Chapter 76

UA’s Rank Games are divided into Team Rank and Solo Rank.

Team Rank is a mode where you gather five members from the start, and the system guarantees you are matched only against another five-person Party.

So, what is the maximum number of people who can party up for Solo Rank?

The answer is four.

One might think that if you have four people, there’s no difference from Team Rank, but the amount of points gained or lost depending on the Win-Loss was vastly different.

For example, let’s assume the opposing team is composed of five individual Users who didn’t party up, while our team has four people who know each other well, plus one stranger.

In this case, if the team that partied up wins, they get a pittance of points, and if they lose, they lose a massive amount of Rank points.

The system applies a point correction because the more people you know on your team, the better your Teamwork is likely to be.

For that reason, it was rare for anyone to play a Rank Game in a four-person Party for Solo Rank.

Winning was breaking even, while losing meant a huge deficit.

But the Titans team spoke as if none of that mattered.

“How many should go in?”

“Four?”

“Isn’t four too obvious?”

“Alright, then three.”

“But if we have three people, couldn’t we get matched on the same team?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

The Titans players had gathered in the Log In room to snipe Super Sylph.

Before entering the game, they selected the members who would participate in the snipe.

But looking at the stream, Super Sylph was continuously playing Rank Games in a two-person Party with Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul.

If they made a three-person Party, there was a chance they could end up on the same team.

So, after a moment of thought, the Titans players agreed that it would be best to go in as a group of four, regardless of what others might say.

Not only would it ensure they had the numbers to crush their enemy, but there was also no chance of being on the same team.

And so, with the SH Titans’ Leader and Attacker, Woo Yeonhui, at the forefront, two Attackers, one Sniper, and one Supporter jumped into a Rank Game.

They watched Seo Dami’s stream and, the moment she started the next Matchmaking, they simultaneously tried to find a match.

And a short while later, a match was made.

They could confirm that a match had just been found on Seo Dami’s stream as well.

The snipe was a success.

Thus, the first Set began.

The Battlefield was the Attica Temple, a Domination Battle.

In a Domination Battle, dying once doesn’t ruin the game, but giving the enemy the first turn to recover the Point Gauge meant starting at a great disadvantage.

So, Seo Dami naturally tried to capture the Control Point turn first, but a moment later, as she charged forward, she felt that something was off.

“Watch out!”

Sensing that the enemy’s Attack was somehow different, Seo Dami warned Jung Yunseul, and just as she expected, a sharp sniper shot flew in.

With a thud, Jung Yunseul’s feet stopped.

She had been shot through the thigh.

Surprise filled Jung Yunseul’s face.

It was a relief she hadn’t died instantly from a Headshot, but the fact that she couldn’t dodge the enemy’s attack at all came as a bit of a shock.

It was because she hadn’t been able to dodge it even though Seo Dami, who was in the lead, had warned her.

<An attack of this level in a Rank Game…?>

Of course, at the high Tiers of Grandmaster, other Pro Gamers could be doing their Legendary Challenge, so such things could happen, but still, something was strange.

The opponent’s organic Chain Attack, which started with the snipe, was clearly different from the flavor of a normal Rank Game.

And a moment later, the reason appeared in the Chat window.

-Aren’t those the Titans?

-It is! That’s the Titans’ Woo Yeonhui!

-Wait, Lee Tae-eun and Kim Uri are there too?

-How many of them are there?

-Four?!

-Isn’t this basically a regular League match then?

They were up against the SH Titans.

Watching the Viewers’ reactions, Han Youngin thought.

Is this a coincidence?

Just as Dami and Yunseuli were playing as a Duo, it was entirely possible that the opponents were also attempting to reach Legendary.

But a four-person Party.

They would have been better off raising their points in Team Rank; how many people would play Solo Rank in a four-person Party?

Han Youngin felt that they had come to snipe them, and the corners of his mouth crept up without him realizing it.

Back in his active days, when he was doing a Legendary Challenge, he would often face this kind of interference once or twice.

<This brings back memories.>

As Han Youngin muttered, Yunseuli, who had grimaced and taken cover behind a wall, nodded in agreement.

‘Was it the Blue Spirit team? They were so annoying.’

<Huh? You know about that?>

‘Of course I do. I watched so many of your streams, Oppa!’

With that, Yunseuli reloaded her ammunition and, with the help of the Supporter, refilled her Health Gauge.

Only then, with her two legs healed, did Yunseuli’s eyes widen.

‘So it’s a snipe, is it?’

<Yeah. They say there are four of them.>

‘Is it because Dami Unni is drawing so much attention that they came to interfere?’

<Who knows?>

Whatever their intentions, it was actually a good thing.

They could just treat it as practical training to get an early grasp of the Meta.

Of course, just because it was practical training didn’t mean they had any intention of losing.

<The Titans…>

Although the analysis of the First Division League teams wasn’t complete yet, the data on the opposing Leader, Woo Yeonhui, was roughly in his head.

The Leader of the Titans team and an Attacker.

At twenty-four, she was a player whose Form was at its absolute peak.

<But in a one-on-one, Dami can handle her.>

There were a total of twelve teams in the Korean women’s First Division League.

Excluding the Sixth Man from each team, the total number of players was 60.

Among them, there were only about three players, including Kim Seunga, that Seo Dami couldn’t guarantee a definite victory against in a one-on-one.

But the enemy had four members who had been coordinating for a long time, whereas their side only had two.

Excluding Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul, the other three were casual players who enjoyed the game as a hobby, so it was true that their side was still at a disadvantage.

For now, Han Youngin decided to watch and see how the enemies would play.

When you have no information on your enemies, the most important thing is to first ‘figure them out.’

-Breaking news! Super Sylph is fighting the Titans right now!

-It’s the Off-Season, my friend… Don’t you know there are no matches right now?

-Sigh, is your dementia acting up again? Poor UA-boongie, what to do!

-No, I’m serious, they’re really fighting in a Rank Game!

-What the hell is a Super Sylph! You damn otaku!

-Still, to not know Super Sylph is a bit;;

-You don’t know Super Sylph, the team that the next national team’s number 1 pick, the great Dami, Hard Carried to a First Division Promotion?

Someone said they didn’t know Super Sylph, but that statement was quite detached from reality.

At the news that Super Sylph and the Titans were facing off in a Rank Game, the number of Viewers began to skyrocket.

Seo Dami’s live broadcast, which had an average of 25,000 Viewers, instantly surpassed 30,000 and then broke 40,000.

-Gotta watch this!

-Our Dami is the only one who takes care of her fans during the Off-Season.

The first thing the Viewers who hurriedly entered the stream saw was the sight of Seo Dami, holding an Arclight Rifle, landing a Headshot on the Titans’ Leader, Woo Yeonhui.

A whopping 3-on-1.

Seo Dami used Acceleration to evade the Pincer Attack from the Titans’ Attacker and Sniper pouring in from her left and right, and closed the distance to Woo Yeonhui.

A reckless charge.

As the opponent’s skill proved to be greater than expected, the Titans’ Supporter poured all her Mana into stopping Seo Dami’s charge.

No, she tried to pour it in.

However, her attempt was thwarted by Jung Yunseul, who had circled around to the Flank for an Attack.

Before the Skill could be activated, Jung Yunseul’s shot struck the Titans Supporter’s head.

And at the same time, Seo Dami, having achieved a Breakthrough of the Encirclement, took down Woo Yeonhui.

-Is that level of Acceleration for real?

-Kyah. This is it-!!!

-I mean, it’s an Attack that Russia couldn’t stop, and China couldn’t stop, so how could the Titans stop it?

-Seo Dami is really good.

-Who’s the Second Division League team now?

The Chat window, of course, went wild.

It was only a momentary advantage, but the two of them had broken through an Encirclement created by four First Division League players.

‘Dami Unni’s skill was this good?’

<If anything, her Form seems to have gotten even better…?>

Jung Yunseul, watching Seo Dami’s power play, looked a little surprised, and it was the same for Han Youngin.

Come to think of it, he remembered being like that himself.

During his active days, whenever he was obstructed during a Challenge attempt, Han Youngin was the type to somehow break through the crisis and raise his score.

Seo Dami, having broken through the enemy’s Encirclement, stepped onto the Control Point and began to raise the Gauge.

However, the enemy’s Counterattack was also formidable.

If they collapsed like this, their pride would be too wounded.

After all, the Titans had brought a whopping four members from one team.

“This won’t do. Let’s unleash some of what we’ve prepared.”

The Titans had been figuring out new Meta tactics in preparation for the new Season.

Woo Yeonhui judged that they couldn’t be pushed back like this and decided to use one of the tactics they had prepared for the Season.

And so, the Titans’ Attack began again.

The Titans first targeted the Blue Team’s Defender.

In a match like a Point Capture, the Defender’s role is extremely important.

To capture a Control Point, you have to step on it and fill the Gauge, but since a Control Point is a fixed space, it often creates a situation where you’re perfectly positioned to be attacked one-sidedly.

So, the Defender needs to be at the front, holding up a Shield to protect their allies, but unfortunately, the randomly matched Blue Team Defender’s skill wasn’t good enough to block a Pro Gamer’s shots.

What’s more, with the new Meta, the Sniper’s shots had become even stronger, each one incredibly heavy.

With a loud bang!, the Defender’s Shield shattered, and what followed was a Chaotic Melee.

The Titans used Cover to safely lay down Suppressive Fire.

On the other hand, the Blue Team, which had no proper Cover while trying to hold the Control Point, found it practically impossible to endure.

“Summon Rock!”

The Blue Team’s Supporter used a Skill to summon a large rock, buying some time, but it wasn’t enough.

Eventually, the Blue Team gave up on filling the Gauge and began to slowly retreat, and the Titans started to Rush toward the Control Point.

<Now, what will you do?>

Watching Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul retreat, Han Youngin thought quietly.

The turn they had been holding had now passed back to the opponent.

The Defender was useless without a Shield, and with the enemy pushing in, there were broadly two options to choose from.

The first was to wait for their allied Defender.

They could Team Kill the Defender, wait for them to come back from the Respawn Point with a new Shield, and then re-engage.

It would take some time, and the enemy would raise their Gauge quite a bit in the meantime, but it was a better method than rushing in recklessly.

It also allowed them to catch their breath, which helped with Stamina recovery.

The second method was to feint a retreat and then Counterattack, rushing back to the Control Point.

The enemy had come out to them anyway.

The Cover protecting the enemy was now gone, and if they re-engaged, it would be a pure battle of skill from here on out.

Of course, they had to consider their Defender’s poor condition, but 4 against 5 was a number they could certainly contend with.

<If it were me, I would have charged again.>

It takes time for the Defender to respawn and reform the Formation.

During that time, the Titans could raise the Point Gauge considerably.

But as long as both teams were fighting on the Control Point, the Gauge wouldn’t charge for either side.

In other words, while they were fighting, the enemy couldn’t fill their Gauge, and if they were lucky enough to win, they could take over the Gauge they had filled so far and continue charging it.

And if they lost?

Then they would all respawn together and advance again with a new Formation.

How was this different from the first method?

The amount of information they could gather to understand the opponent was different.

If they chose to simply wait for the Defender to respawn and reform, they would have no way of knowing what preparations the enemy had made.

There was information that could only be learned by clashing fiercely with each other.

And Han Youngin was someone who believed that ‘understanding’ the enemy was more important than anything else to win.

However, there was also a downside to continuing the fight like a dogfight.

The Stamina issue.

The second method was at the expense of the allies’ Stamina.

It was still only the first Set, but if they used a strategy that consumed a lot of Stamina, there was a high chance the casual Users wouldn’t be able to keep up with the Tempo.

And a moment later, Seo Dami gathered her teammates.

“Rather than retreat here, I’d like to try one more Attack. Could you help me?”

Seo Dami asked for their opinion, making eye contact with her teammates.

“We can do it.”

“I’ll help. Let’s give it a shot.”

The casual Users looked at Seo Dami and answered spiritedly.

But Seo Dami didn’t miss the fact that their shoulders were rising and falling heavily.

It meant their breathing was ragged because they were out of breath.

The mere five-minute Engagement they just had must have drained a considerable amount of their Stamina.

It was understandable.

The fact that Seo Dami was broadcasting her Legendary Challenge with tens of thousands of Viewers was already a famous story among Users, and to top it off, their opponents were a team made up of Titans players.

From the casual Users’ perspective, they had suddenly been thrown into a team game in front of tens of thousands of people, so unless they were very experienced, they were bound to be nervous.

Seo Dami thanked them for agreeing and prepared to take the lead.

‘Was this the right decision…’

If this Attack failed, the after-effects of not catching their breath would dominate this entire Set, and it might even affect the next Set.

The thought that her decision could completely ruin the game made Seo Dami feel as if her footsteps had become a little heavy.

She also missed Shin Aram.

During League matches, Shin Aram always took charge of the Orders, so Seo Dami rarely had to experience this kind of pressure.

Just then, Jung Yunseul, who was standing behind her, tapped her on the shoulder.

When Seo Dami turned her head with a “what is it?” expression, Jung Yunseul offered a single, light sentence.

“It’s a practice game. It doesn’t matter if we lose, and he says he’ll make sure we win in the end, so don’t be nervous.”

There was no subject, but it was clear who had said it.

The fans watching, however, were bewildered, wondering what Yunseuli was talking about.

“Okay.”

Seo Dami’s expression, which had seemed slightly serious, bloomed brightly as if it had never been that way.

“Then, I’m going.”

Seo Dami turned her head to face forward again.

Powerfully activating Acceleration, she took the lead and opened fire, starting the attack.