Calculated Chaos

Tae-hyun's scheme was simple. The reason he set fire to the center base was to create a battlefield advantageous to him. Fighting inside Sadiq's Flame naturally gave Tae-hyun the upper hand. As for the reason he set fire to the lower base...

'No matter how many people head toward Do Dong-su, he needs to take at least one of them down with him before he dies so the game doesn't get messed up.'

No matter how skilled he was, these were teams that had made it to the finals; it was impossible for Tae-hyun to sweep them all by himself and win. He had to prevent the board from tilting completely out of their favor at the start. However, Tae-hyun's team was a complete mess! He had already anticipated that Do Dong-su wouldn't listen, and unless the opposing team was stupid, they would definitely exploit the glaring weakness in Tae-hyun's team.

'Either someone who can counter Do Dong-su will show up, or two or more people will try to take him down at once. Whichever it is, Do Dong-su is a Thief, so if I set a fire and turn the place into a chaotic mess, he'll manage to drag at least one person down with him before he dies.'

On top of that, the joy of setting fire to the path of that annoying punk was a bonus! In truth, this reason felt even bigger.

Hearing Tae-hyun's explanation, Cain let out a sigh of relief at the surprisingly plausible reasoning.

"If that was the case, you should've told me beforehand! You scared me. Why didn't you tell only me?"

"I didn't tell anyone, though?"

"...Hey!!!"

Do Dong-su activated his stealth skill and moved quickly. For Do Dong-su, who possessed an Epic Class, stealth-type skills were his bread and butter. Hiding in the shadows to move, then striking from behind when an opponent appeared! In that sense, having the forest chosen as the battlefield was a stroke of luck. It meant more places to hide and allowed for a wider variety of tactics. Do Dong-su felt that luck was on his side.

'I refuse to let that bastard Kim Tae-hyun hog all the spotlight. I'm going to carry this match!'

It was already stomach-turning to be on the same team as the Kim Tae-hyun from Pan-On 1 (though Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon adamantly denied it, Do Dong-su was almost certain of it), but Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was also hogging all the attention. He had entered this tournament to screw Tae-hyun over, but instead, he was only making Tae-hyun stand out more! What drove him even crazier was that there was very little he could do. If he intentionally threw the match or interfered with Tae-hyun, he would be the one branded as a petty loser. In truth, Tae-hyun hadn't intentionally set things up that way on the broadcast, but from Do Dong-su's perspective, everything felt like Tae-hyun's evil, calculated scheme.

In the end, there was only one answer.

'It's all about skill. Once I secure my position through raw skill, I'll crush that bastard Kim Tae-hyun.'

Even if he clashed with Tae-hyun within the team, public opinion wouldn't side with Do Dong-su right now. He needed to show some stellar performance so that if any trouble arose later, people might actually say, "It's Kim Tae-hyun's fault!" Do Dong-su intended to perform as spectacularly as possible in this match. He would establish a solid foothold within the team before the semifinals or finals, and then he would strike and bring Tae-hyun down.

"...!"

Do Dong-su flinched. A player was walking openly down the path below.

'What is this? A trap?'

Walking so confidently without hiding in a situation like this—he couldn't help but suspect a trap first. However, even after using several detection skills, there were no traps. There was no one else around, either.

'So only one person came here?'

A 1v1 situation. It was the most basic setup, but also the best scenario to showcase one's skills. Do Dong-su recognized the opponent's face. Cha Won-cheol. He was a good-natured and relatively popular player, but Do Dong-su looked down on him. In Pan-On, Do Dong-su was stronger. In fact, they had met once outside the arena before, and back then, Cha Won-cheol couldn't even touch a single thread of Do Dong-su's clothes. Do Dong-su had dodged his basic attacks with overwhelming speed and countered his area-of-effect skills with various skills of his own.

'A slow-as-molasses Warrior class. I can play with him all day.'

Having finished analyzing his opponent, Do Dong-su smirked and slipped behind Cha Won-cheol. It was time to show off his skills.

Slash!

Leaping out of stealth, Do Dong-su began pouring out damage. A flash of surprise crossed Cha Won-cheol's face at Do Dong-su's sudden appearance. Even if he had anticipated it, such an ambush was bound to startle anyone.

"Did only you come? How stupid!"

He felt the impact. The satisfying feedback of landing clean damage on an opponent. Do Dong-su sneered at Cha Won-cheol and leaped backward. Hit and run, hit and run! It was the basic strategy when dealing with a slow, sturdy class.

'Come on, bring it. I'll play with you just like last time.'

However, Cha Won-cheol did not rush in. With a calm expression, Cha Won-cheol activated his skills.

Buffs activated in rapid succession! Watching the multi-colored lights of the buff skills burst around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cha Won-cheol, Do Dong-su scoffed.

"Does turning those on change anything? It'll only prolong the time you spend getting beaten up!"

Thud! Thwack!

If the opponent didn't counterattack, he was more than happy to oblige. It just gave him more time to pile on the damage.

"You should've brought the others with you! That would've at least made it a fight! This is way too boring!"

Do Dong-su closed the distance and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Yet, Cha Won-cheol didn't counterattack even once, focusing entirely on defense. He didn't have the mechanical skill to dodge or parry the attacks gracefully. Instead, he blocked as much as possible with his shield, continuously cycling through his buffs and defensive skills. He looked like a massive, immovable boulder!

As Do Dong-su continued his onslaught, he suddenly realized something was off.

"...!!"

He had fully cycled through all his available combo skills to unleash burst damage, yet the opponent's HP was still over half full. On top of that, that HP was already starting to rapidly recover.

"Are you done?"

Cha Won-cheol's low voice rumbled from behind his shield.

Shiver!

Do Dong-su quickly retreated. A flail slammed down onto the spot where he had been standing just a moment ago. It was a basic attack without any special skills, one he could have easily shrugged off even if it hit, but he had dodged it out of sheer fear!

Do Dong-su's face flushed red with humiliation. Only then did Cha Won-cheol speak.

"I knew you would come here, Do Dong-su. But you came alone. Do you know what that means?"

"...!!"

"It means I'm fully confident I can beat you!"

Cha Won-cheol charged forward as he spoke. Do Dong-su had just used all his skills to unleash that burst of damage. His MP was likely depleted, and his skills were on cooldown. Sure enough, Do Dong-su hurriedly backed away. Pressing forward, Cha Won-cheol said, "Did you think you'd win easily here just because you won outside? Idiot. Your gear is stripped, and our levels are equalized!"

'Shit!'

Do Dong-su cursed inwardly as he dodged the attacks. Cha Won-cheol was right. He had been far too complacent. When he won back then, there had been a gap in gear and levels, and he could use various consumable items. In a situation where all of that was gone, the gap narrowed drastically.

Crash! Boom! Bam!

Cha Won-cheol unleashed wide-sweeping attacks to make them difficult to dodge, gradually closing the distance.

'Fuck, the cooldowns... how much time is left on my cooldowns?'

Normally, a fast, burst-damage dealer could toy with a slow, sluggish tank. But what if they failed to kill them after dumping all their burst damage? They would end up cornered like this. In a way, the clash between Do Dong-su and Cha Won-cheol was a budget version of the matchup between Tae-hyun and Smith. One side had low defense and HP but high evasion and burst skills, while the other was slow and sluggish but possessed high HP and defense. The only difference was that Do Dong-su lacked the adaptability to improvise when thrown into such an unexpected situation.

Ironically, in this cornered state, Do Dong-su found himself thinking of Tae-hyun.

'I acted too hastily because of that bastard!'

Tae-hyun's usual display of instantly deleting his opponents in the arena—that image had influenced Do Dong-su. 'If that guy can do it, so can I!' But reality was harsh. The distance gradually closed, and damage chipped away at him from the attacks that grazed him here and there... Despair began to cloud Do Dong-su's face.

'Got you!'

'I'm caught!'

At the exact moment both men had the same thought, a message window popped up.

Whoosh!

From the side, tongues of fire licked the air as a fierce blaze swept in. The intensity was enough to instantly obscure their vision! Swept up in their frantic battle, neither of them had noticed the flames spreading from below.

Cheers erupted from the spectator stands. The commentators shouted in excited voices, the veins on their necks bulging! And with good reason. When the match started, Do Dong-su had moved first, and when Tae-hyun set the fire right after, everyone had tilted their heads in confusion.

That was the general reaction. However, the commentators didn't know. They didn't know what kind of fire Tae-hyun had set, nor did they know what kind of result would occur when that fire met the Forest of Magic Rampage!

Roar!

Spreading rapidly through the forest, Sadiq's Flame grew larger and larger!

"Aaaah!"

"Ugh?!"

Both Do Dong-su and Cha Won-cheol flinched in surprise. It was only natural to be startled when flames suddenly surged high enough to block their vision. Thanks to that, Cha Won-cheol missed his chance to deal a decisive blow to Do Dong-su.

'Ah...!'

"Haha! You idiot!"

Do Dong-su sneered at Cha Won-cheol, quickly activated his skill to locate vital points, and attacked.

'Ugh... but I can still hold out!'

Considering his HP from earlier and calculating his active buff skills, he could endure this much even if he failed to block and took the hit. Cha Won-cheol charged in, intending to trade blows. A slugfest!

However, there was still one thing Cha Won-cheol had failed to calculate. And that was Sadiq's Flame.

"?!"

It wasn't just any ordinary fire; it was Sadiq's Flame! Naturally, the damage it dealt was far greater. Especially now, with their levels equalized to 100 and all their gear buffs stripped away!

'Th-this is impossible...!'

Cha Won-cheol had managed to endure Do Dong-su's attacks by factoring them into his calculations, but his remaining sliver of HP was completely incinerated by Sadiq's Flame.

Just like that, Cha Won-cheol was out! Do Dong-su cheered.

"I won!"

However, Do Dong-su had also failed to calculate Sadiq's Flame.

"Huh?"