One-Day Coach

This was going to be a drill instructor stream.

"For part two, I'll just casually snag a five-win streak and call it a night. Today's hero is…"

Just as I was about to start a League of Heroes match—

"Wh—what? Thank you so much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for the hundred-thousand-won dona…"

The sudden donation hit so hard I couldn't even keep up with the situation.

She was famous. Famous enough that even I—someone who barely paid attention to female streamers—knew who she was.

A soft, gentle voice, and a cute face to match. She mostly did chat streams, but lately she'd been pulling huge numbers with collab game broadcasts too.

"I-is that really Seonuyang?"

"…You guys are seriously fast. Anyway, how did someone this important end up in a dump like this?"

Then a chat message stood out from the rest—one with a verification checkmark next to the name.

Priorities first. I banned the noona-simp for a month, then spoke up.

"Oh, hi! Hello, Seonuyang!"

Voice chat—VC for short. Every gamer used the real-time call program. But why with me?

"I-I mean, sure. Is something going on…?"

A favor? I had no idea what it was, but it couldn't be anything bad.

"Okay. I'll hop on VC now. Chat, mind if I put the LoH stream on hold for a bit?"

"Content-breach jokes are not funny."

Once I'd quieted the chat, I opened voice chat.

Seonuyang's message popped up right away.

I was still poking around trying to figure out what she meant when a red notification lit up under the stream window. Apparently it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a private messaging feature only streamers could use with each other.

"Aaa, can you hear me, Ari?"

An incredibly refined, lovely voice came through.

"Good evening, Seonuyang. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Ari. Looking forward to working with you."

First meeting, so I kept it polite and proper.

"Ahahahahihi, of course the soldier's daughter has military discipline baked right into her speech!"

Okay, that annoyed me. Mocking my speech patterns on first contact?

"Ehehe, sorry. My dad's a soldier too, so that kind of talk is actually pretty familiar."

"Ah… is that so?"

Maybe I'd come off too stiff, because Seonuyang's voice was full of laughter as she continued.

"You don't have to be so uncomfortable! We're the same age, you know!"

"Huh?! When did you find that out?"

"One of your viewers came over and told me!"

I hereby appoint you all as carrier pigeons.

"So what brings a big corp like Seonuyang to a tiny rookie room like mine?"

"Ah! So next week there's a tournament for Shashark streamers, right?"

"A tournament? What's it called?"

Weird. I was basically a full-time Shashark shut-in—there was no way a League of Heroes tournament existed that I hadn't heard of.

I'd seen every major event floating around as streamer bait. I'd never once heard of a tournament Seonuyang was entering.

While I was thinking that, Seonuyang hesitated, then said:

"It's called the Noob Showdown. An in-house tournament for Gold and below."

"Pffft—ah, sorry."

A snort escaped me. Noob Showdown? What kind of tournament name was that?

No wonder I didn't know it. I only watched skill-based competitions.

"You just laughed at me, didn't you?"

"Aww, of course not. Who am I to laugh at Seonuyang~"

"…That feels weird somehow. Anyway, I got assigned mid for it. But no matter how much I practice, I'm not improving? So I was wondering."

What she said next was something I genuinely never saw coming.

"Would you be my one-day coach today?"

"Me?"

Chat was split right down the middle—people thrilled about collabing with a big corp on one side, and people panicking that their private playground was about to vanish on the other.

"I mean, I can do it, but why me? There are tons of good mid players out there."

"That video of you schooling the bang-peul sniper was so satisfying. And also…"

Her voice lifted a little, excited.

"If I'm going to get coached, I'd rather it be by someone pretty."

The person who actually heard that, meanwhile, felt… complicated.

If things kept going like this, there might come a day when I completely forgot I was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guy.

Still, this was a pretty good opportunity. A chance to rack up a ton of followers in one shot.

"I gratefully accept your proposal!"

"Khuh, your speech is seriously hilarious. Want to raid over to my stream first?"

I typed Seonuyang into the Shashark chat search.

And the screen that came up was on a completely different level from mine.

"Whoa… yeah, that's a big corp for you."

Webcam quality that put mine to shame. Behind her, a display case softly lit with gifts from fans and game companies. Professional mic gear fully set up. It genuinely felt like a real broadcast studio.

And in the center—Seonuyang's face. Needless to say, she was an absolute beauty.

Her features leaned more dog than cat overall. Light brown hair that called a golden retriever to mind, big double-lidded eyes, a small neat nose, a mouth with dimples, and fair skin. It felt a little rude to say, but she had the classic weeb-bait face.

"Are you looking at my screen right now?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely big corp energy…"

"Ahaha… that's a little embarrassing… Okay, I'll queue up?"

She hit a single button and a green screen dropped behind her, shrinking the cam feed.

Yeah. Big corp streams really were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different.

"So, Seonuyang, what heroes do you play?"

"Ah! My main role is support, but I got put on mid for this, so I've been playing the ones people recommended!"

The match locked in. She confidently instant-locked her pick.

…Lissandra? Why her of all people?

"Who recommended this one?"

"Ah, a viewer said she'd be the best fit for me!"

I knew that, of course.

Lissandra was a hero whose personal damage was weak, but who brought powerful CC and survival tools that helped in teamfights. So of course someone would recommend her for a former support player.

But there was a trap in that logic. Being optimized for teamfights meant, conversely, that her individual carry potential was low.

Unless she got absurdly fed, her solo impact couldn't hold a candle to other heroes. On top of that, locking her in first made her easy to counter.

…Well, as long as the mechanics were there, it would be fine.

"Shall we take a look in-game first?"

"Yes! I'll show you what I can do!"

She was terrible.

No—calling her terrible was being generous.

As an AP mage, she kept dropping one or two CS at a time. She played entirely on feel, with zero understanding of matchups or power spikes. And in teamfights she didn't even know what Lissandra was supposed to do—just hung in the back spamming Q.

Honestly, I had no idea how she'd even climbed to Gold.

"Ult ult ult ult ult! They're walking right up next to you! Stun them or use it on yourself!"

"Kyaaaaaaah save meee—!"

And when she got excited she panicked, so the moment anyone dove her she just exploded. She was basically using Lissandra as a pure poke champion.

And yet chat was still like this:

…An absolute festival of hardcore stans. Was this the reality of female streamer chat?

Except my own chat wasn't like that. So what was wrong with my room?

While I was thinking all this, Seonuyang spoke up.

"Aww, that was close. Still, I did okay, right? I honestly don't even know why I keep losing."

This wouldn't do. At this skill level, she'd get absolutely demolished in the tournament.

Not that it was my problem whether she got wrecked or not—but I had taken a 100,000-won donation.

I had to earn that money, right?

"So, Seonuyang. I'm not really sure where to start, but—"

"…Was I bad?"

"Yes."

At my blunt answer, she wilted. Her eyebrows drooping into a little 八 shape was honestly pretty cute.

That aside—if I was going to give real feedback, I'd need to talk a little harder. How should I put this?

"Seonuyang, you said we're the same age, right?"

"Ah, yes! We're both '06 babies!"

That worked out well. At least I could talk a bit more casually.

"I think proper coaching is going to be hard if I keep using formal speech. Would it be okay if I talked more freely?"

"Oh, sure! Let's drop the formalities!"

More precisely: a way of speaking that was comfortable for me, but that the other person couldn't take lightly.

Only one thing came to mind.

"Then from this moment, League of Heroes special training begins. Understood?"

"Uh… Ari, is that what you meant by talking freely? I was thinking more like casual speech, or…"

Casual speech? To a drill instructor who stands above the heavens?

"From now on, all answers will be in military form. Do you understand?"

"…Why are you suddenly like this."

Why am I like this?

Because discipline needed establishing.

"Do you understand?!"

"Yeees… I understand…"

Look at her. Still not getting it.

"I can't hear you!"

"Yes! I understand!"

Good. Now she had the right mindset.

Time to begin the training.