Episode 262: The Heart’s Beating
After the game started, there was only one thing Kaoru was most wary of.
A strategy of creating variables through individual defeats at the beginning stage, which may have been prepared against Japan.
Starting with players with outstanding individual prowess like Kang Jun-hyeok and Lee Chang-hyeon, it is about cutting down one or two players before they can even properly fight.
Because that alone could have drastically changed the situation.
But is it because they were careful enough in Japan?
There were no accidents during the pre-merging phase.
“I don’t think there will be any problems until the junction.”
“Okay, Takumi. Are you okay?”
“I think so.”
‘Phew… … ‘
Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief when word came out that the merger was taking place without any problems everywhere.
If it were to turn out like this, it would be the most familiar battlefield for Japan, and the one with the highest chance of victory.
‘From now on, it’s our stage.’
Kaoru smiled as things went smoothly.
I passed the most vulnerable part.
Now, the strategy for the future was left to only things that could be somewhat predicted.
‘When it comes to practice match opponents… … you basically have to know what kind of team they are. What strategies they can use. What kind of power they have. You can’t help but give them information.’
That’s why Kaoru of the Japanese team, who had played several practice matches directly against the Korean team, understood.
The Korean team is the best at it, can use it well, and has the highest chance of winning, so the tactic they will use is Lee Chang-hyun or Kang Jun-hyeok. It depends on who you use, but in the end, it will be a tactic led by a lone top.
And, as expected, that prediction was completely correct.
After the Japanese team joined, I was carefully approaching the opponent while killing all traces and sounds of Mana.
One of the opposing team’s aces. This was because they had adopted a one-top strategy led by Kang Jun-hyeok.
“nice.”
In Japan’s team voice, only a single word, spoken by someone, could be heard softly.
“Yeah, nice.”
The corners of Kaoru’s mouth went up.
***
In fact, it was the Japanese coaching staff who were watching the game start with just as much anxiety as the Japanese players.
What Japan is most strong about in Hunters League international matches is the strong bond and cooperation between players. The teamwork and breathing that moves as one body.
Naturally, the joining stage right after the first start was bound to be the most vulnerable.
But the moment of holding one’s breath and watching was short-lived. When the process was over and the Korean team came up with a one-top strategy led by Kang Jun-hyeok as expected by Japan, quiet cheers erupted.
On the broadcast screen, the casters and commentators were diligently preaching the power of the Korean team’s unbroken one-top strategy, but…
Because the Japanese team was only aiming for that.
‘So… … your polished weapons, or our perfect preparations?’
The Japanese team’s waiting room was enveloped in silence, and everyone stared quietly at the screen.
[Caster: As expected, the Korean team came out with a strategy of stirring things up with a lone top. Japan! Have you come up with an answer to this strategy that no one has yet answered in international exchange matches?]
It has never been revealed in practice matches against Korea so far.
But it was something I had practiced countless times through simulations.
Lee Ji-hoon’s ‘Golden Glow’ buff, the Korean team’s rear guard’s Lee Gi-geom, binding, and cold-based foot binding, etc.
A strategy to shake them off and stubbornly ‘hold out’ during the buff period.
It wasn’t easy.
Because the performances of Lee Chang-hyun and Kang Jun-hyeok, as shown in the practice matches and the Korean team’s match records, were not ordinary at all.
But, in the end, they are also human. They have patterns to their movements and preferred fighting styles.
The Japanese team’s opinion was that if they analyze them and practice countermeasures in advance as a team, then it wouldn’t be impossible to hold out.
Look! Isn’t that true?
As several Japanese team members came into view and the battle began in earnest, Kang Jun-hyeok activated [Sword Realm] and, surrounded by a golden glow, challenged the Japanese players to a fight.
[Commentator: What the heck is going on? Japan team! This is ridiculous. It’s as if the entire team is reading and sharing Kang Jun-hyeok’s moves in advance. They’re avoiding all of [Sword Realm]’s attacks!]
It turns out our practice wasn’t in vain.
“Director. As expected, ‘Gubo’s’ [Manavision] and [Sharing Thoughts] are shining. All of your predictions were right!!”
“Yes. Isn’t it true that ‘we’ are stronger than ‘I’? With Kubo’s eyes and the ability to share what those eyes see, and the teamwork of the Japanese players, it’s only natural that they can avoid it. Haha.”
First, you can instinctively anticipate and avoid the opponent’s attack patterns that you have already become accustomed to through simulation.
Second, with Kubo’s ability ‘Manavision’, he reads the mana waves to detect signs of an attack, and with ‘thought sharing’, he shares that information with other team members to avoid it in advance.
And thirdly, team members feel each other’s breathing and movements, throw airbeats to each other, pull each other, and lead to more perfect movements.
At the same time, unexpectedly, it is where Lee Chang-hyun’s long-range sniper shot is fired.
Daichi’s round [Manabeat] floated around, predicting the sniper attack and generating a powerful mana shield to block it.
‘It is perfect…….’
The concentration, the tactics, the structure, everything was going ideally.
As expected, as time continued to drag on due to the continuous evasion of attacks, the golden glow surrounding Kang Jun-hyeok, the lone striker, gradually began to fade.
Every time the Japanese players activated [Sword Realm], surrounded by golden light, and dodged Kang Jun-hyeok’s flying attacks, the cheers of the audience could be heard outside the waiting room.
It was almost like a festival scene.
It was the commentary of the commentators that put the wedge in there.
[Caster: Ahhh… … The buff is fading. Could this be a weakness of the buff that wasn’t revealed until now?]
As if those words could be heard inside the stadium.
As the golden glow faded, the Japanese players began to counterattack.
A pleasant silence filled the Japanese waiting room.
One overwhelmingly strong player and the right amount of support personnel. With excellent buffing abilities, the one-top strategy is complete.
But what if even one of them is missing?
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… … Japan was not so soft that it would miss the food that was put into its mouth.
***
As the game progressed, reactions in Korea were polar opposites.
At first, the commentators made a hopeful prediction.
The viewers’ reaction, which had been raising expectations for the Korea-Japan match, exploded with the start of Kang Jun-hyeok’s one-top strategy, and everyone expected a refreshing ending, but…
[Caster: This is a big problem! If this happens, Kang Jun-hyeok, there will be no way out!]
Rather, it was the opposite side that was being pushed around.
Kang Jun-hyeok’s [Mana Unleashed]. And the sword strike was so powerful that it destroyed everything that passed by, but it didn’t actually cause any real damage to the Japanese team and only destroyed the palace.
It hasn’t achieved any real results and the buffs are now dissipating.
Even though Kang Jun-hyeok had unleashed [Sword Realm], he was gradually being cornered by the Japanese players who were systematically approaching him as if they were hunting down prey.
‘please…….’
Even Jeong Hye-yeon, who couldn’t bear to look at the scene beyond the screen, was holding her hands together.
[Korean Water Rocket Push~]
ㄴ Have you been going with a one-top, one-tool strategy until now and failed like a dog?
Oh no lol, of all places, it had to be Japan.
N But isn’t this doing well so far? Why are you so strict?
n I don’t know about other places, but don’t you know that you have to win in Japan?
N Ah… … But it’s too bad that the tactics aren’t very diverse.
ㄴ It’s natural that you’ll get stuck if you keep using one or two original tactics. That’s what happened now.
ㄴ But isn’t it a bit difficult to ask a team that was put together on the spot to use various tactics?
n Japan Team: ??? China Team: ???
In a situation that is getting worse and worse, chats are coming in nonstop.
Is it because we expected it that we were disappointed? Because it was originally a Korean team, we thought they would lose.
Unlike before the game started, the number of chats overwhelmingly mocking the Korean team began to increase.
Although it came out later, since we were on the same team in the past, maybe I didn’t have the confidence to continue watching it with my own eyes.
Was it because cursing the Korean team sounded like cursing himself?
I couldn’t read the chat window any longer and had no choice but to close it.
Still, I held onto one last ray of hope.
I watch the game with only a strong desire for a counterattack.
… … Did he now feel that it was impossible to protect Kang Jun-hyeok who had gone deep inside?
Lee Chang-hyun’s sniping support, Yoon Han-gyeol’s Lee Gi-eo swordsmanship, and Lee Yeon-ju’s ‘shackles’ had all disappeared without a trace.
‘Are we retreating…?’
I wonder what’s being posted in the chat window right now.
As that thought passed through my mind, a screen appeared showing Kang Jun-hyeok being blocked by Japan’s suffocating teamwork.
Losing the one-time explosive buff of Lee Ji-hoon, the driving force behind the one-top strategy.
Losing one of his two wings, Kang Jun-hyeok.
In fact, it’s almost like it’s now 7 to 5.
Is there a future if we retreat?
Although Jeong Hye-yeon was not a great hunter and came out of PER, it was intuitive that the current situation was the worst.
Because I was rooting for you with all my heart. Because I hoped you would win, my heart ached even more.
The screen showed the scenery of the palace that had collapsed due to the tragedy of [Sword Realm]. Kang Jun-hyeok was shown with a sword pointed at his neck.
‘This game is… … .’
Is it the end?
While he was thinking like that, the Japanese player’s sword swung towards Kang Jun-hyeok.
The broadcast screen zooms in and shows Kang Jun-hyeok clearly.
But… … something felt off.
‘I laughed… … .’
What did Kang Jun-hyeok, who was in a desperate situation, hear through the team voice coming from his earphones?
At the moment when I thought I had lost, the corners of my mouth went up, which was strange.
And then, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
It was getting harder for Kang Jun-hyeok to hold on to his position in [The Realm of Swords], and he was on the verge of collapsing at the hands of the Japanese players.
It’s as if a story of a different genre than before is beginning.
With an oriental-style palace and a backyard filled with maple leaves, and the Japanese players rushing towards the fallen Kang Jun-hyeok as the backdrop, a powerful wave like nothing I’ve ever seen before came crashing down.
It was an uncountable wave of swordsmanship, like the ones seen in any other martial arts drama.
‘That’s… … .’
And at that moment.
Although he didn’t show much in the game, Jeong Hye-yeon, who had seen Lee Chang-hyun up close, had a gut feeling.
Now, the real game begins, in a way that no one expected.
That it was just about to begin.
My back, which had been covered in cold sweat, was no longer conscious.
Just the sound of my heart beating so fast seemed to shake my whole body.
fantasy,
