Season 5: Chapter 32. How to Use Bubblegum (3)
The moment Almond charged in to make a contract, he had yelled out for Raina. However, she had already been banned. Only three options were available.
[Frost Archer – Leon]
[Cautious Hunter – Sori]
[Pure White Sniper – Ran]
With no time to spare, Almond quickly chose Sori.
“It’s been a while, partner.”
He had simply used her most recently compared to the rest. When Sori was released, hadn’t Almond demonstrated her in a Police sponsored program? In a way, he had played Sori earlier than almost anyone else.
Some tuning had been done since the prototype days, but her core mechanics remained the same. Her quiver contained four arrows. Land three hits, and the final arrow would turn into an elemental arrow. Once the player used that arrow, the quiver would refill after two seconds. It was a strange, distinctive system.
‘Who is that?’
Because Sori was a newly released champion who came out just before Bart, she was still unfamiliar to many players. Especially at lower ranks, the adaptation to new champions was slow.
Fwaaat!
The enemies failed to properly react to the rope bursting through all the dust.
“Wha...?!”
Tuhk!
The hook latched onto the tank’s shoulder. The rope instantly reeled in, and the new champion lunged forward.
‘Sori...!’
Almond had contracted with Sori.
‘Huh? Sori?’
Sori only dealt respectable damage on the fourth arrow. Her playstyle required patience and timing. That was why she was called Cautious Hunter Sori.
‘I can’t break out of this alone with a champion like this.’
If anything, Almond regretted not using the rope to retreat. Instead, he had charged in.
The enemy tank swung his shield. “Die!”
[Shield Smash]
[Slam a nearby enemy with the shield, stunning them for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 13 seconds.]
The player had to be up close for this simple, brutish skill. A two-second stun was enormous.
‘You’re finished...’
Girik...
‘Huh?’
The tank finally noticed the four arrows loaded onto the enemy’s bow.
‘What is that...?’
Puuung!
It happened in an instant. As the rope pulled him in, before it even fully reeled, four arrows flew out at the exact moment he raised his shield to smash.
[Wind Element]
‘How?’
Sori’s quiver only held four arrows, and only after landing three hits would the last one convert into an elemental arrow. However, a wind arrow had been fired from the very start.
‘Ah.’
The Rope Movement generated one additional elemental arrow. One of the four arrows was that arrow.
[Wind Arrow]
[An arrow specialized for assassination. It travels at the fastest speed and is difficult for enemies to see. On hit, it deals additional damage proportional to the target’s current health.]
This arrow dealt percentage-based damage, perfect for taking down a tank.
‘I’m screwed.’
The enemy tank regretted attacking with his shield instead of blocking.
Puuung!
A violent gust tore through him, and his head instantly exploded.
[You have defeated an enemy.]
[LazySoldier → SwordKingTrainee]
The tank vanished, and Sori became truly terrifying.
— DAMN
— Holy shit, that was fast
— Damn lol
— This guy is insane...
Whirik!
[Rope Movement]
Sori’s movement skill reset its cooldown when she participated in a kill. In other words, it could be used again immediately.
Tuhk!
This time, the hook didn’t catch a player. It pierced a tree instead.
“C-crazy! Fire!”
Tadadadang!
Gunfire and cannon blasts rang out, but Sori instantly flew away. Every attack missed.
[Fire Arrow]
Kwagang!
Almond’s arrow struck the mage with uncanny precision.
Fwoosh!
The fire arrow dealt wide-area damage. With a massive explosion, a blinding fire erupted and scorched everyone at once.
“Damn it! I’ll chase!”
Thud!
A player wielding a blunt weapon leaped through the flames.
Suddenly, he found himself against more than one person. A man holding a shield stood in front of Almond. Someone who had already died once before.
“He revived!?”
[Bubblegum]
Almond had used Rope Movement to where Bubblegum’s rune spirit had been, and he had revived Bubblegum.
“Wahahahaha!” Bubble Gum laughed. “Who are we!?”
“Who the hell would know...?” the enemy asked in disbelief.
Bubblegum charged with his shield as if he’d been waiting for it. “Ghost...”
Thud!
The enemy toppled over after getting slammed back by Bubblegum.
“... Busters!”
Paaang!
Arrows flew. Not just one, but three arrows in rapid succession struck the enemy’s head.
Puh-bubuk!
“Aaagh!”
The enemy scrambled back up and wildly swung his blunt weapon.
Thump.
Bubblegum blocked it cleanly with his shield and took no real damage.
“Too slow.”
— Kya
— Nice
— LMAO
— Kya
Even Bubblegum called him slow. Honestly, blunt weapons were slow.
“Die!”
Whoong!
Bubblegum swung his shield. From behind him, Sori’s arrow flew in.
[Wind Arrow ]
Puuung!
[HP: 55%]
A massive chunk of the enemy’s health disappeared.
“D-damn it, run!”
They had no choice but to admit it. This tank and ranged DPS boasted a stable formation despite a lack of numbers. The ranged DPS was a highly skilled contractor. Four versus two, yet they were at a disadvantage. Retreating was the correct call.
“Retreat!?”
“Just fight and kill them! We can’t run!”
“No, fall back! Revive and regroup! We can’t beat a contractor! Even if we do, the losses are too big!”
Survival mode, true to its name, was about survival. Even if the team won a fight, they’d be at a disadvantage against another team if their losses were too great.
“O-okay, fall back!”
Every part of that judgment was correct. Losing the Red Turtle felt annoying, but they could still move on. However, they hadn’t accounted for another variable.
‘Running away?’
Almond’s eyes gleamed. Turning their back to flee was extremely dangerous if they understood the nature of Sori as a champion.
‘They don’t know.’
If anything, that proved that they didn’t really understand Sori yet.
Tring...
Four arrows refilled Almond’s quiver, and he started running.
“Bro! Chase them!”
“H-huh...? R-really? We’re doing this?”
“Yes! We’ve got an angle!”
Bubblegum kept clinging on, smacking at their backs with his shield.
“Where do you think you’re going, you bastard!”
Thunk!
The blunt-weapon user ignored Bubblegum and kept running. “Damn it, he’s persistent! Get this guy off me!”
“Got it!”
The enemy’s ranged DPS fired at Bubblegum, trying to peel him off.
Kwagang!
[Bubblegum]
[HP: 57%]
Bubblegum’s health dropped sharply. Of course, he was far too fragile at only Level 2.
‘Huh? What?’
LIL had a saying. Low health was the strongest crowd control, stronger than any stun or slow. Low health restricted the enemy’s movement more than anything else. In other words, it baited and blinded people with greed.
‘We need to kill this guy before we go!’
In LIL, one’s mind could change dozens of times in a single second.
Whoosh!
The blunt-weapon player turned back, eyes blazing, and swung his weapon.
‘Got it.’
Puhng!
Almond’s arrow landed before the blunt weapon ever hit Bubblegum.
Puh-bung!
Once the first hit landed, the next two were easy.
[Wind Arrow ]
The fourth arrow, an elemental arrow, was ready again.
‘This is...’
It was already too late.
Thwack!
The blunt-weapon player continued pounding Bubblegum.
“Guhk?!”
With the ranged attacker’s damage layered on top, Bubblegum turned into a rune spirit again.
[An ally has fallen.]
[MachoMan → Bubblegum]
This was the irony of Survival mode. Survival mattered above all else, yet it was also full of opportunities to survive. Seeing Bubblegum reduced to a rune spirit, MachoMan realized it.
‘I’m screwed.’
Bubblegum had been bait. They had fallen for it again.
Puuung!
The Wind Arrow pierced straight through his head.
[Double Kill!]
[LazySoldier → MachoMan]
“F-fuck, we’re done for! Scatter!”
The remaining three damage dealers split up instantly. They could already see what was coming next.
Jiiiiik...
A rope shot out.
[Rope Movement]
This skill reset instantly when the champion participated in a kill. If a kill happened while fleeing from Sori, the result was nothing short of a nightmare.
Tuhk!
Almond arrived precisely at Bubblegum’s rune spirit. Then, he aimed at one of the fleeing enemies. Rope Movement also replenished an elemental arrow.
[Ice Arrow]
Almond immediately fired the elemental arrow, and one of the fleeing enemies froze solid.
“Guhk...!?”
Almond walked toward him slowly, landing arrows one by one.
Pung!
Puhng!
— LOL
— That’s terrifying
— No way lol
His rune also amplified damage against crowd-controlled targets. The buff came from the Red Turtle. Against an enemy who wasn’t even a contractor, the brief freeze from the Ice Arrow was more than enough.
Puhng!
[LazySoldier Triple Kill!]
Almond glanced around, ready to use Rope Movement again. No one else could be seen. They had all scattered in three different directions, terrified of Rope Movement.
“Phew.” Almond smiled in satisfaction. “So, the strategy?”
— Oh come on LOL
— LOL
— Bullshit
— That was forced as hell lol
— LMAO
Puhng!
Bubblegum, freshly revived, answered for him. “What a smart young man~!”
— LOL
— Is this Pokémon or what
— Is he Wobbuffet?
— Bubblegum’s way too cute
— Okay but Bubblegum actually did well
— Ghost Busters!
— Truly a scuffed duo
“Now all we have to do is find the Sanctuary of Resurrection, and the plan succeeds~.”
— ?
— How far does this plan go...
— LOL
— Revival was part of the plan too? Who knows
— Mere mortals can’t comprehend the Lord’s plans
— Everyone has a plan. Even Almond.
***
The team Almond just fought was Team Seven. Out of five members, only two remained.
“Haa... ha... This is fucked, seriously.”
“There’s still hope. We can do this.”
They communicated over voice chat and decided to search for a Sanctuary of Resurrection.
Tuhk.
One of them collided with someone. The other party was already a contractor.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Y-you’re...”
More shocking than the fact that he was a contractor was the familiar face and voice.
“Zelo?”
[Zelo]
[Storm Ninja – Haruki]
Shraaak!
Zelo’s blade, swift as the wind, slit his throat.
“Wow, lucky start. Stragglers, huh?”
— For real
— What a gift
— Luckiest opener
— Storm Ninja, straight into a kill
— Storm Ninja DAMN
— Game is blown open lol
Storm Ninja securing a first kill wasn’t like other first kills.
[Ninja’s Instinct]
[Passive. When Haruki kills an enemy in a single strike, he is shown a path. Successfully assassinating along this path further strengthens his chakra.]
Thanks to this passive, Zelo began the game with enhanced chakra.
[Total Chakra Output increased by 10%.]
