Season 5: Chapter 170. Group B (3)

A few days earlier, Choi Sa-Rang asked from the other side of the monitor, "Do you know the true advantage of this dispatch strategy?"

"We can run the split more stably, right? Three people in each group."

That was about the extent of the advantages Sang-Hyeon could see, but was this coincidence or inevitability?

"It's not just that."

Inside the strategy he'd casually constructed were countless hidden advantages.

"Information."

Five teams would be compressed into four teams, but the amount of information increased. Sang-Hyeon's dispatch-split formation wasn't actually creating four teams. It was eight.

"We're running eight teams composed of at least three people each."

"That's what a normal split does."

Up to here was a general split's advantage: spreading wings to increase surface contact with the map and increasing information volume. However, the risks also increased.

"Now, look. The Platform War is effectively 25 vs 25. A 25-person team strategy is the best. That part is correct, but there's a major blind spot here."

"?"

"They can't communicate with each other. Can you call this a team?"

Even if they teamed up, they were still different teams according to the game's system. Attacks would still hit them, experience couldn't be shared, and they couldn't communicate when far apart. Experience and friendly fire could be managed by being careful and distributing things, but the last one was truly difficult to solve.

"The best Paprika could probably think of is giving each other signals with flashy skills. For us, the dispatch strategy has completely changed the game."

Sa-Rang connected each team with lines, writing each team's name on its line.

[Zelo, Bubblegum, ForeverAlone, Acorn Jelly, Choco Shroom]

These were the Can't Can't Can't team members.

"This team becomes our LAN cable. They can communicate with each other."

Through those lines, all twenty-five people became connected as one into a circle.

"Only now does it truly become a team."

A full 25-person team would form. This was the system Sang-Hyeon had created.

"One army with eight squads."

With this system, they could execute any strategy as one team.

***

Pre-drop, Almond had designated landing points on the airship.

"As you've all heard, the enemy's strategy is to charge in based on the advantage gained from an early rush."

Tap.

He pointed to the area where Paprika was dropping.

"They'll establish their territory and move like a snake: head, body, and tail. They’ll grow the head as large as possible to grow the rest."

All of Cheese nodded.

"We drive into the body and cut it."

Miho raised her hand. "Um... all of us?"

"No." Almond pointed to the Nonghyup and Knight Order. "Only the two teams with the highest win rates go in."

— Noblesse oblige lmaooo

— So cool

— Wow

— Fr??

— Is this actually happening?

— Wow everyone in Cheese is listening to the Dumb Young Man, is this right??

— What on earth happened in all those secret scrimmages...?

Viewers were surprised at Almond's enormous speaking authority after the private scrimmages. All of Cheese accepted it as if it were natural. Everyone nodded and prepared to drop.

"Magical Girls and Hambugeez, freely maximize monster hunting speed on the Cheese side. Splitting is fine."

"Roger!"

"Let's gooooo!"

After Hambugeez and Magical Girls dropped first, the airship drove toward the most dangerous area. The Knight Order and the Nonghyup also dropped.

"Nonghyup!"

"Roger!"

Flash!

All of Nonghyup, with Acorn Jelly at the front, jumped out.

"Now it's us."

"Yes!"

ForeverAlone and Zelo jumped first. The five Knight Order members jumped after them.

Then, an enormous cheer erupted. "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Some yellow and countless red lights swept past along with the wind. Did cheering for the match officially start? Or were they cheering for Cheese's strategy? It was still unknown.

'It’ll be soon.'

Either way, Almond figured everyone would cheer for this strategy once the results came in.

***

Thud!

Omelette landed and immediately gave orders. "Now, we're the head! We have to grow fast and kill everyone, right? You know?"

"Yes!"

Omelette's Brunch members answered in chorus. With Omelette at the front, they moved busily. They had to immediately monopolize the monsters in this area and level up fast.

"If enemies are spotted, Fireball... Hm?"

Crash!

A Fireball came flying toward their vicinity.

"What? Did someone drop near here?"

"That didn't happen before."

In Group A, they'd divided territories almost as if by agreement.

"Seems they tried a variation."

Omelette grinned.

"You think improvisation works without training?"

He signaled toward the teammate wielding a staff and gestured.

"Let's fire that we're going in for a rush! This is a chance to grow explosively!"

With Paprika's strategy, raw combat was too attractive. The premise of a 25-person team meant always having numerical superiority. They'd trained to funnel those rewards precisely to one team.

This was a golden opportunity to raise one monster, but Omelette didn't know that kidnappers always offer sweet candy to the child first.

***

Orange King, watching from above, naturally knew. "Wait! This is Paprika!? They shouldn't go in!?"

Even as he said it, Orange King realized they wouldn’t stop.

"Oh..."

"Wh-why are you saying that!?"

"I think they're going in."

"What!?"

Paprika would inevitably take out any Cheese team that appeared in their territory.

"Their communication method is! Fireball! Ice magic! Firing things up! That's all they have! Yes! No! Enemy!? That's the only information they can convey!"

"Oh!? Just a ping-level system!"

"Yes! Think of it as communicating only with pings! So if they see Cheese! They'll just go in! They can't relay detailed situations...!"

"Ahhhhhh...!"

Watching the players already doing exactly that, the caster marveled.

"Paprika's method isn't bad! It just can't compare to this cutting-edge human LAN cable system! Cheese can now execute extremely high-level operations!"

Cheese had one team hiding and another luring, moving in complex ways.

"Their movement looks incredibly smooth just at a glance!?"

Smooth enough that even someone who didn't know the game could see it plainly.

"On the other hand, Paprika only has to go and fight them! Their communication only works within the visual range of the Fireball! Only the two teams flanking the Nonghyup will come first! Whether that's the intended plan or not!"

"Oh, Paprika's movement is stuttering compared to Cheese!"

They fired Fireballs consecutively while moving. Apparently, this Fireball was the go signal. However, a problem existed. Once someone went out of range, there was a high probability they'd completely miss seeing it.

"Even two of the other teams are just hunting... and this isn't them knowing and ignoring it! They don't know, so they're just hunting!"

Teams that couldn’t communicate had appeared.

"Of course, at least two teams can communicate. In Group A, doing this still worked fine!"

"Right! In Group A, Cheese fought naively!"

"And now they don't!?"

"Right now, it's different! Right now, Cheese is a thousand-year-old serpent! They’ve laid traps and are waiting! Even from the positioning! They knew only two teams would come!!"

***

"L-Lord..." Zelo hid while clutching a shield and asked anxiously, "This place is full of Paprika players. Will this work?"

"It'll work."

"Ha... what if fifteen of them come in a swarm?"

Almond's strategy was this. If ten enemies swarmed, they’d win with the number advantage of having thirteen.

Right after landing, everyone except five had hidden as best they could. Those five were Acorn Jelly and the Nonghyup's old men, plus White Chicken. ADC Green Tea was also hiding in the rear. The enemy would probably identify one team having landed there.

"Fifteen can't usually come. Their communication method is too poor."

"Ha... really? Then what if they can't even figure it out?"

Zelo also worried about what would happen if the enemies didn’t react at all.

"Then we just wasted our time here."

The time spent waiting here would be meaningless.

"The slave talks too much."

Creek...

Almond drew his bow and put the unnecessary worry to rest.

"I-I'm sorry."

— lmaooooooooo

— LOL

— lmaooooo

— Right, he can get shot lol

— lmaooooooooo

ForeverAlone said, "Tsk. Know your place, slave Zelo."

"Yes, yes... wait, but you're also a slave! ForeverAlone! Why are you acting like the Knight Order..."

At that moment, a Fireball flew into the sky.

Bang...!

Everyone in the Knight Order went silent as if holding their breath.

Then, someone broke that silence.

Crackle.

[Acorn Jelly: Knight Order. Here, the Nonghyup just saw the Fireball, right?]

Zelo urgently replied.

[Zelo: Uh. Uh. This is the Knight Order. Saw it. Going in?]

Everyone waited for Acorn Jelly's words.

[Acorn Jelly: What's there to hesitate about! Perfect timing! The enemy is two teams! About 10 people! Getting flanked!]

[Zelo: LET'S GOOOOOO!]

Everyone heard Zelo's words, so all the Knight Order rose and started running. The shield-wielding Sweet Potato and Zelo were at the very front. The sword-wielding ForeverAlone and spear-wielding Sweet Radish ran behind. The carry Black Tea, Almond, and the staff-wielding Lemon were last.

Bushes split apart, and countless footprints stamped into the dirt. It was probably the largest group migration in the history of Survival mode.

"Th-there's Green Tea!"

Green Tea came from behind and also joined.

"Oh, Black Tea!"

"Green! Over here!"

"Oh-oh!"

He held a gun like Black Tea.

— What the

— This is a full army lmaooo

— lmaooooo

— Is this Civil Empire or LIL

— Wow lmaooo

Three carries, one staff, two tanks, and two damage-tanks... It was an enormous army. LIL Survival mode never had this kind of massive army clash. Absurd variables could appear at any time. As in actual warfare, even with this many people gathered, the battle felt silent with practically no noise.

"There!"

They finally spotted the enemy.

Sweet Potato and Zelo rushed in and used the same skill.

[Shield Slam]

Crash!

The target received two seconds of stun.

"Wh... what...?"

The target was flustered. They hadn't expected two shields to come charging from the front.

In that gap, ForeverAlone's sword slashed through.

Whooooosh!

Simultaneously, Almond's arrow landed.

Bang!

"FIIIRE!"

Tap-tap!

Tap!

Black Tea and Green Tea's gunfire turned the target into a beehive.

[First Blood!]

[Black Tea → Bread]

Pop!

The enemy instantly became a rune spirit. This was the first kill. The only sounds heard up until this point were position confirmation, the fire command, and the enemy's brief cry of shock. That was all. In near silence, one person had vanished instantly.

[Omelette: What? What happened!? Wasn't it just the Nonghyup that dropped!?]

Paprika couldn't even understand what had happened. Then another alert rang out.

[An Ally Has Fallen!]

[DumbYoungMan → Presso]

Bang!

Another rune spirit was born.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Yellow light flashed throughout the entire stadium stands, and a tremendous roar erupted. Only then did Omelette understand.

[Omelette: We're done for...!]

They had fallen into the enemy's trap.

— ?

— What is this??

— What??

— What?

— Why are there so many of them???

— Three teams dropped?

— What?

— A complete ambush

— Two instantly dead??

Paprika players and viewers alike were all flustered.