Chapter 138

[Kim Tae-woo – 750 points]

The numbers on the timer count down.

[15]

[14]

[13]

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.

Ha Yoon-ho had always considered himself at least a troll with some intelligence.

While he does troll things, at least he acts with sufficient thought before executing them.

So then why does he troll when he thinks things through?

Because if it makes for interesting content for the broadcast, even if it means he personally suffers a bit more, he can’t give up trolling—that’s his personality.

Is that why?

The small bit of rationality he had left began clashing with his troll psychology.

‘Damn. You’re really going in on this? Tae-woo, have you lost your mind?’

Ha Yoon-ho had planned to take Seo-jun even if it meant a somewhat difficult path this time too.

He’d drawn out a scenario where he’d shoot his points up to 700 without hesitation to dominate from the start.

700 points was the Maginot Line.

It was the maximum points where his troll instincts and rationality could reach a compromise.

He’d also calculated that it was a figure that at least other thoughtful people would absolutely never bid on.

Buy a decent C or B-tier player and leave the rest to luck.

And if someone competed, he’d adjust the lineup as much as possible and run himself, suffering directly. That’s what he’d thought.

But.

Perhaps the most important thing in that calculation was who his competitors were—something he’d overlooked.

Other people not bidding was only from the perspective of rational people, wasn’t it?

‘He’s actually doing this.’

When he himself already carries half a troll in his heart, how could there not be abnormal people among other streamers?

[10]

[9]

[8]

[7]

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.

Time counts down.

‘Anyway.’

He couldn’t tell if Tae-woo had really bid thoughtlessly, or if he’d bid because this was merchandise he needed to secure at that level.

‘Raising it by 50 points at once instead of 5 was definitely for the same purpose as me.’

Seizing the initiative.

And it would be bluffing too.

Tae-woo might not look it, but he’s a user who resides in Diamond. Master was just something he got his foot into once with good luck, so that doesn’t count.

Anyway, Tae-woo’s current tier is low Diamond, and his grade is C.

That means Tae-woo only has 900 points—95 points less than Ha Yoon-ho’s 995 points as an E-tier.

Both when neither has bid.

In the end, if it goes all the way, Ha Yoon-ho absolutely has to win.

‘The problem is, going that route means I’d have to pay at least 905 points.’

[3]

[2]

[1]

‘Ah, screw it. Let’s do it.’

Ha Yoon-ho gave up thinking.

The troll in his heart had finally seized the controls.

[Ha Yoon-ho – 755 points]

Damn it.

Don’t do it.

[15]

[14]

[13]

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.

[1]

[Kim Tae-woo – 760 points]

‘For crying out loud.’

Are we really doing this?

The rationality that had been barely holding on in Ha Yoon-ho’s mind got knocked out cold.

* * *

[3 seconds! 2 seconds! 1 second! Ah! Another bid came in! They’re going crazy!]

The caster shouts excitedly.

How could watching two people racing toward hell not be entertaining?

[Ha Yoon-ho – 785 points]

Enormous points are being thrown around from the early part of the auction.

Points that would completely exclude them from later auctions.

[Still, they must be nervous since they’re bidding 5 points at a time, and filling up the full 15 seconds too. What do the commentary panel think about this? Navigator-nim?]

[Haha. By now we can all tell we’ve been fooled. Yesterday’s events were all ‘Everyone else, don’t buy him. I’m going to buy him myself!’]

[How did it feel when you were directly involved yesterday?]

[I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’ve actually done joint broadcasts with Seo-jun-nim, the subject of this auction, in For the Murim.]

[Yes.]

[If he could show even half of what he did then in LOS, I thought Seo-jun-nim would be a strong championship contender.]

[Oh, is that so?]

[Yes. So I was thinking, why are these two acting like this when they have connections with him like I do?]

[I see! I knew it all along!]

[Caster-nim? ‘I knew it all along’…]

[Now! While this was happening, the points have shot up to 800! If it goes over 900, Team Captain Kim Tae-woo won’t be able to bid even if he wants to. In that case!]

“Would it be Yoon-ho-nim’s victory?”

Mental.

A veteran corporate streamer in his late thirties with some stubbornness.

“Hmmmm.”

He was the man who became the biggest variable in the last LOS by randomly picking 2 tops, 2 supports, and 1 mid without much thought during the auction.

When his team gets messed up, other teams get messed up too.

“Was it this level?”

The funnier part was that unlike everyone’s predictions of group stage elimination, his team had advanced to the finals.

Mental laughed and said that was exactly his instinct.

After all, he had only acted on instinct.

[850 points bid by Team Captain Kim Tae-woo! Ah, we’re slowly approaching the limit. If he really wanted to buy him, he’d just be stamping his feet, wouldn’t he?]

[Team Captain Ha Yoon-ho is smart. He’s actively utilized the advantage of having more points as an E-grade to build good teams. But this time he looks like he’ll spend all but 95 points. Is there really that much value?]

[Penguin-nim.]

[Yes, Navigator-nim.]

[Honestly, both team captains probably aren’t completely confident there’s that much value.]

[Is that so?]

[But there’s something called expected value.]

[Huh? Expected value is an average though?]

[No… um. I meant to say potential.]

[Ah, I see.]

[As I mentioned earlier, if he could perform even half of what he showed before, he’d definitely be valuable. And it’s already been half-proven through Kael and Eric, hasn’t it? So wouldn’t a gamble of this level be worth it?]

Gamble.

Navigator described the current situation as a gamble. Probably many people would agree.

No matter how high the potential, spending nearly all your points isn’t a gamble if it’s not what else?

The problem is.

“I want in too.”

Mental’s instinct is telling him to join that fight, even though he’s currently standing back from the current battle.

“Ah. The viewers are going to say things.”

The public opinion and sentiment weren’t very good when he finished the last auction too.

Back then, Mental had felt responsible and gathered all the criticism toward himself, then had a bit of a debate.

Since he usually fights well with viewers anyway, that concept worked well.

He showed results afterward too.

But that was lucky.

[Ah! Is it going over 900? Is it going over?]

[Ha Yoon-ho – 905 points]

It finally went over.

And Mental got stimulated by that situation.

“Let’s just go!”

Right. Since when did he care about viewers? And even if he get criticized, he’ll take it!

[Mental – 990 points]

[Ahhhhh! Mental, who had been quiet until now, goes all in!]

[Suddenly! He appeared out of nowhere!]

Mental smiled with satisfaction after causing trouble, laughing at the screen.

A man should be bold enough to do at least this much.

-Ah… the auction’s biggest variable strikes again…

-Just the variable itself, goat

-Mental-hyung… you were quiet and then lmao

-Hyung… do you really want to die?

-Are you going to get beaten up?

-I love you, Mental hyung

-If you auction like this and don’t make at least the finals this time, you’re dead ^^

Mental chuckled while looking at the viewers on the official account.

“Who’s getting beaten up?”

He leaned back in his chair with satisfaction, perhaps because he’d made a choice that followed his instincts.

“Ah, this is actually better. Don’t have to think about annoying stuff.”

When did he ever think anyway?

“Seo-jun-nim. You seem like you’d be fun to get close to. Though I’m so bad at games it’d be hard to play together. Hahaha!”

He laughs refreshingly.

[Yes, it’s all-in!]

[All-in means from now on he can only get players automatically assigned as the last remaining for each grade, right?]

[That’s correct.]

[But it’s not over yet, everyone.]

Navigator said.

And Penguin responded.

[Team Captain Ha Yoon-ho is going all-in too? Team Captain Ha Yoon-ho has never gone this crazy before!]

Beep!

[Ha Yoon-ho – 995 points]

“Huh? That didn’t work?”

While Mental was surprised, Penguin spoke again.

[There it is!]

* * *

Mental had won merchandise in the third auction.

Until then, most evaluations said it was good that he’d bought his desired C-tier merchandise cheaply for 5 points.

But he lost Seo-jun by just 5 points.

The viewers evaluated this like so,

Actually, this is good!

-Wow, Ha Yoon-ho took that bomb lmao

-I was worried about how far the bubble would go, but at least Mental’s stubbornness got broken lmao

-Yoon-ho, is that really all-in? Yoon-ho, is that really all-in? Yoon-ho, is that really all-in? Yoon-ho, is that really all-in? Yoon-ho, is that really all-in?

-First, confirmed unsold merchandise for 3 rounds LOL

-His luck better be fucking good LMAO

-Legendary record

-If he can’t perform now, the streamer’s dead

-Streamer hunting is demonic cult suppression

And Tae-woo was.

“Why do I only have 900 points?”

If he’d had 995 points, he would have just bid immediately when the situation got a bit strange.

“Damn game.”

Tae-woo’s goal is victory.

And he knows better than anyone that the person closest to that victory is Seo-jun.

“Then what’s left is… building the team well?”

Actually, Tae-woo had prepared quite thoroughly.

So he could grasp merchandise priorities at a glance no matter what situation arose.

He had quite a talent for this kind of strategic thinking.

He just didn’t care about studying. If he had, he believed he could have at least gotten into a university one tier below his friend who’s currently sighing deeply next door (Seo-jun was currently sighing deeply), even if not quite at that level.

Anyway, he just needed to go according to the plan he’d laid out.

However.

His thoughts suddenly changed.

“If I build my team insanely well with these 850 points but can’t stop that bastard, I still won’t win, will I?”

He’d realized that what mattered now wasn’t his team.

If he was aiming for a decent 2nd or 3rd place, maybe, but his goal is victory, so he’ll meet that friend eventually.

Wouldn’t it be right to prepare for that time?

Even if the team gets a bit weaker?

“I guess when the situation comes up, I should sacrifice some team strength to interfere.”

Tae-woo carefully examined the auction order.

* * *

“So basically.”

Seo-jun sighed as he spoke when the auction was almost over.

“Right now Tae-woo gets Windstorm Sword-nim, which would be perfect for him. And in a situation where he could get him practically for free.”

Hah.

“That bastard Tae-woo deliberately didn’t bid? Made Windstorm Sword-nim go unsold and took a different B-tier player to send him to our team?”

Wow.

So this is how the situation flows.

-You can feel the malice lmao

-This guy would rather take a loss than let his friend succeed

-Streamer, let’s go gank the next room!

-This is your chance to convert to jungler. Send Windstorm Sword mid lmao

-Is this that thing? If I can’t have it, I’ll destroy it? lmao

“Haha.”

Not only did he drive up the price, but now he’s screwing me over like this?

“Right.”

That’s possible.

That’s totally possible.

But.

“3 mids is a bit much, isn’t it?”

-3 mids confirmed lmao

-Isn’t it common to have two people with overlapping positions?

-Those overlapping three are A, B, C though lmao

-If lower tiers overlap, you just switch. There’s not much difference whether they go to their main lane or switched lane

-But if B and C go to sub lanes? That’s a huge power loss lmao

-Still, they’re all familiar faces, so that’s nice!

-Who told you to go all-in LOL

“I didn’t tell anyone to go all-in either.”

Seo-jun could only stare at the monitor with a sour expression.