After Johan and Mineva’s match, several other matches took place.
And now, a game featuring another rising superstar was approaching.
“Here we go! The athlete for this match is none other than the first dwarf ever to reach the finals in a gaming tournament.”
“Let’s hear about their resolve!”
One of the athletes in this match was indeed the first dwarf to make it to the tournament finals.
True to his dwarf nature, he was short and boasted a bushy orange beard as JYJ and Noirin approached him.
“Hello, Dain! You’re the first dwarf to reach the finals in a gaming tournament. How do you feel about that?”
“How do I feel? I’m thrilled! I got some great memories to go along with the beer party!!”
Dain, the dwarf, cheerfully shouted while downing his beer.
JYJ and Noirin were taken aback by his unexpected reaction.
“Uh… Don’t you want to show off your dwarf skills or something?”
“Why would I? I’m just me! I’m here to have fun playing games and drinking beer, not to worry about some grand expectations!”
Dwarves are known to be quite rigid and honor-oriented.
So, JYJ was surprised by Dain’s incredibly free-spirited words when he expected a serious talk about dwarf honor, and he continued with the amusing commentary.
“I’ve met various dwarves for work, but I’ve never seen one quite like you. You really have a free spirit. It’s clear why your main character is the elf, Ren.”
Despite being a dwarf, Dain’s main character was none other than the elf Ren.
In any world, dwarves and elves don’t typically get along.
“I don’t like pointy ears, but Ren fits me just right! Make good use of him in this match, thank you, pointy-eared folks!!”
As Dain scratched his ears, the elven audience booed him, but he didn’t seem to care.
After Dain’s interview concluded, it was time for another buzzworthy athlete—the runner-up from the last Tetric tournament, Bean.
The intelligent boy with glasses and black hair appeared slightly more mature, and Noirin approached him to begin her interview.
“Bean, you made it to the finals with perfect scores in the preliminaries. Do you think that can happen again in the finals?”
“I would say that’s quite difficult, even for me.”
JYJ couldn’t hide his astonishment at Bean’s response.
In the previous tournament, Bean had gathered all the essences of arrogance, as JYJ remembered him.
“Oh my! I can’t believe Bean is saying such polite things! This is hard to adapt to!!!”
“However…”
Before JYJ could react, Bean quickly cut in.
“I’m certain I will secure a victory.”
[“Ohhhhhh!!!!”]
Cheers erupted among the audience at Bean’s declaration.
This was it—the behavior they remembered from ‘Bean.’
“Exactly!! This is the Bean we know!!! The finals are heating up even more!”
With Bean’s proclamation of victory, the arena became hot in a different sense from Johan’s.
Once the interview wrapped up, both athletes moved to their spots, activating the Legendary Fighter Crystal Ball to prepare for the game start.
“Now, let’s begin the match between Bean and Dain!!!”
With that, the character selection screen for the Legendary Fighter lit up, and Noirin and JYJ started speculating about the match.
“Will Bean’s declaration come true, I wonder? What do you think, Noirin?”
“I believe that with Bean’s skills, it’s very likely. But, you know, nothing is certain in this world, which is what makes the competition fun, right?”
“True! I wonder what characters they will select first?”
“Considering Dain’s main character is Ren, choosing Karuga might be a burden for Bean.”
“Exactly. Karuga is weak against Ren. Oh! While we were talking, both players have made their selections!!”
As the two commentators discussed, the character selection process concluded.
When the characters were revealed, the arena erupted into chaos.
“Unbelievable!! Dain chose Ren, and Bean has selected Karuga!!!”
“This is going to be tough for Bean!”
“Indeed!!! Bean picked Karuga way too early!!!!”
JYJ and Noirin reacted with disappointment and sighs at Bean’s choice of Karuga, who was weak against Ren.
No matter how skilled Bean was, defeating Ren with a character disadvantage would not be an easy task.
“It’s hard to predict how this match will unfold.”
“Absolutely. It’s become truly unpredictable.”
While Noirin and JYJ lamented Bean’s character choice, Karuga and Ren appeared on screen, and the game commenced.
“Round 1 Fight!”
As the match started, Dain controlled Ren and began utilizing her special moves rapidly.
“Oh! Dain is spamming Ren’s projectiles right from the get-go!!!”
“You don’t want to get hit by Yudra’s whip! That’s a headache waiting to happen!!”
“Yudra! Yudra! Yudra!”
Dain relentlessly pressured Bean with Ren’s projectiles while his Karuga was being pushed into the corner.
Would Bean lose without putting up a fight?
As that thought crossed their minds, something amazing began to happen.
“Yudra! Ha! Yudra! Yudra! Ha!”
“What the heck!!!!”
“Karuga is blocking the projectiles and advancing forward!!!”
Typically, in Legendary Fighter, projectiles dealt some damage and pushed the defender back when blocked with a standard guard.
However, if you use [Just Guard] by pressing the directional keys forward, no damage would be taken, and no pushback would occur.
Bean had just started using that [Just Guard] technique to block Ren’s projectiles and was advancing!
“Is that really possible?!”
“In theory, yes. But a single timing mistake could result in a counter that would defeat you instantly.”
“Is it heaven or hell? The fate of both players rests in Bean’s fingertips!!!”
Bean’s Karuga, utilizing theoretical strategies, began inching closer to Ren.
The pressure from the legendary soldier of the empire creeping closer was enough to shake Dain’s confidence.
“Yudra! Ha! Yudra! Ha! Hyah!”
“Oh no! A misinput!!!”
“Dain is making a huge mistake!!!”
Ren launched a weak attack due to the incorrect command, and Bean wouldn’t let that opportunity slip by.
“Radek!!”
“Here it comes!! Karuga’s symbolic Radek!!”
Seizing the chance when Dain’s Ren was in a vulnerable state, Bean’s Karuga unleashed the National Combo.
“Whack! Hot! Radek! Hot! Whoosh! Three hits in a row!”
The combo connected with Ren, making her health drop to an astonishing 50% in no time.
Following up, Bean’s Karuga continued attacking the downed Ren, lowering her health by 95%.
Dain barely managed to escape to the corner with a jump, but those familiar with Legendary Fighter knew it was the perfect kill opportunity, and they expected Bean to capitalize on it.
“Given the timing, he’ll definitely use it!!!”
“Yes!!! If it’s Bean, he will use it!!!!”
“Grant me power, oh Lightning God!!!”
Barely able to finish the thought, Karuga took his stance.
He was about to unleash his ultimate move, the empire’s martial art technique, Zergas, known as ‘Spear of the Lightning God.’
“Spear of the Lightning God!!! Crackle!!!”
With lightning illuminating the screen, Karuga’s fist barreled towards Ren.
Dain braced himself to guard but was already too late.
Karuga’s ultimate attack would deal a whopping 35% health damage on a hit, and if blocked, it would still chip away 7%.
Unless he pulled off a Just Guard, Bean’s victory was already sealed.
Sadly, Dain couldn’t use Just Guard with the same proficiency as Bean.
“Ahhhhh!!!!”
“Oh no!!! Ren can’t withstand the guard damage and goes down!!!!”
“No!!! My Ren!!!”
Alas, Ren succumbed to the guard damage, dramatically falling to the ground in slow motion.
And with that, the screen declared Bean’s Karuga as the winner.
“Ren Lose, Karuga Win”
“Wooooo! Bean has won!!!”
“And it’s a perfect victory!!!”
Thanks to Karuga, who had taken no damage due to Just Guard, Bean achieved a perfect win over Dain.
Noirin felt that Bean had probably strategized all of this before the match even started.
“I think Bean calculated the guard damage beforehand. What an intimidating player.”
The skill gap was overwhelmingly vast.
There was another round coming, but Noirin felt there was no need to watch further.
Given the skill disparity, Bean’s victory was abundantly clear.
Dain’s only hope was whether he could land even a single hit on Bean, but sadly, he lost with a double perfect.
And thus, Dain became known as both the first dwarf to reach the finals and the first dwarf to be eliminated from the finals.
