Another Kind of Admiration
Although the Archmage had blown himself up, Team Aegis's combat power remained undiminished.
The fallen Archmage would eventually respawn.
And the spearman before her eyes was currently pressing Lee Seul-bi hard, looking far stronger than before.
It was to the point where their previous, passive skirmish felt like a lie.
Her twin swords crossed to block the shaft of his spear.
Her team's Assassin slipped through the shadows to strike from behind, but the spearman countered in a sweeping arc.
In the end, both sides backed away without landing a clean hit.
Lee Seul-bi frowned.
She was not pleased with the current state of affairs.
"We can't keep this up."
They couldn't let this stalemate drag on.
The enemy Archmage's respawn timer was ticking down.
Once the Archmage respawned and blew himself up again, her team would take massive damage, and the enemy spearman would inevitably recover his resources through his Demonic Spear passive.
If that happened, the game would swing heavily out of their favor.
Yet, the objective difference in their stats was an undeniable reality.
She couldn't think of a way to kill the spearman right now.
Even with the Assassin's support, she couldn't land a decisive blow.
Seul-bi's mind calmly analyzed the problem.
The real issue here wasn't that she couldn't land a clean hit.
The issue was that she was receiving support from her team's Assassin.
A cleaver should be used for meat, and a paring knife for fruit. Every tool had its proper place.
Paradoxically, an Assassin was at their most threatening when they were nowhere to be seen.
The constant threat of an unseen Assassin striking from anywhere at any time...
...was what forced the enemy damage dealers to play passively and kept their melee classes from initiating reckless fights.
There was no need to obsess over the act of assassination itself.
While Seul-bi was fighting here, her other teammates weren't just standing around.
The skirmish on the opposite side, at the northern part of the altar, was going in their favor.
But if the game continued like this, the northern front wouldn't yield any significant results.
The enemy had two ranged damage dealers.
Although the Archmage was dead, the remaining damage dealer was still alive and well, likely running rampant.
Seul-bi decided to change the flow of the battlefield.
"I'll handle this guy alone."
"Are you sure? If you die here too, we're in trouble."
"I'll manage somehow. Don't worry about me. Go cut off the enemy Archmage or support the north. That's the only way we keep the momentum."
"...Alright."
Today was a monumental day for Lee Seul-bi.
Not only was it her long-awaited debut match, but she also had a friend waiting outside who had come to cheer her on.
She wanted nothing more than to be the star of the show and make a flashy play.
But that was only if she could.
What she had to do today was become the shadow of her team and act as a roadblock for the enemy.
Seul-bi slid one leg back.
The moment the Assassin left, the enemy's offensive grew significantly fiercer.
Her opponent had also realized that the dynamics of the fight had shifted.
For Seul-bi, killing a spearman with such a massive stat advantage was an impossible goal.
But keeping him tied down so he couldn't easily rotate was a much more realistic objective.
And if she had confidence in her own combat skills, she could aim for something slightly better.
The twin swords and the spear clashed once more.
For some reason, the girl with the twin swords seemed to be smiling.
At some point, the commentators' voices faded into the background.
I had watched a lot of pro matches.
More than anyone else, really. I had watched enough to confidently say I was one of the most passionate viewers.
Perhaps that was why I had become complacent in my own way.
Back when I watched those games, I was someone who couldn't move on my own.
The matches I watched were broadcast only on the rectangular screen in my hospital room.
Infinity Realm was a game where the system capped stats and resources.
This meant that whether you were a beginner or a master, everyone used characters with similar stats.
In the end, it was the accumulated details that decided the victor.
In the augmented reality display, the spearman adjusted his grip on the shaft in real-time.
When thrusting deeply, he held it firmly, crossing his hands top and bottom to prevent the spear from spinning.
When slashing, he pressed down from top to bottom, while his other hand supported the butt of the spear to stabilize its trajectory.
In the past, I couldn't fully comprehend the details within those movements.
The distance between the hands gripping the shaft. The shift in the center of gravity depending on the stance and situation.
For someone who couldn't move their own body, it was a realm completely beyond my understanding.
But now, it was different.
I could see it.
The countless hours of grueling practice spent refining that single motion.
The myriad decisions and calculations that flashed through their minds during a single exchange.
In the purest sense, I was captivated by pro gaming all over again.
It's so cool...
Truly.
There was no other way to describe it.
Lee Seul-bi's twin swords blocked the enemy's spear.
No. Could that really be called a simple "block"?
Her slightly extended left foot was positioned to cut off any transition into a low sweep.
Because of that left foot, her twin swords could fully absorb the impact at the upper level.
Furthermore, the moment the weapons clashed, she smoothly adjusted the angle of her crossed blades.
By deflecting the force, she overcame the difference in their stats.
Nor was Seul-bi solely focused on defense.
In the natural openings that followed each attack, she constantly looked for opportunities.
A single hitch in the opponent's breathing.
The inevitable slight error in their weight distribution.
The microscopic misalignment of their feet.
Her blades moved as if to punish mistakes that anyone else would have missed entirely.
Was it the fruit of her efforts?
The game, which had briefly stalled, began to move once more.
BlueSerpent Night has defeated Aegis Cinder.
The Assassin who had left the front line had successfully taken down the newly respawned Archmage.
Though Seul-bi was battered and bruised from the prolonged engagement, it was worth remembering that this battlefield was the Altar of the Evil God.
Surviving the enemy's onslaught meant she had forced them to waste their resources.
Indeed, the contrast between Seul-bi and Solis's expressions was so stark that it looked as if their situations were reversed.
Seul-bi, on the verge of death, was grinning, while Solis's face was completely contorted in frustration.
No matter how you looked at it, Blue Serpent was the winner of this skirmish.
However, on the Altar of the War God, a single victory did not guarantee the next.
The next time the enemy respawned, they would return with all their resources fully restored.
But... there was also no guarantee that it wouldn't carry over.
Why should the respawn system only benefit the losers?
Aegis Solis has defeated BlueSerpent Drizzle.
BlueSerpent Mikhail has...
Aegis's main force was wiped out.
Although they had managed to take down Seul-bi, Solis's fate was no different.
A spearman with no buffs and depleted resources stood no chance against Blue Serpent's main force.
This meant that for the time being, only Blue Serpent's main force would control the battlefield.
And in this hellish environment, the poor Archmage would have to respawn all by himself!
Of course, it wasn't as if there were no measures to prevent spawn-killing.
Both sides had barrier zones and protective turrets.
But those were only effective for classes that possessed some degree of self-defense.
Aegis's Archmage had built his character specifically around self-destruction, and the spearman acted as both his predator and protector.
Without his teammate's protection, there was nothing the Archmage could do on his own.
On the other hand, Seul-bi's Valkyrie was a sturdy bruiser class.
Even if she caught the enemy's focus fire, she would take damage but had a high chance of surviving.
In the next respawn cycle, the Archmage would die helplessly.
Naturally, Blue Serpent would adjust their own respawn timers right after.
In the end, the next team fight would become a highly disadvantageous 5v4 battle for Aegis, missing their key self-destructing Archmage.
In the end, Blue Serpent maintained their advantage and took the first game.
The second game was a clean sweep, ending in a comfortable victory.
With a total score of 2-0, Lee Seul-bi's debut match came to a successful close.
I was envious of Lee Seul-bi.
And that envy was precisely what set me on the same path.
It took me a long time to realize that this, too, was a form of admiration.
In any case, a match, once started, must eventually come to an end.
The moment the match was over, Lee Seul-bi came looking for me.
"Thanks for coming!"