Chapter 75

From the Round of 16, the broadcast team will be joining us. However, up until the Round of 16, multiple matches are held simultaneously, so not all matches are broadcasted—only a few selected by the organizers. Basically, they only broadcast matches that are expected to have high viewership.

“Hello, I’m Caster Park Joon.”

“Analyst Pyeon Moo-ryang here.”

“The response to this <Eternal World Olympics> has been incredibly hot. We’re always grateful for the overwhelming support.”

“I believe this heated atmosphere comes from the players’ passion reaching the viewers. This tournament is especially fierce, with many three-way tiebreaker matches for second place, making it one of the most intense competitions ever.”

Commentary is a job that requires a lot of sugarcoating. For example, if a player makes a mistake so bad that even a Bronze player wouldn’t do it and dies, what’s the most appropriate thing to say? It would be, “They died because they did something stupid.” But of course, you can’t say that on an official broadcast, let alone as a professional commentator. So, in such situations, commentators often say things like, “The opponent played that well,” or “They tried to absorb the damage, but unexpected burst came out,” and so on.

This three-way tie situation is no different. Having many three-way ties means there are many undefeated teams. While it’s exciting to see so many strong teams, it doesn’t necessarily mean the tournament is balanced. Of course, once we reach the quarterfinals and beyond, where weaker teams are filtered out, the balance might improve, but for now, it’s far from being a fiercely competitive tournament.

Anyway, commentary is a job with many challenges.

“Team ‘Iron Saves the World,’ led by Team Leader Han Yoorim, is facing off against Team ‘Cotton Candy,’ led by Team Leader Krem. What are your thoughts?”

“They’re both interesting teams. Especially ‘Iron Saves the World,’ or ‘Iron Saves’ for short, which is considered a strong contender for the championship. It’s fascinating to see Pape, a well-known amateur expert, and the rising star Han Yoorim leading the team. Both have reached Challenger Rank 1, so they’re carrying a lot of expectations.”

As he spoke, Pyeon Moo-ryang thought to himself. Commentators do a lot of wordplay. Sure, viewers think ‘Iron Saves’ is a strong team because of Pape and Han Yoorim. But that doesn’t mean ‘Iron Saves’ is actually a strong team. In fact, it’s the opposite—they’re an underdog team. The reason? The two Iron-tier players on the team.

Pyeon Moo-ryang, with his extensive experience in <Eternal World> and commentary, knows better than anyone what Iron-tier players are like. Iron-tier players aren’t just bad at <Eternal World>—they struggle with basic VR device controls. And having not one, but two of them on the team? It’s a disaster waiting to happen. To make matters worse, one of them is even assigned as the Main Carry. The outcome is predictable.

For example, let’s say Han Yoorim goes on a rampage and secures a solo kill, smashing the opponent Challenger’s head and showcasing her carry potential. Would that be enough to win? Not really. The enemies would casually take down the Iron-tier players, growing stronger as if it were second nature. Even if the Iron-tier players survive the early game with the team’s support, what are the chances they’ll contribute even 1 damage in a team fight? Or even survive?

There’s an old saying in AOS games: You can win with a bad teammate, but you can’t win with a teammate who doesn’t play the game. Of course, since it’s a team game, the Iron-tier players will try their best. But their efforts are barely different from just sitting at the base.

Still, Pyeon Moo-ryang wasn’t entirely lying. Commentators don’t lie—they just don’t tell the whole truth. As Han Moo-ryang said, ‘Iron Saves’ is indeed an interesting team. Watching Han Yoorim desperately try to carry the team with two Iron-tier players is bound to be entertaining for viewers—just not in the way they might expect.

“The ban/pick phase has started. Oh, they’re picking Thierry? As a caster, I know Han Yoorim is famous for her Thierry plays. What do you think, Pyeon Moo-ryang?”

“Honestly, there’s a lot of debate about Thierry. Some say she’s theoretically strong, but picking Thierry is like saying you won’t be late if you can run 100 meters in under 5 seconds. I think it’s more about testing the waters. The Round of 16 is a best-of-three, and just because something works in solo queue doesn’t mean it’ll work in a tournament.”

The match began. As the observer showed various angles, the camera focused on the Iron-tier Guardian, Choco Full Bread. Pyeon Moo-ryang made an intrigued expression.

“Growth optimization is decent?”

Iron-tier players usually have a lot of problems. We all know about their issues with game management and controls, but the biggest problem Pyeon Moo-ryang sees is that they don’t understand the game at all. They don’t know how to take objectives or manage resources, so their growth stagnates whether it’s 10 or 20 minutes into the game. But Choco Full Bread at least knew the basics.

“But why are the movements so awkward?”

Just watching them walk was painful. Could they even fight like that? Probably not.

“…Is that why they picked ‘Messian’?”

Pyeon Moo-ryang felt like facepalming. Messian, a character based on a druid, is one of the easiest characters to play, with mostly targeted skills that require almost no control. The downside is that its performance is mediocre, requiring precise skill timing. But still, giving them Messian was 100 times better than giving them a stylish character like Noah Weber.

Choco Full Bread, along with the team’s Scout, Mos, roamed the middle of the enemy city. Under Mos’s lead, they secured objectives and engaged in fights, giving a rough estimate of their skill level.

“Bronze… level?”

It was strange. They seemed to know the skill timings but couldn’t execute them at the right time. What does that mean? Even Pyeon Moo-ryang wasn’t sure. But there was no other way to explain it. It’s like they knew the correct timing in their head but couldn’t translate it into action. Their skill timing was consistently late…

It was hard to give a high score since it almost caused an accident.

Still, that definitely wasn’t Iron.

If it were Iron, the skill timing wouldn’t just be late—they wouldn’t even use the skill, letting the enemy Main Carry get two kills right from the start.

“Better than expected?”

I don’t know where they found someone like that, but just having Iron rise to Bronze level significantly boosted the win rate of the ‘Asegu’ team.

Well, even so, it only went from needing a miracle to win to having a *chance* to win if Han Yoorim pulled off an all-time carry show.

But in the end, with the Main Carry of <Eternal World> being Iron, the ‘Asegu’ team had no real chance.

Choco Full Bread was lucky to be well-matched, but the chances of Chaenarin being the same were slim.

Even if they did find someone good, they’d probably only be Bronze level, right?

If Pape were the Main Carry and Chaenarin the Support, maybe. But with the current team composition, the ‘Asegu’ team was at a huge disadvantage.

Having a flaw in the DPS is a big negative in <Eternal World>.

Just then, the observer focused the camera on the ‘Asegu’ team’s Main Carry.

Chaenarin was attacking an objective.

I sighed as soon as I saw it.

You can tell a pro just by their footsteps.

The same goes for amateurs.

Just by watching how they took the objective, I could tell.

They were using skills randomly, auto-attacking carelessly—it was like they were half-asleep while playing.

Honestly, it was almost like Pape was feeding them the objective. Even if Supports are important early on, this was a bit much.

If they’re like this now, what’ll happen during team fights?

It’s not even worth watching.

“Ohhh!”

Next to me, caster Park Jun was freaking out.

The Scout and Guardian from the ‘Somtanghuru’ team were about to ambush Chaenarin and Pape.

The ‘Somtanghuru’ team was structured to snowball early and dominate the game.

That’s why their Scout and Guardian, the core of their early snowball, were Challenger and Master tier—extremely high.

Even if Pape was top-tier Challenger, carrying an Iron player, especially as a Support against a Challenger and Master, was tough.

The ‘Somtanghuru’ Scout moved.

‘Heukyeonggaek.’ A classic ninja character, loved by Scout players.

Following him was the ‘Somtanghuru’ Guardian, ‘Noah Weber.’ Though not as strong as before due to a hotfix, he was still a frequent pick in tournaments, so his performance wasn’t lacking.

In contrast, the ‘Asegu’ team’s Main Carry was ‘Cheonseoah.’

Of course, ‘Cheonseoah’ is a classic melee DPS, a consistently strong pick in tournaments.

But only if the player is skilled.

Like all melee DPS, ‘Cheonseoah’ required a lot of finesse.

All her damage skills were tied to her auto-attacks.

Which made me wonder.

Why on earth would they give such a difficult character to an Iron player?

I wasn’t the only one thinking that.

The ‘Somtanghuru’ Scout blatantly used a skill on Chaenarin.

Heukyeonggaek’s hook sliced through the air.

Splat—blood sprayed from Chaenarin’s body.

Without moving, Chaenarin took the full hit, her health dropping instantly.

I sighed internally.

Taking Heukyeonggaek’s hook head-on? That’s not how you win.

Sure enough, Heukyeonggaek closed the gap to Chaenarin in an instant.

At the same time, a shinobi katana appeared, slicing through the air.

What happened next was obvious.

Heukyeonggaek’s sword would mercilessly slash Chaenarin, and the game would explode—.

Clang!

A parry sound. The unexpected effect made my eyes widen.

And then.

Crunch.

Heukyeonggaek’s head was smashed.

For a moment, the casters, the game, and the chat went silent.

What… just happened?

My mind went blank.

It was that unexpected.

[Han Yoorim Double Kill]

[Han Yoorim Triple Kill]

Messages about Han Yoorim’s rampage popped up, but I was still focused on what just happened.

Han Yoorim’s carry show was expected. Everyone knew she was a top player.

But no one expected Chaenarin, an Iron player, to kill a Challenger.

The screen changed, showing the fight from Chaenarin’s perspective.

Splat—the hook landed. Heukyeonggaek charged at Chaenarin.

How did she parry that?

Luck?

Is it possible to accidentally parry a high-speed attack from Heukyeonggaek?

Players aren’t AI; their attack patterns are always different.

My heart raced as I waited for the next scene.

Okay, now show us how she parried—.

“Chaenarin! Bite!”

“Grrr.”

Clang! Swish! Smash!

Chaenarin’s staff deflected the shinobi katana, and like flowing water, crushed Heukyeonggaek’s head.

“……?”

But I was left with a weird expression.

I mean.

She did well, but.

Hearing the in-game voice along with it… it’s just.

Something feels off?

[Han Yoorim is on a killing spree]

[Han Yoorim is going berserk]

‘Iron Saves the World’ VS ‘Somtanghuru’

Set 1.

‘Iron Saves the World’, victory.