Season 5: Chapter 56: Solo Leveling (3) |
“No way! He’s coming back now!?”
Zelo assumed that Almond had chosen to abandon his teammates and revive them later. He thought that even if Almond returned, there would be no way to turn things around. It seemed Almond thought differently.
[Flash]
Paat!
Almond brimmed with confidence before LetMeTank.
Enough that he could casually ask, “Your orders?”
“Just use Flash…”
— LMAOOOOOOOO
— HAHAHAHAHAHA
— That guy is actually insane LOL
Zelo felt thrilled.
“He’ll pull this off!? For real!? Is the Lord gonna show us!?”
Booom!
Red mana burst from Almond. At the same time, everyone around him dropped their weapons. They had been temporarily disarmed by Flashy Blade’s ultimate.
[Ultimate Skill — Blade Command]
When Flashy Blade activated his ultimate, two additional daggers appeared. All daggers could be freely controlled in midair. Almond even threw the two daggers he was holding into the air. Four daggers floated in the air.
BZZZT!
No one could follow Almond anymore.
‘Insane.’
Even Zelo’s eyes couldn’t keep up.
Normally, entry-type melee assassins had countless things to consider like whether enemy skills were on cooldown, who was holding crowd control, or how that crowd control would come flying in. They even had to consider whether they could kill the target in a single burst.
Their bodies were fragile, yet they had to dive deep into enemy lines. It was an extremely high-risk role, but Flashy Blade had exactly one risk.
‘The user’s control.’
This suited Almond perfectly. He had fought against himself longer than anyone. After losing his arm, he had never given up that fight even in his dreams. Now, the gods had given him the gift of overwhelming concentration in virtual reality. He had perfect control over targets he had never handled before. His sharpened senses pushed to their limit.
[Flash]
BZZT!
[LazySoldier → OdenSoup]
Chwaaaak!
[Spinning Slash]
[Blade Aura]
He perfectly distributed Flash and Spinning Slash, shredding the enemy’s backline. When the enemies tried to target him, he blinked to another dagger he had sent elsewhere.
[Flash]
Bzzzt!
Though Almond controlled both his body and his blades, each seemed to have a will of its own.
“T-the blades are alive!?”
— HAHAHAHA
— For real LOL
— The cursed dagger is alive!?
— It actually is
As Zelo gaped from above, those on the battlefield were struck with sheer terror.
“W-where is he!?”
“Why is that crazy bastard here!?”
[Flash]
Bzzzzt!
The moment Almond appeared, they tried to overwhelm him with numbers.
“Here!”
“Focus on him!”
Another dagger was already floating behind them. As countless attacks poured in, Almond abandoned his position without hesitation and moved to a different blade.
[Flash]
Bzzzt!
Chwaaaak!
[Blade Aura]
[Spinning Slash]
Blade Aura and Spinning Slash simultaneously struck two of them.
Puhk!
Thunk!
The flying blades shot out like arrows, slicing through them.
“W-whoa…!” Zelo stared, mouth agape. “H-he can even attack with that!? No, this is really…”
Normally, when using the Flashy Blade’s ultimate, two of the daggers were nothing more than checkpoints for movement. In theory, they were still weapons. Of course, they could fly around and attack enemies. However, that was only in theory.
Every time one blinked, the scenery changed. Players could barely tell where was where. All they could do was try to attack amid the madness. It was like telling a fighter pilot not to shoot with guns, but to attack with the wings of their plane. Almond was doing exactly that.
— Whoa
— Damn
— Kyaa
— That’s filthy
— What even is this? I can’t tell what’s happening
— What am I watching???
— Holy shit…
— My eyes can’t keep up
Alternating Flash four times was dizzying enough, but the flash points changed every time. Those points themselves attacked the enemies.
At the same time, Almond distanced himself to trigger Blade Aura before closing back in. When dealing damage, he rotated his body to trigger Spinning Slash. That meant his field of view was spinning nonstop while utilizing all of that at once.
“It’s just a blender…”
From the enemies’ perspective, it was pure disaster.
Chwarararang!
[LazySoldier → CityRiver]
At this point, Flashy Blade was theoretically unstoppable. Its only weakness was the player controlling him.
Chwaak!
[LazySoldier → FireChickenMan]
If the player conquered themselves, everything else became trivial.
[LazySoldier! Triple Kill!]
Those without contracts fell like minions.
“W-wait, but Kaizad! Kaizad has stun, right!?”
For most champions, it wasn’t a particularly devastating status effect. A brief pause wasn’t usually fatal, but stuns were fast and instant. Kaizad could perfectly stop agile champions.
“H-how is one guy killing everyone!?”
Kaizad stopped trying to kill LetMeTank and aimed his skill at Almond. It was a terrible mistake.
Four daggers flew at him simultaneously, all from different directions.
‘Ah…’
He had to predict one out of four and fire. No, he had to predict five.
There was a chance Almond wouldn’t move at all. He could simply control the four daggers in midair and kill Kaizad without lifting a finger. The ultimate still had time left.
Zelo blurted out, “Ah, he’s locked them out! This is checkmate!?”
Thump!
Almond lightly sprang up.
[Flash]
Alternating blinks across the four daggers, Almond quite literally slashed Kaizad into pieces.
Bzzzzzzt!
[LazySoldier → BabyDumpling]
[LazySoldier! Quadra Kill!]
[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]
Zelo clutched his head with both hands. “H-he’s really going on a rampage!”
For someone who normally didn’t have big reactions, this alone said enough. The viewers didn’t even need words.
— HAHAHAHAHAHA
— LOL for real
— LMAOOOOOOOO
— Surrender posture, damn
— WHAT IS THIS
— Are we pledging allegiance to the lord?
— Holy shit…
— Is Flashy Blade using face card now?
— I can’t follow any of this, honestly
— All of this from one ultimate skill??
— My eyes are slower than the game LOL
…
Donations exploded.
Ba-ba-bam!
[SpectatorZelo has donated 100,000 won!]
[Wow. Zelo super play!]
Ba-ba-bam!
[TBH has donated 100,000 won!]
[If even Zelo couldn’t follow that play with his eyes, instant upvote]
“Ah… Thank you for the donations. Yes. When plays like this happen, donations should be given. Yes.”
— ??
— Why to Zelo?
— Zelo is spectating LOL
— Why is this guy getting the money?
— Shouldn’t this go to Almond?
— Almond does the work and…
— Upvoted~
— LOL
“No, Almond already makes tons of money, you idiots~. Didn’t you see the mission status in Almond’s room right now? Why do you think Almond is sweating it out with Flashy Blade!”
— HAHAHAHA
— True LOL
— He already makes a lot~
— You make more though
— The richer ones always say that
Clap. Clap.
The moment money came up, Zelo changed the topic. “Now, more importantly. You saw it, right? I was right, yeah?”
— ?
— …?
— About what?
— What are you suddenly right about LOL
— Get hit already
Zelo suddenly acted like he had predicted everything. “No, I said it, didn’t I? Bubblegum does absolutely nothing here! Almond does everything! Right? Am I wrong?”
— Holy shit LOL
— Wait, he was still on that?
— LMAOOOO
— Bubblegum did contribute though…
— Loser’s excuse
Then, it happened. Even Zelo, a streaming veteran, hadn’t seen this donation coming.
Ding.
[Miro has submitted a challenge.]
A challenge was different from a normal mission. It was a newly added feature on Cheese that still wasn’t widely used. Unlike missions, which were risk-free, failing a challenge came with consequences.
[Do you accept the challenge? If Bubblegum’s team wins first place, you must twerk. If Bubblegum’s team doesn’t win first place: 300,000 won.]
“Pardon?” Zelo rubbed his eyes. “Twerk? Like, shaking your butt like crazy? Th-that kind of dance? No, how am I supposed to…”
He had never danced in his life. Among men, if he had to dance, twerking was the last thing he’d want to choose.
— HAHAHAHAHAHA
— Twerking LOL
— Isn’t that punishment for us?
— That guy is insane LOL
— Why do we have to watch that…?
— It’d be funny though LOL
Zelo double-checked, realizing it wasn’t a mission. “Ah… Wait, but you’ll give 300,000 won if Bubblegum’s team doesn’t win first? Oh, this is that thing, right? A challenge?”
— Yeah
— That’s it
— New feature
— It’s Zelo’s challenge but Bubblegum is the one playing LOL
— Cheese actually working~
Zelo grew serious.
‘No, this is crazy. I’m really torn.’
He wanted to try the new feature, but didn’t want to twerk.
‘But the Lord’s form right now is completely insane.’
That Flashy Blade play was about as perfect as it got, except for one singular exception.
‘Being compared to that guy at all… is already ridiculous.’
Just being in the same comparison bracket was beyond spec. Once the tournament started, it wouldn’t just be Raina. Flashy Blade would probably get banned nonstop too.
“Hmm…”
Zelo mulled it over.
“Wait. Hold on.”
He happened to glance at his friend's list.
“Waaait a second?!”
One player’s match time was suspiciously identical.
— ?
— What now?
— He’s overreacting
— Forced hype
— Stalling because he doesn’t want to do it LOL
— ??? Hmmmm~
“N-no! It’s not that! I’m not stalling!”
Zelo quickly opened a window. It was a stats panel, visible only in ghost mode, that showed the kill-death records of participating players.
His eyes went wide.
“Why the hell is this guy here?”
— ?
— ??
— Wait LOL that guy???
— No way, is that Popcorn???
— For real??
It was Popcorn.
“This is Ok Su… Popcorn, right? He’s on my friends list. Why is he suddenly doing a Survival match?”
— Holy shit
— LOL
— He even looted the vault, damn
— He cracked the vault, insane LOL. Former pro for a reason
“The Vault? What’s a vault?”
As a complete Survival newbie, Zelo didn’t even know what that was. The chat had to explain it to him.
“What…? If you avoid the insane Kraken and crack the Vault… you get legendary runes and weapons…”
As he said that, Zelo smoothly, very smoothly, accepted the challenge.
“Alright. Challenge accepted.”
Ding.
[Challenge Registered!]
— Holy shit LOL
— That was way too smooth
— What even LOL
— HAHAHAHAHAHA
— First place!!
— This one is doable~
— Popcorn angle LOL
“Hey, don’t misunderstand. I just wanted to promote Cheese’s new feature, okay? Yes.”
Zelo’s stream boasted massive viewership. Thanks to that, the rumor instantly spread across every community. On Streamer Garden, a post shot straight to number one.
[1. I’ve Come to End This Era]
The post featured a stylized photoshoot, full of swagger, of Popcorn.
— Popcorn! Popcorn!
— Ok Su-Hwan! Ok Su-Hwan! Ok Su-Hwan!
— Damn
— Holy shit, is he really ending it?
— This is crazy LOL
— But why is he suddenly in survival placements? He trashed survival mode all the time
└ No idea. His stream is on Paprika too. Maybe a contract thing?
└ What if the last hidden players are these guys?
└ Huh?