Chapter 153 : Profiling
Chapter 153: Profiling
Crack!
The concrete floor crumbled under Baek Woohyun’s steps, filled with intense destructive power.
Without a doubt, his footprints would be clearly engraved there.
Then, using his pivot foot as an axis, his waist twisted, and his upper body naturally followed that movement. His right hand gripping the Epic-grade longsword did the same.
Thus, a slash imbued with a superhuman’s strength was executed.
“—!”
Seo-geok!
From right to left, before a single line drawn through the air, the lightning bolts created by [Hundred Bolts of Lightning] were cut down utterly powerlessly.
For a hundred rampaging wolves are meaningless before a single dragon that fully commands its own strength.
If the opponent had been someone who could control each lightning bolt individually, the story would have been different, but that wasn’t the case.
-“With that level of skill, they would’ve been a pro player. Not here sniping like this.”
-“True, that makes sense.”
-ㄹㅇ why would someone with that skill be a malicious sniperㅋㅋ
-The pro scene would recruit them like crazy as soon as they saw themㅇㅇ
-Like how Hackphysical got a public offer from DH Empire?
-Praying for Hackphysical’s pro debut, day 218
Additionally, the fact that [Hundred Bolts of Lightning] was an area-of-effect ultimate skill played a part in this.
If it had been a single-point concentrated type instead, the power contained within would have been different, so Baek Woohyun might not have been able to rush in and cut through it so openly.
The wide-range strike intended to prevent evasion had instead helped make it easier to neutralize the opponent’s attack.
“Tsk!”
-“Wait… they’re running? Really?”
-“They sniped, ambushed with broadcast play, failed, and now they’re fleeing. Isn’t that too pathetic?”
-“Oh…”
-Panty runㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Even Chloe is at a loss for wordsㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-At least the teamers fought back
-This is what a malicious stream sniper isㅅㅂ
‘Don’tsaybadthingsplease’ donated ‘1000 won’!
[Bad words like wanting to wait for the stream sniper in real life and smash their head areㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴ]
-? There were no such words
-That’s a bitㄷㄷ
-You’re the worst one
-Smash their head…? All jumbled up… a complete mess… just wait one day…!
After his attack was blocked, the opponent clicked their tongue through their teeth and turned to flee.
One could say they made a wise choice after their ultimate skill ambush failed, but naturally, the studio’s reaction wasn’t good.
As Cha Seongcheol said, the opponent had ambushed with every advantage and, upon failure, fled instead of fighting back.
They hoped Baek Woohyun would chase down and cut the person in an instant for some “corrective education,” but after breaking through [Hundred Bolts of Lightning], he didn’t move immediately.
He simply lightly brushed off his longsword, still crackling with electricity, and opened his mouth with a leisurely attitude.
“As I mentioned before in Superstar N… ahem. Nuclear, as in the meaning of Nuclear.”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Honestly, even Hackphysical thinks the name is terrible
-Anyone with normal sensibilities would thinkㅅㄱ
-The parentheses <- this is the biggest problem
-“Everyone! What’s wrong with Superstar N(Nuclear meaning~)?”
-“……”
-“……”
“There’s an old saying: if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear a hundred battles.”
This was an idiom originating from the conclusion of Chapter 3, Mou Gong (Strategic Attack), of The Art of War, and it was also a phrase Baek Woohyun had quoted when teaching the B Team how to deal with Etinel.
However, there was no reaction asking why he was repeating what he’d already said in the studio. Instead, only responses full of anticipation appeared in droves.
This was because the method for dealing with Etinel—or more precisely, combat AI—that he taught while quoting that idiom had become quite a hot topic in the community.
This was thanks to the fact that the teacher was Baek Woohyun, famous as Hackphysical, and that the B Team members had been trained based on that theory and achieved a great comeback.
“What decisions the opponent makes in what situations. That is, if you can know and predict your opponent, combat becomes incredibly easy.”
Baek Woohyun sheathed his longsword and continued speaking while tapping the Breaker in his left hand.
“Of course, people can make different decisions each time even in the same situation, so it won’t match up perfectly like with Etinel.”
For during tense combat, a person’s judgment often changed due to trivial triggers.
They might execute an impossibly reckless decision just out of confidence that “it’ll work out!” or their preferred direction of evasion could change drastically based on personal preference.
Compared to Etinel, which always produced the same answer based on combat AI, the prediction difficulty would be several times harder.
“Still, it’s possible to achieve much better results than fighting completely recklessly.”
-Is? That? So?
-When I think, I actually get worse results
-Missing a prediction shot does have a big impactㄹㅇ
-That’s because you…
A thought suddenly crossed Baek Woohyun’s mind: ‘Is this the right way to do this?’
Originally, what Jeong Nayeon had requested from him was an explanation of why he played the way he did, but he couldn’t know if this was the method she had hoped for.
He was acting this way because the easiest approach for explaining was to behave like when he played instructor “over there.”
‘Well, if it wasn’t right, she would’ve said something.’
Currently, Baek Woohyun was connected to the studio via voice call. In other words, if his method wasn’t good, they could say so.
Yet they had been quiet and said nothing until now, which meant they also judged it worth listening to.
Setting aside the chats and donations from viewers that he couldn’t see.
“For example, let’s take the opponent from just now.”
Kwagwang! Kuwoong! Pajijik!
Baek Woohyun leisurely moved forward.
Around him, sounds of those who had finished farming noisily fighting could be heard, but he paid no attention.
His appearance showed confidence that even if the flames of battle reached him, he could easily trample them.
“The opponent was a sniper who targeted me from the start, and judging by the location identification, they’re probably watching the broadcast.”
Although personal broadcasting wasn’t Baek Woohyun’s area of expertise, that didn’t mean he was completely clueless.
Naturally, he already knew about sniping and broadcast play, and he had also recognized that the opponent who targeted him this time fell into that category.
“If so, they would already know about the presence detection I mentioned.”
-They’d definitely know since it’s Baek Pro
-You could tell they knew by how they stopped while comingㅋㅋ
-That makes it even more disgustingㅇㅈ?
-ㅇㅈ agreed
“Judging by the expression when fleeing, there was still fighting spirit remaining so they haven’t given up, but after failing an ambush using even their ultimate skill, they wouldn’t have the confidence to attack again immediately.”
Baek Woohyun leisurely roamed Zone 1: Military Base while listing information about the opponent he had grasped from just one brief ambush encounter.
It was like watching a detective protagonist in a detective drama who briefly scans a crime scene once and rattles off their deductions in a flowing manner.
Or perhaps, like profiling that methodically dismantled the opponent.
“Based on this speculation, the opponent has likely hidden in a location they believe is outside my presence detection range but from which they can return at any time, while spying on me through the broadcast.”
Even while speaking, Baek Woohyun kept his senses sharpened and maintained awareness of his surroundings.
Currently, there were five people fighting nearby, and besides them, there were three non-moving enemies within his presence detection range.
He speculated that the opponent was surely one of those three camping out.
‘The problem is I don’t know which one—’
Baek Woohyun’s narrowed eyes scanned the buildings.
They were the buildings where the three presumed stream-sniping campers were hiding.
‘—Should I shake things up a bit?’
“However, that was a foolish choice. It seems they didn’t think my presence detection range would be wider than they expected. You can tell by how they’re staying still even though I’m heading their way.”
…Buseureok.
At the sound that reached his ears, Baek Woohyun momentarily bared his teeth in a fierce smile.
It seemed his shaking had properly struck the opponent who was spying through the broadcast. Judging by how they unconsciously leaked their presence.
Perhaps the opponent had been thinking of fleeing further away out of anxiety. Without even anticipating that would be tightening the noose around their own neck.
“Found you.”
-? What suddenly
-That expression is scary as fuckㄷㄷ
-Go get themmmmmm
-The stream sniper is breaking out in cold sweat right now
Having finally pinpointed the opponent’s location, Baek Woohyun suddenly kicked off the ground and moved as if he’d never been leisurely.
The fierce smile he suddenly wore and those three words—”Found you”—drove the studio into fear, but it would be nothing compared to the fear the opponent must have felt.
That was clear from how the presence, still vividly felt, began moving urgently.
‘To think they’d be caught so easily. Well, they’re an amateur, so it’s natural.’
Tadadadat!
When Baek Woohyun, with his superhuman physical capabilities, was seriously tracking someone, it was impossible for a mere ranged build user to escape.
As soon as the opponent was certain they’d been discovered, they immediately bolted from their hiding spot, but that was far from enough.
Baek Woohyun didn’t even obediently enter through the building entrance and climb the stairs. He scaled the wall in one go and headed toward the opponent’s location.
Then, the moment he caught sight of the opponent, he broke through a window to enter—how could they possibly escape?
“……”
“……”
Like before, but at a much closer distance than before, silence flowed between Baek Woohyun and the stream sniper.
Of course, the superiority between the two was clear. Baek Woohyun wore a faint smile, but the stream sniper had frozen with a stiffened face.
The one who broke the brief silence was the stream sniper.
“Your presence detection range is fucking broken. Damn. I kept coming and hiding all the way here, and you knew?”
“Ah, that was a lie.”
“What?”
“As if I’d keep tracking someone like you with presence detection. I just shook things up appropriately and figured out where you were.”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋso funny
-Got their location exposed from one bait
-Hackphysical really shows no mercy to stream snipersㅋㅋ that’s why it’s even better
-??? : Thoroughly crush stream snipers
-“Keu, as expected of Jeong Nayeon’s foresight! Amazing!”
-“I just gave some light advice!”
-“Nayeon… I’m scared…”
-“Even Chloe!”
“Ugh!”
The stream sniper belatedly realized they’d been tricked and widened their eyes. The way they trembled with clenched fists showed they were quite angry.
The sight of them getting angry about being tricked when they themselves had been watching the broadcast and sniping at will was truly the height of shamelessness.
Even Jeong Nayeon, who had been desperately defending them, shook her head thinking, ‘This one’s getting archived in the community too.’
“The pursuit was successful, so now I’ll show you how this can be applied in combat.”
Baek Woohyun continued with what he had to say regardless of what expression the stream sniper made or what actions they took.
To him, the opponent was merely teaching material.
Like the werewolves he had used as consumables when teaching the Beau-tiful Twins.
“The opponent is angry about being tricked, which shows strong pride, but they’re also rational enough to immediately choose to flee when the ultimate skill ambush failed earlier.”
“Shut up!”
“Additionally, it means they know the skill difference well. So their mind is complicated right now. The ultimate skill cooldown has reset, but should they use it right away? But what if they miss?”
Baek Woohyun smirked.
“And in this case, most ordinary people can’t take the gamble.”
“[Single Flash]!”
Pajijik!
A single lightning bolt shot from the stream sniper’s outstretched hand toward Baek Woohyun.
As electric-attribute supernatural ability skills generally are, it was an extremely fast and powerful attack.
Was it fast and powerful enough to reach Baek Woohyun? Well, no, it wasn’t.
“See? Wasn’t I right?”
-Toying with them is so funㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-How about it, was I right?
-I would’ve just gone with the ultimate skillㅉㅉ
-Profiling combat method legendㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Baek Woohyun lightly twisted his body to dodge [Single Flash] and shrugged as he spoke.