thrust from Wind Sword.

The Beast attempted to pounce on him, but Almond easily dodged and countered with his blade.

Clang!

With a determined look, SweetRadish slashed the air toward Almond as if cutting fresh vegetables with both hands. His sword energy began to speed up.

Clang! Clash! Clang!

Sparks flew like welding metal.

Almond's health gradually decreased from countless attacks of Sweet Radish and the Beast.

"Flash will be ready soon!?"

The Flash cooldown went from four seconds to almost zero.

"It'll be a big problem if they don't catch him! SweetPotato invested a lot in this!"

"Ah, Almond is going to get caught!"

[First Blood!]

[SweetPotato → LazySoldier]

Finally, Almond fell to the ground.

"Phew! They caught him!"

"But was it supposed to be this hard to catch him? It's a bit concerning, isn't it?"

— Is this a raid or what...

— He blocked that much with the blade.

— Huh... if Almond didn't make a mistake on his Flash, he would've killed one of them instead.

— Is it easier to block because the blade is faster?

Even though they caught Almond from behind and the Level 2 gank ambush went perfectly, High Protein almost lost against Almond.

"He wasn't just lucky in the first game with Flashy Blade! How did he endure that for so long?"

"Yes, his blade mastery is no joke! Of course, he's still lacking compared to SweetRadish, but his reaction speed is insane!"

"Anyway! To summarize, SweetRadish successfully took revenge. The result is what’s most important, right?"

— Anyway, it was a success, lol.

— Well, they did kill Almond, lol.

— The game is flowing well.

"And! It felt like this kill was deliberately passed to SweetPotato."

OrangeKing's suspicion was correct. SweetRadish's strategy for this game was to invest heavily in SweetPotato.

"He went that far at Level 2. A reward seems like a given. SweetPotato's movements are looking unusual again, aren't they?"

SweetPotato started approaching different lanes with a different route again.

Alerts came one after another.

[An ally has been slain!]

[AcornJelly → Bubblegum]

[An ally has been slain!]

[WhiteChicken → Miho]

If SweetPotato went to the top, the top ally died. If he went to the bottom, the bottom ally died.

Even Almond, who already died once, couldn’t turn things around.

It went completely different from the first game.

"Ah, all their lanes are at a disadvantage."

"It was the same in the first game, too."

"But Almond did well in the first game!"

"That's correct. He made a huge difference."

Reaching Level 6 early was the best thing Almond did in the first game. He barely did anything from levels two to five.

SweetRadish and SweetPotato exploited this weakness and demolished the other lanes.

[An ally has been slain!]

[The enemy is rampaging!]

[SweetPotato is dominating!]

"Ah...! Another death!?"

"No, it's almost the same combination. How can the situation be so different!?"

"Bubblegum is on his third death! They can't let their guard down!"

— OMG, lol. I guess the We Were Not Wrong revenge is turning out well

— What will happen with the ban picks if they lose like this?

— Please, Bubblegum, do something!

— This is Bubblegum's best I guess...

Players couldn't defend the tower if they died three times.

[The tower has been destroyed!]

"Ah...! They even got the first tower! This is going to make a big difference..."

The early flow of the game lost nearly all hope.

If there was any hope left, it was that.

"Still, somehow the mid-tower survived, right!?"

"Yes, we'll safely get Almond to Level 6 no matter what happens! That's Tako's will!"

Their last hope was Almond reaching Level 6.

"If Almond makes another super play at Level 6, no one can predict the final result!"

Meanwhile, Almond steadily gained experience and leveled up. Without any additional deaths, he would soon reach Level 6.

"This isn't something a player can handle alone!"

"That's right! But we can still hope!"

— Lol

— If hope fails, then whatever.

— Seriously, lol.

— This OrangeKing bastard, lol.

No matter how strong Almond was at Level 6, he couldn't simply turn around this situation like a wild card. If that were possible, the ban pick rate of Flashy Blade in the professional scene would be 100%.

"Real miracles happen sometimes, right!? We call them super plays."

"That's right. Balloon Stars must be holding on and hoping for that."

Giving up wasn’t an option even if it seemed impossible. The probability didn’t matter much as long as they still had one way. They had to do what needed to be done.

The result would decide whether it was possible or not.

'I’ve got this,' Almond repeated to himself as he neared level six.

"Finally! He’ll soon reach Level 6! Can he show us something?"

"Oh! But right now, five people are gathering in the mid lane to kill Almond! They want to kill him before he reaches Level 6! That’s what they're trying to do, right!?"

SweetRadish started approaching again. On the map, all four High Protein members ran toward the mid lane.

Almond already knew.

'Up to here...'

Just a few more minions, and he would level up.

He thrust his blade forward.

[Blade Art]

Blade Art traced a line through the minions.

Clink Clank!

It was far more efficient than hitting them one at a time with the blade. Moreover, he perfectly chose the path with only low-health minions.

[You've leveled up!]

He leveled up.

"Ohhh! Almond! He leveled up before High Protein arrived!? Now it’ll be easier to escape!"

Zing...!

A red light shone from the sky, and the blades slowly descended.

"SweetRadish is rushing toward him! He saw the two blades and wants Almond to use one of the Flash in advance!"

It wasn't just SweetRadish.

Champions sprang out from every direction except the rear.

Pa bat!

"SweetPotato is shouting that Almond won’t fool them twice!!"

Screech.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Almond spun his twin blades around his wrist as if letting them loose. Then, like a spinning top, his body rotated.

Swing!

Both blades flew out simultaneously toward the enemies.

"Almond!? He isn't running away! Instead, he’s counterattacking!?"

Almond judged that his team couldn't win the game if he ran away.

'I need to do it now.'

Bzzt!

His figure disappeared like lightning.