At that moment, in Streamer Garden, the faction that had been trying to defame Almond had nowhere left to go.
[1. The haters are getting absolutely demolished lmaooo]
They'd been pushing theories of internal collusion with the coach for prearranged calling rights. Then, the coach had turned Almond into the Dumb Young Man. Naturally, their arguments completely ran out of steam.
However, the band of torchbearers had already raised their flames and simply couldn't stop. They wanted to cut something after pulling out swords. This was innate human nature.
[Almond calling himself dumb means he'll troll]
[The nut guy will troll lmaooo]
[Look at the staff setup? He's trying to troll?? Actual scum lmaooo]
They started claiming Almond would troll. For now, it was just amusing speculation.
"This is... dangerous though." Ju-Hyeok knew the risk of this kind of buildup. "Even event tournaments and streamer tournaments have intense investment."
An event tournament was only light and fun to people watching from a distance. For those actually participating and cheering them on, it was anything but light. At the LIL tournament, Balloon Stars had sent other teams to the nether realm.
At the time, Balloon Stars had poor scrimmage results. Almond was a completely new streamer, so they'd been widely dismissed. Then, they lost and were accused of not practicing properly. Rumors of them acting carelessly started circulating until public opinion turned extremely sour. It had been absurd.
Some streamers could play badly, and everyone would laugh. Others hit the floor. Either way, public opinion decided whether it would be heaven or hell. That was just how this world worked.
"And on top of that, this was billed as a platform pride battle."
Trolling in the Platform War would command incomparably higher investment than a regular tournament. This couldn’t be covered up.
"If he does troll, it'd need to be so funny that it breaks people."
If it were genuinely hilarious, people probably wouldn’t care. That didn't seem particularly possible right now. Only Bubblegum could troll with a staff and be funny about it.
"Hmm... It’ll be a real problem if he makes even one mistake here."
Ju-Hyeok worriedly watched the community reactions in real time.
***
Almond was only human. It wasn't like he'd never entertained the thought as payback for the private feedback.
'I want Sweet Radish to lose!'
For once, he wanted Sweet Radish to lose! But the thought of making that defeat happen with his own hands never crossed his mind. He was an athlete to the bone.
“Now!”
The moment the command came in, his body moved like a spinal reflex. He operated the staff exactly as the manual had described.
[Ice Magic]
Crackle!
The magic shot fired almost simultaneously with Sweet Radish's call.
"Hm?" Lemon was startled.
Operating a staff wasn't easy. How had he fired so fast?
[Ice Magic]
A beat later, she also fired an ice shot from her staff.
Crackle!
Two enemies, who had been creeping over to take advantage of the Knight Order attacking the Turtle, froze.
[Frozen]
"Whaaat!?"
"It's an ambush!"
"What! Two mages!?"
They panicked. Now, the Knight Order had to make a decision. Finish the Turtle and then fight them, or fight them first and come back to the Turtle later.
[Red Turtle]
[HP: 33%]
The monster was at an awkward health with exactly one third remaining.
Sweet Radish called out to them, “Switch to a team fight!”
They would leave the Turtle for now to kill the enemies first.
'Hm...?'
Almond hesitated for a moment.
'If we do that, the Turtle will reset its energy and take longer.'
Fighting the enemies would reset the Turtle's aggro. Monsters regenerated rapidly once aggro dropped. The time they spent chipping off more than two-thirds of its health would become meaningless.
"I only follow what Sweet Radish says~!"
— lmaooooooo
— So petty LOL
— lmaooo
— Yes please do that
It would be even better if Sweet Radish's judgment were wrong.
[Fire Magic]
The fire magic from Almond's staff landed dead center in the middle of the enemy group.
Crash!
Lemon was startled from the side. "O-ohh~!?"
The accuracy of Almond’s instant switch to fire magic and where it hit were both too precise.
"Three of them!?"
Whooooosh!
All three enemies took fire damage at once. In an early team fight, this was essentially jackpot.
[Wind Magic]
Whooooooooosh!
Lemon followed up with wind magic, launching the enemies airborne and increasing the flame damage further.
"CHARGIIIING!"
Thud!
Sweet Potato smashed the front enemy with his shield, and Black Tea started cleaning up the front line.
Bang!
Crack!
"Ugh!"
"Damn, we're done!"
"Fall back! Fall back!"
The enemies retreated far more easily than Almond expected.
'Huh? Why are they...'
This was a common pattern in Survival mode. In Siege mode, even if the whole team died, they'd respawn after a set time and throw away their lives to fight again.
In Survival mode, it would be the end if everyone died. They needed at least one person alive to stay in the game, so teams often retreated the moment a fight went even slightly against them, especially in the early game.
Who wanted to lose the moment they started? They would avoid that risk wherever possible. The Knight Order's skills had connected so beautifully that the enemies completely lost the will to fight and simply chose to back off.
'If they had pushed harder, it would have been much rougher. This was too easy.'
Almond blinked. Not a single second had been wasted.
— Oh
— Great Dumb Young Man
— Is this the Dumb Young Man?!
— The fire magic was insane lmaooo
— This guy just hits things
The viewers grew excited like the Knight Order.
"Nice, Almond!"
"That was insane! Dumb Young Man~!"
"Staff? Dumb Young Man!"
Almond forced a smile. "Ha. Ha. Ha. They gave up awfully quickly. Those people."
— Are you unhappy about it LOL
— Come on, risk your lives and fight us!
— Ha. Ha. Ha.
— Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!
— lmaooo why is the laughing like that
— Staff Dumb Young Man lmaooo
— (Damn... I need to lose)
— lmaooo do you actually want to lose??
— Wants to lose but can't...
It looked like Almond had done so well that he'd inadvertently bolstered Sweet Radish's authority.
Sweet Radish had actually already anticipated the early retreat. "They're always like that early."
Positioning two mages in the bushes and opening with that psychological play, the win rate was already over eighty percent.
"Hmm... Is that so?"
Of course, Almond couldn't understand it. Even if someone claimed the earth was flat, it still rotated.
"Anyway, back to the Turtle~!"
The Knight Order resumed hunting. Sweet Radish led the charge back to the turtle.
[Red Turtle]
[HP: 34%]
'Hm... The health is almost the same?'
Astonishingly, the Red Turtle had barely regenerated, partly because the enemies had retreated so fast.
— King Radish
— He was holding it the whole time lmaooo
— He kept the aggro?
— This is what a pro looks like~
Sweet Radish had been hitting the Turtle slowly, carefully controlling the aggro so it dropped as gradually as possible. Having this level of subtle tactical awareness woven into his muscle was what made him a professional. This was Sweet Radish.
Ba-bam!
[TruelyDontKnow has donated 10,000 won.]
[How did Almond ever beat this guy?]
— lmaooo fr
— TrulyDontKnow~
— Pure raw talent
— Laning has fewer variables to account for
— Back then, it was the Lazy Soldier not the Smart Young Man...
— This makes me wonder
— Everyone says this
— The Almond Flashy Blade joker pick is a monster...
— Poor Tako worked hard lmaooo
Playing alongside Sweet Radish made viewers wonder how Almond ever beat him in tournament. Given how internet opinions worked, this could warp the historical record of what their actual skill levels were back then.
Ding.
[LobbySword has donated 3,000 won.]
[And he won with Bubblegum attached~ Almond without his brain engaged is a monster~]
— Wow
— lmaooo fr
— LobbySword lmaooo
— 3000 won won't be enough to lobby
— And he did it with Bubblegum attached LOL true
— This is a legendary achievement
— "Permanent positive tag"
— Basically a pure skill certification mark~
At least, winning with Bubblegum meant the odds of historical revisionism dropped dramatically. There was only so much one could revise. If a nuclear bomb landed somewhere, they couldn't just say it hadn't.
"Yes, thank you for the donations, TrullyDontKnow and LobbySword."
— lmaooo the names
— TrullyDontKnow hahaha
— It's me~ RubySwo~rd!
— Nickname blown up for unwanted donations lmaooo
While saying all this, Almond busily swung his basic staff attacks at the Red Turtle. Soon, they succeeded in killing the Red Turtle.
Pop!
[Rune Box]
A rune box dropped. They needed to distribute it.
Sweet Potato, pleased with Sweet Radish's calling this time, threw out a comment. "We cleared them all and killed it. It’s so peaceful~ I should contract, right!?"
This was a fairly significant error. Starting with a tank contract was common but not mandatory. Above all, saying “we cleared them all' was wrong.
"When did you clear anyone?"
Whoooosh!
An assassin suddenly appeared from a black portal.
[Rift Chaser Lyxia]
This assassin champion dove straight into the middle of the Knight Order.
— What
— Wow
— Hm?
— What??
It was one of the enemies who had retreated earlier. To be fair, the Knight Order hadn't killed anyone. They'd just driven them off. The enemies could come back anytime, and they came back way too fast.
— How do they have a champion already?
— Oh no we're done
— Contract quickly!!
Somehow, in that time, they'd gotten a champion.
[Ice Magic]
Almond reacted mechanically and immediately fired ice magic. That spell was the most dangerous thing for an assassin.
[Wormhole]
Whoooosh!
A black portal appeared, and the projectile entered it. Then, it emerged from another portal behind Almond's head.
Crackle!
Astonishingly, his own ice magic hit him.
[Frozen]
"...?" Almond had been frozen by his own spell. "Uh... I don't know this champion."
He had no idea what skills this champion possessed, which was understandable in a way.
— This is broken
— New character lmaooo
— ??? What, you're all strangers to me.
— How did they contract already???
— What
— Just came out today so she's insanely strong lmaooo
— Oh they probably grabbed a weakened victim
— Picked up a survivor and got the rune
— Ah...
The assassin was a new champion released today.
Sweet Radish immediately called out to take back the rune box, "Wh-what! Get the rune box first!"
[Wind Magic]
Whooooooooosh!
The enemy wouldn’t let that happen. Wind magic swept in and blew the entire Knight Order back. The champion, Rift Chaser Lyxia, started running wild. She was only level three, but had access to all three skills.
[Kill Shot]
Crackle Crackle...
She extended her hand, and a powerful laser fired in a straight line.
[Wormhole]
Just when it looked like they had barely dodged it, the laser connected to the wormhole and suddenly fired again from an unexpected angle.
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
[Wormhole]
[Wormhole]
The wormhole had a very short cooldown and duration. It was obscenely useful if it managed to land and grew increasingly difficult to dodge. Wide-ranging lasers increasingly fired everywhere.
"Hup!" Almond broke free from the ice and dodged all of it like jumping rope.
"AHHH!?"
"Insane!"
However, the star-shaped laser show and other enemy projectiles were too much for the rest of the team.
[An ally has taken heavy damage!]
Lemon practically exploded and blew apart.
"WHAT!?"
[HP: 32%]
Sweet Radish's health also dropped severely.
'Since it's come to this...'
Clang clang!
Sweet Radish threw himself forward.
[Spear Charge]
"Black Tea! Run back! Sweet Potato, protect Black Tea! Almond, the rune box!"
Sweet Radish bought time by sacrificing himself. They had to keep the carry alive.
Almond charged forward and threw himself at the rune box.
'Wait...'
At this moment, Sweet Radish had a sinking realization because of what he told Almond.
'Spirit Sorcerer is wrong right now.'
He had recommended Spirit Sorcerer, a champion called Melly. However, Melly wasn't a particularly agile champion. Of course, the Dumb Young Man wouldn’t consider that. His selection speed was far too fast.
Crash!
“Oh my, it's you~. Haven't seen you in a while? Kyahaha!”
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