Outplay

Laughter echoed through the main voip channel. Taunting shouts from Haruki and Daiki heated up the match as the blue team wiped out the opposing team from the zone. 

"Haha! Who's the noob now?" Haruki shouted.

"That was just luck," the enemy team shot back.

"It's not luck when you wipe out the entire enemy team!" Daiki chimed in.

Akira let his teammates provoke the enemy, but the red team leader, Yato, didn't take the bait. He had been silent ever since Daiki killed his character.

Still, Akira could imagine the sour expression Yato was making off-screen. Anyone would be upset after getting outplayed. Even Akira would feel the same.

"Nice work, Daiki. Get back to your post. It'd suck if we both got killed together," Akira ordered.

"Got it, boss!"

Not long after, Daiki's character vanished from the zone.

Just like its name, Clandestine was a perfect armor kit for stealth play. It provided two types of active abilities: Mimicry and Deep Slash. The latter was the deadliest, allowing the character to deal physical damage with a bonus 200% critical hit damage.

Daiki had only used his two active abilities, his ultimate was still untouched.

"Now, it's just about controlling the zone."

[Blue Team: 018 | Red Team: 006]

[Blue Team: Maxfit-61, Ganbate-ne, lowkey6666]

[Red Team: YATOGAMI-chan, gun_fps, GitGud-UwU]

The blue team started taking the lead, and their score kept climbing.

After Yato and one of his teammates respawned, they quickly rushed back to the zone, trying to reclaim it from Akira, who was still holding the area alone.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Yato fired his grenade launcher while the other teammate, Fragger, charged into the zone. Akira quickly activated his Dome Shield.

"Help's on the way!" Haruki shouted.

Haruki was the first to die in the match, so he respawned earlier than the two red team players Daiki had taken down. He immediately started shooting at the enemy Fragger while his character dashed towards the zone.

CRACK!

His aim was so precise that he shredded through the enemy's shield, leaving them with just 80% of their HP.

"Holy shit, kid! You're not bad!"

"I'll take that as a compliment. But you're not getting away!" Haruki shot back.

The enemy Fragger started moving unpredictably, zig-zagging and bunny-hopping, but Haruki was relentless. Every shot he fired seemed to be drawn to the enemy like a magnet pulling grains of sand.

[1023 Damage]

[3239 Damage]

[2239 Damage]

[1268 Damage]

The enemy Fragger's HP dropped to 30% and kept dwindling as he tried to flee.

"Damn it!"

Of course, the red team wasn't going to let their teammate die without a fight. Yato bombarded Haruki, while their third teammate fired shots from a distance.

[5023 Damage]

[839 Damage]

[12468 Damage]

"Shit!"

Haruki kept shooting at the enemy despite taking heavy damage. Realizing Haruki was getting tunnel visioned on securing the kill, Akira warned him.

"Stop chasing! Get back to the zone!" Akira shouted.

"Just a bit more, Akira!"

Akira gritted his teeth and rushed to assist Haruki.

[24219 Damage]

[You killed gun_fps]

Akira managed to accidentally headshot the enemy Fragger. Instead of getting praise, he heard Haruki's frustrated yell through the headset.

"Did you just steal my kill?!"

"Quit whining, kid!" Daiki snapped.

At the same moment, Haruki got headshotted.

[21568 Damage]

[GitGud-UwU killed lowkey6666]

"No!"

"Idiot!"

Daiki's voice rang out in the headset as he berated Haruki for not following the orders. Akira, however, remained calm.

"Both of you, stop it," Akira warned.

"But, Akira—"

"I said stop it!"

Daiki fell silent when Akira raised his voice. It wasn't that Akira was angry, but he had to show a different side of himself to get Haruki and Daiki to settle down.

"Don't dwell on what already happened. Focus on the game. Don't worry, we're still ahead."

[Blue Team: 023 | Red Team: 006]

[Blue Team: Maxfit-61, Ganbate-ne, lowkey6666]

[Red Team: YATOGAMI-chan, gun_fps, GitGud-UwU]

After a brief silence, the atmosphere calmed down.

"Sorry, Akira. I got caught up in the moment," Haruki admitted, sounding regretful.

"Me too," Daiki added.

Seeing that his teammates had cooled off, Akira gave them instructions.

"Daiki, I need you to find the enemy's third player. That guy's been getting free hits, and we can't let that slide."

"Roger that."

"And you, Haruki. Once you respawn, head straight for the zone. We need points, not kills. If Yato starts using his ultimate, you can leave me in the zone."

The game resumed. The blue team continued to lead, and their points kept climbing. Akira held his position, staying inside the zone despite being bombarded with shots and grenades from the opposing team.

As soon as Haruki respawned, he followed the instructions and entered the zone. His presence sped up the blue team's point accumulation. In just five minutes, Akira and his team reached the halfway mark.

[Blue Team: 050 | Red Team: 006]

[Blue Team: Maxfit-61, Ganbate-ne, lowkey6666]

[Red Team: YATOGAMI-chan, gun_fps, GitGud-UwU]

The game was going smoothly, but it gave Akira a strange feeling.

"Everything's going too well. Are they planning something?"

Akira began analyzing the situation. The enemy team seemed to be targeting Haruki more than him, which was normal. Taking down the enemy's damage dealer first, then focusing on the tank, was a standard strategy.

However, Akira knew Yato too well. His former teammate wasn't the kind of player to rely on mediocre tactics. This guy must be planning something.

"Damn it!"

While Akira was lost in thought, Haruki got hit by a sniper shot, draining his shield.

"Sorry, Haruki!" Akira called out.

"It's okay, it was my fault!" Haruki responded.

"No, it's mine."

Akira was the tanker. His job was to block enemy attacks and protect the damage dealer. Because he was too focused on figuring out Yato's plan, Haruki ended up taking massive damage.

Suddenly, the enemy team switched their target. They started attacking Akira.

[1482 Damage]

[890 Damage]

[4000 Damage]

Akira was taking damage. If it weren't for Rook's passive ability, Fortification—which reduced incoming damage by 20%—Akira might have lost all his shield and a good chunk of his HP.

"Focus, Akira! Ha ha ha!"

Yato's voice echoed through the headset as his character launched a barrage of grenades.

Seeing how odd the situation was, Akira had no clue what they were planning. So he activated his Dome Shield to protect himself. As the grenades exploded on top of the shield, the enemy Fragger rushed inside.

The Dome Shield could block all projectile damage and abilities, but it couldn't stop enemies from entering the area. Even if the armor kit had a reactor element that could deal damage.

Caught off guard, Akira quickly used Rook's second active ability, Breach Wall. As the name suggested, this ability created a three-meter-high, five-meter-wide wall in front of the character. It could block all kinds of damage, including enemy direct attacks, but it only protected the front.

"Gotcha!"

Surprisingly, the enemy Fragger did nothing, leaving Akira confused. Akira only shot at the enemy while trying to figure out what they were up to. Normally, a player would breach the defenses to land heavy damage, but the enemy Fragger was just running around, dodging.

"I'm taking this guy down!" Haruki yelled.

Akira's eyes widened as he realized what the enemy team was planning. But it was too late.

The moment the Dome Shield's duration ended, Akira took a shot from his right side, cutting his HP in half. At the same time, the enemy Fragger activated their ability, Gravity Grenade, pulling both Haruki and Akira toward it.

"I'll take this bastard out!" Daiki shouted.

"No—!" Akira yelled.

Daiki's character appeared behind the enemy Fragger, one hand gripping a blade. With a swift Deep Slash, the enemy Fragger was killed instantly, and Akira and Haruki were freed from the gravitational pull.

"It's okay now," Daiki said.

But Akira was furious. "You idiot!"

Daiki frowned, confused as to why he was getting this reaction. He had just saved him.

Suddenly, a beeping sound came from the ground. A small red device with a blinking LED was planted beneath them. In that instant, Daiki realized his mistake.

From above, hundreds of mortars rained down like falling stars. Seeing it, he knew there was nothing they could do. Akira had already used the Dome Shield. There was no escape.

Then, explosions filled the zone, flattening everything inside it.

"Don't think you've won yet, Akira."

Yato's taunting voice echoed through the headset, but Akira could only grit his teeth.