Chapter 65 : Anger Crisis (1)

The members of Danding’s team—Saeum, Nibu, Longlong, Juni, and Et—could not hide their sadness.

Some of them even cried.

Though it was only for two days, they too had prepared for the tournament as hard as any other team.

Of course, Saeum from eLive, who was more familiar with such tournaments, seemed somewhat less affected.

Danding spoke to the team members.

“Everyone. Don’t blame yourselves. It’s all my fault. I’m the one who messed up. You all actually did better than during practice. Please, just

blame me.”

Danding was offering words of comfort to them.

Surely, the team did well.

It was just that Nanmi’s team did better.

A difference in the coach’s ability.

Danding felt that deeply.

“No, coach, it’s not your fault.”

“If I had used my ultimate then, we would have won. Sob—”

“Uh, hey!? Don’t cry!

Honestly, it was disappointing, but not heartbreaking.

At times like this, humor is the best medicine.

Danding said,

“I’m fine, everyone. I really wanted to beat Nanmi, but it was our team that lost, not me, right?”

“Wow… Coach, are you ditching us right after the tournament?”

“Haha, no way.”

The atmosphere lightened considerably thanks to Danding’s joke.

He continued,

“To be honest, we showed everything we could. It’s definitely not a crushing defeat. It’s really a shame. If only the maps had been more

favorable, we would have won.”

Especially the first map was regrettable.

The first map made it hard for our team to showcase their skills.

Well, luck is part of skill, after all.

Danding said,

“Cheer up, everyone. Even though we lost the game, I’ll share delivery coupons so you can treat yourselves.”

“Wow! Coach, you’re the best!”

“Really?”

“Of course. Though it was short, it was a fun time. I also learned a lot from this tournament. I’ll have to try using some of this in the next

competition.”

“Wow! We’ll definitely watch!”

“Alright then, let’s cheer for Nanmi’s team.”

“Shouldn’t we be cheering for Soseong’s team at times like this?”

“No way. Cheering for Nanmi’s team makes others think, ‘Ah, they really deserved to win.’”

“Hahaha!”

“Puhat! That’s true.”

“Well then, I’ll head to the interview.”

Although they lost, interviews were prepared for the losers as well.

Danding immediately entered the channel where Nanmi and Eungtae were.

As soon as Danding appeared, Eungtae said,

“Ah, you’re here.”

“Oh, Nanmi, it was really fun today.”

“Me too. Honestly, I was sweating bullets giving orders.”

In response to Nanmi’s words, Eungtae continued naturally,

“Wow… This is really high praise. Danding, you might know this, but when Nanmi gives orders, he’s so calm it’s like he’s a machine, not

human. For him to sweat like that means we really pushed him to the limit, right?”

“Come on, no way. That’s Nanmi.”

“No, seriously, it was really risky. Especially the last part. The last strategy was improvised right there, so failure was very possible. Luckily it

worked, otherwise the outcome would’ve been uncertain.”

Hearing this, Danding couldn’t help but smile.

Their team would be listening too.

Danding said,

“Since you beat us, Nanmi, I hope you win the championship.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Then, that concludes the semifinals! Thanks to both of you. And Danding,”

“Yes?”

“If you’re okay, would you commentate tomorrow with Murz? I’m afraid I lack the insight for proper commentary.”

“Oh, I’d love to.”

“Thank you. Honestly, it’s a small league just for fun, but I didn’t expect legendary moments like these. I want to commentate on them, but

I’m worried I might get criticized if I say something wrong.”

It was indeed a small-scale tournament.

Neither the participants nor the teams or plans were big.

But who would’ve known?

That a few legendary moments would be born.

Here, Eungtae couldn’t help but admire the coaches’ skills.

He never expected such highlights from teams made up of Silver, Gold, and Diamond players.

So he made a decision.

“Well, since it’s come to this, I’ll announce it now. The teams that advanced to the finals will get an extra day and will play the final

tomorrow!”

Originally, the finals were supposed to be the next day, but the plan changed on the spot.

They decided it wouldn’t be right to hold a light final.

Changing some rules might also make it more fun.

“Thanks again to both of you for today. See you all tomorrow.”

After the interview ended, Nanmi immediately gathered the team.

This was because, as promised before the game started, there was something important to say.

Nanmi said,

“First of all, good job everyone. What I want to say is… hmm… well… we’re in a bit of trouble.”

“What!? Suddenly!?”

“Yes.”

The reason was just one.

“Nana’s skill level is extraordinary.”

More precisely, her reaction speed.

Her reaction speed was exceptional.

This was unexpected.

The two players Nanmi had been watching carefully on Soseong’s team were Inaring and Soseong.

No need to say much about Soseong, and Inaring was someone Nanmi often teased but whose skill was near Master or Grandmaster level.

While it’s hard to trouble healers, especially time mages, with tanks or dealers, and even then Soseong was always nearby, so failure was

likely.

But now with outlaw Nana too.

Considering her reaction speed, she would likely react to counterattacks, meaning they could die.

More importantly, their playstyle had been revealed during this tournament, so the opponents were likely prepared.

“So… what should we do?”

“A simple snipe is likely to fail. We’ll have to induce them to let their guard down.”

“Let their guard down?”

“Yes. For example…”

Instead of sniping when expected, do it at the wrong moment?

“That sounds easy, but it’s actually very difficult.”

They had to respond to my orders instantaneously.

I suspect that to pull off such a strategy, I’ll have to give orders nonstop.

The problem is whether the team can keep up with those orders.

So, from today until tomorrow, it’s special training.

“Let’s try a game first. It’ll help us understand the feeling. Simply put, imagine the tempo being faster than today.”

Actions speak louder than words.

That’s how games are.

After playing, they could grasp the feeling.

So they immediately played a game.

Of course, it was a quick match, and given their team’s skills, winning was natural.

“Oh, this feeling.”

“I think I get it now.”

“It’s hard, right?”

Everyone agreed it was harder than before.

It wasn’t just that the orders increased and sped up.

The orders had more detail.

And the team had to respond accordingly.

“Of course, you don’t need to follow my orders perfectly.”

It’s impossible to follow 100% of verbal orders perfectly anyway.

But,

“If you try to follow the orders I give, your skills will naturally improve. That’s the difference between Diamond and Master. With effort, you

can raise your physical skills to Diamond, but add a spoonful of detail, and you can reach Master.”

I intend to convey that detail through orders.

Wouldn’t that raise their tier by one?

And one more thing.

“Larne.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know how to play Paladin?”

“Uh… I think I can.”

“Good. And Yuzu, can you tank?”

“Yes! I can.”

“Great.”

That’s why I picked Yuzu.

He has a wide range of tank heroes.

And Larne.

“Larne, I’ll teach you the essence of the Paladin.”

“Wow!”

How to play Paladin well.

Two days after practice began, the day of the tournament arrived.

“Time click! Virtual Tournament finals! Starting now!”

-Nanmi up!

-Hebiz fighting!

“Now, before we begin, we have interviews with the two coaches who made the finals. First, Soseong!”

“Hello, I’m Soseong, the main tank of Hebiz.”

“Before the tournament starts, do you have anything you want to say?”

“Well, I said what I wanted on the first day. One of my teammates, Inaring, asked me to send a message to Nanmi, the coach of The Six.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“She said she’ll make such a mess that Nanmi will cry, and to prepare yourself for not being picked.”

“Hahaha! Great. Then, on the other hand, Nanmi, the coach of The Six, do you have anything to say in response to Inaring’s provocation?”

Nanmi grinned and said,

“What was that? You’re too low for me to hear~”