Chapter 37: How to Deal with Eokka

The roar of the crowd filling the stadium.

And the advancing ST players.

“It’s over.”
“Can they finish this?”
“If they don’t pull the aggro of the side minions.”

And, of course, players of that level weren’t likely to make such a mistake.

[One, and another!]

[Milky Way’s players are dying again like sausages! The twin towers are also falling!]

[Straight to the Nexus—GG!]

[ST takes the first set and raises the momentum!]

The players got up from their seats and disappeared, and people went outside for a short break.

“Isn’t this too much?”

Meanwhile, Eun Chae was angry while looking at something on her phone.

“What are you looking at?”
“Lock gallery.”
“……How do you even know about that place?”
“I went in once because the viewers kept typing it in the chat.”

Fortunately, the gallery displayed on her phone was not logged in, nor was there a fixed nickname.

It looked like she’d been in and out more than once, though.

Actually, it’s natural for players to pretend they don’t, but to wander around the internet after a game and look for their performance.

If professional sports are like that, then esports, which is all about online and the internet, is even more so.

I’ve looked it up myself sometimes.

But on days like this, when there’s a big match, that place is usually full of people who came to cause trouble.

“Look at this. Does this make sense?”

—Even if the mid is behind from gold to CS, if he just takes the flatfish roll, the other four will solve it, right?
└Fact) Yes
└Those four are seriously legendary
└lolololol
└Thumbs up
└It’s not that he got worse with age, it’s just that his original lack of skill was exposed.
└Then what about Filodog, who just lost to that f*cker?
└They’re both low HP
└Except for one time, Filodog’s components weren’t good.
└lololol
└No, but think about Fraud enduring even though Filodog got a triple kill in the first invade and couldn’t even trade.
└Yeah, if it was the other way around, they would have lost faster.
└Fraud<–Can’t even get kill value even if he eats.
└Thug is a god.
└lololol

I deleted the internet window without even pressing the next post.

“Okay, Eun Chae, memorize this.”
“What?”
“Almost ninety percent of the people there are Bronze, Silver, or Gold.”
“…Ah.”

As expected of a top student, she quickly understood.

“Putting Eun Seol aside, are people who know less about Lock than me saying that?”
“That’s part of it, and actually, the writer probably just wants to cause trouble.”

They probably don’t really think that play was meaningless and that ST won only because the other team members were good.

But writing like that gets more attention and attracts more aggro.

“I thought it was a good place because they praised Eun Seol so well…”
“If I have a bad set, I’ll be the best target to tear apart.”

A middle school girl, streaming, already debuted in the 3rd division, and everyone is praising my skill.

Conversely.

It means it’s the perfect background for the wild dogs to attack the moment I falter.

“Ew. Then I’m not going to look at this anymore.”
“Only go and see it when I win.”

Anyway, since Lock is a sport, results are absolute.

Skill can be fabricated if it’s not overwhelmingly dominant, but the championship cup and winning record won’t disappear even if Lock collapses.

As such, the moment when people who cause trouble can’t raise their heads is right after the victory.

I roughly counted the number of times Eun Chae had accessed it, and it seems like it’s already too late to prevent her from entering at all.

So, it seemed better to steer her in a relatively healthier direction.

[Okay, the ban-picks have started, and the players are serious!]

[This is match point, you know? If they lose this, the fans of the losing team won’t be able to sleep until the next match.]

[Will it go to the third set, or will ST shut down Milky Way for the first time in a while!]

[The ban-picks start now!]

As if they had prepared something, the ban-picks were relentless.

Let alone using the given time, they finished the ban-picks before they even used half the time.

[Okay, now the players have entered the Twisted Treeline!]

[Game—starts!]

Unlike the first set, they were in a standoff, taking their positions without gathering.

It’s safe to say that there won’t be a heated early fight like the previous game.

[Ah, the camera shifts its gaze!]

[Are the players bored because they’re stopped? It’s showing the audience!]

And I was in that screen.

Naturally, I waved my hand, and cheers were heard from among the audience.

Seeing people waving uniforms, it seems that quite a few people got autographs earlier.

[Ah! A famous player has come!]

[The youngest in the Master League, and the first female mid-laner!]

[ST’s True is here today!]

Eun Chae, who was next to me, waved a paper with a message of support written on it, as if she’d brought it from somewhere, and naturally covered her face.

[Even though it’s a break for the Master League, True is so interested in Lock!]

[This is how she keeps her undefeated streak.]

[So, True, what do you think the result of today’s game will be!]

I smiled slightly and made a V with one hand and a fist with the other, extending it forward.

[Ah! It was an obvious question, of course!]

[Haha. Just like she rejected Filodog’s recruitment offer, she firmly predicts a 2-0 score today!]

For reference.

I don’t lie.

[Okay, with the second Nexus destroyed today!]

[ST firmly maintains its first place in the first round!]

[The eternal star of LOCK, ST!]

The game was over.

The score was 2-0, as I expected.

The second set was an overwhelming victory, even in-game.

“You don’t look worried at all?”
“Because I knew they’d win.”

It’s a bit much to say this, but ST started to go downhill at the end of this season.

Until they lose in the LOC World Cup finals and keep getting second place, ST’s force and macro will be overwhelming.

I was only worried about the variables of the rivalry, but it wasn’t strange for ST to win against Milky Way.

And I can’t do anything about the LOC World Cup part, so I have to move on.

It wasn’t Fraud’s problem, nor was it the other players’ problem.

Who would believe it if a team that was at the bottom of the LOCK standings suddenly rose up and made it to the playoffs and won the championship?

This year, the entire universe’s suppression force will be helping that team win.

‘I have to win from the Master League.’

Anyway, if I get good results this year, the situation will change again, so it’s easier to think about it then.

Late in the evening, back from the stadium.

“Did everyone enjoy watching today’s game?”

I had to stop streaming at the venue due to time constraints, so I turned on the broadcast again at home to finish it.

—You’re here
—I was waiting, True Noona
—Make me suffocate more…
—It’s dizzying to think that there are people who wrote that among the people who came today.
—lolololol
—Isn’t this horror?
—lololol
—It’s a miracle that True’s fan signing event ended without any accidents…

“I’ll understand today. The manager said all the uniforms were sold out.”

—Really all sold out?
—There was a huge pile when I watched live
—True, this is sold out.
—And there were even more people who just got autographs on paper.
—Whoa
—True-nim’s popularity is real?

“So, how did you feel watching today’s game?”

—The first set was nerve-wracking
—lololol
—But they showed True on the screen for so long right after the second set started, I forgot about the second set and watched that part over and over again.
—I watched the second set as a highlight
—lolololol
—Just True-worshippers.
—First of all, the f*ckers who didn’t cause any problems at the fan meeting…
—[This chat has been blinded]
—Fandom GOAT
—lololol

“My friend told me that someone was making fun of Fraud for initiating today?”

—Is your friend the person next to you?
—Damn, no wonder I didn’t get it.
—This is a negative draw!
—Distribute 100 tickets for the next round, True.
—lololol

It seems that Eun Chae’s face was also exposed because there was a moment when we were filmed closely together.

I calmly brought out the words I had prepared.

“First of all, that draw is really random.”

—What what
—Thumbs up if you don’t believe it~
—lolololol

“No, viewers, if you had decorated the chat a little more nicely, the competition rate wouldn’t have been 15 to 1.”

Considering my average number of viewers, this competition rate is a steal.

—Um
—lolololol
—More than 3000 people watched, but the competition rate was 15 to 1 lol
—I have nothing to say…
—I admit it because it wouldn’t have been swearing if it was True’s friend.

“And if you really don’t believe it, please think that I took her to heal, her wounded friend.”
I activated the last shield for the people.

—What wound
—Bringing up personal history here
—Cheat keys don’t work
—What do I care about a friend’s personal history?
—lololol

“That friend’s older brother is Milky Way’s Envy.”

—Ah
—Completely understood
—The one who got crushed by True?
—Please say Milky Way S’s mid-laner and Milky Way’s Envy who was crushed by True in the first round.
—Evil f*cker lol
—??? : Why can’t Oppa be like my friend?
—But isn’t it more evil to take her to cheer her up and then show her Milky Way getting beaten again?
—lolololol
—Um lol
—Still, you watched a game you can’t see even if you pay a high price, have a drink
—True, bring more tickets next time.
—Please.

After organizing—suppressing—the chat, I played today’s game video on the screen to continue what I was saying.

“Okay, from now on, I’ll explain today’s game, starting with Fraud’s initiation, so spread it properly on Lock Gallery and other communities. Got it?”

—lolololol
—Ah lol I can’t stand my idol being criticized.
—But if she starts analyzing, it’ll take an hour.
—We’re screwed.
—If you spread it quickly, she might finish early.
—Get ready to capture immediately.
—Go go go.

Now, the viewers are getting used to it, so they don’t tell me to stop.

They were quick-witted people.