Chapter 134
CHAPTER 134
It wasn’t as if Seo Jun’s synchronization rate had never come up before. There had been chat messages asking about it here and there.
But Seo Jun had simply ignored them, and since it wasn’t considered a big deal, people just let it pass.
Of course, having a high synchronization rate was preferable, but generally speaking, even if it was low, it wasn’t something that showed visibly, nor was it considered an absolute indicator of gaming skill.
Generally speaking, that is.
Most people didn’t disclose it in the first place, and few even bothered asking.
If someone was exceptionally good at a game, people simply assumed their synchronization rate was high.
Moreover, in Seo Jun’s case, most of the gameplay he had shown so far relied heavily on physical execution.
Did having a high synchronization rate automatically improve swordsmanship?
Of course not.
That kind of play came from the gamer’s own inherent skill. It wasn’t the sort of thing that could simply be attributed to having a better neural connection.
Yet despite that perception, the reason the topic had suddenly become a major discussion point was simple.
Epic was a hero who used prediction as a core part of his skillset, and Seo Jun was receiving that much attention.
[People Obsessed with Synchronization Rates lol]
==
Why are you curious about the synchronization rates of good players when you can just look at their skill?
What changes if you know it?
It’s not even your synchronization rate.
What are you gonna do after seeing how high it is?
==
Which led to posts like this.
[Anyone else genuinely curious about his synchronization rate?]
==
I know it’s meaningless.
But if you're curious about how high it is, upvote lol.
==
Some people wanted a common numerical metric to evaluate skill.
Others wanted something they could compare directly.
Humans were social creatures, after all. Being able to gauge where others stood relative to oneself had always been advantageous for survival.
That was why posts asking about synchronization rates received such an enthusiastic response.
Of course, people’s interest didn’t stop there.
Some had heard of Seo Jun during the Kael incident but quickly forgot about him. Others were seeing him for the first time. They all began trying to learn more about him.
And in the process, they followed the exact same path that longtime viewers had gone through before.
[This guy is actually insane? LOL Every single thing he's done in the past is ridiculous.]
[Wait, he's from Korea University?]
[Wait, that's his real face?]
[Guys like this shouldn't be allowed to be good at games too! LOL]
[What a bastard... making me feel inferior.]
[One thing's for sure: his Epic is at least Challenger-level.]
People naturally began associating him with Rios.
[Is this streamer participating in Rios too?]
[His longtime viewers are saying he's definitely aiming for Rios.]
[He's an artist when it comes to finding easy opportunities and exploiting them lol.]
[If he enters, he'll be at least A-rank.]
==
The management team would never leave Seo Jun out.
If he ends up being only B-rank, it'd cause a huge disaster lol.
==
- A B-rank who destroys Challengers? I'd invest all my idiot points into that instantly lol.
- I don't know...
- Didn't you see him completely wreck Spoon?
[Why I think Jin Seo Jun would be a somewhat tricky prospect even if he's A-rank]
==
If he were B-rank, every team should go all-in to buy him. No disagreement there.
But would his auction price still be high as an A-rank?
- First of all, Spoon is a support player. Mid and ADC are clearly different roles.
- Spoon got outplayed, but judging by how he's playing now, he's being extremely cautious. If he'd known from the beginning, he probably wouldn't have been caught so easily.
- What Epic showed was insane predictive shooting. Honestly, that feels beyond Challenger level. But? You can just ban him. Using bans against A-rank players is normal anyway. Heroes like Epic probably won't appear much.
- Same goes for Kael. Personally, I think he'll get nerfed.
- Mechanical genius? Sure. But what about game knowledge? A-rank players are expected to lead and shot-call. B-rank players can do it too, but entering Challenger-level competition without strategy or leadership would be somewhat questionable from a team's perspective.
- Just because he showed it in one game doesn't mean he's good at everything. That's still a mystery box.
Conclusion:
He's hard to evaluate.
No idea whether his value will be high or low.
==
In the current scrimmage, Spoon had become extremely cautious after being outplayed by Seo Jun.
Since Seo Jun wasn't forcing anything either, the game settled into an even state while their teammates kept dying.
- The roster hasn't even been announced yet and people are already analyzing him.
- Honestly, that's a fair point.
- Looking at the game now, he doesn't seem capable of single-handedly turning around a losing team.
- That's just how leagues work. Your teammates are your fate lol.
- I think he'll be valued highly. His potential is insane, and some team captain is definitely going to gamble on him.
- Epic really looks unbeatable in a 1v1. Worth taking a chance on for sure.
Gradually, the newest controversy in Reven settled down.
When people asked whether Epic might actually be strong, the small number of Epic players explained how difficult predictive shots really were.
When people asked who Seo Jun was, longtime viewers supplied information starting from For Cooperation and leading all the way through The Second Joseon Assassin.
Speculation posts about the Rios situation also began appearing.
And then all that remained was to enjoy the live scrimmage.
[Spoon gets hit by chains just because he got greedy for a single auto attack lol.]
[His pride wouldn't let him back off and he got predicted again.]
[Meanwhile his teammates died again.]
[Countering a guy who can beat Challengers = his teammates.]
[Ha Yoonho's team apologizing nonstop lol.]
In the end, Seo Jun's team lost.
His teammates kept dying, and Spoon played steadily and safely.
Seo Jun fought just enough to avoid dying himself, so the game never swung back in their favor.
Still, it could be said that Seo Jun had achieved several objectives.
[Viewers — 35,000]
That was Seo Jun's current viewer count.
He thought about it.
Why exactly had his viewer count increased this much?
There had also been countless messages asking about his synchronization rate.
And why did these people keep apologizing even when he repeatedly told them it was fine?
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
The support, top laner, and jungler stood in a straight line, apologizing in unison.
Meanwhile, Ha Yoonho shamelessly stood a step away, laughing.
Despite finishing the game with scores of 0/11/0 and 1/13/5.
Seo Jun couldn't help but laugh at the sight before him.
"It's okay. Good work today."
Even if Seo Jun had played seriously, he couldn't confidently say they would have won.
But today, he definitely had no intention of trying his hardest to win.
It was part of his effort to hide his true strength.
"Hahaha, see you next time!"
"I had fun."
"Alright, let's go now."
The next person to approach Seo Jun after the others left wasn't Ha Yoonho.
It was Spoon.
He walked up to Seo Jun and offered a handshake. Seo Jun extended his hand as well.
"Mr. Spoon. I enjoyed today's match."
"Haha... I had a pretty rough time."
Looking at him now, Spoon seemed like an honest person.
???: Seo Jun, I'll be giving it my all. Do you really think you can beat me?
- He definitely had a rough time lol.
- He just got completely demolished.
"You played well from the second game onward."
"Honestly, it looked more like you were conserving your strength, Seo Jun. Anyway, now that the game's over, I feel relieved. At least I didn't make any major mistakes in the second match."
"As expected of a Challenger."
"Me? If anything, you're the unbelievable one."
In the second game, Spoon hadn't banned Epic.
Instead, he picked a hero with the longest range available for a mid laner—a hero that wasn't normally used in the mid lane—and played with extreme caution.
As if he had no intention of suffering another humiliation.
Shaking his head, Spoon let out a sigh.
"Well then, see you next time. I'll leave Epic unbanned then, too. I lost today, but I should get a proper revenge match."
The "next time" he mentioned was obviously Rios.
Neither of them said it explicitly, but both streamers—and all of their viewers—understood immediately.
- Nice.
- Looks like Spoon's entering too lol.
- No way they'll end up on the same team. They'll probably meet from different lanes next time.
- They're giving us a Rios teaser during a scrimmage lol.
- Watch both of them fail to make the roster.
ADCs were weak early and grew stronger as the game went on.
If Seo Jun and Spoon met again, their clash would likely happen during the mid-to-late game.
There was a reason Spoon specifically mentioned leaving Epic available.
- Emergency alert for whatever mid laner ends up on Spoon's team.
- They'll have to face the host's Epic to get revenge for Spoon lol.
- That's insane lol.
- After today's footage, they'll probably just ban it immediately.
After Spoon left, Seo Jun exchanged farewells with the remaining players.
Finally, Ha Yoonho approached him.
They were currently inside Ha Yoonho's lobby.
Now that their conversation was finished, it was time for Seo Jun to leave.
The two exchanged glances in silence.
"I absolutely have to buy him!"
"Would joining that team really be a good idea? Maybe Taewoo's team would be better."
Their thoughts crossed.
Ha Yoonho grinned and tapped near his ear.
He was asking Seo Jun to mute the viewers.
Seo Jun waved a hand through the air and adjusted the settings.
The viewers immediately began protesting, but one sentence from Seo Jun silenced them.
"Should I just end the stream then?"
- No.
- Talking first and ending later is better.
- What kind of secret conversation are you two planning?!
- Viewer training techniques lol.
Ending the stream.
A magical phrase.
"Okay, it's done."
"I'm done too!"
"You wanted to talk about the auction, right?"
"Exactly. I was really impressed today. The moment I saw you solo-kill Spoon, I knew it. Ah, this guy is worth buying no matter the price."
"Haha, really?"
For some reason, Seo Jun suddenly felt like trying to talk him out of it.
"And I realized something else at the same time."
"What?"
"Ah... if he wins the game too, his value is going to skyrocket out of control."
"...You didn't die on purpose because of that, did you?"
Seo Jun narrowed his eyes.
"Of course not. I just wasn't good enough in that situation."
I see.
Seo Jun found himself thinking again.
Maybe the old saying was right after all.
"Experience beats youth."
"Hahaha. Still, it was intentional that the opposing team was arranged to be a little stronger."
"Huh?"
"Actually, even if you didn't show much in a one-on-one situation, the goal was to create a stage where you could demonstrate something against opponents who had grown stronger. Well... in the end, it just became one of the reasons your team lost."
That explained a lot.
"The tiers looked pretty similar, though."
"Even so, there's skill that isn't reflected by rank, isn't there? Team compositions matter too. And you intentionally lost today, didn't you? Or more accurately, you played even more casually than you usually do when you're just having fun."
Seo Jun was momentarily surprised.
Sharper than expected.
Most people weren't taking the scrimmage as seriously as a tournament, but Ha Yoonho had noticed that Seo Jun had gone a step further.
"In that first game's big teamfight, you killed two enemies and escaped alive. Honestly, couldn't you have won that fight?"
He had good game sense.
And he was observant.
The saying about experience wasn't wrong after all.
"Who knows what would've happened?"
"I don't think so. Anyway, it was a good choice."
"Was it?"
"Yep. Whether you join my team or not, it's better for me if you're cheaper."
"Ah, speaking of that, I think I'll reveal it today."
A lot of people had been asking, after all.
"Reveal what?"
"My synchronization rate."
"...What?"
"I told everyone mine was ten, right? If I reveal it, people will probably undervalue me even more."
There had never been a particular reason to hide it or reveal it.
But now things were different.
Honestly, revealing it might be better.
"Uh... wait. That was actually true?"
Ha Yoonho's eyes widened dramatically.
[(Announcement) Since many people don't believe the synchronization rate I mentioned before ending the stream, here's proof. This is a screenshot of the synchronization rate measured by my VR management app.]
(Photo Attached)
Average synchronization rate: 10, right? Haha.
==
- Wait, it's real?
- Then how the hell has the streamer been playing games this whole time?
- That's Photoshopped, right? Please tell me it's fake.
- Looks exactly like he erased the first "1" from 110 lol. How can a gamer's synchronization rate be 10? Even low ones are usually around 40.
- Was this guy actually a monster?
- Holy shit.
- Total fraud lol. His synchronization rate was trash.
- Doesn't this mean if you picked a fight with the streamer in real life, he'd beat you in even crazier ways than he does in virtual reality?
- What kind of life have you been living, exactly?