Chapter 815: Winning or Losing Doesn’t Matter (3)

There are moments in gaming that make your blood boil.

When you have to clear a section in a console game without saving, and you mess up at the very last second.

When you get sniped in an FPS.

When you play League.

But out of all those moments, there had never been a day this infuriating.

"Endure."

Wang Jiho slowly closed his eyes.

"Endure. My inner Ri Hyuk."

Suppressing the crooked, petty alter ego rising inside him, Jiho took a deep breath.

No.

It wasn’t just anger...

"Why... why are my eyes tearing up?"

The eliminated players and commentators were laughing their heads off.

But he, the person involved, just felt tears welling up.

His third hyung charging at armed enemies, then finishing with a dramatic ocean dive.

His second hyung returning as a sniper, only to turn into dust.

His fourth hyung crouched in a cave like a coward, refusing to come out.

"I miss Wooju hyung."

Jiho found himself searching for his eldest among the chaotic mess of his brothers.

But he quickly regained his senses.

"Wooju! Seriously, you’re so bad!"

The game caster had once ranted in frustration at how terrible Wooju was.

If that hyung had been here too, Jiho might’ve stood up and smacked their backs with his keyboard by now.

"I have to get it together at least."

Like a child crying in his mother’s arms, suddenly left alone in a harsh kindergarten.

His mind snapped awake.

He had a goal he absolutely had to achieve.

Advance to the finals!

Namu hyung: [Finals lol]

Namu hyung: [With that schedule, do you even have time to practice??]

Hahyun: [If you’re salty, come to finals ㅎㅎ]

He had made a bet with his friends from Sbo and Teen Spirit.

Who would make it to the finals.

The loser would have to call the winner “hyung.”

He absolutely had to win.

"First...."

This was a team game.

No matter how trash your teammates were, it was better to have them.

"Ri Hyuk hyung."

Jiho spoke through his headset mic.

A reply came immediately.

What.

"I think you and I need to meet up."

Us? Together?

"We have to move together. It’s dangerous if you’re alone."

Perhaps it sounded reasonable. Ri Hyuk nodded.

Even he seemed more alert now, perhaps shaken by the threat of elimination.

"Yeah. If at least Ri Hyuk hyung is there, it’ll help...."

The headset crackled again.

Make sure no one’s tailing you before you come.

"......."

If you bring someone behind you, I’m not opening the door.

"......."

Jiho slowly closed his eyes.

"Endure. My inner Ri Hyuk."

The chat had gone wild after Biju’s ridiculous elimination.

After the laughter settled, the late game boiled down to a three way showdown.

Trickster, heavily armed with firepower.

The Girl Group Union, roaring around on motorcycles and throwing punches.

And 2Black.

LMAOOOO

they’re barely surviving like mayflies, 2Black

maknae line is our only hope

you can do it, maknaes!!!

With fans cheering, Jiho pushed through the bushes.

Vroooom!

The Girl Group Union sped past on motorcycles like a biker gang. Jiho curled into himself.

It was almost pitiful.

"This is heartbreaking."

"While others are filming a war movie, he’s in a solo survival disaster film. You can’t help but root for him."

Avoiding the searching Girl Group Union, Jiho moved cautiously.

But this time, Trickster members were roaming nearby with machine guns.

Jiho crouched and crawled.

"Trickster and the Girl Group Union have clear strategies! They’re not looking to clash with each other!"

"If they fight each other, NewBlack benefits!"

"Honestly, those two teams already have high scores. They’re planning to eliminate the weak first and then fight each other!"

Trickster and the Girl Group Union searched without encroaching on each other’s territory.

And Jiho crawled.

Beside him, his two hyungs clasped their hands in prayer.

"Oh!"

At that moment—

Trickster’s Bugi spotted Jiho crawling in the grass.

Jiho nooooo

oh my god

Bugi kill him gently or our fandom explodes

LMAOOOO

Bugi raised his gun to fire—

Suddenly!

Jiho sprang up lightning fast and slashed the opponent’s torso with a dagger.

[King ☞ StrongestKoobugi (Dagger)]

Trickster’s Bugi fell instantly.

"What?! This is unexpected!"

"Jiho has taken down Trickster’s ace, Bugi, in a single strike!"

"He hit a vital point!"

Souffle immediately switched stances.

The rising god of gaming, Wang Jiho

What does weakness even feel like?

He’s strong

Jiho does not endure

This is revenge for the hyungs!

Second hyung (natural death) {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Third hyung (drowned)

We call this emotional release

As Bugi removed his headset with regret, Biju and Junhyun pumped their fists.

Jiho began running urgently.

Trickster members were charging in for revenge after seeing the kill log.

"He’s nearing the house where Ri Hyuk is!"

"If he just gets past there—"

But Jiho slowed down.

Instead of going straight in, he walked in a strange, winding path near the house.

"What’s this?"

"He’s not going in directly—he’s circling!"

Trickster members chased directly through the reeds.

Boom!

A landmine exploded, sending one of them skyward.

Cheers erupted on site.

"A landmine!"

"So meticulous! Ri Hyuk lined his hideout with mines so no one could approach!"

"They can’t chase him now!"

The pursuers fell back.

Jiho finally entered Ri Hyuk’s house.

"Wow."

"It looks so cozy."

"Was this game always this comfortable?"

A fireplace crackled.

Medical supplies and emergency items neatly lined the floor.

Weapons displayed on shelves.

is he a collector

2018 S/S Ri Hyuk Collection

welcome to Ri Hyuk’s villa

I can hear the Love House theme

Jiho healed and paused.

The commentators analyzed.

"In this situation, there’s really only one strategy."

"Right."

"When you’re behind on points, you have to go eliminate enemies."

"Ah! It looks like 2Black has reached a decision!"

After serious discussion, Jiho and Ri Hyuk set out.

Behind the house, a vehicle appeared.

even secured transportation

legend for setting that up in this short time

Jiho drove. Ri Hyuk rode shotgun.

"Trickster is the easier target compared to the Girl Group Union—"

"But—!"

Scene shift.

The Girl Group Union revved their motorcycles toward the engine noise.

"They’re drawn to the vehicle sound!"

Bullets flew.

Jiho tried to ram them, but they dodged skillfully.

"Eventually you have to get out and fight!"

They disembarked.

2Black, fully geared with armor and guns.

The Girl Group Union?

Frying pans.

Knives.

Clubs.

The commentators roared.

"The firepower difference is huge! 2Black has the advantage!"

"But the distance is too close!"

The bearded twin tailed girls charged.

Jiho raised his gun—

"Ri Hyuk is running away!"

Ri Hyuk fled in panic, leaving Jiho alone.

In that moment of hesitation—

Bam bam bam!

Jiho was beaten mercilessly.

Then—

Ri Hyuk turned back.

"He didn’t run!"

"Or did he?!"

"He widened the engagement distance! A textbook maneuver!"

Classic intelligent play.

Create distance from close range enemies.

Of course, that meant using his teammate as bait.

"Shooting doesn’t damage allies—"

"Huh?"

"Ri Hyuk pulls out a grenade!"

Grenades do damage allies.

"Jiho looks betrayed!"

"It’s like Ri Hyuk’s eyes are saying, ‘Sorry, little brother, sacrifice yourself!’"

"It’s rational! That grenade could take out all five!"

Laughter flooded the chat.

Ri Hyuk threw it.

The Girl Group Union scattered instantly.

BOOM!

Flames soared.

Jiho’s character launched into the air.

[NewBlack_RiHyuk ☞ King (Grenade)]

"Team kill!"

"It’s a team kill!"

"And he didn’t eliminate a single enemy!"

The chat exploded.

now it’s 1Black

I can insult my brother but I’ll do it with a grenade

I didn’t know that’s what you meant by throwing shade

Ri Hyuk stood in shock.

Then he charged bravely at the bearded girls.

"1Black! A change of heart?"

"He’s awakened after his teammate’s death!"

awakened by the death he caused

why are you like this

He fired like Rambo—

Click. Click.

Out of ammo.

The girls surrounded him.

Punches and frying pans rained down.

Ri Hyuk disintegrated into dust.

now it’s 0Black

0Black LMAOOOO

From 4Black to 0Black.

Meanwhile—

Trickster took advantage of the chaos, eliminated the Girl Group Union, and secured first place.

Final scoreboard.

Ding ding!

[6th Place] Four Black Clan

Sun Wooju’s curse—mocking them about placing fifth or higher—had come true.

"No!"

"Why...!"

While everyone laughed, NewBlack members on site began wailing.

After the match.

Amid the noisy laughter, eliminated players exited.

"......."

Biju cautiously spoke.

"Jiho."

"......."

"Say something."

"......."

The maknae walked ahead with moist eyes.

"I... I’m not in the mood to talk to hyungs right now...."

"People can lose games," Junhyun said.

Jiho whipped his head around.

Junhyun stammered.

"Uh. Right. You shouldn’t lose. Of course not."

Jiho trembled.

"Hyung. Before we started, how many times did I say? Game and reality are different. Don’t rely on your real physical ability."

"I didn’t know I couldn’t hold my breath that short."

A glare.

"My fault."

"And Biju hyung...."

Biju tried to hide behind Junhyun.

"And Biju hyung... sigh...."

"I’m sorry."

Jiho turned to Ri Hyuk.

Ri Hyuk was massaging his shoulders like a scheming courtier trying not to be executed.

"Harder."

"Yes."

"Tch...."

"I’ll massage harder...."

The hyungs walked like criminals.

"How are we supposed to face Wooju hyung now? When we go home, he’s going to tease us like crazy."

"......."

"He’s probably written a song by now."

Their faces darkened.

"I can picture it."

Wooju sitting at the entrance like Apollo with a lyre.

Strumming and singing:

"They finished sixth~ Without Sun Wooju they can’t do anything~"

And the song would be annoyingly high quality.

"......Anyway."

Jiho regained composure.

"It wasn’t all bad."

"We got good screen time."

"If you look at it variety wise, it was better."

"Our strategy worked," Junhyun said loudly.

But juniors passing by just giggled.

"......."

Jiho looked up.

"I don’t want to go home."

"Me neither."

"Same."

Then—

"Pfft."

Jiho suddenly wanted to go home.

Street Boys.

The Sbo hyungs he played League with were teasing him.

"Wang Jiho, you have to call us hyung now."

"Say it. Hyung."

Laughter.

But that was fine.

They were bad too.

The real problem—

Teen Spirit.

The serious boys watching the footage and analyzing.

Jiho met Hahyun’s eyes.

Silence.

Hahyun placed a hand on Jiho’s shoulder.

A silent “Stay strong.”

Jiho’s gamer pride crumbled.

"Me... treated like this...."

He wanted to go to the rooftop and scream.

"Where’s Junhyun hyung?"

"He said he’s going to keep a promise."

"A promise?"

Sizzle—

Marbled sirloin hit the grill.

Five member boy group Gravity.

Seven member boy group Tycoon.

Twelve idols and their managers swallowed hard.

And beyond them—

Junhyun, glowing like a Buddha.

"Junhyun sunbaenim... thank you. Really."

"I promised. My ID said ‘If you kill me, I’ll buy you beef.’"

They hadn’t even killed him in the game.

But after preliminaries, he approached them.

"Want beef?"

Now—

They were in a barbecue restaurant.

"It’s real beef."

"Junhyun sunbaenim is a god."

Junhyun smiled.

"This is my regular spot. Eat a lot."

"Sunbaenim! I’ll grill it!"

"No. I’m good at grilling meat."

Twelve boys tried to stand at once.

Customers stared.

Phones came out.

"Junhyun, you came without your members today."

"Yes."

"What’s your relationship?"

Junhyun answered seriously.

"They’re the friends who drove me to the brink of death."

The entire restaurant turned to stare at the rookies.

"......?"

"Sunbaenim...?"