Chapter 210. The First Match (3)

Almond stood with about 10% of his HP remaining as the smoke gradually cleared. Two lifeless champions lay at his feet.

— Wow!!!

— Almond!!

— Almond, my big brother!

Almond’s fanboys, wearing almond-shaped hats, made a fuss and loudly cheered.

Even with just a glance, people could see one corner of the audience falling on their knees in despair.

— What the hell?

— I couldn't see anything because of the smoke.

— Oh...

Those who were not Almond fans were more curious about what happened. They wondered exactly what happened in the smoke.

— Replay! Replay!

— What is this?!

— Can't they do their job properly? Hey Police!

— Replay! Replay! Replay!

The audience began chanting for a replay, and other observers hastily pounded on their keyboards.

"What's going on?"

"It seems like a spectator bug."

"Wasn't this intentional by the company?"

"I, I don't know."

"Zoom in as much as possible and capture the replay right now. Or follow Almond's perspective and record the play!"

"Okay!"

The replay displayed Almond's perspective. Only Almond, the Storm Ninja, could see the opponents clearly through the smoke.

Whoosh!

The replay began when the smoke exploded out.

Shhhhhh!

A smokescreen covered the environment.

The smoke appeared light from Almond's point of view, but it would've been quite thick in reality, and anything beyond one's nose would be almost invisible.

Whoosh!

A gigantic hoof came crashing in through the smoke.

“Neiieeeengh! Where are you!”

Pepper charged forward while making horse noises. He was determined to entertain the audience despite his team losing the game.

The audience and the chat were filled with laughter.

— LOL, you crazy.

— He’s become one with the horse.

— Half human, half horse? I am half human, half idiot!

Centaur’s introduction was a bit weird, but his momentum was incredible.

Boom!

The gigantic horse hoof churned up the ground, and dirt flew everywhere. At the same time, he swung a massive sword in every direction. It was clear why he confidently charged into the smoke.

Huuuung!

With just one swing, his sword was so long that it could cut through about half of the smoke's radius. Even without seeing the opponent, he could roughly hit them if he swung in their direction.

Almond flattened his body and barely managed to dodge.

"Oh, Almond avoided that?"

"His body control is indeed impressive."

The commentators admired Almond's precise physical movements, but it wasn't all that surprising for Almond.

It was hard to say if Almond managed to kill two people inside the smoke just by evading one attack from Centaur.

"But where is Almond going?"

"Is he heading toward the minions?"

Almond's next action answered their question. He threw his shurikens in a peculiar direction. They were aimed at the minions.

"It seems that what the analysts and OrangeKing mentioned earlier is correct!"

"Yes, it looks like that was the only option he had."

"It’ll almost become an absolute territory for him if he uses Wind Clone, the Storm Ninja’s ultimate skill, inside the smoke. With this, he can kill anyone... theoretically."

"Ah, theoretically, but unlikely, right?"

"Yes..."

Almond gathered the piled up minions and swept them all at once.

[Level up!]

[Level 6]

Almond finally reached Level 6 with those experience points. He immediately scratched his palm with the sword and drew blood.

[Activating the Blood Pact Contract.]

Thud!

Haruki's new form vividly materialized. It wasn't just one, but two forms. These new forms appeared closer to Almond than Haruki because Almond used the Wind Clone technique.

[Ultimate Skill - Wind Clone Technique]

Whoosh..

With a gentle breeze, two additional clones were created.

[Each clone deals 50% of the original's damage.]

Aside from damage, the clones could also use speed and body movement skills. They would be nearly impossible for the enemies to distinguish.

Thud!

At that moment, a large familiar figure entered the smoke screen.

Zap!

A brilliant flash accompanied the appearance of Swift's new form. Swift had finally joined the battle.

In real-time, it had only been about three seconds since Almond used the smoke bomb.

The two clones rushed toward Swift and Centaur as if they had been waiting.

Clang!

The longsword, dagger, and short swords clashed as sparks flew. That was all that could be seen inside the smoke screen.

“Hey! Over here!”

“Got it!”

They couldn't see each other inside the smoke and thought they were attacking the original body.

“What are you doing? Attack from behind!”

“What..? I'm attacking from the front.”

After a moment, they finally realized that these were wind clones.

“Fuck, they're clones!”

“Shit..”

Thud!

It was too late as the real Almond already stabbed Tomato's neck from behind.

“Damn it, where is that goddamn Almond?”

Tomato turned around and swung his dagger.

Swish!

Almond lightly leaned his head back and evaded the attack. From Tomato's perspective, he only saw a faint image and couldn't sense what he was hitting.

“Wha.. What's going on?”

Meanwhile, Almond took control of the clone behind Tomato and attacked his back.

Thud!

“Ah, damn it!”

Tomato turned around again. This time, Almond attacked from the front. When Tomato tried to counter, the clone attacked him from behind...

The attacks continued from both sides, trapping Tomato in a relentless assault.

“Hey! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!”

Tomato desperately shouted to Pepper, but it was no use.

“I can't move!”

Pepper found it challenging to deal with just one clone.

Clash! Clash!

The clones smoothly switched between the short sword and the shurikens. This made it seem like facing a real opponent every time.

Pepper found it impossible to help his ally because of his heavy and blunt weapon.

“I feel like I'm dealing with the real one here.”

However, Pepper was deeply mistaken.

"Pepper seems to be mistaking the clones as real!"

"Pepper is still a Grandmaster despite the difficult fight in the smoke, right?! He should be able to quickly distinguish the clones!"

"As far as I know, controlling clones feels like moving arms you don't have, so it's really challenging to make their movements look natural.."

The commentators were so caught up in the excitement that they almost forgot they were watching a replay.

"A player with this level of multi-clone control ability is rare!"

"We can feel the power of the unofficial world number one VNS right here!"

The feeling of moving arms and legs that didn't exist.. This was familiar to Almond. He always felt like this in games and only felt more comfortable now. This sensation of electromagnetic waves was probably even more familiar to someone who couldn’t move their legs.

"Ah...!"

"They died like that..?"

Slash!

Tomato mercilessly succumbed to the attacks slashing at him from the front and back.

The jungler Pepper also struggled against the clones and died after being surrounded by three Almonds.

[LazySoldier Double Kill!]

The announcement echoed out.

— Wow, I can't even tell which one is which!

— If it weren't showing Almond's perspective, I don't think the commentators could tell either."

— Is it true that clones can fight with shurikens and the dual swords?"

— I bet Almond can control spirits too.

After the jungler’s gank, the two of them died instead of killing Almond. Afterward, the game became unbearable to watch.

[LazySolider is unstoppable!]

"Oh no! Are they going to kill him again?"

Tomato continued to die again and again.

[LazySoldier is Legendary!]

Tomato repeatedly died as soon as he returned to his lane.

"Is he okay?"

"It would be strange if he's fine. This is Almond's second match playing as Storm Ninja! Even in solo rank, he doesn't pull this off!"

"Haha.. Let's not emphasize that too much, OrangeKing."

— LOL

— OMG... Poor Tomato...

— I guess diamond is nothing... lol

— Is he really ranked diamond?!

"Oh no! Tomato will be demoted from Die-almond (Diamond) to Die-Tomato!"

— LOL

— Die-Tomato, lol

— Is there gonna be a new ranking system?

[Legendary LazySoldier!]

"Tomato died again!"

"Again! I don't think this is Tomato's problem now."

"How on earth did he do that? Almond’s chakra output has increased by 70%! There’s no time for Tomato to use his flash skill! He’s just flashing to his death!”historical

Tomato died again as soon as Almond caught him. This demonstrated exactly why Storm Ninja countered Flashy Blade.

Even after Tomato reached Level 6 and gained two blades, the gap between the two players was already too big.

With his chakra output increased by 70%, Almond's speed easily surpassed the distance of Swift’s blade. This made it impossible for Tomato to kill Almond.

Even the bottom lane had turned chaotic. It was pure despair.

"OHHHH! Finally!"

Boom!

Ultimately, the game ended after they destroyed Fearless Deer’s nexus.

Almond had eleven kills, while StrawberryShooter had nine kills. They were competing against each other to see who could deal more damage. It turned out completely one-sided.

"Wow, I didn't expect the first game to be like this."

"Exactly! The ban-pick phase gave me chills!"

"I think it all started when Almond defeated Tomato with shurikens. That's when the game truly began."

"I agree."

The commentators were excited, but the first game was nothing special compared to the second.

In the second game, Almond changed back to ADC and picked Ran.

Ran had no mobility skills and became vulnerable during siege mode when using his ultimate ability, which made him unable to move. If the opponents charged recklessly, Almond would have no way to escape.

"Ran? Isn't that too risky?"

"Is he provoking them to try a dive combination?"

However, Tako's Hammer Warrior nullified the incoming damage with his powerful divine skill, Invincible Descent.

Then, Miho's Time Traveling Witch - Reverse used her divine skill, Rebirth, to revive Almond.

"This is how they counter with Time Witch and Hammer Warrior!!"

"This is insane! Tako is on fire!"

"They've figured out the dive combination!"

Almond only died once throughout the match against a team that focused on killing the ADC.

The result was as clear as day.

[Victory!]

Almond's team easily won.

“Ah~~~ GG~~~!”

Cheers erupted from the audience.

— Wow!

— Tako! Tako! Tako!

— Almond! Almond!

The scoreboard displayed the result they had been waiting for.

[Match Result]

[Balloon Stars 2:0 Victory!]

— Wow! Balloon Stars!

— Cheers! Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

— OMG, Miho carried this one for sure

— King! Almond!

Balloon Stars' supporters loudly cheered in the stadium. Almond raised both his arms in response.

— Almond! Almond! Almond!

— OMG!!!! He looked in this direction! I love you!

— No, he looked at me!

The cheers grew even louder as Almond responded to the crowd.

Countless fans wore almond-shaped hats, and Almond found that quite funny. He brightly smiled and was filled with indescribable happiness.

***

A woman wearing an almond-shaped hat in one corner of the crowd also smiled. The woman's long hair covered her face, but Song Ha-Na was sure she was smiling.

"Choi Sa-Rang, how was it? It’s still fun to watch even though you can't play, right?" Song Ha-Na said and lightly tapped her.

"Well, it's somewhat better now that I can at least access the capsule," Choi Sa-Rang replied.

"But you have to play with me instead," Song Ha-Na added.

"Alright."

Choi Sa-Rang nodded, took off the almond hat, and tossed it aside.

Ping.

The hat suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"See you next time."

"Huh? You're going?"

"Aren't you going?" Choi Sa-Rang asked. "You've already watched Almond's match. Why not come along?"

"Well, I'll watch the next match too..? These tickets were expensive.."

“Why would you bother watching?" Choi Sa-Rang replied dismissively.

"Wow, you really don't care about any players other than the skilled ones."

"... Well, I'm going anyway."

"What about the MVP selection?"

"No need to watch that either."

'It's probably Almond anyway,' Choi Sa-Rang murmured to herself and vanished without a trace.