Chapter 129
Streamer Spoon is a Challenger-tier ADC.
Challenger.
The highest tier in the League.
As the League is a game that draws players from all sorts of games, it's ingrained in public perception that these top-tier players are the best at the game.
And that's actually true.
Unless a small player base is due to difficulty, it means that there are fewer highly skilled people gathering.
Gamers who have seen early pros fail to survive as the player base grew and tournament standards rose know this well.
And the League is indisputably the game with the largest player base.
Needless to say, a Challenger in such a League has a certain level of talent.
The same goes for Grandmasters, of course.
"But A?"
Sitting in his chair and browsing the community, Spoon thought.
This has gone too far, hasn't it?
There are two things needed to become a Challenger.
Mechanics and game sense.
It's a common opinion that you can't reach it without both, and indeed, I've never seen a Challenger lacking in either.
"Hmm. Seems he has some talent in mechanics."
I'll admit it to some extent.
After all, he figured out Kael's patterns, even if he's only played one hero.
"As expected, it's chaos."
The Kael forum, which I ended up browsing while searching for opponents, was going crazy.
[Wind Sword officially acknowledged. Streamer Seo Jun guided him directly]
[Watch the video. The sword is just there lololololol he's insane]
[Did he control that too?]
[If I get tutored, can I get a feel for it too lolol]
[A 3-year shut-in Kael fanboy who never leaves the house is now working part-time to afford tutoring, how about it?]
[Please just go outside!]
[It's amazing there's a pattern, amazing he found it, amazing he personally guides someone, and amazing that they get the hang of it ffs]
"Impressive, indeed."
Spoon's current League nickname was "FrustratedSoI'llGoTop."
Top refers to mid and top lanes. Bot is bottom lane. As is typical in team games, if either top or bot collapses, you lose. And most top-lane players think they lose many games because bot collapsed. Conversely, bot players think they lose mostly because top collapses. When people lose a game, they naturally think it's because their team was bad. Even if it's their own fault. And those memories linger even longer. When these two facts overlap, it inevitably creates collective persecution complexes and misunderstandings between top and bot players. "FrustratedSoI'llGoTop" is a nickname that perfectly exemplifies such blame-shifting and misconceptions. Of course, Spoon didn't admit to that. And his previous nickname: "IfNoADCThenKael." A truly fearsome coercive nickname. These two nicknames were why people mistakenly thought his secondary role was mid. In truth, he hardly ever played mid and never played Kael. He just inserted a typical toxic champ name.
"If I can't get ADC and have to play elsewhere, I'll go mid."
It's ambiguous to call it a secondary role. Even so.
[Suddenly an in-house match announcement appeared! The forum owner is participating]
-What's this lol out of nowhere
-Did he know Yoonho before?
-I guess it's because of Rios soon, so he's doing an in-house
└Could the host be going to Rios?
└Everyone already had a hunch lolol
└Kya!
-Wow damn. Kael God's opponent is Spoon, holy shit
└Spoon, the Challenger ADC? Tbh if you think Seo Jun will win, upvote lololol
└Ah lol so did that spoon bastard find Kael's patterns? lololol
└The moment he picks Kael, it's cut regardless of kiting or whatever. I wonder if spoon knows about the 2-second invincibility lol
"Wow... seriously."
Browsing opponents, Spoon felt incredulous. He kept rubbing around his mouth and muttered.
"Ridiculous. This isn't right. No matter how much it's a Kael forum."
Being good at Kael? I admit it.
No need for other reasons, that streamer was born with incredible talent.
Whether it's a genius-level mind straight out of a drama, I don't know what kind of talent it is.
"2-second invincibility? Sure, it's impressive, but who would just let you slash their vitals? Wow, damn."
The reason he's dumbfounded right now.
Because there's clearly not enough evidence to rank Seo Jun on a similar level to him.
"We don't know if he's good with things other than the sword, or what his associative ability is like. None of it's been proven."
Association.
A crucial concept in virtual reality, where everything moves by thought.
Moving your body is just thinking with the same sensation as reality. In fact, calling it thought is laughable. You just move naturally, as you always do.
But what about a third hand that transcends your physical body, or some kind of energy existing within the game?
Such sensations are inevitably unfamiliar at first.
As strange and difficult as a baby learning to walk.
That's why games where your avatar changes aren't made often.
If every time you start a game, you have to relearn how to move your body like learning to walk again, it'd be more convenient to just not buy such games at all.
So the avatar, the sensation of moving your body, is kept mostly uniform.
But in-game skills are different.
The act of thinking, feeling, and manifesting sensations that don't exist in reality as if they were real.
Gamers call that act association, and it's one of the key elements that make up mechanics.
"Ha, why a Challenger is a Challenger. Want me to show you? I'll crush you with Kael too."
Kael is a hero based on sword and body movement.
His reworked skills and ultimate are triggered simply by thinking the word, no need for complicated association.
So I'll show that even movement-wise, it doesn't work.
"I don't know how outstanding his association side is, but I'll show it's the same there too."
Burning with zeal and hostility, he was determined to prove why a Challenger is a Challenger.
Seo Jun succeeded in provoking him without doing anything!
* * *
The next day.
As Seo Jun was streaming at his desk, his eyes moved to the right side of the taskbar at the bottom to check the time.
6:29.
"It's time to gather. You all know what we're doing, right?"
-You told us in the stream title
-In-house match!
-But the roster isn't announced, why already?
-I guess he applied for Rios lol lol lol
-He's a newbie, unranked, so they probably won't accept him. That's why he set up an in-house to show something lololol cute host
-Do you want the winning prize that badly? lolol should we buy it for you?
Seo Jun read the comments and chuckled.
'It'd be nice if they actually bought it for me.'
The viewers were curious why Ha Yunho suddenly held an in-house match.
And they reached the conclusion that it was to appeal Seo Jun to the operations team!
First, there's the connection through Taewoo. And Seo Jun had a history of coming to "Hyup-eul Wihayeo" right before the battlefield. There was no reason it couldn't happen again, so that would mean he's aiming for Rios. But facing a crisis of not being accepted, maybe he's trying to draw attention? An in-house match would have many eyes watching. Maybe even the Kael vital points were for that?! Seo Jun looked at the chat, full of viewers who had pieced this together, as if proud of them.
'Getting it somewhat right is better than nothing.'
How admirable!
Leaving behind the viewers who had gotten the wrong end of the stick, Seo Jun entered the invited chat room.
Ding.
The agreed time was 6:30, so he arrived right on time.
When Seo Jun entered, there were 5 people in the chat room. But within seconds, 4 more were added, filling the room with 10 people. Everyone had come right on time.
[Ah. Hello everyone! No one's late.]
Ha Yunho's voice came through the speakers, and then other streamers began to chime in one by one.
[Hello, everyone.]
[Woo!]
[Wow! In-house match, so exciting!]
[Ha Yunho is ugly!]
[Agreed.]
[Hello. Nice to meet you all.]
[Hello, Seo Jun!]
With a series of contextless remarks.
The viewers, used to such sights, just laughed.
[Who said Ha Yunho is ugly just now! I think I need to enforce some discipline here.]
Why discipline suddenly? Ha Yunho continued. As the host, they all listened without interrupting.
[Some of you may not know each other or are meeting for the first time, right? So, let's briefly introduce ourselves in three lines...]
Listening was a mistake on Seo Jun's part.
[Ahhh! Shut up!]
[Just move on!]
[Hahahaha.]
[Ah, I really hate stuff like that]
[Me too.]
[Can't we just greet? No, can we just not do it?]
Seo Jun laughed as a variety of voices erupted from the speakers in the crisis.
[Then one line...]
Like Seo Jun, Ha Yunho seemed entertained.
[This son of a...]
[Shall we just end the in-house match, boss?]
[Please. Hreumjeulreug!]
-Crane just clenched her teeth hard lolol
-Catching Rumi's voice in that chaos. Are you a meat-type water attribute? (a pun on a character)
-What a mess.
-It's a mess from the start lolol
-This is the flavor lol lol lol
Thus, Seo Jun's first impression of a 3+ person collab was cemented as a mess. Not in a bad way.
[Ah. Due to too much backlash, let's just do greetings. Then, first...!]
* * *
After the introductions, they launched the League.
Seo Jun had joined the chat room from outside, so he needed to get into his capsule first.
[Do you wish to join Ha Yunho's custom game?]
When he pressed accept, the interface appeared.
And Ha Yunho's voice was heard.
[Let's go right away!]
He must have been the last one.
The teams were already set, as they'd gathered people to balance things. And it seemed they had split beforehand before Seo Jun entered the custom game, so it started immediately upon entry.
Seo Jun's body was transported.
"Alright, let's do bans and picks. I trust you, Mallang!"
Teammates were summoned on either side of Seo Jun. Among them was Ha Yunho.
It wasn't right next to him, but since voice could be transmitted via team chat, it didn't matter. And it was also possible to transmit privately to just Seo Jun like now.
"By the way, Seo Jun. Wasn't your self-introduction a bit too bland earlier? Just a new streamer."
"It was just right."
"No, I mean, you know. Like the Slayer, or the Slayer."
-lol lol lol lol going straight for the tease
-This is Yunho for you lol lol lol
-A formidable opponent
-Host, are you gonna take that?
-Our host is pretty good at roasting too?
One of the secrets behind Ha Yunho getting close with many streamers was this thorough information gathering.
"Of course, I mean the Slayer of Righteous, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions."
It seems he'd thoroughly read up on YouTube.
Seo Jun didn't feel much like counterattacking.
'I can't roast such a precious person.'
Aren't they viewers who boosted his view count? Most importantly, Ha Yunho was the team leader who'd pick him. And it absolutely wasn't because, unlike Yunho, Seo Jun hadn't done his homework and had no material to roast with.
"Shall we briefly discuss strategy?"
"Yes, let's."
Seo Jun muted the audio going to the stream.
"You know the opponent is a Challenger ADC, right? He'll probably pick a ranged hero for mid too."
"I see."
"Do you have any heroes prepared other than Kael?"
Ha Yunho had already told Mallang, who was doing bans and picks, not to ban mid heroes. So, feeling at ease, he asked what hero Seo Jun had prepared, with anticipation. But.
"No."
At Seo Jun's confident demeanor, Ha Yunho momentarily lost his words.
"...Ah. I see. Well, thankfully they didn't ban Kael? Since we're fighting twice anyway, maybe it's okay to play Kael in the first match."
Ha Yunho thought it was fortunate, but Seo Jun didn't.
'Hmm.'
Even after explaining the circumstances, leaving Kael open is a clear provocation, no matter if there's a next match.
"Ah, it's fine. I can just decide now."
Anyway, since viewers gifted him heroes, his shop was in a state where he couldn't buy anything.
"Which one?"
"Hmm. How about trying Eric this time? Looks fun."
A question mark popped up over Ha Yunho's head.
Prisoner Eric?
That hero who shoots chained with a magic circle that has a delay?
Not only is it not a sword-wielding character, but it's a character heavily reliant on association, isn't it?
As Seo Jun had guessed, Ha Yunho had thoroughly watched all the videos. So he knew that this was the first time Seo Jun was showing ability in this kind of mechanics.
"What's your synchronization rate, if I may ask?"
It must be high, right?
Then, even with a new character, he might quickly get the feel and show something...
"10."
"Pardon?"
Is he serious?
"Ah, it's my turn to pick."
"Wait, just a moment, think a little more..."
You can pre-select a hero for someone later and take more time to think! Unfortunately, it was too late to stop Seo Jun's unimpeded fingers.
[Sword God - Prisoner Eric]
"Wow!"
Experiencing this kind of bulldozer play firsthand after only seeing it on YouTube felt refreshing!
'Saying his synchronization rate is 10 must be a joke, right? How can a human have a synchronization rate of 10? Hahaha!'
Since Ha Yunho was a 'just for fun' gamer, he immediately got a sense of how to deal with Seo Jun. Just have fun!
[The game is starting.]