Chapter 198: Challengers Hurdle (2)
Normally, the only time many users gathered on LIL Pro was when a huge tournament like LIL Championship was happening. Other than during those times, the average Big Pro post never exceeded 30,000 views. However, LIL Pro was fired up like a LIL Championship tournament was taking place during this in-house tournament. The average Big Pro post reached 50,000 views.
[There was nothing to watch during the winter season. The in-house is so fun to watch]
[High Protein is undefeated in their scrims. Is it even possible to beat them?]
[Almond is getting taught a lesson tonight]
[Because of Almond, silver players these days are so full of themselves]
[Whatever. I'm just glad Miho is back playing LIL. Upvote if you agree.]
There was a lot of attention toward the in-house tournament. It was unusual for an unofficial tournament without pros to receive this much attention. This resulted from old famous streamers returning to the scene, like SweetRadish playing for the first time after his retirement and the introduction of Almond.
This tournament was a great opportunity for new streamers, and Almond was one of them. It was the perfect time to show the world his LIL skills.
Strike when the iron is hot. The iron was hotter than ever. It was apparent looking at LIL Pro.
[Freaking Almond... I can't accept that you're good at LIL too. I hope Bubblegum brings you down!]
— Stop talking about that nobody...
— Can you promote it somewhere else, fanboy?
└ WTF are you talking about? Isn't this LIL related? Are you the only loser not watching the in-house tournaments?
└ For real. I bet even at school nobody hangs out with him.
└ I bet he's some fatass who can't even fit in through doors.
└ LOOOOL
└ Fatass!
— These coconuts are swarming in again... GTFO back to where you came from ^^
└ Coconuts? You mean the nut crew! Hahahaha
└ Coconuts, LOL
└ It's the nut crew!
└ Read the room and just walk away... Please...
└ Hahahahaha
Almond already had a large fanbase from Battle Large and Kingdom Age. Now, there were several fans blatantly taking his side. He still had momentum of his own to push forward.
Meanwhile, it was now 6 P.M.
[It's starting!]
[Du-dum]
[I'm going to watch High Protein!]
[GreenTea is going to be different today!]
[I'm voting for Red Carpets]
[I hear today is execution day for the nut crew. Is that true!?]
The teams’ scrims were about to begin.
[Current Viewers: 22k]
The viewers went into the channels of the users they preferred. Almond had around 22,000 viewers.
"Phew," Almond let out a small breath.
[Game is about to begin!]
The game had started.
***
The start wasn't anything particularly special. The opponent hadn't pulled off any strange strategies nor did Almond's team.
[Minions are spawning.]
The minions started coming in, and the laning phase also flowed smoothly.
Thwack! Thwack!
Almond warmed up with Raina by killing off the minions one by one with no trouble. It had been a while since he picked her.
The enemy was doing the same thing. BlackTea charged her gun the perfect amount every time she killed the minions as Ran.
If the laning phase continued peacefully, it would be disadvantageous for Almond. Raina had to gain leads to stay relevant in the game, whereas Ran could slowly grow stronger by killing minions.
"I'll look for an angle. Since we're playing as Raina and Fisherman, it's better for us if we get a kill."
Tako read the situation and slowly stepped forward. Tako wasn't the only one aware of the situation. The enemy knew that a peaceful laning phase was also better for them.
BlackTea's Ran aimed straight away for Tako.
Bzzt! Bang!
The attack slightly brushed by Tako, but didn't hit him.
'She shot even though it wasn't fully charged up?'
Almond was surprised to see her shoot without charging up the gun. Her instantaneous decision-making was impressive.
"Damn, Ran is really tricky."
Spit.
Tako spat while recognizing her skills. He eventually came back to Almond's side.
"Let's look for the next angle."
"Next time, let's try approaching her together."
"Sure."
[Level Up!]
[Level 4]
When Raina hit Level 4, she experienced a power creep and became significantly stronger than Ran during this period. Almond attacked a bush, and knowing the difference in strength, Ran backed off slowly. At the same time, Ran started firing warning shots at Raina. BlackTea fired inside the bush.
Bang!!
[Tumble]
Almond tumbled forward as if he'd been waiting for her to do that. BlackTea shot at the empty bush as Almond moved on to the next bush. There was a dangerous opening between the bushes, but Almond managed to stay hidden.
The bushes only slightly trembled. It was all thanks to Almond's invisibility that activated when he tumbled. BlackTea couldn't see him.
"Lemon! He probably rolled into the next bush!"
"Okay~!"
However, even though BlackTea didn't see him, she still had a Challenger’s intuition. After BlackTea warned her support about the bush, she slightly moved back. The enemy support was playing as Cuifan - Sorcerer of the Sulfur Swamp. This champion was perfect for a long-ranged ADC like Ran.
[Swamp Toad]
Ribbit!
A toad appeared beneath Raina's feet. She had no choice but to shoot it, revealing her location.
Thwack!
The toad exploded, spewing its grotesque innards everywhere.
Splatter...!
[Ugh... I hate that.]
Anytime Raina faced off against Cuifan, she always complained about him as if she knew who Cuifan was.
Cuifan spoke up as if they also knew Raina was disgusted by the scene, "Hahaha! How's that? Doesn't it look appetizing?!"
— All Cuifan players are like that.
— Do their souls turn into Cuifan as well!?
— Bring me a bowl of rice now!
— Is this a mukbang?!
The viewers commented on Cuifan's remark while Almond fiercely targeted the enemy.
"!"
Cuifan's laughter turned to stone.
Tak!
Raina suddenly started to come toward them.
"Huh... huh!? Baaaaaaarf!"
Cuifan backed off while using a skill that made him push back with his barf.
Shashak!
Raina pushed forward with her left foot.
"!?"
For some reason, the barf attack went through her.
'What the... is he coming toward me while dodging through the frames?'
Cuifan's eyes widened. Almond was utilizing the frame naturally and even more smoothly than BlackTea.
[Will 20 work?]
Raina's question was a death sentence for Cuifan.
Wooong...!
Multiple blue targets appeared all over him.
'These many targets!?'
Cuifan saw the multiple targets spawning around him and ran away, fearing for his life.
"BlackTea! BlackTea!!"
Lemon screamed for help. Ran's mana shots were already on their way.
Kwaaaang—
'Perfect!'
If the shot hit, Lemon could use the time when the recoil affected Almond to run away.
'I'm alive—'
However, that was only a fantasy. She suddenly saw flashes of blue light streak past her.
Pubububung!
All four combos landed perfectly on Cuifan's back.
"Kugh!"
Almond managed to land four shots while Ran's shot was coming. It was an instantaneous rapid fire.
[HP 60%]
Lemon lost 40% of her HP. Cuifan had a low base HP, and Raina was Level 4 at her power creep. Three more hits and Cuifan would die.
'Still, if Ran's attack hits...!'
Her last hope was for Ran's attack to hit Raina head-on.
Kwagwang!!!
The bright light enveloped Raina and flared up.
"Phew~ I'm alive! Thanks, unnie~!!"
Lemon said as she excitedly ran toward BlackTea.
"Hey! Look back!"
Fwhip!
Raina came out of the smoke and readied her bow.
"Where are you going?"
Three shots were nothing for Almond.
Pubububung!
[7 combo!]
Every shot from a 7-hit combo and a Level 4 Raina was deadly.
Thud...!
[First Blood!]
***
BlackTea's pupils shook as she looked down at her aim.
'That guy... is he really Gold?'
She already knew that he wasn't like other Gold players. She knew that even as a Silver player, he beat GreenTea and played toe to toe with WhiteChicken.
'But even then... this is illogical.'
BlackTea got shivers recalling that it had only been a month since Almond started playing LIL.
'Damn.'
BlackTea's hands trembled slightly. She needed to stop. Since Ran was a long-range sniper, every slight movement affected his shot.
[You're trembling, summoner. Are you okay?]
Even Ran was starting to get worried.
"I'm alright. I'm just a little nervous..."
— Wow! Almond's making BlackTea nervous!
— GreenTea can't even make her tremble...! Almond, what are you!
— She's shaking in anger, ready to beat up Lemon.
— You're nervous because you saw Almond's face, right?
— Almond's Raina is really on another level.
"Shut up everyone before I ban you all."
— Zip!
— :x
— Sorry, my cat walked on my keyboard...
— Ban them all!
BlackTea whipped her hair back and readied herself again.
"Wow! Amazing! Almond, you're insane!"
She looked toward Almond, who was getting complimented by Tako.
‘Anyway, what happened earlier? Why didn't he get pushed back?’
She was trying to analyze what occurred earlier. Ran's fully charged shot had a recoil effect that came with it. It scaled with level, so by the time Ran reached Level 4, it also had a knockback effect.
'No way...'
She saw how he could dodge Cuifan's vomit by skipping the frame earlier. It seemed like he was able to pull it off again.
'But Ran's attack is an AOE (Area of Effect) damage, so he shouldn't be able to dodge it like that.'
Ran was favored in higher ranks because the effects of her damage were so large that it was impossible to dodge with those kinds of tricks. Even when dodged, the players were often caught in the shot.
'So is that why he still lost some HP?'
She took another glance at Almond's HP.
[HP 80%]
Almond lost 25% HP, but regained 5% from a potion. Almond was hit for sure.
'He dodged just the knockback? That's the only explanation.'
The conclusion she came to was that he dodged just the knockback portion. He got hit by the shot and took damage, but as soon as Ran's attack exploded, he used the frame skip to dodge the knockback. It was possible in theory if Almond could perfectly time it during that frame.
However, the explosion and the knockback effect had an opening of 0.01 seconds. He had to get it perfectly within that frame to succeed. Almond was able to pick it apart on his own and dodged it.
'What kind of person is he?'
BlackTea had heard of talented players, but this was beyond her comprehension. She bit her lip.
[Ally has been slain!]
[Ally has been slain!]
[Miho Double Kill!]
'Damn.'
Her middle lane was losing. Their bottom lane was supposed to be winning, but after giving up the first kill, it snowballed into the other lanes.
'Let's focus.'
BlackTea thought she could test her limits in this game. Determined, she told her viewers as well.
"I'm going to play as if my opponent is also a Challenger."