Chapter 373 - 267: From City Hero to Internet Celebrity Big Brother (Part 2)

Chapter 373: Chapter 267: From City Hero to Internet Celebrity Big Brother (Part 2)

Leon called a timeout.

It was a medical timeout for an injury, since the rules didn’t have any provisions for tactical timeouts.

Leon returned to the break room, where the team’s Priest was already waiting for him.

Before the Priest could even ask about his condition, he spoke first. "I know healing requires rest, so don’t bother with that for now. Just give me something for the pain."

The Priest sighed helplessly. "The pain-numbing Magic will affect your wrist’s flexibility. It won’t just reduce the pain; it’ll reduce all sensation, leaving it nearly numb. I’m guessing you won’t accept that."

Having spent the last few days with him, the Priest knew what kind of person the kid was. He seemed gentle on the surface, but he was fanatical about winning.

He wouldn’t have become a top-tier player otherwise.

"Then it seems I have no choice."

The lack of a suitable painkiller didn’t come as a major blow to Leon. He hadn’t held out much hope for a cure in the first place. If it could be fixed, great. If not, so be it.

The main reason for calling this timeout was to slow the pace of the game.

He had played too many consecutive rounds. His thinking was getting muddled, and he needed to clear his head.

’Make smart use of the rules.’

After all, he really was injured, so calling a medical timeout wasn’t against the rules.

Leon had to make the most of this time and find a way to win that didn’t require much mechanical skill.

If he couldn’t rely on his mechanics, he had to out-strategize his opponent and avoid a direct confrontation.

’What tactical blind spots do the Devils have?’

Leon’s mind raced.

The Devils knew every established strategy. They spent more time in ranked play and were more experienced.

He had already used his ace-in-the-hole strategies in the earlier rounds to secure quick victories.

’But could that vast experience also be a "burden"?’

If all the Devil players had one thing in common, it was their conservative playstyle.

Contrary to the Humans’ stereotype of them as aggressive and wild, the Devils were extremely conservative in matches. They were even more afraid of losing than Leon was.

For example, Abaddon liked to throw the first game to gauge his opponent, and the Devil General’s winning games tended to drag on for a long time.

Part of it was to deliberately aggravate Leon’s hand injury, but the Devil players’ average game time was long to begin with.

They liked to figure out their opponent’s intentions before making a move, and when they did act, they would execute fixed strategies born from experience.

’So, compared to a complex and meticulous strategy, maybe something completely bizarre would be more effective against the Devils.’

The next random map was a macro map.

Its key feature was a bridge that provided the only land route to the opponent’s base. This meant that if the bridge was blocked, the common "Zergling run-by" scouting strategy was impossible.

This would make the already conservative Devils play even more defensively.

Leon stood up. He had an idea for something bizarre.

The entire audience waited in tense silence for ten minutes. Some couldn’t even bear to look at the big screen, clasping their hands tightly as they prayed for their last hope.

Finally, Leon emerged from the break room and appeared in the player tunnel.

He looked utterly confident, a smile on his face as he raised his injured right hand and held up five fingers.

An all-kill. He was determined to achieve it.

But this didn’t fool the Devil General.

"You didn’t get any treatment." He could tell at a glance that Leon’s right hand was no different than it was before he went to the break room.

"I’m in great shape right now," Leon replied breezily, neither confirming nor denying the Devil General’s statement. "And I’ve thought of a great idea. A strategy you’ve never seen before."

"Impossible!" the Devil General immediately refuted. "I’ve seen all your strategies. Even if you had a new one, you should have used it in the third game."

"Can’t I just think of one on the spot?"

"Using an untested strategy isn’t rational."

Leon laughed out loud. "Haha, why the sudden concern for me? Or are you just scared? Why don’t you surrender? I’d hate for you to be so upset you can’t sleep for days."

The Devil General’s face twitched slightly. He was shocked to find that Leon’s breathing and heart rate were perfectly steady. He didn’t seem to be bluffing at all.

’What kind of strategy did he come up with?’

"Hey! Stop spacing out. The surrender window is closed. Time to get in the game and die."

Leon’s arrogant declaration sent another wave of excitement through the crowd.

However, the roaring cheers came to an abrupt halt.

The entire audience was stunned.

Leon had actually chosen to play the Devil Camp.

In the previous twelve games, he had always played the Human Camp. Not just him—all Human players played the Human Camp, just as all Devil players played as Devils.

Using the opposing faction was considered an act of "defection."

"Did you misclick?"

"It’s not like I haven’t played as a Devil in practice."

To become a top player, you had to understand all the branches of both factions.

And the best way to understand them was to try them out yourself.

Therefore, Leon had played the Devil Camp on the ladder before, but he wasn’t proficient with it. He had played less than a fifth of the games with them as he had with the Human Camp.

The Devil General made a rare, unnecessary movement. He nervously flexed his fingers.

’Why?’

He hadn’t prepared any strategies for dealing with Leon playing as a Devil, because he hadn’t needed to. Leon’s skill with the Devils was at least a full tier lower.

’Isn’t this just feeding?’

The Devil General couldn’t figure it out.

’Does he really have a secret strategy? If so, what is it?’

Unease and doubt began to spread in his heart.

But he had no time to ponder it further. The match began.

The Child of the Twin Towers versus the Devil Team. The final game of the final match.

The Devil General was operating purely on muscle memory—deploying his base, placing buildings, creating units...

His mind was racing.

’What on earth is Leon’s secret strategy?’

A parasitic Devil darted out from behind his base.

This was a very standard opening for the Devil Camp, an attempt to steal the enemy base or a Tank.