Chapter 404
[*ESPORT GAMES PART 1]
Ah, here it goes again.
I'm used to this feeling now, and I don't hate it at all.
This excitement, as if a huge amount of adrenaline had been injected into my blood vessels.
For some reason, an arrogant smile keeps forming and the corners of my mouth twitch.
Arrogant words are about to come out of the tip of my tongue, regardless of your intentions.
At first, I didn't like the way the Crown Prince's ego was exerting its influence on my body.
I couldn't control myself, and I didn't know how to deal with the sudden situation.
Even though I was in the middle of a national audition called
But now it's different.
Now everyone knows about my noble background, and they seem to understand that I sometimes get drunk on confidence and act brazenly.
I could tell just by looking at the members' reactions.
"I know that no one can stop you, but listen to me."
"Siyoon, what you just said is contradictory. How can he listen to you when you can't stop him?"
"That's right, hyung. The moment Karis hyung enters that rampage mode, just give up. You can't stop him."
"Hahaha!"
"No, why is he so excited today?"
Kang Shiyoon shook his head while fiddling with my hair here and there.
It was like a mechanic trying to fix a malfunctioning machine, then giving up and sighing.
"Karis."
"What is it?"
"You're never going to do a search battle in the first place, are you?"
"Of course."
"Oh my......."
"But."
Fortunately, even in this state of intense heat, my reason made a rational judgment.
This also stemmed from the commander's habit that was embedded in my body.
"It's natural to check the enemy's movements before engaging in a blitzkrieg. Of course, that doesn't mean we'll ever use the strategy of running away."
"Then what should we do?"
It's a tournament format, so the team that wins that match advances to the next round.
Kang Si-yoon and I are the ones participating from Seleste.
I opened my eyes thinly and thought about it carefully.
"Si-yoon, are you planning to use 'Hawk' from the beginning?"
"That's not true, but I did plan to use it right away if I thought the opponent was good."
"Then use 'Basher' for the first and second rounds. I'll go out as 'Salt Mary'."
Kang Si-yoon and the other members' eyes widened when they heard my pick.
"Weren't you going all out? You're suddenly doing Salt Mary?"
"Exploration is not unnecessary. However, quietly playing tag with the opponent is not my style. Therefore, I use Salt Mary."
"...You're going to keep hitting and retreating and watch the opponent's moves."
"That's right."
Ji Yoon-chul immediately understood my intention.
As expected, my beloved disciple, whose gaming skills have grown tremendously in a short period of time, is just like me.
Unfortunately, the hero pool is still narrow, so I can't pair up with him and he is waiting as a replacement member, but his brain is definitely working like crazy.
'Exploration doesn't mean just sitting still and not attacking. You have to keep prodding the opponent to see if there's an opening, and the moment there's an opening, you have to finish exploring and stick your blade in.'
The character that can effectively use the hit and retreat strategy is definitely Salt Mary.
The members also tilted their heads when they saw me use this character in a one-on-one with Kang Si-yoon, saying, "This character is very difficult to control," but what was the result?
I laughed as I thought about how the casters and commentators who broadcast our matches would react.
I want to see the other person's embarrassed face soon.
'My fingers are itching, I can't stand it.'
Yoo Min-ha, who was looking at my face with an arrogant smile, shook his head following Kang Si-yoon.
"Hyungs, Karis hyung is starting again!"
"Karis, listen to me carefully. First of all, you have to control your expression, okay?"
"I'm laughing because it's fun, so how can I hold it back?"
"......I think it would be impactful to blow people away with a smiling face? It's also a twist."
"What's wrong with Yoon-chul? He's also dyed in the cloth."
Song Hyung-bin looked at Ji Yoon-cheol, the only one who understood me, with a worried look.
He looked at Ji Yoon-chul's face and mine alternately and gave permission.
"First of all, winning is important, so just think about that and do it. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah! We're human weapons. Just cheer us on."
"Thank you, Eun-gyu hyung. I'll completely destroy everything."
"Eve, even when you say it so fiercely, it's strangely persuasive, and it makes me feel strange. Why does your face light up even when you say something like that?"
"Don't you think that hyung's face glows when he's excited?"
"Isn't it true that the face is the completion of everything...."
***
The first event of
All preparations are complete for the first round of
Caster Han Seong-jae simply summarized the bracket.
"
"Yes, the player I told you to keep an eye on today, Player Karis, will be coming out in the first game."
Caster Han Seong-jae found an interesting episode related to Karis and the Seleste members among numerous preliminary research materials.
"According to the preliminary interviews with the members, among the games coming out today,
"Oh, so you mean that they always played it as if playing with friends?"
"The bet isn't money, but sometimes they played games with food bet."
"I guess we have to see that they really have perfect pre-learning."
"Yes. And among these members, everyone unanimously said that Karis was the most skilled."
"You can tell just by looking at the heroes they're confident in."
As mentioned earlier, Commissioner Kwak Jin-hyeok was a
So, it is safe to say that all games that use consoles or pads, such as
"Hawk, Salt Mary, Viper, Gyarios. They are all very difficult to control."
"Are they difficult heroes to handle?"
"You can think of them as the so-called crack heroes. If they use their skills at 100%, they have incredible abilities that can almost blow up the game, but it's absolutely impossible for ordinary players to do so. The characteristic of these heroes is that their survival rate drops the moment their skill shots miss, and they often die immediately. The fact that I've selected only these heroes means that they have tremendous confidence."
"I'm even more excited when Commissioner Kwak Jin-hyeok says this. Now, the first match, Seleste vs. POX. Let's start right now!"
The players from both teams entered the stadium to the cheers of their fans.
Karis von Walden sat in front of a white TV with Kang Si-yoon in a stately manner, and the two members of POX sat in front of a black TV on the other side.
The announcer in the stadium visited the members for a brief interview before the match, and there, Karis and Kang Si-yoon gave a pre-planned comment.
"Are you ready, Su?"
"Of course, Shi!"
It was a catchphrase that was famous since they appeared on Survival, but they changed it a little to fit the eSports World Cup.
Instead of the usual thumbs-up, Karis and Kang Si-yoon made guns with their fingers and fired one shot at the camera.
The arrogant expression after shooting was a bonus.
It felt like they had really prepared thoroughly.
The real showdown had begun.
Commissioner Kwak Jin-hyeok, who had been watching the pick phase with his eagle eyes, spoke in an excited voice when it was Karis' turn.
"Now, we have 'Scarlet Fox' and 'Tengu' with good mobility. I wondered if a hero who could keep up with those guys with a lot of mobility would come out, but it looks like they will! Player Karis, are you fixing your pick for 'Salt Mary'?"
"Salt Mary is also a hero with great mobility, right?"
"She is a hero who can play by sneaking between enemies and digging in, which is commonly called 'tightrope walking'. If you miss the sleep or miss the control and get attacked, it will really hurt a lot. If you get hit twice in a row, you will be knocked out. Your body is so weak that you will be knocked out."
"Will they really use such a high-risk hero? Ah, the moment I say! The pick phase ended when Player Karis chose 'Salt Mary'!"
It was truly an extremely intense mobile battle.
The randomly appearing battlefield was also very large, making it a good environment for heroes with good mobility to run wild.
The characters chosen by the players slowly descended onto the map.
Everyone settled down in their respective areas, and the long-awaited first set finally began.
'They won't move rashly, right?'
Commissioner Kwak Jin-hyeok thought that since it was the first game, there would be no active movement.
However, contrary to expectations, Seleste immediately made an unusual move.
Kang Si-yoon, who chose 'Basher' as the defensive force, took his place and advanced, and behind him, Karis' 'Salt Mary' lightly jumped over the second-floor platform and moved.
A kind of diversionary tactic.
'The decision to take the high ground is really good, but how will they utilize that slow-footed Basher?'
The general expectation is that while Basher is drawing aggro, Salt Mary will dig in.
After all, this is a game for idols, not pro gamers.
However, Commissioner Kwak Jin-hyeok's thoughts were immediately shattered.
"Huh, huh? Player Karis, it looks like you're already starting up! You're using Soul Tmary's skill, Spirit Ride!"
"If you do this, you're going to dig in, but the opponent will be able to dodge it easily. Here, I wonder-."
Salt Mary stepped on the platform and jumped high.
Then, using her skill, Spirit Ride, she jumped diagonally for a long time.
Since it was a rather straight attack, the other players were able to respond appropriately.
However, Salt Mary turned sharply in the air as if she knew where the opponent was going.
In that state, she kicked off the wall and fell down while spinning around.
Exactly above the head of Tengu, who was surprised by Karis' sudden preemptive strike and moved down.
"This is your chance! Your chance has already come! It's dangerous if the sleep hits here. POX!"
"We have to watch a little more, this isn't easy to hit!"
Commissioner Kwak Jin-hyeok also knew that Karis would use the sleep right here.
The POX player was also aware of that and quickly moved to the side.
'What?'
Salt Mary didn't use sleep.
Rather, she used the cooldown time of the spirit ride to twist her body to the side again and accelerate.
It's a psychological warfare.
A psychological warfare where you don't know when or where sleep will fly.
No, this kind of psychological warfare should be impossible from the beginning.
Since it's difficult to approach Salt Mary as a character, if this golden opportunity comes, anyone would use sleep right away.
'How can she move as if she knows all the opponent's movements?'
It was bizarre.
Salt Mary, controlled by Karis, twisted her body in the air with incredible reaction speed and chased the Tengu's feet.
It seemed like a ghost, not a human, was leisurely laughing and following its prey.
One more thing to keep in mind here is that this game is a duo battle, not an individual battle.
Then, in this situation where the Tengu are all gathered like this, Scarlet Fox could help.
'This crazy…....'
The support for Tengu never came.
That's because he was completely tied up by the minefield, the special skill of Basher controlled by Kang Si-yoon.
'While Salt Mary was digging into the middle of the enemy camp with a somewhat reckless movement, Basher, who was somewhat slow, continued to move forward. He was only aiming for the landing spot of Scarlet Fox, who was avoiding Salt Mary.
While everyone's mind was caught up in Salt Mary's bizarre and scary jump, Kang Si-yoon's Basher was only targeting Scarlet Fox from the beginning.
In order for Kang Si-yoon to completely block one opponent, Karis took all the aggro from the beginning.
Predicting the opponent's movement path.
Kwak Jin-hyeok watched Salt Mary hit Tengu's head, shoulders, and feet with sleep and stun skills with his mouth open.
The movements are so fast that anyone who sees it would think it's a clone technique.
It's so fast that even someone who isn't Kwak Jin-hyeok's eyes, honed through years of gaming experience, can't keep up perfectly.
-Κ.Ο!
-Κ.Ο!
Salt Mary blasted the Tengu to the other world with a flawless movement.
She then used her spirit riding and wall sweep skills in succession, landing on Scarlet Fox's head tied to the minefield, and then launched a series of attacks with Basher, instantly raising the damage gauge to 300%.
Scarlet Fox's entire body exploded in a spectacular manner, making the Tengu, who was immediately hit by the sleep/kick combo, look even better.
"The match is over! Seleste wins the first set in just 2 minutes and 43 seconds!"
Karis von Walden, 23 years old..
Former position, Crown Prince. Current idol.
His specialty.
Hard carry.
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