The Art of Sabotage
"Hey, how much longer are you going to keep doing this?"
"Ah, seriously. You're such a coward. Just wait with some style. Don't you care about how we look on the broadcast?"
"...!"
Cain quickly adjusted his posture at Tae-hyun's words. He realized that the cameras—and the eyes of countless viewers—were likely focused on the two of them right now!
Tae-hyun packed away the last of the ingredients and spoke calmly.
"And I'm keeping track of the time, so don't worry."
"What time?"
"Their travel time. We still have about fifteen seconds of leeway."
"How do you even know that?!"
"Didn't you check while watching the footage? What were you even looking at?"
"..."
Cain slumped his shoulders, completely deflated. He couldn't even muster up a complaint. Tae-hyun was absolutely right. While Tae-hyun had casually watched the footage and memorized every crucial detail with terrifying precision, Cain had only brought back useless junk.
"I'm sorry..."
"No need to get depressed. You're actually useful."
"R-really?"
"Of course. I think you'll be the MVP of these finals."
"Aw, shucks... I wouldn't go that far... Wait a minute, you bastard. You're talking about the bombs, aren't you?!"
Cain, who had been grinning foolishly at the praise, suddenly realized something was off and glared at him.
"Your intuition has improved. That's a good sign. Let's go!"
"Hey! Hey!!"
"What...?"
Do Dong-su blinked in disbelief at the unexpected scene before him.
Two enemy Priests were waiting for him, completely entrenched. What was worse, they didn't look surprised at all, as if they had already known he was coming.
It was a trap. They must have used some kind of skill to pinpoint his location.
"Targeting me again? You guys are so tedious..."
Though he grumbled, Dong-su actually felt a wave of relief wash over him. This was the perfect opportunity to screw Tae-hyun over without getting caught!
No matter how plausible Jekas's plan had sounded, Dong-su couldn't just openly backstab Tae-hyun. If he did, he would be socially exiled from the gaming community forever. Even if he had to throw the tournament, he had to keep his sabotage within reasonable limits.
The best approach was to pretend he was fighting with everything he had while secretly dragging Tae-hyun down. He had been stressing over how to pull it off, but looking at the enemy team, it seemed things were going to work out perfectly.
"Aren't you scared? With the two of us standing right here?"
"I've been targeted since the Round of 16. You think I'm going to chicken out now?"
"You should be scared. We're on a completely different level."
"...?"
As soon as the Priest finished speaking, he cast a skill on Dong-su.
Uros's Sacred Binding!
It was an Authority skill belonging to Uros, the God of Slowness—an obscure, unpopular deity. Dong-su was genuinely shocked that an enemy Priest was utilizing the power of such a god.
"Weren't you worshipping a different god?!"
"There are ways around that."
A Divine Authority binds your body. You are unable to move.
It was a simple but powerful effect: complete immobilization. However, to Dong-su, who was already prepared to lose, it wasn't frightening in the slightest.
"So what? What are you going to do about it?"
In reality, the offensive capabilities of the Priest class lagged far behind other classes. Even if these Priests had managed to reach the finals and possessed a few attack skills, Dong-su was confident he could block or endure them.
"Do you think keeping me from moving is enough? Huh? I can block whatever you throw at me."
"We're not done yet, idiot."
With those words, the other Priest began to cast. A massive skill effect started to gather around him. Judging by the incredibly long casting time, Dong-su realized it had to be an exceptionally powerful spell.
What are they trying to cast?
Tslif's Evil Mind Control!
You have fallen under Tslif's Evil Mind Control. The opponent now controls your actions.
"What?!"
Even though Dong-su had resigned himself to defeat, he couldn't help but gasp at the system message.
Mind control. That was an incredibly rare, overpowered skill usually reserved for high-level boss monsters. To think a player actually possessed it!
"This is impossible..."
"Nothing is impossible in Pan-On. Do you have any idea how much we prepared for this tournament? We're on a completely different level from you guys, who just got voted in through a popularity contest."
The Priest sneered at him. It was humiliating, but Dong-su had no choice but to admit the truth in his words. To think they had kept such a broken, overpowered skill hidden until now. They had deliberately refrained from using it, saving it for the ultimate, decisive moment!
"Sorry, but our captain, Tae-su, is cut from a different cloth than you guys. Sometimes I'm just glad I'm not his enemy. Now, move! We have other pests to clean up!"
Under the Priest's command, Dong-su's character began to run.
The two Priests had executed their strategy flawlessly. They had used their coordinated skills to locate Tae-hyun's team, confirmed that Dong-su was moving alone, set a trap to bind him, and successfully landed a high-risk, high-reward mind control skill that was normally too slow to use in real combat.
The two Priests clenched their fists in triumph. The first match of the finals was undoubtedly theirs.
"Hmm..."
Tae-hyun let out a low groan. His reaction immediately made Cain anxious.
"What is it?"
"We might actually lose the first match..."
"Why?!"
"Look over there."
Tae-hyun pointed ahead. Behind the ruins, two enemy tanks had taken up defensive positions. They were hugging the cover tightly, positioned perfectly to dodge any incoming chains at a moment's notice.
"They're blatantly trying to stall for time. That means they aren't looking to settle things on our end, but rather on the other side..."
"But we can turn it around! Just like we always have!"
"It's a bit different this time."
Tae-hyun saw through the situation with perfect clarity. Setting the forest on fire had been an unpredictable, chaotic strategy. In contrast, the only option they had right now was for Tae-hyun and Cain to clash directly with those two stalling tanks. The enemy had likely already anticipated the use of bombs.
Should I gather more ingredients instead...?
Tae-hyun decided to use the first match to analyze the opponent and aim for a comeback in the second. He prepared himself for a long, grueling battle. Dong-su's bizarre behavior and the enemy's meticulous strategy were both screaming a warning in his mind.
KABOOM!
"?!"
In that moment, a massive explosion echoed from the distance.
"What was that?!"
"It's from Lee Se-yeon's side..."
Tae-hyun's face darkened.
"We have a problem."
"What? Why?"
"It looks like Lee Se-yeon lost."
"How can you possibly know that?!"
"Lee Se-yeon doesn't use skills like that."
Tae-hyun had identified the players solely by the distant skill effects. Since only the enemy's skills were exploding consecutively, the conclusion was obvious.
He recognized that?!
Cain was utterly astonished that Tae-hyun could distinguish specific skills just by looking at the faint colors of the effects in the far distance.
And Tae-hyun's prediction was proven correct.
The two Priests controlling Dong-su, along with Ryu Tae-su, had ambushed Lee Se-yeon and Kim Chul-soo. Even in a highly disadvantageous position, Se-yeon had managed to take down Dong-su and one of the Priests, but that was her limit.
It was a four-versus-two situation. Even though they had the numbers to overwhelm them, Ryu Tae-su didn't rush in blindly. Instead, the two tanks kept Tae-hyun and Cain occupied while the remaining members captured the bases. Even after securing double base buffs, they played with extreme caution.
"First, we take down Cain, who is relatively easy, then we swarm Kim Tae-hyun. You two tanks just need to hold your ground. With a double base buff, you should be able to withstand almost anything. Even Kim Tae-hyun can't conjure damage out of thin air. Once you absorb his attacks, we'll finish him off."
Ryu Tae-su's plan worked so perfectly that even Tae-hyun had to admire it. With that, Team Eight claimed a decisive victory in the first match.
The atmosphere in the waiting room was suffocatingly heavy. It felt as though no one would ever open their mouth again.
What was truly surprising, however, was that Tae-hyun was sitting with his eyes closed, deeply lost in thought. It was a reaction rarely seen from him!
Lee Se-yeon thought to herself: Was this defeat shocking even for Kim Tae-hyun? Well, I didn't know they had such a broken skill either...
The reactions of the fans watching the broadcast were very similar.
"Alright. Losing is shocking, but we can't just sit here. Their skill is a bit broken, but there has to be a way to counter it if we plan carefully. Do Dong-su, from now on, let's move in a three-two split instead of two-two-one."
Se-yeon's strategy was simple but effective. A high-risk, slow-casting skill like that would be much harder to land if they stuck together.
"I refuse."
"..."
At Dong-su's flat refusal, Se-yeon barely managed to swallow the curse rising up her throat. Instead, it was Cain who exploded in rage.
"Hey, you bastard! Do you even know whose fault it is that we lost?! You've been dragging us down this entire tournament! If you don't have the skills, at least listen to orders like I do!"
Hearing that, Tae-hyun tilted his head inwardly. Wait, isn't he technically insulting himself with that?
However, Dong-su had made up his mind, and he remained completely unbothered.
"I'm going to do whatever I want. Oh, but there is one way to make me listen."
"What is it?"
"If Kim Tae-hyun gets down on his knees and sincerely apologizes to me, I might consider it."
Everyone's eyes instantly locked onto Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun simply smiled and replied.
"Are you insane?"
"Yeah, figured you'd say that."
Se-yeon sighed, giving up on Dong-su, and turned to Tae-hyun.
"In the second match, can you and Cain follow Do Dong-su?"
"We'll do that. Though I doubt it'll make much of a difference."
"What do you mean?"
"That guy. I'm pretty sure he's doing this on purpose."
"...!"
"Well, it might just be my imagination, so let's see how the second match goes. It'll give me some time to prepare anyway."
"Wait, if something is wrong, we need to come up with a countermeasure right now...!"
"It's fine. We just have to win everything starting from the third match."
"Hey!"
Se-yeon made a solemn vow to herself. Once this tournament was over, she would never, ever force herself to play with people like Kim Tae-hyun again.
Tae-hyun's prediction was proven correct once again.
Against Tae-hyun's team, which had split into groups of three and two, Team Eight countered with a four-one split. This time, instead of stalling, the solo player went to capture another base while the group of four hunted down Tae-hyun, Cain, and Dong-su.
Up to that point, things were still manageable. If they played calmly, they could avoid the enemy's skills and fight back effectively.
However, Dong-su charged forward blindly once again.
Swoosh!
"You absolute piece of—!"
Ignoring Cain's furious scream, Dong-su rushed straight ahead.
To Team Eight, this was an absolute godsend. They eagerly took the bait. Normally, they would have suspected a trap, but Dong-su had run straight into their arms so perfectly that they had no choice but to trust his incompetence.
"..."
Watching Dong-su charge in with fake bravado only to immediately get mind-controlled, Tae-hyun was now absolutely certain.
That bastard has made up his mind.
Dong-su was determined to drag Tae-hyun down, even if it meant humiliating himself on a global stage.
But there's no way a greedy guy like him would make such a decision on his own... Who could have convinced him?
One name immediately came to mind.
Jekas!
Right. That explains everything.