Chapter 140
“Wow! Wow! Yunho! Are you really going to do this? Oh, Oh! I believed in you!!!”
Rumi screamed from the side.
And Alpaca prepared to cheer, tightening his fists with enthusiasm.
Even though Wind Sword seemed awkward in such an atmosphere and couldn’t make a sound, he was immensely focused.
‘There’s tension, isn’t there?’
Sojun watched with great interest the fight of limp and listless characters.
The character in the Beast Cartel game looked like it was made of clay, with its movements appearing weak and lacking the physical engine’s vigor, but surprisingly, it packed quite a punch.
Whack!
Whack, whack, whack!
『Ha Yunho’s wobbly punch!』
『Ah! Is he getting grabbed by the collar? He’s caught! Player Weed drags Ha Yunho towards the shredder next to the map!』
『Only two remain! And if they can’t finish off Ha Yunho here, it’s over!』
“No! If we win this round, we’ll be first place; if we lose, we have to play another!”
Rumi spoke worryingly as Alpaca and Wind Sword’s eyes widened.
The opponent’s yellow clay character accidentally released Yunho’s blue character.
As if on a low gravity moon, the character hit the ground and bounced a couple of times, bouncing toing toing.
Yunho stood up, reversed roles, and lifted the opponent.
『Is this a comeback!』
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
The character, showing a genuine moonwalk, placed the opponent into the nearby shredder as the screen displayed.
『Game Over!』
『Winner: Ha Yunho!』
『Wow! Congratulations. The first match points go to Team Leader Ha Yunho’s team, who secured three victories first!』
“Wow! Yunho really did it, huh?”
“Really!”
“Well…”
Wind Sword almost said something but stopped.
Sojun felt like he could guess the rest. Those familiar with the team’s atmosphere just moments ago could predict it.
‘If Yunho-nim hadn’t pulled through, he could’ve been done for.’
Due to the team’s mood, that was how it was.
Other E-rank players might have just hoped to win, but for Ha Yunho, it was a matter of life and death.
The difference in mindset was why they won, Sojun thought.
『Haha! Then let’s reveal the points!』
『Yes! Team Leader Ha Yunho’s team will receive 500 points!』
The points referred to were indeed those from the auction.
The team with the most points left at the end today would have the right to choose their group.
This is how the remaining points from the auction were utilized.
“500 points?!”
Alpaca’s eyes widened.
“We have the most!”
No team had left behind as many as 500 points, even if they hadn’t spent much at the auction.
-Wow!
-They give a lot, lol
-They’re giving them away because we won’t need them after tomorrow anyway
『Ah, and we’ll be preparing for the second game now. For your information, the winning team of the second game will receive 2,000 points! So, everyone, keep up the fight until the end!』
Arin winked, and an advertisement played.
-LoL, just winning Ground Zero decides the group
-What is this training camp meta, lol
-Management Team: We staked everything on the last game to ensure everyone keeps fighting till the end
The final battle, where all previously built efforts could become meaningless, was aptly named the training camp meta.
Sojun thought it was quite fitting and couldn’t help but chuckle.
It wasn’t an unpleasant laugh.
After all, this was a tournament to enjoy.
None of the team members seemed frustrated.
“Oh right. This is what this tournament was all about, huh?”
Rumi’s comment made everyone nod in agreement.
* * *
“Here comes the champion!”
The host returned to the lobby with a triumphant expression.
However, given that the training camp meta had been revealed, it was challenging to get a warm response.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Good job.”
“Well done!”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
In the face of lukewarm reactions, Ha Yunho was puzzled and shook his head. Just as he was about to boast.
“Then, let’s discuss our strategy for the next game, shall we?”
Alpaca spoke.
Though Ha Yunho shot looks wanting recognition like, “What about my victory? My congratulation? Didn’t I do well this time?” he was casually ignored by Alpaca.
“They explained about the battle royale, right?”
This was directed at Sojun, as he was the only one who hadn’t played the game before.
“Yes.”
Ground Zero.
An FPS battle royale game.
Battle royale means participants are gathered in one place to fight until the last one standing or the last team survives.
When many players compete all at once, the genre was perfect for a quick match in situations like now.
“Oh! Once we win 500 points, and winning this gives us 2,000 points!”
Ha Yunho, realizing the matchmaking system, muttered to himself after finding out through the chat window. Having understood the system, Ha Yunho quickly joined the discussion.
“You know, Sojun-nim, right? Then! Let’s go with the Gandhi strategy.”
In a battle royale system, the path to becoming the last one standing was varied.
The most representative strategies are the ‘waiting’ meta, the ‘Gandhi’ meta, and the ‘Lu Bu’ meta.
The waiting meta is holding out in one place and dealing with intruders.
It’s similar to the Gandhi meta, which aims to avoid combat as much as possible through nonviolence.
In stark contrast is the Lu Bu meta, actively seeking out battles.
Other meta-strategies like securing prized property locations with the Realtor meta or simply relying on luck with the Prayer meta are considered for entertainment, Sojun heard.
Ha Yunho suggested.
“With quite a few players, right? 24 people. It should be easy to scavenge for items even on a small map. Wouldn’t it be better to fully equip ourselves in a mundane, stable way and fight when players have decreased? By that time, Sojun-nim might be flying around.”
The intent was to avoid early combat as much as possible.
“If we’re lucky enough to get a supply drop, let’s give it to Sojun-nim.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Do you trust me?”
Sojun asked with a meaningful smile.
“Yes.”
“We don’t have a dedicated Ground Zero streamer, so we have no choice but to trust Sojun-nim.”
Indeed.
“But we don’t absolutely need to win. It’s nice to battle the groups we desire in the subsequent group league, but it doesn’t give a significant advantage.”
It was a statement meant to ease some pressure.
However, Sojun felt no burden in the first place.
‘If we’re going to do this, might as well win.’
A game trying for the first time?
No worries. Unless it had strange controls, they are more or less the same, and winning strategies aren’t vastly different.
“Then, how about employing both the Gandhi and Lu Bu strategies?”
“What?”
-LoL, what’s he trying to pull now?
-Can those two even coexist?
-He’s saying crazy stuff again.
* * *
Sojun launched Ground Zero and received an invitation from the tournament organizers.
A list of as many as twenty players appeared on the interface before him.
The game had 24 participants, with 4 people per team.
Even the smallest maps accommodate 64 players.
Though there are event maps for 32 players, fewer participants than typical games were guaranteed.
『Alright! Starting now!』
As the game started, the official stream Sojun was watching got cut.
The next moment, he found himself in a large, somewhat dim warehouse. Vibrations and crashes echoed across the walls, reaching him.
‘Oh. I heard it was an aircraft, not a warehouse, right? The fighting begins only after descending onto the map.’
The 24 users sat in single file along the wall, grouped by teams.
Some wore odd helmets, others were clad entirely in pink, and shockingly, one streamer was only wearing underwear.
Even though it was an avatar, given that it was a scan of their actual body, it showed immense confidence.
‘I’ll need to watch out for that guy.’
In Murim, they said to beware of women, children, and the elderly.
Similarly, in games, they say to beware of users clad only in underwear.
They’re either truly weak newbies or extraordinary experts with so much free time they don’t know what to do. It’s one or the other.
Given Sojun’s outfit was merely average pants and a jacket, it was likely that person was an expert.
“Sojun-nim! The door of the aircraft will open soon. Prepare to descend! We need to examine the map first, but you can only view the minimap once the door opens? We’ll gauge the map and situation…”
As Rumi, beside Sojun, was explaining, there was a resounding clash.
Clunk!
Vrrmm!
And the door of the aircraft started to open.
The eagle-eyed among the users figured out the location just by the sky’s tint before even seeing the terrain below.
“It’s the Great Desert!”
“What the hell, giving the largest map with just 24 players?”
“Quick, check the minimap!”
It was pandemonium.
On the other hand, his team members remained composed. They merely decided to observe where others were jumping and head to the least crowded place.
The Gandhi strategy.
“Let’s check as well.”
The flight path is always the same for each map. Hence, with knowledge of the map, there’s no rush.
However, this isn’t an ordinary game. Who knows what tricks the organizers might have up their sleeves.
And sure enough.
“What! Why is there already a storm!”
“Wow. It’s going to be a brutal fight.”
“If we had jumped right away, we’D be dead from storm damage, glad we didn’t.”
Storms.
An integral part of battle royales.
Sojun examined the circle drawn on the minimap.
“If we’re outside the circle, our health keeps depleting, right?”
“Yes. And that circle keeps shrinking over time, further restricting a safe playing area.”
To avoid the storm, players must make their way inside the circle, naturally bringing all players scattered across the map closer to fight.
“But the circle’s so small it can’t cover even half of the map.”
It’s a reminder to stay close from the start.
“Yes. That’s the organizer’s doing.”
-Scary
-They probably don’t want streamers comfortably fully gearing up before fighting, lol
-Exactly, lol
“What will you do?”
Alpaca asked, curious if Sojun would reconsider the strategy.
Without hesitation, Sojun replied.
“Let’s stick to the plan.”
Narrow? Even better.
* * *
Once the transport plane entered the safe zone, players began jumping out one by one.
Among them was the Challenger Jungle Goblin.
‘We’re claiming the camp.’
Whoosh!
Amidst the sensation of his heart dropping and entering freefall, goblin adjusted his speed and surveyed his surroundings.
The first was to avoid plummeting too fast, which could prevent the parachute from deploying. The second was to assess how many contenders were heading for the camp.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
‘Huh?’
He counted again.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
‘Huh? What’s going on?’
It was indeed the same number.
Which didn’t add up.
He hadn’t included himself in the count, which was why he was bewildered.
Including himself meant nine people were heading for a single spot; how could there be nine in a four-person team game?
-Isn’t that Jin Sojun?
-The guy causing a ruckus from the start?
-He was the loudest during the auction, lol
-Worth a whopping 995 points; quite a hefty price
Upon realizing the source through the chat, goblin comprehended the scenario.
Jin Sojun.
Three team leaders went all-in on this auction, making him the most mysterious contestant today.
‘Is he lost on his own?’
Goblin thought nothing of it, at least initially.
‘I’ll claim the camp quickly and get underground….’
Whoosh!
However, a fast-descending object swiftly passed him, leaving him stunned.
‘Isn’t he controlling his speed? If that continues…’
The object that passed him was Sojun. And his acceleration was no joke.
Predictably, the parachute didn’t deploy.
Bang!!!
Sojun landed atop a building rooftop. First among the nine descending.
‘Wow, even managed a proper landing despite spinning around in the end.’
Goblin, impressed, deployed his parachute.
-LoL, total alpha male
-Jumps in solo, diving without gear, lol
-He’s practically a sliver of health left. Let’s go finish him off
“It’d be dangerous to go after him.”
Not deploying a parachute meant hitting the ground first and having the chance to collect items before anyone else.
There’s usually a reason for not doing something, though.
-One hit will finish him; let’s give him a nudge
-He looks like a clueless newbie; let’s show him what battle royale really is
-Just a single tap will do him in
Fall damage.
It refers to the game mechanic where a player’s health diminishes if they fall from a certain height.
“With that much health, someone else will get him soon.”
Goblin maneuvered his parachute, aiming towards a building slightly removed from Sojun.
Glancing over, he saw that fortunately, a pistol was on the rooftop where Sojun had landed.
‘Ah, I planned on getting there first.’
Setting aside his disappointment, goblin kept an eye on Sojun.
Initially, Sojun seemed startled, scratching his head.
After some chatter with his viewers, he shrugged and casually walked over to the pistol.
The pistol was in Sojun’s hand.
‘Should I maintain a distance?’
At that moment.
Sojun and Goblin made eye contact.
Sojun beamed a wide smile.
And then, he tossed the pistol aside.
‘What’s going on?’
An incomprehensible development unfolded.
But what Sojun did next was even more absurd.
‘Is he raising both hands? Is that a boxing stance? Is he directing it at me?’
-Goblin, he’s inviting you to a fistfight, lol
-Why did he toss away the pistol with just a sliver of health, lol?
-Ah, lol Goblin’s nearly athlete-level in real-life boxing, and he’s challenging that?
-Certainly an alpha male through and through?
‘Wow… I can’t let this slide.’
Goblin adjusted the direction of his parachute.