Chapter 191: Old Destiny (1)
After they returned to This World, the leader of the team, SweetRadish, started giving his feedback. There wasn't much to say. It was a standard victory, except for the bottom lane.
"You all did well."
The team looked happy, except for the bottom lane. The support, SweetPotato, and the ADC, WhiteChicken, were sulking in the corner. WhiteChicken looked especially devastated. He looked stunned.
'... It looks like he's facing a wall he can't overcome.'
SweetRadish knew that expression.
They had that expression when they felt a wall against their opponent. It was the expression that countless professionals made. All professional gamers, or even famous amateur players, thought they were pretty good at what they did. If one looked around their acquaintances, it was rare to find someone with the skill of a Grandmaster or Master. Just becoming a Master made them the strongest in their surroundings. They had been playing the game as the strongest for a long time, but it was completely different once they touched the world of professional gaming.
The Masters and Grandmasters who once reigned as the strongest became lower-tier players, which became embarrassing for them professionally. Even if they became a Challenger, it wasn't the same. There was a significant skill gap whether they crossed the 1,000-point mark. Even if they surpassed 1,000 points, it was different when they competed in tournaments. Could they enter the regular league or were they relegated to being a second-tier player? Could they make it to the playoffs or not? Would they eventually win the championship or not...
'I couldn't overcome the final hurdle.'
SweetRadish tightly closed his eyes as the memories of that time flooded back. It was truly despair for a human to feel helpless when it didn’t work out no matter how hard they tried. The sense of powerlessness was indescribable.
For SweetRadish, the championship was like that. Despite receiving all sorts of praise, he couldn't clinch the victory.
He even earned the dishonorable nickname, ‘The king with no crown.' SweetRadish wanted to die during those times, but no one else could understand.
‘You can just retire while receiving free money. Buy a building or something.’
‘Winning? Who cares about that? Don't you already get paid a lot?’
‘Hey, us office workers don't even make anything close to that. Don't obsess over it.’
They couldn't understand that those pursuing such a life aiming for financial success and buying buildings with their salary didn't become professional gamers. They failed to comprehend the mindset of those who stepped into the world of professionals. These individuals hadn't even reached a position where they could harbor resentment for not achieving victory.
The understanding of the mentality of those who set foot in the realm of professionals eluded them. These individuals had come this far, driven by the thrill of victory and not with the sole purpose of securing a solid building in their old age.
"... Hey, WhiteChicken."
SweetRadish understood what WhiteChicken was going through. Even though he was only an amateur, he had previously achieved Challenger rank. His competitive spirit was stronger than most people.
"It's nothing new."
"... What is?"
"If there's someone good, there's always going to be someone better. If there's someone who loses, there's always someone who wins."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" WhiteChicken got up, baffled.
“Puhahaha.”
His teammates burst into laughter. SweetRadish patted him on the shoulder to make him feel better.
"Hey, at least they won't make fun of you for losing to a Silver."
"... What are you talking about?"
"I took a look earlier. Almond's playing solo queue."
"... What?"
WhiteChicken's eyes widened. Other players who hadn't experienced it wouldn't understand, but the earlier skirmish in the bottom lane was a fierce battle that felt like their brains were melting. He even began to feel that virtual reality could be dangerous. The time spent fighting against Almond was barely 10 minutes, yet it felt like an eternity. The battle progressed with intense concentration without any pause or respite.
"No way."
WhiteChicken's stamina was already depleted in the game. Not only in the bottom lane skirmish, but also in the mid to late game team fights. He had to fight while completely drained, yet Almond continued to play ranked games. How was his stamina holding up?
"He's already about to hit Gold."
"I see."
"Hey, but there's some bad news as well."
"?"
"I was wondering if I should've said it during the feedback or not."
SweetRadish whispered so the others couldn't hear, "Almond played only using one hand."
"!?"
"He did the same thing in the game before."
‘What the. Wait a minute...'
As those strange scenes passed by in his head, WhiteChicken's mind went blank. He finally realized that he had truly lost against just one hand.
***
[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]
[LazySoldier is unstoppable!]
[LazySoldier is legendary!]
The voice that continued to get louder and louder announced defeat at the end.
[Defeat]
A storm passed by, and the nexus was destroyed. The blame obviously went to the bottom lane, where LazySoldier came from.
"What the... how much did you guys feed him? Huh?"
"Did he pay you guys? How did you guys die so much to him?"
"I thought they were intentionally feeding, but I checked, and they're not. These guys are just bad. Go die."
They would understand if they knew who LazySoldier was, but most players in the Silver and Gold ranks played the game casually. They were unaware of LIL streamers unless they were a professional player.
"That Ran is fucking crazy. When he went up, you guys all got fucked by him too!"
"That was because you fed him soooo much."
"Huh?!"
When Almond performed well, the enemy bottom lane had nothing to say. Their trash-talking was futile from the start. Even though they were defeated in battles against mediocre champions, they claimed it was because Almond was already strong. If they fed him, they would have nothing to say. Their only crime was encountering LazySoldier in the same bottom lane.
"You're so frustrating. Just fuck off. I hope I never see you again."
"That's what we should be saying, you troll duos."
LazySoldier's rampage didn't stop there. Even during his final promotion game, he was unbelievable.
[LazySoldier! Pentakill!]
As the games progressed, Almond's proficiency of Ran improved dramatically. Despite playing with only one hand, his skill was even better than when he started. While his accuracy and speed didn’t match when he was using both hands, his strategic decision-making and game understanding greatly improved. It was all due to his relentless dedication and increased game knowledge.
[Victory]
A familiar text appeared on Almond's screen.
[You've completed the promotional games!]
The silver badge glowed and...
Kiiing...!
[Gold IV]
He was promoted to Gold IV. Playing four to five games in a row paid off.
"Phew. I'm finally Gold."
Almond smiled, finally feeling a little relieved.
"If I don't practice playing with one hand, I won't even be able to hit Diamond."
LIL was set up so that the player had to play a certain number of games no matter what. Even if he could win consecutively, there was a limit to how much he could rank up at once.
'I think it's quite effective.'
There was a reason the doctor gave him permission. It was highly effective. By not using his right hand, he felt less strain and sweated much less.
'And there isn't that much of a difference in performance,' Almond thought to himself as he looked at the damage chart. His damage was similar whether he used one or two hands, at least in Gold.
'They're so bad compared to WhiteChicken..."
The players he faced were worse than WhiteChicken or even GreenTea. There was no need for him to use two hands.
[Almond! Almond! Almond!]
[Wow! It's Almond!]
[Who's that?]
[This nut... I better see you on my team next...]
[Is that really Almond? He doesn't even have his stream on?!]
[Wow! Is Almond practicing on his own?]
Did he build a small reputation thanks to the tournament? Until now, no one recognized him, but in the last game, some people recognized him.
[Hey, are you going to play more? Do you want to duo? I'm pretty good at support.]
The support Almond played with earlier requested to play together with him. He wasn't sure whether it was because the player recognized him or because he was good.
'Duo...'
He checked the time again. It was already 11 P.M.
'When did it become so late?'
Grrrr.
He wanted a late-night snack.
[Sorry, not now.]
He politely declined and exited the capsule.
Chiiik—
When he exited the capsule, he saw Ju-Hyeok passed out on the sofa with a beer can rolling beneath him.
Tap.
Sang-Hyeon bumped Ju-Hyeok.
"Hey, go inside and sleep."
"...?"
Ju-Hyeok slowly opened his eyes.
"Oh, are you done?"
Ju-Hyeok surprisingly woke up right away. He checked the time and looked at Sang-Hyeon.
"Can you play this long?"
"Since I'm playing with one hand, it's fine."
"That seems to work, huh?"
Ju-Hyeok glanced up and down at Sang-Hyeon and nodded. He was noticeably less sweaty.
"Did you call someone?"
"Ah... Nothing like that... I was just watching YouTube. Ah! And Ji-Ah told me, she wants to hire a new assistant for herself."
"An assistant?"
"Yeah. She said she'll split it using her pay. She said the uploads have been getting slower, so she was planning to get someone she was familiar with. Since you have the final say, what do you think?"
Was it her friend he saw last time? Since Ji-Ah said she would use her own pay, there was no reason for Sang-Hyeon to decline.
"Yeah, tell her to do it."
"Okay."
"Hey."
"... Huh?"
Sang-Hyeon stopped Ju-Hyeok in his tracks, who was walking to his bedroom to sleep.
"Um... Aren't you hungry?"
"?"
Ju-Hyeok was confused. Did he want to eat a late-night snack?
"Now that I think about it, I do feel a little hungry."
Was it because of the beer? He wanted some carbs.
"Oh, really? Is there something to make?"
Sang-Hyeon's face glowed up. Ju-Hyeok then realized what Sang-Hyeon wanted.
'This guy...'
He was hungry, but didn't want to cook himself.
'I should tell him to just eat almonds.'
However, Ju-Hyeok fondly saw that Sang-Hyeon requested for a late-night snack instead of chowing down on almonds. Wasn't this one of the perks of a great manager?
"I saw a cold spicy noodle recipe on YouTube."
"... Oh!"
***
Slurp.
The sweet and spicy noodles slurped into their mouths with a side of cucumber.
"Wow, this is good too."
"This is from big teacher."
"Big teacher?"
"A big chef."
"I see. The world's a pretty good place."
Sang-Hyeon took his phone out as they slurped the big teacher's spicy noodles.
[Rune-stagram]
He was addicted to his personal social media. Communicating with his fans was a different type of fun from YouTube and Treevy.
"What. Are you looking at Rune-stagram?"
"Yeah."
"You don't think I need to take care of that for you?"
"This should be fine... it's my personal account after all."
That was right. Treevy and YouTube were run by Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah, but Runesta was all up to him. Of course, there were some downsides to it as well.
"... Alright. Just be careful."
Sang-Hyeon nodded and checked the mountain of DMs he had received. It was full of messages cheering him on and fans wanting to talk to him.
But...
[Wow, Sang-Hyeon. You're Sang-Hyeon, right?]
He saw a message from a familiar name.
[I stopped hearing from you after you quit archery, so I thought you'd be up to something else. But you're a streamer now? That's so cool. You're still so good at shooting.]