Chapter 43: The End of the Group Stage

by Afuhfuihgs

The End of the Group Stage

[“Wow, holy—”]

[“Nice!! Lucy, what are you!”]

[“Reliable. Our top!”]

[“Ret oppa. At this rate, Lucy will ‘again’ be the one carrying?”]

The energetic voices of my teammates after I scored first blood with Mundo in a 1v2.

“..H-hmph. That’s basic.”

Ara didn’t react much since it was the level she always showed in scrims.

Of course, the team members found it cute how Ara tried not to show how pleased she was when complimented.

Anyway.

Although it was difficult to adapt since she had only first tried Mundo during scrims, just as the idiom “man-ryu-gwi-jong” (all streams return to their source) doesn’t exist for nothing—

Ara’s sharp skills couldn’t be hindered by the tank’s characteristically slo-ow movements.

“Let’s focus. Especially you, Ret, I need you to concentrate even more.”

[“Sure~ Ret, let’s do well. Right?”]

[“If you can’t do it this time, hand the carry role back to this MK.”]

[“Yes, I’ll focus. But Kim Min-gu, you bastard! What do you mean hand it back to you. Just shut up and be the meat shield!”]

[“Puhah—Min-gu oppa, that useless confidence drives me crazy~”]

The lighter atmosphere among team members due to Ara’s first blood had a significant impact in-game.

It was effective in reducing small mistakes they usually made in scrims, and confident plays that wouldn’t easily yield to the opponent team’s momentum frequently appeared.

But was it because confidence overflowed too much? In the midst of that, MK suddenly went all-in with a play that drove a teammate into danger.

<Triple Kill!> — Enemy team

[“Kim Min-gu, you son of a bitch! Listen!! When I talk!!”]

[“It’s minor. Minor. Lucy isn’t saying anything, so why are you complaining, Lee Sang-o?”]

[“Min-gu. How much did the enemy team pay you?”]

But since Kim Min-gu was someone who would throw a game once or twice, the team members made jokes filled with curses and mockery.

“MK, do you really want to die?”

[“….I’m sorry.”]

Of course, Ara meant the curse sincerely.

Due to MK’s play, the game that could have ended in the mid-phase moved into the mid-late phase.

“Ret. Don’t recklessly rush in just because you see a damage opportunity.”

[“…Yes!”]

<Luwingman> and <10’s> were facing off by the river, watching Baron Nashor.

Ara was constantly telling Ret where he should position while showing plays that pressured the opponent.

(Lv.14)─[Dr.Mundo 3/0/1]

Although she couldn’t show Mundo’s grotesqueness at level 16, Ara’s Mundo had already eaten 3 kills and couldn’t be called weak.

As the opponents were hesitantly taking backsteps while looking at such a Mundo.

“Organa!!”

She called for Ground Duck’s Organa.

The opponent thought that the invisible Organa was either near Baron Nashor or waiting behind Jinkx to give a Black Shield, but.

[“Binding! I’ve bound Jenny!! Galice, use your ultimate! Quickly!”]

[“Okay good! This body─ enters!”]

It was positioned in the dark vision, able to ambush the enemy AD carry.

As if Lucy’s call was a bell, Ground Duck, who had become Pavlov’s dog, immediately responded by ambushing Jenny and then called MK to leap into the air.

“Ret. Damage!”

The enemy’s formation had completely collapsed, and Ara transformed into a knight protecting Ret, charging forward while taking or parrying the skills that should have hit him.

<<Triple Kill!!>>

<Luwingman>, who not only finished off the entire enemy team but also secured the Baron buff.

The game’s situation tilted sharply from that teamfight, and.

<Victory!>

Ara’s team could easily secure their first win.

♦♦♦

[“No way! What is this!! Ground Duck’s sensational initiation!!”]

[“And Galice’s ultimate drops on top of it with a boom!!”]

— Wow, who would’ve seen this angle?

— Jenny’s binding is legendary; look at that perfect timing

— What timing lol, idiot

— Just praise them when they do well, you bundles of inferiority

[“And then Ret fires missiles! Boom-boom-boom boom boom!! Ah—this is exciting!!”]

[“How can they stop Ret’s Jinkx at this point!! Lucy’s Mundo protecting from the front and Hello Hello’s Muk Kenchi protecting from behind!”]

— Suddenly want to kill that rat bastard?

— One man between two women OMG

— Threesome is insane..

— Die Ret! Die Ret! Die Ret! Die Ret!

Lee Hyun-o and Danso didn’t calm their excitement even after hearing that the team had secured the Baron buff after the teamfight.

Like pouring oil on a fire, that teamfight made the broadcasters burn even more intensely.

[“Ah! It can’t be stopped…!! It’s as if Ret is declaring to all the teams watching this game. Our team is not just Lucy’s one-man carry team! I’m here too!!”]

[“Ah. They’re getting pushed. <10’s> is getting pushed. This is the~~ end.”]

[[“GG~”]]

In the end, <Luwingman> team won by destroying the enemy nexus without a single mistake.

— Aren’t they seriously strong?

— Ground Duck’s initiation angle is insane, crazy!

— Where’s that rat bastard who dies of mysterious causes in every teamfight?

— That’s a rejected AD carry?lolol

Viewers were focusing more on the performance of the four failed-bid team members besides Lucy than on <Luwingman>’s victory.

[“At this point, the heads of the seven teams facing <Luwingman>, including <10’s>, must be really hurting.”]

[“Yes. As Caster Danso said, having one more player who can take the carry role for <Luwingman> team is quite a big gain, isn’t it?”]

As the commentators said, <10’s> had a serious headache.

Because they felt “We can handle this” while scrimming with <Luwingman>. No lie, they had a record of 3 wins and 3 losses against <Luwingman>.

Lucy was still good, but the other team members were insignificant, and <10’s> thought they could easily win in the tournament if they just kept those team members in check.

However, whether the rest of the team besides Lucy had some kind of awakening, they were utterly defeated without even a chance.

In the end, the fate of <10’s> facing a fired-up <Luwingman>

[[“GG~”]]

Was nothing but the result of consecutive defeats.

— They’re really fucking good…

— Anyway, who’s going to win?

— Luwingman! Luwingman! Luwingman! Luwingman!

— Lucy is even fucking good with tanks lol

[“I hope they don’t give up just because they lost once. <10’s> team, that is. Yes.”]

[“We were quite surprised too! Lucy, who is the alpha and omega of <Luwingman>, took the tank role, but there was no sense of incongruity, and the four team members excluding Lucy did extremely well!”]

The commentators consoling <10’s> after Group A’s first match.

It’s just that <Luwingman> is too strong, they said. With many games still left, they should not give up, they said, finishing the broadcast of Group A’s first match with consoling words.

[“Now we’ll take a short break before proceeding with Group A’s second match!”]

[“Please take a moment to visit the restroom and wait for us, we would appreciate it!”]

After saying that and turning off their microphones, the broadcasters also departed for the bathroom after receiving the PD’s signal that the screen had been turned off.

“Hyun-o hyung. Luwingman is really strong, right?”

Danso spoke to Hyun-o while taking care of business.

In response, Hyun-o answered without even breathing, his body trembling.

“…Whew. They’re really crazy. I honestly expected a result where Lucy carries alone and it ends, but no. To entrust Ret with the carry role. Not that I’m disparaging Ret, but honestly speaking—”

Watching Hyun-o speak with spittle flying, Danso thought to himself.

‘…Here we go again.’

But there was no change in Danso’s expression. As if it were a regular occurrence.

Yes~ Yes. That’s right~. Aha! He responded and agreed, not stopping Hyun-o from talking.

“…Hya—but it’s a shame. I wanted to directly commentate on Lucy carrying…”

— Broadcast resumes in 1 minute!

At the official’s notification that the break time was ending, Danso interrupted Hyun-o’s excited state and calmed him down.

“Hyung, hyung!! They say we’re starting again.”

“Ah. Okay okay. But the number of viewers… hmm, it dropped a bit.”

“Can’t be helped. <Luwingman> team has quite a lot of fans.”

Hyun-o calmed down at Danso’s words and looked at the number of viewers waiting in the official broadcast.

[LIVE 31062]

Although this was still quite a high number, when <Luwingman> and <10’s> were playing, the viewer count was about to break through the 80,000 wall, so Hyun-o couldn’t hide his disappointment.

— Broadcast will start in 10… 9… 8… 7….

At the official’s words, Hyun-o and Danso quickly erased their disappointed expressions.

Thanks to their unflagging tension, the viewer count didn’t drop below the 30,000 wall.

Thus, with the high-quality commentators’ excellent eloquence and the brilliant plays of skilled MOL broadcasters, the group preliminaries quickly came to an end, providing great satisfaction to the viewers.

Group A

(1) ─ <Luwingman>

[3W 0L]

(2) ─ <Former Pro Alumni Association>

[2W 1L]

(3) ─ <10’s>

[1W 2L]

(4) ─ <abcd>

[0W 3L]

The 1st and 2nd places in Group A were <Luwingman> and <Former Pro Alumni Association>, and people didn’t mind much, as if it was the expected outcome.

On the other hand, Group B was –

Group B

(1) ─ <Devil Slayer>

[3W 0L]

(2) ─ <House Burglars>

[1W 2L]

(3) ─ <VVFuckQ>

[1W 2L]

(4) ─ <Daejeo Banbu>

[1W 2L]

<Devil Slayer> took 1st place with an undefeated record, but it was fierce as all three remaining teams recorded 1 win and 2 losses.

However, perhaps because the officials had prepared for such a result in advance.

They decided to prioritize teams with shorter average game times among teams with the same win rate.

[Average Game Time]

<House Burglars> ─ 29:51

<VVFuckQ> ─ 31:11

<Daejeo Banbu> ─ 35:42

<House Burglars>, with the shortest average game time, was announced as 2nd place.

With the 1st and 2nd places of Group A and Group B decided, the semifinal matches were quickly announced.

[Semifinal Matches]

The End of the Group Stage

0 Comments