"Wow, the kid is good. I never expected the 'official trainee' to be the first blood victim."
"It is understandable you know. No matter how you look at it, a shooter vs the sword master gives the former an advantage. So, if you let your guard down even a little, you would be swept away by the game's flow."
The people watching the match tried to rationalize what had just happened. They made speculations and reasoning behind the 'official trainee' losing to an unknown kid.
The official trainee gritted his teeth as he watched his health bar on the screen. The glaring 98% mocked him. He knew the reason he was feeling like this as well.
'This kid is playing an under-leveled avatar against me. I know the attack he used usually caused my health bar to drop by 4% but it only dropped by 2 this time. What is this mockery?'
Since the match had progressed, the trainee could not ask it to be restricted and his opponent be given a better account. He had to bear the humiliation and play this match.
"Hey, kid. I do not know what you are cooking, but I refuse to play like you want me to. Let us get one thing straight - I will win this fight at all costs. And my name is Jack. You better remember this kid."
The official trainee, now named Jack decided he was done playing. He could not take the public ridicule any longer.
His avatar picked up attack speed suddenly and Olivier was not able to avoid the skill combo. In a single attack, Olivier's health had gone down by 5%. The match had just started but a lot of exciting things had happened already.
Olivier had to try his hardest to stop the next wave of attack and gain some ground. He could not do anything in close combat range.
"Are you trying to run away from me? Sorry kid, but I cannot allow that to happen."
Jack was following behind Olivier at a close range. Olivier was only able to maintain enough distance to not be in the kill range.
A shooter was technically faster than a sword master. But the lack of skill point investment was hurting Olivier right now.
Another attack dropped his HP below 90%.
If this continued, then Olivier would lose for sure. He was already beginning to fall behind in terms of damage. So, he needed a new strategy.
Thankfully, every map had a few down points one could exploit. And while it might not work against an experienced player, Olivier had a feeling he could gloat this trainee into following him.
"Hey, you are an official trainee, and you, right? Then you must have noticed my account's problem. Can't you cut me some slack and go easy on me?"
Olivier asked but the other teen was not interested.
Jack felt insulted by what Olivier had said. Asking for mercy in such a situation was too much. Did this kid have no shame if he was asking for something like that?
"Come on elder brother. Show me some mercy here. I am trying my hardest not to lose this match."
Olivier's words were distracting and they hit sore spots for Jack. he refused to sit back and be forced to listen to Olivier's words.
'Control yourself. Do not fall for these obvious taunts. The kid managed to get this far so he is not weak. Maybe this is a trap of some sort?'
Just as Jack finished thinking this, his avatar refused to move. He quickly moved his mouse to look around the screen. And much to his surprise, he had managed to step into a swamp.
He had even forgotten that this map had a swamp in the first place. It was his mistake as an official player.
'I cannot believe I feel for this child's taunts and allowed myself to get in this situation. Shit, I cannot move.'
Everyone watched in disbelief as Olivier led the pro player and caused him to fall into a trap. No one had seen such a thing happen in this tournament yet.
Trapping opponents into traps deliberately was something that happened in official matches of high caliber.
"Surely this was a misplay?"
"Of course. Jack might be a trainee but he is still human. And humans make mistakes all the time."
"I think he tried to take it easy on the kid and forgot about the trap altogether. It is understandable."
Jack heard everyone talk about him and he wanted to stop them. He had not fallen into this trap accidentally. He had been set up.
Now he understood why the kid had made him angry enough to follow him. It was because the kid knew there was a trap here.
Skills rained down on Jack as he tried to escape the trap. In an instant, his health had fallen below 40% and the shooter had gained a fair amount of distance as well.
No matter what Jack tried, he could not close the distance between himself and the shooter this time. And his heath fell to 0 in no time.
Meanwhile, Olivier's avatar was still standing at 50% health. But most of it was because of the shooter's lackluster stats.
"Kid, you do not know how lucky you got in this match. If not for that trap, you would have lost this round for sure."
Jack knew he had lost fair and square. But his pride refused to believe he had lost. He needed to blame his loss on something.
But as he looked into Oliver's eyes, Jack could not help but feel lost. Olivier had the same look in his eyes as his instructor when Jack complained about game mechanics causing him to lose.
"Sure brother. You can believe whatever helps you sleep at night."
Jack gritted his teeth as he walked back to his team bench. He had to suppress his urge to snap his opponent's bones just because he lost a match.
"Shit man, you seriously lost to a kid? But I guess it can happen sometimes. Do not worry, we will avenge you in the next match. And then you can have your revenge in the finals."
Jack's teammates welcomed him back and he was thankful that they did not make fun of him for losing.
It was a shameful loss for him and he refused to tell anyone about the under-leveled account the kid had.
After all, there will be no need to say that. He will kill the kid's avatar in the final match before anything else happened.
...…..
"Fuck, you did it, Olivier? I cannot believe you won that match."
Terry sounded shocked and it was mirrored by everyone. Even the audience had been shocked when Olivier won his match. It had been an unexpected outcome.
The only one who did not look surprised but this outcome was Olivier.
"Well, I did my work. Now seniors, keep your end of the deal and win your match."
Olivier's words caused both Isaac and Mirai to let out nervous laughter. In the end, Terry had to assure them not to pressure themselves. They just needed to do their best in the game.
Both teams spawned on the map. It was a mirror match but there was only one difference. The opponent had a support mage instead of an attack mage.
Thinking that it should be a one-vs-one mirror, both Mirai and Isaac decided to split up. And that turned out to be their mistake.
The opponents cornered Isaac and he was unable to defend himself completely. The support mage boosted the assassin's damage by a lot.
By the time Mirai realized what had happened and turned back, Isaac was already down to 30% health. And his avatar was not able to hold on until help arrived for him.
In the end, Mirai was not able to carry out a one-vs-two game. The opponent assassin was buffed to the max and Mirai had no concept of a defensive game.
"Shit, I cannot believe we lost to our one strategy. I should have seen this coming."
It was a disheartening loss for Isaac. Especially after he had won his game using the same tactic before.
"Do not worry too much. We still have the team game left to play. Not to mention, we still have our secret weapon."
Everyone looked at Olivier when Terry said that. But the younger knew the reality of his situation.
"Do not count on me in the next round. I will not be able to move around much and I will also not be able to help you out. If my hunch is correct, I will be cornered by Jack as soon as the game starts."
Olivier informed his team, but they did not look worried.
"We know. But I think we will be able to manage others if you can keep the main DPS occupied. It will give us time to form for things."
Terry did seem to have a plan this time so Olivier decided to listen to him. After all, how bad can things get for him?