<em>— People who have tried her know that this isn''t something skill can cover up lol</em>


    <em>└ Seriously lol</em>


    <em>└ So are you saying Police actively staged this to deceive users???</em>


    <em>└ 2222 That''s ridiculous lol</em>


    <em>└ No need for Police to lead it, maybe the opposing yers just went easy on them and subtly lost on purpose?</em>


    <em>└ That exnation doesn’t ount for Almondnding all of Sori''s arrows in 1 to 2 seconds</em>


    Debates raged on LIL Pro while Ju-Hyeok prepared for the stream. Some users felt puzzled by the controversy itself.


    <em>[Is this your first time seeing Almond y??]</em>


    After all, it wasn''t the first time Almond had shown such gamey.<em>— Exactly lol</em>


    <em>— Yeah, it was even more impressive when he yed Raina... Why are people acting like this?</em>


    His performance with Raina was far superior to what he showed with Sori. However, those fueling the suspicions weren’t without reason.


    <em>└ Is ying a character with speed and uracy buffs the same as shooting a bow raw??</em>


    Of course, Raina and the other champions he yed all had system assisted speed and uracy buffs. His performance with other champions couldn''t be directlypared to when he used Sori.


    <em>— Disgusting. If you can shoot like that with Sori, it''s practically the same as being able to shoot with that uracy in real life lol Is that even possible? Then why be a streamer?</em>


    They argued that if someone could shoot like that as Sori, that meant the individual could also perform simrly in real life. This idea began to gain traction.


    <em>└ True... If that''s the case, why not pursue archery instead of streaming? Lol</em>


    <em>└ Exactly... Could have swept the Olympics. Why y the clown? It makes no sense…</em>


    <em>└ As if a gamer could be our country''s youngest championship gold medalist…</em>


    <em>└ Lmao spinning facts</em>


    Indeed, Almond was skilled with a bow in real life. It had been long established that performance in virtual reality and real life could significantly differ.


    <em>[The difference between VR performance and real performance has been known for ages, yet here they go again doubting]</em>


    In reality, Almond''s virtual reality performance wasn’t just due to his archery skills, but more so because he had been doing image training for ten years as revealed by the engineers who measured his VNS (Virtual Nervous System) scores. However...


    There was rarely ever a case in themunity where naysayers lit a fire with actual evidence. They simply ignited whatever fuel they had.


    <em>[Look at the timing of Nutcase''s stream]</em>


    <em>[The culprit is streaming, let’s go~ lol]</em>


    <em>[The title of the stream lol]</em>


    For Almond, it was just about using that fire in his favor.


    <em>[Almond has started streaming.]</em>


    <em>[LIL: There are no bad champions]</em>


    <em>— Hi hi</em>


    <em>— Aha~!</em>


    <em>— Watched yesterday''s stream, it was great ??</em>


    <em>— The title lol</em>


    <em>— What''s with the title again? lol</em>


    Messages flooded the chat as the stream went live.


    Almond''s face appeared on one side.


    “Ta-da!”


    <em>— Hi hi</em>


    <em>— Today''s a visual feast~</em>


    <em>— Got my dose of good looks, now I''m out</em>


    <em>— Doing LIL today?</em>


    It was his first stream since recording <em>The Avatar of LIL</em>, so many people seemed to be waiting.


    <em>[Current Viewers: 9.7K]</em>


    Nearly 10,000 viewers arrived immediately.


    <em>— What game today?</em>


    <em>— Doing LIL today??</em>


    <em>— Oh it’s LIL in the title lol</em>


    “Yes, I will be ying <em>LIL</em> for the first part of today’s stream.”


    Almond had divided his stream into two parts. The second part was always reserved for a private scrim with the national <em>Civil Empire </em>team, making the first part essentially the main event.


    <em>— Ah…</em>


    <em>— When is Kingdom?</em>


    <em>— Not doing Jet Pumped?</em>


    Others waiting for different games chimed in. It made sense since he recently continued ying <em>LIL</em> for Swift’s story mode.


    “I was originally going to y <em>Jet Pumped</em> today, but…”


    <em>p.</em>


    Almond suddenly pped as if realizing something.


    “Ah. First, let’s visit TSB.”


    <em>— ???</em>


    <em>— Overacting lol</em>


    <em>— What’s he up to? lol</em>


    Almond seemed to have a specific buildup in mind.


    “Let''s take a look at a post. Someone has kindly shared a LIL Pro post for us today.”


    He immediately clicked on a post on TSB.


    <em>— Why look at that of all things?</em>


    <em>— LOL did you n all this? So cute lol</em>


    <em>— It’s obvious, Nutcase…</em>


    The post wasn''t a top post and didn’t have a clickbaity title either, indicating that he had nned to click on it.


    Viewers could tell, but they found it endearing or simply supported the act.


    <em>— Wow! What could it be, teacher?!</em>


    <em>— The physical ability to click on such a thrilling post! Amazing!</em>


    <em>— Do not question Almond’s will.</em>


    The post that Almond opened sinctly summarized the current controversy swirling around LIL Pro.


    <em>[The fabricated controversies emerging in LIL Pro]</em>


    In themunity, bait referred to topics designed to lure users like fish.


    “There''s a controversy about my performance on <em>The Avatar of LIL</em> broadcast being staged.”


    <em>— Controversy on LIL Pro is just industry tradition lol</em>


    <em>— Everything is staged for these folks lol</em>


    <em>— Dumbasses smh</em>


    The chat revealed the general perception of viewers toward LIL Pro. Few truly believed in the usations.


    “Their skepticism isn’t unfounded. There’s a saying that overwhelming skill can’t be distinguished from falsehood. <em>Ahem…</em>”


    <em>— ??</em>


    <em>— Did you just make that up? lol</em>


    <em>— Who wrote the script? lol It’s hrious</em>


    <em>— “Overwhelming power cannot be distinguished from magic.”</em>


    <em>— Did Walnut say that?</em>


    Nearly 30,000 to even 40,000 viewers watched Almond’s stream, so the viewers couldn''t all be friendly.


    <em>— All talk and no proof lol</em>


    <em>— So it’s not staged?? lol</em>


    <em>— Honestly, it''s a broadcast to sell the avatar. Isn’t some staging expected? Lol</em>


    Among the flood ofments, some asionally expressed skepticism. Honestly, Almond was waiting for thosements.


    “The controversy here ims that there might have been something fishy with the super ount provided by Police, or that Popcorn''s team deliberately lost. These are the two main points.”


    <em>— Yeah, seems like it</em>


    <em>— No need to engage, just ignore it and y Kingdom</em>


    <em>— Are we really discussing this?</em>


    Of course, avoiding such controversies was the hallmark of a streamer. However, this was more of an opportunity for Almond than a controversy.


    “Therefore, the controversy will be resolved with me ying Sori today...”


    That was true. It would all be over if Almond yed Sori today and demonstrated a simr performance. He wouldn’t be ying on a super ount today and his opponents wouldn’t be pre-arranged.


    “I thought about just ying in solo queue, but that felt insufficient. Someone could still im the opposing team was pre-arranged.”


    <em>— ??</em>


    <em>— How do you pre-arrange an opposing team in solo queue? lol</em>


    <em>— LOL, everything’s staged, huh?</em>


    He nned to use a different method to tackle this controversy rather than just ying solo queue.


    <em>‘That would be too boring.’</em>


    He needed to spice things up for his stream.


    “I was also a victim of rigged voting when<em> Kingdom</em> was in a poprity contest, so I understand how you all feel on LIL Pro. That’s why I think a more perfect resolution is necessary.”


    <em>— ???</em>


    <em>— That was actually true, dude</em>


    <em>— LOL</em>


    <em>— It wasn''t rigged, LOL</em>


    After spouting some unrted things, Almond suddenly pointed out some users.


    “Those whomented earlier.”


    As he said that, Ju-Hyeok clicked through the chat and disyed the IDs of viewers who imed <em>The Avatar of LIL </em>broadcast was staged.


    Among the dozen individuals, Ju-Hyeok specifically highlighted one.


    <em>[SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarfs]</em>


    <em>— So it''s not staged? Then what?</em>


    <em>— You''re saying they didn’t stage anything in amercial broadcast?</em>


    <em>— You beat Popcorn with a new avatar? LOL</em>


    <em>— Honestly, I could probably win too if I yed with the new avatar</em>


    The messages that user made today could be seen.


    “Ooh…”


    Almond wasn’t particrly concerned about the contents of the messages.


    <em>‘I knew there’d be someone.’</em>


    He was focusing on thestment.


    “You have been chosen!”


    Almond highlighted one specific remark.


    <em>[Honestly, I could probably win too if I yed with the new avatar]</em>


    He had been waiting for this exact statement.


    “SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarfs, please call out your ID.”


    <em>— ??</em>


    <em>— For real?</em>


    <em>— This is for a resolution… right?</em>


    <em>— More like an annihtion lol</em>


    <em>— Wow, I’m jealous</em>


    <em>— It''s an industry award, really</em>


    Yes, he wanted to transform this controversy into a viewer participation event.


    <em>— The first ever viewer participation event on Almond''s channel involves cracking the heads of trolls LOL</em>


    <em>— This content is killer~</em>


    <em>— The potential for a YouTube highlight reel is insane LOL</em>


    Almond''s stream had never featured viewer participation before. This quickly spread throughout themunity. Beyond being a first, the fact that it stemmed from the controversies they ignited only heightened interest. It became a form ofmunity interaction.


    <em>[Almond is now breaking seals (actually viewer''s heads) LOL LOL]</em>


    <em>[Breaking News: Almond challenges a viewer]</em>


    <em>[??? Hey,e to mid!]</em>


    <em>[This is going to be hrious LOL LOL]</em>


    <em>[Who is the brave soul being targeted?]</em>


    <em>[If you don’t show up, you’re doomed for life]</em>


    Posts like these began appearing in themunity as interest boiled over. If SnowWhite gave out their ID, the showdown would immediately be set.


    As everyone awaited the response…


    <em>— My username’s the same. Send the invite.</em>


    He epted the challenge.


    <em>— Wow, what a man! LOL</em>


    <em>— Oh</em>


    <em>— Crazy LOL</em>


    <em>— Is he actually good? LOL</em>


    <em>— Seems like he pulled the controversy on purpose to y a game with Almond LOL</em>


    “Then, let''s end the Just Chatting segment here and dive straight into the first part.”


    With that, Almond''s first ever viewer participation event began.


    ***


    <em>LIL</em> was fundamentally a team-based game where teamwork was as crucial as individual skill. A one-on-one duel didn''t hold much significance. However, there was nothing like a one-on-one showdown to uphold a gamer’s pride. <em>LIL</em> originally didn''t offer a mode for one-on-one enjoyment, but one was eventually created due to strong user demand.


    <em>[Abyss Duel]</em>


    Almond had once used this mode to duel with StrawberryShooter for the ADC position.


    “I''ll send an invite.”


    Almond typed in the viewer''s nickname and sent the invite.


    Shortly afterward…


    <em>[SnowWhiteAndSevenDwarfs]</em>


    A yer with the exact nickname joined him. Although his face was set to private, his tier was openly disyed.


    <em>[Diamond - I]</em>


    He was a diamond ranked tier one yer. Being the highest tier in diamond meant he had to be a highly skilled yer by general standards. However…


    <em>— Diamond 1?? Are you kidding?</em>


    <em>— LOL</em>


    <em>— Someone said diamond mouths are the loudest LOL</em>


    <em>— A typical diamond LOL</em>


    Almond looked at his tier and asked, “You''re diamond one. Are you sure about this?”


    “I''ve been Grandmaster at my peak. Don''t worry.”


    <em>— LOL, a diamond talking big LOL</em>


    <em>— It''s science, really</em>


    <em>— Grandmaster???</em>


    <em>— Must be a lie</em>


    <em>— About to have his head cracked open LOL</em>


    “If you''re picking Sori, I just need to pick a counter.”


    “Oh, counters have been figured out already?”


    “Yeah. Let''s do this.”


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The game started after they chose their champions.


    <em>[The Cautious Hunter - Sori]</em>


    <em>[Star Maiden - Zen]</em>