Chapter 214
[Alright! Hello, everyone! It's a bit late today, isn't it?]
[Nine o'clock is quite late indeed.]
Bangju nodded beside him.
[But there's nothing we can do. Only one match is prepared for today, after all.]
[One match?]
[To be precise, one round! But what does it matter? That one round is the finals! The finals!]
The official broadcast began at nine o'clock.
It started two hours later than usual, but that meant even more people could tune in.
True prime time.
And tomorrow was Saturday.
Seojun glanced to the side to check the community.
[On a Friday night, chilling in my room watching Rios, and I see this post and suddenly my side feels empty—likes for this guy lololol]
[Ah...]
[We're the real winners, right? Why? I honestly don't know.]
[Agreed]
[Yeah, I'm watching this with my girlfriend]
-?
-You have a girlfriend? Guess... I should kill him?
└lololololol what's with that logic
-I saw a guy watching Liben on my way home from work, befriended him, and now we're watching together at a bar
└A restaurant is airing this? lololol it's not even the World Cup
└The owner must be a fan of Troll
└If it's Rios-level, it's understandable
└lol yeah, same-sex friends are the best
└Since when did I say same-sex?
└Kill this one too!
And finally, he turned his gaze to the chat window on the far right.
-Catch those bastards!
-Anyone here can hack them?
-We need some righteous education. Desperately.
-Looking for a hacker
-Room master, can't you scold them? You're the room master, you can find a way, can't you? ㅠㅠ
-I'm pretty good with computers, yo
Seojun teased the viewers with a grin, as always.
"That was an insightful exploration of the community and chat, confirming the bright future of the profession known as hacking."
-Deceiver, you bastard
-Look at that handsome face and how relaxed you are
-Whether the room master teases or not, I'm seriously looking for talent to take those bastards' iq
-It's IP, not iq, you bastard lolololololol
-That bastard's been looking for hackers since earlier, seems fitting with the concept lolololol
[So, shall we look back at what's happened so far?]
Meanwhile, Arin was deploying the art of stalling for time.
Seojun chuckled and turned off the computer camera. Then, speaking into the still-on mic, he said:
"Everyone, see you in the capsule."
Maybe it was because they kept meeting in real life, but their team had rarely gathered early.
After logging into the capsule, he adjusted the broadcast settings and entered Ha Yunho's lobby.
"We didn't even do anything, and it's the finals already."
"Right? Hahaha."
Rumi and Alpaca greeted Seojun, scratching their heads sheepishly.
"Thanks for the free ride! Respect to Jin Seojun!"
Ha Yunho suddenly slammed his head into the wall.
What's he doing?
-Respect!!
-Ah lololol, he's saying he's handing a hundred million to us lolololololololol Respect!
-If you sell it on Carrot Market, how much cash would you get?
-At least a few grand
-Damn envious ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-You don't even have to use it, it's enough, just sell it
"That's a gesture of respect, you know."
Rumi interpreted from the side.
Nodding in understanding, Seojun looked around, meeting each teammate's eyes one by one.
Not for a touching moment, but to ask something he was curious about.
"I see. So, will you still team up with me next time if there's a next time?"
Specifically, it was a question asking whether they'd pick him if chosen as team leader.
"Um......"
"Hm......"
"That......"
"Somehow......"
-lololololololololol
-Was the room master an outcast or something?
-Definitely getting ostracized
-Feels like confessing and getting told 'let's just be friends,' dammit
-lololololo
I expected as much, but they can't even give a verbal 'yes' to that.
"Understood."
"Please don't turn dark on us."
Rumi elongated her words as if sensing ominous energy.
Not at all.
"You're not suddenly going to troll, are you?"
Would anyone throw the game with a hundred million just one step away?
"No, it's like this. Honestly, Seojun-nim is so amazing you could handle everything, so maybe our training could have been just a tiny bit weaker? Something like a spoonful of that opinion mixed in. That's why."
Alpaca's words were seconded by Ha Yunho.
"Meaning he's that incredible."
"Whether we were useless or not, you'll see by watching. Doesn't the result speak for itself?"
"There's still one round left, though?"
"......Let's get ready to turn on the game soon."
Seojun dodged Rumi's interrogating gaze.
-Seoyaho!
-Look at the room master getting flustered and changing the subject lololol
-There's still about 30 minutes until the game starts, what's there to prepare? lolololololol
-Just honestly say you wanted to bully him, wanted to hit him
-For real lololol
'Anyway, they really don't know.'
Eventually, as the comments said, about 30 minutes passed and the ban/pick phase for Game 1 of the finals began.
* * *
Meanwhile, as Game 1 started, Taewoo boasted to his viewers that he had bet points on The Wealth Gap.
Actually, it wasn't boasting. The streamers watching the game had gathered, and a vibe formed where they were asking who each had bet on; Taewoo just got swept up and answered.
-Isn't this match-fixing?
-This bastard's throwing on purpose to win points, I saw it lololololol
-For real, this is really messed up!!
-100% deliberate trolling lololololololololol
-I
-Should
-I
-I
-Should
-Complain about this!!!!!
-But guys, Parani also bet on The Wealth Gap, didn't they?
-What's Parani?
-Wave + Water deer
-Eukㅋㅋㅋㅋ
"No, everyone! Spoon-nim also said The Wealth Gap, so why am I the only one accused of match-fixing!"
Indeed. None of the streamers had bet their precious points on their own team.
They all had their sense of reason.
-I don't know about Spoon, but you're close friends with the player, aren't you?
-Best friends lololololo
-What a dirty game this turned out to be!
-The team's management investing in another team? That's breach of trust! This is breach of trust!
Regardless, Game 1 began.
[The finals will now~ commence!]
* * *
It was time for bans and picks.
Bat's mid, a B-rank player.
Hat.
He had the experience of a grueling game in the last practice match, dying solo to Seojun nine times during the laning phase and taking mental damage.
That's why, during the meeting that stretched from the previous day into dawn, he had been the most vocal contributor.
His argument was simple.
Let's target mid.
A strategy chock-full of personal feelings. His teammates laughed and teased him, asking if it had been that hard.
Of course, when asked if they'd swap lanes and go mid in his place, they answered with silence.
Anyway, though heavily laden with self-interest, it wasn't just stubbornness.
Would targeting the other team members really be easy?
Would Alpaca fall for it like before?
Rather, if they made plays like that and the opponent's ace joined from mid, and if Hat himself was getting beaten and heading back to base, wouldn't even Dokkaebi be dragged down too?
Then, perhaps it wouldn't be bad to try targeting mid just once.
[The one who really sensed the killing intent was Dokkaebi during practice game lololololol]
[Went for a gank, saw the look in the eyes, and just backed off. Then they won. Dokkaebi is just a genius.]
[The jungler's sixth sense spoke, you know. If he goes in for a gank, he'll get countered lolololololol]
For some reason (perhaps because Dokkaebi chickened out, the teammates inferred, though they never said it aloud), they had never even tried this strategy before, had they?
"Bans are......"
"According to plan."
Nod.
The top laner in charge of bans nodded in response to Dokkaebi's words.
[Champion banned – Drunkard Baetang]
A ban targeting Alpaca. The jungle champion Baetang.
-Kya
-Is Seojun going no-ban?
-Same with Keril, they've realized. Bans are meaningless.
The viewers assigned that meaning to their first ban.
[Champion banned – Escaped Prisoner Eric]
That wasn't it.
"We do have to block this champion, at least."
"Right. Why don't they nerf it? This is way overpowered."
-But couldn't Hat not get read?
-Look at how the One Bite team all got read, don't you get it? They didn't practice like Spoon, and they aren't a team like Spoon where one person solving it gives a chance to win. They have to ban it.
-For real lololol
-Eric really is over the top, though
"If Kael hadn't been nerfed either... ugh."
Hat shuddered.
-Hat, didn't you die solo nine times after the nerf?
-lolololololol got wrecked so bad he remembers it as pre-nerf?
-But from their convo, looks like they're going no-ban on Kael too
-After getting solo killed that many times last time?
-Must have practiced hard
Anyway, now that the finals had started, there was no need to worry about strategy leaks any longer.
Since it was the last match, muting was no longer necessary.
'The opponent is the type to bring out even unseen strategies if they can counter the enemy.'
If they couldn't, it'd become trolling and that'd be great, but the problem was, that wasn't the case.
In that case, it was better to do something they had prepared for to some extent.
After finishing the third ban, again targeting Alpaca, they began picking champions.
Junglers are generally divided into carnivore and herbivore.
Carnivores are junglers who aggressively enter the enemy jungle early to force skirmishes or gank proactively.
Herbivores focus primarily on the jungler's own growth, at least until they learn their ultimate.
Dokkaebi was clearly a carnivore, and while Hat wished for that early game to be invested in mid, Bat concluded it was better to stay fluid and not commit.
They hadn't found any other reliable method aside from leaving it to the ace's instincts.
'I'm scared he'll run away again.'
Hat narrowed his eyes and glared sideways at Dokkaebi.
Soon, the ban/pick phase ended.
Hat chose a safe ranged mage he had practiced enduring with for ten days.
And the champion Seojun selected was Eid.
A champion whose fundamental skill is visualization.
Both teams only defended against invades in the early game.
[Minions have spawned.]
And once the minions arrived in lane, Hat stepped forward and faced Seojun.
"It's been a while."
"Didn't expect we'd meet in the finals."
Seojun immediately created orbs. Two of them. Medium-sized.
Orbs that disappear after two hits.
Visualization is Eid's basic skill.
Thus, in-game, other skills are required too.
Orb control.
If an orb gets blocked by an opponent's weapon or attack, it dissipates and mana is consumed again instantly.
You can think of it as a penalty for forced de-summoning.
'Let's try to land one.'
Two orbs spread out and shot toward him; Hat, with the basic attack—a mana sphere—resting on his hand, chased after one of Eid's orbs.
Thwack!
As the orbs from both sides struck him, his health decreased.
[HP – 95%]
Since an orb that hits a champion must travel a certain distance before it can deal damage again, the moment the orb Hat was chasing retreated,
he moved his arm and launched a mana sphere.
With a pop, the small lump of mana detonated Eid's skill in midair.
The remaining one attacked his side,
[HP – 93%]
but he came out ahead.
The opponent had consumed a full 12% of his mana.
Of course, both would recover soon enough.
That was when.
[Going in.]
The team voice rang out.
News of Dokkaebi's gank.
[Where to?]
He could tell by looking at the minimap, but Hat asked out of delight.
He tried not to show it. Overthinking would cause the gank to fail.
[To mid.]
-Level 2 gank ㄷㄷ
-He's going straight to mid
-Kya!
-As expected!
Dokkaebi gradually approached their location.
In response, Hat subtly backed off. To bait the opponent in a little more.
Just one more poke.
Come just one step forward to land that poke.
Pretending to focus on attacking minions, Hat stealthily retreated. The moment Dokkaebi arrived at the brush beside mid,
Seojun's head snapped to the side.
[Hat-nim? Did you say something?]
[No?]
Regrettably, the level 2 gank ended in failure.
That's what they thought.
But fortunately, Seojun stepped even closer toward Hat. Orbs were being created too.
'What's this?'
Confusing, but a good situation.
Now, if only Dokkaebi would come.
Wait.
Why is he moving away?
'Could it be.'
[Where are you going again?!]
[Ah. I think the gank got caught.]
[If it had, the opponent wouldn't have come in so deep!]
[No. I think he moved forward knowing about it.]
-Aww! Dokkaebi, you coward!
-He chickened out again lololololololololololololololololololololol
-A perfect level 2 gank it was
-Seeing killing intent for real is this lolololololololololololololol
That's a perfect level 2 gank, for real, this is sensing killing intent lolololololololololololol