Season 5: Chapter 139. Exercising Power (3)

Sa-Rang knew several ways to make people listen. She hadn't actually learned this during her pro career. It had been instilled in her through years of education at home, which was why she felt confident in managing people. However, she realized something after going out into the world.

'It doesn't work.'

Knowing something and actually using it were very different matters. Of the many methods she knew, the ones she could actually employ were few. The rest had simply been her father's abilities.

The professional gamer world was that kind of place. Nobody asked where someone came from, how much money they had, or who their parents were.

They only cared about one thing: winning.

Would someone win or lose? Only two paths existed. Those who couldn't win had no place to stand. No excuse could be made for defeat. The defeated had no value. It sounded cold-blooded, but Sa-Rang actually liked it better for exactly that reason.

'Perhaps... this might suit me.'

Some worlds looked warm on the surface, but the back was nothing but ugly. The road to hell was paved with good intentions. Her father always said that. Conversely, if the road ahead was a hellish trial, a magnificent light could exist at the end.

Who would become that light? It all started with one question.

'Can you win?'

***

Briefly revisiting the past, Sa-Rang turned a thought over.

'Still... I'm in a similar place.'

The rules from back then still governed her life now.

'In the end, I have to answer again.'

Could the coach actually make the team win? That had to be shown. After four games with no feedback, she had applied an extreme change at the end to make the difference between coach involvement and no involvement clear. This was a very dangerous method.

Even she, who had reigned as the absolute best for years, couldn't help but tremble inwardly. She crossed her arms and quietly gripped her trembling arm. She knew the answer she had to produce.

'I can win.'

Her focused eyes reflected the screens of five players moving fiercely.

***

"They're nearby. Hide."

Rustle.

The bushes moved.

Almond and Lemon crouched down as low as possible.

Almond stayed perfectly still and silently observed the enemy's movements. He wasn’t even breathing or blinking.

Lemon suddenly thought, 'Oh... what do I do?'

Her knees were trembling against her torso.

'... What?'

That couldn't be right. Even this would have game stabilization applied to it.

'I'm going to lose it. Shaking in a scrimmage.'

This was a scrimmage, not even the real thing. Of course, she hadn't been trembling since the very first game.

"From now on, we'll get first place."

Wouldn't anyone tremble after hearing that? At minimum, the human being known as Kim Gyuri was trembling.

'You're not even Choi Sa-Rang. Why are you shaking!'

The coach had volunteered to take all the arrows, so she could feel a bit at ease. However, that wasn't possible with Gyuri’s personality.

If the two-person group made a mistake, Almond, their strongest combat force, could go down. That would directly impact the coach.

As a streamer, Lemon knew all too well what criticism the coach would receive in that case.

'It'll be flooded. It'll be flooded.'

The effect would spread beyond Streamer Garden into LIL Pro. The hibernating demons would see the warm bait glowing and come swarming awake.

"They're gone, Lemon. Lemon?"

"... Yes?"

"They're gone. Let's go."

"Oh, yes!"

Tap, tap.

Almond touched Lemon's forehead. "Focus. We're in a split."

Almond warned her to focus with an extremely serious expression. To Lemon's ears, it sounded almost like a threat. His obsession to make the split operation succeed was palpable.

— We're in a split LOL

— lmaooooooooooo

— So scary...

— Not we're in a game but we're in a split lmaooo

— Or the next split happens to your head...

— Focus, Gyuri...

— This child is not playing a game right now. He is conducting a split.

— The Lord's dignity

— lmaooo he really wants the split to work

Gulp.

Lemon resolved to concentrate no matter what.

"... Yes! C-concentrating!"

"Chat off?"

"Hm?"

"Turn off the chat. Just for this game."

"..."

— ???

— ?

— ?

— Turn off your stream. You have no talent.

— lmaooooo what?

— ??? I'm a streamer...

"Y-yes...? Oh, yes... I, I guess I should." Lemon agreed to turn it off.

She was trembling so much that she couldn't do anything properly.

Ba-bam!

[No!! has donated 10,000 won!]

[Wasn't the stream being kept alive, my lord?]

Ding.

[Chat Ended]

That was the last donation message.

— ?

— No!

— lmaooooo

— She actually turned it off

— Wow

— What is this

— This is a scrimmage!?

— lmaooooo

— YOU'RE STREAMERS! YOU'RE STREAMERS! YOU'RE STREAMERS!

...

***

Meanwhile, Black Tea was walking near the bushes. She glanced sideways at the chat and got surprising news.

— Gyuri turned her chat off apparently!

— Wow finally starting

— Black Tea that's a staff

— Lemon chat off, tryhard mode on

"Gyuri turned her chat off?"

Apparently, Lemon had turned off her chat.

— Yeah the Lord told her to

"Turning chat off for a scrimmage... Wait, wh-what? The Lord told her to?"

— lmaooooooooo

— LOL

— Wow

— Interesting

— Wow

— Extreme tryhard lmaooo

— We're done

Sweet Radish, listening from beside her, seriously said, "Well... in my extensive experience of serving the Lord as a devoted follower, this means losing would be a genuine disaster..."

"That's exactly what I said!"

"You shut up! Didn't you ruin the last game?"

"Ugh!"

Thwack!

Like this, the three-person group moved with a bit of ease, joking around. Of course, they were also under some tension. The overarching premise of avoiding any enemies remained.

Most importantly, their side had no staff. The staff was useless in farming, but delivered considerable effect in full engagements. Fireball, Air Bomb, and other attacks could create a lot of variables. Without it, meeting enemies meant losing by a wide margin.

'Can't be helped.'

Sweet Radish accepted it. Nobody could equip one. This time again, Sweet Potato had a shield, Sweet Radish a spear, and Black Tea a gun.

"Black Tea, what's that?"

"Hm?"

"What's in your hand?"

"A gun."

"...?"

"?"

Sweet Radish grabbed Black Tea by the collar. "Maid Black Tea! Wake up!? That's a staff!!"

It was a staff. This game was unnecessarily detailed in certain areas. Weapon designs were quite varied. Even the same weapon looked slightly different each time.

Staves came in wand types and staff types. Some staves were staff types made from bent wood that looked just like a rifle, exactly like this one right now.

"Wha-what the!?" Black Tea threw the staff away as if she'd picked up a bug.

Sweet Potato, finally discovering a bigger troll than himself, pointed at the Challenger and laughed. "Bwahahahahaha!"

— lmaooooooooo

— It was a staff?

— That expression lmaooooooo

— Wow what do we do about this

Ba-bam!

[ChoiSa-Rang has donated 10,000 won!]

[Black Tea, do you have some grudge against me?]

A cool-beauty AI voice rang out.

Black Tea's skin instantly crawled.

'That's the coach!'

A flood of donations followed, mocking her.

[Cucumber has donated 20,000 won!]

[From now on, we're getting first place~]

[This is...! has donated 10,000 won!]

[Senile already...?]

[Wine has donated 30,000 won.]

[Cha-Young is actually getting to staff-using age too fr lmaooo]

Completely nonsensical messages flooded in.

— LOL

— lmaooooo

— To someone in their mid-twenties lmaooo

— Senile hahaha

— So it was a staff;

— How did you not know this?

Actually, not knowing hadn't been Black Tea’s fault alone.

"No, you all also didn't know. I was reading the chat the whole time, and there was nothing about it being a staff!"

Black Tea wanted to believe this, but actually there had been.

[Here you go! has donated 10,000 won.]

[(video) Your order “staff or whatever” is ready. Enjoy while it's hot]

A clip donation immediately countered her.

— lmaooooooooooo

— LOL it's right there

— Chat was literally on fire about the staff and what are you saying Black Tea...

— Staff or whatever sounds like a premium dish somehow

"Ugh..." Black Tea had no choice but to blame herself.

'Was I too tense?'

Despite the front, she was actually quite tense. Scrimmage or not, countless viewers were watching with expectations. The coach also made some explosive statements.

'First place from now on.'

The pressure was unavoidable. Most of all, she was also worried about Lemon. Perhaps that was why she didn’t notice the staff.

"Black Tea, duck!" Sweet Radish pressed Black Tea's head down and went low. "This isn’t the time for streaming."

"Ugh..."

"Our route is blocked."

"... What?"

The three-person group had a route to advance through. Right now, another team was cutting across. Sweet Radish assessed that their routes had overlapped, meaning the two-person group was also being encircled in the bigger picture.

"Fix it immediately or..." Sweet Radish's eyes darted around.

Nobody noticed, of course. He thoroughly looked everywhere.

Black Tea reached her own conclusion. "We need to break through, don't we?"

Sweet Radish would never have reached such a conclusion.

"What?"

"We have to break through, or we’ll completely overlap. The objectives here are all spread out. If we share them here, we're done."

Sweet Radish knew, but three people breaking through five people simply didn't seem possible.

"Are you confident with the staff?"

Even Black Tea wasn't a carry right now.

"Wait. I just remembered something the coach said."

"Out of nowhere? What?"

"She said to coordinate with Lemon on weapons."

Black Tea did a Sa-Rang impression.

"Coordinate with Lemon. An orthodox mage is fine too. There'll already be a carry balanced according to our team's final composition. You're a Challenger... Can’t you make that judgment?"

— The way you're doing it sounds ridiculously elegant... lol

— lmaooooo nowhere near the same

— Oh it's not working LOL

It wasn’t an accurate impression, but the content was intact.

Sweet Radish recalled that too.

'Right, she did say that.'

The coach had considered Black Tea switching to mage depending on how the game flowed. Black Tea picking up the staff wasn't a disaster as long as the two groups communicated.

Crackle.

A message came just in time.

[Lemon: Unnie, I have a staff~ Should I support? As a mage? But looking at the Lord's state, supporting is already barely manageable, he's so fast~]

[Black Tea: Hey, Gyuri. Perfect timing. You support. I have a staff.]

[Lemon: Hm? Oh...]

At that moment, Sweet Radish's eyes suddenly flashed open. Of course, nobody noticed, but something had clearly clicked. He'd been looking at the map and understood something.

"I... I figured something out too."

"Hm? What?"

Sweet Radish tried a Sa-Rang impression too.

"Sweet Radish, open your eyes a bit wider. Your routes are still a bit trapped. We're running a split. You need split-compatible thinking, you bug."

— lmaooooo you bug

— What the LOL

— What's with bug hahaha

— You memorized all of that??

— lmaooooo

Right, Sweet Radish had finally opened his eyes. Not his outer eyes, but his inner eye.

'This might actually be advantageous for us.'

He sent a message.

[Sweet Radish: Lemon, can you see enemies on your side too?]

[Lemon: They passed us.]

[Sweet Radish: Chase them back.]

[Lemon: Hm? B-but we're in a split... is fighting okay?]

[Sweet Radish: Both sides have staves and we've flanked them. This is a guaranteed win.]

Even just two staves attacking with magic from both directions would send the enemies into chaos.

[Sweet Radish: With a split, once you've flanked them, the early engagement is actually advantageous.]

Sweet Radish could now think with a split mindset.