BTOG 224 – Strategy meeting on the day before the main game

“I want to save as many cards in my hand as possible for the main tournament.”

Suu-chan-chan made such a proposal during our strategy meeting and final team practice for tomorrow.

By the way, we have already logged into the game, and Suu-chan is speaking in Ritu’s avatar.

Well, both Ritu and Suu-chan-chan are nearly 180 tall in terms of height, so there is not much difference.

Setting that trivia aside, it was Rin-chan who first responded to Suu-chan’s suggestion.

“Oh, you want to do that? Can’t we force our way through to the main round?”

“We certainly can, but that only if you just want to advance to the final round. If we want to win the final round and go beyond that, I’m a bit hesitant to show all of our hands. Especially considering the first match of the final round, I think it could be fatal if we don’t take precautions.”

If we don’t drag Suu-chan down, we can win the tournament head-to-head easy enough. At least that’s what Rin-chan believes, and Suu-chan herself, who seems to take it for granted that she will advance to the final round, probably doesn’t doubt her own ability.

Even so, she clearly said her objection, so there must be a clear risk in Suu-chan’s mind.

They looked at each other for a bit, and Rin-chan nodded in satisfaction.

“If you can anticipate that much, you’ve done well. Do you have a concrete strategy in mind?”

“The first thing to do is to keep advancing using me as the main force since I have almost all my cards opened already. Plus, I want to hide Nana’s [Magic Bullet].”

“Oyo? we’re not going to use it?

“Correct.”

I was listening to the conversation between the two of them and got a bit surprised when my name was suddenly thrown into the fray, then I unintentionally asked back.

“The real [Magic Bullet] that can hit its target bypassing a wall by making use of ricochets is a powerful special move in this game that could be called a half cheat. But even so, it’s not like you can aim from the outside to the deepest of the corridor, even if they are near a door, or a window, or a large room, right?”

That’s true. There are limits to the angle and distance.

[Magic Bullet] is not such an omnipotent technique, as Suu-chan says. Because the Bullet loses a lot of its velocity each time it is bounced, it’s not possible to reflect ten or twenty times in a row.

It showed its brilliance when you combined it with normal sniping because the number of attack patterns will increase dramatically, but [Magic Bullet] does not mean that it is a technique that can hit anywhere.

“If you show it a few times, people may think it’s just a coincidence, but if you show it many times, they will be wary to the extent that they will know that you can execute it at will. It would be easy for a finalist in a tournament of this level to deal with it. That’s why I want to use [Magic Bullet] at a time when it’s really showing its most value.”

“So you’re saying that right now is the right time for it?”

“That’s right.”

As Suu-chan summarizes [Magic Bullet]is a technique that can hit the target where no ordinary sniping could ever do.

It is difficult to land it when the target decides to hole up at the deepest part of the building or a place between two or three doors.

Using that fact, one can negate this technique’s effectiveness simply by going deeper inside.

Or, you may bring the fight into a sandy field where ricochets are not possible. Well, in this case, the lack of shields makes it easier to hit the target because I can normally aim with a sniper.

And ricocheting bullets are a normal phenomenon in Zero Wars. As long as it exists within the system, it is possible to be hit by accident by a ricochet.

That’s why top-level players are accustomed to being aware of ricochets to some extent.

If you know what it is, it’s easy to deal with it.

“But I already used it yesterday, didn’t I?”

“That much is fine. Because [Magic Bullet] won’t directly show in the reports, so it’s safe to say that they didn’t know about it.”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

“And that’s exactly why tomorrow’s game is so important. And even without the Magic Bullet, Nana is getting too much attention right now.”

“Indeed, I’ve done a lot of things today.”

Along with hundreds of thousands of people came to watch the stream I did just now, the curiosity directed at me from the public eyes right now is tremendous.

What she’s going to do? What will she do to me? There is no doubt that I am exposed to such stares.

You could say that every move I make is an object of interest. Therefore, if I shoot a [Magic bullet] now, someone will surely notice it.

Suu-chan is probably wary of that.

“I realized it during the team competition yesterday, but it takes a lot of effort for even me to win a team competition at the level of the main tournament by myself. I want to preserve my concentration until the finals as much as possible. Rinne and Touka are also very good for beginners, but Nana has the edge in terms of skills. So I don’t want Nana to hide and do nothing.”

“But you never said that you cannot win by yourself. I expected that much from Suupaa.”

“Yes, both Nana and Suupaa are like this.”

“Rin-nee, you’re the last person I want to hear that from.”

“No, I’m not that good.”

“I’m serious here, so please don’t make fun of me.”

Rin-chan was teasing Suu-chan with her confident attitude and looked away when Touka-chan, who had unintentionally broken her polite language, interrupted her.

I felt somewhat comforted when I saw Suu-chan’s lips pout at these two.

“Let’s get back to the topic. I will ask Nana to be a sniper this time, but I’m thinking of doing a little siege battle.”

“A siege?”

“Yes, let me explain in detail.”

Suu-chan fiddled with her tablet, and the general-purpose field map used in this tournament was projected in the air.

She pointed to the middle of the map and said,

“In the first move, you and I will go down to Babel Town in the middle of the field, to the tallest apartment building in the area. It’s a [Hot Zone], but at the same time, there’s always a sniper rifle on the fifth or sixth floor. You’ll be in charge of sniping in all directions in Babel Town without moving from the rooftop, and I’ll be the one defending the apartment building.”

The area she pointed out is located in the middle of the field map.

This Babel Town is a residential area that spans about 400 meters on each side. Although it is a flat area, it has the tallest building in the game and is filled with skyscrapers.

It is an area where all kinds of materials, including weapons and items, are concentrated, and it is what is called a [Hot Zone]. It has become a tradition to see nearly 20 players descend on Babel Town immediately after the start of the game and engage in a killing spree.

Once you land in Babel Town, you have two possible outcomes. It’s either you drop out early, or you are fully equipped with the best equipment.

This is a typical high-risk, high-return area, so players who are confident in their abilities are always choosing to start in this area.

So in this team… no, it seems that Suu-chan is aiming for other teams to descend on Babel Town in search of more equipment precisely because it is a team competition.

Besides, the advantage of descending on Babel Town is not only the availability of equipment and items.

Because of its location in the middle of the field, the players here will be less likely to be caught by the shrinking safe zone from the outer edges of the field.

It is no secret that the safe zone shrinks over time, but the center of the shrinkage, which is randomly determined, is naturally closer to the center of the field as a whole.

Not having to move toward the safe zone until later in the game was a big advantage.

Nevertheless, Babel Town also has one fatal flaw. That is that Babel Town will never be the final center of the safe zone.

Even if it is in a good location and has a good number of items, it will never be the final safe zone. In other words, even if it is suitable for a certain degree for a siege, it is not possible to continue to siege it until the final stage.

“From this rooftop, everything in Babel Town is within range of fire, isn’t it?”

“Normally, that was not the case, Nana-nee-sama.”

“The magic bullet and Nana’s senses are too compatible.”

“Well, it’s not true that everything is within range. There are places where you can get good ricochet, but there are also places where you won’t be hit by anything.”

The location is in the center of the city, and it’s high up and has good visibility. It’s also the highest point in the city, so you don’t have to worry about being hit from a higher position. There are some directions where the buildings make it difficult to get a clear shot, but on the other hand, there are places where you can see to the edge of the city.

If you can ignore obstructions, you can easily cover the entire city with the range of a sniper rifle.

It was definitely a coveted location for snipers.

“Considering the four sacred items that always be present in the Babel Mansion, I am sure that there will be a struggle between several teams. I will be in charge of destroying any enemies that land on the mansion, at the same time I want Nana to play the role of spotting the enemy.”

“You mean I just have to tell them where the enemy is?”

“Yes. You can hear everything in Babel Town, can’t you?”

“That’s right, I can hear all from this much range.”

Babel Town is about 400 meters on each side, and Babel Mansion is located in its middle.

Imagine the area is like a rectangle, which means the shortest distance is about 200 meters when you draw a straight line from the center to the outer edge. The longest line drawn straight to the corner is …Ummm, it should not be more than 300 meters.

Then, Babel Town would fall within my search range within the game’s setting, allowing for a maximum sound pickup range of 360 meters.

“Nana will be the spotter, and I will kill the rest. So the plan is for our duo to take control of Babel Town.”

“Okay… but can this be called a siege?”

“Don’t worry about the details. It’s just a bit of deviation.”

“Well, it’s fine.”

As Suu-chan said earlier, rare items called the four sacred items will present themselves within the Babel Mansion.

The said items are a rare bulletproof vest, a rare helmet, a rare medium range assault rifle, and a rare shotgun.

To give you an idea of how strong this combination is, it is said that if you can get all of these items in solo play, you can increase your win rate by 50%.

That’s how clearly “strong” the equipment is. Especially when it comes to its weapons, those are two of the four weapons that appear only once in each match.

Will they come for the weapons?

Or do they come to prevent other teams from getting them?

Or, will you choose another piece of equipment without worrying about it?

Because the importance of such an item is less than when you go solo, not all teams will go for it.

And even if they choose other equipment, the fact remains that Babel Town is the best place to place items.

So, in a nutshell, Suu-chan’s strategy was simple, we hunted the gathered enemies and turned them into scores.

And if Suu-chan could also get a powerful weapon, it’s even better for us.

“And that summarizes my instruction for Nana. As long as you can be my eyes without dying, I’ll work it out.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Then we will… eh before that, Rinne and Touka do you know what to do?”

“They don’t need specific instruction, right?”

When Suu-chan-chan finished giving instructions to me, she looked at me to continue, and Rin-chan said in a strangely happy manner.

“Monitor the logs and survive moderately. Anything else?”

“Not really… But why I got a feeling that you already know what I’m planning to do?”

“Don’t be surprised. I’m Rinne.”

“I can’t say anything back to you when you put it like that.”

Rin-chan says it as if it’s a matter of course, and Suu-chan looks a little perplexed.

Their conversation might indicate more than what it seemed to be, but unfortunately, I couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

“Hey, hey, Touka-chan, do you know what they’re talking about?”

“Let’s see… well, Rin-nee-chan as a professional gamer, was called many names in her heyday, but the famous one is that she once called the [Witch of Strategy]. This was because she was able to read all of her opponent’s plans with an accuracy that was close to that of future sight. In fact, it is still used as her second name nowadays.”

“The Witch of Strategy.”

“You, there! Don’t bother teaching something so lame and embarrassing!”

Rin-chan, who had overheard Touka-chan and I whispering, blushed a little and interrupted us.

To be honest, I thought it was lame, but I guess she thought so too.

“I’m getting off track, aren’t I?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Anyway, our first priority in the main battle will be survival. As long as we stay in hiding, we should be able to survive long enough to get minimum points.”

“That’s all right. Touka should get used to the game’s atmosphere while working with Rinne during the real event. And the game’s pace will develop much faster than in practice and the qualifying rounds, but we couldn’t practice at this level, so…”

“So we need to hide considering those facts. I understand.”

The three of them agreed that our basic tactic is to act with survival as a priority.

Well, if Rin and Touka are satisfied with it, it’s not my place to say anything. They are much smarter than I am.

“The maximum number of kill points is 44 if 12 teams participate and are eliminated from the competition. Survivor points are 10 for first place, 5 for second place, and it decrease one point from there up to sixth place, so the total is 25. The total number of points is 138 for two matches, so we should earn about 25 of these points through kills or survival in the main tournament. Since each of the three teams in the block system will go to the finals, we won’t be eliminated if we get this many points.”

“That’s about right, and if we get 35, we can surely secure the first place.”

“I don’t want to monopolize too many points since many eyes are focused on us, but realistically, that’s about right. It would be ideal for earning more in the first game and keeping it moderate in the second game.”

“From an entertainment point of view, it is inevitable. The main game should be played while making strategic moves.”

“It depends on the development of the game and Nana, but I’m okay with it. I trust Nana’s ability.”

I watched as Rin-chan and Suu-chan quickly confirmed the situation and vaguely calculated the score in my head.

The target point Suu-chan want is 25 points out of 138 points. That is roughly one-fifth of the total points.

If there are three other teams that get 30 points, even if we secured 25 points, we will still lose the main competition.

However, it is not very realistic to expect such a neat distribution. In a battle royale, many different teams will get few kills.

In the end, we decided to settle for about 25 points, taking into account a certain amount of point dispersion.

Maybe you can’t understand this kind of thing unless you have actually experienced or watched a tournament. Is it the so-called [I just know it]?

I had watched the tournament with Rin-chan, but it was just fun to be with her, not to watch the tournament itself.

“I’m the one who suggested we did this, but to put it simply, the competition was just a prelude to the main event. To be honest, I think I can manage without a strategy. I had already talked with Rinne about how it would be fine if we just went without one. Even so, there is a reason why I went to the trouble of planning a strategy that would make me and Nana stand out.”

As I was feeling a little upset that I should have noticed it sooner, Sue turned to me again and said, “I guess we’re done settling on our objective regarding this tournament.”.

“So, you make it stand out on purpose? Because this strategy will undoubtedly stand out if it appears on the screen.”

“Yes, indeed. It’s a milestone for the one-match operation, combined with a special preparation that I have been working on for a long time since Rinne asked me to join the HEROES.”

Special preparation. It must be a grand strategy since Suu-chan says so.

And she said it’s been done for a long time, come to think of it, when was it that Rin-chan approached Suu-chan?

I think she told me that the decision to launch the VR division was made before I quit my part-time job, but I wonder if she started talking to Suu-chan-chan around that time.

As I was thinking about this, Suu-chan-chan explained the details of her strategy.

“In the first game of the final round, we will turn the premise of our opponents upside down. Specifically, we will be trying to outwit the [teaming], which will almost certainly happen…”

“teemeeng?”

Suu-chan nodded firmly as I involuntarily asked her about a word I had never heard of before.

Tl note:

My guess is grieving?