Chapter 115 : Steel Lord Build
Chapter 115: Steel Lord Build
-Wow lol look how packed that roulette wheel is lol -In the process, the million won share got diluted too -Probably because the total amount is so huge? -Thunder God build exchange, good good hehe Nice~
Finally, when the announced three minutes had passed, Jeong Nayeon quickly stopped donations and finalized the roulette.
Several viewers who had missed their chance while charging expressed their regret, but what could they do? Opportunities always pass by in an instant.
They could only find comfort in the fact that even recommending a build didn’t guarantee it would be used.
“I won’t drag this out, I’ll spin the roulette right away! Let’s see what the first game build will be, let’s go!”
“Let’s go─!”
-Let’s gooo -Please mine please mine please mine please mine -Honestly, it has to be mine this time, right? -Nope~ Mine will be chosen~
Using Jeong Nayeon’s shout as a signal, the roulette began to spin. It was so fast that you couldn’t even read the names of the recommended builds written on the wheel.
As they watched the roulette that seemed like it would spin forever, viewers fervently called out the builds they wanted.
And so, after about ten seconds had passed, the roulette gradually slowed down, eventually coming to a complete stop before displaying a build name with a ttararan-! sound effect.
[Steel Lord Build]
“The build that will start the first round is—Steel Lord Build!”
-Why isn’t it mine?ㅡㅡ -An omoshiroi build appeared lol -Thousand won gang wins ez lol -Looking at the roulette proportions, the probability was below 1% but it got picked
“Hmm. Steel Lord Build. A tremendously tight build came up right from the first round.”
Cha Seongcheol let out a sigh after seeing the roulette result.
Even in the roulette wheel chaotically mixed with good builds, bad builds, and strange builds, the Steel Lord Build belonged to the quite challenging category.
Considering there was no assistance, in terms of build difficulty, it might even fall within the top five.
Being in such a position among hundreds of builds truly meant it was damn difficult to handle.
“Why do you think so?”
“There are about two reasons. First, the Steel Lord Build is a summoning-type supernatural ability that Hackphysical has never used even once.”
“But that’s the same thing that came up with ranged or transformation types, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s true but…”
At Jeong Nayeon’s rebuttal, Cha Seongcheol shrugged his shoulders.
Certainly, as she said, “using a build for the first time” could no longer be a reason.
It was a question that came up every time, whether when he first showed a ranged combat build in PVE, or when he was recommended and used the Thunder Dragon build, a transformation-type supernatural ability.
Each time, Baek Woohyun had proven his abilities, yet still thinking it would be difficult because it was his first time using it was ridiculous.
“This time is a bit different. The problem is that the Steel Lord Build leans more toward multi-summoning rather than single-summoning.”
Generally, summoning-type supernatural ability builds were divided into single-summoning systems that controlled one powerful entity, and multi-summoning systems that pushed through with quantity.
In the case of the Steel Lord Build, it was closer to the latter—the multi-summoning system build. Since it summoned and controlled a total of twelve steel knights.
The problem was that Baek Woohyun currently had no assistance. That essentially meant he had to handle everything from summoning to controlling all twelve steel knights by himself.
Just think about the fact that there are countless people who can’t use transformation-type supernatural abilities without assistance because they struggle just managing their own body.
But on top of that, to additionally control twelve new bodies, ones that exist externally at that?
How difficult this was should be truly obvious. To the point where even Cha Seongcheol, who had witnessed Baek Woohyun’s talent firsthand, wondered again, ‘Is this even possible?’
-Fr that difficulty is insane -Like drawing with your right hand while writing a novel with your left lol -ㄴㄴ Plus you have to play a rhythm game with both feet -(He’s not human emoticon)
“Of course, this is the difficulty only when pushing the potential of the Steel Lord Build to the extreme.”
“Which means…?”
“If the steel knights don’t move independently but only respond to specific commands to perform specific actions, it might be okay. Like when in assistance mode.”
“However, in that case, the biggest advantage of no-assistance—freedom—would die,” Cha Seongcheol added.
“Or there’s a method of not handling all twelve at once, but reducing it to half, or even less.”
Of course, even that would be plenty impressive.
The no-assistance version of the Steel Lord Build required a level of multitasking that was practically impossible to achieve full performance.
Whether it could show a high ceiling befitting such difficult difficulty was unknown, but anyway.
“Wouldn’t that make the Steel Lord Build’s power too weak?”
“That’s right. It will be weakened. But I believe Hackphysical can overcome even that. Just like he has until now.”
***
‘Steel Lord Build.’
Baek Woohyun, sitting in the battle preparation room, calmly examined the build delivered to him by Jeong Nayeon.
Understanding the build’s abilities, which started with [Ash Furnace] and included [Steel Puppet], [12 Knights], and even [Warlord’s Banner], wasn’t too difficult.
The builder’s intent to summon twelve steel knights, buff them, and have them fight in his place was clearly revealed.
In addition to the Core Element, even all the sub-elements were for that purpose, so it would be impossible not to recognize it.
“Hmm.”
Nevertheless, the reason Baek Woohyun carefully examined the Steel Lord Build was simple.
It was because the Steel Lord Build was a summoning-type supernatural ability build he had never tried using not only in ‘Reverse Planet,’ but also in ‘that place.’
Unlike transformation-type supernatural abilities which he had at least briefly touched, this was one he truly had never even attempted to use, so he checked it more thoroughly.
The fortunate point was that while he had never used it directly, he had plenty of experience being involved with it in various ways.
He had fought opponents who used summoning-type supernatural abilities, and one of his disciples used a similar ability, so he had taught them.
In other words, he had sufficient know-how on how to handle the Steel Lord Build—or more precisely, summoning-type supernatural ability builds.
“……”
And for Baek Woohyun, that was enough.
He who had been concentrating while comfortably leaning back in his chair soon narrowed his eyes. Around his half-revealed pupils, gray circles strangely rotated and shone.
It looked as if cogwheels made of steel were turning.
“Summon.”
Wuung!
With a brief murmur, a knight made of steel surged forth in front of Baek Woohyun.
It was a knight wearing full plate armor, the kind typically imagined when one thinks of knights.
The knight, entirely ash-gray from head to toe, looked up at him while kneeling on one knee, as if swearing loyalty.
“……”
Inside Baek Woohyun’s eyes looking down at the steel knight, cogwheels rotated ceaselessly.
Thus, the supernatural ability power exerted to the extreme dwelled in the metallic body and flowed instead of blood, and the finally complete steel knight slowly raised its head.
The subsequent motion of the steel knight slowly rising from its position didn’t look very natural even charitably. At best, it resembled a stiff wooden puppet.
However, such discord quickly dissipated as the steel knight that had stepped back drew a sword from its waist and began swinging it.
The movements that had been choppy when first swinging the sword gradually became smooth and precise, transforming as if it were an ordinary person.
Eventually, by the time it sheathed the sword again, every single motion was flawlessly perfect—what more needed to be said?
‘I roughly understand what it feels like.’
Baek Woohyun, who nodded, waved his hand to dismiss the steel knight’s summoning.
Having grasped a rough sense of how to use the Steel Lord Build, he intended to immediately start PVP matching.
Considering the viewers who would be watching to see if he could break his winning streak record even now, leisurely continuing practice time was unreasonable.
‘I can do the rest in actual combat.’
[Would you like to start game matching for PVP ‘Duel’ mode?] [Yes/No]
Baek Woohyun’s choice was naturally [Yes].
As befitting matching in a fairly high bracket, it took a bit more time than before, but even so, like ‘Duel’ is ‘Duel,’ matching was fast.
If before he matched as soon as he pressed it, now it required about ten seconds after pressing.
Ppabam-!
[PVP ‘Duel’ mode game matching successful] [Transferring to dueling grounds]
The location selected as the dueling grounds for this ‘Duel’ mode ranked game was Zone 9: Factory.
Inside the spacious factory, various facilities, machine tools, and continuously moving containers were installed, which looked like they could be collided with if one wasn’t careful while fighting.
Or one could deliberately slam an opponent into them for greater damage, or even hide using them as cover.
In other words, depending on usage, it could be beneficial or harmful. As is typical for ‘Duel’ mode dueling grounds with obstacles installed.
[Time remaining until first round start – 10 seconds]
“……”
After surveying the battlefield once, Baek Woohyun’s gaze turned toward the opposite side. More precisely, toward the enemy player standing there, preparing to fight.
The enemy player, wearing agent combat uniform—the most common attire in ‘Reverse Planet’—was confidently facing Baek Woohyun.
Fully revealing their intent to charge in as soon as combat started with wind and lightning wrapped around their body.
-“Now, finally the first match of the winning streak record challenge has begun. We’re looking forward to seeing if Hackphysical can overcome the handicap and take his first win pleasantly!” -“Hmm… The opponent’s recent record is really good. 20 matches, 15 wins, 5 losses, 75% win rate. A pretty strong opponent got matched right from the first round.” -75% win rate in Master bracket lol -High MMR so a tough opponent got matched -Usually if you hit 60% win rate you go to Grandmaster -Yep~ But Hackphysical will win anyway~
‘Doesn’t look like they’re planning to maintain distance while fighting.’
From Baek Woohyun’s perspective, the enemy player’s center of gravity was blatantly tilted forward. It wasn’t for nothing that he expressed them as being full of intent to charge in.
And that meant the opponent’s build was either a physical enhancement type like the Superhuman build he used, or a similar close-combat type.
It also meant that right now, using the Steel Lord Build where his own combat power wasn’t very high, Baek Woohyun was the one who needed to maintain distance.
[3 seconds] [2 seconds] [1 seconds] [First round, start!]
“[Wind-Thunder Soul]!”
Taat!
As expected, the enemy player charged in using what appeared to be a buff supernatural ability technique timed with the start signal. It was a rush wrapped in sharp wind and intense lightning.
Though it couldn’t compare to Baek Woohyun when he used the Superhuman build, it could still be called a fairly swift rush.
Seeing how they lightly leaped over obstacles filling the factory while charging, their control ability also belonged to the quite excellent category.
‘Close-combat, wind and lightning, two eyes of different colors. …Ah, right. Is it the Wind-Thunder God build?’
Having studied various PVP builds in many ways, Baek Woohyun easily noticed that the enemy player’s build was the Wind-Thunder God build.
It was a build characterized by approaching with dazzling and swift movements, then pouring out powerful supernatural ability techniques at the cost of range.
Also, unlike typical builds that have one or two defensive supernatural ability techniques, it didn’t even have those, so it was said to require considerable skill to handle.
‘Shall we go?’
Watching the enemy player closing the distance, Baek Woohyun lightly waved his hand.
Then.
“…!”
The startled enemy player quickly pulled back.
A steel knight that had appeared at some point had struck its sword down toward where he was about to advance.
If he hadn’t stopped and continued charging, by now his head would have been pierced with no chance to dodge.
“Steel Lord Build…”
Looking at the steel knight blocking his path, the enemy player muttered quietly.
There was no particular sign of being intimidated, because the Steel Lord Build and Wind-Thunder God Build didn’t have an advantage over each other in build matchups.
The two builds were a fight of whether you could break through or not, which essentially meant it would be decided by the skill between build users.
The opponent didn’t think at all that he would be pushed back there. Especially at times like this when his condition was good and he was recording a high win rate.
‘But why only one knight?’