Season 5: Chapter 50: The Enemy Within (3) |
Almond remembered something Coach Yang once said.
“Humans have a habit of voicing their anxiety, and anxiety is contagious.”
He’d been explaining the greatest enemy of an archer: anxiety.
“But everyone feels anxious. It’s human nature. That’s why, before an important match, it’s best to speak as little as possible. You…”
The coach looked at young Sang-Hyeon and nodded.
“At the very least, you already have that talent.”
Even as an adult, Sang-Hyeon wasn’t very talkative. As a child, it had been even more extreme. Unless they were in the same class, other kids never heard him speak. Archery was an individual sport that required no communication, which only reinforced his disposition.
Sang-Hyeon’s life had always been a fight against himself. His enemy was never the motionless target, but his own mind.
He already knew how to defeat himself. All he needed to do was close his mouth, do what needed to be done, and repeat. That was all.
“I’ll go with Raina.”
“This round, I’m taking Raina.”
“If I play Raina…”
After meeting Bubblegum, Almond had started talking more.
— LOL
— How many times are you gonna say it HAHA
— Only at times like this, Raina~ Raina~
— Raina hit the jackpot fr
— Raina and Bubblegum, eternal alliance
Almond knew how to defeat himself. He also knew how to defeat enemies.
‘How do you defeat allies?’
He’d never learned how to deal with allies. Even in the jungle-like stronghold of big corporations, all he’d learned was how to distinguish enemies pretending to be allies. He never had to fight an ally before.
Above all, this ally wanted to win too badly. How was he supposed to deal with that? Almond had experienced it during the LIL Tournament, but Bubblegum was still a towering obstacle. To overcome that, he believed he had to use his most familiar champion.
Without realizing it, Almond kept blurting out to his viewers, “If I just pick Raina…”
Up to that point, everything was fine.
— Huh?!
— Damn
— Raina!?
— What the?!
— She’s already over there???
However, Raina was already on the enemy team. This didn’t happen often.
“No, who the hell would even pick Raina…”
— LOL
— Straight to someone like Raina
— Raina is sad…
— LOL
Almond didn’t think Raina was a bad champion to pick. He actually thought she was quite strong, but he knew her reputation.
‘You rarely see her.’
Lots of people liked Raina, but hardly anyone actually played her. Suddenly, she was on the enemy team while Bubblegum and BornToB were on his side.
‘I have to decide.’
He had to make a decision immediately with no time to hesitate.
“Don’t contract. Guard the rune box.”
— ?
— Why though??
— If you don’t do it now, everyone dies~
— Legendary call
— ??? If I can’t have Raina… no one contracts!
— Not-so-Smart Young Man…
— ??
— What even is this?!
The viewers couldn’t understand, but Almond had already drawn the picture.
‘I’ll take BornToB’s dagger.’
The only pick that could carry this team wasn’t a ranged DPS. It had to be someone with carry potential and mastery on par with Raina.
‘Flashy Blade is the only option.’
BornToB possessed the dagger that he needed to contract Flashy Blade. Almond stayed calm, continued firing arrows, and responding as he waited.
Fwoosh!
Several arrows struck the enemy DPS.
Boom!
Then, BornToB went down.
[An ally has fallen!]
[AgainAgain → BornToB]
The enemy probably thought it was a favorable trade. Their DPS lost some health, but they had killed one enemy.
Almond thought the same. “Big win.”
— ?
— ???
— ?
— LOL
— Big win?!
— So you’re saying it’s better without him!?
“Gum! Forward!”
“Huh!?”
Almond shoved Bubblegum from behind.
Pop!
He leaped in and swapped his bow for a blade.
Boom!
[An ally has been slain!]
[Zelo → Bubblegum]
— LOOOOL
— No way
— Master of using Bubblegum!
— Forward! (Die.)
After sacrificing two allies, Almond reached for the rune box. He chose one of the three cards.
‘There it is.’
[Flashy Blade – Swift]
Wooooong!
Light poured down as he was bestowed Swift’s blade. It bore the skin earned from a three-star clear.
“A familiar battlefield. Should be fun to run wild,” Swift said.
Almond gripped the dagger and immediately threw it.
Whish!
He locked onto an enemy DPS. They weren’t a contractor like Zelo, but a standard ADC. Normally, that player would be protected within the formation.
‘But right now…’
They believed Almond’s side had no contractor and pressed the attack aggressively. That always created openings. Swift’s thrown dagger drew no attention as it flew toward the enemy DPS. Almond leaped and twisted in midair.
[Flash]
Crackle!
Maintaining his rotation, Almond warped. Only then did they notice him.
“Huh!?”
“F-Flashy Blade!”
Whirr!
Almond appeared before the DPS, spinning.
[Spinning Slash]
[Passive: Spinning while slashing increases damage by 12%. Stacks per rotation, up to 3 times. Resets on hit.]
This passive, increasing damage by a certain percentage with each rotation, was the core of Flashy Blade’s DPS.
Hwoong!
Almond swung with two stacks already built.
[Damage increased by 24%]
The enemy damage dealer, AgainAgain, misjudged the distance.
‘I’m fine. It’s too far and won’t hit.’
Instead of retreating, he raised his gun. Good DPS players always tried to squeeze in damage whenever possible, but bad DPS players shared another trait: forgetting the enemy's skills.
‘Huh? Why is it reaching!?’
Shuuuk!
A blue current suddenly enveloped the short dagger. Its edge extended into a long crescent blade. The enemy DPS’s eyes widened.
‘Right! Blade Aura…!’
[Blade Aura]
[The first attack after suddenly approaching an enemy gains the Blade Aura effect. A blade imbued with Blade Aura deals heavy damage proportional to the enemy’s missing HP. When away from the enemy, Blade Aura will recharge in 5 seconds.]
He tried to step back too late.
Shraaaak!
Blade Aura’s missing-HP damage followed the amplified damage from Spinning Slash. His health had already been around 60% after Almond’s arrows.
[HP: 13%]
Beeeeeeep!
[Danger!]
His HP dropped straight into the danger zone.
— Holy shit
— What the hell was that damage?
— Stacking spin before flash is insane
— His body still remembers it
Before landing, Almond spun once more and threw his dagger again.
[Damage Increased by 12%]
Thunk!
The dagger buried itself straight into the enemy’s forehead. The enemy toppled back.
Boom!
[LazySoldier → AgainAgain]
— Kyaa!
— Kyaa!!
— Let’s go!!
— That’s it!
— If his head was spinning, this counts as strategy too, right?
***
Meanwhile, Zelo’s team instantly lost their DPS.
“Huh?!”
“What the hell?”
Only then did their front line sense something was wrong and turned around.
“There’s someone behind us!”
“Flashy Blade?!”
Even turning around wasn’t so easy.
“Where do you think you’re looking!”
Baaang!
A shield-user who turned back got smashed by a blunt weapon.
[LetMeTank]
It was LetMeTank.
“Damn it! I’ll hold them here. Go back and cover Flashy Blade!”
“No need! It’s only a level 4 Flashy Blade, right? Flashy Blade is nothing at that level…”
The moment he said that, Choco Shroom’s perfectly aimed Fireball flew in.
“Explosionnnn!!”
BOOOOM!
[Spinning Slash]
Shraaaaak!
[LazySoldier → RankMonster]
Another enemy DPS holding a staff died on the spot, but the same went for Almond’s side.
“Bug cut!”
An arrow slammed straight into Choco Shroom.
Boom!
[Zelo → ChocoShroom]
She had stepped too far forward while trying to deal damage.
“What kind of mage comes this far forward!”
“M-my… Zelo…?”
Those were her last words before turning into a rune spirit.
“Guess you’ve grown a lot.”
Pop.
Zelo’s face twisted in horror. “Wait, what? Why is my mom here?!”
— LOL
— M-mom!!!
— Ah…
— Back to Zelu again?
— Bug out by your mom??
— Raina’s vocab: bug is actually praise
— This is a disaster
Zelo wailed, “Mom! I told you not to mess with me when I’m gaming! Look what happened!!”
— LMAO
— This lunatic
— Is he for real?!
— Games are terrifying, folks
Zelo tried to brag about his mechanics subtly. “Hah… My combo was too clean. I didn’t even realize it was my mom…”
Raina cut in, “Still trash.”
— ?
— LOL
— What the?!
— LMAO
— Fact: Not a microorganism anymore, so it’s praise
— Raina is ruthless
— That was actually pretty good though…
— Shooting combos into your mom? Definitely trash
“Hey, wait. Wasn’t that kinda good just now? Or… since I’m trash, is that praise?”
Ding!
[TooReal has donated 10,000 won.]
[Zelo, what if Raina’s standards aren’t skills… but just looks?]
“N-no! It’s just because the combo broke in the middle! That’s all!”
— Zelo…
— Why are you making excuses
— LMAO
— My girlfriend would never!!
Zelo aimed his bow at LetMeTank. “It’s not because of my face. The combo broke. I can do this. If I stack 40 combos, Raina and I will…”
He kept firing at LetMeTank in silence.
— 40 combos?!
— LMAO
— You’ll be 40 years old by then
— Oh no…
— The end of the Demian Club…
Boom!
Zelo steadily built up his combo.
[HP: 53%]
LetMeTank’s HP, despite being a tank, kept dropping.
Boom!
[HP: 22%]
“Zelo! I’m going in!”
Zelo’s tank locked LetMeTank down.
[Shield Slam]
[Slam the target, stunning them for 2 seconds.]
Thud.
LetMeTank became immobilized.
Zelo’s eyes widened. “Now I’ll get praised, right?! That’s it! This is me! You hear that, Raina?!”
— LOL
— Nope
— Nah
— Still no LMAO
Swoosh!
Zelo fired the final arrow to finish LetMeTank.
“F-finally…”
Crackle!
A man appeared between LetMeTank and Zelo. His blade deflected the arrow.
Claaang!
“Huh?!”
Behind the red sparks, that face appeared.
— Gasp
— :O
— Current boyfriend has appeared!
— Shit!
— ??? I’ve come to end this relationship
— Huh?!
— What the?!
— Same team as Choco Shroom?!!?
— Holy shit it’s him!!
Zelo’s jaw dropped.
‘No way… the Lord?’
Almond felt just as surprised.
‘So, Zelo was the one who picked her?’
He wondered who was even playing Raina. Of course, it was Zelo who had lost to him a few games ago.
“The Lord is here?!”
“We meet again.”
They shared a brief exchange before fighting.
Crackle!
Almond threw his dagger and flashed away.
Clang!
Zelo deflected with his bow and fired.
Almond dodged and asked, “Why did you pick Raina?”
— LOL
— Why did you pick her when you’re bad?
— Hahaha
— For real!
“Because this is revenge.”
Thwang!
Another arrow flew.
Almond dodged again. “If you want revenge, Raina is the wrong pick.”
— LMAO
— Truth bomb
— He’s not wrong
— Raina is crying…
Playing Raina only took Zelo farther from revenge. After all, she was a bottom-tier pick.
“That’s rich coming from a level 4 Flashy Blade.”
— LMAO
— True too
— Fair enough
Before level 6, Flashy Blade was absolute garbage.
Thwang!
Zelo shouted confidently as he fired, “Die! Enemy of my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father!”
— LOL
— Generational trauma
— Why hasn’t that guy aged at all?
— Is he a family heirloom?
— He even stole your mom LOL
Raina didn’t need to reload arrows, so her fire rate was fast even for average players.
Fwoosh!
Fwooosh!
Zelo’s arrows flew rapidly. Whether they hit or not was another matter.
‘What? He dodged that?!’
Whoosh!
Whirl!
Almond evaded with ease.
— What the hell LOL
— He dodged everything!
— Is this a bug?
— Is this that Perfect Shot?
Almond avoided arrows skillfully until Flash came off cooldown. Then, he threw his dagger again.
[Flash]
Crackle!
He appeared behind Zelo and landed a Spinning Slash.
Shraaaak!
Zelo’s HP dropped. Almond spun again to connect the combo.
Whoosh!
However, he missed.
[Roll]
Pop!
Zelo rolled away and created some distance.
“Now what can you even do?!”
— Let’s go!!
— This is it!!
— Three generations’ revenge!!
Flashy Blade became useless again for the next 8 seconds.
“I’ll just keep shooting until I hit you! I can shoot forever!”
— LOL
— LMAO
— True though
— This matchup is impossible
— Pre level 6 Flashy Blade is trash…
— The Zelo family is finally about to rest in peace!!
Raina’s mobility cooldown was half of Flashy Blade’s Flash. This was, objectively, a terrible matchup for Flashy Blade.