Chapter 77

When the Blue Team made their decision and attempted an Attack, the Titans unleashed one of the tactics they had prepared for the Season.

It was the Yeonhui Boosting strategy.

An operation to fully Support their team’s Ace.

When a team had an outstanding player, it was a common sight in the UA League to see matches that revolved around that player.

Assigning a dedicated Supporter, Defender, or even an Attacker to the Ace.

It was a method of maximizing Attack Power by making one player the star of the game.

However, the Ace boosting of the current Meta was quite different from before.

The Skill Custom System, which allowed for a high degree of freedom.

With the advent of this system, Ace boosting could now exert even more destructive power.

And as if to prove it, Woo Yeonhui, clad in Golden Armor, faced Seo Dami.

What looked like Golden Armor was, upon closer inspection, not armor but a collection of light.

The Mana created by a Defender had formed a protective barrier by layering a double Shield over her body.

And that wasn’t all.

Besides the armor, a green light reminiscent of tree leaves swirled around Woo Yeonhui; this was the Effect of a Mana Regeneration Skill cast by a Supporter.

Normally, the rate at which spent Mana regenerated In-Game was very slow, but Woo Yeonhui, who had been granted a Regeneration Skill, had a much faster Mana Regen speed.

If she managed it well, she could use more Skills than others.

And so, the two sides clashed over the Control Point.

Seo Dami, who had used Acceleration to Attack, fired a sharp shot at Woo Yeonhui’s head as she always did.

Usually, the match would be decided here.

Because Seo Dami’s shots were typically a two-shot Burst Fire, even if one managed to dodge the Headshot, the follow-up shot would still inflict Damage.

However, Woo Yeonhui was different.

Trusting in the Defense Power of her Golden Armor, Woo Yeonhui ignored Seo Dami’s attack and hammered her with Rifle Rapid Fire.

Even the speed was incredibly fast.

Startled by the opponent’s powerful response, Seo Dami tried to evade, but it was impossible.

As if another Buff had been cast, Woo Yeonhui’s speed momentarily surpassed Seo Dami’s.

Seo Dami was quite flustered.

Until now, in all her League matches, she had never been matched in instantaneous speed, yet now Woo Yeonhui was showing speed that surpassed her own.

With a thwack, a few of Woo Yeonhui’s shots lodged in her upper body, and Seo Dami’s Health Gauge plummeted.

At this rate, she would be defeated helplessly, so Seo Dami held on by using her own healing skill.

Compared to a Heal Shot from a Supporter, its Mana Efficiency was ridiculously low, but it was better than dying without using all her Mana.

Heal, and Shield.

Having established a minimal foundation with a split-second decision, Seo Dami, now closer to Woo Yeonhui, engaged her in Gun Kata.

Gun Kata was the perfect technique for attacking while dodging the opponent’s attacks.

But even after all that, Woo Yeonhui did not fall.

‘If only I had a little more Mana…!’

An undeniable look of regret crossed Seo Dami’s face as she stripped away both the opponent’s Shield and Golden Armor.

If she could have landed just one more shot, she could have at least taken her opponent down with her, but she was just a hair short.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-!!!

A torrent of Rifle bullets poured down.

And just like that, Seo Dami was down.

If there had been a Broadcast Team for this match, they would have been shouting at the top of their lungs that Super Sylph’s Ace had been brought to her knees.

As if to prove it, the Chat window instantly erupted.

-General Seo lost?

-No way!

-How could Seo Dami lose to Woo Yeonhui!

A few Users who watched the game with a cool head brought up that the conditions were unfair since Woo Yeonhui had fought with a ton of Skill Support, but they were in the minority.

The majority were busy chattering about the result, that Seo Dami had ‘lost’ to Woo Yeonhui.

Besides, it wasn’t just Super Sylph fans watching the stream right now.

People who had been looking down on Seo Dami and Super Sylph’s meteoric rise had also gathered, so the Chat reaction was bound to be chaotic.

-Damn it. Does this mean we can’t win the First Division League?

-Win? You must be joking.

-Do you even know what place the Titans got this year? 7th! 7th place!

-She’s getting wiped by a 7th-place team, and you’re talking about winning.

-Can’t you hear it? That’s the sound of Seo Dami’s hype bubble bursting.

People took this as their chance to criticize, saying Super Sylph was never a team that could win in the first place.

But from the start, this was a skewed game that the Titans had begun with a whopping four members.

On the other hand, Super Sylph only had Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul, so their chances of winning were low to begin with.

But just then, a situation unfolded that stopped everyone’s chatting.

Following the fallen Seo Dami, Jung Yunseul leaped into the Control Point, drew her pistol, and began to run wild.

<We haven’t lost yet.>

Han Youngin coolly assessed the Battlefield situation and instructed Jung Yunseul to continue the game calmly.

Although Seo Dami had fallen, she had done her part before going down.

During the Engagement, Woo Yeonhui’s Mana had been almost completely depleted, and the other players on the opposing team who had supported her with Buffs had also consumed a great deal of Mana.

In other words, the majority of the enemy’s forces were empty shells with almost no Mana left.

On the other hand, Jung Yunseul still had Mana to spare.

And the Blue Team members, though they were regular Users, had earned their Grandmaster ranks on their own, so they weren’t completely incompetent.

Therefore, if Jung Yunseul could seize control of the situation on the Control Point as quickly as possible on her own, there was still hope for the Blue Team in this game.

Jung Yunseul, who had jumped into the Control Point, simultaneously deployed a Smoke Screen, blocking the enemy’s Vision and inducing them to consume Mana.

To identify friend from foe and fight within the Smoke Screen, they would need to use a Vision-securing Skill, but for the Mana-depleted Titans, even this was not an easy task.

The only one with plenty of Mana left was the regular User, the enemy Defender, who used Acceleration and erected a wall to block Jung Yunseul’s Attack Line.

“Everyone, fight together!”

Jung Yunseul requested her allies to join the battle via comms while ramming her body into the Defender’s Shield.

Weighing less than Seo Dami, Jung Yunseul’s destructive power in close-quarters combat was bound to be somewhat weaker.

But with the addition of Acceleration and Strength Skills, the story changed.

By borrowing the power of Skills, she could overcome the limits of her physique and deliver a sufficient shock to her opponent.

The opposing Defender was a male player.

Knowing it would be a huge embarrassment to be pushed back by the small-framed Jung Yunseul, he desperately tried to hold the Line.

‘As if I’d be pushed back by this!’

The initial impact was stronger than he expected, but the Defender User thought he could still block it.

However, that was a huge miscalculation.

The first body slam was merely the starting point for the Chain Attack that would follow.

The Defender focused all his attention on his Shield to block the suddenly-appearing Jung Yunseul.

At that moment, a clicking sound came from beneath the Defender’s feet.

“You son of a—!”

Before he could finish his gruff curse, a Bomb exploded at his feet, cleanly wiping out his Health Bar.

The Defender’s Shield was large enough to cover an adult man from head to toe, but the problem was that the Shield had been lifted by the earlier impact.

This unintentionally created a gap, and Jung Yunseul, not missing the opportunity, had thrown a Bomb under his feet.

Exclamations of admiration flooded the Chat window at the picturesque play.

And Han Youngin was just as surprised.

<Yunseuli, you…?>

The Viewers cheering for her probably didn’t know, but Han Youngin could tell for sure.

The play Jung Yunseul had just shown was an exact copy of one of his own once-reliable scoring Routes.

Leaving the somewhat surprised Han Youngin behind, Jung Yunseul, having broken through the opponent’s wall, continued her Engagement with the Titans players.

‘Who’s this one now.’

Woo Yeonhui’s expression twisted as she watched Jung Yunseul charge toward her.

Seo Dami, who was being discussed as a future national team prospect, was certainly a nuisance, but Woo Yeonhui absolutely did not want to be seen getting pushed back by the just-now-rising Jung Yunseul.

She squeezed out her remaining Mana and entered Acceleration again.

For 0.1 seconds each time Jung Yunseul attacked.

The Acceleration repeatedly turned on and off, causing Woo Yeonhui’s speed to fluctuate wildly.

Even Han Youngin expressed pure admiration for the movement.

It meant her Skill on-off technique was that precise.

It was also a part of her that hinted at how hard she must have practiced her Skills to reach such a level.

But Han Youngin’s admiration only served to stimulate Jung Yunseul’s competitive spirit.

Facing Woo Yeonhui who was countering her Gun Kata, Jung Yunseul activated the Lightning of Purification.

A Skill that imbued attacks with electric Energy to cause a paralysis Effect.

Its Effect was maximized when used with Live Round weapons, but that didn’t mean it had no Effect at all with Laser-type weapons.

<This will work.>

Han Youngin thought as he watched Woo Yeonhui’s evasiveness.

That the match would be decided soon.

The reason was simple.

Because Woo Yeonhui’s skill was more excellent than he had thought.

It might sound like a contradiction, but right now, Woo Yeonhui was on the verge of being defeated by Jung Yunseul precisely because her skill was so outstanding.

Crackle-!

Woo Yeonhui’s skin was grazed by Jung Yunseul’s Gun Kata, which was imbued with the Lightning of Purification, and her Health Gauge wavered.

As a spark, which shouldn’t have been there, erupted from the attack that had grazed her body, Woo Yeonhui’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.

In that instant, her body was paralyzed, and as it didn’t move as she intended, her evasiveness was compromised.

<It’s a Trap that arises precisely because her skill is good.>

Han Youngin accurately saw through Woo Yeonhui’s flustered state.

Woo Yeonhui had little Mana left from her Engagement with Seo Dami.

That was why she was repeatedly turning her Acceleration Skill on and off, trying to squeeze out every last bit of Mana.

In such a disadvantageous situation, the method chosen by skilled players usually boils down to one thing.

A Counterattack that sacrifices flesh to take bone.

That was also why Woo Yeonhui had been hit by the Lightning of Purification.

By trying to narrowly dodge attacks to avoid a Fatal Wound while counterattacking, she had allowed a scratch, and the paralysis Effect had been applied at the same time.

And Jung Yunseul did not miss this opening.

As she moved her body once more and her pistol spat fire, Woo Yeonhui’s body finally collapsed.

And Jung Yunseul intended to ride this Momentum to raise the Point Gauge even further.

In a Domination Battle, the point wasn’t to kill the enemy, but to win by completely securing the Control Point.

If she got complacent after one kill, the game could be turned around at any moment.

Thus, Jung Yunseul began to fill the gauge while driving out the remaining Titans players on the Control Point.

Even with Woo Yeonhui down, the Titans players’ Counterattack was fierce.

Centering on their Sniper, they targeted the Blue Team’s regular Users, pressuring Jung Yunseul and constantly looking for an opportunity to counter.

However, the Titans’ plan failed when Seo Dami, who had died first, quickly ran from the base area and joined the fray.

-My god!

-Super Sylph won!

-Wait a minute! This means they won with just two people!

-The other side came in as a team of four pro players, and they still won?

-You pathetic Titans bastards. You tried so hard to snipe them and still got your asses kicked, huh?

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul really do have the Firepower of a national team Duo ㅇㅇ;;

End of Set 1.

Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul’s strong Coordinated Play succeeded in shattering the combined forces of the four Titans.

While the Viewers were surprised by the unexpectedly strong combat power of the Sylph team players, the Set 2 Battlefield was decided as Nicaea Research Lab.

“Hmm.”

After confirming that Nicaea Research Lab had been chosen as the Battlefield, Seo Dami was operating a transparent screen and searching for something.

Han Youngin was curious about what she was looking for, but before he could satisfy his curiosity, Set 2 began.

The side to take the First Strike was the Blue Team, which Seo Dami belonged to.

“I was thinking of going with the standard approach.”

Seo Dami, who was in charge of Orders, asked for her teammates’ opinions.

It seemed she intended to rule out extreme tactics like a Flank Run that aimed for an empty house this time.

But one User raised his hand.

It was the Supporter responsible for the team’s Support.

“Um… I have an idea I’d like to propose.”

“Please, speak freely.”

The man, who met Dami’s eyes, cleared his throat with a hem, hem!* before stating his opinion.

“You said we should go with the standard approach, but the Meta has completely changed now, hasn’t it.”

“It has…?”

“This time, Supporters have become able to cast the Acceleration Skill for others.”

Casting Acceleration for others.

What did this mean?

Previously, one had to pour all their Mana just to run the flank and reach the data storage, but now it meant they could execute the strategy while preserving a certain level of Mana.

“A Flank Run. Would you like to give it a try…?”

-You can run while saving Mana?

-This really is a New Meta.

-Do you think the Titans know about this?

-If they don’t, they’re in for a world of hurt.

It was unknown how well the opponent had grasped the Meta, but if they had no idea that this side could attempt a Flank Run while conserving Mana…

It was a picture-perfect opportunity to completely catch the enemy off guard.

“Alright. Let’s give it a try!”

Seo Dami, lightly clenching her fist, accepted the Supporter’s proposal.

A moment later, the Supporter brought his hands together in front of him, emitting a blue light.

He cast Acceleration on Seo Dami’s behalf.

The Effect duration, obtained at the cost of the Supporter’s entire Mana pool, was 30 seconds.

Seo Dami, now granted Acceleration, began to run powerfully down the outer passage.