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Chapter 258. The Interview (2)

While Almond and Tako went for the second turret in the mid lane, Bubblegum pushed for the first turret in the top lane. StrawberryShooter and Miho also went for the second turret in the bottom lane. Balloon Stars simultaneously attacked all three lanes.

No matter what High Protein chose, they would inevitably lose one lane. The power balance in this game was that off-kilter.

High Protein couldn't pick which turret to defend, but they needed to decide which one to give up.

"High Protein! You have to choose now!?"

They finally decided to defend the mid-lane. Even if it meant giving up the first turret in the top and bottom lanes, they wanted to defend the second turret in mid-lane.

"High Protein chooses to go middle! Tako and Almond must have noticed this by now! Are they still attacking?!"

"It seems like they are! What’s the current health of the second turret?!"

[Mid Lane 2nd Turret]

[HP: 35%]

The turret's health had dropped below half.

"Raina's demolition speed is much faster than we expected!"

The turret was falling at an unexpected speed from Almond's fast attacks.

"That's why they kept pushing the mid lane! High Protein! You need to hurry up. Otherwise, all three lanes will be destroyed!"

The top, middle, and bottom turrets could also all risk falling together.

At that moment…

[Pounce]

The Beast suddenly sprung through the air at Takoyaki.

"SweetPotato pounces on Takoyaki!"

"That’s a good target! It's really annoying when Takoyaki keeps putting shields on Almond!"

"But… what?!"

Click...!

Almond suddenly turned around. He switched from demolition mode toward the turret to combat mode.

'Huh? Is it me?'

SweetPotato only just realized the arrow was targeting him.

Boom!

Suddenly, the blue target on SweetPotato's abdomen exploded.

Two more shots followed right after.

Boom!

Two more targets exploded.

[3 Hit Combo!]

[Mana Explosion]

'Wait, what? But... I'm still in the air!'

SweetPotato was still in the middle of his Pounce and hadn’t touched the ground, but a Mana Explosion already struck him. Facing Almond's Raina for the first time, he found it hard to comprehend even after studying her in videos.

In the meantime, several more blue arrows came flying.

[9 Hit Combo!]

Boom Boom!

A nine-hit combo instantly accumulated.

'Wasn't it just a three-hit combo?'

Whoosh!

The Beast burst into blue flames in the air, and his vision turned gray.

"This is insane!!!"

— OMG.

— Whoa...

— HUH?

— What the heck was that?

— Holy...

Thud...!

The Beast fell to the ground, engulfed in blue fire.

[Enemy Slain!]

[LazySoldier → SweetPotato]

"OMGGGGGG!" OrangeKing suddenly sprang up from the table and shouted like a ballerina.

"Air! Raid! Air! Raid!"

— I just wanna air raid OrangeKing right now.

— Why is OrangeKing posing over there?

— Holy fuck.

— STFU

"But now! SweetRadish also enters the fray!"

Swish!

Storm Ninja's blade grazed past Almond's back.

"SweetRadish, your skills are still there no matter how weakened you are, right?"

"His skills never go anywhere!"

Whoosh!

Almond instantly turned and shot an arrow.

Boom!

A cloud of white smoke erupted. It was a ninja clone.

SweetRadish seized another opportunity to draw his sword.

"Is he drawing again as he approaches Almond?"

"No chance! Takoyaki's Binding is coming!"

Just as SweetRadish prepared to leap towards Almond…

[Wood Binding]

Crack!

Suddenly, roots sprung from the ground and grabbed the fleet-footed Storm Ninja.

It was one of Takoyaki's skills as the Wood Elemental.

"Ah! SweetPotato definitely made a mistake not killing Takoyaki! It's going to haunt them now!"

The roots held an enemy down for just two seconds. In LIL, theoretically, one could die up to three times during that time.

Almond drew his bow again.

"Valkyrie incoming!"

Just then, Valkyrie activated her skill.

[Blade Rain]

The skill came from the sky.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Countless blades rained down.

Players would normally avoid the attack and flee, but...

"A-Almond!? You're going to fight in the Blade Rain!?"

Instead of escaping, Almond stepped inside the Blade Rain.

Thud!

Almond skillfully moved to minimize getting hit by the Blade Rain.

"No way. He's dodging the Blade Rain!?"

"Last time, he blocked everything. Now he's dodging!"

"This is the power of a survivor challenge record-holder!"

Almond didn’t completely dodge everything, but he minimized the damage.

"He's even shooting arrows!"

Almond wasn't just dodging. He also fired arrows at the opponent.

Whiz! Whiz!

The arrows all flew toward the bound SweetRadish.

"Almond is making a play!"

"Yes! He's overcoming it all with sheer physicality! Don't force it, Almond!"

OrangeKing warned, but of course, Almond couldn't hear him.

The arrows hit their mark.

[14 Hit Combo!]

Boom!

Explosive damage from the fourteen-hit combo struck the enemy.

Whoosh! Bang!

It was an uphill battle given the initial level and item differences.

[LazySoldier! Double Kill!]

[LazySoldier → SweetRadish]

SweetRadish died with only 0.4 seconds remaining on the bind duration.

"Double kill?!"

"It seems like the game is over now!

“They should have waited for the bottom duo! The Valkyrie, SweetPotato, and SweetRadish trio rushed in too hastily!"

Almond had been untouchable even against the trio's attacks.

The bottom duo joined late and had puzzled expressions.

"It's as if WhiteChicken and Daechu are wondering why two of them have already died!"

"What do they do now!? Are they going to fight?"

Nevertheless, they charged in at Almond.

High Protein didn't stop their plan on offense.

[Fall]

"Valkyrie is falling!"

Boom!

Dust clouds erupted, and the ground quivered.

[LazySoldier]

[HP: 67%]

"He couldn't dodge the wide attack this time!"

The Fall skill affected all nearby enemies and launched them into the air. It was a crowd-control skill.

"The bottom duo are attacking!"

The ADC WhiteChicken fired his shots and the supporter, Rappler, cast his magic.

"If Rappler lands his Greed skill, who knows what will happen!?"

Daechu was using the champion Rappler. His signature skill, Greed, could turn the opponent into a coin. For two to three seconds, the opponent couldn't do anything after being turned into a coin.

Even a powerful Raina would become useless for that duration, providing High Protein with enough time to kill Almond.

Poof!

With that hope, he cast the Greed skill.

Clink!

The sound of pouring coins rang out, and the skill struck Tako.

"Oh my! Tako just sacrificed himself!"

One of the Wood Spirit's skills was the Generous Tree.

[Generous Tree]

[All harmful effects aimed at nearby allies will be absorbed by the Wood Spirit. Successfully casting this skill will grant a shield to all allies.]

This self-sacrificial skill absorbed all harmful effects aimed at allies, granting them an additional shield when successfully cast.

"Great use of the skill! It not only absorbed Greed, but also Valkyrie's Taunt skill!"

"Thanks to the shield, almost all the damage from the ADC has been absorbed!"

The shield absorbed all of the ADC's fervent shots. Tako also nullified Rappler's Greed and Valkyrie's Taunt. Ultimately, all the skills from High Protein's trio were in vain.

Of course, Almond didn't miss this opportunity and lunged forward.

Bang!

[Roll]

The eyes of the ADC, WhiteChicken, widened in disbelief.

Almond suddenly vanished while charging at him.

"ADC, retreat! You can't win!"

"You should attack from a distance... Huh!?"

Crash!

However, it wasn't the ADC who was hit. Instead, it was Valkyrie.

"The target was Acorn Jelly!"

Thud, thud, thud!

A barrage of arrows flew toward Valkyrie.

Acorn Jelly folded his wings to form a shield. This was a reliable defense against short-ranged attacks, but not against Almond.

Thud, thud, thud!

Arrows pierced through the gaps in the finely feathered wings.

'What...!?'

This kind of detailed aim was unbelievable.

Boom!

Boboom!

Valkyrie tried to dodge in disbelief, but that choice was even worse than counterattacking Almond.

Thud, thud, thud!

Raina's arrows already reached a high combo count.

"How did Almond manage to keep the combo going while shooting through gaps in the wings!?"

[26 Hit Combo!]

Raina reached a twenty-six-hit combo after the previous fourteen-hit combo on SweetPotato.

Even a tank would instantly melt at such a combo.

Swoosh!

[LazySoldier Triple Kill!]

[Triple Kill -> AcornJelly]

"That’s insane damage!"

"Wow! This game is really fun!"

"Wait a minute!? Now it's 2 vs. 2!"

Only the bottom duo, White Chicken and Daechu, remained. The other side consisted of Almond and Tako. It became a 2 vs. 2 situation.

"What should they do?"

Seeing the burning mana from Almond, the opponents lost their fighting spirit. A single hit could take away more than 30% of their health.

"Look! They're running away!"

WhiteChicken and Daechu frantically began to retreat.

"Will it work? Tako is still alive!"

Tako bestowed another shield on Almond.

[Spiritual Blessing]

Whoosh!

Almond sprinted with the movement buff.

WhiteChicken turned around to shoot some shots while running away.

"Don't come! Don't come! I’m shooting!"

Bang! Bang!

It was useless. Not only was his accuracy poor, but the damage also wasn’t anything significant because the level gap was too big.

"There's a three level difference between them! The damage won't do anything!"

"Almond has been farming all this time in the mid lane!"

Raina's growth was incomparable to an ADC.

Almond's speed, attack power, health, defense... all his stats were superior.

"Rappler! You greedy trickster! You're using all your skills..."

If there was any hope, it was Rappler landing his CC skill.

[Roll]

Wham!

Almond disappeared as a blue cloak fluttered. The skill cut through thin air.

"It all missed!"

"Where did he go!"

Almond ran at incredible speed. The enemies couldn't predict where he would appear during his brief moments of invisibility.

"Where!?"

Daechu widened his eyes and scanned the area.

Wham!

'!'

Almond appeared right next to him. He rolled beneath the blue hood with his fluttering golden hair. Almond and Daechu's eyes met.

Daechu was startled and fell to the side.

Crash!

'Holy fuck. He scared the heck out of me.'

Daechu’s heart unexpectedly jumped. Fortunately for him, Almond was aiming for someone else.

All of Almond's arrows flew toward WhiteChicken.

Brrrr!

WhiteChicken collapsed with a few hits.

[LazySoldier Quadra Kill!]

"Ah, Almond! He’s got a quadra kill!!!"

"Wow! That blonde is so handsome with his bow and arrows! If he isn't an elf, then what is he!"

— Woooooo!

Everyone was in a festive mood. Only Daechu was terrified and running away.

'Run, I have to run...'

[Money Scatter]

He scattered more coins behind him, which increased his speed with its propulsion.

Jingle! Jingling!

He didn't care and kept running with a ton of coins pouring behind him.

"Will this be a penta kill?"

"Daechu has gotten quite far!"

"He doesn't have much health left!"

— Penta Kill, please >_<

— Daechu has no manners, lol

— Wow, he's running away with all his might, lol!

He already went far enough to escape anyone following him.

'He's gone pretty far.'

Click.

Almond stood on top of the ADC's corpse and stared in Daechu's direction. Then he crossed his arms and activated a skill.

Whoosh!

[I will now activate the contract sealed in blood.]

Red mana surged and Almond’s long golden hair fluttered.

[Ultimate Skill - Damien's Liberated Arrow]

Fzzzt...!

He pulled the bright red bowstring taut.

Screech—

It didn't take long for him to aim. He released the arrow right away.

Fzzzzt!

The red mana roared as it raced across the air. In an instant, it cut across the battlefield and struck Rappler from behind.

Wham!

Crimson mana engulfed the enemy, and a momentary silence fell over the audience.

— ...

Shortly afterward…

[LazySoldier, Penta Kill!]

When the announcement rang across the battlefield, a deafening cheer enveloped the surroundings.

— Whoa!

"Fi-Finally! A penta kill!"

An uproar broke out in the commentary box.

"Penta Kiiiill!"

"This is insane! He killed them all!"

"We can just shout game over now!"

— Don't get overexcited. Period.

— Another King Pele's curse

— What a buildup, wow!

— Get him out of here!

Balloon Stars' fans initially felt skeptical about OrangeKing getting ahead of himself, but his curse didn't work this time.

***

Due to Almond's 2 vs. 5 fight, all the enemy towers in the top and bottom lanes had been destroyed.

High Protein couldn't recover. They fiercely resisted until the last moment in front of their base, but the gap was already too big.

"Push!"

"Nexus! Get the Nexus! Finish it!"

"Protect Almond!"

"Hit it! Hit it!"

"Arghhh!"

Boom...!

Finally, everything ended when Almond's arrow struck the Nexus.

"It, it's over!"

The game had lasted twenty-nine minutes. They played a total of five games in four hours.

The playoffs took a week. There had been a week of league matches, and they also had two weeks of practice.

The result at the end...

[Victory]

Their team had won.

'...'

Almond watched the burning Nexus and asked himself, 'Did I win?'

He already knew the answer.

[Victory]

The word made his eyes misty. How long had it been since he last won?

Fading voices rushed through his ears.

“Ah, Yu Sang-Hyeon! The youngest to... win the gold medal!”

“The gold medal! A perfect ten for the gold medal! He’s rewritten history…”

That all happened ten years ago.

"Whoaaaa!"

"We won! Weee won!"

His teammates’ cheers rang in his ears.

StrawberryShooter and Tako spun around in a hug. Bubblegum rolled around and screamed everywhere. Only Miho was sobbing.

The men didn't cry. Almond wiped away tears that wouldn't flow in the virtual world.

He smirked and a dry laugh escaped him. Then he looked up and saw everyone in the audience.

Looking further, he saw the blue sky despite them being in virtual reality. The sky looked so clear. What flew above wasn’t a bird like in reality, but a dragon.

Anyway…

"... I won."

He had won.

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