Episode 209: A Secret That Cannot Be Told
Ranked matches are not just about training to improve your 1-on-1 skills.
Certainly, ‘one-on-one strength competition’ is popular because, unlike achieving something as a team, it ‘purely proves one’s own power’.
Although there may be less talk about tactics or strategies.
Still, it is a pleasure to the eyes.
The fierceness of physical skills honed to the limit colliding. And the simple and clear battle that comes from it.
From the players’ perspective, if their skills are good, they can team up with players in much higher leagues, which is good.
From the viewer’s perspective, it’s good because you can find and watch more battles of players you usually like.
‘Um… … The guys currently at the top of the ranked battle… … .’
It was not for nothing that Jin Su-hyeok was the guardian of the Korean national team, as he had surpassed 5,000 points and was in first place.
Other than that, there were familiar names like Kang Jun-hyeok and Jo A-ra… … In addition, there were many famous players from Division 1.
If it’s obvious, then it’s an obvious story…
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw so many familiar names.
Lee Jun-seo, a member of the LTD of the 1st division, had the ability to control mana around him [Static Mana], which was a bit of a hassle to deal with in the 2nd division.
And whether it was blocked by that wall or not, Yoon Han-gyeol, who didn’t seem to have much of a change in the score… … PER’s team members also started to appear one by one.
Aside from Yoon Han-gyeol at the top, there is Lee Seong-tae who has a fairly high score. Kim Yu-hyeon who has a fairly high score, perhaps because he uses his unique defensive strategy effectively in 1v1s.
Just Ryu Jae-jun, who is in a higher basic weight class. Even Lee Gil-han, who is enjoying himself with his recently acquired clone ability and is currently raising his stock.
They were generally divided according to their 1-on-1 combat ability.
Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s absolute. The fact that Lee Seong-tae had a much lower score than Yoon Han-gyeol simply means that he neglected ranked matches. He wasn’t pushed back any further.
Even in the case of player Kang Jun-hyeok, if you only look at his skills, it would be right to say that he should have a higher score.
‘Even so… … there are a lot of really bad guys.’
Even though Hunter’s League is a team-based game, Han Ji-soo and Lee Yeon-ju, who barely played any ranked matches, were seen with scores that were not much different from their starting scores.
I felt like I had to use this opportunity to nudge him to raise his score.
While I was thinking about this and that while looking at my teammates’ scores, the matching was done again.
The moment I started to move, thinking, “Should I get up again?”
Information about my opponent caught my eye.
[Lee Jeong-hoon]: PER member, 3037 points
A proudly open ranked profile.
But of course, the problem isn’t that it’s public…
‘Oh… … That kid came all the way up here?’
Since it was a score close to the score he had just achieved, it seemed like Jeonghoon was matched up as the enemy.
Of course, Jeonghoon doesn’t know that the other person is me.
‘Is this the first sacrifice from the team?’
I couldn’t stop giggling inside.
***
[Private]: Private affiliation, 3022 points
‘Who is it……?’
When Lee Jeong-hoon was confronted with an opponent with unclear information, that was the first thought that came to his mind.
Well, at this score level, there was no one who usually did blind processing like that.
Since I always played with people who played ranked matches, I became familiar with all their faces, so when I saw a new face, it really stood out.
But there was no one in particular that came to mind.
If that’s true, then that person wasn’t originally in this score range…
‘Then he must be an unknown player or something… … but he seems strangely familiar.’
The jawline that was visible outside the mask, the way he walked, everything about him was strangely familiar. It was as if he was someone I knew.
‘Or is it a Part 1 Hunter? One of the players I saw a lot on broadcast?’
It was a situation where I couldn’t help but think that way.
He’s someone I don’t know, but he’s the first to appear in this score range. That means he’s a famous tier 1 hunter who’s climbing the ranked ladder for the first time in a long time.
Because this was the most rational inference.
For Lee Jeong-hoon, who had been frustrated by not being able to get up to the 3,000-point wall recently and not being able to interact with excellent hunters outside of internal training at PER, this seemed like a good opportunity.
Because I thought that he wasn’t the kind of everyday person who would fall into mannerism, who was always calm and collected.
‘Going full power… …!’
With that in mind, I rushed at the masked opponent.
Lee Jeong-hoon’s specialty is close combat using the [Indomitable] ability that prevents one from dying in one go.
Among them, the weapons he was most confident in were the twin swords he was holding in both hands, and the mana equipment that assisted in battle.
A situation where you have already obtained abilities such as [Swift] and [Deceitful Stab], excluding [Indomitable], with the [Thousand Talents] ability.
I felt that I could knock out even the best ranker in the first division.
‘A good fighter doesn’t think long about his moves.’
The more time you spend thinking, the slower your reaction speed will be. Any judgments are quick, and you aim for the moment when there is no time to react.
The movement to attack is left to the judgment of the body that has been accustomed through training so far.
I quickly approached [Swiftly], recalling the words that Lee Chang-hyun had personally taught me.
There, an attack that is too honest would be easy for the opponent to block. I mixed [Air Beat] and [Air Dash] to change direction rapidly and confuse the opponent.
The masked opponent turns his head here and there, as if trying to guess where exactly he will attack.
‘A blind spot that is bound to occur unless you turn your whole body.’
I’m taking advantage of the gap. That’s what I was taught.
There was no disagreement about that belief. It was the words of Lee Chang-hyun, who was like a god to Lee Jeong-hoon and whom he respected the most.
In fact, when playing ranked matches, if everything goes according to plan, it’s all successful.
The moment you take advantage of this tiny opening, you can consider the match already over. Just quickly, with the twin swords held in both hands, you can hit your opponent’s weak point.
“… … !”
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‘Did you stop it?’
He wasn’t even a weapon-wielding opponent. Of course, he couldn’t stop it with his bare body, but he stopped it.
To my confusion, I looked at the arm of my opponent who had blocked the twin swords and saw that it was covered in layers of shields.
As if he had anticipated the attack, he had formed a mana shield that was narrow and thick only for the area where the sword was cut.
Is that all?
‘There’s something more in that mana shield…?’
Kwakwakwang!
‘Oops… …!’
This force was bound to be pushed back by strong repulsion. It was clearly a mana bomber.
‘I’m going to layer up mana shields in anticipation of a specific area that will be attacked, and then place mana bombers in between them to counterattack the opponent who attacked that area… …!’
The thought suddenly crossed my mind, “This is a master.”
Because it seemed as if they had already anticipated Lee Jeong-hoon’s attack and response.
Even when facing great hunters so far, I’ve never felt this way, except for Lee Chang-hyun…
However, what was surprising was that the firepower of the Mana Bomber was weaker than expected. Since it was placed between the Mana Shields, even if the firepower was strong, only Lee Jeong-hoon, who was attacking while destroying the Mana Shield, would have been damaged.
‘Is it a failure in firepower control…? Or is it a reduction in risk?’
The reason was unknown.
Perhaps, the thought suddenly occurred to me that it might be the other person’s leeway.
Because the corners of his lips, slightly visible under his mask, were slightly raised.
‘Tch… … .’
Lee Jeong-hoon clicked his tongue at the opponent’s attitude as if he was teaching him a trick, but then charged at him again.
***
“No, but I heard he’s really a master. In my opinion, he seems like one of the top aces in the first division. He even wears a mask.”
“Arthur. We talked about this here a little while ago, but he mostly just uses punches and kicks, and fights only with mana equipment. Even if he’s a first-division league player, can’t he win against that?”
Han Ji-soo scolded Lee Jeong-hoon.
Since I was the only kid in PER, they often teased me. It seemed like they were doing the same thing today.
‘But Jeonghoon has an eye for things.’
The other guy is so blind that he can’t even tell.
“So, what is the score for the exponential?”
“What? Why is that suddenly coming out?”
Sigh -.
“Hey! Did you just laugh? Did you laugh?”
Han Ji-soo asked what the score was, and when he couldn’t answer, he laughed at Lee Jeong-hoon, so he chased after him. However, since he’s a melee dealer, he’s born fast, so it won’t be easy to catch him.
“Well, even though it’s only 3,000 points, it’s definitely good if you can see it flying like that. In my opinion, if I find my score, it’ll probably be around 4,000 points. Let’s not worry so much about it and just focus on what we’re doing.”
On the other hand, Yoon Han-gyeol, perhaps because he still had a high score, was talking in a lofty manner, as if he was looking down on others and making a fuss over something trivial.
It’s late today so I won’t be able to play more ranked matches, but I think it’ll be fun to meet other players in ranked matches at the top level and to get to know my PER teammates later.
Of course, there are some guys who look at the situation with a strange, suspicious gaze, as if they have a strong feeling about something… … Anyway.
***
Meanwhile, NGU, which was finishing up preparations for its next game at its home team, was talking about its next opponent, PER.
“But wouldn’t it be worth a try? If we look at the record from the third season onwards, as you said, it’s true that they’re bringing a whirlwind. But it doesn’t seem like there’s anything our team can’t do this season.”
“That’s true. It’s really fortunate that Joo-Han came to our team. Isn’t it?”
“Don’t do that in front of my face, it’s creepy.”
“Are you the type who gets embarrassed when you receive compliments?”
The halls of NGU were filled with giggles.
Perhaps because we could expect much better results than last season.
“Anyway, that’s enough preparation. Did you hear the story?”
“If you tell me that story, how do you know what it is? It’s really ridiculous.”
“No~ That. Chairman Lee Geun-taek said he would give special benefits to the ranked matches this time.”
“You said there would be a special benefit for ranked matches?”
It was the first time most of the team members had heard this story.
I guess it’s probably a story about this season, since it hasn’t been that long since the season started, so it couldn’t be helped.
“There was an article saying that in order for the Korean league to advance further and be competitive in international leagues, it is urgent to improve individual skills or something like that.”
“Oh… …There’s something like that?”
While the NGU team members were talking, Park Joo-han, who had been keeping his mouth shut since the conversation just now, opened his mouth again.
“There are certainly a lot of new people coming in. I also just started again after Chairman Lee Geun-taek spoke… … .”
“Oh~ King Joo-han. Is it true that a top 5 ranked player will be born in NGU~”
“… … What are you talking about? More importantly, there’s a strange guy there these days. He started around the same time as me, but he’s a punk who beats up people without any skills or weapons.”
“Oh, right! I think I got beat up by him during a ranked match. He was really crazy.”
“Just by looking at his movements, he seems to be a complete veteran, and judging by the way he handles his mana equipment, he’s at least a veteran hunter or ranker… … .”
I didn’t understand why he was wearing a mask, and even if he was, why he wasn’t using any weapons at all.
“But why are you suddenly talking about him? You said they started again around the same time, so… … Joo-han already got beat up by him once… … .”
“That makes sense.”
Park Joo-han dismissed that as nonsense. He couldn’t say that he had been beaten to a pulp with his bare fists by that guy that day.
“Well, that’s true. Joo-han isn’t the type of person who would go and get hit. Let’s prepare for the next match. We need to take care of our condition, so should we all go in now?”
Yeah, what kind of ranked match is Hunter?
Just do well in the Hunters League.
fantasy,
