The Backline's Resolve
“Maem is a sexist.”
That’s exactly what she is. Maem is a sexist.
“Eeeeh? Suddenly? Me? Why?”
The supposed sexist sounded flustered. Had I struck a nerve? Heh. I knew it.
“You laughed at a woman’s bold ambition.”
“Huh? No, that’s… I really respect you. I respect Teacher so much.”
“Teacher…?”
Oh no. Friendly fire. She was on my side this whole time? Then she should’ve said something earlier! I’d been feeling a little inferior because I’m bad at the game… I kept trying to erase that thought, but it wouldn’t go away. Still, I kept trying. She never said anything… Turns out Maem’s just a good person.
“Who’s the teacher here?”
“You are, Seon-a. I wasn’t mocking you at all. I just… laugh a lot.”
“Laugh a lot, huh… Hmm.”
“I really do respect you.”
Maem’s voice was filled with nothing but sincerity. My doubts vanished completely. I’d thought she was a bad person, but she respected me and even called me Teacher. What a genuinely good person. Okay, I accept it.
“Understood. So which part of me do you respect?”
Time to puff out my chest a little. Let’s hear some praise. She said she respects me, after all. I deserve to hear the details. Hehehe.
“Uh… yeah?”
“Respect. Which part? Be specific… please.”
“Hihahahaha. Ah… well… first, the way you encourage the team’s morale. Your mental is seriously respectable. Remember what you said during our fourteen-loss streak?”
“Nope.”
“Everyone was down in the dumps, and suddenly you just said, ‘I’ll carry with my positioning. Seon-a, you were really bad. Yeah, I know. So what do we do? We try harder. So you’re gonna practice tomorrow too, right? Yeah, I will.’ I burst out laughing when I heard that. Oh, and there was another time. During our seven-loss streak… our team lost, but I didn’t lose because I was the damage dealer. I used to be a ‘more damage’ dealer, but now I’m just a ‘damage’ dealer. I was shocked when I heard that. I wish I had that kind of mental. The fact that you said all that on team voice chat… seriously respectable.”
Hmm… Did I really say that? I don’t remember. Well, it must’ve been a good thing, right?
I glanced at the chat.
The chat… that’s supposed to be positive, right? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t feel positive… I trust them? My angel viewers… I trust the Great Ones?
“Got it. Next? That wasn’t enough. My shoulders stopped rising halfway.”
“Uh… no.”
“I have a bit of a need for validation. Since we started, you have to keep going until my shoulders ascend to the heavens.”
I spoke honestly. That way the other person feels more comfortable too. Of course, I only ask women. I never ask men. My stream is a flawless, pure “bro” stream. Seon-a getting praised by a man? I don’t even want to imagine it. This is something the Great Teacher recently taught me. When I asked why he never praised me, he said he didn’t want to picture the Great Bro getting praised by a man… that he couldn’t do it while staying immersed in the bro vibe. I countered by asking if being a bro wasn’t an amazing situation. Then the Great Teacher said, “You mustn’t give angles. You have to secure a definite kill angle.” But honestly, I didn’t think he was a true, hardcore bro. It felt more like he just wanted to be funny on stream. Because, you know, he speaks well, he’s gentle, he’s cheerful… whereas my image of a real hardcore bro was someone who doesn’t wash, can’t speak properly, isn’t funny, and is just unpleasant. So he’s probably just a light bro.
“Hihahahaha. Ah~ Yes. I should praise the team leader. There’s more. Plenty more. I’ve never met anyone like Teacher before. Really… and I mean that in a good way… but should we talk while we practice?”
“Yep…!”
I almost forgot about practice. I nearly ended up on another losing streak while just listening to compliments. I didn’t come here today to hear praise… I came to improve my skills. Focus!
I was genuinely shocked. She taught passionately for two whole hours… I could feel her enthusiasm… but I didn’t understand a single thing. Part of it was my fault, but two-letter words are a trap. Positioning. I memorized it like that. But when I tried to recall the concept… positioning. What was I supposed to do with that? I really couldn’t remember. Because it’s a game, I overlooked it. Even in games, learning concepts is studying. Was I ever good at studying? I really wasn’t. If I can’t even understand what people are saying, how could I have been good at studying? Games are just games~ I approached it with a laid-back mindset, but when theory came up, my brain just shut down.
“…”
“Do you remember? Why do we take positions?”
“Probably… to win?”
“Of course it’s to win. I told you earlier too. What happens if the healer goes ahead of the tank?”
“It doesn’t work!”
“Why?”
“Because they die? The tank has more health.”
“Exactly! Then question! What about Ena?”
Ena? It depends on the situation, right?
“Case by case.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Maem spoke firmly, but I couldn’t understand. Wasn’t it case by case? Sometimes it’s fine to go forward.
“I told you earlier too, right? Don’t have an ego. We decided to just move according to the code, remember? Ena’s role is rear support. So you should support from the rear. Ena has attack range, doesn’t she? Right?”
“Yeah… she does. But if I shoot from the rear, I don’t hit and my damage falls off…”
“That’s the point! You don’t need to come out. It’s fine if your damage falls off. Why come out and get cut? Let’s take a look. I’ll screen share, so let’s watch together.”
“Okay…”
No, I was making the optimal judgment based on the situation… How could she criticize me for that? That’s not right. I turned on Discord screen sharing and broadcast it.
First situation. I don’t even know which match it was, but I came out too far and got cut.
“You see this? There’s something we need to know. This is something you must know. We communicate while playing, right?”
“Yeah… we do.”
“You have to remember that the enemy does too. So in that spot, you brief your Ena attack range. ‘I’m a bit forward. Let’s go cut them once. Or not.’ Something like that…”
“Question! I feel like I’ll forget, so question!”
I raised my hand sharply. I don’t usually interrupt, but if I don’t ask now I’ll forget later.
“Uh… yes? What is it?”
“So I should just stay in the back the whole time?”
“Uh… you have to read the situation well. If we get pushed, we need to be able to initiate right away from a position where we can support you. Because in this game, there are a lot of cool melee carries. But they’re really hard. So at A tier, out of four teams, two are melee and two are ranged. Do you know what that means?”
“Uh… no. I don’t get it.”
I really didn’t understand. So what? What difference does it make?
“Look here… Who cut you?”
It was a melee character using fists.
“A melee.”
“Right? The next match was the same. What this means is, if you just hold your line well, even an F-tier Seon-a can toy with A-tier players. From the enemy’s perspective, falling shells are annoying. They’re just waiting for Ena to cross the line. This is… hold on. My throat’s dry.”
I heard gulping sounds.
“Phew… Now the power struggle begins. You have to keep poking the line and wag your tail. If you waste their movement like that… the main force becomes a proper 5v5. Because of the distance, this game ends in ten seconds. Ten seconds and it’s over. But the enemy’s main damage dealer went to catch you. Then… the main force has an easier time, right?”
“Question!! I can’t initiate… So should I just stay in the back?”
If I were good at that, I wouldn’t be F tier. I’m here because I’m bad at it.
“Good question. Yes. Just stay in the back. That’s perfect. Just shoot shells from behind.”
“Ugh… Why?”
This is too much… I can do it. I’m going to practice that. I expected her to say something like “I’ll teach you the details now. It might be a bit difficult.” But instead she told me to just stay in the back… I felt a bit hurt.
“I’m hurt…”
“Huh?”
“I’m hurt…”
“No, that’s not what I meant… I meant I want you to reliably protect the rear. Uh. Who protects the rear? The team leader has to steadfastly protect it. Look at a band’s drummer—they’re in the back. They just steadily support the band, right? It’s like that.”
“Really?”
Ah~ What? That’s what it was? I misunderstood. Hehe. So my role is to protect the rear?! Got it~ I’ll protect it!! Trust me. I finally have a role too. Ehehe.
“Yes. So please protect us reliably from the back. Team leader~”
“Okay!! I’m really going to work hard! Let’s win the tournament. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Wiiiiin.”
Yeah. I’ll protect them. I’ll protect the team!
Suddenly Maem’s voice disappeared. What? Maem? “Maem?” What? I can’t hear her voice all of a sudden. What’s going on? I turned on Maem’s stream. 186 viewers.
“Ah, thank you so much. Thank you for the big donation.”