"I'll go first. I'm Fisher, a former pro gamer in Battle Heal."
Coach introduced himself first.
It was honestly a mystery why a former Battle Heal pro had ended up on a team like ours, filled with unsold players. Anyway, once he finished, everyone applauded and welcomed him.
Next, our damned team leader introduced herself.
"I'm Ponia, the team leader who picked you all. Let's work hard until the end of the tournament."
When Ponia finished, unlike before, there was no applause or particular reaction. Praise felt wasted on a team leader who had spent points in such a bizarre way.
The team members seemed to think the same, staring at her with rather cold gazes.
"Haha…"
Ponia let out an awkward laugh and turned her head away. Then naturally, it became my turn.
"I'm Pilgong, an SSR-ranked player who joined the team for 1,800 points. Honestly, I don't think I'm worth 1,800 points, but I'll do my best anyway."
"Wooo!"
"I'll be riding the bus!"
"Hey, it's 1,800 points. He'll carry, right?"
"Ah, don't hype me up like that."
The team members deliberately made playful comments. Since I knew it was for the stream, I reacted a bit exaggeratedly as well. With that, my introduction ended and we moved on.
"Hello, I'm Yeonju, SR rank. The equipment I handle best is healing-type items like the harp!"
"Hello, I'm Sohyeop, R rank. There's nothing I can properly handle yet, so I'll do whatever you tell me to!"
"I'm Minchojoa, N rank. I've barely played Battle Heal, so you can think of me as a complete beginner. I'm a blank slate, so I'll work hard and learn like Sohyeop."
After everyone finished introducing themselves, Coach spoke up again.
"We need to do a quick briefing, so let's reveal our ages and drop formalities."
I was twenty-six, and most of the others were younger than me. Even though the streaming scene had long since matured, when the transition from PC to capsule happened, many young people had jumped into streaming.
As a result, even though I was still young, there were plenty of people younger than me on the team.
'Aside from Coach, Sohyeop is the only one older than me, right?'
The other two team members were younger. Yeonju was at least the same age as me. Even so, being twenty-six somehow felt older in this setting.
"Since I'm older, I'll speak casually. Yeonju, we're the same age, so I'll talk comfortably with you too, okay?"
"Yeah. I don't mind."
"I'm fine with it."
"Okay."
Including the team leader, everyone quickly agreed. After dropping formalities, Coach immediately began outlining the team's strategy.
It was impressive that he had already come up with a plan despite having been assigned to our team not long ago.
"This is a hastily put-together strategy, so keep that in mind."
With that, before the scrim, we listened to the plan and began preparing.
"Ha…"
After three scrim games ended, Coach let out a sigh. I had somewhat expected this outcome, so I remained calm.
To begin with, the strategy didn't suit our team at all right now.
'A balanced farming strategy where everyone carries? That doesn't fit our team at this stage.'
Maybe after training and improving our coordination and skills it would be different, but right now, evenly distributed carry potential was impossible.
There were three main reasons Coach sighed.
First, the team synergy was completely off. Of course, it was our first day as a team, so some lack of coordination was natural. But there's a limit.
In team games, voice communication usually helps align teamwork to some degree.
But no matter how much we talked over voice chat, our coordination was a mess.
'The biggest reason was the difference in mechanics.'
If our mechanical skill levels had been more even, the gap wouldn't have been this obvious. But even when we tried to move together, some solved situations purely with mechanics while others couldn't even react.
A typical example was me making aggressive plays while my teammates couldn't follow, leading to a team wipe and my brain shutting down along with the game.
Second was shot-calling initiative.
Yeonju, as an SR, at least had decent game understanding and could carry out her role without calls. But the rest of us, including me, went into panic mode the moment Ponia died.
Yeonju tried to organize the situation with her own calls, but she couldn't do it as cleanly as Ponia, and we ended up wiped again.
And finally, the biggest problem was me.
I had the mechanics, but my game sense was lacking. I kept making calls for angles I thought we could take or predicting enemy positions.
And then we all died. Every time I made a call, the enemy was on the opposite side of where I expected, or the angle just didn't work.
How does someone make a call and a teammate dies every single time?
For real lol.
I nearly had a heart attack when he called that angle.
And they lost again.
How do you get last place in all three scrims?
Still cracked that he managed to get a few kills each time though.
Even the viewers just laughed because my mistakes were so blatant. Of course, I wasn't laughing. I had joined this team for 1,800 points and kept getting my teammates killed.
The other team members clearly understood how serious the situation was, so no one said anything.
The only sound in the room was Coach's sigh.
The official scrims were over, but we had agreed to play one more unofficial round. That was why Coach's headache was getting worse. It was clear that the current strategy wasn't working.
"Right now… it'll be hard to change everything."
"Yes."
"But we can at least set a few rules before we go in."
That was expected. A full strategy overhaul wasn't possible immediately, but setting some execution rules was the next step.
"First, Pilgong. No more shot-calling."
"Yes."
I had anticipated that rule and accepted it immediately.
"And Ponia, you too. No more shot-calling."
"What? Me?"
"Huh?"
"Wait?"
"What do you mean?"
The entire team reacted in confusion. Ponia had been the main shot-caller the whole time, so it was only natural to question this decision.
If she didn't call, then who would?
And what Coach said next shocked them even more.
"Let Yeonju try being the main shot-caller."
"What? Me?!"
It was the same words Ponia had said, but the tone was completely different. It seemed she hadn't fully processed the idea of becoming the main shot-caller.
Well, I understood. I felt the same when I was picked for 1,800 points.
Grinning playfully to tease her, I said,
"I'm in your care, Main Shot-Caller?"
"Shut up."
Since we were the same age, Yeonju and I had grown close quickly during the scrims. Even someone who seemed like she wouldn't swear at first had become comfortable enough to do so.
"And lastly, Pilgong moves separately."
"What? Just me?"
"Yeah. Farm together early on, then split off."
"Alright."
It wasn't a completely convincing instruction, but since it came from Coach, I assumed he had a reason and accepted it.
With those three rules set, we immediately started the next scrim.
The final map of the day was the most standard rural map.
As the game began, our team quickly entered nearby buildings to farm. Unlike regular matches with 100 players, the tournament only had 20, so farming was more relaxed.
'Farm quickly, then move on my own, right?'
Following Coach's instructions, I quickly looted, grabbed healing items, and then split from the team. Since the nearby area would only yield more healing items anyway, I figured it was better to spread out and farm elsewhere.
After separating, I entered another building to continue looting.
"Hm?"
While farming alone, I heard footsteps nearby. I peeked through the window to check the source.
It's a player.
But why are there two?
Where are the other three?
Farming separately?
Maybe splitting into pairs to avoid accidents?
It seemed they were trying to cover a wider area by splitting up.
Depending on their ranks, it varied, but in my current state, I wouldn't lose even against those two—unless a UR or SSR was among them.
From what I saw, neither of them was someone I recognized from the UR or SSR tiers.
'Oh? That guy definitely glared at me yesterday.'
He was the one Furia had called Ramen. If I remembered correctly, he was SR rank. That meant the one with him was R or N.
That was winnable.
While farming, I had picked up a level core and invested it into acceleration.
"If I use this well, I think I can take both of them."
Agreed.
This is a free kill.
We're worth 1,800 points!
How dare an SR try to square up?
Just kill them.
The viewers thought the same.
They hadn't noticed me, but I had noticed them. That alone gave me the advantage.
I stayed hidden and waited for the two to approach the house I was in.
The moment they opened the door, I thrust my spear straight through it.
"Ugh!"
Since I stabbed through the door, it wasn't a fatal wound. But they now knew my position.
I immediately used acceleration to reposition. I had already noted the escape route through a window, so I quickly slipped out and moved behind the building. A split second later, one of them slashed his sword at where I had just been.
I was already gone, but there was no way for them to know that.
Using acceleration, I circled outside and targeted the other one waiting behind.
Thud!
"Gah!"
As expected. Even though I had made clear footsteps, he couldn't track my position. Anyone skilled enough to react properly would have assumed I was still inside the house.
The lower-ranked player accompanying Ramen was dealt with easily.
[Pilgong_ killed Porapo]
[Survivors: 19]
After securing first blood, I immediately moved to target Ramen inside the house. He had seen the kill log and was heading toward the door.
I advanced toward the sound of his footsteps and swung my spear.
"You won't get me twice!"
He shouted loudly and drew his sword to block my spear.
The moment I saw that, I altered the trajectory of my spear.
Normally, that wasn't supposed to be possible. But if you asked me how I did it, my answer would be simple.
'It just works?'
He had attempted to block with a quick-draw slash, but when my spear shifted off its original path, his sword cut through empty air.
His balance broke.
In that opening, I quickly struck his side with my spear.
[Pilgong_ killed Ramen]
[Survivors: 18]
After my second kill, I muttered quietly,
"Easy."