Chapter 194
[Lee Dongsu: Seojun hyung. I’m letting you know in advance since it’ll be revealed in about an hour. If you win, you might end up fighting me. Just so you know, this is entirely my team captain’s idea. I’m not pulling a mutiny here. Seriously, I’m not. Actually, we might even end up on the same team.]
At 5 p.m., before the broadcast started.
A random message was delivered to Seojun.
Lee Dongsu then wished him luck for the group stage and disappeared after ending the call.
Even when Seojun sent a single question mark, there was no reply.
‘He probably didn’t deliberately ignore it.’
Seojun knew that for Koreans, sending just a question mark was enough to get an answer.
[Jin Seojun: ?]
For the record, Seojun didn’t realize that receiving a message like that was basically a horror story for most people.
Either way, since he got no answer, Seojun began deducing on his own.
Even though it was already time for him to go live, he couldn’t stop himself.
He’d seen all the annoying reverse spoilers and nonsense in chat anyway, so in hindsight, this was a wise decision.
And after sitting and thinking it over, the answer was surprisingly simple.
Of course, there was an obstacle.
He didn’t know who Lee Dongsu’s team captain was.
If the viewers or teammates had heard that, they’d have probably ganged up on him asking “Isn’t it obviously Shin Hayeon?” but…
Seojun had an open mind and believed anything could happen unless he confirmed it himself, so he genuinely had no idea who the captain was.
He also didn’t understand why Lee Dongsu mentioned mutiny.
So after searching and confirming that the captain was indeed Shin Hayeon, Seojun roughly pieced together what was going on—though not entirely precisely.
The message had plenty of omissions, but since he’d fight Lee Dongsu yet could become teammates, it would be team versus team.
And there was a condition: winning.
Most importantly, they said it was Shin Hayeon’s idea.
‘My first disciple. She’s determined to surpass her master, huh.’
Of course, if she actually heard him say that, Seojun could naturally picture her flying into a rage.
‘Come to think of it.’
Maybe that wasn’t such a stretch to imagine.
He’d never properly taught her, and they’d never really met or had a proper conversation.
But anyway, Shin Hayeon had watched his skills and stolen them for her own use.
In his past life, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to be treated as a disciple and bossed around just for learning the same martial art, no matter the path they took.
In the end, the ways of the world were the same everywhere.
[Wow. For real? That’s insane.]
[The opening match? This is gonna be fun.]
Taeyang and Penguin, the two former pros, were astonished.
-lol fr
-no but is it real???
-kyah! going out in the opening match and the travel’s all grown up now lol
And then the streamer protested.
[What the heck! Why wasn’t this in the script! How come only the caster knows about something this fun!]
[Hohoho. Isn’t it because I’m the caster?]
[Ah, of course!]
[You’ve accepted it! Anyway, let me explain a bit more for our viewers. Actually, this event match may or may not happen.]
[Why’s that?]
[Because only the winning team gets the opportunity! If the winning team says no, then it’s off!]
[Ah. But it kind of feels like a request that’s already become a demand?]
-lolololol
-You win this and then back out? And it’s not just telling you to win—it’s an event match? Then that’s controversy^^ right there
-If that’s the case, then don’t win!
-But there’s no real reason to refuse that
Chat in Seojun’s stream agrees with the streamer’s comment, and adds that there’s no reason not to do it.
That’s true enough.
“Hmm…….”
Normally, that would be the case.
-???? Am I the only one who had a thousand thoughts from that 'hmm'?
-I just imagined some crazy bastard taking the capsule prize and quitting streaming lololololol
-Is this guy some handsome, Seoul Uni-attending perfect son who isn’t desperate about games like us?
-Is he also a total bastard personality-wise?
-He might just not show up because he doesn’t want us to see things we like, or maybe because it’s annoying
“You all know me too well.”
Seojun nodded and gave a thumbs-up to his proud yet embarrassingly sharp viewers.
-If you guys keep jumping the gun he really might quit streaming lolol keep your expectations in check
-But... I absolutely can’t resist the streamer taking on a pro—and Shin Hayeon no less
-for real, streamer physical king vs pro physical king, who’d win ㄷㄷㄷ
-Really, the moment you put 'streamer' or 'pro' in front there’s no need to watch, but since it’s the streamer we don’t know
-He’s already shown beating other pros in the Trials or training grounds. How could we resist!
Right now, the official broadcast was explaining the simple rules.
As he’d guessed from Lee Dongsu’s message, the teams would be mixed. That’s why Lee Dongsu said he might end up on the same team as Seojun.
However, if they’re in the same position, they’ll never be on the same team and will inevitably face off.
And the mid laner Freefall coached for Seojun’s team is Shin Hayeon.
In other words.
He wondered if he really needed to walk into a trap set by his disciple.
“Holy crap. This is gonna be fun. Our team: Freefall’s jungle? mid? top? Wow, insane.”
“Let’s win first before we talk, Yunho.”
“But will everyone really go for it? If it’s the Korean league’s opening event match, the attention will be on a whole other level……”
“That’s exactly why they’ll do it even more, Balamgeom-nim.”
“Why?”
“Who are we?”
Alpaca spread his arms wide.
“Certified attention whores! Streamers!”
“But my main job is something else, and I just stream as a hobby?”
“Yeah, but half of you is still an attention whore.”
“Well, I think I’d be fine with it. Same goes for the others. But what about you, Seojun-ssi? It seemed like you were talking with your viewers.”
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
“I think winning comes first.”
Since Seojun had no particular intention to refuse nor to commit just yet, he deflected like that.
But his teammates flinched.
“If we don’t win, we could seriously die…….”
“Didn’t you hear yesterday? They said Cheonhajeil Geomgaek-nim gave us a one-year gym membership. If we don’t win, we might have to go for another year.”
“Like, if we mess up and lose, they’ll make us pay back 100 million…….”
“Or make us sign a physical waiver.”
Flap flap flap flap.
Seeing the carrot plushie item headbanging madly at Lumi’s fingertips, Seojun let out an empty laugh.
“Everyone, you do know they’re saying all that out loud so I can hear it, but it’s not for real, right? And that it’s the teammates teasing me?”
-No
-So what are you gonna do
-Are you gonna be the Shin Hayeon slayer!
-Who knows. With Shin Hayeon’s level, she might be able to stop the streamer!!
-Since when does Shin Hayeon get described as 'her level' lolololol
-This is the streamer’s room, that’s why
-Fr lol and we really don’t know, the streamer has a track record!
Whether Seojun’s viewers or the viewers in each room were getting excited or not, the explanation eventually ended and the topic moved on.
[Hahaha! Anyway, with such a fun opportunity included in the winning prize, I’m sure all the players are burning with enthusiasm! Then, let’s take a look at the now-closed point betting results!]
* * *
[Ah. First place is Heavy Mental! This is the team where Baek Doyul confidently said they know how to break down Rich-Poor Gap from start to finish! And also…….]
Freefall’s fitness room.
There, a person was running hard on the treadmill, listening to the broadcast through earbuds.
[The team with the second-highest points is Rich-Poor Gap! Not far behind the first. As you all know, they used to be labeled a weak team, but the performance shown by their ace, Jin Seojun…….]
Walking or running at a steady pace is the best exercise.
Because humans have lived like that.
From the appearance of the earliest humans until civilization bloomed—spanning nearly 3 million years.
[If one of these two teams wins, it’ll make the opening ceremony event match even more anticipated, but they were already intriguing teams given they’d yield an overwhelming points winner.]
That’s when it happened.
Ding.
A message arrived.
She exhaled a sigh and shifted her eyes directly to the phone placed in front of the treadmill to read it.
[Baek Doyul: Watching the broadcast? lol Our team is definitely going to win.]
Ding.
[Baek Doyul: lololol I heard you’re the one who proposed the event match. Guess you’re paying attention too, huh? But what can you do? I’m going to beat that person first. Even indirectly. And if that happens, you won’t even get to face him in the event match?]
The treadmill stopped.
[Baek Doyul: Sorry about that. Even directly, I’ll be the first to take him down lol]
At the pointless chatter, she pondered a moment before sending a reply.
“Noisy.”
[Shin Hayeon: k]
This time she actually blocked him.
* * *
The wheel spins.
[The first match is Group A!]
The first random spin determined whether it was Group A or Group B.
And next?
The second wheel spins according to that group.
[Will the first match of the group stage be Sword God vs Bull? Sword God vs Spoon? Spoon vs Bull?! The anticipation is high!]
Today, they’d be playing a total of six matches.
Three per group.
Each team would play twice.
And now, the wheel spinning on the broadcast screen stopped, deciding the first match-up.
[It’s decided! Rich-Poor Gap vs Just a Bite! The first match of today, and the first match of Group A, will be fought by these two!]
“Hmm. Going against Spoon-nim’s team in the first match seems decent.”
“It’s awful for me.”
Ha Yunho, who would have to face A-rank Challenger ADC Spoon, let out a worried sigh.
[Next up, naturally, is Group B!]
The next match was set right after.
Actually, they only spin the first wheel once, at the beginning.
To prevent a single group from playing consecutively, once the group for the first game is decided, they alternate with the other group.
If a group played back-to-back games, there would inevitably be a team playing two matches in a row, and this is to prevent that.
“Seojun-ssi. What about going ADC?”
-lololol are you leaking strategies? lol
-Yunho you little lol where do you think you’re going lol
-From what I see, ADC has higher destructive power in the game, but mid is no joke either. Especially if it’s the ‘Sword God’ (劍神)!
-The single quotes and even the Chinese character, man what a sight lololol
Everyone just brushed past it because Ha Yunho said it out loud, but actually, Seojun playing ADC instead of Yunho could be a rather valid strategy.
Of course.
“Unfortunately, I can’t play ranged heroes well, so there’s not much we can do. Well, don’t worry too much.”
Seojun figured it was fine even without doing that.
He believed his grand strategy would work.
They’d likely hold up well.
“There’s Erik! Ranged!”
“You think they’d leave him alive?”
-Exactly lolol
-PTSD is gonna hit so hard
-But what if the other lanes are ahead and then they fight??!
-Even then, PTSD would make it rough. Just imagining being the one who got all that predicted... ugh, the curses just come out automatically
-fr Erik is basically Kalben
-Why don't you see it? If they leave Erik alive, with the streamer’s personality he’d definitely pick Erik. Couldn’t that be bait they’re aiming for?
That was true.
And if they leave Erik alive, that would mean they really are baiting him. So, should he avoid Erik?
Seojun asked himself.
And quickly found the answer.
Obviously.
‘I’ll play Erik.’
But still.
‘No way, are they really gonna leave him alive?’