In the pro league, the debate over ‘how useful rank games are’ is a hot topic.
Some players leave thousands of records every season, while others win with just a few rank records.
So, it’s not unusual to find cases where a player’s rank isn’t high, regardless of their personal skill.
As the scores rise, it’s natural to face stronger opponents.
It seems like it was finally time to meet the parked pro gamer down low.
Actually, I’ve already met them a couple of times.
Since they weren’t disrupting the game on our team, I could take it in stride.
The viewers seemed quite pleased as well.
Anyway, when a pro gamer joins a game, the level goes up.
I thought I wouldn’t be too surprised by who I encountered, but I never expected this case.
[Team White]
– Falcon Haruka (Kunoichi)
– Ssalmeokgisa (Dragonean)
[Team Black]
– Gawol (Assassin)
– ACL Donghae (Swordmaster)
The Kunoichi from Japan, who I battled fiercely before, has returned.
Basically, since queues are separated by server, this means she intentionally came to the Korean server.
And considering the match-up with me… can this even be called a coincidence?
– “Why is Haruka here?”
– “I’m here to kill Gawol, who dropped me. That was my only thought from the start.”
– “I’ve come back stronger (for real).”
– “Falcon has been doing great lately.”
I heard she joined a pro team after the arena.
Falcon is treated as an elite team even in Japan.
Shouldn’t they be preparing to leave because of Prelude soon?
I don’t know. She must have had some kind of thought process to come here.
If we meet in the game, we must fight.
Once we entered the battlefield, our team wore slightly unsatisfied expressions.
I couldn’t help but smile, thinking I understood why.
“Did you expect to fight against enemies?”
“Not really… Ahem. Yes, I wanted to have a good match at least once.”
“Since we can’t help it this time, let’s do well together. The opponent won’t be easy either.”
ACL is the team that came second in this league.
It’s clear they benefited from the traditional powerhouse Q Prime collapsing.
Still, they’ve received a lot of praise for how much stronger ACL has become.
In particular, their match against Galaxy Gaming in the semifinals was a phenomenal battle that exceeded expectations.
With the Traveler having moved to England now,
ACL is the most likely team to fill that gap.
And Donghae is one of the driving forces behind ACL.
As a user who plays the swordmaster, I couldn’t help but pay attention.
It would have been great if we could have fought earlier.
Well, there will be better opportunities someday.
“Should I go left?”
“Then I’ll go right.”
There was no need for complicated communication to strategize.
Having a pro on our side was great for this.
Good players tend to converge around a few similar strategies, but those who can’t play often manage to be creatively awful.
They were not opponents I could predict with my logic circuit.
*
[Rank Match – Black 541 RP]
[Battleground: Lava Zone]
[Rules: Duo]
The ‘Lava Zone’ is a battleground where growth mechanisms through monster hunting exist.
Originally, it’s a place where various strategies can emerge, but in a 2:2 setup like this, the strategy tends to simplify.
Our choice was to split in two directions and take one each.
Now that opinions were settled, all that was left was to act.
Donghae and I sprinted straight toward our agreed direction.
– “Is the opposing warrior a streamer too?”
– “Yeah, but it doesn’t seem like they’re streaming right now.”
– “They’re just a rank game ghost.”
– “??? Why are they playing rank with a name like Ssalmeokgisa?”
– “They’re a loser who doesn’t live up to their name.”
After running over the dark ground for a while,
seeing a monster means I’ve reached the halfway point.
If I start hunting now, I could widen the points gap, but I didn’t.
Killing the monster right now wouldn’t yield a significant growth difference.
However, the value of my positional information is infinite.
No one could have been faster than me, so I decided to push a little further and wait for them.
I got lucky to start.
After hiding behind a rock at a suitable moment for merely a few seconds,
a sound barely louder than my heartbeat echoed, audible enough for an assassin.
“You’re here.”
A single sound was enough to assess my position and opponent.
Just as the enemy was about to pass by, I aimed for their side.
Setting my voice so only they could hear, I dashed out with full force.
[You are under the effect of ‘Whisper of the Black Moon’.]
[You gain beneficial effects for all attack power, movement speed, and counterattack judgment.]
[Some skills are enhanced…]
“Long time no see?”
I lunged at their side like a wild beast.
The opponent was quick to react, clearly sharpening their blade.
Before I even touched them, the enemy transformed into a wooden stump and appeared a few meters away.
One survival technique removed.
The first ambush had delivered enough value.
With one hand, I formed a hand sign at my lips.
The Kunoichi took a deep breath, and the moment she exhaled,
a wave of blue flames burst through the air.
[‘Goblin Fire: Breath’ engraves the mark of ‘Ryang (蜽)’ on you.]
[Lasts for 30 seconds, reducing fire resistance by 18.]
[If four marks of Gwi-in Ryang-hon (鬼人魎魂) gather, you will receive lethal damage.]
I kicked the remaining wooden stump away.
The unfortunate piece of wood could not withstand the moment and turned to ash, but what mattered was the act of kicking it.
My empowered body escaped the danger zone of the goblin fire.
By the way, my fire resistance has sharply decreased.
If she were a typical Kunoichi, the reduction would have been 12.
This is quite clear: Haruka built around fire resistance.
Sure enough, the Kunoichi drew a katana instead of a kunai this time.
The long blade was laced with an ominous flame.
“Hold on, I need to focus.”
This is not an opponent I can fight while being conscious of the chat.
Taking a light breath is my ritual to clear my mind.
With a clearer mind, I deflected a few shurikens that came flying at me.
Surely, there was no way I would take something like this.
Having been distracted above, I anticipated she would go lower.
The purple energy flickered beneath, and Haruka approached, sweeping low with her blade.
Following the edge of the blade, flames surged.
While it was an excellent attack, the opponent was at fault.
It would be troubling if my left foot were attacked, so my lower guard was almost neurotic.
I leaped up and stepped on Haruka’s shoulder as I sprang.
I had intended to stomp on her face, but she managed to defend against it.
[The ‘Curse of Weakening’ engraves the mark of ‘Hon (魂)’ on you.]
[Lasts for 30 seconds, reducing fire resistance by an additional 8.]
Following the trajectory of the blade, flames spread once more.
The fiery blaze clung to the hem of my clothing, releasing the smell of burning.
While I could attempt a counterattack right now… let’s just endure it one more time.
Using the flames as cover, I lunged forward with a thrust.
With a chilling pressure, the sharp blade targeted my heart.
[‘Sogdocsae Jirgi’ engraves the mark of ‘In (人)’ on you.]
[Lasts for 30 seconds, reducing fire resistance by an additional 6.]
“Ha, this feels right.”
I had completely intended to dodge.
As the blade radiated a menacing aura, my lower chest was lightly cut.
This is why I dislike stacking characters.
Even though it only grazed me, I already had three stacks.
I aimed for the abdomen before the blade was recovered, but
my arm was pushed aside, letting it only graze my side.
The result of my first counterattack was somewhat disappointing.
The opponent’s ability to block has improved tremendously since before.
Well, that’s how it goes.
Once you’ve taken a hit, these pro types compulsively devise coping strategies.
“If you’re going to have the same pattern, I’ll be disappointed.”
“I was just testing it. If you had fallen for that earlier, it would have been more disappointing for me.”
I enjoyed the rarity of being sniped too; shouldn’t I get to have some fun?
I changed my grip on the dagger.
Switching to a reverse grip, my hand plunged inward again.
Haruka’s choice was to step back and evade.
That was a reasonable judgment. While we could have exchanged injuries, she would have had to bear a bit of loss.
Still, a tinge of regret lingered.
An alternative name for reasonable judgment is textbook judgment.
It generally won’t be wrong, but it’s that easy to read.
I chose to dive left once. While forcing her to step back, I extended my shadow to prevent her from jumping.
The spot I reached was where I had deflected the shurikens earlier.
‘If I simply use it, they’ll probably react. Shall I twist it a bit more?’
I spread smoke directly in front of me.
Placing a clone at my feet, I shadow-moved using the deflected shurikens as a marker.
Seizing the moment that her vision was obscured, I caught her from behind.
“…!”
“You’re quite perceptive. Is this because we’re both from the assassination class?”
However, it was too late.
I couldn’t finish in one go, but given that I had her back at this point, a critical hit was confirmed.
Besides, you… the wooden stump had fallen earlier, right?
I made a hefty downward stroke with the sword I had pierced into her side.
Just before she could turn around, grabbing her nape, I tore through her insides.
As a fierce wind blew, a great shadow loomed over the ground.
Staying here means death.
In a moment of decisiveness, I pulled back my body, and a tremendous impact kicked up dust.
Right, this match was obviously a 2:2 duo mode from the start.
Naturally, the Dragonean with wings was going to join faster than our swordmaster ally.
Haruka looked as though her pride had taken a hit, but what could she do?
“It’s good. If you’re weak, just bring more people.”
“……”
Chortling, I repositioned my dagger.
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