Chapter 248. Sword VS. Blade (2)
Chapter 248. Sword VS. Blade (2)
“It’s not going through no matter how much I report. Sigh.”
Ju-Hyeok clutched his head and took a rest on his desk.
The issue was a video uploaded by TimeTrouble.
[Why the world is shocked by a South Korean archer turned streamer(?)]
It seemed ridiculous that they kept changing the title to increase the view count.
'It doesn't really matter because it's just speculation for now, but...'
The video didn't contain any concrete information yet, but they continued to quickly upload these speculative videos. Time was of the essence to these YouTubers.
Then, they started to upload videos with proper evidence-based research that continued to generate views.
This meant that Ju-Hyeok could no longer predict what would appear in the next videos.
'Should I troll in the comments?'
He felt like trolling was the only option left. Feeling hopeless, he clicked on the video and then...
'Huh?'
Ju-Hyeok was startled and quickly adjusted his glasses.
[The video has been deleted by the copyright owner.]
"... What?"
At that moment, his phone rang.
Zinnnngggg.
It was coming from an unknown number.
'... What's with the timing?'
Ju-Hyeok usually wouldn't answer unknown numbers, but the timing felt strange.
He nervously swallowed and answered the call, "Hello?"
“Hello.”
It was a woman's voice. She sounded dignified even with just a short response.
“Please tell Sang-Hyeon to focus on the competition.”
From this statement, Ju-Hyeok became certain of one thing.
'This woman was the one who got the video deleted.'
The video had been removed due to this woman, but he didn't know who she was.
"May I ask who this is?"
She replied after a brief silence, “I’m just a fan. I apologize for my rudeness in finding out your number and calling. Take care.”
Click.
The call ended.
"What...?"
Ju-Hyeok pondered what he had missed. There couldn't be anyone he didn't know who would go to such lengths for Sang-Hyeon.
'But who is it?'
No one came to mind no matter how much he tried to recall. Except...
“Do you know JeonJaPa?”
He once asked Sang-Hyeon when Sang-Hyeon became one of the ten people that JeonJaPa followed online.
Ju-Hyeok recalled Sang-Hyeon's strange reaction at the time.
“... No, I don't.”
“That’s strange. Isn't it?”
“...”
“You have to keep it a secret?”
Why did that memory suddenly flash by? As far as Ju-Hyeok knew, JeonJaPa was...
'No way.'
He shook his head as if he just realized something he shouldn't have.
Sang-Hyeon had a reason for keeping it a secret.
What if he recalled this sooner and acted like he knew when he spoke to the woman a moment ago?
'She might have called to test me.'
Sang-Hyeon could’ve done the same as the woman if he knew about the video.
[The video has been deleted by the copyright owner.]
Ju-Hyeok blankly stared at the text.
"Let's just get my work done first."
He returned to his main task and felt grateful that the problem was resolved. Now, he wanted to prepare a countermeasure before another video was uploaded.
[Ji-Ah]
He called Ji-Ah.
"Hey, Ji-Ah. Let's make a video in advance. For the finals."
Ju-Hyeok took out a video from a folder and sent it over.
[National Championship]
This was the video of Sang-Hyeon’s performance from ten years ago.
"We'll make his own introduction video with this."
Ju-Hyeok couldn't afford to lose such an opportunity to other YouTubers.
Ji-Ah quickly understood what Ju-Hyeok was trying to say and began working on the video.
After the call, Ju-Hyeok sighed and turned to the community window.
'What’s this?'
The real-time search terms were strange.
Shop Pick
Almond
Flashy Blade
'Do they think Flashy Blade is a shop pick?'
***
Real-time posts on LIL Pro believed that Flashy Blade was a shop pick.
[Is this a shop pick?]
[I think he went too far this time.]
[OMG, did his brain stop working?]
[Shop pick again?]
[Real-time announcement: Almond picked Flashy Blade from the shop]
[He's really crossing the line, lol. He picked a champion from the shop even in the finals?]
This misunderstanding wasn’t particularly their fault.
Almond had never shown off Flashy Blade even during practice, so it looked no different than a shop pick to everyone else.
However, an unexpected problem occurred.
— Isn't this rude?
└ Literally. I feel like he's doing this to make us mad now.
— Another mental attack?
— This is definitely crossing the line. He did this against a professional player, lol.
Some argued that a shop pick in the finals was inappropriate behavior. Of course, many argued against this too.
— You guys didn't say anything when Almond fought against ForeverAlone! ForeverLoser is crying rn...
└ True. A shop pick is fine against ForeverAlone, but not with SweetRadish?
└ That’s who ForeverAlone is.
└ We call this reality!
First, they argued why viewers didn’t feel that way with the shop pick against ForeverAlone. Second, there was also the counter-argument that manners were unnecessary in tournaments.
— What kind of manners are you looking for in a tournament? LOL.
— Manners in a war? BS!
└ LOL, for real~~ Then Korea shouldn’t have fought with the US to win the war either. So unfair~ right?
└ Rudely and secretly landing at someone’s flank and smashing them. That's not something a grandmaster should do.
└ Literally! If it was the medieval age, it would be a tactic to get excommunicated right away.
— Some strange prejudices are popping up. A shop pick is really fun. Stop the BS.
└ Many people feel inferior because Almond is so hot.
└ Honestly, Almond doesn't have any background, lol. He wasn't even a professional player. Just someone working at a company back in the day.
└ Is Ahsung Corporation just a company?
└ Are you looking down at Ahsung?
└ What does that corporation have to do with LIL? He doesn't have any background in gaming, and that’s true.
└ I heard Almond was a former archery athlete? So at least he has his background in archery, lol.
└ Do you really believe what the YouTubers are saying? That video was taken down already.
The shop pick sparked an unexpectedly heated debate among the viewers.
However, the casters’ subsequent explanations extinguished all these debates.
It all started with OrangeKing.
"Could this be a hidden card?"
"What? It's not a shop pick?" the caster asked.
OrangeKing pointed at the rapport window, "Almond’s rapport with Flashy Blade is too high for it to be a first-time pick, you see?"
— He's right. It's maxed out.
— But why are there no records?
— That's true.
[Rapport: 100]
Such a rapport level couldn’t possibly come from a newly bought champion from the shop.
— Maybe it's the relationship score instead of rapport?
— Does rapport only increase when the champion is played?
— What if Almond bought him from the shop and only increased his score through interactions? There aren’t any records at all.
Some argued that Almond bought Flashy Blade from the shop beforehand and increased the score through interactions.
OrangeKing shook his head, "Flashy Blade gains intimacy mainly through skill recognition. So, you can't raise his rapport to one hundred just through interactions."
"But there aren’t any records. How would Almond’s skills be recognized to increase the rapport? Do you know anything about this, analyst?" the caster asked the analyst who specialized in LIL theories.
The analyst adjusted his red glasses and began explaining, "Um... Rapport also increases if you play in practice mode."
"Ah-ha! So Almond has been playing Flashy Blade in practice mode?"
"Yes, but..."
"But what?"
"Obviously, it's much harder to get your skills recognized by the champion in practice mode."
"Oh~ So that's the issue? Then how did Almond do this?"
"He either practiced hard enough to overcome all of that, or he always had incredible talent. Maybe both."
OrangeKing emphasized once again, "So he a hidden powerful card?! He chose incredibly fast, right?"
Basically, OrangeKing wanted to say that he had guessed right.
— Is this it? A broken clock is right twice a day?
— It's, “Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while.”
— Are you guys stupid? It's OrangeKing who walks backward and catches a mouse, lol.
Of course, the audience didn’t acknowledge OrangeKing’s foresight at all.
"But why isn't SweetRadish picking?"
The camera caught Sweet Radish blankly staring into space. His usual bright expression had disappeared. Had something shocked him?
"SweetRadish…?"
He couldn’t possibly hear that, but the caster called out again to wake him up.
SweetRadish suddenly staggered.
Thump.
He squatted down.
"What, what is this?"
"Is this a This World bug?"
SweetRadish quickly stood again, but momentarily covered his face and looked embarrassed. Apparently, it wasn't a bug.
— WTF, lol.
— Very funny lol
— Sometimes, that happens when you focus too much in This World.
— Why's he staggering? Why's he staggering?
SweetRadish quickly chose the next pick.
[The Great Sage Heaven's Equal - Son]
It was the Great Sage champion modeled after Chinese mythology.
"Isn't this... a top pick?"
"Right. He chose the top lane first?"
"Should've picked mid. He seems a bit surprised."
— Obviously, he's shocked, lol.
— Obviously...
— He's clearly shocked, lol.
It didn't look like SweetRadish had any strategy in mind.
"He seems to have made a mistake due to nervousness. This can happen. Even pro teams make ban pick mistakes in the world finals, but you need to focus now, SweetRadish!"
As if he heard OrangeKing, SweetRadish continued his picks without any more hesitation.
Afterward, he chose an appropriate mid lane champion.
[Wind Sword - Seiko]
He picked the champion Seiko, who could slash enemies apart with wind blades.
"This pick looks good."
"What's the win rate between Wind Sword and Flashy Blade?"
"Um, I believe it's fifty-fifty in the tournament," OrangeKing responded to red glasses.
"Sword vs. Blade! Even the matchup name suggests it’s fifty-fifty, doesn't it?"
— LOL Sword vs. Blade
— lol Mom vs. Mom
— It's a classic matchup lol
— Solo queue warning!
"If it's fifty-fifty, then is that a good pick?"
"That's just for individual lanes. In terms of team composition, it's quite good. Especially since it pairs well with the Great Sage Heaven's Equal!"
"Ah-ha, so it's a team-oriented pick?!"
"Right. Especially since they already got rid of the biggest counter, Storm Ninja!"
The teams finalized their picks.
"Alright! It's time for the long-awaited finals! Now that the picks are finalized, let's quickly explain the rules for the finals!"
"Yes, that's right!"
OrangeKing intervened as if there was something more to explain.
"Now, special rules are applied since the tournament is an event match. It's a rule that applies in 2 vs. 2 matches."
"This is a pretty fundamental rule, isn't it?"
"Yes. When it becomes 2 vs. 2, we’ll proceed with a blind pick."
— Wow, really?
— Super fun lol
— Isn't this crazy?
— Wasn't this in a professional tournament years ago? Lol. This is epic.
A blind pick was when teams directly picked their champions without any bans. It also meant they wouldn’t see each other's picks.
"During the blind pick, any champion can be freely chosen. Enemy and ally champions can overlap. That means one-on-one mirror matches are possible."
"Yes! That too is fun in its own way! Okay, they’re finished loading! Let the game begin!"
***
Almond stood in the mid lane and intently stared at the floating text before him.
[SweetRadish]
SweetRadish stood on the other side with his usual bright expression.
It felt like some sort of Cold War situation before the minions appeared.
SweetRadish came up to Almond and greeted him, "Hello~!"
He seemed shocked during the ban pick phase, but returned to his cheerful attitude.
"Wow~! Is that a shop pick?" SweetRadish subtly stepped forward and asked.
Almond didn't respond. He was neither the type to engage in psychological warfare nor entertain it. He was the type to simply ignore everything.
"As expected, you're very quiet. You won't fight until the minions come, right?"
Oof.
SweetRadish simply sat on the ground.
"Uh-huh. Let's meditate until the minions come."
Almond didn't react at all. At least, it seemed like he didn't. He just blankly stared at the spot where SweetRadish sat.
'What the...'
Almond didn't show it, but he was a bit flustered.
'Didn't Tako say that SweetRadish's main was Flashy Blade?'
Surely, Tako said that SweetRadish’s main was Flashy Blade. Then SweetRadish would know when a kill was possible, right?
The spot where SweetRadish sat was definitely in range for Almond, but a kill couldn’t be achieved in just one move. Like chess, it would take 2-3 turns of attack and defense before checkmate.
'Doesn’t he know? Or is he showing an opening on purpose?'
Almond didn't know whether the gap was intentional, a careless mistake, or an absurd carelessness mistake.
Regardless, Almond was the type to move first.
Swoosh.
Almond silently raised his blade. Even his breath stopped as he focused. Then, he threw his blade to that exact spot.
Whoosh!
The sword seemed to shoot out like an arrow.
Almond already turned half his body and jumped.
[Flash]
A light flashed behind SweetRadish, and Almond appeared.
Thump.
The blade returned, and strength surged in his hand. Almond took advantage of his rotating momentum.
Whoosh!
A fierce light charged toward SweetRadish's neck.
'Got him.'
SweetRadish's eyes sparkled, and the corners of his mouth rose.
Almond and SweetRadish met eyes.
Then, Almond realized it was a trap.
SweetRadish had intentionally left an opening, but Almond completely ignored the trap.
'It seems like I caught him.'
SweetRadish only saw one or two steps ahead and couldn’t see beyond that.