Korea-Japan Friendly Match (4)
Gulp.
A nervous Kang Jiho swallowed hard.
Atsuto.
The player standing before him was a ranker from Japan, one of the world's summoning superpowers. Naturally, he knew all about the man. Just last year, Japan had clawed its way to the semifinals, and footage from those matches had already spread across the globe. Atsuto's fame was shaking the whole world.
Above all, his summon the Soul Hunter (A-rank) — a warrior and assassin in one — was legendary for its devastating power.
"Looking forward to a good match."
Whoosh!
He bowed with all five of his summons deployed in a display formation.
"Likewise."
Atsuto returned the bow. The stage was set; there was no reason to stall any longer.
Here I come.
Kang Jiho sent his damage-tank summon, the Snowflake Berserker (B-rank), charging first. Behind the Berserker, decked out in every expensive rune money could buy, marched a healer, a supporter, and ranged summons to lay down covering fire. In a way, it was the orthodox path itself — the composition and formation rated the most stable in the entire industry.
Oh ho?
Atsuto's eyes gleamed as he watched the incoming summons.
Something feels different about them.
He sensed it instinctively. The positioning of the summons, their charging posture, their angles of approach — everything about them was first-rate. So this was what a Korean ranker could do?
But it won't work on me.
He had learned control directly from Yoshida Hikaru, one of the Five Emperors. He was also rated as a key player expected to break into the world top 100. If he lost to a mere formation like that, his reputation would be in tatters.
KRA-KOOM!
The Soul Hunter's greatsword met the charging Snowflake Berserker's axe with perfect precision, deflecting it clean.
CLANG, CLANG!
It even swirled its greatsword in circles to shave away and deflect the arrows from the ranged summons.
"Whoa."
Kang Jiho's eyes went wide.
Is that even possible?
The Berserker's charge was unstoppable — like a runaway freight train. Even among Korea's rankers, most would dodge that charge rather than meet it head-on; almost nobody would block it directly. Yet Atsuto's Soul Hunter had parried it with room to spare.
And that wasn't all.
Shhk!
The moment it blocked, it spun its whole body and carved through the Berserker's abdomen in one motion.
Splurt!
Blood geysered upward.
"Healer!"
Vmmm!
The healer and supporter kept pouring out support.
Shrieeek!
The enraged Berserker's axe whipped up wave after wave of blizzard winds, but the Soul Hunter's movements defied imagination. Nobody could even tell how it was moving, yet the Berserker's entire body was being papered over with wounds.
Insane.
Kang Jiho felt a massive wall before him. The runes and specs were one thing, but the control was on another level entirely. As if predicting the axe's every movement, the greatsword intercepted its trajectory — and once it was blocked, he had to concede an attack in return.
Right. It felt like sparring against Hyung-nim.
No. Come to think of it, it probably wasn't quite that bad. If it were Hyung-nim, the Berserker's head would already be rolling on the ground.
Either way, one thing was certain: his opponent was several moves ahead of him in every respect. A gap so vast that even all the experience he'd built up sparring with his friends since founding Carpe Diem couldn't bridge it!
This is actually great.
Kang Jiho's eyes blazed with hunger. He couldn't keep fighting only weak opponents forever. The harder he struggled against the strong one right in front of him, the more he would grow!
Hyung-nim said it's okay to lose. But that was never permission to just roll over. Give it everything. Fight with the single-minded resolve to take at least one more of the enemy's summons down with you.
Snowflake Berserker!
Kang Jiho called out to the wounded summon in his heart. At the same moment —
Fwah-bah-bah-bam!
The Berserker flat-out ignored the Soul Hunter and began charging straight ahead. When you're outclassed in weight class, there's only one option: take out their supporter, healer, and snipers first!
It didn't matter if he gave up his own summon. This wasn't a strategy designed to win. It's to help my next player take them down as easily as possible. The format was a tournament, after all. Atsuto would have to fight his next opponent with exactly the forces he had left — no HP recovery, no summon swaps. So then? Even if it died, it would strike the rear as hard as possible first — then die!
"Run!"
Bloodshot veins crept into Kang Jiho's eyes. He hadn't clawed his way past rankers above him and into the national team for nothing. And being young meant his killer instinct burned that much fiercer.
"Ignore their attacks and just run! It's fine if you die — just tank the hits and keep going!"
"Huh?"
Atsuto was genuinely startled. His original plan had been to bleed them dry slowly with the Soul Hunter's blade. He needed to play it safe so he could beat the next ranker too. He was a Japanese ranker, after all — surely he could take at least two of these Korean kids with him!
But this turn of events was a problem.
"Block them!"
Tah-at!
The Soul Hunter wheeled around and sprinted back to finish off the Berserker for good, but the Snowflake Berserker's axe was no pushover either. Frost swirling around it, it cut down the rear summons one by one. Atsuto's ranged attacks had left it with barely 5% HP, but the Berserker, having barely managed to carve through its targets, snorted steam and let out a roar.
- KUOOOOOOOO!
The enemy healer's wing had been torn, and the supporter's staff snapped in two! It had lost to the Soul Hunter, sure, but it had still racked up a performance worth celebrating! Pleased with itself, the Snowflake Berserker roared with delight.
And then —
Thunk!
The Soul Hunter, having crept up behind it, skewered its throat.
Whew. Lost. A loss, but a well-fought one. Against a player from a superpower, it had put on quite a show.
Once the Snowflake Berserker died, the rest of the match wrapped up quickly.
Kang Jiho — LOSS
Atsuto — WIN
"Next up, Hong Ari."
Baek Jinwoo murmured.
"Got it."
The second batter was Hong Ari.
Thud, thud.
She walked out with a resolute expression on her face.
"...Noona, that guy's no joke. But I took a good chunk out of him."
"Okay. Good work out there."
She tagged in with Kang Jiho.
Jiho did that much damage already. I have to win this.
Hong Ari had already faced Atsuto before, so she knew exactly how strong he was. Under normal circumstances, someone at Kang Jiho's level should never have been able to kill any of Atsuto's summons. Forget taking out the healer or supporter — he shouldn't have been able to lay a finger on them. But the Kang Jiho of today was undeniably strong. Strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the great Atsuto himself.
That's the fruit of our training!
Hong Ari steeled herself and took a deep breath. Her rigid, stone-set face betrayed just how tense she was.
"Firebird."
- KRIIIIRURURU!
Her signature summon was the B-rank Firebird!
Fwoooosh!
The flame-covered bird burst into blazing life. Her opponent was Atsuto! The Firebird was a budget version of the Phoenix (A-rank), but as far as fire-attribute summons went, it had a solid reputation. On top of that, it had recently been through Baek Jinwoo's intensive training, so its fundamentals were rock solid.
I'll show him.
Hong Ari glanced not at Atsuto, but at Baek Jinwoo. Baek Jinwoo gave a small nod.
Just how much stronger I've become.
Fwoooosh!
Hong Ari moved first. All five of her summons deployed at once, pressing hard against Atsuto's remaining forces.
"Whoa."
The astonished Atsuto was no slouch either.
KWA-KA-KA-KA-KA!
They clashed here, exploded there, and slugged it out in a brutal brawl — and the result came faster than anyone expected.
Hong Ari — WIN
Atsuto — LOSS
She had won by the skin of her teeth. The Firebird's wing was torn, and her other summons were all below 10% HP... and she'd only been facing three of Atsuto's summons... But a win was a win, wasn't it?
"Azaaaaaa!"
Hong Ari let out a triumphant cheer. Then she held out her palm toward the Japanese side.
"Next player, come on out."
"Not bad at all."
Japan's next batter was Ryo. Not a world ranker, but a player sitting at Japan's national rank 9.
"Who would've thought just two of you could wear Atsuto down."
Ryo muttered as he deployed his summons. It was genuinely a shocking turn of events. However clever their tactics, just two players had beaten Atsuto?
Honestly, here's what the Japanese rankers had been thinking before the match:
Atsuto will take at least three of them, won't he?
If they're lucky, he might even solo the whole team.
That'd be pretty funny, though. Atsuto pulling an all-kill — and he's not even Shusuke.
But so what? Isn't that just Korea's level?
They'd assumed he'd take at least three, and already the prediction was falling apart.
"Hmm."
Baek Jinwoo, arms crossed, wore an intrigued expression.
They're better than I expected.
Kang Jiho, Hong Ari — both of them had put the fundamentals he taught them to excellent use. It seemed they'd finally internalized, at least a little, that what mattered in PvP wasn't the weight class of your summons but the player's control. If they hadn't, they'd have been wiped out by that kid Atsuto before Ryo ever stepped up.
"...Master."
Oh Seon-young beside him murmured.
"This is truly moving."
She couldn't hide her excitement. Look at who they were facing — one of the world's top 5 superpowers! She had never even dreamed of it. That in such a short time, they'd grow strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with Japan's national team.
"Oh, come on. Moving, my foot."
Pfft.
Baek Jinwoo chuckled.
"You're still you, and they're still Japanese players... You're both riddled with weaknesses."
If this much improvement was enough to move her to tears, then Baek Jinwoo, as her teacher, felt a little embarrassed on her behalf.
"For now..." He looked at Ki Jaehyeok and Oh Seon-young waiting on standby. "Hong Ari loses to Ryo. One hundred percent."
Of course she did. She probably wouldn't even land a proper hit. Her condition was that wrecked. So then? Now one of the other two had to step up against Ryo.
"Which of you two wants to go?"
Since Baek Jinwoo himself planned to be the final batter, only one of Oh Seon-young or Ki Jaehyeok could go next. The question was: who would get the live combat experience here?
"Please let Jaehyeok go."
"Nunim?"
"...I'm not on the national team. Jaehyeok's the one who needs live match experience for this World League."
Oh Seon-young recommended Ki Jaehyeok. Baek Jinwoo nodded.
Such sportsmanship! Excellent!
"In exchange..." Baek Jinwoo grinned. "I have a special gift for you, Oh Seon-young."
"...A gift, you say?"
"You'll see. Jaehyeok."
"Yes, Hyung-nim!"
"You can beat someone like Ryo, right?"
"...Ryo?"
Ki Jaehyeok's eyes went round as saucers. Sure, Ryo might be at the bottom of Japan's national team, but in Korea he'd be flying high. The clip of Ryo one-shotting Kang Geonho, Korea's rank 1, in under a minute was still making the rounds online. That's how powerful a ranker he was! And he was supposed to call that "someone like Ryo"?
"What, you can't win?"
"..."
Gulp!
Ki Jaehyeok swallowed hard. If Hyung-nim was saying it like that, there had to be a reason. Screw it! Ki Jaehyeok committed.
"...I'll win. No matter what."
Hyung-nim was basically telling him to win — what choice did he have! He'd just have to go and win, then!
"Good. That's the mindset."
Fwoooooosh!
The match was already underway. Hong Ari's Firebird was slowly guttering out! Even while chatting, Baek Jinwoo was reading Ryo's summons and his control. And his conclusion:
Jaehyeok wins.
In Baek Jinwoo's eyes, Ki Jaehyeok was a genius. He handled summons as well as Baek Jinwoo himself had at that age. If he did exactly as he'd been taught and didn't make mistakes, he could edge out someone like Ryo by a hair. Naturally, anyone else hearing this would call him insane. Calling the outcome of a match he wasn't even watching!
But what can I do when I can see it?
It had been the same during Battle of Summoners. Even in player-versus-player matches, he could tell who would win before the fight even started.
How much time passed like that? The match ended. Exactly as he'd predicted.
Hong Ari — LOSS
Ryo — WIN
"Next up, Jaehyeok."
"Yes, Hyung-nim!"
Ki Jaehyeok stepped up against Ryo, who still held Hong Ari's defeated summon and wore an arrogant smirk.