Tournament?! (5)
The one silver lining was that it was a snake draft, so we got first pick in the B tier. Of course, I wasn’t the one who picked—Master M did. Why was that a relief? Because I’d only been thinking about the A tier. I hadn’t even considered the other tiers. After all, I wasn’t picking! With the snake format, there was zero chance I’d get to choose, right? Uhehe. Aren’t I clever? Good job, Seon-a. You saved some precious brain cells…!!
Anyway… the teams were all assembled like that. Our entire team gathered in Room 4. The funny part—maybe because this was my first tournament—was how ridiculous the bracket looked. Four teams total: A, B, C, and D. Each team plays one match. First place advances straight to the finals. Second and third go to the semifinals. Fourth place is eliminated… which basically meant as long as we didn’t finish dead last, we were guaranteed at least third. With a bit of luck, second—or even the championship—was on the table.
Master M began sorting out our team’s overall strength. I stayed quiet and just listened. I’d secretly handed proxy authority to Master M, the A-tier player. It was a decision I’d made on the spot… only I knew about it. I’d make the official announcement later. Not right now.
While I was listening, the commentators suddenly popped in.
“Ah, hello everyone. Hello, hello!”
Everyone greeted them with smiles.
“Hello~”
“Good to see you.”
“Yes, hello hello. How’s the team looking? Seon-a, you’re the captain—what do you think of your roster?”
The commentator had turned to me. Ugh… Honestly, I had no idea. But I couldn’t say that.
“Um… I think it turned out exactly how I wanted.”
“Really?!!! The commentators were saying your team looked a little rough, though. Is that true?”
“Ah… yes. I’m satisfied with it.”
I still had no clue. But as the captain, saying “I don’t know” or “I don’t like it” would’ve been bad manners, right? Even I had enough social awareness to know that much. I’d been burned enough times to recognize the pattern—especially by my mom. I once asked her how she always knew what I was thinking. My little sister, who was watching some idol audition show while eating an apple, just snickered and said, “Oppa’s so obvious. You clam up the second things go south.”
That single line hit me like a truck. I learned my lesson that day.
“I’d rather show you during the actual tournament.”
I read the chat while answering. The reaction exploded.
“Wooooooah! Is that so? Your confidence is through the roof! I hope that confidence stays with you on the main stage. Now then… let’s ask Master M—”
Phew… I must’ve done okay. The cheering suggested I had. My forehead was drenched in sweat from the effort.
I wiped my brow and glanced at the chat again.
The viewers were loving it. If the audience reacted this positively, that was genuinely good. Phew… today’s interview was a pass.
Once the interview ended, we still had to decide the match schedule.
“What do you all think?” I asked the team.
Silence. Everyone seemed deep in thought.
“Captain, what about you?” Geunja suddenly tossed the question to me.
Hmm… me? If they were asking… honestly—
“I think doing two matches on Thursday and one on Friday would be best.”
Better to get it over with quickly and just watch the rest on the weekend, right? Like taking an exam early. Win or lose, you deal with it sooner. That made sense.
“What do you think? Any opinions? Eat the delicious parts first, take the hits early.”
I drove the point home.
“Ah… yeah, let’s do that.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The schedule was decided without fuss. The commentator popped in again, and I chose Group A. Once the draw finished, Master M, acting as proxy captain, assigned our positions: B-tier on tank, D-tier on off-tank, E-tier on healer, C-tier on melee DPS, A-tier on ranged DPS. I was support.
I thought we were done, but the tank player asked for a scrim. We ended up playing one practice match. According to tournament rules, we had to do best-of-three, so we needed to learn at least two maps. With only three maps available so far, I’d heard the actual tournament would be best-of-five with each team adding their best map.
“Uwah…”
It was finally starting. At least two matches… this was going to be rough. Each game could last fifteen to thirty minutes, and I had to stay fully focused. Thank goodness there was no ban-pick phase.
Even knowing it was just a scrim, the pressure suddenly hit me.
“Everyone, fighting!” Geunja cheered the team up.
“Let’s win.”
The others echoed her.
Once the pick screen appeared, my problem became painfully obvious—I didn’t understand the game’s mechanics. Not that I was proud of it, but there was no point feeling ashamed either. Still, I couldn’t make sense of what my teammates were saying from the very first pick phase.
“Let’s fill our ult before contesting the point.”
“Good idea. Or should we just take the B mob instead? Since we lose straight fights anyway, let’s give up 25% and start from there.”
“Hmm… yeah, let’s try that. We’ll figure it out as we go.”
What did any of that even mean? I had no idea. Suddenly, I didn’t want to play anymore. The feeling of being left out crept in—like I was the only one disconnected from the team. But the only character I knew how to play was Ena. Because of that isolation, I quietly resolved to learn at least one more character later.
It was a team game, yet I couldn’t understand a single word. I couldn’t shamelessly ask for explanations either. Ignorance wasn’t a crime, but being oblivious and disruptive definitely was. Sigh.
The game began.
“Too bad. We were doing okay.”
“Yeah. If I’d landed my ult at the end, the fight might’ve gone differently.”
“Seon-a, your Ena’s actually pretty decent. With a bit more polish, we could win.”
“Right? She’s surprisingly helpful.”
We lost. Yet the team atmosphere stayed warm and friendly. They even complimented my play. I’d only done the bare minimum, but… that wasn’t the real issue right now.
“…”
No, what the hell? After just one game, I could already tell—this was bad. The tempo was way too fast. All the practice I’d done with Moddeok felt completely useless. The second someone yelled “We got shredded!” the point was already lost. The moment I tried to shoot the cannon, the entire frontline shifted in an instant. Everything moved so quickly.
No… I really didn’t know. I never expected the battlefield to flip around so fast. I was a victim too. It wasn’t fair. In solo queue, everyone just fought in one spot. If the point was in the middle, we just brawled like real men in the center. We never split up for guerrilla tactics or backdoored or rotated wide like this!! Why was this happening to me?
“Let’s do better this time. We can win.”
“Yeah… we can do this. We played well.”
“Let’s try again.”
“Ready? Everyone here?”
“Yep, I’m in.”
“Looks like we’re all here.”
Whenever I heard “We did well” or “We can win,” my heart sank. Why? Because it made the isolation feel even stronger. I didn’t think we played well at all. But this was a team game. I had to follow the team’s lead. I swallowed my rebellious streak and loaded into the next match.
“We’ve got this. Let’s go.”
“We can really win this one. Focus up.”
“Should we try a weird comp and rotate big this time?”
“Let’s try everything. It feels doable.”
The team stayed cheerful, but that was all it was—cheerful. In the end, over three days including the first day, we ran eight scrims and lost every single one. In terms of individual maps, we hit a sixteen-game losing streak. Naturally, the viewers showered me with healthy, constructive, situation-appropriate feedback, and I switched from Ena to a dedicated healer. Even after switching, the losses continued. If anything, the team told me Ena had been better and that I should just keep shooting the cannon. They even encouraged me while handing the character back. Touched, I decided to find a teacher.
Our stream chat was moved too… A viewer who called himself an Ena expert—ranked 2700 (current ladder cutoff 3350)—offered to teach me. After the chat spammed warnings that this could be problematic, I checked with the tournament staff just in case. They said team coaches were banned, but personal coaches were fine. So I learned a ton from the teacher.
The teacher’s first words were: “Ena is trash.” “She’s a troll.” “If you’re still going to play her… you have to become a superstar. You need to dominate your teammates through pure mental warfare, just like the top players do.” “I don’t play as aggressively as the real monsters. I’m too soft, so I just mute everyone and play. Those guys are born different.”
He told me to ignore what others said and just walk my own path. If I saw an angle, take it. Even if the team lost, that was their loss—not mine. Little by little, I learned.
By the fourth day of the tournament, I’d absorbed the mindset and basic positioning of an Ena player. Whether the lessons worked or not, our seventeen-loss streak finally broke. We still didn’t win a set, but I overheard Master M’s secret little sound. She was panting and cheering so excitedly… She really was a girl through and through.
“Ehehe. Ehehehehe.”
No, no! Get it together.
Anyway, there were only two days left until the tournament. Today’s plan was special training with Master M—going over the fundamentals of team play, point by point. I’d suggested it. Maem—short for Master M—was a shy woman. But when she got excited, she made this “ehehehe” sound. I’d heard it. Crystal clear. That strangely suggestive little laugh!!
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
I pushed the mischievous thoughts aside. When was she coming? It was already 3 o’clock and she still wasn’t here. We’d agreed to meet early because our scrim started at 8. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes.
“Hello, Seon-a.”
“Hello, Maem!”
“Yes, hello. Shall we get started right away?”
“Yep!”
Four minutes late. But it was fine. I was the student, and Maem was the teacher. I was going to learn everything I could.
“Maem, I’m going to absorb everything. Give me all of it. Hoo-hahaha. Hoo-hahaha. I’m going to soak it up like Pink-Squishy-Cute-Rice-Cake. Seriously.”
I proudly declared my ambition.
“Hihaha hihaha.”
Maem… was my ambition funny? What’s with that laugh!! I was being serious!! I was going to prove it!!