<h4>Season 2: Chapter 138. Public Opinion (1)</h4>


    Everyone was momentarily taken aback by BornToB''s sudden tears.


    <i>— Wow...</i>


    <i>— Why the tears? :((</i>


    <i>— The feels... he did well in thest game...</i>


    The chat turned into a sea of tears. Even OrangeKing, who had been itching to tease BornToB, stopped his propeller and grew somber for a moment.


    Almond paused his speech and stared at BornToB.


    <i>''It must have been hard.''</i>


    The journey had been quite challenging, yet meaningful.


    Despite others treating BornToB’s actions as mere jest, the weight he carried never lightened. He abandoned all his previous habits and routines as a B rankmander and spent every evening with them. He wasn''t a streamer or professional gamer. He was just a busy young man in his twenties, yet he took it all quite seriously.


    Almond could feel his effort the most having yed alongside him. Comparing his skills from the first day to today, someone could have said an entirely different person had yed today.


    Now, BornToB was shedding tears and trying to speak through them.


    "<i>Hahaha! </i>Why am I crying over a game?! Anyway... I''m so bad at this. I''m sorry for everything. It was fun and thank..."


    "Mr. BornToB!"


    "... Yes?"


    Almond quickly interjected as BornToB''s words trailed off in sobs.


    "You''ve improved a lot."


    "...?"


    "It seems like no one has told you yet."


    It was slightly awkward timing, but Almond wasn''t adept at such matters. Nheless, he hoped his heartfelt intentions woulde across, albeit clumsily.


    "That... really?"


    BornToB could only blink at Almond, unaware of his own progress.


    Almond nodded and added, "And you made the game fun, Mr. BornToB."


    Throughout this challenging journey, BornToB neverined of any hardships and always appeared joyful. Even amid the chaotic gamey, he seemed to always be having fun.


    Not everyone yed a game just to win. Almond knew another person like that.


    <i>''Bubblegum.''</i>


    Bubblegum wasn’t good at games or particrly clever, but Almond drew a lot of strength from watching his streams and found a refuge from life''s hardships.


    Sometimes, he''d get frustrated at Bubblegum''sck of skill. In hindsight, that too was a fun process because Bubblegum knew how to enjoy a game and that energy extended through the screen to viewers.


    "That''s the most important thing in gaming."


    Thus, Almond had always defined the essence of a streamer as making the game enjoyable and truly having fun with it. Although he never told anyone this before, it seemed fitting to tell BornToB.


    "...!"


    BornToB swallowed hard and his eyes grew even more tear-filled. Almond meant to stop his tears, but his words seemed to have the opposite effect.


    <i>"Sniff..."</i>


    BornToB bowed his head and didn’t rise for a while.


    "Thank you! Thank you..." he kept murmuring thanks over and over.


    <i>— Stop making him cry</i>


    <i>— :(((</i>


    <i>— We''ll remember you, BornToB!</i>


    ***


    During the final promotion match, the number of posts on Embul significantly increased.


    <i>— Isn''t that stream sniping? lol</i>


    <i>— The stream snipers got utterly destroyed lol</i>


    <i>— Was that really sniping?</i>


    A hot debate raged over whether BoySchool was genuinely stream sniping. Many argued he had yed too wed and the game ended too quickly to be considered sniping.


    <i>— How is that stream sniping? The spearmen rush was terrible. You guys are just attempting that validate it as sniping.</i>


    <i>└ They prepared for a 1st era rush without looking back.</i>


    Some argued that the spearmen rush itself was enough evidence of sniping.


    <i>— It''s too malicious to not be sniping, but too bad to be considered sniping.</i>


    <i>└ What''s with this epic quote? Lol</i>


    <i>└ It was so bad (the spearmen rush) lol</i>


    <i>— Seems like a failed attempt at a spearmen rush.</i>


    <i>└ Could''ve just been a random Korean passerby lol</i>


    Others suggested it was just an innocent Korean yer trying out a spearmen rush for a change.


    In reality, BornToB overcame stream sniping to secure victory. However,munity users had no way of knowing the truth behind these events.


    One of the most interesting reactions on Embul was about something else.


    <i>— If you suddenly find BornToB likable, upvote.</i>


    <i>— How fast is that BornToB lol? He''s amazing.</i>


    <i>— This is a clear win for BornToB.</i>


    Favorable posts about BornToB began to appear. They specifically noted how he significantly advanced the start time of his fast archer rush by about fourteen seconds.


    <i>— Upvote if you think the stream sniper is the most pathetic and pitiful lol</i>


    <i>— The hope of B rank! BornToB!</i>


    <i>— Sniper or not, I just love BornToB for taking them down. Upvote if you agree lol</i>


    Beyond criticizing the stream snipers, posts started to attribute more value to BornToB''s use of a single cheap tactic after BoySchool surrendered.


    <i>— The ruler of cheap tactics, BornTooCheap! Acknowledged!!!</i>


    This post garnered a flood of upvotes.


    <i>— Epic nickname</i>


    <i>└ lol</i>


    He also acquired honorable titles like The Ruler of Cheesy Tactics or BornTooCheap.


    <i>— Upvote if you liked BornToB''s reactions so far</i>


    <i>— Reevaluating BornToB</i>


    <i>— Why NalgaeGongmyeong gives me chills</i>


    After being criticized in amunity, enduring through it all could sometimes result in a reevaluation akin to a gift. His previous actions were now viewed positively.


    They praised BornToB for maintaining a positive attitude even in tough situations, which was ironically something they previously mocked.


    <i>— Crazy, everyone initially bashed him saying his head was a flower bed lol</i>


    <i>└ Flower bed was putting it mildly, they straight-up called him brainless lol</i>


    Once opinions shifted in favor of him, all his traits were seen positively. The counter-arguments didn''t stand a chance. They began to even praise BornToB for his ignorance, asking if he was ashamed of the cheap title.


    Another trending post appeared.


    <i>[Who said Almond is good with a bow?]</i>


    This post featured a photo of Almond on horseback shing a soldier with his sword. It was captioned with: <i>[He suddenly charged and shed with a sword?]</i>.


    Themunity thought Almond, a former archery athlete, was only good with a bow. However, today''s game made it clear that wasn''t the case. Almond seemed to have gained considerable trust as a yer suitable for the nationalpetition.


    <i>— I’m really looking forward to Almond in the nationalpetition</i>


    <i>— Isn''t Almond''s scrimmage today? I’m really excited</i>


    <i>— Waiting for Almond''s scrimmage</i>


    Users began to express curiosity and anticipation for the team''s performance in the nationalpetition with Almond. The anticipation grew even more since the team was publicly disying their strength for the first time in this scrimmage.


    <i>— When is the scrimmage??</i>


    <i>— Does anyone know the scrimmage time?</i>


    <i>— Is today''s scrimmage going to be public???</i>


    <i>— Does that mean Cookie will be in the stream too? Awesome</i>


    Posts inquiring about the scrimmage''s time began flooding Embul.


    In a dark room illuminated only by a monitor, Hui-Chul stared motionlessly at the screen disying the looping scene of Almond riding a horse.


    "He’s back from hell! Almondes back resurrected like a dog!" OrangeKing''s excited voice repeated.


    Hui-Chul set the scene to loop, a technique he often used when analyzing particr moments.


    The scene yed over and over, sometimes in slow motion and sometimes zoomed in. Then, he moved on to a scene where Almond took down a veteran knight with his bow. After repeatedly reviewing the scene where Almond widely circled the knight and kept shooting until he eventually took down the veteran knight, Hui-Chul leaned back in his chair and sighed.


    Suddenly, someone approached and ced a hand on his shoulder.


    "Why are you like this? Is something not going well?"


    It was Hui-Chul''s partner, bringing him coffee and also looking at the screen.


    "Is that the new guy you mentioned?"


    "Yeah."


    She noticed his disinterest. Then she scrutinized his expression again.


    "You don''t seem to like his y."


    "Does it look that way?"


    "Yeah, you don''t look too happy."


    "I''m disappointed."


    She tried tofort him as she held his shoulder, "He might not perform incredibly well yet since he just joined. Chi-Seung brought him, so there must be something..."


    "We won''t win the championship this year."


    Hui-Chul continued to watch Almond on the screen.


    "Championship..."


    Knowing how impossible it seemed to win the nationalpetition, his partner understood his despair.


    "If we''re disappointed that we can''t win, that''s giving up too easily."


    She tightened her grip on his shoulder andforted him.


    "We can''t afford to be disappointed about not winning─"


    "I think we can do it next year."


    "What?"


    She hesitated and didn’t understand what he was implying.


    "This year will be tough because this guy still has a lot to learn."


    Hui-Chul stood up, pacing the room as if he was agitated.


    "Hecks understanding ofbat formations and doesn''t know how to use terrain."


    "..."


    "But!"


    He stopped abruptly in his tracks.


    "Next year, we''ll definitely win the championship. As long as this person is still with us then. And our team will be more polished by that time. It will be the greatest dream team ever."


    "Then..."


    Hui-Chul nodded.


    "Yeah. Chi-Seung picked well."