Nari Land: Pinball Seals the Rules and the Picks
Nari Land. The first pinball decided between roulette and draw. The ball marked roulette plummeted almost straight down vertically and quickly scored a goal, leaving draw as the survivor.
"Looks like it's draw today."
"Draw's great!"
"Nah, I thought roulette had more tension."
"Hope it's 5-tier doing the draw."
"Alright, let's keep going."
The next ball determined who among 1-Tier, 2-Tier, 3-Tier, and 5-Tier would handle the draw. 1-Tier survived until the very end.
"No way, 1-Tier drawing again?"
"Agh, stuck riding the ass-kisser bus again."
"Odin! Sis is on fire today!"
"You know who Teo hyung's gotta pick to win, right?"
The following pinball set the pick order: Teo → Odin → Panjeo → Zeus. They decided to pick starting from 2-Tier onward in sequence.
"Fuck, it's always low tiers first, why suddenly 2-Tier today!"
2-Tier consisted of Nari, Jisu, Blacka, and Jua. Among the four, the undisputed physical monster was Lee Jua. The one most familiar with kill bets, best at syncing with 1-Tier, and able to carry low tiers was Nari. It was obvious that Jua and Nari would get picked first in the early slots. Panjeo and Zeus in the 3rd and 4th spots voiced their complaints, but this was a fair pinball rule they'd followed in Nari Land from the start. No matter how much they griped, it fell on deaf ears—not just from the Land members led by Nari, but from the viewers too.
"If you don't like the process, start your own Land~ Teo, pick your 2-Tier first."
"Ah, no need to think about it. Straight to Lee Jua."
Teo's bold pick sent ripples through the chat and the DeathCode waiting room alike.
"Did he throw the broadcast vibe? When's this dude gonna wake up, jeez…."
"Picks Jua right off the bat. Total snoozefest. Can we forfeit right after team comp?"
"Reroll the pinball? Guy has zero reads."
The backlash against Teo's pick united everyone in roasting him. Next up: Odin, Zeus, Panjeo. The other teams picked their members one by one after that, smoothly progressing through 3-Tier and into 5-Tier.
"Now, the moment everyone's waiting for: 5-Tier. Eunbyeol vs. Yura. Teo, your pick."
"Fuck, Teo, please not Yura. Yura's a no-go."
Teo—now teamed with Jua and 3-Tier Jonghyun—was shaking his head, desperately insisting Yura was off-limits.
"What the hell, you psycho! I've been mentored by Jua unnie and my form's insane now!"
"You're just insane, you crazy bitch. Stay the fuck away from my team."
Jonghyun, who'd never won with Yura on his team, was practically praying to Teo like it was a match-fixing scandal.
"Honestly, snagging Jua was already overpowered. Taking Yura balances it out, right?"
"Whoa! Teo hyung! NS Meteor! Shoutout GodTeo!"
"Moments like this show Teo's a real man."
"Yeah, when it counts, Teo's the one you trust."
"Okay, I'll take Yura."
Teo, ex-pro from Battlelands powerhouse NS (NEO SEOUL), nodded with a satisfied smirk as the Land members showered him with praise. But the price of Teo getting high on the compliments and picking Yura was immediate.
"Fuck, Teo… You wanna watch us crash and burn that bad?"
"Haa…."
"Hey! Park Jonghyun! Lee Jua! I'm still top of 5-Tier, okay? Not someone to get dismissed!"
Jonghyun cursed Teo. Jua pinched her forehead.
Did I teach her for nothing…?
Right now, Yura was riding high on Jua adrenaline. Her body was still buzzing from the infighting playstyles they'd drilled in lessons.
Shoutout GodYura
As the members bantered, buddy partners were set, and the map draw wrapped up. A Team (Teo) buddied with D Team (Zeus). B Team (Odin) buddied with C Team (Panjeo). B+C maps: Arangel → Miramar → Longdo. To avoid same-team meetups in the same room, the back teams ran Miramar → Longdo → Arangel.
"Teams, scatter to your DeathCode rooms. Game starts in 10 minutes."
Time was now 7:20 PM. Nari Land kicked off sharp at 7:30 and wrapped at 9:30.
"Hello. Lee Jua here."
"Aigoo, hello everyone."
"…Hi."
"I'll just stick to Jua unnie!"
With total newbie Jua making things awkward, they exchanged light greetings. Teo stepped up with a smooth voice to ease the tension.
"Jua. Caught your stream before Land started… Over 3K damage? Damn, even I don't hit that easy."
"Ah… You saw that. No big deal. Just that my account's still fresh…."
Jua downplayed it, but Yura lit up like it was her achievement.
"Hehe, that's Jua for ya."
"Why're you so hyped? It was Jua who dropped 3K."
"Shut it, Park Jonghyun. You who can't even hit 300."
"1v1? Hundred grand on Yacha rule?"
Teo's efforts went to waste as the sworn enemies Jonghyun and Yura kept bickering at the drop of a hat.
"…I'll handle main calls, but for details, I'll pass to Jonghyun. Jua, you take Yura—we each control our own?"
"…Yeah, that works. I'll mark and handle Yura."
As Teo and Jua synced up…
"Next up, frag teamkill girl. Next, Pancher wiping teammates. Next, rider decapitating the squad."
"I learned frags from Jua yesterday—no teamkills today!"
"O… So still teamkilling with Panches and riding? Total Odin spy bitch? Better off without her—the game'd go smoother."
"Ah! Teo oppa! Kick this fucker out!"
"…Stop fighting, you idiots."
"Everyone, quiet!"
Finally, Jua's booming roar cut through. Still dealing with cramps, watching her teammates snipe at each other was infuriating beyond words. Her cheap 29K won mic couldn't handle it, spitting out a distorted crackle.
"We're a team, clocked in at the same site—think about working together, not scrapping like morons. Yura!"
"Yes, yep! Master!"
"One more jab at Jonghyun and we're never teaming again."
"…Hiiing…."
Yura pouted. But even she knew: her dynamic with Jonghyun was somewhere between WWE and UFC. Without Jua intervening, it'd drag on all kill bet long.
"And Jonghyun."
"…Yeah?"
"Wanna play big bro and bully your lil sis? Ah… Scratch that. Bros bully sisters by default. As a senior bullying juniors…? Huh, seniors bully juniors too."
She tried analogies to call out their beef and broker peace. Epic fail.
"Pfft…."
"Wait, why that analogy…."
"Look at Jua messing around on purpose to loosen us up."
Unintentionally, she'd become the vibe shifter. Time ticked on, and proper Nari Land began. All teams—A, B, C, D—hit ready on cue and launched the game.
As A Team (Teo) boarded the plane, word spread via cuckoos that C Team (Panjeo) had gone full all-die.
"Panjeo all-die! Total trash! Wiped right at spawn!"
"Huh? Already?"
"…We're just boarding and they're all dead?"
"Panjeo that washed-up fuck, we hype him and he thinks he's good?"
"Kuhahaha, no Teo flooring it is hilarious fr."
Teo, ex-NS mate, relished Panjeo's misfortune most of all.
A familiar dread hit Jua. School frying pan headshots. A horrific memory nearly surfaced, but luckily, it was drop time—she shook it off.