Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 292

Chapter 292

League of Spirit (5)

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[Flame Team VS Level 12 AI]

[The match has begun.]

The message appeared quietly.

It wasn’t a major match, so there were no special alerts or commentary, but most of the spectators in the officials’ viewing area were already focusing their attention there.

Saturday lunchtime was usually quiet in the officials’ viewing area, with very few visitors other than a handful of training directors, but today it was bustling.

‘The start is ordinary.’

The directors slowly examined the positions of the Flame Team.

In the League of Spirit, the players most confident in one-on-one battles are usually sent to the middle and top lanes, and Ma Yuseong and Baek Yu-seol took those positions, respectively.

“It’s definitely… different from last time.”

The match a week ago was a complete mess.

They didn’t even have basic radar, so they had no vision control, and their pathing for hunting mini-monsters was extremely inefficient.

But now, just a week later, they were showing movement on par with ordinary trainees.

They understood the basic meta and flow and were moving accordingly.

“They’re using completely different magic than last time, though?”

“Hmm. It probably means they’ve figured out what to use effectively.”

“Well… the magic tree changes every match depending on the opponent’s magic composition and strategy.”

Since there were only seven spells, they were easy to memorize, analyze, and counter, so players had to practice using various spells.

It was difficult to survive long in the League of Spirit with only one or two combinations.

“Baek Yu-seol is still using only one spell, Blink.”

Unfortunately, skills like the Taeryeong Divine Art were not considered ‘magic’, so Baek Yu-seol entered the arena with only Blink again.

This made the officials wonder.

If he can’t use offensive magic, how is he supposed to damage the opponent?

As an answer to that, Baek Yu-seol purchased and held a support item, the [Magic Sword].

“A magic sword…?”

“Is that really useful?”

“I heard they somehow modify and use magic swords in reality, but they should know it’s impossible in the League of Spirit.”

Baek Yu-seol’s Terivon Wand was specially modified into a magic sword, demonstrating power on a different level from other magic swords.

But in the League of Spirit, the magic sword was just a support item with extremely low attack power, used for close-range engagement.

It certainly didn’t possess formidable killing power.

Support items had a limit to their upgrades, so using them as a main weapon might be a little unique in the early game, but in the late game, they would be useless.

“We’ll have to wait and see.”

Baek Yu-seol casually swung his magic sword and hunted monsters.

The monsters’ movements were fixed like clockwork, so Baek Yu-seol moved fluidly without taking a single hit, swinging his sword.

Considering that ordinary mages are immobile or slowed down when using magic, this was quite a dynamic movement, and the attack power of his ‘normal attack’ was estimated to be higher than that of other mages…

But that was it.

Normal attacks, also known as ‘basic attacks’, ultimately lacked decisive power.

[A battle has broken out!]

Not long after the match started, a fight broke out in the middle lane.

Ma Yuseong, using a long-range poke spell with low damage but a short cooldown, harassed the opponent, and as soon as he leveled up by hunting monsters and learned the Power Jump spell, he immediately rushed at the opponent.

The players quickly assessed Ma Yuseong’s actions.

Flame was waiting in the nearby jungle lane, and the enemy team’s jungler was currently providing support to the bottom lane.

At this time, a normal mid laner would initiate, pulling the enemy into their team’s side or stunning them to temporarily incapacitate them, and then wait for backup from the jungle lane.

So, naturally, they thought Ma Yuseong would do the same…

“Huh?”

Boom!!

Instead of sending the enemy to his team’s side, he rushed in with Power Jump and delivered a powerful shockwave to their solar plexus, knocking them back.

He then mixed in poke spells and basic attacks to whittle down the enemy’s HP, and at that moment, Flame’s successful hunting of a ‘special monster’ increased the team’s resources by another level, and Ma Yuseong immediately purchased an additional spell and finished off the enemy.

[First Blood!]

Then, with a sliver of HP remaining, Ma Yuseong calmly returned alive.

“What was that…”

“Are they not cooperating?”

Normally, Flame would have gone to help, but she just glanced at Ma Yuseong and focused on clearing the jungle monsters, whether he was fighting or not.

Ma Yuseong’s magic tree also seemed focused on killing the enemy alone, rather than coordinating with his team.

“It wasn’t without coordination…”

Come to think of it, Ma Yuseong’s entry timing coincided exactly with Flame’s special monster hunt.

In other words, he entered, considering that he would learn the next spell, which he hadn’t even learned yet, thanks to Flame.

The enemy team’s opening, the cooldown of the remaining spells, and the HP of the special monster Flame was hunting were all perfectly timed and captured in Ma Yuseong’s vision.

“His judgment to see that timing is amazing, but his decisiveness to rush in like that is also extraordinary…”

“That’s not the problem, isn’t it? They don’t seem to trust each other at all. The whole team is playing individually.”

“Their magic trees hardly synergize with each other either. They’re acting as if they’re going to do everything themselves.”

“What are they thinking…?”

The League of Spirit is a 5v5 cooperative sport. It’s not a sport where you operate alone.

But even after 5 minutes, and then 10 minutes into the match, the Flame Team didn’t show any proper teamwork.

They killed opponents in their respective lanes, and if multiple enemies approached, they abandoned their position without hesitation and fled.

About 15 minutes into the match, someone let out a gasp of admiration after looking at Baek Yu-seol, who had been momentarily forgotten while watching Ma Yuseong and the other players.

“Huh? What’s that item?”

There were trends and metas in League of Spirit matches, so only certain items were used, and discarded items never appeared in matches.

There were countless items, but only a few were actually used.

That’s why the [Obsessive Crystal Pendant] that Baek Yu-seol showed was quite unfamiliar.

It had never appeared in a match before.

* Required Mana: 2,700mp

* Equip Effect: Attack Power +90

Attack Speed +7%

* Special Effect: Upon landing 10 ‘normal attacks’, the ‘Obsessive Destruction’ spell is activated, dealing 274% of attack power damage on the last hit.

* Cooldown: 60 seconds

The description was ambiguous.

Other items that consumed 2,700mp usually increased stats by 200, but this item only increased attack power by 90.

And what was this special effect? It wasn’t even magic, and you had to hit with normal attacks 10 times?

“274% is definitely huge.”

“There hasn’t been an item that increases the attack coefficient by that much.”

“But where do you find the time to land 10 normal attacks in the middle of a battle?”

“And Baek Yu-seol’s normal attack is a sword. It’s not even a ranged spell.”

“The cooldown is too long. It’s a whole 60 seconds.”

“Oh, but that item…?”

This time, the new item Baek Yu-seol purchased was also quite noticeable.

* Required Mana: 2,700mp

* Equip Effect: Movement Speed +125

Attack Speed +12%

Mana Regeneration +70

* Special Effect: Upon hitting an enemy, the cooldown of ‘special effect items’ is reduced by 3 seconds.

This was also a new item.

“The more you hit, the more the cooldown of special items is reduced…”

The officials finally understood the intention.

“It means he’s going to continuously reduce the cooldown of the pendant with that item and deal cumulative damage to the enemy…”

They understood the theory, but whether it was actually possible was still questionable.

At that moment, the enemy team’s top laner and jungler emerged from the jungle, creating a 1v2 situation.

Normally, he should have run away, but since he could only use Blink up to 3 times in a row, there was a high risk of being caught by the enemy’s mobility.

But Baek Yu-seol did something strange.

Even though he should have been running away, he was hitting mini-monsters one by one while fleeing, securing the last hit.

Even if he wanted to conserve his remaining mana, this seemed too greedy.

The enemy team was right on his tail.

“That’s a goner.”

Just as the enemy team’s dash spell was about to connect, Baek Yu-seol suddenly turned around and Blinked into the enemy’s embrace.

“He’s going to fight that?”

You can’t think of a Level 12 AI the same way you think of a normal player.

They have much better items than normal players due to their overwhelming growth.

…Such thoughts were rendered meaningless as Baek Yu-seol rushed at the jungler chasing him from behind with two consecutive Blinks and instantly cut his throat.

[Obsessive Destruction is activated!]

Immediately, a streak of light appeared, and the enemy player staggered and fell to his knees.

A powerful stun effect!

“Wh-what?”

“No way!”

Baek Yu-seol clearly only attacked once, so how did the special effect activate?

Baek Yu-seol didn’t stop there and did a big backflip, throwing a Flame Grenade on the ground.

It created a powerful fire field on the ground for 3 seconds, but it was rarely used because it consumed too much mana.

It had to hit for the full 3 seconds, which was difficult to achieve.

But the enemy hit by Obsessive Destruction was stunned and couldn’t move, taking the full damage from the flames and dying.

Then, Baek Yu-seol freely used Blink to avoid all the spells of the remaining enemy and swung his sword twenty times, alternating between mini-monsters and the player, and finally, a bright white flash streaked again.

[Obsessive Destruction is activated!]

The second enemy fell.

Having instantly taken down two enemies, Baek Yu-seol destroyed the enemy’s tower with an Adhesive Bomb item and calmly returned when the enemy player respawned.

“I see… The counter for that normal attack didn’t say to hit the same enemy 10 times. So, hitting mini-monsters 10 times and then hitting the enemy team also activates the effect.”

“R-really?”

“To be able to manage stacks like that…”

“It’s interesting, but…”

Thinking about it that way, it seemed like a good item, but it was still unclear if it was actually good.

Instead of painstakingly managing stacks with mini-monsters, it would be better to increase his own spell power and land powerful spells accurately.

“It’s impressive, I’ll give him that. I’ve never seen a player utilize consumable special items to that extent.”

“And this is only his second day of training?”

“To create his own item tree and build after only playing a few matches…”

They finally understood how Baek Yu-seol fought, but they still weren’t completely satisfied.

It was a method that no one could replicate.

The match was now past the middle stage and entering the late game, and the Flame Team was still playing separately without any coordination.

Hae Wonryang and Aiselle stuck together and took down two or three enemies at a time, and Baek Yu-seol single-handedly overturned the top lane using the same method as before.

Ma Yuseong, needless to say, pushed the middle lane all the way to the enemy team’s base, and Flame roamed the jungle, taking all her own monsters and even killing the enemy jungler to steal resources, gradually narrowing the resource gap with the Level 12 AI.

And finally.

[The Chaos Guardian has appeared!]

The ‘Guardian’ that appeared during the match granted a huge buff to the team that killed it, tilting the scales of victory.

The ‘Chaos Guardian’ appeared in the late game, and usually, the final team fight occurred at this time.

It was, so to speak, an unavoidable fight.

Even if they had avoided 5v5 battles until now, if they lost the Guardian buff here, there would be no chance of winning.

‘What are they going to do?’

They watched with bated breath.

[Blue Team has destroyed an enemy tower.]

Baek Yu-seol was hitting the tower in the top lane as if he had smeared honey on it, showing no intention of leaving, and Flame, seizing the opportunity, swept through the enemy jungle and stole monsters.

Hae Wonryang and Aiselle seemed to be facing off at the Guardian, but they soon lost interest and moved to another lane together to do their own thing.

“What… are they doing?”

The Chaos Guardian gave an almost invincible buff in the late game, so it had to be taken.

“Don’t tell me they don’t know that?”

There’s no way.

Unlike a week ago when they were complete novices, they clearly understood the meta this time.

That means…

“They’re saying the Guardian buff isn’t necessary for victory…?”

As they thought that, Baek Yu-seol, who had almost pushed the top lane, suddenly used the ‘Jump Gear’ item.

It was an item that allowed you to jump to a pre-placed target, and if the enemy found and removed the target, it was useless, but if hidden well, it could provide a strategic advantage.

It was good that he hid the target well so that the enemy team couldn’t find it, but it was too much to fight alone now.

“…He’s overextending.”

“It’s over.”

The directors shook their heads.

Baek Yu-seol’s current actions were clearly a method seen among beginners, a suicide strategy where they rush at the enemy team hunting the Guardian when their team is losing, unleash spells, and die.

This kind of gamble sometimes worked in low-level matches, but it never worked against high-level players.

They would block the entry points and carefully control their damage output to prevent the Guardian from dying to the enemy’s attacks.

But there was one thing they had momentarily forgotten.

Baek Yu-seol possessed a special item that could deal powerful damage instantly without a cast time, and he had Blink, which provided even greater mobility than Power Jump.

“Could it be…?”

The AI team, upon discovering Baek Yu-seol, reacted with lightning speed, but he ghosted into the enemy’s embrace with consecutive Blinks and swung his sword.

[Obsessive Destruction is activated!]

[Final Attack is activated, granting an additional hit.]

[Attack Crasher is activated, the next attack will be a guaranteed critical hit.]

[Strong-Weak-Strong-Weak is activated, dealing 30% additional damage to enemies with 10% HP or less.]

Items that were generally not used, but could only be utilized by Baek Yu-seol, who mainly used ‘basic attacks’, were wrapped around his body as he swung his sword at the Guardian, leaving a long streak of light, and it instantly died.

[Blue Team has slain the Chaos Guardian!]

[Baek Yu-seol has died!]

Baek Yu-seol was instantly killed by the enemy team’s focus fire, but the Flame Team immediately surrounded and rushed at them, annihilating the AI team.

There was still no coordination, but utilizing the Guardian buff, their item specs were similar to the Level 12 AI, and they overwhelmed them with their superior individual skill and spell-casting ability.

Their spell utilization had already surpassed that of the Level 12 AI.

Even though they had only played three practice matches…

“…It’s over.”

The match ended with individual play and impractical, high-risk individual skills until the very end, resulting in an easy victory for the Flame Team.

“It’s impressive, but…”

“How should I put this…”

A series of absurd strategies that would never be seen in professional matches.

The officials were speechless for a while after witnessing a match they had never seen before, but they soon regained their composure and calmly analyzed the match.

“It’s all show.”

If even one of these strategies succeeded against a high-level player, they would applaud, but the opponent was an AI.

“Defeating a Level 12 AI in a week is impressive. But, that can never be used in a real match.”

“Right. Stella’s trainee players are already skilled enough to participate in amateur leagues. Would such absurd strategies and high-risk plays work against them?”

“I acknowledge their talent… but there’s a clear limit to their growth.”

That was the conclusion the experts reached.

End of Chapter