Chapter 153
After Seo Jun's interview ended and Ha Yunho's team took a brief meeting, the commentators began wrapping up.
“Commentators, what choice do you think the winning team will make?”
“I think for starters, they’ll definitely choose Team Leader Kim Taewoo’s team.”
Penguin gave his opinion first.
“Why? To torment his friend?” Arin asked.
“Ah, no? I mean, because they’re friends, they want to screw him over……”
That.
Mr. Caster?
How does your logic work?
Penguin thought for a moment, then recalled Seo Jun’s personality that he had figured out in just one day.
It’s totally possible!
“…Well, that’s possible. Yes. But I chose for another reason.”
“What is it?”
“Until just before Ground Zero, they were one of the two teams considered the weakest.”
Since they haven’t played, things could change, but.
For now, it’s undeniable that public opinion sees Taewoo’s team as lacking strength.
An A-rank is a support with low carry potential. They’re too heavily focused on the bottom lane, and their jungler is low-tier.
Considering all this, Taewoo’s team was currently evaluated as the weakest.
“The other weakest team was Seo Jun’s team, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Though after that shocking performance in Ground Zero, I’m not sure they’re still considered the weakest.”
“That’s true. But as long as the competition is a team game called The League, Ha Yunho’s team could still be weak.”
Seo Jun’s carry potential? Outstanding.
He found a way to overpower with skill alone through quick wits, with flawless excellence.
And even his personality(?).
But there are limits to going alone. Even more so than in Ground Zero.
Maybe Seo Jun could find something like a frying pan method for The League.
But The League is a far more complex game than Ground Zero.
Not only the in-game situations, but the characters are diverse too.
Even if Seo Jun finds a frying pan in The League, a ban would end it.
Taeyang explained these points.
-That makes sense.
-Winning is truly uncertain.
-Don’t overhype just from one Ground Zero match.
-If they play one more Ground Zero, the result will be different. Everyone will prepare.
And Penguin scoffed.
‘Yeah, Seo Jun will win.’
He just decided to believe that. Blindly.
Meow.
Today was designated as the most humiliating day of Penguin’s life.
The shock to his mind and body was greater than the post on his retirement day.
“So, Taeyang, you’re saying that if another team had the group nomination right, they might have selected Ha Yunho’s team and Kim Taewoo’s team?”
Arin asked.
“Yes. I would have done that.”
“But the winning team was one of those two. So, Commentator Taeyang, how do you think it will be formed?”
“I also think Kim Taewoo’s team will definitely be included. Hmm……”
-Lol, the sorrow of the weakest team, lol.
-One team will be eliminated among the three in the group. So, as long as there’s a team to lay a solid floor, it’s easy to advance to the main stage, lol.
-So, which is the remaining team?
Currently, they were dividing the teams into strong and weak.
The strong teams included Rein’s team and Mental’s team, which had good position placement during the auction.
And the remaining strong team was Spoon’s team.
A-rank ADC. B-rank jungler. C-rank mid. D-rank support. E-rank top.
Carry potential and influence per lane is a topic with many opinions.
It can change with the meta each year.
But if we have to talk based on the current meta.
Most agree that even if top gets fed, its carry potential is limited compared to other lanes.
Most also agree that jungler has influence, and ADC has the highest carry potential in team games.
In that sense, Spoon’s team was a well-balanced strong team.
The weak points were that the D-rank support wasn’t a main support player and the E-rank top had to hold on well, but all teams have such weaknesses.
The three remaining weak teams.
Excluding the two weakest, the one team was Dokkaebi’s team, with an A-rank jungler.
“So, do you think they’ll choose Dokkaebi’s team?”
So as Taeyang was pondering, Arin asked first.
“Hmm, I think they’ll choose Mental’s team.”
“Oh? Is that so? Why?”
“Mental’s team has an A-rank mid, Pado. If we think under the calculation that Seo Jun can absolutely crush Pado, there’s no team as easy an opponent as Mental’s.”
-Oooh, this makes sense too.
-As expected of a commentator.
-That is only if he can crush him, lol.
-But still, does Pado look like a pushover in The League?
-Even though Pado is going back and forth between Grandmaster and Challenger now, that’s because he became a clown while streaming.
-You can tell just by looking at his underwear, lol. Pado is a true game-lover.
-They just got smashed in Ground Zero, lol, and now they’re so arrogant.
-It’s normal to forget the past.
-Ground Zero is a special case, sp, lol.
-Even if we concede a hundred times that his mechanics might be better, team games have many other factors.
Taeyang’s words sparked a fight.
“Then, what about Bangju?”
“Everyone is mistaken.”
“What?”
“Why do you think that team will pick an easy opponent?”
“What?”
As expected.
The person who still knew Seo Jun best was Bangju.
-Aha, lol.
-Yeah, if you provoke, you have to pay the price.
-Let’s see.
* * *
“Ah! They say a message came from Team Leader Ha Yunho!”
After discussing earnestly with the audio off, they made a decision within the time.
“So, Group A will first include Ha Yunho’s team! Then, the second team is!”
Arin reads the message.
“Ah! It’s Team Leader Rein’s team! Both commentators’ predictions were wrong from the start! And the last team is! Streamer Gongbeolle’s team!”
Gongbeolle’s team was the one with Spoon.
In other words.
-Lol, they really picked two strong teams only.
-I acknowledge their fighting spirit.
-No wonder Rumi’s face was rotting in real time; so this was why, lol.
-So, in the case that Ha Yunho’s team is insanely strong, did they become a group of hell?
“Now! The groups have been formed! Then, we’ll see you in the scrims two days later! Tva!”
The group stage was set.
* * *
“Then, good work.”
When Ha Yunho gave his farewell, everyone said,
““Good work.””
“Now, let’s discuss the upcoming schedule.”
The schedule was mentioned in the broadcast and could be checked when leaving the capsule, but they needed to discuss it first.
And that was the team leader’s job.
Ha Yunho quickly explained.
“Before we enter the actual group stage games. First, we’ll rest tomorrow, and starting the day after, for about six days, every other day we’ll have scrims, that is, practice matches, one game each. The opponents will be teams from the other groups.”
The other groups.
‘Kayle, Pado, Dokkaebi?’
Seo Jun recalled the A-ranks of each team he faced today.
In the process, true to Seo Jun who had reached the realm of self-hypnosis in personality trolling, he fabricated the names.
Such profound inner strength to even deceive himself!
Unfortunately, no one could read Seo Jun’s thoughts and catch a glimpse of that skill.
“I think this period might be the most important. We can set up positions suited to each person and strategies for the team, and work on our synergy.”
Yes, yes.
Practice is important after all.
“Then, shall we decide our positions tomorrow?”
“Let’s do that. We’ll meet tomorrow and discuss. We have a day to spare.”
Alpaca and Baramgeom agreed.
“Seo Jun too?”
“Yes.”
“You all have plenty of time, right? I’m just asking in case. Of course, we’ll adjust to you if needed.”
It was essentially directed at Seo Jun and Baramgeom.
Seo Jun was a college student, and Baramgeom was an office worker.
The other three, being full-time streamers for years, nodded as if they would naturally be considerate.
And naturally, three pairs of eyes turned to Seo Jun and Baramgeom.
‘His expression looks surprisingly bright?’
After Seo Jun observed Baramgeom, he spoke first.
“I’m available from 4 PM onwards. There are days I’m free earlier, so I’ll share my schedule.”
“Oh, really? Awesome.”
“Why? Baramgeom?”
When Baramgeom answered with a surprised tone, Ha Yunho asked.
“My company president told me to leave at 4 PM from now on since I’m participating in the tournament, and strangely our times overlap.”
“Really?”
“Is there such a company?”
“Oh, awesome.”
“Heh heh heh. This is the power of a good, no, a small/medium company in Korea! This time, I can’t help but recognize our company as an SME.”
Indeed.
Seo Jun was impressed. Because it’s a small company, the president could handle things at his discretion.
“Well, the president isn’t exactly a viewer, but he’s interested in virtual reality, so he gave me consideration. Actually, if the timing hadn’t worked out, I was thinking of just quitting.”
Indeed.
Baramgeom’s viewer count was in the 1-2k range, not huge, but if he streamed properly, he could soon earn more than his salary.
And he could hold out until he found his next job.
As a side note, Kael-chung unity was the world’s strongest, and Baramgeom was the most famous Kael-chung.
Now though.
‘It’s me….’
Anyway, Seo Jun thought it was good that favorable conditions were overlapping and smiled inwardly.
“Then, I’ll put together a schedule for practice times and such tomorrow, and we’ll discuss again. What should our team name be?”
“Didn’t we already decide?”
“Right.”
“Gap Between Rich and Poor is good.”
“Are we really going with that? What about Seo Jun?”
“Not bad.”
“Haha……. Yes, understood. If anyone thinks of another team name, please share!”
“Yep.”
They disbanded like that. Having forgotten to turn on the voice chat until the very end.
-You guys, are you abandoning us? Abandoning us? Abandoning us?
-These guys only realized they were still broadcasting after coming out and hurriedly tried to fix it.
-So what can you viewers do! Lol.
After coming out of the capsules, they only then checked the broadcast and had to give a semi-explanation.
Afterwards, Ha Yunho began planning if they could meet once during the tournament period.
It was shocking news for Baramgeom, who had said he lived in the countryside and had completely forgotten about it.
* * *
After getting out of the capsule, Seo Jun washed up.
Then, after talking with his editors, he fell asleep exactly at midnight. Taewoo still hadn’t come out by then.
The next day.
When he woke up early to go to the gym and came out, Taewoo was already up.
Seo Jun flinched in surprise.
As soon as Taewoo saw him, his eyes lit up with fire.
“Thank you!”
What’s this?
“If we just get through the group stage, we’ll win everything! Because we have Keril of analysis!”
Ah, I get it. It’s because he wasn’t chosen for the group stage.
After understanding, Seo Jun looked at Taewoo’s slightly bloodshot eyes and asked.
“Hey, did you stay up all night?”
Even for that Taewoo, did he ruin his condition before the tournament even started?
Impressive.
“Ah, heh heh heh. I just fell asleep a little late and woke up a little early from excitement!”
Why is he talking like that? It’s like he’s exaggerating on purpose to shake off sleepiness.
“What excitement?”
“Winning, of course! Just kidding. To look at the patch notes. Something seems unusual. Ah, I’m sleepy.”
Why patch notes?
You mean those things the game company releases about updates? Why?
Soon.
The clock hand pointed to 6 o’clock.
Taewoo quickly checked his phone and said.
“As I thought.”
“Why?”
“Kael was mentioned in the patch notes.”
Kael in the patch notes?
Somehow, this felt like something he’d experienced before.
Seo Jun felt a sense of déjà vu and chuckled.