Chapter 157

CHAPTER 157

Even after hearing the news that Alpaca had died, Seojun didn't panic.

He simply glanced at the map, checked where Alpaca had died and where the enemy jungler was likely to go next, then continued attacking the next vital point.

No matter what news came in during battle, Seojun was the type who could focus on what was right in front of him first.

His sword moved diagonally from left to right, then from bottom to top.

Slaaash!

"Khk."

Hat let out a groan, and Seojun silently withdrew his sword.

His opponent tried to block the next attack.

But the location of the next attack was already decided, and Seojun was the only one who knew the answer.

That meant Hat was forced into a position where he had to react after seeing it.

If it had been Seojun, he would have figured out where the attack was aimed just from his opponent's stance.

Unfortunately, Hat wasn't Seojun.

Unlike the calm Seojun, Hat bit his lip and wavered.

His eyes darted around frantically.

This had been a disadvantageous situation from the start.

You should have accounted for a situation like this too.

He had probably discussed numerous contingency plans with his teammates beforehand. For Hat, this match was likely a chance to test them.

But—

If someone could prepare for everything, would they still be human? They'd be a god.

This was why problem-solving ability was so important.

You never knew what kind of problem would appear.

The moment Seojun's sword approached, Hat lowered his upper body. His fist touched the ground.

Not bad. A decent improvisation.

He was trying to use Rock Wave at point-blank range, detonate it briefly, and end the trade there.

His body had probably moved first based on previous experiences where he'd cut off fights this way.

But—

Thunk!

By then, Seojun's sword had already pierced Hat's collarbone.

And the successfully struck vital point happened to be the third one.

[Blessing of Protection]

A faint light enveloped Seojun's body while rocks burst upward from the ground.

Naturally, there was no need to dodge.

Rather, Seojun grabbed Hat by the collar.

Just as Evic's Chain could hit its caster, the AoE skill Rock Wave could also damage its user.

After confirming that Hat had taken damage, Seojun released his collar.

Then he slashed.

Continuing forward, Seojun closed the distance and maintained the pressure.

"Are you going to run?"

At that point, Hat changed his approach.

"No! Let's fight it out!"

The jungler was coming, right?

The place where Alpaca had died was near a lane.

From Seojun's current position facing Hat, it was terrain diagonally down to the left.

Close to mid.

Mid lane, being in the center, always had a higher chance of interference from other players.

"Hup!"

Hat stopped retreating and threw a punch.

It was a crude attack without weapons or special equipment, but its damage was comparable to a sword strike, making it dangerous.

Seojun casually leaned back and dodged while aiming for the next vital point.

A white line drawn across Hat's body.

Hat cast Hardening on that exact spot at the precise timing Seojun's sword would arrive.

His body swelled.

Attacking now would put Seojun at a disadvantage.

The timing was perfect.

As expected of a B-rank player.

With that level of skill, he must have decided he had options besides hiding under the turret.

But—

Just like before, Seojun's wrist moved.

This time, however, he didn't redirect the sword.

He tossed it inward.

His left hand caught the sword.

He now held it in a reverse grip.

At the same time, the petrification wore off, and Hat spun around with a back kick.

It was a combo aimed at Seojun's head after slowing him by having him attack the petrified area.

But once again, Seojun had already lowered his body.

"You're very well prepared."

Slaaash!

A vital point was cut.

Switching back to a normal grip, Seojun immediately targeted the next vital point.

It was a perfect position for chaining attacks.

Using a sword with his left hand was also familiar territory for Seojun.

Slaaash!

As the flustered Hat staggered backward—

Slaaash!

One more time.

"Should be about time for him to get here."

"W-Wait, Seojun-nim, were you expecting him?"

If they came at him two-on-one, Seojun intended to welcome it.

As expected.

Goblin emerged from the bush beside mid lane.

Come.

Seojun's eyes flashed.

This might be their only chance to turn the game around.

Seojun had already judged that victory in this match was half gone.

They had given up too much from the start, and Alpaca had been heavily shut down.

The skill gap was already significant to begin with.

Of course, Seojun wasn't completely without ways to win.

But winning like that would be a gimmick, so he preferred not to.

He needed to evaluate both his team and the opposing team's capabilities as much as possible.

Which meant that if things continued normally, they would lose.

Can't be helped.

Dodging Hat's attack and slicing another vital point, Seojun asked:

"You're not coming?"

"No, he said he was! Huh? Where are you going?! Goblin-nim! I'm going to die!"

Goblin, who had emerged from the bush, watched Seojun tear through Hat's health bar at a terrifying speed for a moment—

Then went back into the bush.

It was a ridiculous situation, but Seojun couldn't help admiring it.

As expected of a Challenger.

He's figured it out.

He had expected it, but it still felt unpleasant.

"Haha. Seojun-nim? Just wait—"

Thrust!

As Seojun stabbed his sword into Hat's body, he thought:

[Sword God → Hat]

I should at least vent some frustration.

In League, the jungler was a terrifying existence.

No, a skilled jungler was an absolute existence.

Of course, even absolute power would collapse helplessly in front of incompetent teammates.

No matter how many times you ganked a lane and fed them ten kills—

No, even fifty kills—

What could you do if that teammate couldn't even contribute the equivalent of one person and died before every fight started?

Even so—

"The jungler is still great."

That was Goblin's belief.

Usually, if a player got that fed, they'd at least carry their own weight.

And junglers didn't just grow their own team—they simultaneously hindered the enemy team's growth.

On top of that, I can grow and carry myself.

Goblin was exactly that type of carry jungler.

And he believed that style was the best.

Rather than entrusting things to teammates, he trusted himself.

Most importantly, laying the groundwork for carrying was easy.

A 2-versus-1—

Especially a 2-versus-1 in the early game—

Was supposed to be a guaranteed win.

And yet—

As Goblin stepped out of the bush to gank mid, he witnessed it.

Seojun completely overwhelming Hat with insane attack chains.

Goblin stared for about a second.

Only his throat moved as he swallowed.

He could feel cold sweat running down his spine.

Should I go in?

For the first time in his life, after conducting countless ganks that had raised the blood pressure of countless laners, such a thought appeared in Goblin's mind.

If I go in, we're going to lose the gank.

A successful counter-gank referred to a situation where a jungler went for a gank and ended up getting beaten instead.

Why?

No matter how he looked at it, this was the perfect timing.

Seojun had pushed deep toward their team's turret. If Goblin went in now, they would definitely be able to fight.

Yet his instincts kept stopping him every time he tried to move in.

This was truly the first time such a thing had happened.

It even hurt his pride.

Did I get traumatized too badly in Ground Zero?

Goblin found his own instincts troublesome.

Still, he didn't let his pride get the better of him.

We'll win even if I don't go now.

So Goblin turned around and went back into the bush.

Behind him came screams, and in front of him appeared a death notification.

[Sword God → Hat]

[Hyung? You said you'd repay what happened in Ground Zero today! Where are you going?!]

Truthfully, even he couldn't fully justify his own decision, so while farming jungle monsters Goblin awkwardly apologized.

[Haha, sorry.]

Of course—

He never went mid afterward either.

His instincts kept warning him.

[Hyung? Can you help me?]

[Hyung, I'm dying again!]

[I can't hold this! I can't hold it anymore! He's even bullying me in chat!]

[Ah! Our jungler is trolling! Not coming mid! Garbage game! Jungle gap!]

[Pfft.]

[Whoa! Our mid's mental just broke!]

[Calling it jungle gap is a stretch when the enemy jungler can't go mid because of Goblin either lol.]

[0/7/0. Is this real?]

[Sorry. But we've basically won already.]

In the end, Goblin's judgment was correct.

He focused on other lanes and steadily dismantled Wealth Gap's team.

And then—

At the final moment, during a 5-versus-5 teamfight in front of Wealth Gap's Nexus, after all of Seojun's teammates had died—

Goblin personally witnessed Seojun activate a two-man Judgment Sword in the middle of the enemy team and calmly walk away.

And at that moment, he realized.

He completed two Judgment Swords during all that? Without dying a single time?

An insane monster.

So that's why I avoided him.

"H-Haha. You'll help me next game, right?"

Listening to Hat, who looked mentally exhausted, Goblin thought:

If we meet again in the main tournament, I guess I'll do what I did today and simply never go mid.

Goblin was an efficient man.

• Damn, he's actually good.
• Who are you talking about? LOL
• Nexus is about to explode now T_T
• The KiPiKiKiPi streamer is back! No more badmouthing!
• He played well and still lost lolololol
• Still, he never died until the end. Survived after using a two-man ult in enemy territory. Gotta respect the mechanics.
• But he lost though?
• Time for karma.

[Defeat]

The moment two Judgment Swords fell from the rifts that tore through the sky, the final Nexus exploded and the game ended.

It wasn't disappointing.

After all, this was just a scrim.

Returning to the lobby, Seojun turned off Focus Mode.

• ???: "I think I'll win the championship as long as I don't make mistakes." LOL
• He really doesn't make mistakes though LOL
• The team being like this is the real mistake.
• Honestly he should've hidden his strength before the draft!
• EoM
• Ah! Streamer turned off mode! Everyone be careful!
• Mu
• Bing
• Mu
• Mu
• Bing
• 27

What exactly were they trying to hide when they were chatting as normally as ever?

The manager had done a good job moderating, but Seojun thought he should probably check if there were any messages worth banning.

Chuckling inwardly, he said:

"Haha, I learned today just how scary a Challenger jungler can be."

• ???: "I think I'll win the championship as long as I don't make mistakes?"
• And there goes the championship~
• Let's go beat up Alpaca!
• To the Room of Truth!

They're really excited.

Should I actually freeze them?

Seojun's hand reached toward the settings menu, but he decided against it.

Ever since the stream had grown larger, donation alerts had remained disabled.

Even with them off, plenty still came in.

If he turned them on, there were times they became impossible to handle.

Apparently other streamers usually set aside dedicated donation-reading sessions in situations like that.

Maybe he should try it sometime.

"You all know I went easy on them because it was a practice match, right?"

• LOL sure.
• I never thought I'd see the streamer this pathetic!
• League is such a god-tier game!
• So pathetic, Seojun.
• The streamer really is from a righteous sect! Being shameless is their trademark.
• No, righteous sect people are the weirdest ones lol.

No, he genuinely believed it.

Seojun really had gone easy.

If he had truly wanted to win, he would have sent Alpaca or Babam Sword to mid from the beginning and taken jungle himself.

Or instead of staying in mid, he could have roamed and helped other lanes.

Even then he wasn't certain they would have won, but from Seojun's perspective, he definitely had held back.

Hmm.

More importantly, he probably needed a car.

And a large space where they could train.

I should ask the gym director.

Seojun spent a moment making plans.

The viewers immediately misunderstood.

• Is he sulking?
• Hey. Hey, are you crying?
• LOL this is so satisfying!
• Has he finally lost the ability to deceive everyone?

Not just the jungler. The other teammates need practice too.

He couldn't ignore them just because they were E-rank or D-rank.

If anything, they had more room to improve.

As for me... there's nowhere higher to go, so I should focus on pushing them.

His thoughts became neatly organized.

What they needed was practice.

And more practice.

Thinking about it, the solution was simple.

There was no need to decide how hard to push them.

He could just keep pushing until they became good!

Seojun was about to return to Hayunho's lobby.

He needed to persuade his teammates.

Though...

Liben was probably having even more fun than the chat right now.

Well, I already decided I'd endure it during the scrim period.

The important thing was the main tournament.

But—

Now that he knew how much training the team needed, was there any reason to go easy on them?

He didn't think so.

So before returning to the lobby, Seojun decided to accumulate a little more karma while he was at it.

"Everyone, enjoy this while you can. Starting from the next game, I won't lose even once."

• Streamer's Serious Mode ON!
• The loser turned on Serious Mode LOL
• A viewer said that, not him?
• Yeah? And what exactly can you do by yourself? LOL
• I hope you keep losing forever! Today's stream is the funniest ever lol.

Apparently—

The viewers had accumulated quite a lot of resentment over time.

Why?

Seojun tilted his head.

He genuinely had no idea.