Ch. 198

Chapter 198: Unusual Preparation (2)

Jini nodded occasionally, mimicking the action of jotting something down on the recording interface floating to one side. It took quite a while for the video to end.

Gesturing toward the crystal containing Bahimir’s record, Jini murmured, “Purely in terms of combat power, this side is stronger.”

“Right? Bahimir’s ranking is higher, after all,” Hyun replied, feeling relieved.

From what he had seen, he expected the Defense Battle to be an overwhelming victory. However, just as he was relaxing, Jini spoke again.

“But, if you fight under the tournament rules, you might actually lose.”

“Excuse me…?”

What followed was a discussion on a field Hyun knew nothing about and had never cared for. It was a realm of strategy built by thousands of pro gamers through countless successes and failures.

“In a tournament, the instantaneous variables created by the players are the biggest factor, but you can’t ignore the variables created by the soldiers. If the opponent catches the timing for an offensive and uses their numbers to snowball constantly, that alone can produce an effect greater than a single player.”

“Snowball… what?”

“Like a snowball rolling and getting bigger, it’s a term used when one side takes the lead and the gap continues to widen.”

Jini went on to explain how tournament strategies had evolved over time.

“Winning solely through a player’s raw power was only possible back when the league had just started. As research progressed, ‘management’ became just as important as individual martial prowess.”

“Management…?”

“Hyun, didn’t you say you’ve watched the tournament a few times?”

“Well… I’ve been a bit busy lately…”

Since terms he didn’t know kept popping up, Hyun decided to just keep his mouth shut and listen. As he listened to Jini’s explanation, he began to grasp the difference between a tournament and a war.

‘It feels completely different from a real war.’

In an Asrian war, a small number of elites tear through the enemy forces to deal fatal damage, but that combat style didn’t work in a tournament. The reason? The existence of the respawn system. Healing a fatally wounded player and sending them back into the fray after 60 seconds was essentially the same as resurrection.

Jini explained that this difference could overturn the outcome of a battle.

“In terms of total points, the score for destroying a fortress is higher than the kill count.”

“Soldiers don’t respawn. If you manage things in a way that keeps the soldiers alive, you can deal continuous damage to the fortress. Look, here… just like the opposing formation is doing.”

“A player-centric strategy can be easily countered by this kind of guerrilla warfare. Dealing damage in a location where players are spread thin—like a 1v0 rather than a 2v1—results in much higher efficiency.”

“To block those empty spaces with troops, the position of ‘Commander’ was created. You absolutely need at least one. Most tournaments these days use up to two. But looking at this, none of the Duke’s subordinates have that role, right?”

Jini’s continuous explanation was like a new world to Hyun. The more he heard, the more he realized he had known absolutely nothing about tournaments. The questions he had while watching—like ‘He’s a pro gamer, so why did he die over there alone?’ —actually had their own logical reasons in hindsight.

Furthermore, Bahimir and the vampire swarm, who had looked so powerful before, suddenly looked like a disorganized rabble after hearing the explanation.

‘I definitely made the right call calling a pro gamer! If I hadn’t, I might have lost without even knowing why.’

Hyun felt it was a stroke of luck that he decided to seek Jini’s help.

Ain logged in later that afternoon. She had been excited ever since she heard they were going to the Arena. Perhaps she could finally complete her ring set today?

With that expectation, Ain entered the Private Room, only to approach them with a peculiar expression upon seeing Jini with Hyun.

“Hyun…?”

“Oh, Ain, you’re here.”

“Who is this person…?”

“It’s not ‘this person,’ it’s Jini! I called her because I needed help.”

“I see…”

Ain seemed displeased that Jini was intruding on their “just the two of us” schedule, but the quick-witted Jini spoke up immediately.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going with you.”

“Then?”

“I’m just going to watch.”

Jini planned to share Hyun’s vision through a private broadcast while providing necessary advice at key moments. Only after hearing this did Ain lower her guard.

‘I have to prepare perfectly over the next two days.’

Currently, he was Assimilated into Ain’s body, but on the day of the Ranking Ceremony, he planned to Assimilate into Satin, the golem serving Darkness. The reason he borrowed Ain’s body was that the reach of her greatsword was similar to ‘Ifrit’s Claws.’

In an Arena located in a quiet village, Hyun and Ain faced the portal in the center of the lobby.

[Starting 2-player Party League matching!]

[Assigning temporary league tier based on Player ‘Hyun’s 1v1 Duel rank…]

[Assigned to ‘Gold 3’!]

[Assigning temporary league tier based on Player ‘Ain’s 1v1 Duel rank…]

[Assigned to ‘Master’!]

[Due to the large rank gap between party members, searching for matches based on the higher rank!]

He had experimented with this before, but Assimilation couldn’t trick the matching system. If he was with Ain, they were strictly a 2-player party. While Ain seemed thrilled, Hyun couldn’t afford to be so relaxed.

‘There’s a lot more I didn’t know than I thought.’

He had sacrificed time even at the cost of reaching Level 200. Hyun intended to acknowledge his ignorance regarding tournaments and learn with the mindset of a beginner—not just for this one Ranking Ceremony, but for the distant future.

‘If there are NPCs influenced by users other than the Duke, tournament-like events might pop up again. Or, I can apply the methodologies developed by pros and coaches over months to my own strategies!’

Of course, it would be impossible to absorb all of Jini’s know-how in two days. However, he was confident he could fill the gaps with the “experience points” he had accumulated over eight years during the Asra era.

His ultimate goal was to reach a level of tournament skill comparable to a pro before the Ranking Ceremony. This was based on “League Matching,” where stats are balanced. Hyun believed it was entirely possible.

Fortunately, Ain and Jini helped him wholeheartedly. For two days, he pushed his motivation to the limit. Time flew by like an arrow.

“Phew… how is it? I’ve gotten a lot better than at the start, right? Or am I still lacking…?”

It was the dawn just before the Ranking Ceremony. Having finished all preparations, Hyun lay down with a satisfied smile. The reason his fatigue gauge had exceeded 95 was that he had pulled his concentration to the absolute limit.

“No… you should be fine now.”

Watching Hyun’s growth from the side, Jini couldn’t help but be amazed. She felt that if she had experienced something like this back in the day, she might have quit being a pro gamer even sooner. Ain’s control was certainly brilliant, but this time, even that didn’t stand out much because Hyun’s growth wasn’t just fast—it was dazzling.

“I’ll be honest with you. Right now, Hyun, you’re probably better than a second-string pro.”

“Haha, you don’t need to flatter me that much.”

Flattery? Was she overestimating him just because of his reputation? Jini compared Hyun to the pro gamers she knew during her time at Stardust.

‘It’s not overestimation.’

During her active years, Jini was the team’s “Main Order” (the primary strategist/commander). Many of Stardust’s early “standard strategies” were her creations. However, even when she taught those same standards, only two or three players in the entire gaming house truly understood the reasoning and process behind them.

Most of them—including trainees and second-stringers—just tried to perform set actions at specific times along planned routes simply because it was the “standard.” They either found it too tedious to understand the branches of choice derived from the standard, or they lacked the ability to understand them. As a result, the majority couldn’t even respond properly when an opponent did something unconventional.

‘The seeds of talent are definitely different.’

It was certain that Hyun’s “management” was still lacking compared to seasoned pros. Two days was far too short to learn every minor detail. However, no matter what she taught him, Hyun understood it perfectly. For the first two times, he needed an explanation, but after that, he didn’t even need one.

Watching Hyun’s play, which delivered precise punishment to every unconventional move by the opponent, gave her goosebumps multiple times.

‘Is this the level of talent required to realize those kinds of strategies?’

Suddenly, Jini recalled the day they hunted Betty together. She had thought that ridiculous strategy was merely processed from past experience, but looking back now, perhaps that, too, was born from pure improvisation…

While Jini was lost in complex thoughts, Hyun was also marveling at Jini’s ability.

‘This might be an unexpected harvest…!’

He had learned for the first time that so many techniques existed in league management. Jini had taught him useful information beyond what he had even asked for.

「In actual tournaments, even more diverse strategies appear. There’s management that’s only possible when a team’s synergy is perfectly aligned.」

When Ain wasn’t around, he watched actual tournament footage to understand the psychological warfare of the pros. Hearing Jini’s detailed explanations, Hyun felt a flood of inspiration.

Thus, he practiced league matching when Ain was logged in, and learned theoretical knowledge from Jini when Ain was away. Eventually, the gap in Hyun and Ain’s league matching tiers narrowed, and they reached the very top of the Master rank together.

And finally, at dawn after the two days had passed, Hyun received confirmation from Jini.

「Your preparation should be sufficient now.」

A total of 23 wins and 2 losses.

Those two losses had occurred when he knew nothing about management, so if the match times had been as short as duels, he would have easily reached Grandmaster rank.

‘I didn’t expect her to help me this much.’

The more he thought about it, the more grateful he was for Jini’s effort. Even if one is “unemployed,” watching someone else’s play for two days is no easy task.

‘She really tailored it to me.’

Among the strategies Jini taught, many required high-level control that made him wonder if other users could even follow them. She was probably the only person who could provide such a customized lecture.

‘She said she didn’t want payment… but I can’t just ignore this level of sincerity.’

Jini was also the person who had taught him the true value of the things he had given her in the past without knowing their worth. Conversely, he couldn’t ignore the value of what he had received from her. Hyun made a note of what he shouldn’t forget even after the Ranking Ceremony.

‘It’s only right to repay her.’

Just as he was about to log out, bracing himself for tomorrow’s ceremony, Ain suddenly asked with ragged breath.

“Hyun, shouldn’t we at least hit Grandmaster?”

“Huh?”

“Just three more matches…!”

“What are you talking about? You need to rest. It’s time for you to sleep, too.”

“Then… the day after tomorrow?!”

“I’ll be going to do the Main Quest then.”

“…Next week?”

“I’ll need to hit Level 200, so I’ll be busy, right…?”

As the conversation went on, Hyun realized Ain’s eyes were narrowing. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he had done something wrong, so he quickly changed his tune.

“No, well, I might be a bit free after we meet Louise…?”

“Then we’re definitely hitting Grandmaster then, right?”

“Uh, yeah…”

Seeing Ain’s expression soften, Hyun was certain he had avoided a potentially dangerous mistake.

Finally, the day of the Ranking Ceremony arrived.

The Duke’s loyal subordinates, including the vampires and the two golems, were all lined up in a solemn atmosphere.

“Move out.”

Flash! At Bahimir’s gesture, a five-meter-wide crimson portal opened.

The mood among the hundreds of monsters was as grim as if they were facing a great war. It was the vast canyon he had seen in the memory crystal.

Bzzt!

As light filled the dense magic circles covering several kilometers, the canyon began to transform into a massive stadium.

End of 198