Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.18 Ch.35: Greeting the Korean Opponent

As expected, a Korean pro would know something niche like that. This dude must have trained under the world's best, so his knowledge gonna be top-notch for sure!

But, I feel like there's one thing they forgot to teach him in Korea: the legend of the Gungnir Sniper! ZAP! Lars fired a shot even though the Orc was supposed to be blocking his view.

The laser beam flew closer and closer to the Orc. Anybody would say the shot was on its way to hitting Appretence... but it didn't!

The beam ALMOST grazed the dude as it passed over his shoulder. It kept flying toward the backline and struck one of the bowmen. Headshot, yo!

Ez game! Lars smiled confidently. I can do this all day. Your pro Korean tactics got nothing on my 200% accuracy!

That shot was perfectly placed, with at least 200% accuracy if not twice that. It was bound to impress even this Korean pro!

He landed it, huh. Jin found himself mildly impressed with that shot. That laser beam cut it very close, so much so that even Jin was convinced the shot would hit him. However, it didn't.

The beam just barely avoided grazing his shoulder. At first glance, it looked as if the shot was aimed at Jin and missed him by a tiny margin. But no, that beam wasn't directed at Jin at all. Instead, it cleanly hit one of the bowmen in the back, and it scored a headshot to boot.

What a showoff. Jin scoffed. You're not a Gunslinger, so you don't get any bonuses for headshots. You're just running the risk of missing shots for no good reason.

Landing headshots at any opportunity seemed like Gunz's signature. It was as impressive as it was dumb and risky.

But yes, I'm starting to see why everybody is making a fuss about this guy. Jin admitted. Now that I saw how he dealt with my counterplay, I can agree that this guy is a rather advanced mechanical monkey.

Most sensible Elf opponents would've switched their focus to the swordsmen. However, Gunz stuck to his guns and overpowered Jin's tactic with sheer skill.

What's more, Gunz chose the perfect timing to deliver that shot. Jin was exactly in the middle of swinging his sledgehammer at the time, so he was a static target that couldn't move unexpectedly. The angle, distance, and timing of Gunz's shot were top-notch.

I can see this level of execution shocking the lazy western players, but I've run into more than enough mechanically skilled players like that in Korea. Jin recollected. In fact, over there, this level of execution wasn't even considered that impressive. Everybody was expected to polish their mechanical skill to perfection regardless of their innate talent. Some just had an easier time doing that than others, that's all.

Talent was a great booster but there was no substitute for hard work and a consistent training regime. As long as the player practiced the right thing on a regular basis, they were bound to reach a skill level that wasn't that far below Gunz's.

I'm sure everybody here thinks I'm also some incredibly "talented" player when in reality it's all practice. Lots, and lots, and lots of practice.

The same must've applied to Gunz as well. He possessed innate talent, but he surely also had to practice these snipes a lot in order to master them to this extent.

It was actually a bit impressive to run into a middle schooler over here who possessed such a high level of execution. Until now, Jin was certain that only pros had any execution to speak of in the West.

With that said, maybe it was too early to praise Gunz for just one accurate shot.

It might've been a fluke. I wonder, can he do it twice in a row? Jin swung his sledgehammer once again, giving his opponent another opportunity to shoot.

ZAP! A laser beam came out immediately. Once again, the shot headed straight toward Jin, yet it missed him ever so slightly.

Instead, the beam went on to hit a bowman. And, it was a headshot yet again.

Alright, he seems like the real deal. Jin conceded. But, he's not using the quickscoping tech, so there's a simple way to counter him.

Ideally, Jin wanted to advance past the enemy frontline and wipe out the bowmen at the back. However, if he moves any further into enemy territory, he'll no longer be able to block Gunz's line of sight. That'll make it too easy for Gunz to continue sniping Jin's bowmen. It wasn't acceptable.

I'd still win the overall exchange even then, but he'll take out most of my bowmen if I allow this. If that happens, I won't be able to push hard after that.

Jin didn't want to compromise on anything. He wanted to both eliminate the enemy bowmen and continue blocking Gunz's line of sight. But, was there any line of play that could satisfy both conditions at the same time?

The answer was very simple, actually. Jin just had to get hit by one of Gunz's shots. Once that happens, his swordsmen will start advancing on Gunz and the enemy swordsmen will have to chase them.

If Jin arranges the entire scene optimally, then the positions of the enemy swordsmen and bowmen will overlap at some point. Then, Jin will be able to hit the enemy's entire brigade with his sledgehammer swings.

But to begin any of this, Jin first had to get hit by one of these clean snipes. Was it even possible to achieve that as long as Gunz was firing his beams with near-perfect timing and accuracy...?

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