Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Countless Handshake Requests
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The grand bow he gave through the live stream was brimming with sincerity to anyone watching.
"Eh, it's fine. It didn't bother me or anything."
It wasn't like he'd targeted me on purpose for a snipe. He just didn't recognize me because I lack recognition.
On the skill front, this had actually etched my abilities more firmly into people's minds, so it was a good outcome.
"But you have to keep your promise to me, okay?"
The streamer who'd tried to recruit a middle school girl as a helper just because she was good at the game—and who didn't seem interested in titles or anything—responded to my request with surprising enthusiasm.
"Then I'll swing by your streaming setup this week."
"Oh, and while you're at it, prep a keyboard and mouse for me too."
The streamer who'd sniped me had a big setup, complete with a dedicated streaming room managed professionally.
The bigger the showcase, the better, so I gladly accepted his invitation.
"Should I wear a mask?"
"What happened to you all?"
I mechanically banned the rule-breaking chats I'd been piling up over the past few days, then continued brightly.
"I'll probably run the stream from my account, so you guys won't see it live. But I am planning a face reveal."
"Oh, details just came through text."
I'd expected it to take a while, but with his streaming career on the line, the reply was quick.
"It's an invite-only format, and they'll handle all the conveniences."
This collab format was one I'd been invited to and hosted plenty of times before, so no need to worry.
The biggest hurdle might be parental permission, but since they don't even nag about me gaming this late, they probably won't freak out over a stream appearance.
Plus, the studio location he texted is pretty close to home anyway.
"Alright, that's the stream for today."
I immediately queued up the end-of-stream music.
"Nah, homework's something you do at school anyway..."
The reason? Friend requests on the Rock window I'd tucked away in the corner were exploding exponentially.
'Lots of familiar names.'
Unlike the indiscriminate spam from regular viewers, these were clan tags plus unforgeable unique codes matching my memory perfectly.
"Got some stuff to check out."
Time to reap the harvest.
Game teams often run late into the night, so coaches and some staff match the players' sleep schedules.
True had just hit Grandmaster, right around 12:30 a.m.—most ST staff were still wide awake.
"No tech like that back in my day."
ST coach and living fossil An Jae-hoon—who'd played Rock since beta, not even Season 1—kept marveling at True's evasion maneuvers that had her pegged as a helper account.
"How do you even do that on keyboard? She's just a freak."
"Oh, look, giving props to the senior."
"Hyung, maybe hit Master first..."
"What'd you say?"
During the players' solo queue downtime—which was basically break time—An Jae-hoon was nagging Park Jin, who handled scouting from first to third teams.
"Tch. Anyway, did you send it?"
"Yes."
"...Feels late."
"No, we were monitoring too. Who knew she'd 5-win streak at the end..."
Team policy was to reach out only after Grandmaster, so they'd waited. Around dinner, her promo looked bust, so they'd planned for tomorrow. Then she streak-winned, hitting Grandmaster just before stream end.
Normally no issue, but Jae-hoon was uneasy.
"Not the point. We gotta snag her no matter what."
"She's good, but that good?"
"Hell, her skills alone could carry Grand League to a title."
"......Pardon?"
LOC had ballooned to half the size of the big four sports post-global boom, so Division 2—Grand League—was insanely competitive.
Yet here he was saying even that was too small for a middle school girl named True.
"C'mon, Jae-hoon hyung's joking."
"Dead serious."
"Then what's her ceiling if she pops off?"
"LOC World Cup, obviously."
"......For real?"
That trophy was heaven's gift, sure, but her playstyle increasingly evoked Proud, ST's unbreakable mid mainstay. It bred inexplicable confidence.
Especially after this speedy Grandmaster climb.
'...I underrated her bad.'
Two days ago, he'd figured at least a week to Grandmaster. But her explosion accelerated exponentially with higher LP, leaving them late.
They'd been anxiously hoping she'd look their way.
"Ah. Stream's over."
"Already?"
Jae-hoon stared blankly at the blank screen.
"Something came up, maybe?"
"...Think she'll accept tomorrow?"
"Dunno."
True's friends list was basically empty outside stream time—just real-life pals, plus occasional viewers begging with cash (lots of it).
"Will she see ours amid viewer spam?"
"......"
Maybe she never checked.
But.
Less than 10 minutes post-stream, True's friend accept pinged on the screen.
"Smart girl. Killed stream on purpose?"
Pro scout accounts were internet-famous; flashing one sparked viewer frenzy.
Adding a scout was a pro path milestone, skill validation.
She knew, ended sharp, checked privately.
"Quick. Greeting first. Wait, no—draft contract tomorrow, bonuses, explain fast."
"...Then you type it, hyung. You're faster."
"For real?"
"......"
Raw words from him? Disaster.
No way was ST's scout handing keys to the infamous trash-talker.
While they bickered over first message, True beat them to it.
Obviously.
Yes it is.
Jae-hoon wrested the keyboard, his pro-era speed intact, hammering out a wall:
Park Jin read the novel-length pitch, horrified at the shoot-first style, and yanked the keyboard.
"Hyung, you mad? Academy's crawling with Challenger mids! We've got backups waiting—how you offering her 3rd team starts?!"
Proud blocked mid, sure, but academy wasn't just for starters.
Feedback from Proud, ST prestige—mids lined up to join as subs.
Irrelevant to Jae-hoon now.
"Yup, hit enter already."
"......"
This guy hadn't changed since his playing days.