In Survival mode, one person sometimes ended up completely unable to do anything when enemies ambushed from the rear. This time, that person was the other tank, MeowMeowPunch.

“Huff... huff... Mr. Almond! I, I was supposed to throw the nails!”

With no mobility skill, he only managed to reach Scream Kicker now. The fight had already ended. One enemy had escaped, and four had died. Essentially, they had wiped out the opposing team. Runes were scattered all over the ground.

‘This can’t be real.’

Bubblegum lay sprawled on the ground, Gigant Machine’s health was also below half, and CrispyCrispy was a rune spirit.

‘How many enemies were there exactly?’

It honestly wouldn’t have been strange to say that Almond and Gigant Machine had killed everyone by themselves.

Almond calmly dropped a shocking strategy. “Let’s add one more tank.”

MeowMeowPunch froze. He never imagined another tank would be needed. That would make their composition completely absurd: four tanks and one damage dealer.

Without realizing it, MeowMeowPunch pleaded as if talking to a company superior. “Uh... M-maybe we should think about this one more time...”

Almond replied decisively like an executive director, “One more tank. Proceed.”

“If we do that, we’ll have four tanks! Who will deal the damage?!”

— LOL seriously

— Four tanks indeed...

— Four-tank comp, insane lol

— This loses 100% late game

Almond knew it sounded ridiculous, but he had a reason. “Do you know how many tanks we actually had fighting just now?”

“Three, right?”

“One. Gigant Machine.”

“...!”

“You didn’t even make it to the fight.”

In an actual team fight, only one tank had functioned properly.

Scream Kicker puffed out his chest proudly from the side. “Ahem. You’re saying I was the only tank doing real work.”

“Y-You said you didn’t even want to tank. Why are you so smug now?”

“A-Ahem. Once I tried it, it wasn’t... that bad...”

“Huh?”

Bubblegum cut in. “No, Almond! I got the last kill! What about me?! I was there too!”

He claimed to have contributed as well, not just Gigant Machine.

Almond continued explaining as if he hadn’t heard Bubblegum. “You see? In a team fight, only one tank can really function. If we engage late, it’s the tank in the back. If they come from the right, it’s the tank on the right.”

“W-What kind of logic is that...?”

The outrageous argument made it sound like they were walking miles apart.

“That’s why we need one tank each for east, west, south, and north. That way, there’s always a tank wherever the fight happens.”

— Tanks in every direction!!

— This guy is completely insane

— He really doesn’t trust them at all

— Fact: back when Bubblegum wasn’t here, Almond didn’t care about tanks at all

— East Tank, West Tank, South Tank, North Tank, holy shit lol

— What is this, the Four Guardian Beasts?

Viewers felt dumbfounded by this absurd theory.

Scream Kicker said, “He’s right. You’re the North Tank. I’m the South Tank. CrispyCrispy can be the East Tank. That works.”

Wasn’t he the one who hated tanking?

‘T-This bastard... He’s fine with it because he already became a tank?’

CrispyCrispy’s eyes shook violently as a rune spirit. His big eyes made his expression obvious, but he couldn’t say a single word.

Almond completely ignored him and Bubblegum.

“Uh... Guys?” Bubblegum had been talking for a while now, but no one answered.

— Self-imposed rune spirit state lol

— LOOOOOL

— LOL

— Bubblegum looks lost

— Bro, your mic channel changed!

“Hey, my mic channel didn’t... No, it didn’t, you idiots!”

— LOOOL

— Ahahaha

— It really didn’t change lol

— This is insane

Plop.

Bubblegum didn’t really have anything else to say, so he sat down in front of the rune spirit.

“Sigh. Guess you’re in the same boat as me.”

Wooooong...!

The rune spirit began to revive.

Pop.

[Revival]

“I revived you...” Bubblegum tried to say something, at least to CrispyCrispy.

“No, bro!”

The moment he revived, CrispyCrispy sprinted toward Almond and MeowMeowPunch.

“I-I don’t think we need an East Tank and West Tank, at least...!”

— LOOOOOOOL

— LOL

— Gum is the true ghost...

— Holy shit

— Bubblegum...

— The placement match is too important to worry about Bubblegum...

***

A short while passed.

“I’m solid as a rock~ Or was I literally a rock? Kuhahaha!”

Wooooong...!

CrispyCrispy contracted the champion, Great Monolith Kutan. Just as the name implied, it was a pure tank champion.

— Sentenced to be a tank lol

— LOOOOOOOL

— In the end lol

— A four-tank team at last...

— Probably the only team whose final contract is a tank

— This is hopeless lol

— So is he East Tank or West Tank?

“Me... I’m a tank...?” CrispyCrispy muttered in disbelief as he stared at his hands that now turned to stone.

Scream Kicker, Gigant Machine, patted his shoulder.

Thump. Thump.

“It’s doable. You just have to win, right? Tanking isn’t bad. It feels like a full-time job with four major insurances.”

“Ugh... I, I had a dream...”

“How long are you going to keep saying that? Reality is being a tank.”

— Holy shit LOL

— Life lessons from a senior...

— Hey! If you want to buy a house and get married, wake up and get a job at Tank Corp!

— For real, why is Almond the damage dealer?

— Not four insurances, four tanks

— Sentenced to be a tank...

All the members had contracted their champions. Now, they could use the remaining runes for additional strengthening.

“I’ll distribute the remaining runes like this.”

Rune distribution also fell to Almond. After all, they had survived and won against the enemy ambush because of him. Naturally, the authority went to him.

“First, I’ll take this. I’m the only damage dealer.” He took the offensive runes and the tank-related runes. “I’ll take these too since I’m the only damage dealer. I need to stay alive.”

Those runes went to Almond as well, yet no one said anything.

‘Damn it... Honestly, he does need them since he’s the only damage dealer.’

‘This is a single-carry setup to begin with.’

Almond became the most important piece once they took on a four tank, one damage dealer composition.

— The Lord’s grand design

— So this is why he made four tanks...

— Damn~

— LOL rune monopoly

— Almond-style exploitation is ruthless

He took all the rewards while making it impossible for anyone to complain.

‘Ahem...’

Watching from his monitor, Ju-Hyeok felt a strange, familiar twinge in his head.

‘This kid... Was he learning everything while pretending to be clueless?’

He didn’t know if Almond was really imitating that. It felt like something dormant inside Almond, from his days of Survival Craft, had awakened. Wasn’t there a saying like that?

‘When you stare into the Abyss long enough, the Abyss stares back at you.’

The moment one passed through Ah-Sung, they became Ah-Sung too.

“The distribution is done. Let’s go hunt the Abyss Shark.”

No one dared object even after Almond shamelessly called it distribution.

— Distribution my ass lol

— Distribu-what lol

— It means you’re full. Please take the post down.

— LOL is this teabagging?

***

The Abyss Shark was an epic monster that often led directly to victory. Unlike the Red Turtles, which spawned four at a time, only two Abyss Sharks appeared on the map. Competition would be fierce, but several teams had already been eliminated.

[25/50]

Judging by the numbers, roughly half the teams had been eliminated. The Shadow had already swallowed half the map.

‘The Abyss Shark was always the turning point.’

If one secured both the Red Turtles and the Abyss Shark, reaching first or second place was practically guaranteed.

“Grrrr...”

A dark shadow spread across the sky, revealing a massive streamlined silhouette.

‘There it is.’

‘The shark...!’

Shhhhaaa...

A predator swam through the dense Sanctum of the Abyss's energy. The Abyss Shark had appeared.

[Abyss Shark Lv. 9]

Something about the level felt off.

“Uh... I-it’s level nine?”

Almond’s team whispered while hiding in the bushes.

“Huh?”

Almond tilted his head.

‘It’s usually level seven.’

The level of Abyss monsters was based on the levels of players currently on the field.

“It’s three levels higher than us.”

“Looks like there’s a level nine player somewhere.”

Almond’s party had only reached level six with only Almond at level seven.

Bubblegum asked for orders, “What do we do, Almond? Should I go out and start tanking? I don’t see anyone.”

— Lol is this the smart guy’s orders?

— This team is actually doomed

— But seriously, what is that level nine? Damn

From behind, the other teammates looked like they wanted to stop him.

Almond nodded. “Yes. Let’s go out first. Now.”

“Okay!” Bubblegum dashed forward.

Tadadadak!

Everything happened so suddenly.

Only then did the others try to stop them.

“W-Wait, we don’t even know where the level nine is yet!”

Inferring high-level players from epic monster levels was basic knowledge. Once one made that inference, they had to factor it into their strategy. Charging out headfirst felt like a bizarre plan.

Almond said, “We’ll find out soon enough where the level nine is.”

Everyone stared at him with the same look.

‘There’s a way like that?!’

‘The Lord had a plan all along...’

‘No way. He was baiting them.’

— LOL

— LOOOOL

— Does Bubblegum know about this? Lol

— LMAO

***

“Alright, everyone. I’ll show you textbook tanking. You clear the mobs around the epic monster like this.”

Smaller mobs always assisted the Abyss Shark nearby. Bubblegum started clearing them first.

Bang.

Boom.

Against monsters, at least, Bubblegum swung his fists pretty well.

“Then you slowly pull the Abyss Shark over.”

— Ohhh

— LOL

— But... no one is following you?

— Only brave against monsters

Bzzzt.

Almond ordered Bubblegum, “Start tanking first. Everyone else will engage late.”

“Okay.”

Bubblegum was a tank specialist. Going in first was familiar. Without hesitation, he stepped up and swung his fists.

Bang!

“Wahaha! I’m here to kill you, you bastard!”

The massive Abyss Shark looked down at Bubblegum with puzzled eyes.

“What are you looking at?! Huh?! Don’t you wanna kill me?! Come on!”

He pulled aggro and backed away, luring the Abyss Shark toward his team. This was basic positioning when fighting epic monsters. As a tank main, Bubblegum executed it smoothly.

“Huh?!”

Whoom!

However, he wasn’t used to playing Iron Monster Bart. While backpedaling and swinging his fists, Bubblegum lost his balance under all the weight and slipped, flailing uselessly.

Thud.

“D-Damn it?!”

The Abyss Shark took a massive bite out of Bubblegum’s body.

Crunch!

“Now! Kill him!”

“Waaaa!”

“U-Us too! Us too!”

Two teams had been waiting and burst out at once. They hadn’t moved when only one person was poking around, but could no longer hold back after seeing such a fatal mistake. True to placement match queues, they were all still rookies driven by emotion.

— Holy shit LOL

— This is insane LOL

— Aggro explosion

— Even pros couldn’t resist that

— How do you resist that? LOL

— LMAO

Three teams collided at the Abyss Shark.

“Alm-mond! Almond! Where are you guys?!”

No one answered the frantic Bubblegum.

“Almond?! MeowMeowPunch?! Scream Kicker?! CrispyCrispy!!”

They continued hiding in the bushes.

Almond raised a finger to his lips. “Shh.”

— This is crazy LOL

— LOOOOL

— “Shh” my ass LOL

— Too serious, my lord!

— Ghost Busters? Nah, it’s just ghosts... Almond has realized the true use of Bubblegum

— What exactly does “mission” mean to him?

— And Almond wasn’t there...

— No LOL please

— The nutcase sold his soul to the mission...

Almond silenced everyone, but MeowMeowPunch still sent a voice message.

“E-Everyone will remember you, Sir Bubblegum...”

— LOOOOOOOL

— LOL

— This is insane LOL

— LMAO

— These guys are nuts LOL

— Ahhh Gum bro...

— Treat people well while they’re alive, you bastards!

— Again...? Did he get fertilized again?!

— After that, on Bubblegum’s memorial day, the offering table bent like a bow...