Season 4: Chapter 70. LIL Squad Assemble (1)
Wadadadada!
Sang-Hyeon sprinted up the hillside stairs at full speed.
'Kim Ju-Hyeok.'
He was filled with determination to exact revenge for today's scolding. Ju-Hyeok had threatened that Sang-Hyeon needed to attend the social gathering to find a team. Sang-Hyeon would show him what he had accomplished today. He wildly dashed up toward his house.
'Right.'
Thud!
He only remembered when he slammed into the door that suddenly opened.
“Gah!” Ji-Ah screamed, startled to see Sang-Hyeon flattened on the ground.
“Ah... Almond!?”
“Sang-Hyeon, are you okay?” Ju-Hyeok peeked out.
“Ugh... Y-Yeah. I’m fine.” Sang-Hyeon shook his head and got to his feet.
Ji-Ah shook her head. “Wow... If even you couldn’t dodge that, a lot of other people would’ve been hit hard.”
“Ah... no.”
No one knew why, but the door had a high hit rate specifically for Sang-Hyeon.
“Anyway...” Sang-Hyeon wasn’t bothered. In fact, it worked out fine. “I...”
He was about to speak.
“Oh, but aren’t you hungry?” Ju-Hyeok brushed past Sang-Hyeon as he headed down the stairs.
“We’re going to that place. You know, the one and only kimchi stew spot.”
“Oh yeah, that place is good.”
Sang-Hyeon adjusted his plan. He would tell them the news at the restaurant.
Ji-Ah tilted her head at the strange gleam in Sang-Hyeon’s eyes.
'What’s up with him?'
***
“Welcome! This is Oh Kang-Woo’s Kimchi Stew, a timeless tradition! Would you like to order?” As always, the part-timer greeted them brightly.
The three ordered with ease as soon as they sat down.
“Yes... Three Nine Hells, please. And... one rolled omelet too.”
Ju-Hyeok grumbled at Ji-Ah’s order. “Dang, what is this? It’s eleven thousand won now? It used to be nine thousand. It’s not Nine Hell Stew. It should be called Eleven Hell Stew!”
“Everything’s gone up. What can you do?” Ji-Ah casually poured water into three cups.
She was fairly generous when it came to spending, but Ju-Hyeok wasn’t.
“Nine Hells isn’t about the price. It’s just a phrase...”
“Still.” Sensitive about money, Ju-Hyeok kept muttering.
Ji-Ah snapped back in disbelief, and Ju-Hyeok countered again. Their conversation went in circles about the price.
'Uhh...'
Sang-Hyeon kept looking for the right moment to jump in. He had something to say too.
“Ahem. So...”
Ju-Hyeok finally caught on that Sang-Hyeon wanted to say something.
'Is it about his arm?'
Sang-Hyeon had gone to the hospital today. He had a certain look in his eyes like he was dying to speak.
It had always been a sensitive topic, so Ju-Hyeok hadn’t asked first. Now, even he grew curious.
“What is it? Good news from the hospital?”
“Yeah.” Sang-Hyeon nodded quickly.
Ji-Ah and Ju-Hyeok’s gazes instantly locked on him.
“R-Really? What is it?”
Sang-Hyeon grinned and began to speak. “The coach...”
Bang!
At that moment, the door flew open and a group stormed in. The kind of lineup that turned every head.
“Wahaha! What a coincidence!?” The middle-aged man had a bizarre, almost alien body shape.
“Wow, oppa! You’re eating here too? What a surprise~” The young woman had a slender, model-like figure and pink hair.
“Oh... Is there octopus in this? My kin...” The bald man’s head shone under the light.
“Ohohoho! Oppa~” This muscular man always changed his appearance.
'What is this? Is this This World or something?'
Sang-Hyeon couldn’t believe they had shown up here. He even doubted if he had somehow entered a game.
'It’s begun.'
To Ju-Hyeok, this already felt like a game to form a team.
***
As news of the platform tournament spread via text, the preliminary stage had already begun for all intents and purposes. The early bird didn’t quite get the worm.
“The desperate bird wakes up early.” Tako had gathered all the Balloon Stars members early that morning.
Bubblegum yawned and grumbled. “Haaaam. Tako, it’s not that we woke up early. It’s just that we never slept...”
Tako snapped back, “Bro, we can’t do this without Almond, okay? Shh.”
“Dammit...”
Miho giggled at Bubblegum’s expression.
“Ah, you’re so mean.”
“Your face doesn’t look mean at all though, Miho.”
“You’re too funny.” She ignored his words and kept laughing.
“Miho just wants to see Almond. That’s it.” Bubblegum shrugged and ignored her laughter. “So what exactly is the plan? Dragging us out here like this, Tako?”
“Well...” Tako scratched his shiny head.
He had cleanly shaved in preparation for meeting Almond today.
“We’ll just meet him. Maybe take him to a cafe and talk. We even went to support him during the Civil Empire tournament. Maybe we can make an appeal...”
“Sigh. That’s pathetic. Truly pathetic, octopus.”
Bubblegum smirked as Tako’s expression stiffened like a dried squid.
“Ahem.”
Bubblegum stared at Tako’s face for a second and suddenly realized something.
“You... If you can’t get Almond, you’re not going to team up with me, are you?”
Tako said nothing.
“How could you do this to me!? Huh!? Who helped build your stream, huh!?”
Tako simply shrugged like he’d been waiting for this.
“Sigh. Pathetic. Truly pathetic~”
“Pathetic~ hehe~” Miho echoed playfully beside him.
“Wow! Waaaah! I-I'm the boss! Huh?” Bubblegum puffed out his stomach and bounced it as if to intimidate the others.
He was actually shorter than Miho and not threatening at all.
StrawberryShooter chimed in with an idea, “Can’t I just kidnap Almond and be done with it? Ohohohoho.”
A brief silence followed, and no one replied. Then, the bickering resumed.
“I said I'm the boss!”
“Such a pathetic boss.”
***
A few hours passed.
Bang!
The Balloon Stars members, who had been waiting by the stairs for Almond, stormed into the kimchi stew restaurant.
‘Huh?’
Sang-Hyeon, who had been waiting for the perfect moment to brag to Ju-Hyeok, suddenly went blank.
‘Wha... what’s going on?’
Had he forgotten to log out? Why were the Balloon Stars members suddenly showing up in the real world? He felt utterly confused.
Miho suddenly stepped up and greeted him. “Wow! Oppa, it’s been so long!”
Everything Sang-Hyeon had prepared in his head flew out the window.
“Uh... yeah. This is unreal. How are you here?”
“We just had some business nearby!”
All four of them in the morning? Sang-Hyeon already knew their routines well. Miho had hidden it with makeup, but Bubblegum had deep, dark circles under his eyes. They couldn’t possibly have any schedules at this hour.
“Oppa, let’s have a meal and grab some coffee since we accidentally ran into each other. Maybe chat a bit or go for a jog together?”
She had a suspiciously long list of activities for an accidental meeting.
“Yeah, yeah, wahaha! I-I've been jogging lately.” Bubblegum’s belly wobbled unbelievably.
They silently pressured Sang-Hyeon to accept.
He gave a small nod. “Uh... sure, why not?”
“Okay!”
Only after Sang-Hyeon agreed did they all sit down.
Ju-Hyeok chuckled at the scene.
“It’s started.”
“What has?”
He whispered just quietly enough for Sang-Hyeon to hear, “They’re here to recruit you.”
“R-Really?”
Sang-Hyeon scratched his head. He was surprised that they thought of him already. After all, according to Ju-Hyeok, streamers had grown apart ever since the international tournament. Making friends again was key to forming a team.
“It’s so easy to find a team~” Ji-Ah nudged Ju-Hyeok with her shoulder and teased him.
Ju-Hyeok shamelessly nodded, unfazed. “Sure, it’s easy to find a team.”
“Then why do you keep pushing me to attend events?”
“Because the team I’m talking about isn’t this kind of team.”
“Then what kind?”
“A team that can win.”
“Wow. You’re brutal, Ju-Hyeok. Is this what you call being a fortress?”
“At Ah-Sung, this is just daily life.”
Ji-Ah shook her head and served herself some stew. “Who would want to team up with such a cold-blooded guy? Definitely not me~”
“Cold-blooded? No way. I’m a hot-blooded man. That’s why I got kicked out of the company.” Ju-Hyeok tried to explain himself and protested against Ji-Ah, but none of it registered in Sang-Hyeon’s head.
‘A team that can win?’
That phrase from Ju-Hyeok froze his mind. Yes, this tournament was just an event. However, he had a clear reason to win. It would be fun to team up with Balloon Stars again, but could they really win?
‘Especially when former pros like JeonJaPa’s old team are participating...’
CK Entus still consisted of legendary players even if Sa-Rang called them has-beens. Could Balloon Stars really beat them? Could Bubblegum defeat Popcorn? Could Miho beat Marshmallow? No matter how he thought about it, the image didn’t add up.
Could anyone even beat that team? That rotten Paprika had created a team that simply couldn't lose. If that was the case, Sang-Hyeon needed to consider a serious team. As expected, Ju-Hyeok was always one step ahead.
“Ah~ come to think of it, remember when we went to cheer for you at the Civil Empire tournament? That was so fun, right?” Bubblegum suddenly brought that up.
Earlier, he had called it a pathetic tactic. Now that they were face to face, he could only resort to that strategy. It worked surprisingly effectively.
Sang-Hyeon’s expression grew complicated.
“Right? Oppa, I cheered so hard that I totally passed out that day.”
“Wahaha! That’s right. We were supposed to go drinking, but you collapsed from cheering too much.”
Sang-Hyeon’s conscience grew heavy.
“Excuse me?”
His salvation came from the part-time employee. She walked over and pointed to the order sheet.
“Would you like to place your order?”
They had been sitting and chatting without ordering anything, so she promptly cut them off.
“Ah, um... four servings of Hell Stew, please. And... maybe some rolled omelet?”
“Will you all be ordering rice as well?”
StrawberryShooter raised his hand and shook his head. “I’ll have bread instead of rice~”
“Excuse me? We don’t serve bread.”
Tako nudged him from the side. “Hey, what bread?”
“Almond bread!”
A brief silence followed. Then, all the Balloon Stars members burst into exaggerated laughter.
“Wahahahahaha!”
“Ahahahaha!”
“Kyahahahahaha!”
Sang-Hyeon was mortified.
‘What the hell?’
He didn’t even glance their way.
Ju-Hyeok chuckled quietly to himself.
“Ahem!”
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
The part-timer tapped the menu and asked again, “You’re ordering rice, right?”
“Ah, yes, yes...”
Once again, she came to Sang-Hyeon’s rescue. He felt like giving her a thumbs-up.
‘Strawberry is seriously dangerous.’
Even if the others were okay, StrawberryShooter’s obsession was a little scary. Surprisingly, Sang-Hyeon had more to worry about than just the Balloon Stars members. Beyond the restaurant window, two suspicious figures peeked at them from beside a utility pole. One had red hair and the other had blonde hair.
“U-Unnie... should we go in now?”
“No, they already started eating. You want to go in and down kimchi stew just for timing’s sake? Wait for the cafe.”
It was the ADC Black Tea and the supporter Lemon, the bottom lane duo from the LIL tournament.
“Some people were even more proactive than us... ugh.”
“This happened because you woke up late!”
In a huff, Black Tea grabbed Lemon’s hair and shook it. They made quite a commotion. Fortunately, they stood far enough away that Sang-Hyeon had no idea in the kimchi stew restaurant. He simply kept blowing on his stew and eating quietly.