Chapter 256. The Only Pick (2)

After the players completed their blind picks, the casters talked about their choices. They didn’t have enough time to discuss each one individually with ten picks all decided at once.

They only went over a few important picks, with the noteworthy Raina definitely among them.

"Wow! He picked Raina!?"

"Yes! We all expected Flashy Blade! But Raina!? Analyst, what do you think?"

The analyst took a moment to look over the picks on both sides.

"Firstly, predicting anything from a blind pick is extremely difficult. You really have to look at the outcome."

"Ah, yes! Blind picks are really hard to predict! There's honestly a lot of luck involved too!"

"If we look at the outcome... Fortunately, SweetRadish picked Storm Ninja instead of Flashy Blade," OrangeKing chimed in.

"True! Even if Almond is good with Flashy Blade, it would be really tough if SweetRadish brings in Storm Ninja! Almond struggled against Wind Sword earlier, didn't he?"

Storm Ninja was a classic counter to Flashy Blade and had many advantages over him in battle.

"But! I still think High Protein's picks were better!"

OrangeKing seemed to have something specific in mind.

"Oh? Why?"

"Mid laner Raina! Almond's Raina is incredible, but as a mid-laner... I don't really know..."

The analyst nodded in agreement. Even if Almond was good with Raina, she was fundamentally an ADC. She shined best in the bottom lane with a supporter. Deviating from this norm could be detrimental to the game.

"As is the case with all ADCs, they can't really do anything alone. But mid is a lane where you have to single-handedly make plays!"

"That's true! Playmaking is a huge factor!"

"Yes. I'm not sure if Raina can do that. What’s exciting though is that Almond is using her for the first time! She's always been banned so far!"

"Yes, that's right! It's really hard to see Almond with a bow these days."

"Yes! Raina or Sana, even Frost Archer is a true archer! Frost Archer couldn't be picked because his skills were useless in the mid lane. Sana and Raina kept being banned until now!"

"That's right~ I'm really excited about Almond's first archer champion so far. There’s one more pick to talk about, right?"

OrangeKing pointed at the top laner in High Protein's picks.

"It's Valkyrie! She finally appeared!"

"Ah, yes! That's right! That was a really difficult pick!"

— Booooo...

— Ugh. Disgusting.

— Disgusting!

When Valkyrie was called, jeers poured from the audience.

The reaction in the chat was similar.

— They brought out that filthy champion.

— When will they nerf her?

— That thing finally crawled out, LOL.

"Did you see the reaction? Everyone isn’t sparing their high praise!"

"That must mean that everyone acknowledges Valkyrie as an OP champion!"

"Yes! That's correct. On the other hand, Bubblegum from BalloonStars had no choice but to bring out Iron Ball because of the skill gap."

"Oh..."

A sigh naturally came out.

Iron Ball's capabilities were really insignificant compared to Valkyrie.

However, skill wasn't the only thing that mattered in LIL. One-tricks could create variables under any circumstances.

"Of course! Since Bubblegum is also a one-trick with Iron Ball! He might show something else today!"

"Yes! He always showed something when the time came!"

— Are they joking? Lol

— That's also a joke.

— When Gum does it, he does it!

— Gum! Gum! Gum!

"Finally! The wait is over!"

"The long-awaited fifth game! Let's watch it together!"

***

The fifth game started.

Whoosh.

Five summoners arrived on the battlefield. Even if they were skilled, they would inevitably feel some tension in this last game.

'... It's quiet.'

First, Almond noticed that his usually talkative members had become rather quiet. Even the audience was dead silent.

Almond didn't pay much attention to it though. He already trained himself to the point where external factors didn't influence his internal state much.

Creak.

He focused on pulling his bow, Damien, and recalled the familiar feeling.

'Good.'

Satisfied, he immediately bought some items and ran to the mid-lane.

As always, he mulled over the enemy mid-lane pick.

'Storm Ninja...'

Storm Ninja was strong in the early game. However, he couldn't compare to Raina in a Level 1 fight. Storm Ninja's only skills at Level 1 were Chakra Control and the passive, Ninja's Instinct. No one would die from just these two skills unless they were Silver rank.

That meant Raina had the advantage. To be exact, she only had the advantage at Level 1. At Levels 2 and 3, she would be at a disadvantage again. Then at Level 4, Raina would gain the upper hand. However, Almond had no intention of waiting until Level 4 without doing anything.

[Hmm. The opponent is... Haruki. Looks like it's going to be a competitive fight.]

It seemed that Raina thought the same.

'Same here. That's what I'm gonna do.'

***

"Man, it's really a mud-fight when it comes to the fifth game. I've been in a fifth game in the finals against JeonJaPa before, remember?!"

While the players moved to their respective positions, OrangeKing told stories about his past.

— TMI: OrangeKing lost in the finals to JeonJaPa after suffering five consecutive losses. That was JeonJaPa's debut year.

— TMI: It wasn't OrangeKing who made it to the fifth game. It was Lime, the mid-laner at the time who played well.

"By then, you really have no tactics or strategies left! You've used them all!"

"That's right! Nobody plans for a fifth game! Of course, you’ve used everything before that!"

"Yes! From here on out, it's like using innate energy in martial arts, right? So when it goes to a fifth game, even JeonJaPa starts missing minions!"

"Wait, you’re not supposed to use that skill?!"

"That's why you shouldn't go to a fifth game!"

— TMI: Using innate energy drains your life force.

— What are they talking about? Lol.

— ??? If he played well, it wouldn't have gone to a fifth game!

— Innate energy, lol.

"In short, it's a battle of mental strength. Like Korean soccer."

— OrangeKing is still carrying, lol.

— OrangeKing! Players have feelings even in fake soccer!

— ??? Why does our country always fight with mental strength? Do we lack physical strength to begin with?

— Baseball lacks everything!

— Lololol.

— We’re good at soccer now...!

"No, please don't misunderstand! I'm not saying it in a bad way. It means they have strong mental strength...!"

OrangeKing, who was laughing and talking, suddenly changed to a serious expression.

"Wait, what?"

His eyes were directed toward the mid lane.

"Is this... déjà vu?"

"What, what is it?"

Even the caster hurriedly shifted his gaze to the mid lane.

"Look at that! Isn't that what we saw in the first game? But only the teams have changed!"

— ??

— Wow, that Almond nut really has some taste.

— Lol.

— Are they mirroring each other or something?

In the middle of the mid lane, Almond was meditating with his eyes closed. This was the strategy that SweetRadish used in the first game. Almond implemented it exactly the same in this game.

"This is a clear provocation! Come out and fight!"

"Wow! It's already fun from the start!"

— He really can't act, lol.

— Obviously, he's super conscious of the front, lol.

— He's so cute!

— Nah, he's concentrating too much when he's supposed to be meditating.

"Ah, of course! It's obvious! He's not being careless right now!"

"Yes! That's why it's even more infuriating. Provoking him with such poor acting skills? SweetRadish will get upset!"

That was certainly true. SweetRadish kept glancing at Almond even though he pretended he wasn't.

— Is he going to charge in toward Almond? Lol!

— Is SweetRadish really angry? Lol

— Nuts have a talent for pissing people off

— The VNS stat was actually fake~

SweetRadish subtly headed toward Almond.

"Ah? SweetRadish! He started moving?"

"Look!"

"...?"

— Wow...

— Lol A coward of cowards.

— Flying over the running guy lol

— Is he really doing this at level 1?

"No, Daechu! Why are you in the mid lane?"

"It looks like a light invasion, I guess?"

An invasion meant entering the enemy's territory at level one to secure a kill for an advantage. Usually, players invaded through the jungle. A light invasion was when the supporter worked with the mid laner.

— Ex-pro kid... Is he trying to invade a streamer?

— This is really annoying

— It seems like he'll fall for it?

"No matter how prophetic Tako is, he couldn't have predicted this?"

"I don't think he'd think the supporter would go to the mid lane just to kill Almond at level one?"

"Almond also seems to have no idea!"

The casters were mostly correct, but there was one thing they didn't know.

"SweetRadish charges in!"

"Daechu jumps out from the bushes! It’s a trap?"

Almond thought it wouldn't matter if more enemies showed up. His eyes snapped open.

He dodged the ambush.

"Almond dodged it!"

Almond aimed his bow at the enemy.

Creak...!

"Is he really fighting them!?"

A blue arrow flew out instantaneously.

Bang!

[Three Hit Combo!]

Everything happened at a crazy speed.

— Wait, what?

— What's this?

— Why does it seem faster?

[Mana Explosion]

Swoosh!

Blue flames immediately burst on the opponent.

Meanwhile, Storm Ninja rushed in.

"SweetRadish is joining in!"

Thud!

The Storm Ninja's dagger pierced Almond's abdomen while the blade slashed his shoulder.

[LazySoldier]

[HP: 62%]

Almond suffered significant damage, but he didn’t think it shifted the tides and switched places.

Ta-dat!

Their positions switched. Due to the inertia from the chakra acceleration, Storm Ninja went past his target.

"Their positions have changed! What is this movement?!"

SweetRadish immediately switched to the suction chakra to control the inertia, but his feet slid even further as he applied the brakes.

Creak!

Almond already naturally drew his bowstring. His arrow would never miss.

Thump!

Four targets vanished in an instant.

[7 Hit Combo!]

Swoosh!

[Mana Explosion]

A blue flame engulfed SweetRadish.

[SweetRadish]

[HP: 54%]

"It's suddenly a seven-hit combo!"

"A seven-hit combo at Level 1 is a nightmare in terms of damage!"

Even if Raina attacked other champions, the combo would continue to accumulate hits as long as she never missed a target. As the combo stacked, the damage of both Raina's arrows and mana explosions would increase. Theoretically, no champion could survive a twenty-four-hit combo.

"Here comes another attack from Daechu!"

The supporter rushed in, but it was a mistake.

Almond seemed to have been waiting and drew his bow again.

Thump!

[12 Hit Combo!]

The supporter only served as a combo generator.

"What is this? Did he... did he die!?"

As OrangeKing's strained voice suggested, the supporter rushed in and died.

[First Blood!]

[LazySoldier → Daechu]

— Woahhhh!!!

A roar erupted from the crowd. Almond's Raina was overwhelmingly fast and precise, even more so than previously known.

"What is this?! How has he gotten even better?"

"Exactly!"

The seemingly more powerful Almond aimed his bow at SweetRadish.

SweetRadish was already rushing toward Almond.

'Just dodge once.'

SweetRadish calculated that he would win if he dodged just one arrow. Then, the combo would be broken.

Swoosh—

An arrow flew.

Sweet Radish concentrated to his utmost, intending to deflect it with his sword.

Clang!

He deflected the arrow off the sword.

'Done…'

[Mana Explosion]

Swoosh!

However, a blue flame obscured his vision.

'What?'

Before he realized it, all the targets on him had exploded.

The arrow he deflected was merely the last one to fly. Four more had already been shot.

Thud!

A late, heavy impact struck him.

[16 Hit Combo!]

He felt the might of sixteen arrows. Although SweetRadish had deflected one arrow, four more struck him.

[LazySoldier Double Kill!]

[LazySoldier → SweetRadish]