"Frog sous vide? Pfft!" Choi Sa-Rang, watching from outside, couldn't hold back a laugh. "So that was the plan? That's kind of adorable."
She wondered why Almond had even gone as far as changing his nickname to Dumb Young Man. Apparently, it was a strategy to lull the other party to lower their guard. Getting the other person to handle all the calls so they'd end up in the room of truth was a ridiculous idea, but very much like him.
"The feedback must have hit harder than expected."
Feedback came in different varieties. There was the coldly objective kind that focused purely on gameplay, and the kind that came like it was trying to obliterate one’s identity.
Sa-Rang preferred the former, but sometimes needed to deliver it with the intensity of the latter just to get it to land. It was less about the person and more about the situation.
"Without that, he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge Sweet Radish."
Athletes generally had a fixed sense of who they could and couldn't follow. This tendency was especially pronounced in competitive types like Almond.
Almond, without consciously realizing it, hadn't been acknowledging Sweet Radish because he had sliced through Sweet Radish in the tournament finals. At the time, Almond had barely graduated beyond LIL beginner status.
"It’s hard to acknowledge someone under those circumstances."
Sa-Rang understood because she'd been the same way many times in the past.
From Almond's perspective, following Sweet Radish's commands probably felt absurd. At the same time, he had realized through the feedback that he wasn't ready to make the calls himself.
This was the solution. The frog sous vide plan would delegate all authority to Sweet Radish and put him on the testing block to face Sa-Rang's feedback head-on. This was Almond’s thought process, which was why he could come out of the feedback session like that and still be cheerfully playing the next game.
"His mental fortitude is better than almost any pro I've seen..."
Almond had the strongest mental fortitude she'd encountered, frog sous vide theory and all. After going through feedback like that in the truth room, barely anyone in the professional scene could just laugh through the very next game. Someone with huge ambitions was especially sensitive to feedback, but Almond had transcended even that. He was a true sportsman.
'He's elite.'
In the professional scene, they called this an elite mindset. With that kind of mentality, he had a chance to beat that team for real.
'But...'
Sa-Rang’s thoughts reached this point, and her eyes dimmed for a moment.
'Is that a good thing?'
What if Almond beat them?
'Is that really what I want? Why would that be good? What exactly would I gain from it?’
"..."
She was still wandering between the paths of a player, a coach, and a commander. This experience of facing past teammates in the coach's seat felt like it would lead her somewhere. She just didn't know what would be waiting at the destination.
***
Almond wasn't the type to panic easily. He never lost concentration in almost any situation thanks to his archery-forged mental toughness. Even if a bomb went off nearby, he could stay focused for at least the duration of one arrow's release. However, he had been thrown off in rare moments.
At the gaming expo, viewers had tricked him into saying the prize pool was missing a zero. In Zombie School, he had also thought the bathroom scene went out live. Almond tended to be weak against viewers who deceived and messed with him. Right now was the same.
"... I've never used a staff before."
He simply admitted that he'd never used a staff.
— Trolling?
— Troll announcement
— Enemy within
— You're going to troll to get the calls back, right?
— lmaooo you're intentionally losing, aren't you?!
Viewers started to pile on that he was intentionally throwing. Around eighty percent of them were just joking.
Almond got flustered and cried out louder, "I genuinely haven't used this before!?"
— lmaooooo
— Why are you mad? lol
— Touched?
— LOL
— ??? I'm not trolling
— lmaooooo
— Oh that's cute
Ding.
The attack even came via donations.
[EggPlant has donated 3,000 won.]
[Do you have proof it's your first time? Show a clip from when you first picked up a staff~]
— lmaooooo
— How would a clip prove it's your first time?!
— Isn't it the opposite??
— ??? Prove that you HAVEN'T!
— A clip from when you first picked up a staff hahaha
Almond briefly wondered what the proof would even look like, but it was a trap.
"There's no clip because it's the first time."
— Oh
— Good job Almondoyle
— He dodged that
— Fact: There's no clip to show in the first place
Viewers had been setting up traps and lying in wait. This felt suspicious.
'If things go this way, they'll immediately call me a troll if I perform badly...?'
Almond was human. He couldn't always play perfectly. At this ranked level, he could lose games due to a poor performance. The conditions were all in place.
Almond had decided not to make his own independent judgments and follow Sweet Radish's calls. He ended up holding a staff he'd never used. It was a completely unfamiliar environment.
'Just read the description quickly.'
He put the back-and-forth with viewers on hold and frantically read through the description.
***
"Alright. Let's go hunt~."
Sweet Radish started the hunt without knowing Almond had never used a staff. If Almond hadn’t been scheming, the game would’ve simply started without any drama.
— Stable
— Already feels relaxing~
— This is it
— Without the four-person log army, it's like this
After three games that had all started with horrifying gambits, viewers finally felt a sense of relative calm.
Squawk! Gurgle!
Abyss fish died one by one. Then, someone noticed something strange.
"Almond, why are you hitting them with the staff directly?"
"Hm?"
Thwack!
Thwack!
Almond had just picked up the staff and started beating the Abyss fish with it.
"The damage difference is significant even if the staff's basic projectile is hard to land."
The staff's basic attack fired small mana projectiles, which were genuinely difficult to land. Weapons like guns and bows were familiar enough, but a staff wasn't. The basic hit accuracy was among the lowest of any weapon.
Sweet Radish thought Almond would do this because it seemed more efficient and tried to correct the misunderstanding. "A lot of data shows that it's better to just shoot the projectile even if some miss."
Viewers had different thoughts.
— lmaooooooo
— He came prepared
— Troll announcement
— Saboteur
— Blatant trolling LOL
— You maniac~
Even Almond's own viewers piled on. What would Sweet Radish's viewers be saying? They were already worried that Almond would interfere with Sweet Radish's calls. Now, he was just whacking things with his staff. The exact image of trolling had manifested.
To make things worse. Almond gave his reason. "Ah... It's my first time with a staff."
Almond had only learned how to use the magic skills. He hadn't known there was a separate way to fire the basic attack as a magical projectile.
— ???
— Hm?
— Oh...
— First time?? lmao
— lmaooooooo
Sweet Radish's viewers now understood that it was actually Almond’s first time.
"What!?" Sweet Radish was startled.
'Come to think of it, I only thought about the Spirit Sorcerer and forgot about the stages before it.'
He'd only considered that Spirit Sorcerer would work well and hadn't thought ahead to Almond running around with a staff before contracting.
"Is it really your first time with a staff?"
"Yeah."
"Y-you could have told me..."
"Why would I tell you?"
"!?"
"Saying it just tanks team morale."
Sweet Radish was completely speechless.
'His mindset is different?!'
Sweet Radish never would’ve thought of such a thing. Admitting to being a first-timer would tank morale, so Almond would just somehow manage a first-time weapon. Well, that guy was the type to use shop picks in tournament play. He definitely wouldn’t tell the team something like that.
— Unhinged mindset
— He used a shop pick in tournament. You think he'd say anything? LOL
— Was he a barbarian in a past life?
— Always been like this...\
— lmaooooo
— Alpha male energy
"Hyung, you can just swap weapons with Sweet Potato."
"Oh..." Almond looked at Sweet Potato's weapon. "No, I'm fine."
He didn't want a shield.
— Making him tank would be too much of a loss lmao
— lmaooooo no tank
— Won't tank
— I'd rather die than tank
Then, Almond corrected himself. "Ah... No, actually, you decide."
His expression said, “Please don't decide that,” but he told Sweet Radish anyway.
— Oh decide then~ troll and that's that~
— lmaooo "I'm fine with the staff, shield absolutely not, but you decide."
— lmaooooo can't decide now
Sweet Radish quickly ran through it. "L-let's stick with the staff! Lemon, teach him how to use it."
"Yes!"
Fortunately, this team had two staves. Lemon would contract as support, and Almond would be the magic damage dealer. They would be a team with a high proportion of magic damage.
'Either way, Black Tea is actually more important than Almond in this lineup.'
Black Tea, the team's only ranged physical carry, was more critical.
***
"The basic attack is like this! You swing it like this."
"Oh... so you swing it."
"Yes. That's why the attack speed is a bit awkward."
When the player swung it the way a real wizard would cast a spell, a small mana projectile fired out.
Crackle!
Crackle!
"Oh, oh... oppa is firing them really well. Natural talent."
The staff often had the most missed shots. Almond, despite his first time with a staff, was landing shots more accurately than Lemon.
Lemon scratched her head and watched Almond. "I guess games really do come down to talent..."
Crackle!
Crackle!
Even while shooting with a somewhat awkward posture, every shot landed. Sure, it was just monsters, but they were currently fighting quite erratic Abyss Flying Fish.
Crackle!
"Squawk!?"
Every basic hit landed cleanly.
"Wow..."Lemon clapped with shining eyes. "Is this... Almond?"
— lmaooo why is she so delighted
— Lemon is envious...
— Is he better than Black Tea?
Lemon often operated alongside Black Tea, so playing with someone good was familiar. However, Black Tea had grinded games far longer. Almond was different. He'd started LIL for the first time at the LIL tournament, and Survival mode went without saying.
'Talent... this is what it looks like.'
The moment Almond learned the staff's basic attack, he was firing more accurately than Lemon.
'Lemon, your fundamentals are very solid. Unlike Sweet Potato, I imagine you have a lot of games played...'
Sa-Rang's words from earlier drifted through Lemon's mind.
'That... wasn't actually a compliment.'
She had played many games and had solid fundamentals, yet was told to practice more.
'Try practicing in solo queue for a bit. Pick any champion.'
Lemon had a rough sense of it already. She didn't have talent for LIL.
***
Following Sweet Radish's calls, the team hit level three while avoiding fights as much as possible.
"Let's check the Turtle."
They hid in the bushes near the Red Turtle.
Almond muttered in surprise to the viewers, "Nobody's here?"
How well-optimized was this route that they could arrive at the Turtle at level three with no one else in sight?
— Oh
— Someone who always came at level two just to attempt steals is nothing like this LOL
— <<<< says the person who comes at level two lmaoo
— Hitting level 3 this fast is insane
In Survival mode, where the map changed every game and the shadow's path was never predictable, Sweet Radish's ability to consistently find the optimal route was genuinely impressive.
Almond grunted and barely managed to admit it. "Ahem... The r-route is solid."
— lmaooooo
— He's feeling the inferiority
— lmaooooo barely squeezed it out
— Sweet Radish rediscovering his groove and improving every game
— Without anyone second-guessing every call, it's this comfortable ^^
Sweet Radish had arrived first, but was still careful about engaging the Turtle. "Mages, stay back. Us three will attack it."
Rustle...
Almond and Lemon, both staff users, hid together in the bushes. Only Black Tea and Sweet Potato went out to attack the Turtle.
The staff’s early-game basic attacks just weren’t that valuable for sustained damage. At level three, those three alone could manage the hunt.
Sweet Radish, the bruiser, was appropriately splitting aggro with Sweet Potato and minimizing incoming damage. They didn’t face many risks.
— Oh
— This actually works?
— What
— But why are the mages being held back?
It was slow but steady hunting.
"Another team incoming," Sweet Radish murmured, "Mages... prepare surprise ice magic."
This would be the first fight under Sweet Radish's solo calling.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter