Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 2

Vol.13 Ch.27: Jin vs. Hawk

There he is, just like I thought. Jin nodded to himself.

As expected, Hawk showed up in the middle of the lane. Not even a second later, a bat was already flying toward Jin! But...

A shallow shot. Jin didn't even try to dodge that one. He simply swung his blade, cutting the bat in half.

A parry!? Hawk jumped. Also, is it just me, or did he dash a little forward after parrying?

Hawk has seen countless parries throughout his career, so he could tell something was off about the way this kid moved after that successful parry.

The Knight's attack animation got canceled early following the parry, which was normal. But, on top of that, the Knight also apparently stepped forward immediately.

Normally, it should be impossible to move again that quickly after using a parry. But, that Knight definitely jumped forward a little as soon as he parried. That had to be...

The famous Korean Step Cancel. Hawk figured. Man, this kid really means business. Em was right on the money, I better take this one seriously. I got so used to fighting the other kids today that I almost let my guard down.

Hawk flipped a switch in his head. Instead of just attacking quickly for the sake of attacking quickly, he slowed down his shots and aimed carefully.

Against Top Laner pros, it was necessary to fire well-aimed shots which weren't too obvious. Anything too predictable will simply get sidestepped or parried.

Here goes! Hawk fired a proper, pro-level bat!

I can't parry this. Jin concluded in the last split-second. He stayed his hand to not slow himself down with a whiff, but it was futile. He already wasted too much time analyzing the incoming shot to determine whether it could be parried.

I might've been able to sidestep it, but it's too late now.

The bat rammed into Jin's side. It was a clean hit, befitting a pro Vampire player.

Looks like one parry was enough to make Hawk take me seriously. Jin thought. For the better or the worse, he's not as stubborn as Ignis.

Another bat darted toward Jin. There was no time to rest!

I'll have to start guessing here. Jin randomly sidestepped to the right.

He didn't have the necessary reaction speed to reliably dodge a pro's shot, especially not while he was on the run. Therefore, guessing in which direction to juke was the most he could do.

Lucky! Jin successfully dodged the bat. His guess happened to be on point.

Damn! Hawk cursed internally. Was it luck? Or, are you telling me this kid can actually juke my shots? Nah, no way... right?

Hawk fired another bat. And, yet again, the brat sidestepped it while running.

This dang kid, I swear. Hawk chuckled nervously. No way a middle schooler can dodge my shots like that. It gotta be blind luck!

And, unbeknown to Hawk, his opponent was thinking the exact same thing.

Looks like I'm lucky today. Jin thought. But, this isn't exactly a 50/50 guess. The odds are slightly in my favor.

In theory, guessing in which direction to sidestep had a 50/50 chance of working. However, that only held true against robots. All humans had patterns, and Hawk was no exception.