Chapter 1521: One Step Away

 Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

The third round of the group arena soon began. On Happy’s side was Mo Fan and his Deception. On Tyranny’s side was Zhang Jiale and Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. He had sacrificed much to win over Ye Xiu. Dazzling Hundred Blossoms had nearly no health or mana left. He had almost no combat capabilities. This fight would end without any suspense.

Even so, Mo Fan played cautiously like he always did. When the round began, he didn’t hurry to approach his opponent.

However, with how small and simple the map was, even if he didn’t hurry over, what else could he do?

Chen Guo had been keeping up with the matches this season from up-close. She also had many Glory experts surrounding her, constantly giving her pointers. Her knowledge had improved day by day. Before the two had even begun fighting, she suddenly realized something.

Picking this map might not be favorable for Tyranny facing Ye Xiu’s unspecialized. However, this map would be used by every player participating in the group arena. Who else did Happy have besides Ye Xiu?

Chen Guo obviously knew what Happy’s lineup was for the group arena. After Mo Fan was Su Mucheng, then Fang Rui, and finally Tang Rou.

Mo Fan’s Fireworks Style required a lot of space to maneuver around in. As for Su Mucheng, the Launcher’s biggest strength was their ultra long range. And for Fang Rui, the more complicated the terrain, the more opportunities he had to display his dirtiness.

But the Arena…

There was nowhere to hide, and the map was small. Happy’s three players would suffer because this map would restrict their playstyles to a certain extent!

This was the complete reason behind Tyranny choosing the Arena. Force Ye Xiu into a an intense fight to exhaust him. And once Ye Xiu was gone, the Arena would become Tyranny’s advantage.

Zhang Jiale wasn’t able to survive for long and quickly left the stage. Tyranny’s third player was Qin Muyun.

Qin Muyun’s Negative Nine Degrees was a Sharpshooter. This map was slightly cramped for Sharpshooters, but Qin Muyun was an expert at picking spots. In a wide open space without any obstructions, movement became crucial for attack and defense. Although Qin Muyun’s class was restricted by this map, his exceptional talent at positioning was perfectly suited for this map.

The others on Happy watched the match with solemn expressions. They had realized this point earlier than Chen Guo had. It was because of this that Chen Guo’s plan wouldn’t work out. Because Happy’s next players would be restricted by this map, Ye Xiu could not afford to hold back. He had to do his utmost to win as big of a lead as possible for Happy to reduce the pressure on them.

Ye Xiu had done an outstanding job. He had faced Lin Jingyan and Zhang Jiale, two formidable opponents, and nearly completed a 1v2. Happy had a one player lead, but would it be enough to equalize the disadvantage that three of their players would face?

The fight between Mo Fan and Qi Muyun began. Mo Fan didn’t hurry to charge over, but Qin Muyun? Negative Nine Degrees raised his gun and began firing immediately. His attack range could cover the distance between their two spawn points.

The loud sounds of gunfire reverberated throughout the stadium. Mo Fan’s Deception moved nimbly about, trying to use his speed to get into Qin Muyun’s dead angles.

But what happened next gave everyone an even clearer understanding of Qin Muyun’s ability to pick spots.

The Arena was considered unfavorable for long-ranged classes, but nevertheless, Qin Muyun was still able to freely kite around.

Negative Nine Degrees wasn’t just standing there, he was also moving. Every step of his matched Deception’s. The distance between the two would sometimes decrease and sometimes increased, but after a few back and forths, it would always go back to what it was in the beginning.

In an open map like the Arena, it was a pure contest of who had better movement. And in this fight, it was obvious who was superior.

Mo Fan had succeeded many times in escaping from huge chaotic battlefields in the game. He naturally had extraordinary skill in that domain, but there was a huge difference between a huge chaotic battlefield and a 1v1. Mo Fan had been trained in an unorthodox way, while Qin Muyun had trained under standard professional procedures. His ability to pick spots was detailed and meticulous. His every action was backed by clear logical reasoning. Tens years of Glory innovation and improvement had produced this fighting method, and Qin Muyun was executing it perfectly.

Tyranny’s players weren’t just heroes who knew only how to fight fiercely. Qin Muyun, Song Qiying, the two talented rookies that had come from Tyranny, had the mark of their vice-captain, Zhang Xinjie: careful and meticulous.

Mo Fan was clearly losing in this contest of positioning. Compared to Qin Muyun’s precise positioning, Mo Fan’s positioning seemed right but was actually wrong. Oftentimes, he himself wouldn’t know why he took that step. It had come to him instinctively out of habit. This was the biggest flaw of someone who had been trained in an unorthodox way, and it could clearly be seen through Mo Fan.

Mo Fan quickly realized that he had no way of closing in on his opponent purely relying on his own movements. He could only try a few attacks. Ninjas had a few mid-ranged attacked, so when the distance between the two characters pulled a bit closer, Deception attacked.

Shuriken!

A Shuriken was thrown. It was the Ninja’s lowest-level ninja tool. It didn’t deal much damage, but it inflicted a brief stun. As a result, it was very useful for interrupting skills. However, Sharpshooter skills didn’t have cast times, so the Shuriken’s threat was rather limited against them. Mo Fan’s reason for choosing this skill wasn’t at random.

At this distance, even if the Shuriken hit, the brief stun wouldn’t be enough to give Mo Fan any sort of advantage, so it wouldn’t pose a problem for Qin Muyun if he didn’t have his Negative Nine Degrees dodge. Most people would make this judgement and ignore the Shuriken.

However, Glory was a game with very precise mechanics. The effects from a skill would vary depending on where it landed on the opponent. Mo Fan’s Deception threw this Shuriken, seeking this precise effect. His target was Negative Nine Degrees’ right wrist!

During combat, the arms would often be moving, so the chances of hitting the wrist was extremely low. But for Sharpshooters, their arms wouldn’t move nearly as much as Fighter classes who would be throwing out punches left and right. Mo Fan saw an opportunity and had Deception throw a Shuriken.

When a Shuriken hit the wrist, the stun effect wouldn’t affect the entire body, but the stun time would be longer. Sharpshooters used both their hands to fire their guns. A temporary stun on the wrist would be enough to create an opening for an attack.

His reasoning was sound, and even when he threw out the Shuriken, no one had seen through it. Throwing a Shuriken towards the body and throwing a Shuriken towards the wrist looked nearly identical. It was almost impossible to distinguish between the slight difference in angle. If Qin Muyun waited until after the Shuriken before realizing it, it would be too late for him to dodge.

Any ordinary person would not have been able to see through his calculations. When Deception suddenly attacked, Pan Lin got excited. But after shouting out the skill “Shuriken”, his voice suddenly went from loud to quiet. The final “-ken” syllable exposed his disappointment. He clearly recognized that the attack was meaningless. Qin Muyun could completely ignore it and have Negative Nine Degrees continue attacking to punish Deception for his misplay.

But to his surprise, Qin Muyun did not ignore it.

Negative Nine Degrees kept attacking, but he also took a step to dodge the Shuriken.

“Was that necessary?” Pan Lin was in a daze. Even though dodging it didn’t seem to take him much effort, this was a high-level confrontation. A wasted movement that seemed to not matter could be a sign of a deficiency in the details.

“Qin Muyun is being very cautious,” Li Yibo said. He hadn’t noticed the trouble that Shuriken would have caused Negative Nine Degrees either. He was right though. In reality, Qin Muyun hadn’t seen through Mo Fan’s plan either, but he chose to dodge anyways out of caution. Since it didn’t disrupt his tempo, he didn’t care about a possibly wasted movement, so he dodged.

A deficiency in the details?

Being hit by the Shuriken would have been a deficiency in the details! In comparison to getting hit by it, it would be better to take the initiative to react to it.

The Shuriken missed, and the dodge from Qin Muyun had been the right move. He didn’t give Mo Fan an opening.

Since his plan had failed, he could only force his way to Qin Muyun!

Deception moved to the side, ready to rush forward. However, this slight movement to the side drew a reaction from Qin Muyun as well.

Negative Nine Degrees took a step to the side, and from his new viewpoint, he could see Deception’s hands.

Hand seals!

Deception was forming hand seals. He had attempted to hide his intentions by that slight movement to the side. Qin Muyun hadn’t neglected this sort of Ninja trick. He had his Negative Nine Degrees follow along. He noticed the hand seals, but he couldn’t tell what ninjutsu Mo Fan was planning on using. In any case, getting away from his current position would not be wrong.

Negative Nine Degrees continued to move. His aim was to find a new spot, where he could maintain the same type of suppression onto Deception.

Negative Nine Degrees moved back, while Deception moved forward.

Shadow Clone Technique!

Mo Fan had wanted to use this skill to get close, but Qin Muyun had taken precautions. It was Mo Fan’s first time getting this close to his target, but he was off by just one step… just one step was enough for Qin Muyun to set up his wall again.

The fourth round of the group arena ended in Tyranny’s victory.