Pinpoint Accuracy
"Isn't that the place that tried to recruit you back then and got rejected?"
"No. That was the New York Lions."
They shared the name "Lions," but one was a domestic team and the other was overseas. Fans of both teams constantly bickered over who was the "real" Lions and who was the "fake" one, but Tae-hyun and Cain had no interest in such things, so they had no idea. Tae-hyun simply didn't care, and Cain usually only searched his own name!
> "Mr. Cain. Your search history contains 'Cain's famous quotes,' 'Cain's legendary matches,' and 'My ideal type is Cain.' Would you like me to delete these entries?"
> "Hey, hey! Why are you saying that out loud?!"
Cain tilted his head. "If it's not the New York Lions, why are they clinging to us? We don't really have a grudge against them, do we?"
"Media play, obviously."
"Whoa, you scared me!"
Lee Da-bi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, making Cain jump. "Aren't you coming around here a bit too often lately?"
"Am I not allowed to?"
"Why wouldn't she be? Cain, aren't you being a bit too harsh?"
"She's right, Mr. Cain."
"N-No, I was just asking because I was surprised..."
While Cain shrank back, Lee Da-bi began to explain.
"LK Lions is still considered one of the major gaming teams, isn't it? Even if their scale is a bit smaller compared to the teams in America or China."
A major gaming team. It referred to an organization operated with massive capital and backing from a conglomerate. LK Lions was one of the representative major domestic teams in Korea. Along with ST Five and KG Wizard, they were one of the country's most prominent, top-tier teams!
And if these major teams had one thing in common...
It was that they had all called the current Team KL players in secret, only to be ignored without a trace.
"But this time, LK Lions didn't get nearly as much attention as they expected."
Other formidable teams had failed to adapt to the new game, getting eliminated in the qualifiers or the very first round of the main tournament. For LK Lions to reach the semifinals was actually quite impressive. Of course, from LK Lions' perspective, they were far from satisfied.
The teams currently in the semifinals were Yuseong Gaming, Team KL, LK Lions, and the Beijing Fighters. Among them, Yuseong Gaming and Team KL were winning overwhelmingly with dominant performances. Meanwhile, the Beijing Fighters boasted an incredibly massive fanbase. In comparison, LK Lions... fell far behind.
As a Korean team, they were overshadowed by Yuseong Gaming and Team KL. As a major team, they were overshadowed by Yuseong Gaming and the Beijing Fighters...
Major teams received solid support, but they had to deliver results in return. Why else had the old Yuseong Gaming disbanded in the past? Yet, Team KL, which received zero corporate support and was just run by the players themselves, was getting an insane amount of attention. Meanwhile, the suddenly resurrected Yuseong Gaming had shaken off the ghosts of its past and was performing spectacularly...
Squeezed by overseas major teams as well, LK Lions couldn't help but feel anxious. Sponsors and investors were breathing down their necks from above, while fans were hounding them from below.
"So they're probably doing media play to get some attention, right? The LK Lions coach has always been famous for that."
The LK Lions coach, Coach Ju, was nicknamed "The Slick Serpent." He was a figure notorious in the esports scene since before Pan-On for all sorts of media play and dirty tricks!
"Seriously, isn't that too much! What did we even do wrong!" Cain huffed in anger.
In contrast, Tae-hyun was nonchalant.
"Well, it happens. They just want some attention. More importantly, what kind of strategy is LK Lions using?"
"Classic. Basically, they're running a bomb-based, well-balanced composition."
Not a unique strategy that only they could pull off like Tae-hyun's team or Yuseong Gaming, but a standard one. LK Lions' strategy was to squeeze the absolute maximum efficiency out of that standard setup.
"Sounds like there's a reason they're unpopular... Oh, this is perfect."
"Pardon?"
"Let's do some media play too."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Why? They're doing it, so why can't I?"
"No... Senior. Just because someone else is playing in the mud doesn't mean we have to jump in with them, does it?" Jeong Su-hyeok asked, utterly dumbfounded.
But Choi Sang-yun and Cain were different.
Hmm. It actually suits him perfectly.
Come to think of it, this guy drew an insane amount of attention back in Pan-On 1, didn't he...?
"But where are we going to do this media play?"
"Hmm. There's the Power Warrior Guild broadcast, right? Shall we do it there?"
Lee Da-bi's face lit up.
"No, seriously, that was the first time I've ever heard the name LK Lions."
"Is that true?!"
"Of course. I had no interest in them to begin with. Even back when I was playing Pan-On 1, LK Lions was a team that had absolutely nothing to do with me."
The host of the Power Warrior Guild broadcast, Choi Min-soo, was doing his best to calm his racing heart.
Calm down, me. Calm down. Keep your poker face...!
Tae-hyun was currently appearing on his broadcast! To be precise, it was the Power Warrior Guild's official stream...
"And it's not even in-game, it's real life?!"
When they started the broadcast, people flocked in like a swarm of clouds. Thanks to their various exploits and promotions, the Power Warrior Guild had built up a fairly loyal viewer base. A tear-inducing change compared to the past!
"LK Lions heavily criticized Team KL. What are your thoughts on that?"
"What did they say again?"
"They called you a 'castle of sand,' claimed they have a secret strategy to deal with you, and said you won't last long..."
"Oh, please. The only 'castle of sand' is their team. Has our team had any player departures since we formed? No. But LK Lions... I don't really know their players well. Who was on their roster again? Actually, I came out here to bash them, but I don't know anything about them, so it's hard to even bash them properly."
He's a natural. A total natural.
Tae-hyun's companions watched and marveled. Tae-hyun seemed to possess a god-given talent for attacking others! If he hadn't become a pro gamer, wouldn't he have ended up as a professional internet troll?
"So, I looked it up. Here is their player roster..."
"Why are these players crossed out?"
"Ah, those are players who were originally announced but ended up leaving for other teams."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, before their contracts were officially finalized, they received offers from other teams and left..."
The cold, ruthless world of esports! To secure outstanding players ahead of the tournament, gaming teams all over the world had been throwing around bags of cash. LK Lions was no exception. However, the capital of overseas teams was simply too overwhelming, and they had lost several players to them.
"Wow~ So the real castle of sand was somewhere else. Wouldn't you say?"
"Hahaha. Indeed."
Choi Min-soo glanced at the live chat. Surely the LK Lions fans wouldn't start a riot, right? Fortunately, the vast majority were fans of Tae-hyun and Power Warrior, so the chat was filled with nothing but cheers.
Gaining confidence, Choi Min-soo began to speak even more boldly.
"Honestly, LK Lions is nothing compared to Team KL!"
"Hmm?"
"The LK Lions coach is a total washed-up has-been!"
"Well, I didn't think that far, but that's an interesting opinion."
"Long live Kim Tae-hyun! Death to LK Lions!"
"Isn't this a live broadcast? Is it really okay to say that?"
"It's fine, totally fine!"
Drunk on the viewers' reactions, Choi Min-soo blustered. Even Tae-hyun was starting to feel a bit worried.
Is this guy going to be okay?
Tae-hyun might live without fear, but still...
"So, Kim Tae-hyun. What do you think LK Lions' secret strategy is?"
"Hmm. Looking at them, rather than bringing out something incredibly novel, I think they'll just add one extra element to their existing strategy."
Tae-hyun began to count them down on his fingers.
"Right now, the dungeon tournament format is basically a competition of how quickly and efficiently you can herd monsters and blow them up with bombs, right?"
The so-called Engineering meta. The bomb craze, which used to be treated as a nuisance, had taken over the tournament.
"And on top of that, how safely you can handle those bombs."
Tae-hyun had maximized his carrying capacity by exploiting the merchant class's weight limit, and then aimed for extreme efficiency using his own Blacksmithing Skill and Engineering skills.
Lee Se-yeon had safely triggered explosions using her unique Necromancer skills.
In contrast, LK Lions had no such eye-catching skills. Nor were their players' classes particularly unique.
In that case, their only option was to enhance their individual capabilities.
"They keep talking about a 'secret strategy,' but honestly, there are surprisingly few secret skills in Pan-On that nobody knows about. Whether those skills are actually effective is a different story... So I am a bit curious about what their secret strategy is. Surely they didn't just find some Abnormal Cooking or weird alchemy potion recipe and call it a secret strategy."
Tae-hyun shrugged as he wrapped up.
"Of course, this is just my opinion. I suppose it's possible LK Lions found some secret strategy even I don't know about. Either way, I have no intention of losing."
Did our info leak?!
What the hell is going on?
The LK Lions players were also watching the broadcast. For them, it was pure shock and horror! They were so startled they didn't even realize they were being bashed.
"C-Coach. What is the meaning of this?"
"...Don't panic. He's just guessing."
"But isn't his guess way too accurate?!"
"He's right. At this rate..."
"What did I tell you? Those who get scared and lose before the match even starts don't deserve to call themselves pros," Coach Ju said coldly.
Currently, their strength was a step below Team KL's. They had prepared various countermeasures, but even in the most favorable scenario, defeating Team KL seemed difficult. That was why Coach Ju had tried to shake them up.
Team KL's weakness was their lack of a coaching staff. If he could rattle them and throw them off their pace, a window of opportunity would open! Instead, his own players were the ones getting rattled.
If nothing else, Tae-hyun's words were a massive shock. He had targeted their exact strategy with pinpoint accuracy!
How on earth did he find out? Did the coaches of other teams leak it?
A team like Team KL wouldn't be running spies, so he suspected other coaches in the industry. The ones who were jealous of him!
"Senior, that was an absolutely magnificent match."
Clap, clap, clap—
"Y-Yeah. Thanks."
Tae-hyun stared at Yu Je-geon with a look that said, What is wrong with this crazy bastard?
"Je-geon. I'm not really one to talk, but... do you not have any friends? Why do you keep following me around?"
Come to think of it, this guy probably doesn't have any friends.
Tae-hyun looked at his junior with a complicated expression. A guy who introduced himself by saying, "My family has a lot of money," the moment they met didn't seem like the type to have many friends. An outcast of a completely different breed than Tae-hyun!
"Friends?"
When Yu Je-geon asked with a puzzled look, Tae-hyun wondered if he had misjudged him.
Huh? Did I get it wrong?
"I have no need for friends!"
"...R-Right."
"For someone like me who walks the path of a king, what I need are subordinates, or... Senior, where are you going? Senior!"
Tae-hyun walked away, shaking his head. To think he would run into a lunatic like this just by showing up to school.
University is a terrifying place.
Tae-hyun felt the proverb "birds of a feather flock together" drift into his mind, but he desperately ignored it.
"Senior! I thought you, of all people, would understand me!"
"Why on earth would I understand you?"
Tae-hyun flinched for a moment. If this guy felt some sort of kinship just because they were both rich sons...
That would be the ultimate humiliation.
"Aren't you also walking the path of a king in the gaming world, Senior?"
"...I don't know what kind of 'path of a king' you're talking about, but I think you've got it wildly wrong."
As Tae-hyun said this, he spotted Yu Ji-soo ahead. She was walking alongside Cain's younger sister, Kim Ye-ri.
Isn't she the one actually walking the path of a king?