Chapter 149: Gaining Attention as a Dark Horse
Chapter 149: Gaining Attention as a Dark Horse
The term “over-immersion” might sound negative, but in any case, people who previously would have only enjoyed things casually now found themselves swept up together with other enthusiastic fans. Without realizing it, they crossed that line and became deeply absorbed, which was how these masters came to appear.
However, unlike the astonished spectators, Xiao and Uzkaran felt the shock they initially experienced gradually fading as the tournament progressed.
Of course, the players were skilled. But they did not feel unbeatable. And the perfection of the strategies being used did not feel that high either. It was obvious that mistakes happened frequently.
Especially when they saw players making errors while attempting things like the reverse rotation strategy they themselves mainly used, memories of their brutal training resurfaced, and confidence began swelling inside them that they could beat opponents at this level.
Before long, it became their turn.
“This time we have some rather special players! Xiao and Uzkaran from the distant Nuchin Kingdom across the sea!”
They could not understand the commentators because they were speaking Aran language, but afterward an announcement was separately made in the Nuchin Kingdom’s language.
“Do well. Just play the way you practiced.”
Following the commentators’ burdensome introduction came the coach’s plain encouragement. In truth, this coach was even more desperate about this than Xiao or Uzkaran, so rather than genuinely being detached from victory or defeat, he had probably watched the other players and concluded that this was manageable.
“Where’s the Baron?”
“Hm? Ah. He’s probably watching from the audience seats.”
Uzkaran suddenly looked for the Baron, perhaps because he was nervous. Well, considering he was still a child who had come to a distant and unfamiliar country, it was probably natural for him to instinctively seek someone who could protect him.
Baron Taito thirsted for victory, but he was also someone who enjoyed the festival itself. And since he thought it would not look very dignified to stick close to the players and nag them, he had entrusted everything to the coach after the tournament began.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
Xiao led Uzkaran toward the player seats. While doing so, he glanced toward the audience stands, and fortunately they did not seem hostile. However, the gazes staring at them with interest still felt burdensome.
As a result, his pace quickened without him realizing it.
“You may enter here.”
After going up onto the stage, a pretty older sister kindly guided them toward the proper booth. Xiao bowed politely to her, then entered inside.
“Ah. It’s the game machine.”
Just as Uzkaran said, a familiar-looking machine was inside. And once they entered and closed the door, the murmur of the spectators instantly vanished and silence filled the room.
Since the match had not started yet, the audience was not making loud noises. But because there were so many people and the space itself amplified sound, even the murmuring had been quite noisy.
“Hoo...”
Once it became quiet, he felt himself calming down somewhat. Xiao let out a sigh and sat in the chair before the machine. Soon afterward, an announcement was heard.
“Please select your character.”
Because the booth had been quiet, Xiao and Uzkaran flinched slightly at the voice coming through the transmission tube. But they did not become overly shaken and instead entered combat mode as they began moving the lever.
The opposing side had already chosen characters, and they were being registered one by one. Fortunately, the Woodpecker Xiao usually used was still available. In truth, all the characters only differed in appearance and had no performance differences whatsoever, but for some reason Xiao always felt he played best with the Woodpecker, so he was quite attached to it.
The two decided to begin with a probing battle.
Every strategy began with understanding the opponent. And just because it was a probing battle did not mean it was not threatening.
“The skills of these two boys from the Nuchin Kingdom are no joke!!”
Just as the commentator shouted, the way the two slowly pressured their opponents while opening paths everywhere with bombs was so smooth and free of hesitation that anyone could tell they were skilled.
As a result, the opposing side, who had slightly looked down on them as kids from a backward country, became tense only now.
The two teams exchanged attacks and dodges, continuing a fierce battle from the audience’s perspective.
“They’re nothing special, huh?”
“Right?”
But Xiao and Uzkaran looked completely relaxed now. They had roughly grasped the opponents’ skill level. Xiao thought about what strategy to use, then looked at the current state of the map they had opened up and made his choice.
“Let’s use the reverse rotation strategy.”
“Ah. That sounds good. Which direction should we start with?”
“Let’s go clockwise first.”
As soon as the discussion ended, the two slightly narrowed the distance between themselves, then intentionally targeted the nearby Rhinoceros and began focusing their attacks.
Now that it had suddenly become two against one, naturally the opponent had no choice but to flee.
Of course, the other opponent came over to help, but instead of facing him directly, Uzkaran dodged while intensifying the fierce assault on the Rhinoceros even further. Naturally, the Rhinoceros fled while circling clockwise as driven by the two, and the other player also chased behind Xiao and Uzkaran, causing the entire flow of the game to move in one direction.
However, this flow was visible only to people in the audience who had deeply studied the game.
After all, one of the core points of this strategy was driving the opponent without letting them notice.
Being chased two against one, the target naturally became too busy fleeing to think about anything else, while the other player became too busy chasing because it looked like his ally was about to die at any moment.
And rather than insisting on killing the opponent, Xiao and Uzkaran continuously reduced the enemy’s options and guided them into rotating only clockwise.
Of course, if they saw a kill opportunity, they would prioritize blowing the enemy up instead of sticking to the strategy. But their opponents were champions who had conquered their regions, so they could still handle that much.
“Feels like it’s about time now, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Uzkaran, who had been completely focused, answered Xiao briefly.
It felt like they had rotated around the map about three times.
Without realizing it, the opponents had grown accustomed to the pattern where Xiao and Uzkaran drove them in one direction, and they had begun dodging attacks more easily.
At this moment, they were probably thinking they were getting used to their opponents and considering counterattacking.
But that was the trap.
Xiao and Uzkaran instantly switched patterns and charged in from the opposite direction.
“Ah!!”
The opposing player who had been caught off guard involuntarily cried out. Up until now, the direction bombs were being placed had remained consistent, so he habitually dodged in that direction. But when attacks suddenly came from the complete opposite side, his movements became tangled.
Even so, he somehow managed to dodge the bomb thrown by the Woodpecker. But in this game, players had to maintain broad awareness.
Otherwise, they would end up meeting another bomb waiting in the place they dodged toward, just like now.
Boom!!!
“Ah! Player Juke apparently couldn’t see it while trying to dodge! He’s cornered himself!”
“There’s no dodging this. And there it is! He’s caught on fire! They need to save him quickly!”
And this pattern change also confused the other opponent who had been chasing them.
The instant he thought, Huh?, his ally exploded. Then, as he rushed forward to save him, the two opponents turned around and charged at him as if they had been waiting for this moment, causing another involuntary Huh?.
In truth, this was an extremely common tactic among Bomb Commando masters. Whether clockwise or counterclockwise, they would herd opponents in one direction, then once the opponents became accustomed to it, immediately reverse direction and break the flow.
Even if the opponent noticed it, it was difficult to respond because they never knew when the reversal would come, which was why it was considered one of Bomb Commando’s orthodox strategies.
And because the remaining opponent only realized what was happening right before exploding, he could not even use the existing counter-strategies and simply ended up with a game over.
“In the end, Player Xiao catches the last remaining opponent and claims victory!!”
After the game ended and they exited the booth according to instructions, Xiao became slightly tense the moment he stepped outside. Since they were outsiders here, he worried that boos might fly at them.
But instead, what greeted them were light cheers and applause.
This world also had nationalistic exclusivity, and people hoped for players from their own country to win. But the Republic of Smite was a nation with enough confidence and prosperity.
It was not so petty that it would boo children who had flown here all the way from a distant foreign country to participate in the tournament.
Of course, things might have been different if there were some bad blood with the Nuchin Kingdom. But there was nothing like that, so the audience felt more like they were looking at guests rather than enemies, which was one of the reasons for this reaction.
In any case, relieved by the audience’s response, Xiao and Uzkaran finally felt the joy of their first victory and were able to return to the waiting room where the coach was waiting.
After that, Xiao’s team continued winning triumphantly.
“The dark horses Xiao and Uzkaran from the distant Nuchin Kingdom across the sea have won again!!”
When they won the first match, it felt unexpected. When they won the second match, people began thinking the Nuchin Kingdom’s players were not bad either.
But once they won a third match, they gradually began attracting attention.
The overly excited commentators had already started calling them dark horses.
The audience delighted in the appearance of these new powerhouses. Being foreigners and still young boys already made them interesting characters, and since their skills were outstanding too, their matches were enjoyable to watch.
However, unlike the spectators who were simply watching, the players began growing tense.
Watching them play made it clear that their skill level was truly formidable.
If nothing else, the level of polish and proficiency in their techniques was different. It seemed Baron Taito’s efforts in building a full training system were finally bearing fruit.
And because they were still young, their reflexes and flexibility were also excellent, making them strong opponents with no obvious weaknesses no matter how one looked at them.
“They’ve won again!! They’re now in the quarterfinals! One more victory and they’ll officially advance to the finals!!”
And when Xiao’s team achieved another victory and entered the quarterfinals, some people even began considering them among the championship candidates.
“Well done!!”
The coach leapt with joy.
The finals would feature twelve teams in another tournament bracket, so all they needed was to place within the top six in one preliminary tournament. Reaching the semifinals guaranteed advancement, and even if they lost, there would still be several more chances.
Considering the performance the two had shown so far, placing within the top six was almost guaranteed.
“Hehe...”
The two were somewhat tired from the continuous matches, but seeing the coach’s reaction made the achievement they had accomplished suddenly feel real, and they smiled like the young boys they still were.
However, the Republic of Smite was not lacking in talent.
In the quarterfinals, they encountered two players named Vints and Squinak.
“These are quite famous players on Spirit Space.”
“Yes. I hear a lot of people practice after reading the strategy posts these players upload?”
They were known on the Bomb Commando strategy board under the name Revol Bomb, famous for creating and uploading many entertaining strategies.
And they were not merely good at making strategies. They were also known for being the first to put those strategies into practice and actually use them.
Among gamers in the southern city of Janni, they were local celebrities.
“They’re pretty famous players.”
Since the interpretation guidance did not translate every small detail the commentators said, the coach, who knew a little Aran language, explained it to them instead.
However, some of the strategies created by Revol Bomb were things Xiao and Uzkaran had practiced to death, so worried they might become intimidated, he only roughly explained that they were famous and highly skilled players.
In any case, the warning had been delivered, and since this match determined advancement to the finals, the two entered the game without lowering their guard.
And at first, the game seemed to proceed without any major problems.