Chapter 145

“Huh? Penguin-nim, what do you mean by that?”

Seo-jun had thrown away his gun and moved away from victory—Navigator’s question about Penguin’s commentary.

“That’s right! Please explain, no, provide commentary!”

Arin joined in as well.

-Commentary, not explanation LOL

-His true feelings came out, didn’t they?

-Is this really a caster? Lmao

-Why is Navigator acting like that already? Lol

It was hard to believe they were casters and commentators. But this had always been the way things were, so it didn’t matter.

Malicious attacks, slander, or disparagement were not allowed, but casters and commentators were free to openly support one side as long as they avoided those.

This had been a custom continuing for several years.

They said they’d accepted public opinion that commentary was too formal and boring when they worried too much about chat sentiment.

After all, no matter how big it had grown, wasn’t this still technically an underground streamer tournament rather than a major tournament?

Minor leagues have their own minor league sensibilities!

“No, Navigator-nim and Arin-nim. Aren’t you being a bit too biased? And even if you’re going to cheer, do it later when the main game starts and cheer for that team! Why are you doing this from the warm-up game?”

Penguin seemed to have a lot to say.

Of course, being too openly supportive could upset fans of the opposing team, so they needed to moderate themselves appropriately.

-LOL

-Penguin has a point

-Stop the biased judging right now!

-Those two got salty because Seo-jun won with a frying pan lmao

-Taeyang doesn’t seem to be saying much

“Actually, we’re doing this because it’s a warm-up game, hehe.”

Arin’s rebuttal. It was reasonable.

Next came Navigator’s turn to rebut.

“That’s what streamers do!”

-Mm! Nod

-That’s LOS for you!

-Chaos destruction mayhem!

-Chaos destruction mayhem!

-That makes sense. Penguin seems to be in the wrong here lol

The viewers made their judgment.

That this was also reasonable.

Penguin had nothing more to say, so he moved on to the main point.

“Anyway, I think Seo-jun-nim, who threw away his gun, is going to have a hard time.”

When the discussion was about to deepen, Arin stepped aside.

She had been impressed watching Seo-jun’s play, but not to the extent of blindly believing and charging forward like Navigator.

“Sounds good. Why is that?”

Navigator asked with a beaming smile.

“Well, obviously! I mean, come on, he doesn’t even have proper equipment farming done and now he doesn’t even have a weapon, but you think he’ll win? That’s what’s strange!”

In contrast, Penguin spoke with a tone that had some genuine conviction.

His previous predictions about Seo-jun had been wrong, and he just wanted things to proceed normally for once when it came to Seo-jun.

‘Why does he keep pulling off weird stuff!’

It was shaking his confidence as a former pro!

But that didn’t mean he could just blindly say Seo-jun would pull it off if it was him—his conscience wouldn’t allow it.

It really didn’t seem possible.

“Haha, this is all because you lack faith. A Sword God already have his sword, you know?”

“That was a frying pan.”

“I don’t really know about that. So, want to make a bet?”

Penguin was momentarily startled.

Looking to his side, Navigator was smiling confidently.

He was curious about the source of that confidence.

Penguin wasn’t completely certain.

But Navigator’s eyes were saying something.

Chicken out if you’re scared.

So he made his decision.

“Fine, fine. What should we bet on?”

“Hahaha! How refreshing of you. Then let’s bet on predicting the winner. The person who fails has to do the best player interview later using magical girl…”

“Absolutely not.”

“Alright. How about conducting it in cat-speak?”

Arin, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, chimed in.

“Oh! That sounds good! Awesome!”

-An announcer happy that someone else will do the interview she should be doing.jpg

-Arin is way too excited about this, isn’t she? LOL

-Cat-speak LOL

-Ugh! They’re trying to commit terrorism!

-But did Navigator watch the streamer’s stream by any chance?

-Don’t mention the streamer on the official account

-Anyway, looks like he watched it LOL

That was accurate.

Navigator was a regular viewer who had been watching Seo-jun’s streams!

But they didn’t know this.

That when punishments were being decided on Seo-jun’s stream back then, the viewer who suggested cat-speak was Navigator.

Why?

‘Ah, I suddenly want to see Nabi.’

Because he was a cat person who kept cats at home.

But wouldn’t it be disgusting to watch a guy do cat-speak?

-Ah, damn LOL whose punishment is this even for?

-Penguin and Navigator are both not exactly ugly, but watching them would do cat-speak probably be infuriating

-For real lol

-It would definitely be infuriating lmao

That’s why it’s a punishment.

It wouldn’t mean anything if they did something cool or reasonably watchable instead of something embarrassing and disgusting.

“You’ll do it, right?”

Navigator looked at Penguin triumphantly.

When he fired another look with his eyes.

“Fine! Yes, alright!”

“Then I’ll go with player Seo-jun’s squad. What about you, commentator Penguin?”

“I’ll go with player Wave.”

Navigator made the obvious choice given the flow of conversation so far, and Penguin made the most reasonable choice.

If you had to pick, it was the most sensible betting arrangement given the current situation.

“Now, you both didn’t give your reasons. Could you tell us?”

“Player Wave’s squad is guaranteed to get supply drops. They’ll be able to fly freely through the sky, kind of. The gear from supply drops is equivalent to the secret room. Also, if you look at this storm’s position, eventually the exit will be on the airfield side. If supply drops fall early, they can grab them and wait for people to come up from underground. And the teams underground are…”

Penguin glanced around and cut off his words.

“I’ll stop here.”

“That was quite reasonable. Now let’s hear Navigator-nim’s thoughts.”

“Yes.”

“What’s your reason!”

“Because he’s the Heavenly Demon!”

-Mm! Nod

-That’s the Heavenly Demon for you!

-LOL crazy bastards lmao

-Japan might sue for overusing the fun-cool-sexy meme lmao

-Info) Heavenly Demon is the nickname streamer Jin Seo-jun used when playing For the Murim…

“This side was no less reasonable either.”

Penguin looked at Arin in the middle with disbelieving eyes.

Where exactly was that reasonable?

“Well then, let’s watch the results unfold. It’s getting quite interesting and exciting with the bet thrown in.”

-It’s exciting for good reasons, not because it’s good lmao

* * *

Step, step, step.

The corridor brightened and darkened.

Underground bunker. The facilities were deteriorated and lacked proper maintenance, so while some lights were working properly, there were more that flickered or were completely broken.

“We’ll arrive soon.”

And as you walked, you’d occasionally encounter large spaces.

Tae-woo raised his gun upward at the words of his advancing teammate.

They had arrived at the center where the secret room was located.

After that, not just Tae-woo but the entire squad quietly held their breath.

So the leader at the front could detect if there were any other movements.

Keryl.

An A-tier supporter.

The supporter position was one that many people looked down upon.

Since the purpose was to assist the ADC and there was no need to farm minions, there were constant debates about skill requirements.

But once you reached Challenger level, even those who disparaged the position itself would shut up and admit they were wrong.

That’s what Challenger meant. A position that was simply hard to reach, regardless of whether the position lacked skill requirements.

‘Reliable.’

Supporter Keryl. Age sixteen. A high school boy.

Young. And not only did he have outstanding talent, but he was also a pro hopeful.

‘And energetic too?’

Anyway, he was the A-tier player he’d successfully bid on instead of Seo-jun, and also one of the reasons he’d brought an ADC instead of Windstorm Sword from B-tier. He’d concentrated everything on bottom lane.

And now.

“No one’s here. Let’s quickly scope out the terrain.”

The teammates quickly moved around according to his orders.

The underground cavity at the center of the three popular spots with secret rooms had randomly generated terrain each round.

Also, the key to enter the secret room was hidden somewhere.

“Tae-woo-hyung, you can stand here and watch that direction. If enemies come toward the ADC-hyung, go support him.”

Keryl grasped the structure in a brief moment and gave orders.

“We can look for the key after eliminating all enemies, so don’t rush. Hyungs, don’t forget to take your three-enhancement-drug set. Keep your radios out at your waist too.”

Tae-woo took position behind a box, hiding his body while watching the front corridor.

In Ground Zero, the most important thing was positioning.

One moment of carelessness and showing an opening would result in bullets flying immediately.

And when you fire, enemies will identify your position and approach, but if you don’t know where enemies are coming from at that moment, you’re already dead.

While Tae-woo’s team was equipped with level 2 and level 1 gear, so they wouldn’t die instantly from one shot, losing position meant death anyway.

In that sense, Keryl had secured perfect positions.

Excellent spatial awareness, game sense, and split-second judgment.

He wasn’t a supporter for nothing.

At least they wouldn’t be caught off guard and attacked without knowing where enemies were coming from.

‘That bastard is coming.’

Tae-woo stared intently at the front.

Thanks to stream sniping from viewers in this game, he knew how many enemies there were.

And he also knew what Seo-jun had shown.

‘He deflected bullets with a frying pan? Does that even make sense?’

Damn bastard.

That kind of monster was currently targeting him.

Fortunately, he’d thrown away his gun and come down underground.

He might have looted something along the way, but there was no mention of it in chat, and even if chat wasn’t reliable, he knew this much.

Seo-jun was someone who followed through when he said he would.

‘Is this the first time we’re properly facing off in a game?’

Maybe they could face off in LOS too. Position-wise, Tae-woo filling mid would be most appropriate.

‘Alright, let’s see how good you really are.’

Just a frying pan? Even if it’s him, that should be difficult.

‘Is he coming?’

He could hear faint gunshots.

Bang! Clang!

‘Those aren’t gunshots?’

Tae-woo, uncertain, stared at the end of the corridor where the sound was coming from.

The middle of the corridor was pitch black, but the end was lit.

And probably around that corner, people would be fighting. One of them was definitely that bastard.

Bang!

With the gunshot, an enemy appeared at the corner, backing away. It wasn’t him.

But the enemy wasn’t even paying attention to Tae-woo.

Clang!

The enemy kept shooting toward where he’d come from instead of this direction.

Bang!

A gunshot could be heard, followed by a faintly audible sound.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal.

‘Is he here?’

Damn. Finally facing off.

‘That bastard’ finally appeared. He struck down the head of the enemy who had appeared first.

Then he turned his head.

Their eyes met.

Menacing. The frying pan in his right hand really looked insane.

-Scary as hell

-Looks terrifying from a distance

-Did he really kill someone with a frying pan?

-If you’re curious, just watch both streams at the same time lmao

-Ah. I like that streamer lol

‘He’s here.’

It was something he’d mentally prepared for sufficiently.

The enemy who had emerged first fell into an unconscious state.

‘That bastard’ began walking this way. His body entered the dark corridor and disappeared from sight.

Step, step.

But through sound and the faint light that wasn’t completely absent even in the darkness, he could barely track him.

‘He’s not even running? Acting all leisurely.’

The corridor was dark and Tae-woo’s position was bright. But that was fine.

He’d positioned himself first, and the moment he fired, his teammates would reposition and support would come after hearing the sound.

He just needed to prevent the enemy from reaching here until then.

‘Ever since I realized you tricked me into giving you bread that day, you’ve been my dream opponent.’

Tae-woo stood up from behind cover, faced forward, and fired into the darkness.

Bang!

He naturally assumed that even Seo-jun, who could block with a frying pan, would use the cover scattered throughout the corridor.

But.

Clang!

Sparks flew. So the dark corridor briefly became as bright as if a camera flash had gone off.

For a moment, he could see that bastard slowly approaching from the center of the corridor, but it quickly disappeared.

[Tae-woo-hyung, getting ready to support you.]

Bang!

Tae-woo didn’t panic and fired another shot.

Clang!

Flash!

Again, he could clearly see that bastard for a moment.

Similarly, he was still approaching. What had changed was the frying pan’s momentary position and the slightly closer distance.

Bang!

Tae-woo fired the next shot as soon as he could, panicking.

‘Huh? He’s not stopping? He’s blocking all of this?’

But.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The dark corridor—every time he fired, he accurately captured that bastard’s position, and he was gradually getting closer.

Without a single step backward.

Like a ghost in photos gradually approaching from the end of a corridor.

-Tae-woo is starting to look screwed LOL

-Insane LMAO

-Is this a horror movie? LOL

-How does he never mess up even once?

-When are the teammates coming! LOL

When he fired his eighth shot, that bastard emerged from the darkness.

“Nice to see you?”

The grinning face of his friend came rushing toward him.

The frying pan swung.

And.

“Did you take much damage?”

Seo-jun looked down at him.

More precisely.

He hadn’t dodged.

‘My legs gave out from shock.’

Crazy bastard.

He was scary as hell.