Chapter 128
Taeu checked the message.
Thankfully, worries about a horror game were unfounded.
[CEO Ha: Taeu, can you introduce your friend after your stream today?]
Instead, something unexpected popped up.
‘Suddenly he wants me to introduce that guy?’
That guy whose name he couldn't mention.
Taeu became seriously curious about why that guy had come up.
So he immediately ended the stream.
A truly flawless logic structure.
“Guys. Bye.”
Since he'd planned to end it soon if nothing happened, Taeu stopped the streaming and sent a reply to the CEO right away.
[Kim Taeu: Why him all of a sudden?]
Ha Yunho was the CEO of Point, the MCN company Taeu belonged to, and also a streamer.
A peculiarity was that he did many collab streams with his many streamer acquaintances.
So it wasn’t strange for CEO Ha to ask to be introduced to someone.
It wasn’t frequent, but it wasn't entirely unheard of.
On top of that, he had once before said he wanted to meet Seojun.
Still, he had to know the exact reason.
[CEO Ha: Well, I became a team leader for this Leos too, just like you...]
The CEO told Taeu the facts without holding back.
He said he'd become a team leader this time, and that Seojun had also been invited.
Taeu knew this already from hearing it directly from Seojun.
And the CEO said he'd learned this directly from the operations team.
[Kim Taeu: Why the ops team?]
[CEO Ha: They said they don't know which group to put him in]
[Kim Taeu: Ah lol]
It's definitely ambiguous.
For other people.
[Kim Taeu: So they asked you to hold a scrim? The CEO?]
[CEO Ha: Yeah. So introduce us today! I need to recruit as fast as possible!]
[Kim Taeu: I see!]
Taeu sent a cheerful reply.
But his mind began to grow complicated.
‘If this goes wrong it’s all over.’
Taeu's plan to win this tournament was simple yet solid.
The friend bus!
Jin Seojun.
Taeu's thinking was that if he brought along his friend, who was suspiciously good at fighting and games, in the auction, he could win.
‘It's a matter of 100 million won. Even that guy would get serious.’
Serious Seojun would be nearly unstoppable, wouldn't he?
What’s more, only a few people, including Taeu currently, knew that Seojun had played The League before.
‘Silver my ass. He was definitely damn good.’
Then.
I just have to draft him.
If he's assigned to A, I'll bring him while spending points appropriately.
If he's assigned to B, I'll bring Seojun even if it means spending every last point.
In the end, an auction item's price varies according to the value the bidders set.
Would the other team leaders know Seojun's true value?
Probably not unless they'd seen up close what insane things that guy had done.
In other words, even if they analyzed his track records from streaming, the value other team leaders assign to Seojun is bound to be lower than what Taeu thinks.
Then Taeu can just bring him while profiting from that difference.
‘In the end, it seems the scrim can’t be avoided.’
But if his value is reassessed upward through the scrim, that profit shrinks.
That’s the disappointing part.
If he meets a Challenger and wins overwhelmingly in the scrim, the profit could shrink or even vanish.
‘Even if I tell him not to play well, he's not the type to listen.’
I’ll have to at least try.
[Kim Taeu: I'll go talk to him right now.]
[CEO Ha: Okay. Thanks.]
* * *
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“You know the MCN CEO I mentioned before?”
“Yeah.”
Seojun, swiveling around in his chair, looked at Taeu who had barged into his room and got straight to the point.
“That hyung-nim wants me to connect you.”
“Yeah? Why does he? I’m not really thinking of joining an MCN right now.”
Seojun first thought of an MCN.
Taeu's MCN, Point.
Point was a company where the CEO was an active streamer and the affiliated streamers were mostly the CEO's acquaintances.
The very reason for founding the company was to help fellow creators.
Just like that sand-filled box from before, MCNs are sometimes created out of necessity for oneself and one’s colleagues.
If the CEO of such a place wanted to talk, what could the topic be other than business?
“Don't worry. It's nothing like that.”
Taeu cut in decisively.
“Then? Does he want to do a collab or something?”
He'd heard the CEO liked collabs. Knew a lot of games too.
“Something like that. Except the scale isn't 2, 3, or 4 people, it's 10.”
Huh?
“10 people, so it must be a streamer scrim.”
The League is 5v5.
“Right.”
“Hmm...”
Do they usually do these?
“For your information, this is also related to Leos, so joining would be good. They probably sent you a request too.”
Seojun looked at Taeu as if to ask what that meant.
“The ops team said they can't assign your group.”
Seojun interpreted the meaning for a moment, then realized and looked up.
“Ah, so they're asking that side to do it?”
“Yeah. That hyung is also a team leader like me. So he must have asked the hyung.”
And that hyung asked Taeu. The easiest way to connect with him was through Taeu, who lived together.
“Got it. Send me the contact.”
Taeu sent a message to Seojun.
“Here. And one piece of advice. You, it'd be best if you control your skills as much as possible in this scrim.”
“How do I control it?”
“Get an A rank, but don't become the top pick among A. If you get B and you play as well as an A, you, the team, and the ops team will all get cursed out.”
“That could happen.”
“But once you get an A, whether your performance is S-rank, SSS-rank, or EX-rank, they can't curse. They'll just say it was a hidden gem pick. Of course, to be a hidden gem you can't be too expensive, so you shouldn't show all your skills either. Do you get what I'm saying? This is really important.”
Taeu's tone was dead serious.
More serious than when he first told Seojun the reality of becoming a streamer.
“Alright.”
Seojun chuckled and nodded.
Because Taeu's intention was blatantly obvious.
* * *
Indeed, checking the mail confirmed that the place that had previously approached him had sent another message.
As expected, the content requested he participate in a scrim to gauge his skills.
They said if he was reluctant they could do a private 1v1 or something, but Seojun decided to just do the scrim.
[Jin Seojun: Hello.]
[Ha Yunho: Hello! Did you hear from Taeu?]
[Jin Seojun: Yes.]
[Ha Yunho: Haha. Since the schedule is tight I'll get right to the point.]
[Ha Yunho: The ops team over there needs to select participants, so they said they want the scrim done as quickly as possible.]
[Jin Seojun: Yes.]
[Ha Yunho: So it seems we'll have to do it tomorrow or within two days. When are you available?]
[Jin Seojun: Let's do it tomorrow.]
[Ha Yunho: Understood. Then you just need to keep that day free! I'll handle everything else.]
[Jin Seojun: Thank you.]
Seojun and Yunho chatted about a few trivial things after that.
Maybe it really wasn't for nothing that he went around doing collabs with various streamers; Yunho was talkative.
[Ha Yunho: Hehe. The scrim looks like it'll be fun!]
[Ha Yunho: Then, lastly, is there anything you'd like to say separately? Like a tier you'd prefer as an opponent. I can't invite just anyone for a collab, but I'll match it as best I can!]
There were three tiers that could come as Seojun's opponents.
Master, Grand Master, Challenger.
No matter who he faced, if the results were ambiguous it would be hard to analyze Seojun's skills, so playing many games was best.
But since the chances of a very ambiguous result were low, they'd be able to grasp his approximate level no matter which of the three tiers he faced.
So Seojun didn't care who came.
The more pressing issue was.
[Jin Seojun: I don't care about that, but I have another request.]
[Ha Yunho: What is it?]
[Jin Seojun: You said you were recruited as a team leader, right?]
[Ha Yunho: Yes yes. The same team leader role as Taeu.]
[Jin Seojun: Then how about putting me on your team?]
[Ha Yunho: What???]
[Ha Yunho: LOL why?]
* * *
A conversation between an auction item and a bidder, not a collusion between team leaders, has no problem anyway since the auction results can't be manipulated.
Even so, directly appealing for oneself like this is rare.
No, actually most participants, when meeting a team leader, tend to say please don't buy them.
Because if competition drives up the price and they sell for a lot, it's a disaster.
So Ha Yunho laughed in front of his monitor.
Suddenly telling him to buy him—wasn't that not much different from the image he'd shown on stream?
[Ha Yunho: Is there a reason I should buy you, Seojun-ssi? You'll probably be quite expensive?]
After the scrim is done and the ranks are assigned, and we hear the team leaders' opinions, the outline will become clear, but at least he didn't think it would be cheap.
[Jin Seojun: I'll be cheap, though?]
[Ha Yunho: Not at all. LOL]
[Jin Seojun: It'll be fine even if it's expensive. Because the team I'm on will win.]
A sigh of admiration escaped naturally.
“Ah...”
Confidence.
Even though they'd been chatting to get friendly and the mood was good, to joke so openly...
Or maybe it wasn't a joke?
Anyway, he's enviable. To have the skill to be that confident when he might even be placed among Challengers.
“But why me, of all people?”
Did I make a good impression?
Of course not.
[Jin Seojun: Honestly, Taeu is trying to buy me. But I don't really want to go to a team with him as the team leader, you see.]
Seeing the next message, Ha Yunho burst out laughing.
“Ah! He can't stand his friend trying to ride the bus. Hahaha!”
So it was an SOS.
If Taeu really made up his mind to buy him, he'd no doubt buy him even if expensive.
In that case.
[Ha Yunho: LOOOL]
[Ha Yunho: Prove it to me. With a hero other than Kael. Though it'll be banned anyway.]
Ha Yunho is a for-fun gamer.
That image is solid, and it's true.
But he doesn't troll or intentionally make harmful plays.
He enjoys himself while giving it his all.
[Jin Seojun: Yes.]
There was no need for further talk. He felt the meaning had been clearly conveyed.
Right now, Ha Yunho wasn't simply demanding victory or certification of skill.
He was telling him to show something worth buying even at a high price, even if it meant competing with Taeu.
Something unexpected, or growth potential.
Anything.
“There’s truly no perfectly appropriate tier for an opponent, no matter what. I'll just have to ask a streamer who's available.”
The other participants besides Seojun's opponent had already been filled.
Who did he think he was.
He may run the company haphazardly, but he's still the CEO!
[Hey, are you free?]
[What are you up to tomorrow?]
[Do you have time tomorrow?]
It felt like he'd turned into a cyber "Do you know the Way?" person.
[You seem to have a lot of merit]
[Do you know about scrims?]
[Scrim gogo?]
But despite repeated attempts, it was hard to find a streamer among high-tier players who could make time tomorrow.
The schedule and also the fact that scrims are a burdensome type of content were the reasons.
“Tsk. Hard to find.”
If they'd given about three days, maybe.
A moment later.
“Oh? That's a relief.”
One positive reply came.
Fortunately, there was at least one streamer who was available and interested in the scrim.
Ha Yunho immediately explained the detailed situation. For things like this, you have to be honest.
“He'll be facing a Challenger? No, more precisely a Grand Master?”
The streamer to face Seojun was decided.
The streamer's name was Spoon.
A Challenger, his main position was ADC, and mid was his secondary.
But since Spoon rarely played his secondary position, it was hard to see his mid as Challenger level.
However, it was definitely not below Master, so he was a sufficiently suitable opponent.
[Spoon: So I just play like I normally do, right?]
[Ha Yunho: That's right]
[Spoon: That's easy. CEO, but if I crush him too hard, won't that streamer end up as a C-rank?]
He seemed confident.
You could tell he saw himself not as the one proving something, but as the evaluator.
“That makes sense.”
Even if it's a secondary position, he's still a Challenger.
His mechanics and game understanding aren't going anywhere.
Still, he had a feeling Seojun would show something.
[Ha Yunho: Haha. I'm not sure about that part either. But please do your best!]
So Ha Yunho once again emphasized that he had to do his best, and then posted an announcement for the surprise scrim the next day.