The current point gap between the two teams was 23. In Divine, lower-ranked players earned significantly more points when they won.
Winning this match could turn the tide. Even imagining defeat was unbearable.
They had to win here and climb higher. Thinking of all the struggles he’d endured, Sa-yoon strengthened his resolve, clenching and unclenching his hands over the mouse and keyboard a couple of times.
As the waiting time ended, the closed doors slowly began to open. Staring intently through the narrowing gap, both Sa-yoon and Killer spoke at the same time.
“Sulfur Map.”
Killer: Sulfur, huh.
Beyond the map, thick orange smoke filled the air.
***
“Why aren’t they coming out?”
By now, they should’ve already clashed at the center.
The Sulfur Map was filled with terrain obstacles, and the smoke blanketing the field made it advantageous for stealth-based fighters who relied on ambush tactics.
However, with two Guardians on the enemy team, it wasn’t an outright advantage. Given the team compositions, they were at a disadvantage.
Naturally, he expected the two Guardians to charge in like lunatics—but 40 seconds had passed since the match started, and contrary to expectations of a quick engagement, they hadn’t seen even a single strand of the enemy’s hair by the time they reached the center of the map.
“They’re not trying to play hide-and-seek, are they…?”
Now that he thought about it, hadn’t there been opponents recently who acted like this—staying holed up in their base as if they were AFK? It happened the other day too… and the time before that…
Sa-yoon tilted his head, frowning. He’d played so many matches that he hadn’t given it much thought before, but there were definitely pairs using this strategy every now and then.
“Let’s just farm points.”
These types always stayed still at first, only to rush out in a panic and attack the moment their opponent’s score started rising.
Was this some kind of trending strategy?
Feigning inactivity to make the enemy lower their guard before launching a surprise attack? But at this rank, both sides knew that nobody actually went AFK. Pretending to be inactive was nothing more than a flimsy trick.
[You have gained 150 points.]
While the enemy remained inactive, they focused on breaking structures and racking up points, only increasing their advantage. No matter how he looked at it, this strategy had no merit.
Could it be that one of them had disconnected and the other was waiting? That would make more sense.
[You have gained 150 points.]
Killer, positioned a short distance away, swung his blade, shattering the quartz embedded in the wall. A notification popped up, confirming the score increase.
They had cleared out most of the structures in this area. Just as they were about to regroup and move toward the next set of structures—
[Combat] ‘NodeMaster’ uses Resounding Shout.
[Combat] ‘Killer’ uses Shadow Meld.
[Combat] ‘RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue’ uses Steadfast Will.
[Combat] ‘RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue’ uses Howling Roar.
A series of red combat logs flooded the screen as a sudden burst of light cut through the thick smoke.
They hadn’t even taken the bait, yet it felt like a fish had been forcefully yanked from the water. In an instant, Sa-yoon was being dragged somewhere—before he even had a chance to react, he found himself wedged between two tanky, bandit-like figures.
Thud.
A massive shield came crashing down above his head—RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue’s shield. He had been stunned while being pulled in, leaving him completely defenseless. The frail Warlock’s HP took a steep dive.
Sa-yoon immediately retracted his earlier thoughts—this strategy did have merit. The problem wasn’t the tactic itself, but who was executing it.
Still, these Guardians weren’t fighting like typical tanks. Their methods were more in line with ambush-style damage dealers.
[Combat] Hagenti’s Sacrifice grants a shield for 3 seconds.
Luckily, he had prepared a countermeasure in advance. As he shifted his view, he caught sight of Killer, who had concealed himself with stealth, closing in fast.
Three seconds until the stun wore off. Three seconds of shield duration.
“When the stun ends, hit the fake rainbow.”
The plan was simple—transform one of them into a goat the moment the debuff ended and immediately eliminate the remaining target.
It might have seemed straightforward, but this was the ultimate strategy that had significantly boosted the win rate of the Chasa duo.
Killer: Got it.
Three seconds ticked down to two, then from two to one. Time crawled at an excruciating pace. The moment one second hit zero—
“Huh?”
NodeMaster, who had been standing to the right, suddenly turned around and bolted into the smoke, abandoning his partner.
“What the hell? What’s up with him?”
Even if you were speeding past on a KTX, it was obvious that the Chasa duo had been at a disadvantage. But in the blink of an eye, it became a 2v1 situation. Did they have a falling out? No idea, but thank you very much.
Killer: Hyung, I—
“Forget that, just focus on Rainbow first.”
There was no telling when NodeMaster would return, so they had to finish this fast. Urgency taking over, Sa-yoon cut Killer off mid-sentence and launched his attack. But—Killer didn’t follow.
“Where are you going?”
The moment he lifted his gaze from his skill bar, he saw Killer—who was just as massive as a tank—sprint right past him and charge into the mist.
Killer: …Taunt. That Resounding Shout earlier.
So that’s what he had been trying to say. Now that he looked closely, a glowing tether of light extended from Killer’s chest. And that line disappeared into the mist where NodeMaster had vanished.
Resounding Shout was a skill that forced any enemy hit to fix their aggro onto the caster. It was typically used by Guardian classes to protect their teammates. Sa-yoon never expected a double-tank duo to bring this skill into the fight.
No wonder NodeMaster had been standing still before suddenly hightailing it out of there. He had calculated that Killer, once taunted, would chase him even while stealthed—and that’s exactly what happened.
This opponent wasn’t playing around.
“They’re trying to play tag with you while Rainbow kills me.”
Killer had already been forced far away, reduced to nothing more than a helpless spectator. And the worst part? The taunt had a long duration.
Killer: They’re targeting you?
The strategy was painfully transparent—so clear it might as well have been made of glass.
They didn’t think they could win a fair 2v2 against Killer. So they’d get rid of the ‘extra baggage’ first, then turn it into a 2v1 beatdown.
Realizing that he was that extra baggage, Sa-yoon scowled.
So they thought he was an easy kill.
It was a rather unique and creative approach. Honestly, if he had been in their shoes, he probably would’ve done the same—take out the Warlock before dealing with the main server ranker.
Still…
“Ugh. This is pissing me off.”
Judging by the barrage of flashy skill effects engulfing Fake Rainbow, they really had intended to finish him off while he was still stunned. Right on cue, RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue charged forward with a beast-like roar, his massive shield raised.
Reacting quickly, Chasa siphoned blood to activate a movement skill, retreating just in time. The tip of a lance narrowly grazed him as he dodged.
But something felt off—the damage wasn’t nearly as high as expected. That somehow made him more annoyed.
Now that he was free, the first thing Sa-yoon did was command his familiar.
The golden ox rammed into Fake Rainbow from behind. The enemy was impaled on its massive horns and momentarily lost consciousness—just long enough for Chasa to unleash a flurry of skills.
[Combat] Uses Alloces’ Curse.
[Combat] Enemy resisted the effect.
A Warlock’s typical attack pattern relied on CC-debuff-DOT-CC-DOT, repeating the cycle to wear down the enemy.
So that’s why the damage earlier had felt weak. The bastard had dumped all his armor’s enhancement points into magic resistance.
This was going to be a tough fight. Sa-yoon scowled and activated a self-buff, amplifying his magic attack power.
[Combat] ‘RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue’ uses Divine Answer.
Of course. Bad premonitions never missed their mark.
A radiant glow enveloped RedOrangeYellowGreenBlue, instantly cleansing every single debuff clinging to him. A Guardian’s self-purification skill. Sa-yoon let out a hollow laugh.
“God, this is really pissing me off.”
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
Even after desperately forcing in damage, the moment the enemy let out a King Kong-like bellow and raised his shield, his health completely reset. Another Guardian skill.
“So that’s why he barely has any attack skills…”
Full magic resistance armor, self-cleansing, and self-healing? This guy was practically a Warlock hunter.
Warlocks were already a class that won fights through attrition, but now he was up against an opponent with high defense and a massive HP pool. In sports terms, this was shaping up to be a painfully slow, low-scoring match.
And spamming skills burned through mana like crazy. Sa-yoon had already lost count of how many potions he’d chugged, cursing under his breath as he downed yet another one.
This wasn’t even a winning build—it was a stalling build. A survival composition, more about enduring than securing kills.
…Wait.
If this side was meant to stall—what about the other side?
He had been too focused on his own fight to notice, but now that he looked—Killer’s HP was fluctuating wildly.
“Are you fighting over there?!”
Killer: Yeah.
His response was brief. This entire match had been orchestrated from the start to set up a 1v1 between NodeMaster and Killer.
“Should I come help?”
Killer: Nah, I’m fine. But…
But?
Killer: This bastard fights dirty.
Considering everything their opponents had done so far, Sa-yoon could already imagine just how scummy their tactics were.
“I’ll finish up here fast and head over.”
Now that he understood their strategy, it was time to flip the script.
