Chapter 157

Even with the news that Alpaca had died, Seo-jun didn’t panic.

He only glanced at the map to check where Alpaca had died and think about where the enemy jungler would go next, then attacked the next weak point.

Seo-jun was someone who could focus on what was right in front of him first, no matter what news came in during combat.

He moved his sword diagonally from left to right, bottom to top.

Slash!

“Urgh.”

Hat let out a groan, and Seo-jun silently withdrew his sword.

The enemy tried to block the next attack.

But where the next attack should go was already decided, and only Seo-jun knew this answer.

In other words, Hat was in a position where he had to see and react.

If it had been Seo-jun, he would have figured out what the opponent was targeting just from their stance, but unfortunately, Hat wasn’t Seo-jun.

Unlike the calm Seo-jun, Hat was biting his lips and floundering.

His pupils rolled around mercilessly.

The situation had been wrong from the very beginning.

‘I should have anticipated even this kind of situation.’

They’d probably discussed various countermeasures with his teammates in advance. For Hat, this match was a place to test those plans.

However.

‘If you could prepare for everything, would that make you human? You’d be a god.’

That’s why problem-solving ability is so important. Because you never know what problems will come your way.

Hat ducked his upper body as Seo-jun’s sword approached. Hat’s fist touched the ground.

‘He made a reasonable improvisation.’

It was an attempt to use Rock Wave at close range for a short burst, then end the damage trade here.

He’d probably moved based on past experience where he’d broken away from combat this way.

Bang!

By then, Seo-jun’s sword was already embedded in Hat’s collarbone as he ducked his upper body, and the weak point he’d successfully attacked happened to be the third one.

[Radiance’s Blessing]

A gentle light enveloped Seo-jun’s body, and rocks rose from the ground and exploded.

Naturally, there was no need to dodge.

Instead, Seo-jun grabbed Hat’s collar.

Just like Eric’s chains hit the caster too, Rock Wave, being an area skill, could also damage the user.

After confirming he’d taken damage, Seo-jun immediately let go of the collar.

Then he slashed with his sword.

Following that, Seo-jun closed the distance and went on the offensive.

“Are you going to run away?”

Around that time, Hat changed his approach.

“No! Let’s fight it out!”

Is the jungler coming?

The place where Alpaca had died was near the lane.

From where Seo-jun was looking at Hat, it was in the terrain diagonally down to the left.

It was close to mid.

In fact, mid, being in the center, always had room for other users to intervene.

“Heup!”

Hat no longer backed away and threw a punch. It was a crude attack without any weapon or special equipment, but the damage would be similar to a sword, making it threatening.

Seo-jun lightly leaned back to dodge while targeting the next weak point.

A pure white line drawn horizontally across the body.

Hat cast petrification on that area at the exact right timing to block Seo-jun’s sword.

His body swelled up. Attacking would result in a loss.

The timing fell perfectly. As expected of a B-tier player.

He had enough skill to choose something other than hiding in the tower.

However.

Just like before, Seo-jun’s wrist moved.

This time, though, he didn’t spin the sword but threw it inward.

Seo-jun’s left hand caught the sword. He held it in a reverse grip.

At the same time, the petrification wore off and Hat spun around to deliver a back kick.

It was a combo aimed at Seo-jun’s head, taking advantage of the momentary slow that occurred when attacking a petrified area.

But this time too, Seo-jun was already crouched down.

“You’re very well prepared.”

Slash!

The weak point was cut.

While correcting his reverse grip on the sword, he immediately targeted the next weak point. It was a good position for a combo.

Left-handed swordsmanship was also familiar to Seo-jun.

Slash!

One more time as the panicked Hat staggered backward.

Slash!

“It should be about time for him to arrive, right?”

“No, Seo-jun-nim. Were you waiting for him?”

Seo-jun had planned to welcome a 2 vs 1 situation.

As expected.

Goblin appeared from the bush next to the mid lane.

‘Come on.’

Seo-jun’s eyes flashed.

This might be the only chance for a comeback.

Seo-jun was half-convinced that they’d already lost this match.

They’d given up a lot from the beginning, and Alpaca had gotten significantly behind. The skill difference was already large to begin with.

Of course, it wasn’t like Seo-jun had no way to turn the game around, but winning that way went against what they’d agreed for scrimmages.

They needed to confirm their team’s capabilities and the opposing team’s as much as possible.

So if things continued flowing smoothly like this, they would lose.

‘Can’t be helped.’

Seo-jun dodged Hat’s attack and slashed a weak point while asking.

“Isn’t he coming?”

“No, he said he was coming! Huh? Where are you going! Goblin-nim! I’m going to die!”

Goblin, who had appeared from the bush, watched for a moment as Seo-jun reduced Hat’s health at a terrifying speed, then went back into the bush.

It was quite a funny situation, but Seo-jun was impressed.

As expected, Challenger!

‘So we lost.’

He’d expected it, but it still felt bad.

“Haha. Seo-jun-nim? Just a moment…”

Thud!

Seo-jun drove his sword into Hat’s body while thinking.

[Sword God → Hat]

He should just vent some frustration.

* * *

In the league, the jungler is a terrifying existence. No, a skilled jungler is an absolute existence.

Of course, even absolute power crumbles helplessly when faced with teammates who can’t perform.

No matter how many times you gank that lane to feed them 10 kills, or even 50 kills, if that teammate can’t even do their basic job and dies before the fight starts, there’s nothing you can do about it.

‘Even so, junglers are great.’ That was Goblin’s thinking.

Usually, if you get that fed, you’ll at least do your basic job, and junglers don’t just grow their team—they simultaneously hinder the opposing team’s growth.

‘On top of that, you can grow directly and carry.’

Goblin was exactly that kind of carry-type jungler.

And he believed that approach was the best way.

Trusting yourself rather than leaving it to teammates. Most importantly, it was easy to lay the foundation for carrying.

Because 2 vs 1, especially early-game 2 vs 1, was a guaranteed win.

However.

Goblin, who had emerged from the bush to gank mid, saw it in that instant.

Seo-jun’s figure as he pummeled Hat with insane combos.

Goblin stared for about a second. Only his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed his saliva.

He felt cold sweat trickling down his spine.

‘Should I go?’

For the first time, such a thought crossed Goblin’s mind—someone who had raised countless laners’ blood pressure through countless ganks.

‘If I go, I’ll get counter-ganked, won’t I?’

Counter-ganking means getting beaten up after going for a gank.

‘Why?’

No matter how he looked at it, this was the optimal timing.

Seo-jun had pushed deep toward their team’s tower, so if Goblin went, they would definitely be able to fight.

But his instincts kept blocking his steps toward the gank.

This had never happened before.

His pride was hurt too.

‘Did I get traumatized too badly at Ground Zero?’

Goblin found his own intuition troublesome.

But he didn’t force his pride.

‘We’ll win anyway even if I don’t go now.’

So Goblin turned around and went back into the bush.

Behind him, screams erupted while a death message appeared up front.

[Sword God → Hat]

[Hyungnim? You said you’d get revenge for the humiliation at Ground Zero today! Where did you go!]

Since he couldn’t properly convince even himself of his choice, Goblin, who had been reluctantly farming jungle monsters, apologized.

[Haha, sorry.]

Of course.

He didn’t go to mid after that either.

His instincts kept sending warnings.

[Hyungnim? Can you help me?]

[Hyungnim, I’m going to die again!]

[I can’t hold this! I can’t hold it! He’s even tormenting me verbally!]

[Ah! What’s our jungler doing! Not coming to mid! This is a ruined game! Jungle difference!]

[Pffft.]

[Gasp! Our mid’s mental is gone!]

[It’s jungle difference, but the enemy jungler is also getting beaten by Goblin-nim so he can’t come to mid either. Kekeke.]

[0/7/0 for real?]

[Sorry. But we’ve almost won anyway.]

In the end, Goblin’s judgment was correct.

He played the game focusing on other lanes, and team Wealth Gap was steadily conquered.

And.

In the final moment, during the 5 vs 5 teamfight in front of Wealth Gap’s base when all his teammates had died.

Watching Seo-jun activate a 2-person Judgment Sword from their center and leisurely escape, Goblin realized.

‘He completed two Judgment Swords in the middle of all that? Without dying even once until the end?’

This is an insane monster.

That’s why he avoided him.

“Ha, haha. You’ll help me next game, right?”

Listening to Hat’s words as his mental state was nearly destroyed, Goblin thought.

‘If we face them again in the main tournament, I’ll probably avoid mid like I did today.’

Goblin was efficient.

* * *

-Wow, he really is good

-Who are you talking about? Lol

-Now the nexus is breaking and it’s over T_T

-LOL the streamer is coming back! Stop the bad talk!

-So good but still lost LMAO

-But the guy who used 2-person ult in enemy territory and came back alive. His mechanics are definitely worthy of respect

-But in the end, he lost, right?

-Time for karma payback

[Defeat]

The moment two Judgment Swords fell from cracks that split the sky, the final base, the nexus, exploded and the game ended.

He wasn’t disappointed. It was just a scrim, after all.

Seo-jun, who returned to the lobby, turned off Focus Mode.

-???: If I just don’t make any mistakes, it seems like we’ll win the championship??? LOL

-For real, he doesn’t make mistakes lmao

-The mistake was having this team

-Actually, you should have completely hidden your strength before the auction!

-Real lol

-Ah! The streamer turned off the mode! Everyone be careful!

-Move

-Freeze

-Move

-Move

-Freeze

Despite chatting completely normally, he didn’t know what they were trying to hide.

The mod managed things well, but Seo-jun thought he should still check if there were any chats worth banning while smiling inwardly.

“Haha. Today I learned about the terror of Challenger junglers.”

-Lmao

-???: If I just don’t make any mistakes, it seems like we’ll win the tournament?

-This is how victory slip away~

-Alpaca, let’s hurry and go scold him!

-To the disciplinary room!

They’re excited.

‘Should I really freeze them?’

Seo-jun’s hand moved toward the settings, but he decided to leave it alone.

Since the scale had grown, he’d been keeping donation alerts turned off.

Even with them off, a lot came in, and if he left them on, it sometimes became unmanageable.

In such cases, other streamers usually set aside separate communication time to receive donations, and he wondered if he should try that.

“You all know I went easy on them since it was a practice game, right?”

-LOL nonsense

-The streamer is finally showing his ugly side!

-League is the god game!

-Seo-jun, you’re so petty

-The host is definitely from a prestigious orthodox sect! Being petty is an orthodox sect characteristic

-For real, orthodox sect guys are the weirdest ones lmao

Even though they didn’t believe it, Seo-jun had actually gone easy on them.

If he’d really wanted to win, he would have sent Alpaca or Windstorm Sword to mid from the beginning and gone jungle himself.

Or he wouldn’t have just stayed quietly in mid but would have roamed to other lanes.

Even doing that, he wasn’t confident he’d win, but from Seo-jun’s perspective, he had gone easy on them.

‘Hmm.’

By the way, it seemed like they’d need a car. A large space where they could exercise too.

‘I should ask the gym owner.’

Seo-jun made plans for a moment.

And the viewers misunderstood this.

-Is he sulking?

-Hey. Hey, are you crying?

-LOL so satisfying!

-Finally can’t pull off his deception technique lmao

‘Not just the jungler. The other teammates will need practice too.’

He couldn’t neglect E and D-tiers. Rather, they had more room to improve.

‘As for me. Since there’s nowhere higher to go, I should focus on training them.’

His mind was organized cleanly.

What they needed was practice. And more practice.

Come to think of it, it was a simple problem.

There was no need to think about how much to train them. He just had to train them until they got good!

Seo-jun tried to return to Ha Yoon-ho’s lobby. To recruit his teammates.

‘By the way.’

LeagueCommunity must be much more chaotic than the chat window.

‘Well, I agreed to endure it during the scrim period from the beginning.’

What mattered was the main tournament.

However.

Now that he knew how much he needed to train his teammates, did he really need to go easy? He didn’t think so.

So before going to the lobby, Seo-jun decided to build up some more karma while he was at it.

“Everyone. From the next match onward, I won’t lose even once, so enjoy yourselves now.”

-The streamer’s serious mode: ON!

-A loser going into serious mode LOL

-A viewer said that?

-So what can you do by yourself! Lmao

-Just keep losing from now on! Ah, today’s stream is the most fun ever lol

Apparently.

The viewers had a lot built up against him.

‘Why?’

Seo-jun tilted his head.

He really didn’t get it.