Chapter 172

CHAPTER 172

"One!"

His legs bent and his body lowered.

With a shout, he fought against gravity.

It was a simple bodyweight squat, easy for beginners since there was no barbell involved.

"One!"

But the story changed once the count passed fifty.

"Two!"

And especially when the person doing those squats was a streamer who barely went outside and never even went for walks.

"Haa... Ughhh! I'm going to die."

Lumi's legs trembled violently.

Even the gym owner, who was replacing a new punching bag in the distance, could see the shaking clearly.

'Isn't he about to collapse?'

Seojun paid no attention and continued urging him on.

"Two!"

"I'm fine. One."

"..."

"One."

"I'm not fine..."

"One."

"Oneeeeee!"

Perhaps because it was the first day, Seojun was personally supervising them one-on-one.

'He's basically a personal trainer.'

Though there was a slight difference.

Before training even started, he'd thoroughly established dominance, and now he was using their still-awkward relationship to push them to their limits with a smiling face, making it difficult to refuse.

"One more is seriously impossible. Seriously. At this rate I'm going to crap myself even in virtual reality. Seojun-nim? Seojun-nim?"

If you were close friends, you could swear and complain.

But if things were still a little awkward, once you'd been dragged in, it became hard to refuse.

'It's already over for him.'

The gym owner shook his head.

Seojun carefully observed Lumi before speaking.

"Just one more."

This lunatic.

The guy already looked completely spent, and he wanted one more?

But the gym owner knew something.

No one was more accurate than Seojun when judging limits.

"Come on. You can do it."

That final rep would truly be Lumi's absolute limit.

Yet Seojun's expression remained bright and cheerful as he pushed him to that extreme.

Maybe because he was handsome, he even looked kind.

Which probably made it even more infuriating for the people suffering through it.

'Just like me replacing punching bags over here.'

Huff.

The gym owner finally finished replacing the punching bag and slapped it a few times.

The one Seojun had destroyed had been old.

But it still had at least another year of life left.

Sure, saying "be gentle with a punching bag" sounded ridiculous.

Still, if it had been used reasonably, it could've lasted two more years.

Yet Seojun—

"Wow, how worn out was it for the punching bag to burst? You should replace these sooner. You make good money, don't you?"

—consistently acted shamelessly.

Right.

If it had happened once or twice, maybe the gym owner would've believed him.

Maybe he'd have reflected on whether he'd neglected equipment replacement.

But Seojun had destroyed more than eight punching bags already.

'That bastard. Is he some American heavyweight champion or something? Calling me stingy? Anyone can see you're using these to threaten your team members!'

Did he really not know Seojun's personality by now?

Damn it.

The gym owner's blood pressure shot up again as he glared at him.

"One!"

At last, Lumi completed the final repetition and collapsed.

Seojun had successfully pushed every single team member to their limit.

But the gym owner knew.

This was only the beginning.

"Okay, Lumi-nim, get some rest. And Yoonho-nim? You've rested enough, right?"

***

The hellish rotation finally ended.

Not a single person had complained.

Why?

"Because he burst a punching bag. Who am I to think I can't burst one too?"

Alpaca said.

Seojun had climbed into the ring and was sparring with Lee Dongsu.

The team members were sprawled across the floor, half a step away from complete exhaustion, staring up at the ring.

"Oo... aa... oo..."

Lumi wanted to say something, but even moving his tongue felt too difficult, so only strange noises came out.

"What did you say?"

"He's saying he feels like he's dying."

Lumi nodded.

"Apparently."

"I think I understood that much too. But Wind Sword-nim, are you so exhausted you can't even talk like Lumi?"

Wind Sword simply stared blankly ahead like a man whose soul had left his body.

After a while, his head moved ever so slightly.

It was so subtle that they couldn't tell for sure, but it probably moved.

A fierce exchange was taking place inside the ring.

Watching it, Alpaca asked:

"Are you guys coming tomorrow?"

"..."

For a brief moment, the team became one.

They could feel their teamwork improving in real time.

"What happens if we don't come?"

"What do you mean, what happens?"

Ha Yoonho pointed toward the ring.

Lee Dongsu was currently getting punched in the face.

"The pro player's getting no mercy either."

"What about us?"

"Oo... oooo... oo..."

"What?"

Even Yoonho failed to translate that one.

Lumi let out a sigh and answered.

"Ah. Ahem. I said, 'Are we really becoming closer through this?'"

If they became close, they'd get beaten.

If they didn't become close, they couldn't refuse.

It was a terrible trap.

"Hyung, did you know?"

"What?"

Dongsu's fist flew forward.

It was sharper than before.

Like someone young enough to absorb everything around him, he continued growing.

His talent accelerated that growth to the point where he could now be considered nearly a semi-professional fighter.

Of course, no matter how talented he was, it was only possible because he'd already spent years fighting in virtual reality.

"Apparently other pro players are interested in Rios too. Some of them might join."

"Oh, really?"

Yet the punch never reached Seojun.

Not once since their first meeting.

But Dongsu no longer felt discouraged.

He'd already accepted that Seojun was just that kind of monster.

"Yeah. I heard Player Lee Chaerin from Griffin got interested after seeing me appear. Not sure who she contacted though."

"What about other players?"

"Who knows? But I feel like there might be more."

"Really? Weren't you the first pro player to participate in this tournament?"

"Yeah. I guess I opened the door pretty well. Honestly, a lot of pro players secretly want to try streaming."

"Really? You guys stream too."

Even while talking, they remained focused on the sparring.

Seojun's fist landed.

"Urgh. We do stream, but it's not the same as being a real streamer who actively interacts with viewers."

"Is that so?"

"Ow. We have to focus on the game, too. And—ugh—we don't actually get that much time playing regular games that can be broadcast. So..."

Thud.

"Could you take it easy?! Anyway, the environment itself makes it hard to stream like actual streamers. So naturally we get interested. And then there's a tournament where you team up with streamers? That's impossible to resist..."

"Hey! I'm talking here!"

As if that ever mattered.

Dongsu was only complaining because he was getting hit so much.

"That's enough."

Seojun chuckled and lowered his guard.

"Good work."

"Yes."

"By the way, what happens if a bunch of pro players start coaching the other teams too?"

"What do you mean what happens? It'll turn into complete chaos. Naturally it'll become a battle of pride."

"Over viewer counts? Or over how well the coached teams perform?"

"Both. Ah, now that I think about it, that's actually a huge amount of pressure. Please let there be only one pro player. Please!"

Seojun laughed as he walked over to where the team members were sitting.

Seojun had already figured out everyone's level through the exercises they'd done earlier.

Their strength, stamina, endurance, and even athletic sense.

And the conclusion was—

'Their fundamentals are pretty lacking.'

Even Wind Sword, who had seemed decent at first glance, was below Seojun's expectations.

He couldn't call it disastrous since he hadn't seen the streamers from other teams.

Still, compared to Dongsu, or Taewoo, who had naturally picked up all sorts of things simply from being around Seojun, there was a significant gap.

Of course, that was fine.

Starting today, he'd fill those gaps using the method he was best at.

Practical experience.

"Captain Yoonho? You've rested enough, right? Come on up."

He would inject it directly into them.

"Ah..."

Once again, the thoughts of the four team members connected like a hive mind.

Their teamwork evolved another level.

Save us.

***

[LOL which stream are you guys watching starting today?]

Posts like that were appearing on Riven in real time.

The League of Streaming wasn't primarily a tournament about which streamer team played the game best.

It was a tournament about what kinds of stories emerged when streamers were thrown together and forced to compete.

Because of that, choosing which streams to watch during the practice period was a surprisingly important decision for viewers.

Entertainment was the highest value.

In the end, the funniest collaborations were always the ones that got talked about the most and attracted the largest audiences.

And there was no way a professional player streaming together with streamers wouldn't be entertaining.

[Obviously Poverty Gap lololol]

[How can you not watch Dongsu?]

[Is Dongsu hyung streaming too? Will he read chat and respond to donations?]

[A pro player actually doing real streaming is rare.]

A pro player appearing as a tournament coach.

It was massive bait, and viewers had already decided it would be entertaining before it even started.

Meanwhile—

"Hyung. I just act normally, right?"

"Just do what you usually do. Don't worry too much. Compared to pro competition, this'll be way easier."

Alpaca was giving advice to a slightly nervous Lee Dongsu.

They'd only met today, yet somehow had already become friends.

Seojun, who had unknowingly forged that bond by injecting shared suffering into both of them, watched with curiosity.

"It's streaming, not acting. You don't have to show anything special. When you're gaming, game. If you're angry, get angry. Just hang out like you're with friends."

"I see. Got it. Sounds fun."

Alpaca was right.

Streaming was simply about doing what you wanted.

"But is everyone starting at six? Only one team is live right now."

"They'll probably all start around the same time."

The current time was 5:45 PM.

And the only team already broadcasting was Rain's team, which had started at five.

[But seriously, don't we have a coach?]

[Someone like me is enough.]

[Bull Hyung, if you're really coaching, why not declare war on Dongsu too? You already did it to Seojun.]

[...]

The large TV in Ha Yoonho's living room was displaying Rain's stream.

Their team had been chatting for nearly fifty minutes, and Bull visibly panicked for a moment.

"So Rain's team is really going without a coach?"

Meanwhile, Dongsu muttered to himself while focusing on the stream.

Even though he was pretending otherwise, his nervousness was obvious.

"Who knows? They could suddenly reveal a surprise coach. Maybe another pro player."

Seojun said it casually.

Anything was possible.

"Really? Maybe Lee Chaerin joined them? Is that why they started their stream early?"

Then it happened.

[Bull-nim, actually there's no need to issue a challenge! We have a coach too!]

[Oh?]

[Who is it that you've been hiding even from your teammates?]

[Hehe. Let's take a look!]

As soon as Rain finished speaking, someone appeared in the lobby.

"Huh?"

And Dongsu shouted.

"Taker?"

"What?"

"He's a pro player too?"

Taker.

Real name: Park Beomsu.

Just like Dongsu, he was a professional player.

[You think only Poverty Gap has connections with pro players? We do too! ... Well, actually I've never met him before. Hehehe. Nice to meet you, Taker-nim!]

The moment Rain revealed his coach, their chat exploded.

People were saying they'd believed all along.

Others were saying they were about to leave for Poverty Gap's stream but now had to stay.

But—

That was only the beginning.

[Kim Taewoo has started streaming.]

[You want us to bring in pro players too? Fine. So we brought one.]

[Dokkaebi's Team has started streaming.]

[Day 1 Training with Lee Chaerin.]

The instant Rain made his reveal, the other teams started their broadcasts as if they had been waiting.

It probably wasn't coordinated.

[Captain Taewoo! Didn't you say six o'clock?! Why are you suddenly streaming now?!]

[Shut up! Huh? Wait, what? Why is Dokkaebi's team also—???]

The team captains were probably just panicking.

They had prepared pro players as secret weapons, only for their opponents to reveal the same thing.

"Wow. That's a lot of them."

Even Seojun was surprised.

Three teams had already revealed pro players.

Including his own team, that made four.

More than half the tournament.

For some reason, Dongsu looked increasingly nervous.

"Hey, you okay? Four teams is a lot."

"No... and it's not four teams. It's five. Another team just went live."

Dongsu's expression turned sour.

[Mental has started streaming.]

[Current World Champion Baek Doyul. What more explanation do you need? Haha.]

The title was unbelievably arrogant.

But he had the credentials to back it up.

He was the reigning world champion.

'Hyung, why are YOU here?!'

Dongsu sighed.

"Should we just go live now?"

"No. Wait. Please, just give me a minute."

He needed time to cool his head.

Honestly, even if every team in the tournament had revealed a professional player, he wouldn't have been this shaken.

The reason was simple.

'Ah... today's content was supposed to be training at the gym...'

Other players didn't matter.

Even if members of his own team or Shin Hae-min had shown up, it would've been fine.

But—

'Wait... wasn't Stage 10 AI modeled after that hyung? Then that means...'

They were going to clash.

One way or another.

'With the world champion hyung.'

Dongsu slowly turned his head to the side.

"Honestly, this is good, Dongsu. Don't worry about it. Just do what we planned."

'And with this crazy hyung sitting right here.'