บท 23: Die in Vain

Along with the crowd's overwhelming uproar, the commentator's sound had almost turned low and deafened. These two commentators grinned at the audience while scratching their heads. They needed to stop for a few breaths and let the crowd shout their wild emotions.

The first blood could be a record of the earliest first kill that was executed in the game history ever.

"That was surely an incredible statement of action! The Chronos squad was declaring their dominance folks!!! I can't believe it! Despite the numbers of their enemies that are about to attack them on all sides, they are now in the lead! This round would definitely be different from the last two matches!" the commentator also burst in joy after the audience finally tone down.

In this kind of situation, it was just satisfying to see that those at the disadvantage could find a way to fight back. When great yet, unforeseen things befell, the kind of pleasure and satisfaction in the game would also be at a different level!

"Bravo!" WINS also complimented and joined the hype of his fellow audience's admiration. His companions stared at his face for a while.

"Boss WINS, it is my first time to hear you say that!" the one sitting on his left side commented.

"Yes, I have never heard you praised someone with that kind of intensity boss!" the other one sitting on his right side chuckled.

"What do you think was that?" WINS smirked at the two.

"That's what you call, perfect assassin gameplay!" his member followed him.

WINS raise his thumbs in agreement. Surely, the first blood would be a good high light for this round.

Meanwhile, on the player's lounge, a soft noise of a foot stomped on the floor sounded. Claire's eyes were blinking rapidly. Even though she got the first skill, a slight frustration was evident in her face.

Nobody could guess why she looked so downcast. But if one would examine closely at the time stamp where she got the first kill, it was 00:46.

Her eyebrows formed a line while her character was teleporting back to the base. Only her own self could understand her sentiments! Sofia had told her to get the first kill within the first 40 seconds of the game. She was 6 seconds late!

"My boots are too slow!" Claire mumbled and positioned her character back on the bottom lane.

Some of their enemies abruptly halted from their movements after Claire took the first kill. They did not dare to move forward in fear that the assassin was just roaming on the jungle. Now, they felt like they have become the prey of the single squad that they were targeting!

The Legendary Gamers Squad members gulped from their seats. They have completely lost their momentum. Unexpectedly, their squad leader died in a most embarrassing way! She did not even manage to make it in the first minute of the match!

They cast a glance at their female leader and they saw how tight she clenched her hands into a fist. Her palms had turned white and the veins were visible on her fair skin.

"F*CK!" the female yelled angrily on the screen of her device. It had turned gray and all her skills were no longer active.

'I really died?' she mentally asked with full of doubt. Her face had also turned red. She was just sprinting forward. She never expected that an assassin would ambush her character!

She suddenly realized why she was targeted by the Chronos assassin. She understood it well.

It was still clear in her memory of how she told Sofia that her squad would be eliminated first. It was purely revenge! The Chronos wanted to humiliate her! To let her eat the foul words that she was spouting against their team!

The female shook her head and frowned. There was a trace of regret that flashed in her eyes but it was too quick for her member to notice.

"Continue the game," she uttered while watching her members searching the grass and looking for the assassin.

"Well done, Claire!" Joey mumbled while he was ready to assist Stephen in the middle lane. He would glance at the top lane and the bottom lane from time to time to see the HP of his teammates. Sometimes, he would also check Clark's mage even though he was just their base.

"Very good!" Clark also muttered. His character was just within the safest position, so, there was no pressure on his play. Sofia's instruction was for him to cast his skills if the enemy would come within his range. Since the enemy has not yet arrived on their tower's range, his fingers were also not moving.

"Good, good!" Stephen also nodded his head several times.

Claire smiled and move forward. Her team didn't notice the quick outburst of disappointment she felt. And there was no need to dwell on her six seconds delay. It was just between them and Sofia.

"How?!" the squad leader of HyperCarry squad mumbled his confusion and quickly sent a signal to his team to pull them out from their reverie.

ATTACK!!! LAUNCH ATTACK!!!

The HyperCarry squad was positioned near the top lane of the Chronos Squad. With his signal, the members immediately moved their characters faster. Tank, marksman, mage, fighter, and assassin. This was the lineup of their squad. The five of them arrived first on the top lane of the Chronos squad territory.

They were careful not to step on the tower's range to avoid being hit by the tower's defensive mechanism against invaders. None of them bothered to hide on the grass. Their characters directly stood in front of the tower. A clear display of arrogance and confidence!

Since there was only one opponent against the five of them, they were not worried about getting attacked.

Some members were eager to move their character and enter the tower's range. There was only Sofia's character in front of it. They were certain that they could eliminate it with the proper skillset and combo.

Could a single tank's HP be able to survive if the five of them attacked together? The answer should be no. Their line-up could deliver enough damage to eliminate one tank. But for some unknown reason, they were hesitant to dive inside the top lane tower.

Perhaps, a gaming instinct or something else. They felt that something was amiss. But they could not identify why. All creeps were easily cleared. But without their leader's signal, none of them had the guts to move forward.

Fingers were tightly pressed on their phone screen while waiting for the signal of their leader to attack. Most of them were making a circular motion.

'Should we dive in the tower?'

'Why is our tank not giving a signal?'

Sofia on the other hand was watching the five characters not far away from her tank. Both of her thumbs were also waiting to cast her skills. CEO UNRIVALED was calmly standing in front of the tower. Just like Clark's mage, she was not also showing any movement. Her character was just idling.

Tank characters were customarily looked like bulky warriors carrying their shields and armors. But for Sofia's character, CEO UNRIVALED, such appearance looked like a king or an emperor overseeing its territory. Her tank looked imposing. Even though it was not moving, there was still an air of authority and strength in its pose.

ATTACK!!!

The squad leader of HyperCarry finally came up with a decision. Upon seeing his signal, their fingers quickly flicked and pressed the screen of their devices.

Their mage cast a speck of magic dust that blinded CEO UNRIVALED for a quick minuscule of a second. The marksman followed to shoot three successive bullets. This two combos managed to lessen the tank's HP a bit. But, Sofia was not worried. She just moved her CEO UNRIVALED side by side to dodge the attacks.

The HyperCarry fighter and tank immediately entered the tower's range to assault CEO UNRIVALED. Unfortunately, before they could cast their skills, the two characters were dragged farther inside the tower as CEO UNRIVALED used not one, but two hooks to pull them towards her character!

With this action, the opposing fighter and tank were under the after-effect of the hooks. They were stunned and unable to move.

The HP of the two characters quickly plummeted in half!

"Why is this tank have so much damage?!" every member in the HyperCarry Squad asked simultaneously. Their voice trembled in disbelief.

The three members quickly went to a different panel and checked the cause of the abnormality. A habit and mannerism that most players acquired with their experience in playing the game. It was just a simple tap of the inventory button to show the panel of the items.

Tanks should not have so much effect in terms of damage unless it was using an item that could boost its attack rate. This made the members of HyperCarry curious as to what kind of item CEO UNRIVALED was utilizing. However, they have forgotten that this was not a casual match. This was a tournament. And any delays, despite how short it was, even a mini second, would have an impact on their performance...

With these three members checking the panel where the inventory of items was displayed, their tank and fighter were also struck by the defensive mechanism of the Chronos tower.

Towers have an insane amount of damage. CEO UNRIVALED does not even need to cast another skill. With the help of the tower's attacks, the two characters were instantly eliminated.

"IDIOT!!! WHY ARE YOU NOT ATTACKING!!!" the HyperCarry squad leader yelled in anger. He was so disappointed by the lack of coordination from his team. If only their mage and marksman proceed to cast their skills, they would be able to eliminate the tank. On top of that, their assassin was just standing a few inches away from the tower! This sight made him go mad!

The leader felt like he just dived on the tower only to get his character into a suicide! The fighter user also slumped on his seat. He just sighed loudly and glared at his companions.

'It would have been fine if it was an exchange death or a trade kill. If my character died and that CEO UNRIVALED was also eliminated, then at least, there was a meaning of our action.' the fighter complained in his mind. He was a silent guy however he could not help but criticize his character's death.

A trade of kills or deaths normally happened during the clash. Sometimes, it would be the tank or support who would sacrifice its life to save the core. Depending on the strategy of the team. But this trade must be worth it.

Unfortunately, in their situation, CEO UNRIVALED was still standing in front of the tower. Joey's character, Lethal Prey, was also casting a heal on her character to restore its HP in full!

Their characters had died in vain! They did not achieve anything at all!

As for the HyperCarry squad leader, he didn't know that his other members were caught up by checking the items of Sofia's character. And when the members realized their mistake, it was already too late! Too late to save their tank and fighter. In fact, it was also too late for the remaining three to retreat as well!

Double Kill!

The audience was just about to recover from their shock from Claire's performance when another notification sounded on the speaker. It was a notification of two successive kills!

The operator inside the computer room gasped and rubbed his chest as if he was having a heart attack.

At that moment, the large screen in front of the crowd was not focused on the top lane. It was focused on Claire's assassin, Almighty Killer on their bottom lane.

Most of the audience also followed her character's movements after her first blood stunt. So, nobody had really paid much attention to Sofia's lane. Some even thought that it was the two characters in the middle lane that were killed!

But soon, they were struck by another shocking performance!

The perspective of the viewers quickly moved towards the position of CEO UNRIVALED. And before anyone could process what was happening in the Chronos squad's top lane, another notification sounded. A notification that made even the other participants of the tournament stood from their seats.

Triple Kill!

Quadra Kill!

Penta Kill!

It was not just two continuous kills. CEO UNRIVALED was still on her onslaught. It was actually five kills!

CEO UNRIVALED eliminated the entire squad!