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Chapter 240. Hidden Card (2)

Balloon Stars Vs. Solo Is Back in the playoffs.

One of the teams had to go home once they lost in this tournament. Both Balloon Stars and Solo Is Back had achieved tremendous growth while progressing through the matches, so this showdown received great attention.

Only the first game had finished, but articles about them already consumed the Big Pro community.

Among them, the top post was:

[Almond shooting after pulling his hand out.gif].

It showed the scene when Almond killed ForeverAlone. The Beast attacked Almond, but he managed to pull out his hand and shot ForeverAlone.

— Have you practiced this, Almond…? I tried it too, but why doesn't it work?

└ You can’t get hotter with practice, LOL.

└ I watch Almond's daily stream, but he doesn't practice this, LOL. He just does it.

└ It'll work for some, but not for you.

└ That's heartbreaking, LOL.

Next to the top post, a collection of ForeverAlone's psychological warfare also became popular.

[ForeverAlone's Chikicha mind games LOL.mp4]

— So cute.

— ForeverLoner, LOL.

— Real popular guy, LOL.

— His stream wasn't very popular, but I bet he'll get some viewers from now on. LOL

└ Already increased by 2,000. It almost doubled.

└ If you're Korean, please watch ForeverAlone's streaming.

└ … Why?

— Will ForeverAlone finally get a girlfriend?

Next to those posts, Almond's Chikicha also became popular.

[Almond's Chikicha behind-the-scenes]

It showed the scene when Almond first caught ForeverAlone and mumbled Chikicha back at him.

— Crazy, LOL.

— He's so cute.

— Aren't there more of these?

└ I'll Upload more. Wait a sec.

Almond didn't end his revenge with Chikicha just once. Thanks to that, the post became a series, and many viewers liked it.

[Chikicha revenge behind-the-scenes-2]

[Chikicha revenge behind-the-scenes-3]

— Did he set up a macro to go off whenever he killed him?

— Crazy, LOL.

— I thought Almond didn’t hold any grudges. Maybe his almond nut condition wasn't the best during that match.

└ Seems like he's only passive-aggressive in the game.

└ His competitiveness…

└ Please refrain from derogatory comments about walnuts. It's also a crime.

└ My Almond doesn't hold any grudges to anyone! It's just his nuttiness that's crazy hot.

— Almond usually can't remember who did what, LOL. So funny.

— He said Chikicha even when he killed ForeverAlone at the nexus, LOL.

└ Isn't he saying that because he actually likes saying it? LOL.

The next popular posts all mentioned Bubblegum.

[Gum with his memory back]

[Gum lost his memory again]

[Gum got his memory back again]

[Gum lost his memory again]

[Did Gum just eat that?! Gum swallows anything]

— I feel like there’s something wrong with his brain, right?

└ Seriously, LOL.

— My Gum… please go to the hospital…

└ Who can cure his LIL skills? LOL

└ I meant he should see a doctor for his memory problem, you dumbfuck.

└ It’ll be worse if Gum goes to the hospital and all his memories return!

— What's going on with the last one? LMAO. Is he a child?

— Bubblegum is the real one! He stole our penta kill! The LEGEND!

└ Almond will dream about his penta every night now...

— Someone in the chat said Gum is about to end up in the hospital, LOL.

— This is it! Our Gum is my forever treat! I can chew forever!

└ True, lol. You chew as much as you want because he’s our Gum!

Unexpectedly, the next post praised Tako and received several upvotes.

[Honestly, Tako's ban pick carried the most in this match. Press the upvote button, people.]

— Seriously, the deceptive ban pick was amazing. It's been a long time since even OrangeKing was fooled like this. Probably because he didn’t take it seriously.

— Crazy, for real.

— Genius octopus.

— The Prophet Tako.

— Tako, the hope for the faculty of arts!

└ Was Tako in arts?

└ No, he was an engineer.

└ Then why…

└ Wrong faculty, dumbass.

└ Pfft. An art nerd.

The second set finally started amid the heated attention.

After the champion selection phase, new posts about their picks immediately filled the LIL Pro board.

[What is that?]

[Does that still work?]

[That's something from a long time ago, LOL]

[A boomer strategy]

[ForeverAlone, from newbie to adulthood. How would he know this strategy? LOL]

[I've never seen this… what is it?]

***

The caster explained before the ban-picks started, "Balloon Stars took the first win and secured a favorable position in this best out of five match."

[Balloon Stars] [1]

[Solo Is Back] [0]

A hologram displayed the score before the crowd.

"Analyst! It's time for the second ban-pick phase. How do you think it’ll go?"

The analyst adjusted his red glasses and straightened his posture.

"Yes. As of right now, Balloon Stars will base their picks around Almond as their mid-laner."

"Will Almond go to mid lane again?"

"There's no reason not to."

"Why?"

"First of all, Almond wasn’t struggling against ForeverAlone at all in the mid-lane as you can see from the results of the first set."

"True. There were even moments when Almond was winning!"

"That's because Almond has good compatibility against ForeverAlone."

"Is that so? Is it like human compatibility? Between a jock and a nerd...?"

— The deep-rooted traditions from school... lolololol

— Even the casters aren’t taking ForeverAlone's side...

— People call this relationship master and slave!

— Poor slave!

"No, it's not like that."

"Ah… Okay."

The caster made a somewhat disappointed expression.

"It's because of ForeverAlone’s preferred champions. Assuming Almond picks a highly skilled ADC champion for the mid-lane, that’ll be very good against ForeverAlone."

"Eh? Why?"

"The biggest counter to ADC champions are assassin champions. However, ForeverAlone never picks assassin champions for some reason."

"Really? Ah-ha... lt seems so from the data!"

"Yes. ForeverAlone likes to see the game from the top, roaming around, and managing the entire map. From that perspective, it's not that risky to go with an ADC champion in the mid lane."

"Ah-ha... That's how it works..."

"...This is off-topic by the way, but Tako wants Almond to play as their mid-laner. They’re considering it for the matchup with SweetRadish later. Almond wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to go against a mid-laner like ForeverAlone."

"Ah. So ForeverAlone is just for experience?"

— My ForeverAlone...

— ForeverAlone became one of the minions.

— How can you treat ForeverAlone like that? You're crossing the line, caster!

— Guys, we all know it's not the caster's fault, haha.

"From Takoyaki's perspective, yes," Red glasses chuckled and tried to avoid the crowd’s jeering.

"Yes, Takoyaki might see it that way. These days, people call him the Intelligent Prophet Tako. Do you agree?"

— LMAO.

— You guys should remember the yaki in Takoyaki. Our Takoyaki is formed with both Tako and yaki!!

OrangeKing agreed, "Yeah~! Tako's ban picks would definitely be in the top five for this tournament! They almost countered all the opponent's strategies! He’s worthy of being called the Prophet Tako!"

The caster also nodded, "Exactly! He’s good at reading strategies for sure! But... this time, ForeverAlone has the last counter-pick, right?"

"Ah~! Yes! It's ForeverAlone turn to counter now!"

The pick order was chosen according to factions, so Solo Is Back received the last pick this time. That meant Solo Is Back could look at all five of the opponent's champions and choose the last champion for themselves. In other words, they would definitely choose a champion with good compatibility.

"They will probably give the last pick to ForeverAlone, their ace. Moreover, ForeverAlone can handle a lot of champions. Even the prophet Tako must have a lot to consider this time."

"Yes! The ban pick phase just started! Let's go check it out! Is the Prophet Tako real? Or will ForeverAlone's last pick counter them?"

***

On the main screen, the opposing team prepared to pick their bans.

Both sides fiercely exchanged words through headphones.

When the ban picks started, some champions like ForeverAlone's Solia and Almond's Raina were immediately banned.

Balloon Stars was used to seeing Raina get banned, so Tako wasn't even shocked. He already moved on and talked to them about the next ban.

"Sana will probably be banned next. Then, we’ll ban Pollock's Clown..."

However…

Boom!

Tako's eyes widened at the opponent's ban.

[Solo Is Back Ban #2]

[Iron Ball - Dino]

"......?"

They banned Bubblegum's Iron Ball.

'They banned Iron Ball?'

That was unexpected and came completely out of nowhere because no one was paying attention to Iron Ball.

Now that Balloon Stars didn’t have Iron Ball, it felt like the unexpected move created a huge gap in their top lane.

Moments like this often occurred during the ban pick phase. Players only realized it once a champion that wasn't supposed to be banned was actually banned.

"Um... Did they just ban me?"

"Wow. It seems like you did really well in the last match."

Except for Tako, the other team members didn't seem too surprised. Almond even seemed happy that they didn’t ban another one of his champions.

'This... is a problem.'

Among the branching possibilities in Tako's mind, one turned entirely red and warned him. Despite that, he tried to act calm. Nothing happened yet, so he had no reason to demoralize the team.

"Heh. Interesting, but we go as we planned. Ban the Clown! Ban Valkyrie!"

They casually proceeded with the next ban, but Tako felt that things were going wrong in the corner of his mind.

Balloon Stars was simply reciting a checklist that they prepared beforehand. They weren’t real bans, and there wasn't a real-time struggle of reading the opponent's next steps. It felt like playing solitaire.

LIL called this a wall ban, which meant they chose their bans while looking at a wall instead of their opponent's picks. Their ban picks only considered their team strategy and not the enemy's.

The result of this was usually disastrous. Wall bans made even the top teams lose to bottom teams.

'I need to think right now...'

Tako tried to reorganize his blank mind. However, the following pick confused him even more.

[Dragon Tamer - Jeremiah]

Dragon Tamer Jeremiah was a champion mainly used in mid lane. Solo Is Back chose this champion as their second pick, but it made no sense.

'What? Why... why did they pick their mid first?'

ForeverAlone could have picked the mid-lane champion last. Solo Is Back could pick their counter-champion after seeing all of Balloon Stars’ picks. However, they picked their mid-laner first.

'Could Dragon Tamer be played in other lanes besides the mid lane?

Some players also used Dragon Tamer as a jungler. Of course, using Dragon Tamer as a jungler was a waste.

Dragon Tamer in the mid lane was ranked in the second tier and Dragon Tamer as a jungler was in the fourth tier.

It would cause an uproar within the team if an ally picked a tier four champion. Only a few experts could handle such a pick.

'There was nothing like this in the data.'

Pollock had never played Dragon Tamer in the available data. He couldn’t possibly use Dragon Tamer.

'Then why? Why did they pick their mid laner first? What are they aiming for?'

At that moment, Tako recalled how Solo Is Back banned Bubblegum’s champion in the top lane.

'Ah-ha...'

They had banned Balloon Star's most played champion.

'Are they targeting the top?'

Solo Is Back already banned Iron Ball, the champion most played by Bubblegum.

What if they allowed RiceWine to pick the last counter-champion? Then, the top would be in great danger.

'That can't be happening...'

LIL was a game where one rotten apple could bring four aces down. Banning Iron Ball would definitely negatively affect Bubblegum.

The enemy unexpectedly had sharp tactics.

Tako also had something prepared.

'We need to pick someone to at least counter the top against Solo Is Back. Then the jungle will be...'

Tako thought of choosing a champion to cover the top, but suddenly thought of something.

'No, what if Solo Is Back is deceiving us with all this to counter the mid lane?'

Balloon Stars also had Flashy Blade.

The other side also had something not in the data. What if they used Dragon Tamer as a jungler? What if Pollock took private lessons from an expert Dragon Tamer jungler?

'Is it a pick aiming to destroy the top... or a reckless pick aiming to win the mid lane...'

Solo Is Back was either going for the weaker side or forcibly suppressing the stronger side. Both were viable strategies.

'Ah... This is why...'

Tako felt a sense of foreboding when they banned Iron Ball because of this. Too many possibilities opened up. The psychological war already got to him. He couldn’t do anything though.

The ban-pick phase already ended. Balloon Stars had to carry on with their choices.

Tako squeezed his brain as hard as he could.

'Is there someone we can choose to cover both?'

He searched through everything from his old professional days to outdated meta strategies. His mental archive had the answer, but he just couldn't find it yet.

"Tako...? It's time to pick."

The time to pick Almond's champion came.

"Just a moment..."

Time continued to tick.

[9 seconds]

Nine seconds remained.

[8 seconds]

Another second passed.

Tako decided to think for just two more seconds.

[6 seconds]

Two seconds passed.

"Almond," Tako spoke and placed a hand on Almond's shoulder.

He kept relying on this guy, but he had no choice.

"You gotta do it."

"... Do what?"

"Jungle."

"???"

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