Chapter 119: Finals (2)

‘This guy is seriously a complete lunatic. How can someone be so consistent?’

Streaming nickname, Cerberus.

Kim Huh-su laughed helplessly as he mulled over what Shia had just said.

– I’ll show you that China is just a small country in the game. China is no match for Korea, the great gaming nation. How many Koreans are on top teams in the pro gaming league?

The words were diplomatically interpreted by the translator, “Meya.”

Despite the softer translation, Chinese streamers still exploded in rage, but Huh-su knew that Meya’s adaptation had significantly toned down Shia’s original expression.

Looking at Shia, who was grinning smugly in front of him, Kim Huh-su spoke.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Shia responded with a crooked smile and raised his middle finger again.

“Mind your own business. If you lose to us today, aren’t you going to be jobless? Oh, if you get kicked out from there, you could start streaming in Korea. You’ve made enough money, right? I could make an exception and let you join my crew.”

“Crazy bastard.”

“You’re no different.”

Shia had openly insulted China during the recent interview.

Of course, Kim Huh-su knew Shia didn’t criticize China for no reason.

Xiaohu, a member of the Chinese team, had first stated to the Chinese media that Korea was a small country and that China, being a major power, was naturally going to win.

Xiaohu was an influential and fervent streamer even within China.

Although Kim Huh-su was also a successful streamer on Heeya TV, he couldn’t compare to Xiaohu.

“What is that Bangzi saying?”

Xiaohu, standing next to him, looked at Kim Huh-su and asked. Kim Huh-su frowned and replied.

“Bangzi? I’m Korean too.”

“Oh, a Korean who lives off the grace of the great nation, huh?”

“Be careful. If we lose because of you today, I’ll openly snipe you on my stream. I’ll make sure you can never stream in the great China again.”

Unlike the Korean team, where each individual was streaming, the Chinese team was exclusively broadcasting through Heeya TV.

Thus, the conversations between team members were not public.

Moreover, Xiaohu was a massive streamer representing Heeya TV.

He was so influential that he was nicknamed the “moving conglomerate,” and had a large following of supportive viewers.

Kim Huh-su bit his lip and alternated his gaze between Xiaohu and Shia.

‘……This is exhausting.’

It would be easier to deal with a madman like Shia.

It was the same when recalling the days of .

His mouth was filthy, but Shia never once declined a challenge.

Initially, Kim Huh-su thought Shia was just a selfish guy, but after hearing the recent stories reported in Korea, his thoughts changed a lot.

This tournament held many complex emotions for him as well.

Originally, he wanted to bring Shia in out of competitiveness, but during the preparation process for the tournament, he came to one realization.

Ultimately, he was an outsider.

Whether Xiaohu knew about Kim Huh-su’s thoughts or not, he continued to smirk and talk beside him.

“I can’t accept losing in even if we lose in . Everyone understands, right?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Got it, hyung!”

“Leave it to us. They can’t use cheats in the tournament, so that nasty Bangzi won’t be able to touch us!”

Excluding Kim Huh-su, the rest of the team cheered enthusiastically in response to Xiaohu’s words.

To them, Xiaohu was almost an idol.

The only Korean in the Chinese team.

Kim Huh-su sighed heavily as he watched his colleagues cheer enthusiastically.

Shia, a cheater?

That was nonsense from the start.

Even if he couldn’t acknowledge anything else, Shia’s gaming talent was real.

Especially his ability to analyze opponents was unmatched.

It was the same during .n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When he first fought Shia, he could hold his own.

But as they continued to face off, the gap widened rapidly, and he realized the cause.

Shia had perfectly analyzed his patterns.

Looking at his colleagues, Kim Huh-su muttered in Korean.

“……We’ve probably already lost.”

Arrogance always leads to unexpected results.

Thinking of Shia as merely a lucky guy or a cheater meant the defeat was already decided.

The only thing he could do in this situation was to pull his own weight.

[The game is starting!]

[Please select the hero to ban!]

Before he knew it, system messages started appearing in front of him, signaling the start of the first game of .

Kim Huh-su sighed heavily as he looked at the messages and spoke to Hong Chen, the team’s top laner.

“Don’t engage the opponent’s top laner too recklessly.”

Then Hong Chen, who had just been flattering Xiaohu, responded irritably.

“Don’t tell me not to fight a guy who isn’t even in the top ten on the Korean server? I’m ranked third on the Chinese server. Are you a spy?”

The only necessary condition for victory.

However, the teammate had abandoned the driving force of victory himself, looking at Kim Huh-su with an arrogant expression.

It was then that Kim Huh-su could finally let go of everything.

‘My streaming contract expires this year, right?’

It seemed inevitable that this finals would end in disaster.

With that, Kim Huh-su selected his hero and slowly began to think about the future.

4.

– Chinese Challenger ran

– No chance!

– Even if they forfeit now, it’s justified

– Isn’t that guy abusing? It looks like he’s just letting them win on purpose?

– Noㅋㅋ why are they trading blows when they can’t even land basic attacksㅋㅋ

– Isn’t that Chinese Challenger rank bought?

– Can you even buy Challenger rank?

-ㅋㅋㅋ Did they buy the entire enemy team to abuse them?

“EZ. EZ. Hey. EZ. Do you know EZ? You so EZ!”

The first-round match, which began with high expectations.

Despite the Chinese team being composed of current Challengers, they were being crushed with a score of 9:0 after just 15 minutes.

Out of the nine kills, five happened in the top lane.

The top laner was solo killed twice, and the jungler and mid laner who came to assist died meaninglessly along with the top laner due to our team’s counterattack.

Then, our jungler, “Just Do It,” secured two kills in the top lane and successfully ganked the bottom lane twice, tilting the game heavily in our favor.

Most importantly, it was encouraging to see the performances of King Jong-woo, ranked Diamond on the Korean server, and Kermulzwi.

King Jong-woo showed off his long-lost Challenger-level skills, and Kermulzwi was displaying his prowess along with Challenger support Hyesung.

They were in perfect harmony.

The Korean team, having gained momentum, was quickly snowballing the advantage, while the Chinese team was rapidly falling apart.

There was no team cohesion to be found.

Solo rank play does not help much in a team game.

While constantly mocking the opponent and scanning the map, I quickly communicated with Just Do It.

“The enemy jungler will soon be farming in the top-side jungle, so let’s take the entire enemy jungle with King Jong-woo.”

“Sounds good.”

“They’ve already lost their mental game. Let’s drive the nail in?”

After communicating through the team voice chat, I slowly pressured the top tower with a pleasant smile.

It was a satisfying flow from the first game.

As researched, Hong Chen, the Chinese team’s top laner, was a type who trusted his physical abilities.

There are quite a few players like that.

Players who believe in their physical skills and attempt super plays.

But there are also clear drawbacks.

They can create incredible plays through their physical skills, but from another perspective, those plays could also become blunders.

Confidence can endanger the team.

In team games like , that arrogance can cause devastating rifts.

[An ally has slain an enemy hero!]

[ is going wild!]

[Double Kill!]

Just like right now.

I glanced at the enemy top-laner, Hong Chen, who had come to the jungle as backup, and spoke cheerfully.

“Top Gap. Agree?”

-(Roughly a video of a crab holding ㅌㅊㅇ.)

-Top gap for real, lol. Disagree and you’re a noob.

-Except for solo kills, it was all with jungle help, so what top gap lol. It’s just a jungle difference that’s off the charts.

-This match was ordered by our Evil Gang, so what jungle difference lol.

-Why are these idiots here? Go play in your own neighborhood!

When I blatantly taunted with a “top gap,” the chat went wild.

Watching the chat, it seemed they didn’t really care whether I played well or not.

Their main interest was, ‘How much did I humiliate the opponent?’

Well, at least with that level of spiciness, they could be called my viewers.

I grinned broadly and moved swiftly.

A one-sided massacre continued, and finally, the Chinese team raised the white flag at a completely unexpected timing.

[The opposing team has unanimously declared surrender!]

[Victory!]

Thus, the first round ended in a one-sided atmosphere, and I shouted in joy with my teammates.

“Geeeee! Shia! I knew we could trust you! Top gap!”

With Komul-rat’s excited reaction, the team congratulated each other and basked in the joy of victory.

This was what they called grooming.

Praising each other and boosting morale, a crucial task for the team.

I smiled as I watched them.

“It’s all thanks to you.”

“Oh, shit! Shia, aren’t you being too humble?”

“Pardon? I meant it’s thanks to you guys for having a teammate like me.”

“Ugh!”

“Honestly, that’s true.”

“China got cut in 17 minutes!”

The atmosphere was fantastic.

As soon as the first game ended, we were given a brief rest period.

Today, we had up to five matches to play.

The next game was , the Chinese team’s main event.

Unlike , which involved five-member teams playing simultaneously, the mode of was devoid of any variables.

According to the analysis of some so-called experts before the match, the probability of winning was almost zero.

-Shouldn’t we just give up on ?

-Yeah… they’re all noobs, aren’t they? They can’t play other games well.

-But we have good physical skills…

-But we lack experience, right? In , if you don’t have experience, you can’t dodge the opponent’s skills properly.

-Just give it up.

-We need to drag it to the fifth game and settle it with .

-If we lose the third game, it’s just over, right?

-If you’re Korean, please cheer up.

‘National Pride Mission Man’ donated 1,000,000 won!

[Hey, Shia. I’ll put in the advance payment.]

“Wow, President National Pride! Thank you for the 1 million won donation.”

“Wow.”

“A colossal corporate class…”

“This is the power of a global company?”

Thanks to Sung Soo-hyung’s generous donation, the atmosphere also lifted.

I checked the viewers’ chat and smiled slyly.

Objectively speaking, as the viewers said, securing a win in was the most likely path to victory.

But that was only ‘objectively’ speaking.

“Hmm, we need to decide the order for the next game.”

“Right?”

“Since the next game is , let’s not be too greedy. Let’s just keep our cool.”

The other streamers, except for me, exchanged faint smiles.

They were thinking rationally, so I couldn’t blame them.

There was no need to linger on a game we couldn’t win.

I nodded slightly at my teammates and cautiously voiced my opinion.

“I’ll go last.”

“Do as you like!”

“Sure.”

The break time wasn’t that long, so we quickly wrapped up our strategy meeting.

Then, we started the next game with .

Trying to avenge the crushing defeat in the first round?

The Chinese team members’ faces in the lobby were all contorted.

Seeing a few with their heads down, it seemed their captain, that mustached guy, had scolded the rest.

His name was Xiao Hu.

I glanced at Xiao Hu briefly and then looked at Heo Su next to him.

Heo Su’s expression had also changed from the first time we met.

Just a while ago, his face was full of sharp edges, but now he looked incredibly relaxed.

“Did you attain enlightenment or something? Your face looks too relaxed.”

Heo Su chuckled and raised his middle finger at me.

Cute bastard.

“Alright, let’s proceed with the second game.”

Caster Sung immediately started the match, and the second game of began.

The second game went exactly as expected.

On the Chinese side, Xiao Hu, ranked second in the official rankings, came out as the first player. Everyone else on our team except for me was defeated by the crescent blade of the that Xiao Hu chose.

In any game, there’s a difference in experience that physical skills alone can’t overcome.

If the Korean team had been given enough time to prepare for , the situation might have been different.

Of course, there was no need to regret it now.

I just needed to enjoy the situation.

Choosing , I entered the arena as the last player for the Korean team.

I exhaled lightly and lifted the corners of my mouth.

“Unfortunately, the nickname has changed.”

My ID, which was ‘Taiwan No.1,’ had been changed to ‘NoName.’

It seemed the management had modified it due to reports.

What a pity.

I could have taunted him even more strongly.

“Heehaaaap!”

Xiao Hu charged at me, visibly excited.

’s dash skill, .

But I smirked and lightly swung my halberd.

“Dominance.”

KABOOM!

That guy, full of arrogance and bravado, always used grand gestures to cast his skills.

As with most skills that have strong effects and power, that flashy dash also had a fatal weakness.

It created an opening on the right shoulder.

If I timed it just right.

SQUELCH!

I could pierce that opening and deal a fatal blow.

-???

-What?

-What just happened?

-How did he block it?

-Crazy lololololol

I slashed through his shoulder and sent his right arm flying, then stomped on Xiao Hu’s fallen upper body.

I whispered kindly in his ear, in Korean he wouldn’t understand.

“Do you know what kind of stories excite people the most?”

There’s a reason why people go wild over certain stories.

They’re overwhelming, sad, heartwarming.

Or.

“The dramatic uprising of an underdog. Everyone goes crazy for that. Ever heard of a reverse sweep?”

Everything had gone according to my plan.

All that was left was to record the grand finale of that plan.

With my halberd still pinning him down, I stomped harder on his back.

And as Xiao Hu slowly turned to dust, I spoke languidly.

“Today is going to be a really fun day. You can look forward to it.”