Chapter 45 – 45. Suzaku (3)

Lily Hall, a large auditorium with 500 seats.
Today, however, there were almost 700 people in, with the simple seats and standing seats full.

Ever since Arena started its service, it has been an academy league that has been held consistently, but there has never been anything like this in history.
Both online and offline, it was getting a lot of attention to the point where it was burdensome.

“What’s going on here?”
“There is an arena competition today. Our school game club, Conqueror, and the women’s team match.”
“Ah, is that what you said a few days ago?”

Korean university students also used to stop in their tracks because of the unusually large crowds.

The staff was also busy.
The first match of the semifinals was between Neo Trance and Ice Bulldog.

Since the relatively unpopular match had such a large audience,
I was afraid just thinking about how many more people would gather for the two matches between Battle Angels and the home team, Conqueror.

But there is such a rewarding way.
The staff did their best until the end so that the tournament could run smoothly.
And finally, with the caster’s voice, the contest began.

###

In the first match of the semifinals, the Neo Trans team took the victory after a close match of 2 to 1.
As a result, if we reach the finals, just like the finals of the guillotine match in the nucleus, we will face the Neo Trance team in this finals as well.

‘Last time, we barely won 2-1.’

I played a lot of unofficial scrims with the Neo-Trance team.
I felt that they were also growing little by little, but it was not up to the growth of our team equipped with the selling coach system.

In fact, perhaps because of that, the semi-final match was not very tense.

‘I’ll win anyway.’

Conqueror.
Looking at the performance in the quarterfinals, it is a team that would not have been able to advance if it had not been for Jujak.

I wouldn’t know if Ryu Seo-yoon had been manipulated, but if I just showed my skills, I wouldn’t be able to go until the second half.

That’s why there was only one thing to worry about while preparing for this game.

How can I get frustrated with this cheeky guy who instigated manipulation?
Lee Ji-hye’s sister had no intention of doing anything in moderation, even to avenge the absurd feelings she felt at the hospital where she was hospitalized.

Games, dating, and other social life will all give you a deep sense of defeat.

I headed to the stadium with a notebook containing all of today’s ban-pick scenarios.

It was quite a spectacle to see the lily crown, which had gathered close to 700 people, from the stage.
I feel like a singer performing.
But I am not the main character here.

“Let me introduce you first! A team that came up from a club alone as if it were a show at the competition held at the alma mater! Conqueror!”

A fairly loud cheer erupted from the audience.
Since it is his alma mater, it seemed to be a voice cheering his seniors, classmates, and juniors.

Amidst the cheers, Conqueror’s players came up on stage.
Among them, I had my eye on the one-hander, Han Tae-seop.
A skinny attitude with a flashy appearance.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen this face.’

Even today, I was wearing luxury items that looked expensive.
Is it self-promotion?

“An opponent against him! They are the hottest people in the arena these days, right? These are Battle Angels!”

Our players also come up on stage.
At that moment, cheers that doubled the Conqueror burst from the audience.
Most of them belong to male fans, and the eyes of the female audience become unusual.

Due to the nature of the female team, there were many female fans, but there were also many anti-fans.
It was the reason why I often felt not very nice eyes.

Battle Angels players lined up facing Conqueror.
Conqueror players turn their faces involuntarily as they exchange glances with each other.

Judging by the visuals, they were goofballs who would have only played games in a game room.
It was only natural that we could not even make eye contact with our players, who had visuals that would not be easily encountered anywhere, let alone in the college of engineering, which is a group of super-boys.

Afterwards, players from both teams bowed their heads to each other and parted ways.

“Battle Angels and Conquerors! Conqueror and Battle Angels! Who will be the winner! As soon as the players are ready, the game will begin!”

When all the players entered the capsule, the caster shouted in a high tension voice.
Accordingly, I also logged into the game, entered the room the staff had dug, and waited.
It wasn’t long before the pick and ban started.

[BA CarryWoman: What should I ban?]

We took the blue formation according to a pre-randomly determined result.
This will result in choosing between bans and picks first.

I chose bans based on the opponent’s most picks.
Hydra, Orion, Helios.
All of them were frequently used in Ranked Games and were Han Tae-seop’s most picks.

The opponent’s strategy was similar.
Is it because of the information that Ryu Seo-yoon was the original character Chung?
One-deal characters were banned consecutively.

This completes the 6-ban of the one-deal.
Ryu Seo-yoon’s character pool was being tested.

Of course, it was a ban-pick aspect that is not common in the pro scene.
That’s because all players handle most of the characters well, so there is no need to focus on targeting one player’s character pool.

[BA Batte: Choose Hyunmoo]

And I was the first to take out the hyeonmu that Han Yuna would use.
The reason was very simple.
Hanyuna because she was a bug except for Hyeonmu.

It was her job her to just take half of her line and use one ultimate skill well in teamfights.

After that, Conqueror chose Atalanta.
Ryu Seo-yoon’s most pick, and a character that guarantees the carry promised in the second half.
However, it was also a character whose distribution period expired if he died even once.

The second character of the Conqueror, which was then selected, was a utility-type supporter, Unicorn, who would protect Atalante’s life.

The opponent’s bot combination with the same combination as when I played bot duo with Ryu Seo-yoon in the past.
I couldn’t help laughing.
Isn’t this a pick that totally helps my plan?

[BA Ryu: Should I pick it up now?]

Ryu Seo-yoon, who had heard the plan beforehand, also spoke excitedly.
But I shook my head.

[BA Battle: We have to draw our bot combination later.]

The ban pick continued.

I picked Jungle Hong Gil-dong and Top Hercules.
Both are our player’s most picks, and are known for their offensive upper-body combinations.

And the opponent’s picks against him are Jungle Sanjangmusa and Top Ganesha.
It was a defensive pick, and it showed the will to save Atalante somehow.

The order of our picks back last time.

I took one last look at my opponent’s picks.
Even though Atalanta is a pick that is very easy to counter, Conqueror was chosen as the first pick.
Two reasons could be inferred.

First, it was stolen because Atalante is Ryu Seo-yoon’s best pick.
Second, the tier of Atalanta has risen relatively due to the 6 bans on the one deal.

However, in conclusion, this became the other party’s big mistake.
This is because the bottom line is not limited to melee characters.

[BA Battle: Pick Yamata Orochi and Yeti]
[BA Ryu: Gazua!]

Two characters were selected almost simultaneously in the pick window with Ryu Seo-yoon’s cheering sound.
Yamata Orochi, a strong laning player, and the Yeti, who were counter to one-deal attacks.

A Conqueror who couldn’t pick a character for a long time even after our picks were finished.
I was probably quite upset.
Because the so-called ‘Bottom Destruction Combination’ appeared.

A bottom-breaking combination means aiming for the characteristics of an AD that needs to grow, and bringing a strong combination to the bottom in the early stages.
It’s a strategy that comes out occasionally even in the pro scene, but it takes a lot of risk, so you need to be quite strong to appoint it.

The advantage is that it is incredibly strong in the beginning.
However, the fatal disadvantage is that when the game goes until the second half, the difficulty of the combination is extremely increased because there is no one deal.

At that point, the value drops to the point where it’s virtually impossible to win at the pro level.

‘But this isn’t the 3rd division, right?’

Conqueror took the mid-mid Blue Dragon as the last pick after much thought.
Blue Dragon is a character who has good roaming and seemed to mean that he would try to help Bottom through him.
It didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Because everyone has a good plan until they get it right.

I gave advice to the players before the game started.

[BA Battle: You can do a line swap, so go in and ward and start.]
[BA Ryu: Yes!]

Finally, the pre-game of the quarterfinals has begun.

###

Team Battle Angels
Top: BA Carrywoman (Hercules)
Jungle: BA Wisdom (Hong Gil-dong)
MID : BA Luna (Hyunmu)
AD Carry: BA Ryu (Yamata Orochi)
Support : BA White (Yeti)

Team Conquerer
Top: Conquerer Ko Tae-soo (Ganesha)
Jungle: Conquerer Shin Yoo-seong (Samjangbeopsa)
MID: Conquerer Kisu Kim (Blue Dragon)
AD Carry: Conquerer Han Tae-seop (Atalante)
Support: Conquerer Yeji Shin (Unicorn)

Han Tae-seop saw the combination and grinded his teeth.

Even if it wasn’t, it was a game that started with all kinds of anxiety.

The Battle Angels are much stronger than he expected.
Even Lee Ji-hye, whom he looked down on so much, was one of the main pillars of that strength, and the opposing team’s one-deal that he believed in didn’t answer after sending a request for the main attack, and then came up with a bottom-destroying combination.

For some reason, it seemed that everything was running towards killing him.

‘I heard that the opponent’s one-deal character range is narrow!’

During the ban-pick process, there was something the team members said as they were sure.

‘Brother! The opponent’s one-deal, until recently, was a one-character attack! Wouldn’t there be nothing to do if I ban the one-hander?’

But what is this?
The opponent showed off with a minor combination.
The team members were resentful, but for now, they persevered.
Because winning the game was more important than that now.

Han Tae-seop cried out in devotion to evil.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: Shit, what should I do with those bastards? Did you bring a bottom destruction combination?]
[Conquerer Shin Yooseong: Hyung. Don’t do that, swap top and bottom, right?]

At that time, Conqueror Team’s jungler, Shin Yoo-seong, came up with an amazing strategy.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?!’

Top Bottom Swap!
It means that the top players and the bottom players switch lines to play a line match.
If the opponent came with a bottom-breaking combination, even if the bottom was destroyed, only Atalanta would be able to save and promote the second half.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: That’s it! Hey, swap it now.]

So, as soon as the game started, ADC Han Tae-seop and support Shin Ye-ji ran to the tower and waited quietly in the friendly jungle.
If you find out that you swapped, the other person will follow you, so you shouldn’t even show your hair.

But then, a man comes into the grassy forest.
It was Hong Gil-dong, a jungle character from Battle Angels.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: Hey fuck! Inve is here!]

Invade!
It was an aggressive play that entered the opponent’s jungle from the beginning of level 1.

In fact, it wasn’t that I hadn’t thought of Invade.
Inve defense was one of the most basic strategies in team games.

However, the response was very wrong.
From the point of view of the Conqueror, who took a weak combination in the early fight, the thought of falling out after seeing the opponent was very complacent.

‘I should have just put the ward and fell towards the tower!’

But it was already too late to regret it.
Han Tae-seop shouted as he turned right behind Shin Ye-ji and ran away.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: I have to save myself!]

But at that moment, Yeti’s snowball gets stuck in Atalanta’s ass.
Yeti’s proprietary technology that reduces movement speed and attack speed.
This was one of the reasons Yeti was called a one-deal counter.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: Fuck!]

[First take!]

[An ally has been attacked. Hong Gil-dong → Atalante]

When the screen turned black and white and returned to the well, Han Tae-seop was angry with his teammates for a long time.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: No, what are you doing without defending against Inve!]
[……]

The team members were speechless.
It was because Atalanta, a character who should never die, died absurdly as soon as it started.
Now Atalante has become a trash character that is difficult to play alone even in the second half.

But their suffering did not end there.
Since it was Atalanta who died in the upper jungle, unless you’re an idiot, you can see that he was thinking of swapping lanes.

Battle Angels’ Yamata Orochi and Yeti had to follow the Conqueror’s bottom duo to the top. In the end, the confrontation between the bottom duo, which they tried to avoid somehow, had to be concluded.
Even if it wasn’t so, there was no way that Atalanta, who faced her first death her, could withstand the bottom destruction combination.

[Double kill!]

[An ally has been attacked. Orochi Yamata → Atalante]

[An ally has been attacked. Yamata Orochi → Unicorn]

[……]

The team voice was filled with silence.
Everyone could tell that the game was tilted.
I just can’t get it out of my mouth.

Since then, Han Tae-seop has recorded three more deaths in lane battles.

Jihye Lee’s Gildong Hong came to ganking once.
One more time after going out without a supporter.
Once again after running away as the tower breaks.

Atalanta had become worse than a minion, and even being hit by a Yeti’s snowball would cut her blood in half.
Because of this, there is no way that a line war can be established.

Han Tae-seop couldn’t even hug the tower, and he followed the jungler and spat out swear words.

[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: Dog fuck… Is there anything embarrassing like this… ]
[Conquerer Shin Yooseong: Hyung. Get mental. See you next edition.]
[Conquerer Han Tae-seop: Huh, yeah… There is only you This edition was out of luck. See you next edition.]

That’s how the Conqueror’s core was broken before the 15 minutes that Seren was able to do were reached.
Atalanta’s kda at that moment was 0/8/0.

Hard…

Han Tae-seop came out of the capsule while grinding his teeth.
Somehow, it seemed as if the people in the auditorium were laughing and looking at him.
In addition to that, I heard the voice of the commentary scratching the mental.

“I never thought the Battle Angels would do such a combination!”
“Especially because it is a combination centered around Ryu, who is known for having a narrow character pool. How could they have increased their character pool so quickly?!”
“Fans who have been waiting for the Battle Angels game do not know whether to be happy or sad. It was the fastest game in academy history!”
“It will be a pleasure for us. I think I will be able to get off work today!”

His face his turned red with shame.
Unknowingly, he hit the capsule hard and quickly went into the waiting room.
I felt like I wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

“Brother! It’s okay! We’re not over the game yet.”
“Whoa… I know… You can win or lose.”

A break of 10 minutes until the next game.
He was the one who tried to control his mind as much as possible, but it was not easy.
In the end, he could not calm his pounding heart and had no choice but to enter the second set.