<h4>Chapter 191: Old Destiny (1)</h4>
After they returned to<i> This World</i>, the leader of the team, SweetRadish, started giving his feedback. There wasn''t much to say. It was a standard victory, except for the bottomne.
"You all did well."
The team looked happy, except for the bottomne. The support, SweetPotato, and the ADC, WhiteChicken, were sulking in the corner. WhiteChicken looked especially devastated. He looked stunned.
<i>''... It looks like he''s facing a wall he can''t ovee.''</i>
SweetRadish knew that expression.
They had that expression when they felt a wall against their opponent. It was the expression that countless professionals made. All professional gamers, or even famous amateur yers, thought they were pretty good at what they did. If one looked around their acquaintances, it was rare to find someone with the skill of a Grandmaster or Master. Just bing a Master made them the strongest in their surroundings. They had been ying the game as the strongest for a long time, but it waspletely different once they touched the world of professional gaming.
The Masters and Grandmasters who once reigned as the strongest became lower-tier yers, which became embarrassing for them professionally. Even if they became a Challenger, it wasn''t the same. There was a significant skill gap whether they crossed the 1,000-point mark. Even if they surpassed 1,000 points, it was different when theypeted in tournaments. Could they enter the regr league or were they relegated to being a second-tier yer? Could they make it to the yoffs or not? Would they eventually win the championship or not...
<i>''I couldn''t ovee the final hurdle.''</i>
SweetRadish tightly closed his eyes as the memories of that time flooded back. It was truly despair for a human to feel helpless when it didn’t work out no matter how hard they tried. The sense of powerlessness was indescribable.
For SweetRadish, the championship was like that. Despite receiving all sorts of praise, he couldn''t clinch the victory.
He even earned the dishonorable nickname, <i>‘The king with no crown.''</i> SweetRadish wanted to die during those times, but no one else could understand.
<i>‘You can just retire while receiving free money. Buy a building or something.’</i>
<i>‘Winning? Who cares about that? Don''t you already get paid a lot?’</i>
<i>‘Hey, us office workers don''t even make anything close to that. Don''t obsess over it.’</i>
They couldn''t understand that those pursuing such a life aiming for financial sess and buying buildings with their sry didn''t be professional gamers. They failed toprehend the mindset of those who stepped into the world of professionals. These individuals hadn''t even reached a position where they could harbor resentment for not achieving victory.
The understanding of the mentality of those who set foot in the realm of professionals eluded them. These individuals hade this far, driven by the thrill of victory and not with the sole purpose of securing a solid building in their old age.
"... Hey, WhiteChicken."
SweetRadish understood what WhiteChicken was going through. Even though he was only an amateur, he had previously achieved Challenger rank. Hispetitive spirit was stronger than most people.
"It''s nothing new."
"... What is?"
"If there''s someone good, there''s always going to be someone better. If there''s someone who loses, there''s always someone who wins."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" WhiteChicken got up, baffled.
<i>“Puhahaha.”</i>
His teammates burst intoughter. SweetRadish patted him on the shoulder to make him feel better.
"Hey, at least they won''t make fun of you for losing to a Silver."
"... What are you talking about?"
"I took a look earlier. Almond''s ying solo queue."
"... What?"
WhiteChicken''s eyes widened. Other yers who hadn''t experienced it wouldn''t understand, but the earlier skirmish in the bottomne was a fierce battle that felt like their brains were melting. He even began to feel that virtual reality could be dangerous. The time spent fighting against Almond was barely 10 minutes, yet it felt like an eternity. The battle progressed with intense concentration without any pause or respite.
"No way."
WhiteChicken''s stamina was already depleted in the game. Not only in the bottomne skirmish, but also in the mid tote game team fights. He had to fight whilepletely drained, yet Almond continued to y ranked games. How was his stamina holding up?
"He''s already about to hit Gold."
"I see."
"Hey, but there''s some bad news as well."
"?"
"I was wondering if I should''ve said it during the feedback or not."
SweetRadish whispered so the others couldn''t hear, "Almond yed only using one hand."
"!?"
"He did the same thing in the game before."
<i>‘What the. Wait a minute...''</i>
As those strange scenes passed by in his head, WhiteChicken''s mind went nk. He finally realized that he had truly lost against just one hand.
***
<i>[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]</i>
<i>[LazySoldier is unstoppable!]</i>
<i>[LazySoldier is legendary!]</i>
The voice that continued to get louder and louder announced defeat at the end.
<i>[Defeat]</i>
A storm passed by, and the nexus was destroyed. The me obviously went to the bottomne, where LazySoldier came from.
"What the... how much did you guys feed him? <i>Huh?</i>"
"Did he pay you guys? How did you guys die so much to him?"
"I thought they were intentionally feeding, but I checked, and they''re not. These guys are just bad. Go die."
They would understand if they knew who LazySoldier was, but most yers in the Silver and Gold ranks yed the game casually. They were unaware of <i>LIL</i> streamers unless they were a professional yer.
"That Ran is fucking crazy. When he went up, you guys all got fucked by him too!"
"That was because you fed him soooo much."
<i>"Huh?!"</i>
When Almond performed well, the enemy bottomne had nothing to say. Their trash-talking was futile from the start. Even though they were defeated in battles against mediocre champions, they imed it was because Almond was already strong. If they fed him, they would have nothing to say. Their only crime was encountering LazySoldier in the same bottomne.
"You''re so frustrating. Just fuck off. I hope I never see you again."
"That''s what we should be saying, you troll duos."
LazySoldier''s rampage didn''t stop there. Even during his final promotion game, he was unbelievable.
<i>[LazySoldier! Pentakill!]</i>
As the games progressed, Almond''s proficiency of Ran improved dramatically. Despite ying with only one hand, his skill was even better than when he started. While his uracy and speed didn’t match when he was using both hands, his strategic decision-making and game understanding greatly improved. It was all due to his relentless dedication and increased game knowledge.
<i>[Victory]</i>
A familiar text appeared on Almond''s screen.
<i>[You''vepleted the promotional games!]</i>
The silver badge glowed and...
<i>Kiiing...!</i>
<i>[Gold IV]</i>
He was promoted to Gold IV. ying four to five games in a row paid off.
"<i>Phew.</i> I''m finally Gold."
Almond smiled, finally feeling a little relieved.
"If I don''t practice ying with one hand, I won''t even be able to hit Diamond."
<i>LIL</i> was set up so that the yer had to y a certain number of games no matter what. Even if he could win consecutively, there was a limit to how much he could rank up at once.
<i>''I think it''s quite effective.''</i>
There was a reason the doctor gave him permission. It was highly effective. By not using his right hand, he felt less strain and sweated much less.
<i>''And there isn''t that much of a difference in performance,'' </i>Almond thought to himself as he looked at the damage chart. His damage was simr whether he used one or two hands, at least in Gold.
<i>''They''re so badpared to WhiteChicken..."</i>
The yers he faced were worse than WhiteChicken or even GreenTea. There was no need for him to use two hands.
<i>[Almond! Almond! Almond!]</i>
<i>[Wow! It''s Almond!]</i>
<i>[Who''s that?]</i>
<i>[This nut... I better see you on my team next...]</i>
<i>[Is that really Almond? He doesn''t even have his stream on?!]</i>
<i>[Wow! Is Almond practicing on his own?]</i>
Did he build a small reputation thanks to the tournament? Until now, no one recognized him, but in thest game, some people recognized him.
<i>[Hey, are you going to y more? Do you want to duo? I''m pretty good at support.]</i>
The support Almond yed with earlier requested to y together with him. He wasn''t sure whether it was because the yer recognized him or because he was good.
<i>''Duo...''</i>
He checked the time again. It was already 11 P.M.
<i>''When did it be sote?''</i>
<i>Grrrr.</i>
He wanted ate-night snack.
<i>[Sorry, not now.]</i>
He politely declined and exited the capsule.
<i>Chiiik—</i>
When he exited the capsule, he saw Ju-Hyeok passed out on the sofa with a beer can rolling beneath him.
<i>Tap.</i>
Sang-Hyeon bumped Ju-Hyeok.
"Hey, go inside and sleep."
"...?"
Ju-Hyeok slowly opened his eyes.
"Oh, are you done?"
Ju-Hyeok surprisingly woke up right away. He checked the time and looked at Sang-Hyeon.
"Can you y this long?"
"Since I''m ying with one hand, it''s fine."
"That seems to work, <i>huh?</i>"
Ju-Hyeok nced up and down at Sang-Hyeon and nodded. He was noticeably less sweaty.
"Did you call someone?"
"<i>Ah...</i> Nothing like that... I was just watching YouTube. <i>Ah! </i>And Ji-Ah told me, she wants to hire a new assistant for herself."
"An assistant?"
"Yeah. She said she''ll split it using her pay. She said the uploads have been getting slower, so she was nning to get someone she was familiar with. Since you have the final say, what do you think?"
Was it her friend he sawst time? Since Ji-Ah said she would use her own pay, there was no reason for Sang-Hyeon to decline.
"Yeah, tell her to do it."
"Okay."
"Hey."
<i>"... Huh?"</i>
Sang-Hyeon stopped Ju-Hyeok in his tracks, who was walking to his bedroom to sleep.
"<i>Um...</i> Aren''t you hungry?"
"?"
Ju-Hyeok was confused. Did he want to eat ate-night snack?
"Now that I think about it, I do feel a little hungry."
Was it because of the beer? He wanted some carbs.
"Oh, really? Is there something to make?"
Sang-Hyeon''s face glowed up. Ju-Hyeok then realized what Sang-Hyeon wanted.
<i>''This guy...''</i>
He was hungry, but didn''t want to cook himself.
<i>''I should tell him to just eat almonds.''</i>
However, Ju-Hyeok fondly saw that Sang-Hyeon requested for ate-night snack instead of chowing down on almonds. Wasn''t this one of the perks of a great manager?
"I saw a cold spicy noodle recipe on YouTube."
"... Oh!"
***
<i>Slurp.</i>
The sweet and spicy noodles slurped into their mouths with a side of cucumber.
"Wow, this is good too."
"This is from big teacher."
"Big teacher?"
"A big chef."
"I see. The world''s a pretty good ce."
Sang-Hyeon took his phone out as they slurped the big teacher''s spicy noodles.
<i>[Rune-stagram]</i>
He was addicted to his personal social media. Communicating with his fans was a different type of fun from YouTube and Treevy.
"What. Are you looking at Rune-stagram?"
"Yeah."
"You don''t think I need to take care of that for you?"
"This should be fine... it''s my personal ount after all."
That was right. Treevy and YouTube were run by Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah, but Runesta was all up to him. Of course, there were some downsides to it as well.
"... Alright. Just be careful."
Sang-Hyeon nodded and checked the mountain of DMs he had received. It was full of messages cheering him on and fans wanting to talk to him.
But...
<i>[Wow, Sang-Hyeon. You''re Sang-Hyeon, right?]</i>
He saw a message from a familiar name.
<i>[I stopped hearing from you after you quit archery, so I thought you''d be up to something else. But you''re a streamer now? That''s so cool. You''re still so good at shooting.]</i>