The Terror of the Vanguard

When the match ended, the players of Team KL all had bewildered expressions on their faces. It wasn't because they had lost. They had just secured two consecutive victories in a best-of-three match, earning their first league win. But... the process had been just too...

"...Aren't we a bit too strong??"

"Cain, everything we're saying right now is being broadcasted..."

"Gasp."

Cain panicked, but all the players inside the official arena were already being caught on camera. Cain's words had just been broadcast live to the entire world!

Before the match.

The players of the Shanghai Pandas had steeled their resolve. Defeated in every single friendly match! Chosen as the weakest team, ranking dead last out of twenty! With articles like these constantly popping up, there wasn't a single player who didn't feel the pressure. Knowing this, the head coach and coaching staff had given them a harsh pep talk.

"Don't pay attention to that useless garbage! What did I tell you?!"

"Shut down Cain!"

"Exactly! We've prepared more than enough countermeasures for Team KL! On the other hand, look at them! They haven't played a single practice match or friendly! They probably don't even know what you guys are capable of!"

"...?"

Isn't that even more demoralizing to hear?

Coach...

Caught up in the heat of the moment, the coach had blurted out something he really shouldn't have!

"Now! Shout it again! What do we do?!"

"Shut down Cain!"

"Yes! Remember only that!"

Out of all the participating teams, there wasn't a single one that hadn't prepared countermeasures for Team KL. All kinds of strategies had been drawn up, and each team had undoubtedly established their own plans... but the method the Shanghai Pandas chose was to "shut down Cain." Not to kill him, but to neutralize him!

Although the maps and victory conditions of the Arena League changed with every match, a few core rules remained constant. One of them was resurrection. Even if they managed to kill Cain, he would just resurrect. Of course, defeating an opposing player granted a bonus buff, but...

It's better to neutralize him than to kill him. If we can just keep him locked down until the end of the game—or at least until the flow of the match is decided—the enemy team will be forced to fight a four-on-five!

Neutralizing Tae-hyun would have been the ideal solution, but realistically, that seemed impossible. Tae-hyun's evasion rate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and speed were astronomically high, and his skill pool was far too diverse. It was highly questionable whether a lockdown would even work on him in the first place!

In comparison, Cain was a tank-type character, making him slow, and his skill pool was much narrower than Tae-hyun's. Furthermore, as the tank responsible for the team's shield, his absence would leave a massive hole in their defense. He was the absolute highest priority target for their lockdown!

"Ah, it seems the Shanghai Pandas' primary objective is to shut down Cain! Player Xiao Mingqi is currently discussing how they plan to lock Cain down."

"But I'm not sure if that will be possible! Even though Cain is a tank-type warrior, he's actually a very clever player!"

The two brothers, Bae Joong-hwan and Bae Joong-yeol, who were commentating for MBS, shouted excitedly. With the match being broadcast all over the world, they needed to grasp exactly what the viewers wanted in order to stand out among the other broadcasters.

Honestly, would the people watching this match be cheering for Team KL or the Shanghai Pandas? Most of them were undoubtedly anticipating how Team KL would utterly demolish the Shanghai Pandas!

Bae Joong-yeol enthusiastically showered Cain with praise while displaying clips of his past highlights. It was the kind of praise that, if Cain had heard it himself, would have made him recoil in horror and scream, No! You crazy bastards! Stop hyping me up! I got so much hate for being "overrated" last time because of this!

Cain still had vivid, painful memories of being criticized for supposedly riding on everyone else's coattails during the Dungeon Conquest Tournament.

"How will Team KL respond to this? The match is about to begin!"

The map is a grassland. Domination mode. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A single capture point.

The objective was to capture and hold the single base in the center of the map for a set duration to win. A battle several times fiercer than the previous tournament was anticipated. On top of that, resurrection was enabled...

Tae-hyun looked around. Hills were scattered across the vast grassland, obstructing their line of sight, and a massive hill stood right in the center. In this kind of battle, the standard textbook strategy was for all five members to move together as a group. However, positioning long-range damage dealers like mages or archers on a separate hill to rain down attacks wasn't a bad idea either.

Tae-hyun closed his eyes, quickly finalized his thoughts, and spoke. "Let's go!"

"Oh? Team KL is moving immediately! They aren't using any special skills or items! Wa-Wait... Player Cain! His appearance is suddenly changing drastically!"

Crack, crack! Cain's arms suddenly multiplied, and his entire physique expanded to a massive size.

"Th-That's... a race change! Player Cain has changed his race! Just what kind of strategy is this?!"

Since Team KL was famous for their bizarre strategies and clever tricks, the commentators were highly excited by Cain's transformation. Of course, there was no such thing as a hidden strategy.

Let's just clash with them first. With that thought, Tae-hyun sprinted forward as fast as he could.

In truth, opinions regarding hidden strategies and skills had been divided even before the league began.

We must hide our trump card skills and items to prepare for crucial moments or team fights! versus With so many matches to play, how many skills or items do we even have to justify hiding them? If you hoard them, you'll just ruin yourself!

Players who agreed with the former had a romanticized view of hidden strategies—a skill suddenly bursting forth to turn the tide in a disadvantageous situation! In contrast, those who opposed it were pragmatic. How many skills or items did they actually possess to warrant hiding them? They argued that players should use what they had when they could to secure league points; hoarding resources only to lose without ever using them would make them a laughingstock.

They claimed that hidden skills were highly exceptional cases that rarely occurred, and that most rankers used everything at their disposal when the time was right. The Arena League was a fierce game of strategy where both sides entered combat knowing each other's moves, not a gacha box where unexpected things suddenly popped out!

It was a valid point, and Tae-hyun agreed to some extent, but the biggest exception to that rule was actually Tae-hyun himself. He was the man carrying the most hidden cards in all of Pan-On! It wasn't intentional, though. It was closer to something that had just happened over time!

The Authority of Resurrection he hadn't used yet, the Authorities of other gods, the items he had acquired but never used... He fully intended to use them when the opportunity arose.

"Cain. Hold the front line. I'll flank them and stir things up."

"Okay!"

Tae-hyun's team's strategy was simple. With the tank, Cain, leading the charge up the hill, they would hold their ground at the capture point in a battle of attrition while Tae-hyun flanked the enemy from behind to disrupt them. If the enemy didn't show up, they would capture the point; if they did, they would clash. It was the textbook of textbooks, a very common strategy.

While staying grouped offered more stability, it wasn't a bad idea to have a single, agile damage dealer with high evasion act independently. After all, there was no better way to disrupt a frontal team fight than by shaking up the enemy's rear.

"Ah! Player Kim Tae-hyun is attempting a flank!"

"It's a good move, but the opponents have already anticipated this! It might be dangerous!"

Indeed, the Shanghai Pandas were also heading toward the central hill to capture it. Furthermore, since they were facing Tae-hyun, they had naturally anticipated that a damage dealer would try to flank and disrupt them!

The Shanghai Pandas had used spell scrolls to summon golems and lay down swamps to prepare for Tae-hyun or Choi Sang-yun's flank. If they came, the Pandas planned to bind their feet and shoot them down! The spectators watching also began to murmur.

The opponents were all rankers who possessed excellent teamwork. No matter how weak they were considered, they would still have the ability to kill Tae-hyun. With them being so thoroughly prepared, it was only natural for the fans to worry.

"!"

Tae-hyun rounded the hill. At that exact moment, his eyes met those of the five Shanghai Pandas players. He had run straight into the five of them before they had even climbed the hill.

However, Tae-hyun did the exact opposite—he charged.

The fans screamed at the sight. What they didn't know was that Tae-hyun's mind was currently consumed by a single thought: to take down as many enemy team members as possible to secure an advantage! Retreat had never been an option in his calculations to begin with!

Tae-hyun's body flashed as he teleported forward, reappearing right behind the enemy's backline healer. Tao Chen, who was playing the healer, shrieked in terror and cast a debuff spell on Tae-hyun.

It was a curse skill that guaranteed a hit regardless of accuracy! Although its effect was weak, it was more than enough to bind his feet. What a lunatic! Charging in here all by himself?! That thought was shared by everyone. The other team members also shouted and reacted in a panic.

"Stop him!!"

The moment Tae-hyun penetrated their lines, the healer retreated with a protective barrier active, keeping Tae-hyun's feet bound while the remaining four launched a coordinated counterattack. Seeing them move without a shred of hesitation, Tae-hyun realized they had practiced thoroughly.

It doesn't matter. I'm taking down at least one of them! Tae-hyun's eyes flashed with a murderous glint. A bomb materialized in his hand and immediately detonated. *Boom!*

Despite equipping gear with explosion resistance options specifically to counter Tae-hyun, two of them were still plunged into a stunned state. The remaining two desperately tried to keep Tae-hyun at bay while protecting Tao Chen.

I can afford to take these hits! Tae-hyun quickly calculated the damage, ignored the incoming attacks, and relentlessly targeted Tao Chen.

We can't stop him! Every single member of the Shanghai Pandas realized this in an instant. When dealing with Tae-hyun, they had planned to stack various debuffs on him to drag his stats down before finishing him off. No matter how terrifying Tae-hyun's evasion rate was, if more than a dozen powerful debuffs were stacked on him, he would inevitably take damage.

But... that was far too naive and complacent. With that kind of approach, they couldn't prevent him from taking someone down before he was finally weakened!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Aaaaack! Argh! Ugh!" Tao Chen screamed like the protagonist of a horror movie. In reality, Tae-hyun was closer to the slasher in a horror film—a terrifying monster who relentlessly pursued and swung his sword while shrugging off every attack thrown at him!

"N-No!" Once his protective barrier shattered, the healer melted away instantly. Tae-hyun secured a monumental first kill and spun around.

"You bastard! Get him! Bind him so he can't escape!" Believing that Tae-hyun would try to flee after killing the healer, the Shanghai Pandas players gnashed their teeth and blocked his path. You're not getting past us!

Losing their healer was a painful blow, but Tae-hyun was currently afflicted with all sorts of debuffs from forcing his way through to kill Tao Chen. It would be difficult for him to pull off another reckless move like relying on his evasion to detonate bombs! There was no way he could escape a four-on-one situation!

Now that we've lost our healer, we absolutely must take down Kim Tae-hyun!

"You made a mistake, Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Four. Four. Four..."

"...Are you even listening?!"

In an instant, Tae-hyun vanished. And the tank standing in front, Zhang Wei, let out a scream.