Season 5: Chapter 169. Group B (2)

"Oh yes. The match has started, and no team has landed yet."

In the extreme early game, each team rode the airship and chose landing points. At this stage, the game was essentially not yet underway.

Orange King took the time to briefly cover the group composition.

"In another kind of match, this wouldn't matter at all. In the Platform War, we can't skip the group composition discussion."

Group composition was also part of the strategy and seemed quite significant.

"Oh, right. What do you think?"

"First, Paprika will deploy a balanced strategy, splitting between upper-mid and lower-mid. Cheese's intention to absolutely destroy things in Group B is strongly apparent!"

— lmaooooooooo destroy

— fr

— All-in on Group B lmaooo

— Watched Group A and planning to go all out in Group B

— Completely different fr

"Right, they've lined up all the upper-tier teams here and only put one last-place team."

"Yes, but even that last-place team isn't actually that bad a team. Everyone except one certain person is quite solid."

— Wow

— Wow

— What

— Certain person

— lmaooooooooo

— Bubblegum...

— Police-certified official troll

— lmaooooooo

Can't Can't Can't actually wasn't a team that deserved last place. This was true.

The caster agreed and ran with it. "Right! So many people said this looks like a fix. Didn't the Nonghyup and Can't Can't Can't's rankings get swapped!?"

Orange King got to the main point. "Unless Cheese cleanly takes first through fifth here! It's genuinely over! But! What did I say at the analysis desk earlier?"

"What did you say!?"

"If Cheese brings some big change! If Group A and Group B have different strategies! I said there might be a chance!"

"Oh, right. But that seems nearly impossible..."

"Yes! But!"

"!?"

"I heard one interesting piece of information." Orange King, who hadn't rated Cheese's chances very highly, suddenly sounded positive. "Apparently, Cheese Group B and Group A have different strategies!"

At those words, the entire commentary desk was surprised.

— I see

— Oh

— If that's true then

— Probably likely

— Oh oh oh

— Please!!

— Could it be because of the slaves?

"Oh no, how are they different?"

"This Group B has a slave system?"

Both the caster and the analyst questioned their ears.

'Slaves?'

'Slaves...? What does that mean?'

— lmaooooooooooooooooo

— Slave system LOL

— Is this for real???

— Is this official?? lmaooo

— They're actually doing that?? lmaooo

The viewers reacted similarly, but they'd heard about it before during Cheese's scrimmages. Their reaction was more like, “You're really doing that?” Of course, those who hadn't heard about it at all thought they'd misheard or found it absurd. That was the case for Paprika viewers.

— ?

— ??

— Doing all kinds of weird things lmaooo

— What's a slave system?

— fr talking about slaves?

— What is that

— What do you mean slaves???

— Slaves? Slaves???

Innocent questions flooded in from Paprika badge viewers.

"No, what kind of nonsense is..." The analyst was about to say something.

Suddenly, the caster called out, "Oh, right now! Each team! Are dropping!!"

The first drops had started.

"Paprika and Cheese dropped in completely separate areas!"

"The first team that dropped is a lower-ranked team. It’s the same as before. For Cheese, it’s the lower-ranked team Can't Can't Can't first... hm?"

Orange King discovered something mid-commentary.

"Wait. The first one to drop is Bubblegum... but up next is Tomato, Pickle, and Black Bull...!? Isn't that Hambugeez? Why did Bubblegum drop now!?"

"Oh... isn't that an accidental drop!?"

The first to drop was Bubblegum, so they assumed Can't Can't Can't had dropped first to read the situation. The other teams kept dropping one after another in their wake.

— ?

— Bubblegum accidental drop lmaooo

— Oh...

— Disaster has struck

— lmaooooooo what is this from the start...

— Free kill lmaooo

"Even if it's all Cheese, this is too many free kill opportunities! They could kill Bubblegum at the start!?"

However much teaming up existed, this was the merciless world of competition. Nobody knew what would happen. Even within one nation, betrayals happened constantly. There was no reason they couldn't betray each other in this trivial game.

"Right? And it's Bubblegum? They can just kill him! It’s minimal loss!"

— Lmaooooooooooooooo

— Orange King lmaooo

— Insane lmaooo

— This is too much...

— lmaooooooooo

— fr though

— Too much fr lmaooo

— Apologize Orange King!

Orange King defended himself against the viewers' protests. "No, what I mean is killing him isn't killing him. It's sending him home, right? Just a delivery accident."

Killing Bubblegum actually made it faster for him to get home. If they killed even his rune spirit, he'd just revive at the resurrection shrine.

The analyst agreed. "Seems like an accidental drop. Might as well have Hambugeez benefit from it."

"Oh, even at that level, analyst? But right now, it’s another drop!? Another!?"

This advice was immediately cancelled after seeing the very next team dropping.

Choco Shroom dropped immediately after.

"This one isn't Can't Can't Can't either!?"

The drops following weren't Can't Can't Can't team members. The Magical Girls started dropping consecutively.

"Choco Shroom and the Magical Girls!?"

"Right now, the camera isn't even on Paprika! That's how unusual things are on the Cheese side!"

Paprika's 25-person cooperation strategy looked almost straightforward by comparison.

Even the usually quick and verbose Orange King briefly hung his mouth open and went blank.

'What? Is this an accident? Again?'

Orange King looked at the airship camera. They were already sorted and positioned one by one. Standing at the map, Almond and Sweet Radish were assigning landing points one by one. It didn't look like a mistake.

'This is completely systematic. Nobody looks surprised at all.'

Not one person was flustered. Everyone was smiling or had tense expressions. Usually, when an accident happened, people would either laugh or turn serious. Neither expression was visible.

Orange King had no choice but to admit it. "This looks like a strategy."

"Oh, r-really!? The next team right now is! Acorn Jelly and! The Nonghyup & Partners!"

The analyst was also startled.

"These insane people."

He realized what Can't Can't Can't was doing.

"Those are the slaves."

— lmaooooooooooooooooo

— LOOOL

— lmaooooooooo

— It was actually slaves?? lmaooo

— Red Glasses's mask slips in the end lol

— This is an absolutely unhinged strategy fr

— This is what Almond said! They're actually doing it???

— Wow lmaooo

— King-mond

— lmaooooooooooo

— These guys are insane fr

The caster asked the analyst, "Slaves!?"

"Yes. The slaves are dropping one by one. Didn't they say there was a slave strategy?"

"Oh... r-right... so they're actually using slaves!?"

The caster was flustered. He hadn't expected slaves to be used literally.

"These aren't humans..." Orange King shook his head in stunned bewilderment.

— Not humans lmaooo

— lmaooooo

— Right they're not humans~ they're slaves~

— This is Cheese smh

— Welcome to the monarchical state

— It's Chunsik, right?

"Have you figured something out? Orange King?" The caster gave Orange King a turn.

"Yes, so Cheese is actually moving as four teams of six each!"

However, Orange King was wrong again. The very next team to drop visibly consisted of seven people. The numbers simply required that.

"Zelo! ForeverAlone! Almond! Lemon! And Black Tea! Droppiiiing! Everyone else is dropping too!? This one is seven!"

"Oh right. The numbers work out like this..."

Orange King was flustered. Cold sweat trickled on his back.

'No, what is wrong with these people?'

Their strategy couldn’t be properly commented on. Still, he grabbed the mic and tried again.

"Anyway, it looks like they've compressed five teams into four. Then, the experience points would be a bit... um..."

In the era of running splits in five-person teams to eat exp faster, what possible advantage was there in compressing teams into larger numbers?

Here, Red Glasses offered a textbook analysis. "First, looking at the respective landing positions, Cheese is distributed throughout while reading Paprika's positions. They intend to create friction from the very start."

The two later dropping teams, the Knight Order and the Nonghyup, landed essentially in what could be called Paprika's territory.

"They’re starting by pushing Paprika out from the beginning with superior numbers in raw combat! Something like that!? What does Orange King think?"

"Seems like that's it. It does look like they’re overwhelming with numbers first."

"Is the Cheese team that landed in Paprika's territory okay? This looks dangerous."

"Yes. First, it does seem like somewhat of a gamble..."

At this moment, Orange King's eyes went wide.

'Hm?'

He thought the landing point was too dangerous.

'Wait, it isn't.'

Looking at the numbers, it wasn't. Seeing it laid out made it visible.

'The Knight Order is preparing an ambush...?'

Only the Nonghyup moved while the Knight Order prepared for an ambush.

Orange King urgently explained, "This is dangerous for Paprika!"

"What?"

"No, this isn't two teams of five. It's seven and six that dropped, thirteen people together, essentially three teams' worth. Once they actually land... the position cuts right through Paprika's midsection!"

"The midsection!?"

"Yes! Paprika's strategy is the head leading with the body and tail following, right? The head demolishes all of Cheese to grow first! And the rest shares the spoils!"

"Oh right!"

"But cut the midsection! And it won't be easy for all twenty-five from Paprika to move as one body! It won’t be easy to grow the head first!"

"Oh, I see!?"

"But!"

It wasn't as easy as it seemed.

"This doesn't mean it's guaranteed to work! Both sides need to be perfectly in sync for this to happen! They need to lure exactly ten Paprika members and take them out! Still looks a bit like a gamble. Paprika will respond eventually!"

His words didn’t even finish.

Bang!

A Fireball came flying from Paprika's side.

"Just as Orange King said! Seems they spotted Cheese's Nonghyup and fired!? Both sides have ten players approaching! Meanwhile, the Knight Order is hiding!"

"Will this actually work!? If something goes wrong..."

The strategy itself of driving into the enemy territory and cutting through the midsection was good. The problem was their teamwork. One side had to stay undetected while the other lured and took out the prey.

Would this be possible with teams that couldn't communicate? They couldn't fire Fireballs up either. The ambush would be exposed.

"Knight Order! Moving!"

The Knight Order suddenly started running.

'Hm? There was no signal at all.'

It was the same for the Nonghyup. Both precisely ran to a single point simultaneously.

"No, right now, the Knight Order! And Nonghyup! Are moving almost as one! Simultaneously!"

How was this possible without a Fireball signal?

"Insane." Orange King smacked his forehead. He'd only now grasped the true power of this strategy. "Human walkie-talkies."

— ?

— ??

— Wow

— I see

— lmaooooooooooooooooooo

— LOOOL

— lmaooooo right!!!!

— Hahahaha

— The Lord

— lmaooooooooo

— Why use Fireball~ when you have biological walkie-talkies~

— This was the plan??? lmaooo

Right, the Can't Can't Can't members had been dispatched to each team. These were the walkie-talkies that connected all the teams. Briefings were possible because they could communicate with each other.

"This way, Cheese is a perfect 25-person team."

They were even more perfect than Paprika's 25-person team.