Fighting the Hacker (1)

The first thing that came to mind when her points overflowed was drawing a new talent. Sure, traits were impressive based on what she'd felt so far, but talents boosted her stats just by existing and even created skills. Especially the Game Prodigy talent—she could strongly feel how much benefit it had brought her personally.

'Then... I have to raise my tier anyway, so I want to spend it in a way that helps with games.'

She'd reached the level where she could decide how to spend her points. Of course, that domain still hadn't strayed from games.

In any case, to keep her promise to Hong Suyeon, she had to spend points on game-related areas.

"Hmm..."

The longer her deliberation dragged on, the more viewers started thinking it was weird. She could act like her gaze was on the monitor, but she was just staring blankly without doing much else.

'Drawing a new talent costs 400 points... Huh?'

Nam Haneul didn't hesitate and immediately evolved her talent. Better to upgrade the one that had helped her so much than risk drawing an uncertain new one.

'Ooh...?'

She'd thought the talent would just evolve once and stop, but it grew twice. She figured nothing topped Genius, so it must end there.

"Uh, eung?!"

'Ah, no way.'

She let the status window keep going, and it consumed points without her consent. And after failing once, it scraped up her remaining points too.

'W-Wait, wasn't Short-Lived Prodigy a bad thing anyway?!'

Before the status window appeared, she'd lived unhealthily. Super obese, zero exercise, junk food, no cleaning. So she thought it meant she was fated to die young.

Fusing it with another talent? She couldn't guess what would happen.

Nam Haneul gaped at her status window in awe. Not only had multiple stats risen, but the dreaded Short-Lived Prodigy was finally gone. And fitting the "Amusement" name, Singing and Dancing were now registered as stats. Plus, all game stats had gone up by 10—now her Judgment and Comprehension surpassed average people.

But snapping out of it, she realized viewers were getting suspicious. She'd been staring at the monitor with her mouth open in awe for over five minutes.

"Ah! Th-that!"

Nam Haneul hurriedly opened Ditube, clicked a random video, and showed it to viewers. Her excuse: a video suddenly popped up, and she'd zoned out watching it.

And the video she'd clicked in panic was a risqué one of a female dancer nearly naked, gyrating. Back when she was a guy, she couldn't resist clicking those when they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠popped up—algorithm flooded with similar stuff wasn't surprising.

"...Th-that's..."

Nam Haneul's face flushed red; she couldn't say a word. She just switched back to the game screen and queued silently.

As she bowed her head in embarrassment, a game popped. Silver 1 to Gold promo—she was determined to win this one.

Nam Haneul confidently picked ADC Osya and nodded. "Y-you know if I play Osya, we win for sure."

Her Osya was a disaster in this tier. Authority effect amplified it, plus special training with Hong Suyeon boosted Judgment and Comprehension. Impossible for Silver players to stop her.

That is, if they were just normal Silver players.

"Huh?"

Minions had barely arrived, and she'd just started poking. Eight minutes in, dead to the enemy—Nam Haneul blanked out.

Enemy ADC YuriArrow, Sephir—not a tough matchup for Osya. Not high damage, and Osya reflected all skills.

Yet the enemy toyed with her Osya using godlike mechanics and precise calculations.

"Ah, n-no, this can't be?"

Super flustered, she checked chat. They must be mocking her overconfidence.

But the vibe was different from expected.

Hella, Hong Suyeon. She'd pegged the enemy ADC as a hacker.

Viewers focused on the hacker, not mocking her. Hackers were for communal hate.

Hong Suyeon chimed in differently.

Hong Suyeon slapped a mission on her stream: 300,000 won to beat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the hacking enemy.

"Hmm..."

She'd died once already, but support wasn't dead—no big loss.

Ally support: Flag Herald, Maro—sets flags buffing nearby allies.

Enemy support: Holy Grail Healer, Obel—healing main.

Matchup favored her side, judging by ADC-support synergy. Obel was just strong; Maro's kit synergized well with Osya.

'Doable maybe...'

Before, she'd call it impossible. Now confidence surged. Status window backed her power objectively, and meeting Hong Suyeon built her skill faith.

Other viewers piled on Hong Suyeon's mission, boosting the pot.

Solid viewer numbers too. No point giving up— she'd win.

"Al-right. I'll show you I can win."

She bit her lip and nodded firmly.

"Nngh..."

Chat resumed teasing. Ignoring it, she returned to lane.

"Okay then... I'll take first blood and st-start."

Against expectations, she charged straight into enemy territory.