Episode 137
[Alright! Is there anyone else who would like to voice another opinion? No? Next, we’ll move on to Spoon, who lost to an Unranked player with a 10% win rate.]
The central screen changed. The second A-rank player. It was Spoon.
And the introduction text was written exactly as Bangju had said, without a single typo, just like it had been for Seojun.
“Is that allowed?”
Seojun asked the viewers with a smile.
Seojun had also received a permission request from the operations team the day before. Was it the same case?
- No idea lololol
- Looks like the ops team is really determined
- They’re allowing that?
[Alright. Spoon’s position is ADC, and his tier is a solid Challenger. Maybe because he recently got gank-boosted by someone, there’s a bit of a mood among viewers to put him down. But a Challenger ADC is a carry machine that, if things go just a little well, can lead the team straight to victory! He’s the bus driver himself! On top of that, since he’s the only A-rank ADC, his value is bound to be even more precious!]
- That’s true, though
- Having a royal ADC as the highest is nice
- Since when was ADC royal? You spoon bastards
Spoon was a derogatory term for ADC that had been passed down from ancient times.
ADC only adds a spoon to an already-cooked meal, they said.
Or that you have to spoon-feed them.
Or, are you going to hit with a spoon?
It was a saying that no longer applied.
“I have some expertise with spoons, you know. Well, more like a pipe, actually.”
- Pipe murderer lol
[Ah, there was a message from the ops team that I forgot. They say the introduction text was written at Spoon’s request. He said he’ll endure hardships and prepare. Haha. So, what do you think of a Spoon like that!]
Was that it?
* * *
The Rios Eve Festival ended two more hours later.
[Please give a round of applause to all the team leaders who have worked hard so far!]
- Clap clap clap clap
- Wow!
- Clap clap
- Cheer cheer cheer cheer
That double jieut wasn’t a tongue-clicking sound, but the sound of clapping hands.
[And to Bangju, who provided commentary for us!]
Ha Yunho added skillfully.
“Wow, but both the team leaders and Bangju are impressive. Among the 25 players, there didn’t seem to be a single person they didn’t know.”
- For real lol
- Even now I don’t know anyone except the streamer and Taewoo
- That’s professionalism
- Their heads were probably splitting for days
It wasn’t for nothing that Taewoo had been glued to videos nonstop for the past two days.
“I only know Alpaca, Lumi from our in-house, Malang, and Baramgeom, roughly.”
A new fact he learned: Alpaca was the mid?
- You only know the people you’ve met, streamer lolololololol
- No effort at all lololol
- Since you’re not a team leader, it doesn’t matter
That’s right.
Unless you’re a team leader, there’s no need to recognize them.
It’s enough to find out tomorrow when the teams are decided.
“Professionalism is professionalism. Then I’ll be going now.”
- Ah...
- Hey, don’t you have a streamer spirit?
- Please, broadcasting comes before health!
- When will you get that mindset?
- You grew too fast...
- Let’s find the beginner’s heart
- Not the beginner’s heart!!!
“It’s the tournament tomorrow. Bye, chat.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Seojun ended the broadcast and got up from his chair.
Having had fun watching, he went straight to Taewoo’s room.
“Oh, brother, why’d you come?”
Taewoo hurriedly pressed Alt+Tab to minimize the window that was on the monitor.
“What are you hiding.”
“Uh-uh. It’s private. It’s the ‘Bull-headed Shrike’ folder!”
Crazy bastard.
To use that as an excuse because he has nothing else to say, he’s clearly insane.
“It doesn’t seem like that at all? Were you working on a strategy?”
It wasn’t that Seojun had seen even a glimpse of the content.
He hadn’t barged in suddenly; he quietly opened the door, and Taewoo had noticed his presence as soon as he grabbed the handle and quickly pressed Alt+Tab.
Still, what he’s doing now is obvious.
“Yeah, that’s right. So what? I’m not showing you.”
Taewoo admitted readily.
As if he expected that, Seojun snorted and asked why.
“Why? I’m not a competitor, I’m a participant.”
“That’s true, but I still won’t show you. Am I crazy? I don’t know what method you’d use to screw me over, so why would I tell you?”
Tch.
*He knows me too well.*
This was also why Taewoo didn’t show any sign of trying to save him.
Because he didn’t know what Seojun would do!
But from the very beginning, Seojun had already seen through it and brought Ha Yunho into it, though Taewoo didn’t know that.
“I think it might be right to eliminate you since you know too much about me.”
Seojun fell into serious contemplation.
“What kind of bullshit is that now.”
But still, judging that one should have at least one friend to serve as a cautionary tale in life, he completely scrapped the plan.
“Well, it’s a joke. I have something to say.”
“What?”
“Earlier, at the start of the Eve Festival...”
Taewoo caught on to what Seojun was going to say and quickly preempted.
“Ah, right. I’m sorry!”
*Still, I just forgot a bit of the truth, but I didn’t start any false instigation.*
Taewoo was about to make that excuse but realized Seojun wouldn’t listen anyway.
“Ah, I said I’m sorry!”
I guess I’ll go sleep at my parents’ tonight.
* * *
Taewoo’s intention was good.
If he put him down, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Seojun either.
It wasn’t because he wanted to go to Ha Yunho’s team.
It’s just better to be sold cheaply at the auction.
Only then.
*I can make winning more achievable.*
Seojun wanted to be appropriately put down, sold at an appropriate price, and placed into an appropriate team.
At that level, it seemed possible to aim for victory.
If he had been placed in B, he wouldn’t have to worry about the team, but he’d have to worry about streaming after winning, so that’s beside the point.
That’s why Seojun showed his skills but also revealed some weaknesses appropriately.
Some might know that the weakness a beast reveals on its own is not a weakness but a trap, but they’ll still reconsider once more.
*The league is impossible alone.*
Honestly, he doesn’t know how it’ll go now, but seven years ago he often experienced defeat.
As a team game, it was a natural principle.
*The environment was poor in the past, but even considering that, teammates are important.*
He wants to win.
Therefore, today’s auction is important.
[Yes, hello everyone! The streamers’ grand party begins! I’m Arin, the announcer who will be the caster for this Rios!]
- Woooow!
- Arin noona, you’re beautiful!!
- The streamer would be prettier if he crossdressed
- Shut up
- Rios really begins!
- A-rank tier 1 is Jin Seojun, agree? A-rank tier 1 is Jin Seojun, agree? A-rank tier 1 is Jin Seojun, agree? A-rank tier 1 is Jin Seojun, agree?
[And the three people next to me are Bangju, who will provide commentary, former pro Penguin, and Taeyang!]
Seojun was likewise seated today, broadcasting.
This is really comfortable.
“Except for Bangju, the other two members of the commentary team are former pros.”
They finished their brief self-introductions and chatted.
They talked about past events and things any viewer would know.
And as time passed, the caster began talking about today’s schedule.
[Alright! With a total prize of 100 million won, and each individual also receiving a state-of-the-art capsule worth 100 million won, this tournament’s prize is the biggest ever! Today, we’ll hold an auction to form teams, and then we’ll play a game to decide which group you’ll go to in the group stage. What that game is, is a secret!]
Bangju added.
[If we tell you now, you might pick someone good at that game during the auction, so after the auction! The game will be revealed after the teams are formed.]
Rios proceeds with a group stage followed by a tournament.
First, in the group stage, three teams form a group and each play each other once.
Then, after dropping the last-place team from each group, the semifinals and tournament are held.
*Did they say The League’s world championship is run this way too?*
In fact, if you think about it, European football leagues are run this way too.
[Alright, so we can’t not talk about the auction, right? Rios’ auction is truly unique. Penguin, can you explain?]
A window with the rules filled the screen, and Penguin first explained the most basic system.
First, the points that team leaders receive at the start are different for each.
From a total of 1,000 points, it is deducted differentially according to the team leader’s Rios grade.
The deduction amounts by grade, considering the average winning bid of past Rios, are as follows.
E is 5, D is 50, C is 100, B is 150.
In short, if the team leader is E, they receive 995 points; if D, they receive 950 points.
For reference, an A-grade team leader has never been selected in Rios before. This time is the same.
The auction order of the players is said to be set by a prior draw.
The minimum bid for the auction is 5 points, and you can bid within 15 seconds.
If a player is passed over, they are moved to the very end of the order. And when all but one team per grade have been decided, the remaining one player naturally goes to the remaining team.
[Are there any features to be careful about?]
[Of course there are. Unlike the PC era, the most fiendish part since moving to virtual reality is this auction system. The basic rules haven’t changed. But previously, they’d gather players of similar skill and hold the auction with positions perfectly matched, right?]
In the past, they didn’t divide by skill like now, but just by position. And because you could only bring one per position.
[Yes. So teams completely failing didn’t happen often.]
[That’s right. Even if they missed the players they wanted or the team was made up of passed-over players, in the end, everyone’s skill was similar, and positions didn’t overlap!]
[But you’re saying it’s different now, right?]
[Yes. Actually, more people might know this, but after transitioning to Rios, for some reason the ops team stopped caring about positions.]
To be precise, from the moment they started dividing players into groups by skill, it became meaningless to have exactly six per role for thirty people.
So you have to do well in the auction.
[But those people who ate something wrong selected you, Penguin?]
[Yes, so it’s even more suspicious.]
[Ah.]
[Anyway, instead of positions, they made it so you can have one player each of similar skill, and though it looks fair at first glance, if team members’ positions start to overlap, it’s hopeless!]
[That would be the case.]
[So they say lower-tier players are always wailing about learning new lanes.]
[That’s another point of interest! Alright. Hoping the team leaders will proceed as they’ve planned well, shall we draw the auction order?]
- What number would be good for the streamer?
- Wasn’t it just Mental who was going to buy anyway? lololol
- The draw is spinning
Players are drawn at random and the order is fixed.
The first was someone Seojun also knew. Lumi.
The second was a streamer he didn’t know.
The third was the same.
And then.
[Oh?]
[Heh heh, I wonder how this will turn out? The first A player turned out to be an interesting person.]
It was Seojun.
* * *
After the auction order was revealed, there was a short interview with the team leaders.
Everyone had a look like they had chewed on crap.
Seojun understood that feeling.
*Anyway, it would have been a headache no matter what, so whatever.*
What are the chances that the auction order would come out exactly as they wanted?
The problem was rather.
*That I’m fourth.*
It’s bad. So bad, it’s awful.
If he had been placed later, when everyone had already spent some points, that would be one thing.
[Ah! Lumi is passed over! She received a pretty good evaluation among D ranks, but they didn’t even spend 5 points. She goes to the back for now. Now, the next streamer is...]
The next streamer was also passed over.
And the third streamer was.
[Mental - 5 points]
[A bid has been made! Mental, who is famous for buying indiscriminately in the last tournament, right?]
[Yes. He always forms teams in a weird way, but his results aren’t completely bad, a fascinating person.]
[Any other bids? Taking it for 5 points? It feels really good to get a desired C player for just 5 points!]
[Ah! No bids! Then the next player is Seojun. The reviews from the day before weren’t exactly stellar, were they? Let’s see what happens.]
The caster assumed Seojun would go unsold or get picked up cheaply by Mental.
But Seojun just watched with a sinking heart.
It was as if he already knew the outcome.
[Bidding starts! Huh?]
Messages in the auction window scrolled up in a flash.
[Mental – 5 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 10 points]
[Mental – 15 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 20 points]
[Mental – 25 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 30 points]
[Ah, they’re just mindlessly smashing the bid button!]
[Team Leader Kim Taewoo, what’s your intent? You were cursing yesterday. Is this your way of telling Mental to give up any idea of getting him cheap?]
[Mental – 85 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 95 points]
[Mental – 100 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 105 points]
[Mental – 110 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 115 points]
[It breaks 100 in less than three seconds! Both team leaders are clicking their mice at terrifying speed!]
Seojun felt uneasy. Not because the increments were climbing by fives. With A, 300 to 400 points was the baseline anyway.
The real issue was Ha Yunho.
Why was he staying silent?
He soon realized why.
He was preparing one big move.
[Ha Yunho – 500 points]
[Kim Taewoo – 505 points]
[Huh?]
Mental’s rapid-fire clicking stopped. And Taewoo, who had been hammering away, took the brunt of the bid.
Then the next bid came.
[Ha Yunho – 600 points]
[Crazy! It’s shot up to 600 points in one go!]
Ha Yunho was raising it by 100 at a time.
The confidence in it was palpable—come at me if you dare.
But if you back out here, you’re not fit to be a streamer.
So Mental went in.
[Mental – 605 points]
And right after, the next message appeared.
[Ha Yunho – 700 points]
[Insane! Absolutely insane!]
[Uh, is this him saying he’ll buy no matter what? Or is he just driving up the price?]
[The flow is unfolding completely differently from yesterday!]
Silence fell, and for the first time, the auction timer dipped below 15 seconds.
[15]
[14]
[13]
[12]
.
.
And Seojun just stared at the monitor, completely incredulous.
Heh.
Hehehe.
‘Should I not have asked him for a favor?’
Screwed.
If Ha Yunho won the bid, his remaining points would be 295.
That might seem like a lot, but it was only enough to luck into maybe one popular high-tier item. After all, this was an auction where you had to bid against others.
‘That’s intense.’
I should’ve known—he’s close with Taewoo, after all.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Still, this wasn’t too bad.
In truth, Ha Yunho had probably calculated it. This was just enough to pick up Seojun and still manage a decent balance.
But neither Seojun nor Ha Yunho knew.
For now, it was only the calm before the storm.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Will it be sold?]
[Kim Taewoo – 750 points]
The auction heated up again.