Crash!
A roar erupted when Lemon's Fireball burned two enemies simultaneously.
[Lemon Double Kill!]
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
This cheer didn’t only come from the stands. The Knight Order, Can't Can't Can't, and even all the other Cheese players shouted.
'We won.'
'This is it!'
'Yes...!'
Even Lemon, who'd been visibly tense all day, sighed in relief. "Phew!"
She exhaled the breath she'd been holding like someone who'd been submerged in water for a long time. It was as if the anxiety of this game was finally released.
Black Tea wildly tousled her hair and screeched. "Niceeeeee! Gyuriiiiiiiiiiii!!"
Even the former pro Sweet Radish felt excited. "Is this actually happening!?"
Everyone was in a festive mood, except Almond. He wasn’t being profound or emotionless. It was just an old habit. Just because he'd hit the target with one shot didn't mean the next shot would also hit. This attitude was deeply ingrained in his body.
"ForeverAlone, how is Donuts's side?"
He came beside ForeverAlone and received a briefing for the next step.
"Oh, y-yes!?"
"Donuts went to block, right? How did it go? We can't see."
Only Can't Can't Can't members could get a full positional read on the team.
ForeverAlone, who'd been excited, snapped back to attention. "Oh yes! They’re on the way to that position now, Your Majeeeeesty!"
— He keeps saying Your Majesty lmaooo
— This guy is just a total underling
— Wow I didn't know Gi-Chan was such a sycophant until now
— lmaooooooo too excited
— ??? He, he called me...!
"Yeah, they’ve almost cut them off? One enemy left."
"Yes, he says he blocked them."
Almond briefly checked the time and waited for a message.
[Enemy Defeated!]
[Donuts → Omelette]
The entire stands burned gold.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
An enormous roar erupted because this kill was completely different from the earlier ones.
[Team Brunch Out!]
Paprika’s first place team had been eliminated, effectively signaling the end of Group A’s strategy.
The Knight Order wanted to shout and celebrate once more, but Almond immediately gave an order.
"We need to contract from the rune spirits!"
Bang!
A rune box appeared from where the four rune spirits gathered. The Knight Order had deliberately gathered them.
[Rune Box]
Who went for it mattered. Zelo and ForeverAlone looked at each other. In truth, since the Can't Can't Can't members' presence was important, they could have taken it first.
"Sweet Radish." Almond left this decision to Sweet Radish.
In situations like these, Sweet Radish always made the right call. Nobody was better at choosing the best option from a defined set of possibilities.
"Oh, yes... first I need to know if Bubblegum contracted Iron Ball."
Almond nodded and told ForeverAlone, "Ask if Bubblegum got the Iron Ball contract."
"Yes! That's Hambugeez, right? They contracted the carry first because of hunting speed."
With ForeverAlone's answer, Sweet Radish could make a proper decision.
"Then, Sweet Potato takes Iron Ball."
"Okay."
Sweet Potato became Iron Ball immediately.
Sweet Radish moved to the next step. "Then, from now on, we split."
Almond seemed slightly excited, nodding multiple times.
"Sweet Potato, ForeverAlone, me, and Black Tea will form team one."
"Yes!"
"Almond, Lemon, and Zelo will form team two."
"Yes~!"
The Knight Order had been practicing this strategy throughout the scrimmages. It was the beginning of the split, but not a two and three person split. It was a three and fourperson split.
Orange King shouted, "AHHHH! Brunch is out!"
One team had been instantly wiped.
"It’s completely different from before! Cheese!?"
"The complete opposite of Group A!"
It was as if Cheese was paying Paprika back for what happened in Group A.
"Meanwhile, Paprika is in a devastating state. The Amuse team that tried to fight alongside them fortunately escaped well! Oh... but so much time was wasted, right? What's your take, analyst?"
"Oh yes... Amuse is... finished too. Their leveling has completely fallen behind. They didn't die, but so much time was lost."
— Wow lmaooooo
— Red Glasses says finished LOL
— lmaooooooooo
— What the
Orange King cut in. "It's not over here! Even the Knight Order and the Nonghyup! They're splitting right now!? It's like! You drove a blade in deep! And the blade is opening up like scissors on both sides! Blade spliiiiit!!"
— What the
— Insane
— Blade split lmaooo
— Wow lmaooooo
— That metaphor
— Brutal
— Ahhhhhh
— Inward blade split
"Oh, that's painful just to hear about!"
The painful metaphor was exactly right. They'd driven into the middle of Paprika's territory across five teams, wiped one team, and were even splitting. The wound was widening.
The analyst added, "Exactly as you said. If they split like this here, Paprika will lose communication with each other, and Cheese's map control increases. The strategy transition is very smooth from the Knight Order!"
The observers showed the map divided into yellow and red. In reality, yellow was significantly larger.
[Map Control]
[Cheese: 78%]
[Paprika: 22%]
"AHHH! Cheese is at 78%!" the caster exclaimed.
"The rate Almond loves! Oh, Cheese is looking very good! This way Paprika can't even say 'We played well in defeat!’"
— rate lmaooo
— The rate Almond loves LOL
— Didn't he hate it?? lmaooo
— Pre-blocked the “We played well in defeat”
The caster asked, "Paprika looks quite disadvantaged right now! Still, the other teams besides Amuse look to have decent leveling. What are the chances of a comeback, Orange King!?"
It was still a very early game. Paprika's wound was festering, but it wasn't completely over. There was enough room for a comeback.
"The Red Turtle!"
"Red Turtle?"
"Yes! If they take two out of four! Paprika can still keep hope alive! And even funnel them to one Paprika team. Same as before. Then it's still unknown!"
"Oh, I see. Grow the head again! Orange King's head strategy! It’s still valid!"
— Tangerine head strategy LOL
— Orange King’s walnuts spinning
— Sounds like a table manners lecture lmaooo
— lmaooooo
"Yes, it’s still possible! Growing Brunch is out of the question but! Team ChickenWinner is also strong! Paprika still has four teams left! If the other three teams funnel to them, it's still unknown! Right now, Magical Girls and Hambugeez aside! The Knight Order and the Nonghyup have lower exp! There's bloodshed on this side too!"
The Nonghyup and Knight Order had been focused on combat but still remained at level one. Killing someone without a contract didn't earn much experience. This was Cheese's only weakness. If Paprika exploited this and claimed at least two Red Turtles, losing one team could be recoverable.
"Oh, but......" The analyst adjusted his glasses and offered a counterpoint. "Doesn't the Knight Order's leveling seem suspiciously fast?"
"What?"
"Their exp bar is rising at a tremendous speed. Splitting will make it faster... That makes sense, but it's too fast. With three and four people..."
"Hm? Why, why would that be?"
It wasn’t a two and three person split, but a three and four person split. How were they leveling so fast?
"Split! Split!" Almond called out and scattered with Lemon and Zelo.
They immediately began hunting monsters.
"There!"
Lemon lured monsters with magic, and Almond beat them down.
Bang! Bang!
Their movements looked well-practiced.
"Tank!"
"Y-yes!"
With Zelo also holding a shield and absorbing hits for them, the speed was tremendous.
Bang!
[Level Up!]
[Lv.1 → Lv.2]
Lemon, who'd gotten the double kill, leveled up first. Then, Almond also leveled up in succession.
[Level Up!]
[Lv.1 → Lv.2]
Of course, Zelo was still level one while diligently absorbing monster attacks with the shield.
"Oh, no..." Zelo felt left out. "Is the life of a slave so bitter?"
— lmaooooooooo
— lmaooooo fr
— If you're unhappy, do better in scrimmage~
— He'll get one eventually~
They looked like a three person team, but were effectively a two-person team in front of prey. Their hunting speed was as fast as three people, but only two gained experience. Naturally, this increased their progress.
Meanwhile, Zelo admitted what had to be admitted. "Still, though, the Lord and Lemon's hunting speed is really insane."
Fundamentally, the two-person combo's hunting speed would be tremendous. Even without Zelo, it would have been a remarkable speed.
— fr
— Yeah yeah
— Absurd level
— Seems this is all they've done lmaooo
— Nobody can beat these two at the split
"I'll think of it as learning! And stand here as the meat shield! Oh well, it’s cleaning duty and jump roping for a while, but they'll teach me the one-two punch someday!"
This was a very naive thought. This wasn't a boxing gym from a manga.
[Level Up!]
[Lv.2 → Lv.3]
Even by the time Lemon and Almond reached level three, Zelo hadn't gotten even one finishing blow.
"No, no... what is this? Isn't this unpaid labor?"
— lmaooooooooooo
— lmaooo why are you telling us
— Don't say it here
— Unpaid labor lmaooo
— Sacrifice your heart for Cheese! smh
Zelo deserved to get one kill too, but Almond didn’t give up a single one.
Suddenly, Almond said to run for no reason. "There’s no time! Ruuuun!"
"Oh, yes... yes!"
In his head, he recalled the coach’s words.
''Stronger monsters only appear when enough time has passed in Survival mode.''
Because of Survival mode's characteristics, strong monsters didn't appear until some time passed. No matter how much was funneled to one team, there was a limit. Paprika would inevitably target something.
''Grow once and stop, grow again and stop again. In other words, a staircase. However, there's something that lets you climb these stairs faster... the epic monsters.''
Zelo followed behind. "Wh-where are we going!? I'm level one! D-don't tell me you're going to sacrifice me!?"
"The Turtle."
"What?"
"We need to take the Turtle."
Without the Red Turtle, Paprika would completely lose hope.
"No, my question was whether you were planning to throw me as bait..."
"Turtle."
The same answer came back.
— lmaooooooooooo
— lmaooo Turtle
— Can't you read the room smh
— Turtle <<< LOL
— He's saying he’ll sacrifice you at the Turtle, Zelo
— Obediently die smh
The Knight Order needed to quickly reach level three to take the Turtle.
"There. Turtle."
Almond, Lemon, and Zelo spotted the Turtle and hid in the nearby bushes. Almond checked the map. In the northeast, the upper right on the map, was the Turtle.
From afar, a Paprika team was swarming in with similar timing.
"Wow~! Lord, there are quite a lot of people over there," Lemon muttered in surprise.
Paprika also had to stake everything on the Turtle, so two teams came.
Almond told Zelo, "Zelo, between Magical Girls and Hambugeez, who's closer?"
"Um... Lord, but are you planning to use me to steal it? You need to tell me so I can at least mentally prepare..."
"If there's no team nearby, I'd have to throw you in anyway."
"It's Magical Girls. Magical Girls is very close."
"Then call them here."
"Uh... we're taking the Turtle together with them?"
"Yes."
Zelo briefly made contact. "Yes. Magical Girls team? Come to the Turtle. Damn... what's with all the questions!? It's a royal decree from the Lord! Come right now!"
— lmaooooooooooo
— LOL
— This guy invokes the Lord's name when he's the one giving orders hahaha
— Why royal decree when it's the Lord lmaooo
— Lord who is also King...
Zelo, who'd been chatting briefly, asked Almond, "They say they also have a Turtle to take."
"Tell them that it's safe, so eat it later. Paprika not getting this one is far more important."
"Oh..." Zelo nodded and barked back, "Just run over here! You! Do you want to become fertilizer for everyone?! Hm!?"
They briefly waited.
"Oh. They're coming."
"Good."
At this point, Paprika had already started attacking the Turtle, and the Abyss Shadow was slowly approaching nearby.
"Uh... w-will we make it in time?"
"Now..." Almond drew his bow.
Creek...
"Oh, as expected, we can steal it with the Lord's archery ... Hm?"
The arrowhead was pointing at Zelo.
Almond's expression hardened. "This is for Cheese."
"Damn."
— lmaooooooooooooooooooo
— LOOOOL
— lmaooooooooooo
— Hahahahaha
— Sacrifice your heart for Cheese!
— lmaooooooo
— lmaooooo
— It comes to this in the end...
— Is that why he wasn't leveling him up...
— Truly ruthless...!

Comments

Loading...