Hosting
“Ahh, this is too easy! Is this all you’ve got, everyone? These are the guys who’ve been backseat gaming in my room all this time? I even prepared a bunch of chicken gift icons on purpose today, but at this rate, I’m gonna gain weight. If we don’t win the Spring split this time, it’s on all of you!”
In TK Pathos’s streaming room, a heated one-on-one duel with viewers was in full swing.
Payso had gone to China at a young age, spent years bouncing around the second tier, and finally joined TK early last year. There had been plenty of skeptical looks and criticism within TK about recruiting a total rookie with no credentials, but that was all ancient history now. His Spring split last year ended in fifth place, nearly getting him cut from the team. But then his skills exploded in Summer, snagging runner-up and Finals MVP at Worlds, proving himself beyond doubt. With his value skyrocketing, he was the first to renew with TK, basking in fan love. His Worlds form hadn’t faded; he cruised into the winner’s bracket of the Spring playoffs. And among all the playoff pros, he was the only one who voluntarily went live to duel viewers one-on-one.
“Alright, final round? Just one more. Maybe I’ll give all the gift icons to whoever wins.”
He created the room without much expectation. Keeping audio on even while setting up was Payso’s signature move.
“Top? I mained top exclusively when I started League. But the influence was too low, so when I was climbing Challenger in amateurs, they told me to try ADC, and I’ve been stuck there since. That’s the problem with League—position balance is trash every season. Some seasons it’s jungle game, and this year it’s straight-up bot meta when you look back. Top meta? Never happened once. You all know—Seongjae gets solo kills in tourneys and still loses, or gets solo killed and wins anyway.”
“Oh, you’re in. Password was 77. Let’s see how our cute viewer stacks up.”
Payso casually checked the opponent’s rank.
“Dia 1? Adorable.”
This final duel might actually be a decent fight, unlike the last ones. But something felt off about the vibe—not quite a typical fan. Most begged for a handshake first, but this one showed zero interest in him.
[...So, should I call you Mustard?]
“Whoa, no way? This guy seems like he came just for the 1v1.”
Payso didn’t mind the fun situation—in fact, he loved it. He kept trash-talking, eager to see the reveal after winning.
[That’s why ranged dealers like Mr. Mustard get stuck with the ‘spoon’ slur.]
Having hooked a big fish, Payso struggled to stifle his laughter.
“This dude’s got a filthy mouth. Come on, auto-Q this punk! Hurts, right? Weakspot exposed!”
Diamond-level laning was solid. Payso went all-out against such opponents—it was only right.
“E there, right? Counter! So predictable.”
“Whoa, Grasp of the Undying rune is busted? Stacking it on purpose—no kill angle.”
While Irelia hugged the turret for RS stacks, Payso recalled right in front.
“Gotta cut the house? You gonna let me? And you call yourself top?”
Recall profits, or if cut, still profits. He baited the 99% of tops who’d chase.
The second Irelia Q’d in, Payso charged with eyes blazing.
“Didn’t see the kill angle coming, huh?”
Bone Plating active too. No way to lose. He chased the fleeing Irelia—turret still far. HP gap over double, then W riposte for slow. Final vital on opposite side. With auto-flash combo, he’d get her. Payso faked turning back, then flashed.
Flash—
Flash—
“Huh?”
But Irelia flashed perfectly—Fiora’s strike barely missed the vital. With sliver HP left, Irelia didn’t back off, using extended auto range to smack Fiora and land E in the split second. One more hit and Fiora drops. Not for the faint-hearted.
Payso reached out, but rapier fell short. Close-range kiting—even melee champs have range diffs. Passive 4-stack Irelia had slight edge. She shoved two autos forcefully; Payso was impressed. But Irelia still couldn’t win—HP gap irreversible. Even if marked via E, 100% confidence.
Then Irelia W’d opposite.
“What?”
Ally minion hit, dead.
“Crazy level 6!”
Level-up HP/growth boost. Ult at 6. No flashes left. Ult certain at this range. Even Fiora couldn’t block triple-Q Irelia. Blades rained; Payso froze. Finally spotted the champ name floating: [NoName].
A name from distant memory.
* * *
“How long you gonna keep this up?”
“Just one more... please, one more?”
Payso clung to Nami. She’d won all three 1v1s. He’d begged with puppy eyes each time, but now she wasn’t budging. Mystery Irelia vanished; Payso faced the chat chaos alone.
“No, this doesn’t make sense!”
“What? Patch changed and Irelia’s favored now?”
Gnashing his teeth, Payso racked his brain about NoName. He punched her six-letter nick into the match history site.
NoName – Diamond 1
Tons of Asteria games turned suspicion to certainty.
“I remember! She started the top Asteria trend, right? Solo queue was hell because of that! Top Asteria, mid Asteria, support Asteria. When our team did jungle Asteria, pro or not, I wanted to AFK—argh!”
“Whoa, ranked: ten, twenty... 50-win streak?!”
‘lightandreft’ donated 10,000 won!
“Thanks. Ah, so she’s a streamer. Makes sense—talent like that shouldn’t rot here. Aish, does that mean I’m getting clipped on VTube too?”
“I won’t swallow it. What do you take me for? Ah, but she left the client? What now?”
‘KetchupSauce’ donated 3,000 won!
“Normally can’t host other streamers on official stream. Manager’s away, so I’ll dip quick—don’t snitch.”
Same platform, so friend add enables gifting. Payso entered NoName’s stream to post a friend request comment—but nope.
Chat is disabled in this stream.
“What?”
Thankfully, donations weren’t blocked. Payso’s fans flooded NoName’s stream, begging via messages to unban chat. She ignored at first, but three, four piled up—she relented.
“Why crash someone else’s stream? You’re the one I 1v1’d earlier, right?”
“Huh? Ah, I... um...”
“No point rematching—you can’t win. Skill gap’s too big.”
“I promised chicken gifties to whoever beat me! Ten of ‘em, but can you accept friend request?”
“Why friend?”
“Need it to whisper the gifts...”
“Friend’s a bit... cash instead?”
“Y-Yes...?”
“3万 per chicken, so 300k worth.”
“Ah... as a public figure, can’t donate from this account...”
“Then politely decline. Gotta start stream—please leave.”
Nami was firm, but Payso couldn’t drop the gifts. Chat sped up; pale and nail-biting, inspiration struck—face lit up.
“Ah, genius idea instead! Convince her right, and you’ll get more than 300k value.”
“...?”
Payso vanished from Nami’s stream. Soon, her quiet virtual space chimed.
His reply? Hosting twenty-thousand viewers.