Season 5: Chapter 127. Theres No Way Hes Smart (3)

Season 5: Chapter 127. There's No Way He's Smart (3)

What Macaron had said before was right.

“Big collab events like streamer tournaments are... actually a kind of invisible w-war..."

The streamer tournament, Survival Craft, all of it... Whenever lots of streamers gathered for something, noisy things happened.

Almond was no exception. Even in Survival Craft, some always harbored resentment toward his Lord routine. At the world championship, he'd been a complete rookie with nothing worth saying.

Posts would question why they'd brought in someone like him. These were too numerous to even keep track of. Back then, the best he could do was just stream one day at a time. Looking back, it had all been nothing.

"Turning nothing into something, that's the preferred method of fandoms."

Flash.

Ju-Hyeok's rimless glasses caught the light. He seemed to think he'd said something rather clever. It was indeed hard for anyone to refute.

Even Macaron, who had been part of one such fandom, could only agree. "... That's true."

Calling it a method was quite apt.

"They make noise to achieve some purpose, usually."

"I see.... Then does the talk about Choi Sa-Rang also have some purpose?"

This conversation was happening in the Mixed Nuts conference room for a reason.

[7. But what does this Best Yi Sun-Shin person even do in the Knight Order?]

This post had climbed to 7th on the trending list and started to gain traction.

==== ====

Not a single bit of feedback isn't private feedback lmaooo

Hasn't taught anyone anything whatsoever.

Does nothing but dump on Lemon.

And on top of it has an insanely high-handed attitude.

==== ====

Once this simple post hit the trending list, it stopped being simple.

— Choi Sa-Rang is just a figurehead?

└ Barely even shows her face at that lol

└ lmaooo 222

— Just Almond's nepotism pick lmaooo. What's there to ask?

└ fr...

└ Adults know best ^^

└ She got in through a skill competition though?

└ That skill competition was ultimately just one simulation game right??

└ Then should it have been a best-of-five like a league?

└ And Tortilla just accepted it and went to Paprika right?

— Pretty but honestly too high-handed

└ She is pretty though...

— Too many passes given because she looks delicate

└ fr lmaooo

The post gained traction in every direction. Mixed Nuts had no choice but to address it.

Ju-Hyeok saw through it all. "It's not like Choi Sa-Rang has had an opportunity to properly show anything yet. Essentially, these people are just criticizing her because she's an unknown with no recognition."

Macaron couldn’t refute that cold, sharp interpretation. He knew this industry's nature well himself. Maybe it was human nature in general.

'Right...'

If someone didn’t appear to be at the right level, they had to step aside. That seemed like an irresistible instinct.

“Hey, don't talk to me.”

For some, even being spoken to became a reason for contempt.

“He, he just looked at me. Oh no. Did you see that?”

For others, a glance in their direction earned praise.

Macaron asked, "So, what do we do?"

Perhaps this wasn't only a question concerning Sa-Rang.

"In, in these cases, what's the right... thing to do?"

Ju-Hyeok adjusted his glasses. "Why, prove that you're at a higher level."

"...!"

"You have to prove you're stronger. Then, the way people look at you will change like magic."

Macaron's eyes wavered.

Ju-Hyeok observed his reaction carefully and added one more thing. "Don't dislike people for being fickle."

"... Hm?" Macaron flinched.

"People being fickle is a blessing. It means they change. Depending on what you do, the attitude with which people treat you can change. Isn't there something beautiful about that?"

In Ju-Hyeok's smile, how much he trusted Almond and himself could be felt. People being fickle was a blessing for them. They could change everything at any moment.

"Choi Sa-Rang will pull it off too. She's the kind of person who has no choice."

Macaron somehow felt the subject at the front could be swapped for anyone, and it wouldn't feel out of place.

***

Meanwhile, another person had also pulled something off. Someone who had perhaps slightly realized their desire to become smarter.

'Looking at the data so far...'

Almond took nearly every game they'd played and analyzed it as data. The strategy he had in mind... actually seemed right.

"Let’s split."

Gulp.

It was a tense moment. He was watching only Sa-Rang's mouth.

She smiled broadly. "Wow... you finally figured it out? That's the answer."

— Wow

— Now I’m curious

— What

— Hm?

Viewers felt as surprised as Almond.

'I... got it right...'

Whooom.

He felt like floating into the sky, similar to the first time he'd been praised after joining Ah-Sung. Viewers felt moved by the Dummy's growth and marveled too.

— Finally!

— The Dummy's rebellion

— You got this?

— Whoa

— Smart Young Man IS BACK!

— Tears of emotion...

'I, I can't believe it.'

It truly felt like a dream, but it wasn’t. Reality wasn’t so kind.

— They conspired!

— Wait she already knew?

— Is she just pretending to know now??

— Sa-Rang was hoping Almond would figure it out??

— She just accepted the answer that was fed to her

— They're just pretending. This was planned from the beginning lmaooo

There was plenty of history to draw from. Plenty didn't believe it, especially viewers from other streamers.

— Seems like they pre-arranged this lmaooo

— But what does that person even do?

— It's so obvious

— Being a major player has perks lmaooo even scripted scenes are provided

— Kind of tacky;

These viewers had low trust in Almond and Coach Sa-Rang. Understandably so, since Sa-Rang was still an unfamiliar figure to them. She hadn't taught anything until now and remained silent without even giving out hints.

Sweet Radish raised his hand and asked, "Is a split... the correct answer?"

'Correct answer.'

Such a term was rarely used in the pro scene.

"Yes." She confirmed it.

Sweet Radish briefly became speechless.

— What the

— Correct answer LOL

— ?

— Sounds like a quack

— Is this right?? lmaooo

— Who is this woman anyway? Is she JeonJaPa's secret daughter?

— Because she's pretty, I'll let it slide...

Sweet Radish asked again, "It seems like you already knew... but why only now...?"

"If I had told you to split the moment I arrived, would you have?"

Sweet Radish was surprised three separate times at this answer. First, because what she said was too correct. Second, because her gaze was directed not at Sweet Radish but at Almond.

— lmaooo fr

— Fair lmaooo

— Why is she looking at Almond LOL

— lmaooooo

— Fair enough...

— Especially Nutboy lmaooo

— lmaooooo

— So true

And lastly...

'From the moment I arrived...?'

The word “arrived” was chosen so naturally.

'She knew from the very beginning.'

She had been thinking about a split operation since the very first day.

Sweet Radish stood there stunned.

Sa-Rang turned her gaze from him and slowly walked forward to stand before everyone.

"Ahem."

She felt it was time to move to the next stage.

"Since the person I thought would find it hardest to understand has finally understood, I'd like to explain the split now."

In the end, she had stayed silent precisely with Almond's comprehension in mind. Almond had no idea what that meant and scratched his head with a happy expression.

"I'm not on that kind of level."

He seemed to simply be in a good mood from receiving the coach's praise.

— ?

— ??

— That wasn't a compliment...

— Mountain of ego

— lmaooooo

— He really is hard to understand...

— Did his brain actually reset?? lmaooo

The entire Knight Order, including Sa-Rang, looked at him in disbelief.

Soon, she started explaining again. "Defining a split simply, it's dividing the team. Experience, movement efficiency, territorial control, and information gathering will multiply several times."

Ding.

She brought up a reference screen. A map view of a team running a split operation appeared.

"Hm?"

Every Knight Order member was surprised.

"Eh? You prepared this in advance..."

"Of, of course! The coach hadn't abandoned us! She hadn't! Waaaahhhh!"

First, the fact that this had been prepared in advance showed that the coach had been paying serious attention to the team.

"... She actually knew in advance."

Second, as Sweet Radish muttered, it was true that she'd been directly confronting this issue from the start. There was a final reason.

"It looks like a color bug, teacher," Almond said while raising his hand.

The PowerPoint template had quite a distinctive design featuring lavender, sky blue, and pink colors like a magical girl transformation set for little girls.

— fr the PPT design lmaooo

— lmaooo cat cafe concept?

— ...?

— Bug?

— Color bug lmaooo

— Pink princess template

— lmaooooooooo is the PPT broken?

"... It's not a bug," Sa-Rang replied flatly with a stiff expression.

Almond started rubbing his eyes, wondering if his vision was wrong.

— Not believing it

— At Ah-Sung, this would mean instant drop straight down to intern so it's definitely a bug lmaooo

— At Ah-Sung this is not a PPT

— Almond’s genuine confusion is hilarious

Of course, this taste perfectly suited Black Tea. "W-wow. The colors are so pretty!"

She meant it without any flattery.

Sa-Rang seemed pleased by Black Tea's reaction, gave an almost imperceptible nod, and got to the point. "Yes, thank you. Those of you who can’t appreciate it won't have trouble reading it anyway, right? Let's go into the split explanation."

Sa-Rang pointed at two pink hearts on the map. They represented the divided teams. The big heart represented three of them, and the small heart represented two.

"The most basic Survival mode split among known approaches is the two-three split, as Almond mentioned. This is also the split that suits the Knight Order best. However, just saying two-three split means you're doing a split... which is confusing."

Was it because her design had been called a bug?

Sa-Rang looked at Almond and asked, "A split requires defining two things before you can execute it. One is the number distribution and... what else?"

"Timing."

Shockingly, the answer came immediately.

"... Hm? Correct."

Sa-Rang looked slightly disappointed. She wanted to push him harder.

— Whoa

— Wow

— They didn't pre-arrange this, right?? lmaooo

— Hm?

— Almond, did you receive illegal brain surgery?

— I'm starting to have doubts...

— ?

Sa-Rang hadn't anticipated it, so how surprised would everyone else be?

'What?'

'Wh-what is this?'

'Did Orange King tutor him privately?'

The Knight Order members, who hadn't managed to answer, muttered among themselves. The person panicking the most could let the split slide as a coincidence, but absolutely couldn't let this go.

"That makes no sense!" Sweet Potato shouted, "Th-this is fraud!"

Sweet Potato had the lowest tier on this team, but had one single consolation.

'I... at least I have to be smarter than Almond!?'

If things continued like this, he'd become the most useless person on this team.

"Th-there's no way our Almond is this smart!"

— ??

— lmaooooo

— LOL

— Suddenly??

— Sweet Potato sensing an existential crisis

— lmaooooo

— So this is what happens when a person is pushed to the edge...

— Sweet Potato... that's embarrassing...

— You study too LOL

Almond couldn’t be this smart. In truth, it wasn't only Sweet Potato who thought this.

[Big: Honestly, Sa-Rang must have already fed Almond all the answers beforehand lmaooooo]

As tournament practice began in earnest, the devils of the LIL Pro community began to rev their engines.