Reversal in the Glass Gallery
Siwoo pulls off a solo kill against Choi Woo-jin from the side lane, but Kaiserst's situation isn't looking good.
Kaiserst! The main team's getting pushed back!
Park Chan-seong's defense cover isn't reaching!
It was because the defenders—who held the absolute front line—were being outplayed.
"Their pressure is too damn heavy!"
"Chan-seong, just hold on!"
"Ho-jong hyung! No HP left!"
"Can't get the angle! Shift a bit more to the side!"
To make matters worse, Kaiserst's calls were falling apart. In the chaos of the brawl, they'd lost their most crucial composure.
But it wasn't just the defenders lacking skill. Even Kim Ho-jong was consistently getting pushed by Hanhaseong's attacker.
It wasn't a mechanics issue or anything like that. It was pure skill gap.
Kim Ho-jong was once an outstanding attacker who played in China.
But after years passed, he wasn't talented enough to maintain that level into his twenty-seventh year.
Lee Siwoo is grabbing objectives and heading back!
But Hibana Museum's layout makes the return take too long!
Layered on top of that was the map's nature, worsening Kaiserst's position further.
The crowd's mood was turning sour. Siwoo had finally snagged that side solo kill, but the main team's collapse was nullifying it.
The main line got pushed back, widening the gap to the main objective. And with the massive defender skill disparity, they couldn't break through.
But then—
Lee Siwoo returns! And a smoke screen deploys over Hanhaseong's formation!
With Siwoo's return, Kaiserst—who'd been retreating nonstop—launched their counterattack.
Oh! Lee Siwoo's Teleport Dash! He dives straight into the smoke center!
Kim Ho-jong, Lee Soo-hyuk, and Kim Yong-taek follow! Planning to fight inside the smoke?!
Kaiserst's players leaped into the smoke as one. Their intent was singular.
Bullets rain inside the smoke! Hanhaseong has to back off now!
Lee Siwoo lands shots through the barely visible smoke vision! Incredible!
How is this aim searching even possible? Unbelievable aim every time!
Siwoo's vision was pitch black—no movements visible.
Just silhouettes of human shapes through the smoke.
But his fingertips moved on instinct.
Operation name: "Siwoo, you're up."
Hanhaseong retreats!
Main objective is in sight now!
Back to square one!
The undisputed Kaiserst ace: Lee Siwoo!
The plan worked flawlessly. Sure, it relied entirely on Siwoo, but it was more reliable and superior than any other strategy.
It might sound crazy, but this game was dubbed "Attacker Carry Hell." A single attacker could flip the entire match in Overlant.
And Siwoo wielded the power to reshape the game solo.
Retreat! Hanhaseong retreats! They can't handle the fight!
Choi Woo-jin joins but—!
Can't stop him! Siwoo at 100% headshot accuracy!
Hanhaseong falls back to the key point! Tug-of-war begins!
The central glass gallery is Hibana Museum's core stronghold! Must take it!
Eventually, the match reset to even ground.
The current battlefield: Hibana Museum's central glass gallery, displaying dinosaur bones.
The widest area, closest path to the main objective—essential passage, thus a strategic chokepoint.
Main objective activated! Tense tug-of-war underway!
At that moment, the core of contention—the main objective—activated.
No more backing down.
They had to hold the chokepoint and seize the main objective. Contention matches were battles to claim it, after all.
They could lose fights. Die even. But lose the objective? Never.
Neither side yields! And right then—Siwoo pushes forward!
Kim Yong-taek and Lee Soo-hyuk follow! Force Enhancement and accel buff on Siwoo!
Accel stacked too high! Movement's insanely fast! Controlling that speed, Siwoo?!
Yes, Siwoo handles it effortlessly! Boom—frontline clash erupts!
Aaaah! Hanhaseong can't hold! Even with Choi Woo-jin, they're losing! Hold!!
Pure aim gap too wide! They're getting outfought! Overlant is an FPS, folks!
But Hanhaseong couldn't handle Siwoo. Even if the others lacked, Siwoo's output more than compensated.
Kaiserst secures the main objective! Siwoo dashes away with it!
Kim Ho-jong sacrifices! Park Chan-seong stays to buy time!
Losing the fight doesn't matter now! Just escort the objective!
In contention unlike other modes, losing fights—even solo diving to death—was fine as long as they kept the main objective.
Objective home! Match ends! GG!
GG!
Kaiserst successfully secured the objective, ending the game.
Hiss—
Right after the game, Kim Ho-jong emerged from his capsule and hung his head.
'Without Siwoo, we'd have been crushed.'
He couldn't lift his gaze. Relying on the youngsters wasn't wrong, but getting outplayed by the enemy attacker nonstop bruised his pride.
He was a pro gamer, after all.
Competitive fire burned in him.
Since when had pro gamer Kim Ho-jong been forced to lag behind like this? The same Kim Ho-jong who'd challenged for Masters in China?
He didn't want to chalk it up to "time's cruel." Age affected mechanics, sure.
But he'd been outplayed in pure game sense.
Kim Ho-jong struggled just to land shots, couldn't keep up with the tempo, lacked battlefield reads, and lagged technically everywhere.
Outclassed across the board.
It meant pro gamer Kim Ho-jong was losing edge with time.
Worse, he felt the match weighing him down.
'Damn it...'
Grip.
Kim Ho-jong clenched his fist. Self-disappointment twisted into anger, stabbing his heart.
He could lean on the brothers. But stagnate? No. His goal was Worlds victory.
At this rate, Masters was a pipe dream, let alone Worlds. He needed to step up. Way up.
"Hyung."
Siwoo called out.
"You're too fixated on pressuring right now. Ease up a bit."
Siwoo's voice was soft, like an echo underwater. Only then did Kim Ho-jong realize how hard he'd been gritting his teeth.
"Don't stress too much. You're doing great. Let's take it easy, relaxed."
Kim Ho-jong, eyes once venomous, rubbed his face with both hands and nodded.
"...Yeah, thanks."
Right. Spot on. He needed to view it calmly. His anxiety was forcing sloppy plays.
Mentality crumbling.
Maybe the streak of wins was pressuring him.
"Gotta get it together."
Shaking off self-loathing, Kim Ho-jong sharpened his gaze. Self-doubt was fine, but not sinking into it.
"..."
Siwoo watched quietly. The sharp eyes softening— he'd steadied himself.
'Good.'
Ho-jong hyung always bore the eldest burden. Couldn't falter if the young ones did.
That obsession forced overextensions, mismatched pressure plays. That's what being big bro meant.
Anyway.
Siwoo joined his brothers exiting the capsule booth for the coaching analysis desk.
"Ah, you're here."
The coach handed out tablets and dove into feedback.
"Chan-seong, you know you got pushed hard, right?"
The coach zoomed the tablet screen, slowly pointing at Park Chan-seong.
"It's positioning. Fought well, but spot was awkward."
"Yeah."
"Keep ally spacing in mind. Healing spots too."
"Got it."
Chan-seong hyung nodded.
"Next game, tweak position. Rest was solid. Climb one step at a time."
Surprisingly quick feedback for Chan-seong hyung, despite the heavy loss.
'Didn't see details myself.'
As libero, he'd missed main team plays. Feedback from one step back.
"And Ho-jong. You're over-pressing. Pressure's good, but read the situation. Know what I mean?"
"Yes."
"I want aggression, not recklessness. Stay calm. No tilting. Same plays, cool head."
"Yes."
Ho-jong hyung grabbed a banana, nodding repeatedly.
"Siwoo, you were great. Game-changer. Side solo on Choi Woo-jin, grabbed all objectives—won the slugfest."
The coach massaged Siwoo's shoulder.
"But switch libero. Main fights key here. You fill main, Ho-jong on libero."
"Yes."
Solid call, Siwoo agreed. Main lost control before his return.
To hold initiative, main needed more firepower. Kaiserst's biggest? Him.
Clap!
The coach clapped.
"Okay, everyone. One more. Round 1 sweep's close!"
Siwoo and the brothers stacked hands. Shouted, thrusting up.
"Fighting—!"
"Fiiiighting—!"
"Faito!"
Soo-hyuk hyung went Japanese, but whatever.
Siwoo and the brothers donned jackets, heading to capsules.