Chapter 194

CHAPTER 194

[Lee Dongsu: Hyung Seojun, this'll be revealed in about an hour anyway, so I'm telling you beforehand. If you win, there's a chance you might end up playing against me. Just so you know, this was entirely Captain Lim's idea. I wasn't being insubordinate. Seriously. I wasn't. Actually, Captain Lim might end up playing too...]

5 PM, before the broadcast started.

It was a completely unexpected message that Seojun had received.

After sending it, Lee Dongsu told him to do well in the group stage and disappeared.

Even after Seojun sent back a question mark, there was no reply.

He didn't ignore me on purpose, did he?

Seojun knew that among Koreans, a single question mark was usually more than enough to demand an explanation.

[Jin Seojun: ?]

Incidentally, Seojun had no idea that receiving a message like that from him was basically a horror movie for the recipient.

In any case, since no answer came, Seojun started making deductions on his own.

The time he had originally planned to start streaming had arrived, but that couldn't stop him from thinking.

After all, chat would just be filled with annoying reverse-jinxing anyway.

Seeing it later would probably be the wiser choice.

And after quietly thinking about it for a while, the answer turned out to be surprisingly simple.

Of course, there was one obstacle.

Seojun didn't know who Captain Lim actually was.

If viewers or team members heard that, they would undoubtedly ask if he had lost his mind because everyone knew it was Shin Hayeon.

But Seojun was the type who believed anything was possible until personally confirmed.

So he genuinely didn't know.

Nor did he understand why Lee Dongsu had brought up insubordination.

Thus, after searching and confirming that the captain in question was indeed Shin Hayeon, Seojun roughly pieced together what was happening.

The message omitted many details, but if he could end up facing Lee Dongsu—or even being on the same team as him—then it would likely be some kind of mixed-team match.

And there was a condition attached:

Winning.

Most importantly, it was supposedly Shin Hayeon's idea.

My first disciple. You've finally decided to surpass your master.

Of course, Seojun could vividly imagine the other party exploding if he actually said something like that.

Still—

If you think about it...

Wasn't that one way to look at it?

He had never properly taught him.

They had never really met.

They'd barely even had a conversation.

But Shin Hayeon had seen his techniques and copied them.

In Seojun's previous life, there had been plenty of martial artists who treated anyone practicing the same martial art as their disciple and worked them to the bone.

The world wasn't all that different.

“Wow. Seriously? That's huge.”

“An opening match? That sounds fun.”

Taeyang and Penggwon, the two former pros, reacted with surprise.

• LOL
• Wait, seriously???
• Damn! Rio really made it. They're appearing in the season opener now.

And Bangju immediately protested.

[What is this?! Why wasn't this in the script?! Why did only the caster know about something this exciting?!]

[Hehehe. Because I'm the caster, of course.]

[I see!]

[You accepted that awfully quickly! Anyway, let me explain a little more for the viewers. This event match may happen—or it may not.]

[Why?]

[Because the opportunity belongs to the championship team! If the winners don't want to do it, that's the end of it!]

[Ah, but it feels like public opinion has already forced them into it.]

• LOL
• Imagine winning and then backing out. Not even a serious match, just an exhibition? That'd be a controversy for sure.
• If you're gonna do that, don't win!
• Though honestly, there's no reason to refuse.

Seojun's chat filled with viewers agreeing with Bangju.

Many also pointed out that there was practically no reason to reject such an opportunity.

Which was true.

“Hmmm...”

For most people, it certainly was.

• ???? Did anyone else just imagine a hundred scenarios from that "hmm"?
• I just imagined some lunatic winning the tournament, taking the prize, and quitting streaming immediately. LOL
• Is that lunatic perhaps handsome, attends a top university, and isn't as serious about gaming as the rest of us?
• Is he mentally unstable too?
• He might just leave because he doesn't want us to enjoy ourselves. Or because it's a hassle.

“You guys really know me well.”

Seojun nodded and gave a thumbs-up to the viewers who understood him far too well for their own dignity.

• Stop jinxing it! He might actually quit streaming. Expectation control!
• But seriously... I can't resist seeing the streamer face Shin Hayeon.
• Streamer with the strongest mechanics vs Pro with the strongest mechanics. Who wins?!
• Normally you'd know the answer as soon as you hear "streamer" and "pro," but this is the streamer.
• We've already seen him beat other pros in reaction speed and mechanical execution. How can anyone resist this?!

Meanwhile, the official broadcast continued explaining the details.

As Seojun had already guessed from Lee Dongsu's message, the teams would be mixed together.

That was why Lee Dongsu had said they might end up on the same side.

However, if two players occupied the same position, they would inevitably face each other instead.

And the mid laner who had coached Seojun's team was Shin Hayeon.

Which meant—

The question was whether the disciple would step into the trap set by his master.

“Holy crap, that's exciting. Our team getting a pro jungler? Mid? Top? Wow, that's insane.”

“Let's win first before talking about that, Moonho.”

“But do you think everyone will actually participate? The opening event for the Korean League is on a completely different level of attention.”

“That's exactly why they will.”

“Why?”

“Who are we?”

Alpaca spread his arms dramatically.

“Publicly certified attention seekers! Streamers!”

“I technically have another main job. Streaming is just my hobby.”

“Still. You're half attention seeker.”

“Well... I don't think I'd mind. The others probably wouldn't either. But what about you, Seojun? It looked like you were discussing something with your viewers.”

“Ah.”

“Ah?”

“I think winning comes first.”

And that was the end of it.

Seojun didn't particularly intend to reject it immediately, nor did he intend to promise he'd participate.

So he simply brushed the matter aside.

The team members, however, visibly shuddered.

“If we don't win, we might actually die...”

“Didn't you hear? They bought Sword Saint a one-year gym membership. If we don't win, we might have to keep going for another year too.”

“What if they make us pay back a hundred million won if we mess up...”

“What if they make us sign a bodily waiver?”

Watching the carrot-shaped item in Lumi's hand headbang like it had gone insane, Seojun let out a hollow laugh.

“You guys do realize they're saying all this loud enough for me to hear, right? They're not serious. If anything, they're making fun of me.”

• No.
• So what are you gonna do about it?
• Are you becoming the Shin Hayeon Slayer?!
• Who knows? Shin Hayeon might actually be able to stop the streamer!
• Since when did Shin Hayeon become the benchmark for 'might be able to'? LOL
• This is the streamer's channel.
• LOL. And honestly, the streamer has a history of doing ridiculous things.

Whether the viewers kept jinxing things or not, the explanation eventually ended and the broadcast moved on.

[Hahaha! Anyway, now that such an exciting opportunity has been added to the championship prize, I imagine all the players are even more motivated! So let's take a look at the final point prediction results!]

[Ah! First place goes to HeavyMental! This is the team whose ace, Baek Doyul, confidently declared from beginning to end that he knew exactly how to counter Income Gap! And also...]

At Freepro's training facility.

A certain woman was running diligently on a treadmill while listening to the broadcast through her earbuds.

[The team with the second-highest number of points wagered is Income Gap! The difference between first and second isn't large at all. As everyone knows, they've often been classified as an underdog team, but their ace, Jin Seojun, has shown us...]

Walking and running at a steady pace was one of the best forms of exercise.

Humanity had lived that way for millions of years.

Long before civilization ever bloomed.

[If either of these two teams wins the tournament, it'll make the opening ceremony event match even more exciting later. But it's also interesting because it could create an absolutely overwhelming number-one point holder.]

At that moment—

Ding.

A message arrived.

The woman sighed and shifted her gaze toward the phone sitting in front of the treadmill.

[Baek Doyul: You're watching the broadcast, right? LOL. Our team is definitely winning.]

Ding.

[Baek Doyul: LOL. I heard it was your idea to suggest the exhibition match. Looks like you're paying attention too. But what a shame. I'm going to beat that guy first.]

Ding.

[Baek Doyul: Indirectly, too. And if that happens, you won't even get the chance to face him in the event match.]

The treadmill came to a stop.

[Baek Doyul: Sorry about that. Though honestly, I'll probably beat him directly too. =]

After briefly considering whether it was worth responding to such nonsense, she finally sent a reply.

“Annoying.”

[Shin Hayeon: Blocked.]

This time she actually blocked him.

The roulette wheel began spinning.

[The first match is from Group A!]

The first roulette determined whether Group A or Group B would play first.

Then—

A second roulette spun to determine the actual matchup.

[Will the first match of the main stage be Sword God vs Bull? Sword God vs Spoon? Or Spoon vs Bull? I can't wait to find out!]

There would be six games today.

Three per group.

Each team would play twice.

The roulette finally stopped.

[We have our matchup! Income Gap versus Just One Bite! The opening match of today and the first match of Group A will be between these two teams!]

“Oh. Starting against Spoon's team isn't a bad draw.”

“I think it's terrible.”

Ha Yoonho sighed heavily.

He was about to face Spoon, the A-rank Challenger ADC.

[And naturally, the next match belongs to Group B!]

The following game was immediately determined.

In reality, the first roulette was only used once.

After that, the groups alternated.

This prevented a team from having to play back-to-back matches.

“Seojun, what do you think about bot lane?”

• LOL. Is he seriously revealing strategies?
• Moonho, where exactly are you planning to go? LOL
• Personally I think ADC has more destructive power, but mid isn't far behind. Especially if we're talking about Sword God.
• The quotation marks and Chinese characters are killing me. LOL

Everyone laughed off Moonho's question, but in truth, having Seojun swap into the ADC position wasn't actually a terrible strategy.

Of course—

“I'm not very good with ranged champions, so there's nothing I can do. Anyway, don't worry too much.”

Seojun honestly didn't think such measures were necessary.

He trusted his grand strategy.

Things would work out.

Probably.

“There's still Epic! A ranged champion!”

“You think they'll leave it unbanned?”

• Exactly LOL
• They must have PTSD by now.
• Though if he gets fed from another lane first...
• Nah, I'd still be traumatized. If I imagined all those predictions happening to me, my neck would start twisting on its own.
• Epic is an instant ban.
• Why are you even asking? If they leave Epic open, the streamer would 100% pick it.

That was true.

And if they actually left Epic available, it would mean they were deliberately inviting it.

Which raised the question:

Should he avoid picking Epic if they did?

Seojun considered it.

The answer came almost immediately.

Of course...

I'd pick Epic.

Still—

No way they'd actually leave it open, right?