The Aftermath of a Disaster
Although there was still one match left, there was no way the fans, having witnessed such an unprecedentedly pathetic display, would hold onto any hope. Indeed, the Beijing Fighters players, whose mental state had completely shattered in the first game, crumbled entirely, handing over the second game as well.
Pandemonium Online fans around the world made a firm resolve: when the league wrapped up, they would absolutely vote this match as the greatest masterpiece of the season!
The performance shown by the Beijing Fighters was truly unforgettable. The moment the match started, they cast all kinds of defensive magic and prepared to hunker down, making everyone think, Oh? Are they going to turtle in their own camp?...
Only for them to rip open a scroll next and spectacularly blow themselves up!
Still, they did manage to survive somehow while the entire map was being turned upside down.
...It was just that Team KL, adapting on the fly, survived even longer.
Not only was everyone in Team KL armed with Adamantium Armor, but the skills under the Authority of Archisus were exceptionally strong against these types of wide-area attacks. No matter how devastating the meteor's damage was, it meant nothing if you could evade it!
While the fans of other teams were happily chatting away, the Beijing Fighters fans were setting their own community sites ablaze.
And in real life...
"Get out here, coach, you bastard!!"
"You threw the match with Team KL, didn't you?!"
"Get out here! I said get out here!"
“Wow. This is insane.”
Tae-hyun muttered in shock as he read the articles. He hadn't thought much of it when they won, but the aftermath of their defeat was truly something else. Anyone looking at this would think the entire franchise was going bankrupt!
“Looking at this, I'm starting to feel a bit guilty...” Cain muttered. “Ah! Right. I should post on my social media that Coach Sabet didn't do anything wrong.”
“Should we just let him?”
“Stop him.”
At Tae-hyun's word, Choi Sang-yun and Jeong Su-hyeok swiftly snatched the phone out of Cain's hands. If they didn't, the blazing wrath of those fans would surely redirect itself onto Cain!
“There are so many rumors about the coach getting fired. Will he really be sacked?”
“Probably. When things go south like that, they always need a scapegoat to take the fall.”
Beijing Fighters was not a small-scale team like Team KL. It was a massive, historic franchise backed by a parent corporation and showered with all kinds of investments. If they failed to deliver results, it was only natural for everyone, starting from the general manager, to be swept out!
Moreover, since they had been doing so well at the start of the league only to end up like this, the backlash was even worse...
“I feel bad for him. Sabet used to be legendary.”
“Yeah. Back when he was getting results, he was treated like a mastermind coach and even led the national team. I guess transitioning to Pandemonium Online was just too difficult because it's a completely different game?”
“Thinking that we could get dragged like that suddenly terrifies me. If we mess up and Kim Tae-hyun gets blamed because of us...”
At Cain's words, the others stared blankly at him.
“Why?”
“Uh... no. I don't think that's how it works.”
“If our results are bad, they'll flame us, not Tae-hyun. I mean, people have eyes...”
“If he carries the weight of four people by himself, no one can blame him no matter how hard we throw,” Jeong Su-hyeok added.
Choi Sang-yun drove the final nail in the coffin. “And if we lose, you're the one who's going to get flamed the most.”
“...Why?”
“Uh. That's so obvious I didn't expect you to actually ask why.”
“......”
“If I had to give a reason, it's probably because while the rest of us keep our mouths shut, you're always opening yours.”
“And also because you publicly admitted that you don't do any chores and leave them all to Senior,” Jeong Su-hyeok chimed in.
“...Let's keep doing our best in the future!”
Cain hurriedly changed the subject. Meanwhile, Tae-hyun had a deeply contemplative expression on his face.
“What's wrong? It's not like Beijing Fighters going up in flames is your fault, Tae-hyun.”
“Huh? Oh. I wasn't thinking about Beijing Fighters at all.”
“......”
“......”
After the match, Tae-hyun hadn't spared a single thought for Beijing Fighters. Instead, he was looking at a different set of reactions.
“It seems like everyone is starting to suspect our armor is made of Adamantium.”
Beijing Fighters' desperate struggle had ended as a laughingstock, but it had an unexpected side effect. It proved to everyone just how absurdly tanky the members of Team KL were. Setting Tae-hyun aside, the fact that the other players had survived so easily prompted all kinds of analytical breakdowns. Naturally, their newly equipped gear became the focal point of these discussions.
While the blacksmith rankers were in deep denial, most players accepted it surprisingly quickly. Of course, it was hard to believe that a combat class had crafted pure Adamantium armor, which was notoriously difficult to work with...
But honestly, this wasn't the first time Tae-hyun had pulled off an impossible feat. If it was Kim Tae-hyun, it wouldn't be surprising even if he crafted Adamantium armor with his blacksmithing skills!
“Hmm. At this rate, the other teams must have finished their analysis as well.”
If rumors were already circulating on the internet, there was no way the professional teams' analysis departments were in the dark. They were probably racking their brains right about now!
“Will this be a problem for us going forward?”
“No. Not really.”
“!?”
“Even if they know it's Adamantium armor, there's no real counter to it. What would you do if you were in their shoes?”
Tae-hyun was absolutely right. The terrifying thing about Adamantium armor was that it had no distinct weaknesses. It wasn't weak to any specific element, nor was it vulnerable to certain skills. It was a flawless mineral! If they wanted to deal with Adamantium armor, they either had to wear it themselves, bring even more powerful weapons, or overwhelm them with raw levels and skills.
And none of those were realistic options in a tournament setting.
“If there's no problem, then we don't need to worry, right?”
“Well... no. It might not be an immediate issue, but the problem is that other teams will now try to craft Adamantium armor as well.”
A pioneer is always great. Even if something was possible before, there was always a path that no one had dared to tread. Once a single pioneer opened that path, everyone else would follow, marveling, Wow, so a path like that existed!
Until now, people had thought, Is it even possible to make armor out of pure Adamantium? It's impossible with the current level of blacksmiths, or Adamantium is too hard to get anyway, so instead of pushing ourselves, it's better to mix it with other good combinations. But once they saw Team KL's armor, their minds would change.
Wow, as expected, armor made of pure Adamantium really is the best!
“But wouldn't that be impossible for them?”
The only reason Tae-hyun had been able to smelt Adamantium was thanks to various powerful assists, including the dwarf elder Bekelf. Other players didn't have access to such resources!
“Do you think I'm the only one with a brain in Pandemonium Online? If they put their minds to it and keep trying, they're bound to find a way. And even if they can't make it flawlessly like I did and have to take some penalties, Adamantium armor itself is so broken that...”
Tae-hyun wasn't the only one who could think outside the box in Pandemonium Online. Who knew if another ranker blacksmith might succeed in smelting Adamantium armor through some unexpected method? Besides, a few penalties didn't really matter. As long as it was superior to conventional armor, it was worth it.
...Of course, it would be outrageously expensive, but for a massive gaming franchise, throwing money at the problem to craft the armor was child's play.
“In that case, the biggest problem is that we won't be able to use our current strategy.”
“...!”
The rest of the group realized what Tae-hyun was worried about.
Currently, Team KL was employing a similar strategy regardless of the match format. Tae-hyun would charge in first with his overwhelming physical mechanics, break their formation, stir up chaos, and pick off one or two players, after which they would push their numerical advantage! It sounded simple, but no team had managed to stop this simple strategy yet. It was so effective that opponents had resorted to absurd tactics like running a five-tank composition.
But if their armor got better, they might actually be able to endure it. Even the slightest difference was crucial in Pandemonium Online. Furthermore, Adamantium armor wasn't just a slight difference.
“W-what do we do if that happens?”
“If that happens, we'll just have to go back to basics, work hard, and win. Honestly, we've had it too easy up until now.”
At Tae-hyun's words, everyone looked guiltily away. It was true that they had practically cruised through the matches of the highest league!
“I'm not telling you to shake in fear over something that hasn't even happened yet. I'm telling you to think ahead. The other teams aren't idiots; there's no way they won't come up with a countermeasure. A countermeasure is bound to appear sooner or later. That's why we have to work even harder. Now, Cain. I've prepared some practice for you.”
Cain gasped in horror as the arrow suddenly flew his way. But there was nothing he could do. He was the one who had sworn to endure any training thrown at him!
“Have you obtained the Ten Thousand Days' Sword title?”
“N-no.”
There were rare titles that only one person could obtain, and there were easier titles that anyone could get as long as they met the requirements. The title fell into the latter category. However, it was by no means an easy title to acquire.
It was a title that required so much sword-swinging that rumors claimed one had to swing a sword for ten thousand days to get it! Of course, it didn't actually take ten thousand days. The key was to continuously swing with the exact same, precise posture. Eventually, the title would pop up, acknowledging that your form was as stable as if you had swung for ten thousand days!
“Let's start by getting that one. There's a training ground in the Valley, so go there and start swinging. Now, what other titles haven't you obtained yet... [Title 1], [Title 2], [Title 3]...”
Tae-hyun compiled a list of high-difficulty titles that Cain could obtain through pure grinding. Among them were numerous titles that Cain had heard of before.
No way, how is anyone supposed to get a title like that? Only perverts would go for those.
...Those were the very titles he had dismissed with such words!
Cain's face turned pale.
“W-wait, hold on. Those aren't titles you can get alone...”
“That's why I've prepared people to help you. Here, Alcott and the rankers he called over will handle the melee attacks.”
Alcott and the rankers he knew waved their hands.
“Whew. Cain. Don't get the wrong idea; it's not like I'm doing this because I like you. I'm only doing my best because Kim Tae-hyun asked me to.”
“...You bastard, doing your best in the most useless areas...!” Cain muttered.
Where had the Alcott who used to rebel against Tae-hyun gone?!