Chapter 136 - Chapter 136

Chapter 136

【Read only at hivetoons.org】

Seo-jun was receiving the hottest interest among the participants appearing in LiOS.

Although he had shown Kael of the 4-second Sword of Judgment and Eric of the crazy prediction shot, this kind of play did not gain much interest.

To be precise, although interest had gathered momentarily, people simply passed it off as "Ah, he is just that good," or "That can happen," and moved on.

However, once another issue was added to that skill, the situation changed.

Assimilation rate of 10.

This figure, which Seo-jun had revealed simply to downplay himself, had a larger impact than expected and was talked about for a long time.

The reason was simple.

Generally, people's assimilation rates were distributed between 50 and 70, around the average of 60.

Therefore, everyone acknowledged that, 'normally,' poor skills did not improve and good skills did not deteriorate based on the assimilation rate.

Furthermore, they considered that while there could be an impact up to at least 80 to 90, it was negligible.

But what if it was 100?

Of course, since there were Bronze players overseas with over 100, it was not absolute, but it was accepted wisdom that those with extremely high assimilation rates were almost always good.

They adapted, learned, and built up proficiency quickly. They climbed to high places. They entered the world of professionals more easily.

It was so.

An absolutely high assimilation rate was also seen as highly meaningful. It was just that they were extremely rare.

That was why there were people who had been curious about Seo-jun's assimilation rate at first.

Wondering if it was perhaps that high.

But when they opened it up, it was the exact opposite.

Furthermore, it was a case that had never occurred before.

An extremely low figure.

[To think it is 10! To think it is 10! Is this a figure that can actually appear?]

It made sense.

There was also proof.

However, those who could not believe it even after seeing it went so far as to send inquiries to Surface.

Of course.

[They said they cannot disclose it.]

Personal information was precious.

So they began to deduce whether there was any reason for Seo-jun to lie. And about having a low assimilation rate, at that.

To get attention?

He had already become a successful streamer with 20,000 viewers, so if he stirred up controversy here and it turned out to be a lie, he would be the only one to suffer a loss. He was not a person with nothing to lose.

Although it was proven that humans were not rational beings when looking at how streamers who had a lot to lose had still caused incidents and accidents until now.

The users of Liben thought that surely Seo-jun would not be ignorant of even that.

This was because openly lying to gain attention was a matter on a completely different level.

Therefore, the opinion that Seo-jun had just baited attention was shouted by only a minority.

Then what was left?

There was plenty.

The theory of the assimilation rate's uselessness.

[Actually, even if it is an extremely low 10, maybe it doesn't make much of a difference?]

-Right now, even if you just try using a good capsule and a bad capsule, you can feel the reverse difference, but it's fine even if it's 10?

-For real, if it's this low, it's meaningful.

This was thoroughly demolished.

[Then, is it time to bring out the theory that Seo-jun is a scrub?]

-Warning) This hypothesis disappeared after getting hit by the 4-second Sword of Judgment.

-Does the Heavenly Demon look like a joke to you?

└Wow, Jaws!

-Yeah, even Spoon, a Challenger in The League, lost~

This was thoroughly demolished.

And the next theory emerged.

The theory of real-life levitation.

[This bastard probably literally flies around in real life, right? Literally, lol. He just can't fly in virtual reality because his assimilation rate is low.]

It was a hypothesis that added a spoonful of nonsense, making it feel like it made sense while also not.

To interpret it, it meant: "In real life, he can show crazier movements, and up until now was just a weakened version!"

This made a bit of sense.

-Since it's 10, there's a possibility.

-Did he actually live a gang life or something...

-Ah, lol, he is a martial artist, lol.

-Shouldn't they have made him an athlete? It seems like a national loss.

There was also someone who spoke the truth.

However, neither the person who wrote that comment nor the countless people who glanced at it while scrolling down knew that it was the truth.

So it fell into a labyrinth.

Just how Seo-jun, who had an assimilation rate of 10, played the game, how he was so good, and exactly to what extent it affected his skill.

Three days was a short time to find the answers to all those questions.

And considering this, the operations team placed Seo-jun, who was drawing a lot of attention, at the very beginning.

And.

[I'm not buying.]

[I think it's better not to buy.]

Thus, Ha Yun-ho and Tae-woo spoke at the same time.

-Ah, lololololol

-Is he mercilessly dissing him because they are friends? lololol

-They are not buying the host for this?

-If it's Tae-woo, he got beaten up so much by the host at home that he shudders at the thought of him! That's for sure.

-Real, lol. I installed a CCTV in their house, and he was always getting beaten up.

***

Tae-woo replied to Bangju's question immediately, only to realize that someone had answered at the same time, and quickly checked who it was.

Ha Yun-ho.

The two quickly exchanged thoughts. And they grasped each other's intentions.

'Is hyung, by any chance, also...?'

'Yeah, me too.'

The two grinned.

Then Tae-woo sent a private message to Ha Yun-ho.

Had Seo-jun known that this series of processes took less than a second, he would have been surprised.

-I'll handle the personal side, so hyung, just go ahead with the parts about his skills that you prepared. Go go.

-OK

Since only their faces were shown on the video chat anyway, not many people would have caught this series of events.

It was not that there was a problem, but secrecy was still the key to this kind of collusion.

Indeed.

It was collusion.

'I didn't expect that hyung of all people would target him too, but we must cooperate for now.'

It was a pity, but it could not be helped.

Bangju said.

[Ah! We have immediate answers. And from both of you! Seo-jun's current position is mid lane, and he is in Group A. May I ask which part is bothering you? First, Team Leader Kim Tae-woo. I think most viewers know that you are close to him. Why are you saying you won't buy such a close friend?]

As expected.

Tae-woo erased from his mind the shortcomings regarding Seo-jun's skills that he had prepared in advance. Ha Yun-ho would speak about that.

They agreed on that. In less than a second.

What he had to do now was instigation and fabrication.

This eve festival, which was currently being watched by 200,000 people on the official account alone, was a place to share the team leaders' thoughts.

In order to use it in tomorrow's auction.

Therefore, he became confident.

[It is precisely for that reason.]

[Pardon?]

[Well, since we are friends, various memories that only I would know make me hesitate to pick Seo-jun for my team.]

Their goal.

They downplayed Seo-jun as much as possible to reduce competitors.

Since cases of saying one wouldn't buy but then buying occurred often, it did not matter how much they badmouthed him now.

'Badmouthing him might be a bit dangerous, though.'

Anyway.

'What should I talk about?'

There was plenty to talk about. It was because Seo-jun was such a strange guy.

Tae-woo retraced his memories and decided to talk about how Seo-jun had acted during the sports tournament.

[I see. Could you perhaps share a little bit of what that is?]

[Back in our first year of high school, there was an inter-class tournament. At that time, Seo-jun acted as if he had no teamwork whatsoever. You know how everyone practices together during P.E. class or in the morning? This guy didn't even participate in the game itself.]

In truth, Seo-jun had not participated simply because they would win unconditionally anyway if he joined.

Instead, he had said he would coach them, but either way, it could be seen as having no teamwork.

[Ah, is that so?]

[On top of that, he is also good at playing politics. He divides the team well to control them as he pleases.]

Seo-jun, who watched the games from the sidelines and offered unsolicited advice, identified who made mistakes in every game and informed all his classmates about those facts, convincing them.

And he took only that classmate to the Room of Spirit and Time after school.

And later, when the sports tournament ended, they realized.

That Seo-jun had made up excuses, even if they were complete nonsense, and had taken every single one of them at least once!

[Hahaha...]

[His personality is also dogmatic. He insists that he is unconditionally right!]

Actually, Seo-jun was indeed always right.

Thanks to that training and guidance, their class had claimed victory in the sports tournament.

'It was fun, though.'

Memories came flooding back.

Thanks to a common enemy named Seo-jun, the classmates had become one.

They had fostered camaraderie and a spirit of cooperation.

'Thinking about it again, perhaps the past is a bit beautified. Like hell it was fun.'

Was it because physical pain was easily forgotten and only the intense memory of victory remained?

In any case, the important thing was that their team had won.

Therefore, they had to buy Seo-jun.

[Viewers, even if this seems too much like badmouthing a participating player, please take into account that these two are close friends who even live together. Honestly, this level of spiciness is nothing, right?]

Bangju added an appropriate supplementary explanation.

[Now, then we must also hear from Team Leader Ha Yun-ho.]

***

-No, lololol, that's such a Tae-woo reason.

-Isn't he going to buy him after doing that?

-Since it's the word of a classmate and roommate, lolol. The credibility is sufficient!

-But surely he has teamwork? lolol Would he act like that even in an official tournament?

-We'll find out when we see the auction tomorrow whether he was talking nonsense or speaking sincerely, lololol.

Ha Yun-ho cleared his throat for a moment.

If Tae-woo had spread useless information, he had to downplay him properly.

'I don't know how high it will go even if just the two of us compete, but either way, it's better to exclude other competitors as much as possible.'

Ha Yun-ho had entered the room knowing from the beginning that Tae-woo was aiming for him.

[To be exact, I see it as slightly ambiguous.]

[Is that so?]

[Yes. In the custom match I hosted a few days ago, Seo-jun defeated Spoon, but he did not win the game. No additional kills came out during the laning phase either. Which means he is not overwhelming. Furthermore, over the last three days, he only kept playing the two heroes he had played previously.]

Seo-jun had played only two heroes on purpose to appear significant. Of course, there was also the point that it reduced the exposure of his strategies.

And Ha Yun-ho brought up this point.

[One of the things required of a Grade A player in LiOS is playmaking. The kind of thing that leads the game to victory and turns it around.]

[So you mean he still lacks proof in The League!]

[Yes. And his assimilation rate is too low. There might be other heroes he is bad at. Since we don't know how it will work right now, Seo-jun appears to carry some risk.]

[Ah. As expected, one cannot help but be concerned about that part, right?]

[Of course, if it weren't for such risks, I believe he could have certainly become a top-tier asset even among Grade A. Perhaps up to 500 points.]

Each team leader was given points equal to 1,000 points minus the average bid price of the team leader's grade.

Ha Yun-ho, therefore, had the most firepower. Of course, because the order of the auction items was determined randomly, the point situation would vary depending on the circumstances.

[Then, at what price would you bid?]

[If it is within 200 points, I think it might be worth going for it once.]

[Thank you. Then, shall we hear the opinions of the other team leaders? Rain! How did it sound to you, Rain?]

Streamer Rain was one of the two female streamers among the six team leaders.

[Pardon? Yes. Ah. He is extremely handsome.]

[...]

[Ah! I didn't mean anything else, I was just purely in admiration. I did it without realizing while looking at the photo.]

[...]

[Well, my main position is also mid lane, right? Since I probably won't be picking Seo-jun anyway, I didn't really think about... Bangju? Why aren't you answering? Bangju?]

-...

-Hold on, where did I put my bamboo spear?

-Looking for people to go raid Seo-jun's channel.

-He really keeps giving us Teusus a sense of relative deprivation.

-Damn, I just hate the world.

[I suddenly hate the world too... Haha. Then, by any chance, what do you think, Mental?]

Bangju spoke as he regained his laughter, and the thoughtless voice of Mental, a major streamer in his late thirties who was Grade E like Ha Yun-ho, replied.

[Uh... Hmm... Yes. Wait, did only I have plans to pick him?]

[Eh?]

[Isn't he a must-pick?]

[Wow!]

As the expected reaction came out, Bangju's tension rose.

Unlike other team leaders who modified their strategies depending on the auction situation, Mental was a team leader who made many decisions spontaneously and based on gut feeling.

Additionally, there were times when he would buy an asset he was hooked on at an astronomical price.

Thus, there was even a saying that the biggest variable of the auction was not the order of the assets, but Mental's gut feeling.

Such a man had singled out Seo-jun.

[Are you serious?]

[Haha. Since everyone is saying they won't buy, my mind has become even more firm. It seems I must bring Seo-jun to our team.]

[I see!]

-Mental hyung... is he the victim this time? lolololol

-Why on earth is he becoming firm when everyone else is saying they won't buy? lololol

-This is crazy.

-Mental's stubbornness cannot be broken, peace out.

-He is in his forties, so it's natural he has strong stubbornness!

-He is in his late thirties, are you subtly fabricating his age? lolol

At the declaration of participation by the variable itself, Tae-woo tried hard to maintain his composure on the outside.

'Ah, dammit. I set up the board so perfectly, so why did that hyung of all people bite! Then how much on earth do I have to spend tomorrow?'

On the other hand, Ha Yun-ho steel-hardened his resolve internally.

'Right. Let's go for it, no matter how much it costs.'