Free Web NovelChapter 1098: Chapter 416: You Stick to the Rules, I Improvise
Ree Shil and Grace Spring, along with the other 6 team members, were promptly transported to the competition room. freewёbnoνel.com
Their battle for this round would be entirely commanded from within the room, maneuvering their puppets.
Each person had four screens in front of them, labeled up, middle, left, and right.
It reminded Ree Shil of the days when he used to play games in internet cafes.
Based on the experience summarized from the three days of practice, he divided the four screens into four separate areas.
This round, each person could activate four cards, meaning four puppets.
He dedicated three screens to monitor his cards, leaving one screen for a god’s-eye view.
The competition battlefield, or rather the map, was set in a highland farmstead.
The farmstead covered a large area, with scattered internal architecture.
It had a total of seven strongholds, with the defending side starting out occupying four.
The winner was determined by the final score, which was calculated based on the strongholds captured.
This set of rules was comparatively milder.
Even with a crushing victory, the most one could win was by 7 points.
It’s unknown whether they could score over 70 points like in the last round, where the Balance District completely annihilated the opposition.
Perhaps it was the organizers’ way to weaken Ree Shil’s influence; this format suppressed individual prowess to a degree and emphasized team coordination.
The 24 puppets in the match would contend over the strongholds.
During the process, they could take out the opposing team’s puppets.
Once taken out, a puppet had to wait at a stronghold for its resurrection time.
Only after the resurrection time elapsed could it reenter the battle.
This meant that a well-timed takedown could lead to a numerical advantage when capturing critical points, providing a significant boost.
"Everyone, just like we did in the drills, handle the personnel movements." freёwebnovel.com
Grace Spring took on the role of the team’s dispatcher.
He had the least to do, needing only to direct the puppets for healing, without too many complicated operations.
As defenders, the strongholds they occupied, from deepest to shallowest, were the Beast’s outpost, Big grindery, Timber warehouse, and Refinery.
But after practicing and analyzing over these days, everyone agreed that the Refinery, being the closest to the enemy, was something of a map trap.
The distances between the other three strongholds were roughly equal, except the Refinery was the furthest away.
And from a strategic perspective, it was not aligned with the other three strongholds.
One could say the Refinery was on one end, and the other three strongholds were bunched together on the other.
Allocating too many forces to the Refinery would result in the other three strongholds lacking sufficient strength for mutual support.
That’s the trap-like nature of it.
In previous drills, the side that paid more attention to the Refinery often had a high chance of defeat.
Defenders would rather attempt to take the outermost stronghold of the farmstead than defend the Refinery.
Yet, the Refinery was a score-counting stronghold that couldn’t be outright abandoned.
This situation was somewhat vexing.
Thus, the strategy adopted by the Balance Representative Team was to leave Ree Shil to defend it by himself.
The remaining 7 members would all station themselves at the Timber warehouse on the next outer ring, keeping Ree Shil within distant view while also protecting the two strongholds behind them.
They would respond to the unfolding situation by deciding whether to hold their ground or to launch a major offensive.
"OK," came the response from the other seven members, including Ree Shil, as they began to direct their puppets.
The match hadn’t officially started yet; there were a few minutes allotted for positioning.
The puppets had already been deployed onto the battlefield before entering the room, and at this time, upon receiving orders from their card players, they began to move.
"Everyone, you remember your roles and responsibilities within the team, right?"
During the movement, Grace Spring made a final confirmation.
His role and responsibilities went without saying, providing healing and sustained capabilities for the team.
"Act as a scout, surveilling the enemy’s movements."
"Go for quick strikes, aiming to steal enemies and points."
"Front line damage absorption and entanglement, disrupt the enemy formation."
"Long-range firepower support and suppression."
"Release buffs for us, and debuffs for the enemy."
"Hold the line and patch up holes, preventing enemies from infiltrating the rear."
"Play it by ear."
Each member repeated what they had to do.
"Alright, let’s all bring our A-game."
Grace Spring nodded in satisfaction.
...
In another room, the Determination Representative Team gathered.
The attacker’s three strongholds were more closely positioned, making them easy to defend but difficult to attack.
These were the Lumberyard, Shepherd’s Hut, and another Beast’s outpost.
At this time, their 8 puppets were all moving towards the Lumberyard at the farthest edge.
One could anticipate an exceptionally fierce struggle at the Lumberyard and Timber warehouse, the nearest strongholds between the two sides.
"Everyone, you brought the [Ignition] and [Healing Forbidden] cards, right?"
The Captain of the Determination Representative Team was rallying the troops just before the battle: "This time, we must wipe out that disgusting healing creep."
He really knew how to fire up his team, and with his words, a fiery spark shone in everyone’s eyes.
"I’ll make sure he never forgets this."
"I’ll make sure he truly regrets it."
"For my bladder!"
"For my prostate!"
"Charge!"
As the bell signalled the start of the match, the puppets of the Determination Representative Team charged out from the Lumberyard with ferocity.
Along Farmstead Avenue, they maintained a well-considered formation as they advanced.
The main force took the broad road, giving them space to maneuver, while a few agile puppets, skilled in off-road parkour, flanked both sides of the avenue, leading the way by a couple dozen meters.
They served as scouts, ready to prevent any ambushes.
Halfway along their path, three scout puppets deviated their course and turned into a side road.
