NOVEL NEXT Chapter 166 - To Throw or Not to Throw
Chapter 166 To Throw or Not to Throw
All four teammates assigned to my team were familiar faces.
Two were professional gamers from well-known teams, and one was an amateur expert.
And then.
“Hey, what brings you to play
“Why did I have to meet you in this match? The matchmaking system is seriously garbage.”
“Should I lock in mid for you?”
“Hah! Seriously, why are you like this?”
Huh-soo.
Originally, he was a challenger on the Chinese server, but it seemed he had restarted on the Korean server as soon as he returned to Korea.
I quietly checked his score on a record search site: Grand Master, 620 points.
While the score alone might not be easily understood, judging by the viewers’ reactions, this match seemed quite interesting.
– There are players trying to defend their Challenger rank on the enemy team.
– This match started before 11:30, so it’ll count towards the rankings, right?
– Yep.
– If Huh-soo wins this match, he can receive his Challenger reward, lol.
– Not just Huh-soo, but two pro gamers are also defending their Challenger ranks.
– LOL
– This is a legendary match, even when I look at it again.
It seemed there were streamers on the enemy team.
Well, most professional gamers playing in the top ranks spent their personal time streaming games.
Although it was called personal time, most pro gamers turned on their streams and played games whenever they weren’t scrimming.
I glanced around at my teammates and spoke to Huh-soo.
“Everyone seems to have been assigned their lanes properly…”
“Except you.”
“Why are you like this to me? Honestly, I feel like we’ll lose this game because of you. Aren’t you washed up?”
“Do you want to die?”
“You do seem washed up. For the record, I climbed up here after losing only twice to your score.”
Huh-soo had 13 losses recorded in his history.
At my words, Huh-soo furrowed his brows deeply but did not refute.
No wonder, since my win rate while climbing up to this point was a win rate that would be remembered in the history of
While I was joking with Huh-soo,
“Wow… I’ve always met you as an enemy, but now we’re on the same team. Hello?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Seong-sin.”
Right, that person used to be on the same team as Seong-sin?
I remember Seong-sin telling me about him a few times. Did he say he was the friendliest person on the team?
There was no reason to hate this person.
On the contrary, since he treated Seong-sin well, I couldn’t help but feel a liking toward him.
I shook hands with him and smiled.
“Is this an alternate account, Chui?”
“Yes, it is.”
“If we lose this game, you’ll drop to Grand Master, right?”
– Even pro gamers can’t escape.
– LOL, look at our villain throwing a blunt truth.
– Chui is always likeable.
– But for the end of the season, the team atmosphere is pretty good, huh? In our rank, people always go crazy saying they’ll drop your promotion matches, lol.
– Until yesterday, Shia was vividly streaming hell with his alternate account.
– Let’s end it with some eye cleansing on the last day, please.
‘Breaking News Villain’ donated 10,000 won!
[[Breaking News] Up to six tiers may change depending on the result of this match, lol Legendary match MIHA~~~]
MIHA stands for ‘Mytube Highlights.’
The viewers seemed more excited than I was.
They could watch not only my stream but also the enemy’s stream, so they knew well the importance of this match.
I nodded slightly and selected the hero I would play.
In this match, I was assigned to the top lane.
I chose the hero
“If you lose this match, you won’t get your Challenger shirt.”
“This season, they said they’re giving out Challenger bags. Do you even keep up with the news?”
“Bag or shirt, whatever.”
“They’re completely different.”
Huh-soo’s assigned position for this match was jungle.
I never underestimated his skill. He used to be a pro gamer for this game a few months ago, and even back then, he was evaluated as a top-tier jungler.
Although he might not be in the same condition as he was back then since he started his streamer life, class is eternal.
Unless something major happened, this match would end in our team’s victory.
Just as the ban-pick phase was about to end smoothly.
“5th pick?”
“Hey.”
“Hey?”
Just when we were about to complete our composition, the previously quiet 5th pick
A hero that rolls around snowballs and is usually used as a jungler.
There was no problem with the hero itself.
The problem was that the 5th pick user’s role was
As soon as he picked
“Is this abusing?”
A frustrated remark flowed from Huh-soo, who had come next to me, frowning.
Abusing.
It was an act that could be seen as a type of trolling, deliberately losing to the opponent.
It was a bad manner often seen in the top ranks at the end of the season.
In a situation where boosting was no longer possible, it was common for people to lose on purpose in exchange for money.
In the top ranks, where everyone had tremendous skills, the existence of abusers had a huge negative impact on the game.
In the lower ranks, it was possible to win 4 vs. 5, but in the top ranks, it was practically impossible.
I threw a few words towards the 5th pick.
“Why are you suddenly picking a hero you’ve never played before? Are you dodging?”
But there was no response from the opponent.
It was already too late to dodge.
If we dodged now and re-matched, it would likely go past 11:30.
In this chaotic atmosphere, the game started.
[The game is starting.]
[Achieve a glorious victory!]
Just when I thought we would lose due to the abuser.
An unexpected twist occurred.
### 2.
“Hey, Seong-sin. Did you have an alternate account?”
“Hehe, it was originally a secret, but since I’m in the same lane as you, I’m just revealing it.”
“Come to my lane for a bit.”
“No, you’ll kill me if I come.”
The top laner who was up against me was none other than Seong-sin.
Seong-sin, who should have been active on the Chinese server, was here for some reason.
I quietly farmed CS while watching Seong-sin.
Seong-sin had picked the hero
Cute guy.
Judging from what he said, it seemed like he had sniped the match on purpose.
“Why is the game like this?”
“Yeah, really.”
[An ally has slain an enemy!]
[An enemy has slain an ally!]
[An ally has slain an enemy…]
The kill logs kept appearing on the screen without stopping.
The logs alternated between ally and enemy kills, and the reason was very simple.
– Abusing battle, lol.
– This is truly an apocalypse match.
– Wow, what kind of game is this?
– For real, this is a next-level game.
– Even bronze players don’t fight this dirty.
– Look at the chat.
– But the enemy mid-laner is Tricker.
– The matchups are insane.
[PADO: Hmm… Who will win?]
[Summoner Woojin: ㅠㅠ I just want to play the game properly…]
[Streamer Kerberos: The abusing players are so disgusting I could die!]
To sum up the situation simply:
Our team’s fifth pick, the support
Honestly, at that moment, I thought we were going to lose so easily.
But soon, a nonsensical player appeared on the enemy team too.
[Guardian of Balance: LOL, honestly, if I can’t reach Challenger through abusing, it’s so unfair. I’ll abuse too. Let’s have a real 4v4 game.]
The enemy team had two professional gamers.
In addition, there were two famous amateur experts and one pro trainee who displayed overwhelming skill in solo queue.
And then there was Tricker.
The strongest mid-laner in the Korean
He was one of the few pro gamers whose physical abilities I acknowledged.
At that moment, an interesting report came in.
‘Extreme Explainer’ donated 10,000 won!
[Currently, Tricker is ranked 2nd in Korea. If he wins this game, he can easily reach 1st place, lol. There is so much at stake in this match.]
“That’s what they say.”
Seong-sin commented after hearing the donation.
…Wait a minute.
How did that guy hear the donation from my stream?
“Are you stream sniping?”
“No. One of your viewers is providing me with real-time updates.”
Which damned person was relaying information to Seong-sin?
I furrowed my brows and sighed.
Anyway, there was a lot at stake in this match for various reasons.
Seong-sin, who came to the top lane to face me, seemed to have a desire to win as well.
Because he was holding out without giving me any openings for my skills.
“Why don’t you fight like a man?”
“I’ll just not be a man then.”
Becoming a pro gamer made him very calm.
Giving up manliness to win the game.
It wasn’t an ideal attitude as a top-laner.
A true top-laner would charge in to cut down the enemy regardless of who they were, but it seemed he didn’t understand manliness since he used to be a lowly jungle butcher.
Meanwhile, the kill logs kept appearing steadily.
While I was having a cozy top lane battle with Seong-sin, Huh-soo, who was roaming the jungle frantically, threw a complaint at me through team voice chat.
“Aren’t you playing properly?”
“I’m really trying hard.”
“Just because this is my Challenger match, you’re not playing casually, are you? Usually, you solo kill nonstop, but why do you act like this only when we’re on the same team?”
The guy who usually just got annoyed when playing with me was genuinely angry this time.
Huh-soo was really obsessed with the illusion of rank.
I calmly spoke a few words to Huh-soo.
“Don’t try to fit yourself into the human-made framework of ranks, Huh-soo. You are valuable enough just as you are.”
Then Huh-soo replied in a slightly roughened voice.
“Why does crap spill out of your mouth every time you open it? Do you poop with your mouth? Is your mouth an anus?”
– LOL
– Oral excretion man
– LOL
– Who’s roasting our villain like that?
– Huh-Kacola is going wild
– Shia is particularly annoying today
– Look at Huh-soo talking, is Shia just going to watch?
Judging from his tone, I wanted to sell all my items and dive into mid right away, but I was a partner streamer for
Intentional trolling that would invite criticism from gamers was really problematic.
If it were the old days, maybe, but if I trolled intentionally now, the internet would go wild.
It would also directly clash with my image.
While I aimed for spicy content, I never trolled on purpose to lose.
If I trolled here, I wouldn’t be much different from Duesik.
Due to the mutual abuse by the abusers, the current kill score was 8:8.
Moreover, because of Huh-soo’s arrogant words, my will to win was waning.
‘Streamer Kerberos’ donated 100,000 won!
[No, you bastard…! Can’t you play the game properly? Huh? I have a mission on the line.]
The momentary quiet was because he was preparing to donate to my stream?
Seeing the 100,000 won donation, I smiled broadly and spoke to Huh-soo.
“Huh-soo.”
Then Huh-soo answered briefly.
“What?”
“How much is the mission worth?”
At my question, Huh-soo hesitated for a moment and then sighed before answering.
“A total of 15 million won.”
Oh, that’s a huge amount?
As soon as I heard that, I spoke to Huh-soo.
“Huh-soo.”
“What?”
“We’re not strangers, right? Your money is my money, and my money is my money. Isn’t that right?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.”
[
After forcibly sending Seong-sin back to the fountain, I looked at Huh-soo.
I knew well that the big spenders on Huh-soo’s stream were all Chinese.
With a bright smile, I spoke to Huh-soo.
“Let me also taste the sweet Chinese capital from your stream.”