WHOOSH! A giant sword leaped at Jin, aiming for his torso! But, it failed to reach him.

  That sure gave me a jump. Jin thought. Good thing I didn’t give her the be of the doubt.

  Even though he didn’t think a pro would resort to an early RNG battle like this, he heless kept a close wat every move Ignis made. Thanks to that, he respoo her Dodge Roll in a timely fashion and distanced himself from the danger zone before the sword assaulted him.

  And so, Ignis’ attack failed. Or, at least, the first part of it did.

  "Not too shabby," Ignis said. "But, this is only the beginning!"

  She pressed her offense further. As the aggressor, the momentum was on her side. It was her oppo who had to adapt to this sudden burst of aggression!

  Tch. I see she’s going all out with this offense. Jin just barely evaded Ignis' sed swing.

  It was a close call, a very close one. Even though Jin was fully trated on evading the ining assault, it took everything from him to just barely step out e.

  The pressure is solid. Jin thought. I saw her use early aggression in pro matches before, but it’s much more overwhelming in person. The offense is very polished. There's ation itacks.

  Ignis swung her bde time and again. Each ssh was and sharp. This woman knew no fear.

  In such a risky early game situation, where both sides were vulnerable to damage, Ignis had no problem throwing her everything into this offe was as foolish as it was brave.

  No doubt, the woman trained a lot to develop such a fearless attitude. Either that, or she was a natural fool.

  Either way, her offense successfully piled pressure on Jially, he was exactly where his oppo wanted him to be.

  This is one of the best things ever! Ignis grinned. Nobody ever expects a hardcore fight like this early on, so they're never ready. But, not me. I'm always ready. I've learned all these Lv.3 matchups, so I kly how far I go and what I get away with!

  I wonder if she's looking down on me. Jin wondered as he barely stepped out of atack. The offense is sharp but it hasn’t achieved anythi.

  Despite the relentless assaults, Ignis hasn't nded a si on Jin. He successfully maintained his cool and juked the attacks as they came.

  But, no matter how many times Jin proved this offense was futile, Ignis tihrowing attacks his way. It's like she had absolute fidence she had the upper hand here, as if Jin was a random weakling who couldn't do anything but let himself get bullied in ne.

  In other words, she was totally looking down on him.

  Do I let her tinue? Jin pondered. I don't mind being uimated for now if that eventually gives me an opening.

  Against a pro pyer, any trickery was fair py. Even exploiting Jin’s status, that of “just a kid”, erfectly fine here.

  So, I'll take advantage of the way you uimate me. Jin turned around to face the attacker.

  He could've simply rolled deeper into his territory to get away, but he didn't. Instead, he stood face to face with the bold assaulter.

  "Oh?" Ignis blinked. What's this? You challenging me, kid? Heh, you're ten years too young to even try that shit!

  Ignis went for atack. She still had the momentum, so her oppo was the one who had to defend!

  Besides, Warrior had the range advantage here. It was a tiny advantage, ohat many pyers weren't even aware of, but it definitely existed.

  I bet the kid has no idea. Ignis snickered. , try terattag. I'm waiting.

  She threw all her body weight and swung her giant bde once more, but it whiffed again. This brat was not terrible at spag, at least. He was evading Ignis’s attacks by a hair's breadth.

  You lucky son of a...! Ignis clicked her tongue. Her prey was right there, right within her reach! But, luck kept saving him time and again. Somehow, the kid was always just barely outside her reach.

  Or, is it really just luck? Ignis doubted. Maybe he has been spag me out this eime? Nah, no way. A kid 't pull it so ly. It gotta be luck.

  heless, it eculiar. No matter how many times Ignis swung her bde, none of her attacks hit home. The kid’s luck seemed endless.

  Or, maybe that was his way of running away? After all, despite Ignis’s tless whiffs, the kid hasn’t unched a single terattack at her yet. Maybe he was 100% focused on dodging and nothing else?

  Without eaining Ignis with a proper ahe kid tinued dodging.

  This is getting difficult. Jin frowned.

  He stepped outside the enemy's range in the nick of time yet again, but that alone didn’t bring him any sense of satisfa anymore. Because, once again, he didn’t find an opportunity to mount a terattack.

  It’s not like Jin wasn’t shooting any terattacks because he didn’t want to. On the trary, he stantly searched for an opportunity for a while now. But, he simply couldn’t find one. Despite how savage the enemy’s enemy’s offense was, it left no obvious openings to exploit.

  I 't attack carelessly since she got the range advantage. Jin was well-aware of Warrior's minor advantage over Knight in that particur area.

  It was a niche piece of knowledge, ohat he admittedly fot about until retly. However, watg some of Ignis's matches reminded him of that obscure fact. The woman really liked abusing it, so much that this small advantage made Warrior seem like a viable pick.

  In fact, the reason Ignis was allowing herself to swing her bde so wildly was that very range adva was just half a step of a differeherefore negligible in most people's eyes. However, in high-level duels, that tiny advantage allowed Ignis to press her offense nonstop without being afraid of retaliation.

  On top of that, Ignis's swings were far from "random". Despite how they looked, these were all calcuted moves. She always aimed to hit Jin within the very tip of her rao keep her target out of terattag range.

  In other words, Ignis was baiting Jin into taking a risk if he wao strike back. He had to step in in order to make his sword reach the target. It was extremely dangerous.

  The minions are almost here. Jin g the mini-map.

  The wave was about to arrive in a couple of seds. So, should he just ignnis's aggression areat for now?

  No, not like this. Jin shook his head. I want to nd at least o ohis woman is looking down on me right now, so I have to exploit that fact. Besides...

  Jin didn't have time to clude that thought. Time was tig.

  In a few seds, the ne will revert to a normal ning phase. Ohat happens, the two of them will be forced to disengage and Ignis will walk about triumphantly. Not only will it give her more reason to tinue looking down on Jin, but it will also look bad in the eyes of the audience.

  I have th her up, at least a little. Jin waited fnis to whiff once again. And this time, he went for a terattack!

  As usual, Ignis didn’t leave any easy openings. Therefore, Jin had to step forward to unch his ter.

  He invaded Ignis's personal spad swung his bde. It cut through the woman's torso, erasing 12% of her HP. That's how squishy pyers were against each other in the very early-game, especially when both sides built power.

  "Oh?" Ignis excimed. "Heh, bold whippersnapper! But, you walked right into my trap!"

  Ignis had the boy exactly where she wanted him. The kid overextended in order to reach her, so she'll hit him on the way out before he retreats out of her ra was a free hit!

  Take that! Ignis swung her bde at the invader.

  Really, what a blunder on the brat’s side. The moment the kid stepped into Ignis’s personal space, he was doomed to be terattacked!

  Admittedly, the kid did a good job striking Ignis from the very edge of his attack range. But, it was all for naught! With Ignis's longer reach, she'll hit the kid even if he tries to back away after attag! Or, so she thought.

  "What the-!?" Ignis excimed. It was impossible. She khis situation like the back of her hand as she had plenty of Warrior vs. Knight experieherefore, it was a FACT that the Knight couldn’t possibly recover in time to step out of Ignis' attack range.

  A, somehow, her big sword whiffed. It missed the Knight by a hair's breadth. It was impossible.

  What the actual fuck!? Ignis shook her head, trying to wake up from this unrealistic dream. But unfortunately, it was undoubtedly real. Somehow, the brat evaded her guaranteed hit!

  What the heck did he do!? Ignis couldn't her head around it. I’ve tested a billion Warrior vs. Knight iions like this. It's impossible to step out in time, that’s a fact. And, the kid didn't build any Attack Speed either, so it's not like his recovery was supposed to be any faster than usual. Then, what in the bloody hell...?

  As, Ignis didn't have much time to stand there and think about it. The minion wave arrived, so she had to switch gears and focus on that.

  She returo her side of the ne and patiently waited for the two armies to csh. Then, she ventured into eerritain to execute her effit farming routine. Meanwhile, her ne oppo did the same.

  Okay, activate the shield. Now, push. Ignis executed her routine by instinct. The routine has beeen into her through years of practice. At this point, the motions were as natural as breathing.

  While she was fwlessly clearing the enemy minions, Ignis couldn't help but wonder about the odd exge she had with the kid earlier. It was an impossible situation. Shit like that only ever happened in oches with high ping.

  But, in an offliup? Impossible. Straight up impossible.

  But, no matter how much I keep saying "impossible", it definitely happened. I gotta be missing something here.

  The kid didn't buy any early Attack Speed, so his attacks weren't particurly fast. In other words, there was no ce the kid recovered from his attaimation any faster than Ignis expected him to.

  In the first pce, she eveed terattacks like this against a Knight with Attack Speed. The Knight pyer would have to build LOTS of Attack Speed in order to recover in time and step out of the Warrior’s terattack’s range. So, Attack Speed definitely wasn't the culprit here.

  Another potential culprit was Movement Speed. If the Knight had high Movement Speed, he could've quickly back stepped out of Ignis' range. However, same as with Attack Speed, the Knight would have to buy LOTS of Movement Speed to make that possible. Not to mention, the kid didn't even buy any Movement Speed in the first pce.

  Then, what else could it be? This was an offliup like in tours, so g was out of the question.

  Did Ignis it some sort of mistake on her end? Maybe she miscalcuted the range or timing in the heat of the moment?

  Nah, no way. Ignis shook her head. I was eagerly waiting for that moment. No way I gonna mess it up.

  She swung her bde as soon as the opportunity preseself. Her rea speed was one of her stronger points, so she couldn't have messed up something as simple as that.

  I just don't get it. Ignis frowned. It's like the kid cheated the system somehow. He doesn't have extra Attack Speed or Movement Speed, yet it feels like he recovered hel fast and stepped out e instantly. It's almost as if he celed his basic attato a backstep... ah.

  Finally, another possibility hit her. It seemed incredibly unlikely at first, so much that she wouldn't even bother sidering it against most oppos. Especially, not against kids.

  But, this ese brat was no normal kid. Actually, he wasn't even ese, was he? No, he was Korean. And, there was one advanced mahat was associated with Korean pyers, so much that it even had "Korean" in its name.

  It 't be, right? Ignis chuckled nervously. I gotta watch him carefully this time.

  Both pyers cleared the minions at about the same time. As frustrating as it was to admit, the brat did his job perfectly, nding a st hit on every single minion.

  Oher hand, Ignis messed up one of her st hits this round. Thinking about the brat’s impossible evade clouded her focus. Especially, the shog realization she reached was very distrag.

  Damn, I'm thinking too hard about all this shit. Ignis shook her head. I just gotta see how he moves, then I'll know for sure.

  And so, with the minions out of the way, Ignis mounted atack at her oppo!

  This time, she didn't even wait for them to meet up in the middle of the ne. Instead, Ignis rolled toward her target a all-in on the offense!

  So aggressive. Jin responded with a Dodge Roll of his own. And so, while Ignis was rolling in his dire, he rolled toward his side of the ne.

  "Shit!" Ignis ranted. Nice rea speed, kid. But, you're not getting away!

  Ignis gave chase as soon as she recovered from the roll. That infuriating brat rolled just far enough to stay out of Ignis' range, but that didn't mean she couldn't chase him down. I'll smack you real good, just you wait!

  In the end, the situation became a repetition of st time. Ignis chased the brat down while swinging her bde at him, but the cowardly brat stantly stayed out of her reach.

  , show me that KC, if you even . Ignis urged. you do it or not? You 't, you? Of course you ’t. That's the realm of godlike Korean pros. A brat like you 't possibly-

  That's when it happened. Just like st time, the brat methodically waited fnis to whiff, theepped in to deliver a terattack. Another k of Ignis’s HP was gone, but that didn't matter.

  This is where it gets iing. Ignis focused 120% of her sight on the Knight, to make sure she didn’t miss a siwitch from that kid. Then, she swung her bde ialiation just like st time.

  From this range, with this perfect timing, Ignis was guarao nd this hit, unless...!

  "No way!" Ignis definitely saw it this time. I wish my eyes were pying trie, but it actually happened...

  Ignis whiffed again. By the time she started swinging her bde, the Knight was already moving backward! He recovered from his attack almost at the same time Ignis recovered from her earlier whiff. That kind of development was impossible under normal circumstances, unless...

  That was it, right? Ignis doubted her own knowledge for a moment. She hasn’t seen this high-level teique that often, especially not from up close.

  heless, the Knight’s movements definitely resembled the moves from Korean pro matches. It was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the infamous... Korean Step cel!

  DarkestCymore