Second Preliminaries (5)

Ever since Ga-wol took down Camellia, the community had been buzzing.

An assassin who carved through anyone she met out in the field. A strange outlier who, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for reasons unknown, never streamed and never so much as glanced at the pro scene — she just lived for PKing. A mysterious woman whose public image had grown rather complicated of late.

Talk of Ga-wol had swept through the Korean Infinity Black player base.

And a streamer whose entire content was match analysis was never going to let a bait this juicy slip by.

Streamer Yurang.

A man who'd made his name on a brain that ran differently from everyone else's, and who now worked as an analyst for a pro team. He'd even made the rounds recently for inventing a spear-hunter build. In the pro league, his catastrophically bad physicals had held him back — but in the streaming world, that was just part of the brand. These days he could laugh about it.

He still couldn't laugh about the culture of setting his chat on fire at the drop of a hat, though. For some reason, his audience had an unusually high concentration of absolute menaces.

"Sorry, everyone. I was reviewing the footage and found something late, so I ran behind. Settle down. Since I'm late, no fluff — we're going straight in."

True to his word, Ga-wol's footage filled the screen almost immediately. The very first shot: Ga-wol in the waiting room, preparing for combat. A smile flickered across her face, as if she were savoring the moment, and then his prepared presentation materials popped up alongside the video.

"I've always said this, right? In Infinity Black, your opening build already decides about thirty percent of the match. So of course, that's the first thing we're looking at."

There was no need to walk through every complicated detail. That kind of thing had been plastered all over the guide sites for ages. What people wanted from him wasn't a dry skill lecture, and Yurang understood that perfectly.

"First, Camellia. Straight textbook. 'Nice to meet you, let's have a good fight.' That's the vibe. The problem is Ga-wol's side — and none of you should try copying this. The only person who runs a build like this is Kelberos."

The PPT slide advanced, and Ga-wol's build opened up. Extreme at a glance. For someone like Yurang, who preferred stability-first play, it was the kind of thing that made you question the person's sanity.

Combat in Infinity Black was movement-based, so passive skills did pack a lot of efficiency — but even so, wasn't this a bit much?

"To summarize: 'I'm good at fighting. I'm confident. Attack only.' That's the whole thesis. Confidence overflowing, right? And that exact mindset showed up clean in Game One."

Yurang scrubbed through the footage. The next clip started at the moment Camellia's spear first went for Ga-wol — the moment Ga-wol slipped it with almost casual ease.

"Basic Swordsman technique. Overhead slash. But look at the spear tip. She's aiming right at Ga-wol's shoulder. Perfect range control. And let me say this up front — Camellia played well that day."

"So what was that about? Just a greeting. 'Hello?' And at the same time, a feeler. You're curious, right? Does this person prefer dodging, or blocking? But then Ga-wol just floors it. 'You dare test me?' Her expression looks a little rattled, doesn't it?"

He zeroed in on the detail Elderin and Sulbbang had both missed. Camellia's first attack was something you could either dodge or block. The only reason to throw an attack that wasn't meant to land was to read Ga-wol as an opponent.

And then Ga-wol had simply bound the weapon on the spot — and from there, the match started tipping.

"From here I tore it apart frame by frame. What did I just say Ga-wol's build was?"

"Yeah. She was just genuinely good at fighting. Especially this part where she climbs the spear — pure art, right? And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even mid-climb the dagger placement is razor-sharp. What I took from this is that this person has fundamentally excellent body control."

"For a sequence like that to even happen, the idea has to exist in your head first, you know? You have to know it's a possible movement before you can even attempt it. Especially the flexibility she shows here. At this level, you'd have to guess her real-world athletic ability is ridiculous, right?"

Yurang advanced the footage one frame at a time. From that position, Camellia had no other options. The detail work with both daggers had been excellent. Clear, simple explanation was something of a specialty of his.

But maybe he'd gotten a little too absorbed in the analysis — because his chat was already boiling over on a completely different topic. Yurang's mouth, mid-calm delivery, fell open.

"You absolute lunatics! That is not what I meant!"

A Berserker's battle-axe swung without pause. A shield glowing with sacred light rose to meet it, but it looked nowhere near enough to weather that ghost-haunted onslaught. In the end, it was the Paladin who took the first step back.

Not that she had any intention of fully surrendering the initiative.

The blonde Paladin — Luche — slid her longsword between the axe blades, then wrenched the weapon outward, locking one of each other's arms. At the same time she drove forward behind her shield.

The Berserker didn't just stand there either. His axe came down into the flank her shield had failed to cover, crumpling the armor and leaving a wound. But it wasn't enough to stop the charge.

A Warrior's naturally high strength, plus the sheer weight of heavy plate. A Paladin's shield rush was a mass weapon all on its own. The Berserker's body slammed into the solid outer wall; blood burst from his mouth and painted his beard red.

The Berserker's remaining HP sat at roughly twenty percent. One more push and it should have been over — but Luche chose, without hesitation, to disengage. It was the Berserker who kept doggedly pressing in.

Blood-soaked from head to toe, the Berserker roared.

"Valhalla——!"

The foundation of every desperation build. The skill that was the very identity of a last-stand Berserker opened up.

Time until the Berserker self-destructed: roughly thirty seconds or less. But a Berserker at this timing was stronger than any other class in Infinity Black.

Luche enlarged her shield again, divinity recharged, and threw it up as a wall — but it barely held for a few seconds. With a Paladin's sluggish movement, even disengaging from the fight was a stretch. Of course it was; this was exactly the scenario the build had been designed for.

And yet something like relief showed on Luche's face. She could hold. Because she'd opened the early exchanges so favorably, she still had cards left to play.

The instant the Berserker shattered her shield, pure white angel wings wrapped around her body. Blood-red eyes met hers — but the madness in them drained away almost at once.

The moment the system messages appeared, Luche dropped hard onto the ground. She clenched her fist tight — checking, it seemed, that this was real. Loss, win, win. The aftertaste of a heart-stopping result refused to fade.

"Haa… ha… Wow. Whoa. That was way too close."

Fights between Warrior-type classes were the most popular matchups in Infinity Black. Heavy, blunt, every single blow potentially fatal — the kind of scrap that could shake any man's heart. But the stamina drain was just as brutal. Today, especially, it felt like her energy had been sucked dry.

"That's it for Arena today. I feel like I've burned through all my focus."

Spectating, huh.

She'd been planning to just rest from here — but watching couldn't hurt, could it? Luche's interest was piqued.

"Oh, really? Then… I'd like to see it. It's not every day you get the chance. Want to watch together while we're at it? One second — I'll ask Sulbbang and Elderin if it's okay to put the stream on."