Chapter 174: Ability Showdown (3)

Episode 174

Meanwhile, the Blue Team was cheering.

– Wow…! That’s amazing!

– Can humans really do that?

Juan, the leader, was especially ecstatic.

“Yes, that’s it! The enemy is completely flustered by my unique ability!”

– Shouldn’t we attack now?

Gian, who had returned to the Blue Team’s base, suggested.

– As you can see, Hans’s HP has dropped below 50%. And because of my ability’s trait, he can’t recover immediately after being hit.

“Really…?”

Juan looked at Hans on the minimap with interest.

Hans was indeed panicking.

– …Huh? Why isn’t my HP recovering even after I drank a health potion…?

Hans had instinctively chugged the health potion he had bought earlier as soon as his HP dropped below half after Gian’s surprise attack.

But his HP remained the same even after a long time.

– Did I buy the wrong potion? No, that can’t be it…

“It’s probably a side effect of Gian’s attack.”

Alopsky offered his guess.

“Sometimes, your HP or MP won’t recover immediately after being hit by certain unique abilities. It happens when you’re attacked by an enemy with a unique passive.”

– Aha…!

Hans’s face darkened as he realized.

– So I just wasted a health potion?

“…Yes.”

In short, he had been completely outplayed by Gian.

It was then that,

– Oh! The enemy team is charging towards us!

Kim Jinsung checked the minimap at the report.

The moment Hans’s poison swamp disappeared, the entire Blue Team was charging towards the Red Team with all their might.

“It seems like they’re going to start a team fight! Everyone get ready!”

Kim Jinsung shouted urgently and immediately used Teleport.

As he arrived behind the Red Team, Juan’s instructions were echoing through the speakers in the Blue Team members’ helmets.

– As expected, Alopsky has joined the Red Team! Gian, you’re in charge of Alopsky, as I instructed!

“Yes, sir.”

Gian replied and used his unique ability again.

It was ‘Ghost Form’.

His body turned transparent, and he started moving towards the Red Team’s backline, freely passing through walls.

‘Will Alopsky really react to my movements…?’

He recalled Juan’s confident words as he got closer to the Red Team’s backline.

**Bang!**

“Ugh!”

He flinched and retreated as a fist suddenly struck the wall he was about to pass through.

Alopsky. He was staring right at him. Gian hurriedly reported,

– Alopsky is marking me.

“Good! It’s going according to plan! Let’s go!”

Juan shouted and slammed his hand on the ground, gathering Mana.

He was using ‘Sunlight’ again.

– It’s Sunlight!

– Watch out for the Blind!

The Red Team members shouted urgently as they saw the giant sun-shaped magic circle on the minimap.

“Do as I told you!”

As Kim Jinsung was giving instructions, a blinding light erupted from the red sun that had formed above the magic circle.

The light instantly enveloped the entire arena, including the Red Team members.

But the red light disappeared after about a second, and the sun-shaped sphere started turning white.

Kim Jinsung turned and looked at the sun, checking his status.

‘…I’m not blinded.’

There were no status windows or system messages on his helmet screen or in front of his eyes.

He confirmed that his vision was still normal and asked his teammates,

“Is everyone alright?”

– Yes! We’re fine.

– I’m not blinded either!

– It seems like Alopsky’s method worked.

Judging by their responses, everyone seemed to be fine.

‘He said we wouldn’t be blinded if we didn’t look at the sun when the red light first spread… He was right.’

He had deduced this method from Hans and Dante, who hadn’t been blinded by Sunlight earlier.

They had said they hadn’t seen Sunlight being cast because they were focused on laning. That’s when the solution had come to him.

‘We’ve overcome the biggest crisis. But this is just the beginning.’

He looked at the Sunlight sphere again.

A bright light emanating from the sun-shaped sphere, which was turning white, started slowly draining the HP of the Red Team, including him.

By the time the Sunlight spell ended, they would have lost about half of their HP. And they would have to fight the Blue Team in that state.

Juan was also aiming for that timing.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re blinded or not! Hans will definitely die by the time Sunlight ends! Look!”

He shouted, pointing at Hans.

“His HP bar is already rapidly decreasing!”

All the Red Team members looked at Hans.

Hans himself was fidgeting, anxious about his decreasing HP.

– Uh… Uh oh… I’m going to die…?

He looked at Kim Jinsung with pleading eyes.

Kim Jinsung hurriedly instructed him,

“Recall! Quickly!”

– Oh, yes!

Hans immediately used Recall.

He just had to survive for 10 seconds until he recalled, but it seemed close, judging by the speed at which his HP was decreasing.

‘…If he dies, there’s nothing we can do. We’ll have to give up on the team fight and retreat.’

As Kim Jinsung was coldly assessing the situation, keeping an eye on Gian’s location,

– …Uh oh?!

– What?!

Surprised voices came from behind him, and he instinctively turned around.

“……!”

His eyes widened.

A tree had suddenly started growing in the middle of the Red Team’s position.

It instantly grew into a giant tree, and

– Everyone gather here! Especially Hans!

The Team 8 member shouted.

A notification window appeared before Kim Jinsung.

—

▶ The energy of nature begins to embrace you comfortably.

▶ Your HP and MP begin to recover rapidly.

▶ All stats are increased by 1.5 times.

—

He realized the moment he saw the notification window.

‘He used his unique ability!’

The ‘energy of nature’ mentioned in the notification window, a translucent green Mana, was enveloping a wide area around the giant tree in the middle of the Red Team.

It seemed like the Team 8 member had summoned the tree.

– Huh? My HP is starting to recover!

– The recovery speed here is faster than the damage from the sunlight!

– Then I don’t need to recall.

Hans, who had been on the verge of death, was the most delighted by the sudden increase in HP recovery speed.

His HP bar, which had been almost at zero, was slowly but steadily increasing.

– It’ll probably reach 100% if you stay here. This ‘Tree of Life’ will last as long as it’s not destroyed.

– Ah… Thank you. I would have died if you hadn’t used your ability…

– Don’t mention it. You revealed your ability too, Hans.

As Hans and the Team 8 member were having a heartwarming conversation,

the Red Team, who had stopped charging, was in a completely different mood.

“Damn it, what’s that…?”

Juan muttered, his face contorted in annoyance as he stopped walking.

He had also noticed the giant tree that had suddenly appeared and was healing the Red Team members.

And that tree had completely ruined his plan.

‘We can’t fight a team fight with them having the advantage!’

His plan had been to engage in a team fight when the enemy’s HP was around half, using Sunlight.

No matter how strong Alopsky was, the Red Team wouldn’t be able to win a 5 vs 5 fight if their HP was halved.

That had been his calculated route…

“Hey, Gian! Can’t you destroy that tree somehow?”

Juan shouted, but Gian replied negatively.

– I don’t think it’s possible because of Alopsky. He’s completely marking me, so I can’t even get near the walls.

“Damn it…!”

– Maybe we could destroy it if the others use their unique abilities?

Gian made a tempting suggestion.

– Only the two of us have revealed our abilities so far, right? If the other three reveal theirs, we could easily destroy that tree.

“That’s what I’m saying! Hey, Luca!”

Juan’s first target was, of course, his rival, Luca.

“Gian has revealed his ability, are you going to keep hiding yours?!”

– …

“You said you would use your ability and contribute to this team fight! I hope you keep your promise!”

Juan’s target then shifted to the Team 9 and Team 10 members.

“What are you two doing? The promising prospects from Teams 1 and 3 have revealed their unique abilities, and you think you can just sit there and hide yours?!”

– …

– …

“If you don’t reveal your abilities by the end of the team fight and we lose, I won’t let you off the hook, even after the newbie showdown!”

As he continued to scold the Team 9 and Team 10 members, Luca was frowning.

‘Damn it…! Why did Gian suddenly go crazy and reveal his ability…?’

He glared at Gian, who was roaming around the Red Team’s base, with resentment.

He had thought he could somehow make an excuse and get away with it when only Juan had revealed his ability, but now that Gian from Team 3 had also revealed his, the atmosphere was becoming unfavorable.

Gian, sensing Luca’s thoughts, looked at the Blue Team’s base and thought to himself,

‘It must be hard for them to reveal their abilities if they can’t hide their true abilities like me.’

That was why he had revealed his ‘Ghost Form’ ability without hesitation.

He had also revealed a small ‘fragment’ instead of his true ability, just like Juan.

His true ability was far more powerful than his current transparent form.

– …Huh?

His eyes widened as he saw the Red Team members’ movements.

– The Red Team is attacking the dragon!

As he shouted, the Red Team members entered the dragon pit, which the Blue Team had retreated from, and started attacking the dragon.

It seemed like they were confident in the healing from the giant tree.

“No! We have to stop them somehow!”

Juan shouted urgently and stopped retreating.

They couldn’t give the Red Team the dragon buff on top of their already advantageous situation.

If that happened, they would be completely dominated by Alopsky for the rest of the match.

‘But we can’t win if Luca and the others don’t reveal their abilities…’

He hesitated, looking at Luca and the others, who were still reluctant.

He racked his brains and

‘…Yes!’

He came up with a good idea.