Chapter 67

[Platform Integration <Eternal World> Tournament?]

“Yeah.”

[Suddenly?]

“Suddenly.”

Beyond the voice chat, Pape tapped on the desk. He was deep in thought.

Pape asked quietly.

[Do you have a reason for wanting to join the tournament?]

“Don’t you like tournaments, Pape?”

[You have no idea how exhausting tournaments are.]

Basically, internet streaming is a great structure for backseat gaming.

Because you’re watching someone else play.

Even in neighborhood Go games, there’s a ton of backseat gaming, let alone streaming? No need to explain.

But usually, it’s fine. There’s a variety of things to chat about.

Take Mos, for example. “Was the lawyer recommended by Malangmapang also from the game gallery?” or “I knew it all along. It’s Minttastesal, after all.” or “Looks like I won this deduction battle again?”

The situations are diverse, so the chats are diverse too, but tournaments are different.

Tournaments are all about competition. Only one out of two moves forward, and in the end, only one winner remains.

The chats are limited.

Finding the culprit, cursing the bans, pointing out mistakes, talking about balance—it’s like watching gladiators in the Colosseum while chatting. For streamers, it’s pure hell.

When tens of thousands of people unite in heart and mind to type those chats, even an alchemist who exchanges mental strength for money wouldn’t find it easy.

[But you probably wouldn’t care.]

“I get hurt just like anyone else when I get flamed, you know?”

[What kind of hurt? Emotional hurt? Be specific about what word goes in the parentheses.]

“I miss Bbangbbang.”

I miss Kim In-ho too. Both of them were easy to talk to, and it was nice.

[You must miss your toys.]

The reason I’m interested in the platform integration tournament isn’t anything special.

It just feels like it’ll help with the game.

Specifically, it feels like it’ll help with the Age of Exploration oceanic adventure game I’m currently working on, which is undergoing a complete overhaul.

[I knew it. You’re only interested in game development.]

“If someone hears that, they’ll think I’m a psychopath who doesn’t care about people.”

[You’re not?]

It’s not that bad.

It’s unfair.

[You’re not going to tell me how participating in the tournament helps with game development, are you?]

“It’s a top-secret.”

[You’re just too lazy to explain, aren’t you? Too lazy to organize your thoughts. If you absolutely had to explain, you’d probably summarize it in 3 seconds.]

“I miss Bbangbbang. And In-ho too.”

[You must miss your toys.]

Pape shook his head and said:

[Tournaments have a lot of variables, but if it’s you, you could probably form a winning team.]

“Did you participate in a tournament before, Pape?”

[Once, a long time ago.]

“You came in second, right?”

[You. Turn off the wiki and talk.]

“I did turn it off.”

[You must’ve seen it before then.]

I really miss Bbangbbang.

[Anyway, winning feels exhilarating. So it’s not bad to experience it at least once.]

“You came in second, but you know how the winner feels?”

[If second place felt that good, imagine first place. But that’s not what I’m trying to say.]

Pape continued slowly.

[You won’t win with the team you want, right?]

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

[You’re going to form a team with the members you see every day at the playground, aren’t you? Am I wrong?]

“Well, yeah.”

The members I want include the people who often gather in Mos’s room.

Me, Pape, Bunny Run, and Mos, the room owner. Like that.

[With that team, you’ll never win.]

“Why not?”

[Let’s do the math. You and I are currently rank 1. Our roles are City Core and Main Carry, so we’re at the highest score of 63 points. Bunny Run is Master, and Mos is a former Grandmaster but currently Master, so they’re both at 41 points. What’s the total?]

“208 points.”

[The team’s total score limit is 210 points. That leaves 2 points, and there’s only one way to form a team with that. Do you know what it is?]

“Bring in a low-tier player?”

[Low-tier? Don’t sugarcoat it. You need to bring in an ‘Iron’ to form the team.]

Iron.

Also known as Reverse Challengers, they’re at the very bottom of the game.

Even the high-tier players, who say “Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond are all the same,” don’t include Iron in that.

It’s the hellish zone where even smurfs struggle to win.

That’s Iron.

No normal person could reach it.

[Back in the day, maybe, but now, to participate in a tournament, you need to play over 100 ranked games. There’s no smurfing. Well, technically, Mos is a smurf, so they can’t completely stop it, but Iron is different. If someone’s played over 100 games and is still Iron, they’re a true Iron local.]

“Isn’t Iron and Bronze the same?”

Pape sighed at my words.

[You’ve always lacked sensitivity toward low-tier players. You’re going to get into big trouble one day.]

“You’re not sensitive either, Pape.”

[Iron is a place you can only reach if you’re creatively bad at the game! In a way, it’s genius. They do things no one could ever imagine!]

Come to think of it, one of Pape’s teammates in his first and last tournament was an Iron.

Indeed, failure makes you grow. Who would’ve thought Pape would become so sensitive to low-tier players?

[If you really want to join the tournament, change your team. Our positions are a problem too, so it’s even more impossible.]

“Why?”

[According to tournament rules, if a team has more than 2 Challengers, one of them has to switch positions. But having an Iron take on either City Core or Main Carry, the core of the game? You’ll never win.]

“How do other teams do it?”

[They have Challengers in other positions take on City Core or Main Carry…]

“Don’t. Fill the team with cost-effective tiers. This had the highest win rate in tournament history.”

To summarize Pape’s words:

Our combination of me, Pape, Mos, and Bunny Run took up too many points, so we had to fill the remaining team members with Iron-tier players. But it didn’t end there—we also had to give either the City Core or Main Carry position to one of them.

Hmm.

Sounds tough, huh?

[You think I suggested forming another team for no reason? I’d do it too if it were good. But there’s no benefit, no benefit.]

“Pape, you lack romance.”

[That’s the frustrating part. The team structure makes it impossible to win, but the underdog can’t pull it off. Everyone’s going to hype it up like, ‘Two top Challengers have met!’ But if the tournament turns out to be a dumpster fire, how do you think people will react?]

A festival of chaos, I guess.

Is there no way?

[If you’re confident in teamfighting with an Iron Main Carry, go ahead and form the team. But you know, carrying in Iron-tier isn’t the same as in a tournament where the opposing team has high-tier players too.]

“What if the Iron player takes the City Core?”

[An Iron player taking the City Core, the heart of the game. Or an Iron player as the Main Carry. You know which is better.]

“…Wouldn’t the Iron player at least perform decently?”

[They won’t, so give up.]

His blunt answer almost cut my finger.

“What if we use the carry duo as Iron bait and you, Pape, play Guardian to help me dominate the game?”

[The enemy Scout will have 10 kills by 5 minutes and head to the City Core. Can you handle that? Even if you do, I’d have to play Support to babysit. You can’t just stall with Iron-tier players.]

Really, really.

Is there no way?

“But if it’s not the four of us ‘together,’ it’s meaningless.”

[You mean it’s meaningless without three toys to help with game development, right?]

“There must be some way.”

[What way? Unless you find an Iron-tier parking troll, there’s no solution. Give up—.]

“That’s it!”

I jumped up.

In this desperate situation, Pape had presented the only solution.

“Just like Pape said. We need to find someone who’s Iron-tier but not really Iron-tier.”

[I told you. You need to play over 100 games to join the tournament. If you’re still Iron after 100 games, you’re just born Iron. There’s no parking troll.]

“No, that’s not it.”

[Are you going to find a fake account? You know you’ll get banned if you get caught, right?]

“It’s simple. We find someone overflowing with potential but stuck in Iron because they don’t know how to play the game.”

Chills ran down my spine.

What a brilliant idea.

The spark of a Super Developer was showing here too.

[Sigh.]

Pape sighed at my words.

I tilted my head.

“Why?”

[That’s a method people try often. Usually by ex-pros. Here’s the problem. How many have succeeded so far?]

“Ten?”

[Zero. People don’t change.]

“I know that too.”

Fundamentally, people don’t change.

Even with a strong impact, they don’t change. If someone seems to have changed, it’s an illusion. They’ve learned, but their essence hasn’t changed.

However.

Even so, there are people who can change.

“I’m good at reading people. I can tell if someone is an Iron seed or a Challenger seed just by looking.”

[You’re good at reading people?]

“Of course.”

[Wait a sec.]

Ding. Pape added someone else to the voice chat.

It was Bbangbbang.

As soon as he joined, Bbangbbang shouted.

[Hey! What do you mean you’re good at reading people!]

“Your voice is nice to hear, Bbangbbang. I missed you.”

[Huh? Uh? What?]

Bbangbbang short-circuited.

Pape muttered, ‘Poor guy,’ though Bbangbbang was anything but pitiful.

“So, what’s up?”

[Huh? Right. You’re good at reading people? You didn’t recognize my mid-lane talent.]

“No? I’ve always thought Bbangbbang was great at game reading and had top-tier pro-level mechanics. I even told you.”

[You did? I don’t remember.]

“I said, ‘Why not just play damage Support?’”

I gave advice, and he didn’t even remember. Tears welled up.

Bbangbbang muttered in disbelief.

[…I think you did say that, but why damage Support? You could’ve just told me to play mid.]

“Because once a Support, always a Support.”

Leaving Bbangbbang, who didn’t understand the obvious, I declared to Pape:

“I’ll kidnap someone useful, so you get the team registration ready.”

[If it seems hopeless, I’ll just leave?]

“Deserters will be hunted down by the Anbu. Not allowed.”