Chapter 242

[What method could we use to isolate Suupaa and create an advantage with our numbers?]

The more one knew about her threat, the more everyone thought about it.

As an idea, it is not incorrect. It is undeniable that in the finals, where the best players in the country gather, even Suupaa would be at a disadvantage if she were surrounded by all the teams.

That is why there is something they cannot notice.

Because HEROES is a team created by Rinne, also because HEROES has Suupaa.

The number of HEROES matches as a team is so small that it is impossible to study their tactics. And because the teams around them was observing them with such a narrow viewpoint, they don't notice one obvious fact about Suupaa.

And that was the fact that Suupaa has always taken an isolated position ever since she joined HEROES.

Of course, this does not imply that she was despised, but simply that she was the sole notable member of her team.

Nana and Touka are too inexperienced to keep up with the speed of Suupaa's thoughts, and Rinne, who could read her move, lacks an avatar manipulation skills to keep up with her.

That has always been the case since the beginning. They were unable to keep up with Suupaa's playing speed. Suupaa's presence stands out in Heroes because there are no other active top players.

If she ever played seriously, she would leave her team in the dust and isolate herself.

That's why Suupaa played the game slowly this time, disciplining herself to keep her pace aligned with the team so she wouldn't be isolated.

"Touka, maintain vigilance. An enemy in the direction of the left tower."

"Ok! Meet up with us inside the building."

"Nana, what about the rear?"

"All clear."

"Roger that. Is south still crowded?"

In the initial action, HEROES chose the north side because they saw the majority of the enemy shadows descend on the southern half of the field.

They were now hiding in a medium-sized highly defensive warehouse, also known as Stre, located northwest of the center of the field while keeping watch on the situation.

Their main reason for going down to the north side, where there were fewer enemies, was to slow down the speed of the game.

If Suupaa moved down to the intense battle zone and made her own actions, HEROES would naturally scatter and weaken, and the accelerated tempo of kills would build impatience throughout the match.

If they make a bad move right now, it could cause further irregularity to occur, especially with the arrival of two [Ritu].

(My role is to make sure HEROES win. If I rush to get points in this match, it may have the opposite effect. I really wanted to show Nana how serious I was in this match, but... I guess I'll wait until the third match).

After listening to Rinne, Suupaa finally understands what the presence of Nana and herself on this team means for the VR division.

That is why Suupaa wants to show Nana that she is as serious as she can be right now. That is her greatest motivation for this final.

Suupaa reasoned that if she could accomplish that in the first match, she would be able to improve Nana's morale in the second match, but she was miscalculating.

The first miscalculation was the existence of two Ritu that had thrown the whole battlefield into chaos.

Her second miscalculation was that Nana's state of concentration was far beyond what she could have imagined.

The moment Suupaa recognized these facts, she changed her strategy drastically.

The reason why she wanted to score many points in the first game was not only to show how good she was but also to make sure that she would have no problem no matter how many sniper shots Nana missed in the second game.

It was just insurance, so to speak. But if she thinks about it calmly, there is no need to try to make a margin in the first match alone.

She could always go aa out both the first and third games, so there is no problem if you make points without Nana in the second game as well.

With that in mind, the required points for the first match should be much lower. There is no need to take unnecessary risks.

A large number of points in the first game was originally a goal that Suupaa set for herself, and it is a little different from the team's goal.

This match was no longer "normal" enough for Suupaa to do anything by herself.

So, if it is. Rather than riding on the confusion, it would be more stable to take another step back, prepare with a relaxed perspective, and have a policy of getting through the last half of the match with the whole team.

If they end up with low points, so be it. Getting too overheated about this match will create emotional stability.

(Nana was on board with the strategy I proposed, and no matter how much success or failure she may or may not have in the next match, losing because of it would be unacceptable).

It was Suupaa's own overconfidence that created this situation.

She did not fully understand the tournament. She thought that winning would be enough. Her pride and carelessness had lead them to this.

Let's say they lose after three games. Suupaa believes that Rinne would not have blamed her.

She probably would smile and say, [I was the one who put you in charge of planning the strategy]. But that would mean nothing but pure humiliation for Suupaa.

That's why Suupaa would do her utmost to set up a path for victory.

Victory does not equal phenomenal performance. No matter how dirty your methods are, the one who wins more points is the winner in the game world.

"Suu-chan, on the right."

"Yes, I know. How many?"

"Two. Still unaware of us."

"Acknowledged. And this was about time for the safe zone to shrink. They already checkmated..."

"copy that."

At the edge of Suupaa vision, a sniper shot landed on the second story of the storage building via a window, dealing moderate damage of 65.

The impression given is strong because it was a clean hit for a check shot.

"We will stay here for the time being until the safe ground shrinks in two minutes, Nana. You take care of the scouting and keeping the area in check while the two of us pick up the scattered items in this area while we still can."

"And Suupaa, what item do you want?"

"I need a medium and heavy magazine. I don't need anything else."

"I understand. Touka, help me."

"I'm already on my way~."

"Thanks."

Rinne the order giver, is still running a little awkwardly at a distance away.

She is without a doubt the weakest person on the team, but even so, without her presence, Heroes would not be able to function.

Nana and Touka both put a lot of faith in Rinne. This is not to suggest that they do not trust Suupaa, but simply because the three relationships have lasted far longer.

Even when she is not doing anything, it is reassuring to have Rinne on the team, and Suupaa agrees with that.

The debt Suupaa owed Rinne for rescuing and guiding herself has made Rinne more than trustworthy.

And even though Rinne's playing speed is certainly not as fast as those of elementary school students, her thought process speed is on par with Suupaa.

More than often, Rinne would translate Suupaa's instructions into easy-to-understand terms.

Furthermore, since Rinne has made Suupaa the leader of the team, there is no reason for her to complain. Even with considering the unknown growth of Nana's and Touka's, she knew from the beginning that Rinne herself was capable.

Rinne lacks VR aptitude, to the point that [good enough] was even a word that would praise her capability regarding VR. At first, she even had difficulty standing up in a virtual space.

And after bloody efforts, she can run and wield weapons less effective than normal human levels, and the range of her precision is limited to her limbs in an unarmed state.

But Rinne is not here to play an active role. Her presence is the rope that holds this team together.

"Suu-chan, I cracked their vest."

As Suupaa was lost in her thought, she received such a report from Nana. She then searched the surroundings, letting her senses take over.

Nana cracked the vest meant that she had eliminated the durability of the enemy's bulletproof vest. No matter how good the vest is, its durability is limited to 100 damage. It means that a sniper rifle can crack it open with two clean hits to the torso, leaving the enemy's HP bare.

"Can you kill them?"

"Yes."

Donk! The sound of a rifle without a silencer makes a loud noise around them.

It was different from yesterday's one-handed shooting. Nana's bullet, that fired with the correct form, has made damage number of 110 blossomed in the distance.

"Nice down. Can you finish it off with a magic bullet?"

"yes, I can."

"Okay, randomly put four bullets in, then kill them."

"Okay."

A bulletproof vest, HP, and time from down state to death. A player's life is essentially managed by three gauges.

The bulletproof vest is simply an increase in the HP gauge; if the HP is reduced and the player goes down, they can only crawl.

While downed, a player can be revived by an ally using a revival item after 10 seconds, but if left unattended, the player will eventually die, and if the player is hit by a follow-up attack after being downed, the player will immediately die.

Nana accurately drove a player who was far to the right into a downed state. They seem to have cut off the line of fire while crawling, but Nana has that certain deadly bullet.

And with the power of a sniper rifle, one more shot would kill him, but that does not mean they should be killed with just one shot.

The "magic bullet" is their trump card. And that is because there is no one else who can use it.

It is not normally possible to shoot a single bullet and kill the target by accidental ricochet.

That is why they decided that it would be appropriate for Nana to have at least fired about four dummy bullets before she goes for the kill.

Sure enough, Nana's fifth shot ricocheted cleanly through the downed enemy, giving the point to HEROES.

"You are in good condition today."

"Yeah, I'm doing well. I think I'm awake at last."

"You didn't get enough sleep?"

"Umm... right, something like that."

When Suupaa asked Nana about the strange phrases she used, she seemed to be a little confused to answer.

It was the day before the main tournament, and it was not unusual for her to have trouble sleeping due to excitement and nervousness.

But today, Nana's condition was especially great.

I have no doubts about the accuracy of her sniping, but she is hitting enemies outside a radius of 360 meters, which is clearly out of her range of perception.

Her tone is very light. Compared to the usual Nana, she is a bit quieter, but not to the point that it would make people feel uncomfortable.

However, the atmosphere she wears is clearly different. It was obvious that she was in a very concentrated state, and even so, there was an indescribable pressure that made it hard to believe that she was just concentrating.

(She seems to have woken up, huh?)

Rinne was not sure if it was just a matter of concentration, but if she needed to describe it, she would say that she just looked nostalgic.

But of course, only Rinne would know what that means.

But to everyone else, she didn't look sleepy at all.

"I gathered up everything I could find!"

"I'll take the extras."

"Suupaa, here are two sets of magazines."

"Nice."

Touka, who had been running around the warehouse, had brought as many materials as she could carry.

Most of them were handed over to Nana, who only uses sniper rifles and therefore has room in her bag, and Suupaa was able to replenish the magazines she had asked Rinne for.

The other person lurking on the right earlier had already left the scene, probably because of the kill from the sniper shot earlier.

"I didn't want to be chased and ambushed at something we thought as a safe haven, so I would suggest heading south as soon as possible. Nana, running, checks in with the tower to see if there are still enemies. Rinne and Touka, follow a little behind us."

"Okay."

"The enemy is clustered to the south. Remember to be on the lookout for them."

Suupaa gives quick instructions and waits in front of the door.

Move irregularly and often. This is the basis of all shooting games.

"Five, four, three, two, one, go!"

With dash start in mind, they run straight out the door. They could see that Rinne was a bit late, but they ignored it. And because of that, she could not stay on Touka's protected left side.

"Ah!"

Who let out that voice?

As if to warn her of her slackened spirits, a bullet pierced Rinne's head.

The damage indicated was 157, and the sniper rifle's headshot was powerful enough to shatter her bulletproof vest and wipe out most of her HP. If she had not been equipped with a helmet, she might have been downed immediately.

The trajectory of the bullet was directly in front of them. It was not from the tower on the left side; it was an ultra-long-range sniper shot from a high-rise apartment building nearly a kilometer away, beyond the reach of even Suupaa's sixth sense, let alone Nana's senses.

The line of fire was indeed clear. But even so, it was still a headshot from an extreme distance.

"Kuh."

The counterattack was made much faster than Suupaa could take action, almost simultaneously with the direct hit of the bullet on Rinne. Five bullets were fired within two seconds, all of which struck the enemy sniper with murderous intent.

What Nana used to retaliate was a sniper rifle called [Little Rod]. It has low power but is relatively easy to fire in rapid succession. It can easily be used in a standing position and is a weapon often used for long-range checks, but if Nana uses it, this is what it becomes.

An excellent enemy sniper was trying to leave the scene immediately after the shot. The first bullet pierced his head.

Perhaps due to the diminishing power caused by distance, the bullet's damage was light, but even so, a sniper rifle hit to the brain would stagger him down a bit.

And soon after, two following headshots shred the durability of the enemy's bulletproof vest and destroy the helmet.

The second headshot in a row was a complete surprise, and when the enemy was still slightly confused, the third shot was fired in the exact same trajectory. The enemy, like Rinne, was driven to the brink of death.

But the enemy was also a top player. He instantly realized that Nana's sniping skill was out of the ordinary, and he quickly regained his composure and prone down on the spot to cut off the line of fire.

"Too bad, you've got a bad match."

As if to ridicule such futile resistance, the [magic bullet] eats him up.

The first ricochet one hit a window frame, and the second one hit a doorknob.

Not even the sound of ricocheting bullets could be heard. But the two bullets certainly did completely wipe out the enemy's HP.

And to prove it, one point was added to the HEROES team score.

The enemy sniper didn't choose to snipe from the rooftop because he didn't want to be targeted by teams other than HEROES.

But, if they had not sniped from inside the apartment building, there was no way for Nana to make the ricochet hit, and he would have been able to get away with it by jumping down to the ground.

"Go back."

"Roger, back and recover!"

"Okay!"

What should they be surprised by?

Their brains, which had been nearly confused by the events of only a few seconds, were instantly brought to their senses.

Fortunately, they had just left the warehouse facility and were able to return indoors to safety without being pursued.

"I'm sorry, I was caught off guard."

"That was more like an accident and a good one to boot."

"That was a surprise, wasn't it?"

That's true. A headshot from a long-range sniper about a kilometer away was not something that could be accomplished with ordinary skill.

The reality is that creating that headshot is not an easy task. Even Suupaa could only hit 70% of her shots from that distance.

That shot must be done using [Halberd Cannon], a heavy sniper rifle with great firepower. One of the reasons why the enemy was a little slow to run away was because of the difficulty of maneuvering while equipping a heavy weapon.

If Rinne had not been a bit late, the shot might not even land. That is how strong the element of coincidence was.

Twenty seconds later, Rinne's HP and the durability of her bulletproof vest were restored.

Her helmet was still broken, but his bulletproof vest durability is full, and helmets are something that can be picked up everywhere, so it was no problem.

It has been approximately one minute since they were hit by the sniper. When they got into position and exited the warehouse again, they could not see the enemy shadow in the tower to their left. It must mean that they could not stay holed up forever.

All of HEROES silently ran toward the southern half of the field where the center of the safe zone was located.

Their concentration was unbroken, but they were feeling comfortable.

Despite the accident, HEROES had already gained two points from Nana's sniping, with all four members surviving. They had picked up new helmets during the run and were fully equipped.

Still, no one could say anything, because the frustration was palpable.

It was the other guy's fault.

Yes, it was the wrong target, the wrong partner.

If it had been Touka, Suupaa, or Nana herself who had been shot, she might not have retaliated.

But it was Rinne who was shot.

She was not dead.

Even so, Rinne was hurt.

Nana had noticed it before the bullet hit Rinne.

Even though the bullet was faster than sound, Nana could see it, but her avatar couldn't react fast enough.

And because she couldn't defend Rinne in time, she launched an immediate counterattack.

It's not that Nana resents the enemy for hurting Rinne. She had avenged her after all; still, she's simply frustrated with herself for not being able to protect Rinne.

-boiling with emotion... aren't you?

(shut up.)

Nana said back to herself as if she was accused of being disloyal and took a deep breath.

Calm down. There's nothing good to get emotional about.

Concentrate on the game. She told herself that and suppressed her frustration.

"I'm sorry, I was a little irritated."

"It's okay. Thank you."

When Nana opened her mouth, the atmosphere in the team relaxed.

They made sure there were no enemies in the area before scattering behind a large rock formation to regroup.

"We've got to get our heads together. The game has just begun."

"Yes, anyway, that was a nice one, Nana."

"Ahahaha. Thanks."

"I'm sorry I was so surprised I didn't see it."

Touka looked genuinely sad and dropped her shoulders, causing the three of them to burst out laughing. Fortunately, the cheerful atmosphere soon returned.

Ten minutes into the game.

The number of players remaining: 32.

In the chaos, the game proceeded extremely slowly in the early stages.

Then, the game accelerated quickly on the battlefield, which had become smaller with the shrinking of the safety zone twice in between.