chapter_0090

90 – Jatdwaepputne

90 – Jatdwaepputne

, , , and so on.

If we were to pick out a unique feature of these competitions hosted by Ppajijik for streamers, it would definitely be the ‘player auction’ that takes place 1 week before the competition.

It’s so popular that they even do a separate broadcast for it.

For viewers, it’s entertaining to see how expensive their streamer sells for, or how many times they go unsold.

Seeing someone they’ve never seen before, or someone they know but who has never done competitive play, sell for an unexpected amount or go unsold also generates a lot of buzz.

Then if the coaches’ thinking gets twisted and all the weak players end up on one side, forming the worst team possible. That’s when the community war begins.

Are these coach bastards out of their minds?

How do you mess up an auction so badly that you end up with a team like this?

Oh no, our streamer’s chances of winning are gone again.

But the high-tier players who become coaches don’t have it easy either.

It’s not like they want to fail at team composition either.

Twenty players in total, divided into tiers 1-5 based on skill.

Even within the same pool, positions vary, and some can cover one position while others can cover three.

They need to prioritize picking players who can give orders and tactical units (Smokescreen) from tiers 1-2.

If they spend too many points winning the auction for the most important player, they mess up the whole auction, but if they’re too frugal, they fail to get the team composition they wanted.

Meanwhile, they also need to bring in players they personally prefer.

Coaches also have different positions they can focus on improving, and bringing in team members who match their personality makes management easier.

Moreover, the auction time for each player is at most about 1 minute.

They have to modify their strategy in real-time while watching players disappear from the pool, deciding who to bring in, while also managing remaining points and forming a five-person team with one player each from tiers 1 to 5.

How could this be an easy task?

No matter how thoroughly they prepare, something is bound to go wrong somewhere.

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

[Auction Order]

Majiya(3) – …… – Kamik(1) – KraeMang(5) – Bajubi(4) – ………… – Serena(2) – Taro(1)

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

To make matters worse, the auction order predicted chaos.

The two players considered key picks for this competition were placed at the very end of the auction.

[Wow. The auction’s going to be chaotic. Look at the order, it’s crazy!!]

[Now, let’s explain why we’re making such a fuss about the order.]

[Let me say it again. There are a total of four players who can give orders in this competition. However, only two players in tier 2 or above can give orders. Taro in tier 1, and Serena in tier 2. These two are at the very end. We’re in big trouble.]

Even though this game has become lighter with the addition of skills, its base is still a heavy military FPS, so a team with good synergy and tactical completeness always has an advantage.

To be tactically perfect? You need at least one player who can move the entire team by giving orders with a clear direction.

The Challenger tier coaches can’t give detailed instructions in-game, you see.

That’s why upper-tier players who can give orders receive huge bonus points, and among them, tactical units with Smokescreen (Serena) and infiltration units who open entry angles with flashbangs (Taro) are highly preferred.

It’s more efficient to just open and rush in yourself rather than ordering someone “Throw smoke!”, “Throw flash!”

Moreover, Taro is last year’s champion and MVP, so he’s essentially a player every team wants.

[It’ll be quiet all the way until Serena’s turn. Like the calm before the storm.]

[That’s right. They can’t carelessly spend points. How could they when the most important players are at the very end!]

In other words, from now on, most players will go unsold.

A player like me who’s unproven, and whose submitted video shows killing two bots and then dying?

And first in the order? Of course…

[As expected, Majiya was immediately unsold.]

[It seems the coaches found it difficult to bid readily. This player is quite famous in the Battle Colosseum, but their competitive experience is only a few days. The video they submitted showed impressive skills, but it wasn’t very competitive. Too aggressive, you could say?]

[That’s right. But it’s also a shame to let someone get such a player cheaply. The coaches seem to be letting it go unsold for now and waiting for the next round, not wanting to trigger each other’s competitiveness.]

[Exactly. It’s like, let’s think about it after we get the important ones, that kind of feeling.]

As I had expected, I nodded silently, and the viewers were busy letting out sighs of relief.

— Phew

— Starting with a log lift would be troublesome lol

— Glad there’s no build-up of expectations lol

— Nice unsold for now

— It’s best to get a free ride on a good team bus lol

:: Anonymous donor has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::

:: But why did you play so aggressively? We can’t know the appropriate price because we don’t know how good you are lol ::

“I’m too busy working to stream as well.”

— You did it for Wicker Town ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

OTNXSU9XcTFURXdtd0tweHpoait4akVEQVJoTmMrTm16VjVSWTNEeEJiVGx0S2F1K2lUNE44bXlodmxiWE8zQw

— Do it like Wicker Town!!!!!!

— ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

“There’s a misunderstanding, that was work for the members’ situation room back then.”

:: Anonymous donor has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::

:: Ma?wang Magia, what was that all about? ::

“I just happened to get involved, and since it was a position with considerable responsibility, I did my best. I’m participating in this competition because if I do well, it could promote Parallel.”

— Sigh, I might as well be talking to an AI

— No matter how much you try to persuade, Majiya won’t listen lol

— You guys still haven’t given up? lol

— Just watch without wasting energy lol

After that, well, it was as expected.

A relay of continuous unsold players, except for some tier 4-5 players.

But the more everyone held their breath waiting for Serena’s turn, the more pressure it put on Serena.

Isn’t everyone just looking at Serena and Taro now?

[Aaaaaah…]

[Serena has been unable to speak for a while now?]

[14 unsold is a bit much. This is really screwed.]

[One team is definitely going to strike like lightning. All remaining points are over 950.]

And finally, Serena’s turn arrived.

The auction window, which had been quiet all along, immediately lit up with a bid message.

– Young-gun 500p

[Five times the starting price?!]

[Wow, crazy Young-gun gave up on tier 1.]

[How can you bid 500 on this?]

Usually, expensive items are sold for 500-600.

In other words, starting with 500 was like a declaration of willingness to win this player at any cost.

[That’s Young-gun’s personal preference. He’s a fan of Serena.]

[Crazy, but still, 500 is… Serena, are you okay?]

[Aaaah why. Why! Why 500! Why!]

And when this happens, other team leaders don’t just sit still.

They try to make Young-gun, who has shown his determination, win at an expensive price, so that even if they give up Serena, they can gain an advantage in subsequent auctions.

As expected, counter-bids immediately followed.

–
Pandral 550p

–
Young-gun 555p

–
Pandral 600p

–
Young-gun 605p

It’s a scary amount to interfere with.

Each must have had their own Maginot line considering the value of Serena as a pick.

Pandral’s Maginot line was probably 800 points.

Serena’s auction price, which seemed about to break through the ceiling, finally stopped when Young-gun made a higher bid of 805 points.

– Sold!

The commentators went wild.

[Ah finally!! Young-gun takes Serena for 805 points!!]

[A new record high price for the competitive division of the Correct Answer Competition!!]

[But, is Young-gun’s team going to be okay? This seems like it will make other tier auctions difficult too. I wonder if it might have been better to let Pandral have Serena for 800 points just now!!]

[I think it shows how much Young-gun trusts Serena. We can’t not meet Serena, the protagonist of this auction. Let’s connect for an interview.]

500 points is already expensive, but 800 points?

It’s an unreasonable burden on the player.

What if the player you brought in by spending all the money you need to pick other players doesn’t perform well? What will public opinion be like?

It’ll be a disaster.

Even if they somehow prevent their broadcast from going to hell, there are countless people who perform worse than usual due to the pressure of all the attention and chat.

Moreover, the chat during competitions is particularly spicy.

It might be okay if it was full of healthy feedback, but there are more than a few trolls from all over and people waiting to criticize at the slightest mistake.

Sure enough, Serena’s voice in the interview was full of bewilderment.

[Ah, uh. That. 805 points is. A bit. Ah. Ow.]

[Well, we’re in trouble. Serena has lost her language function.]

[All we can say is to hang in there in this situation…!]

[We’ll have to hope that Coach Young-gun manages to put together a good rest of the lineup?]

[But. The points. Uh. Ah. Uaah! I don’t know!!]

[Hahaha! Let’s keep watching the auction for now! Fighting, Serena!]

[Fighting!]

After the interview ended, I kept watching Serena’s appearance on the second monitor.

Her expression was anxious and her voice was choked up.

She was in a state of not knowing what to do with herself due to the pressure.

‘This is bad.’

She was a kind and sensitive master to me, but.

Still, she’s a rookie who debuted just a few months ago.

While Taro, last year’s MVP, might be enjoying this situation, Serena looked like she was on the verge of mental collapse.

This really won’t be easy.

We’re on the verge of the paradoxical situation where Serena gets criticized because of Young-gun’s desire to be on her team.

It would be fortunate if he could at least put together a good team with the remaining 195 points.

Tier 1 is already confirmed to be Kamik, the least preferred in the same pool.

Tiers 3-5? This won’t be easy either.

And that prediction turned into certainty after seeing the price at which Taro, last year’s MVP, was sold in the very next turn.

[Yes, this is how Coach Pandral takes Taro for 655 points!]

[It’s a bit expensive, but this price is understandable!]

Young-gun had properly exploded due to Pandral’s counter-bid.

Pandral, who looks like he’ll have the strongest team, has 345 points left, while the other two coaches still have 950 points.

Desired items with 195 points?

… No matter how I look at it, it seems like only unsold picks will rush in.

Sometimes in an auction, players get pushed back to the end and teams are automatically confirmed.

Players who are awkward to pick using points, but a shame to give to others.

It’s better to just wait and accept the fate that’s decided.

[Yes, this naturally leads to tier 3 Majiya joining Young-gun’s team.]

[Wow… It’s not going to be easy for Young-gun’s team, is it?]

[Young-gun’s team. Kamik, Serena, Majiya, Bajubi, KraeMang. The five of them are finally confirmed.]

And one of them was me.

— Wow, they’re really screwed

— lolololololol

— Arghhhh

— Young-gun!!!!!

— Is this even a team ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

— The weakest team is born lol

— I was worried when he spent 805 points on Serena… But I didn’t know it would be our team!!

— Emergency!!!!

Damn it.

It ended up like this after all.

Even the commentators are trying their best to cover up our team’s impending doom.

[Wow. This. I usually don’t jump to conclusions, but… This really seems like the weakest team in this competition.]

[I agree. Serena’s shoulders will be too heavy!]

Serena’s wish to be on the same team as me came true, but.

This team, I seriously can’t see any chance of winning.

Kamik, who’s tier 1 but can only do strike roles and often dies helplessly without orders.

KraeMang, who’s tier 5 but famous for disrupting main orders with frequent soliloquies.

Rookie Serena, who debuted a few months ago, has to control these two.

In between, there’s Bajubi who starts every sentence with “I’m sorry,” and me, who’s been restricted from using AR and assault.

The balance is clearly a mess, while the balance of other teams is clean in comparison.

I was just planning to ride the bus comfortably and do my part, but.

At this rate, forget about promoting Parallel, I wonder if I can even get a sense of achievement through victory in the competition.

[Well then, let’s have an interview with Majiya, who joined last.]

[Majiya, are you there?]

“Hello.”

[So Majiya, this is your first time participating in this competition. How do you feel right now?]

With so much to think about, my head became complicated, and naturally, the awareness that we’re broadcasting on an official channel became blurry.

“I just feel like we’re fucked.”