The Ragtag Team
I was scrolling through the academic paper database the school library provided. “Haa… what the hell is this even saying?” Why did professors always have to write like this? Did they not consider the reader’s level at all? Even if I was a humanities student, what was someone with my reading comprehension supposed to do?
I’d started gathering materials in Yuna’s place. Honestly, when I agreed to do it, I hadn’t expected it to be this brutal. Actually doing it felt completely different.
“Yuna… you really are something else.” The way she neatly organized everything so it was easy to read. Her sources weren’t biased either—academic papers, newspapers, even random internet articles. Compared to what she’d collected, I was just getting started, and after only a few pages my chest already felt tight and I wanted to scream. Even though it was for Yuna, I was starting to regret offering in the first place.
Even worse, the voices coming from my computer were doing a great job of breaking my concentration.
[First time meeting, so it’s a little awkward, right?]
[No, Haju-nim. I’m not awkward at all?]
[Whoa, the team synergy is already this good. We’re winning the tournament, aren’t we?]
Today’s Uni stream was a tournament team practice session. For the first time, multiple voices were coming through the broadcast. I want to watch! I really want to watch! But I couldn’t just abandon the assignment. All I could do was keep researching while listening to the voices like a radio.
I sucked on the straw of the one-liter iced americano I’d bought from the big coffee chain. “Ugh… bitter.” The sharp liquid slid down my throat. I wasn’t usually a coffee person, but it looked like I’d need it today and tomorrow. Maintaining focus for this long without caffeine was impossible.
Honestly, if it were just the assignment I could’ve half-assed it and gone to sleep, but I couldn’t miss Uni’s late-night stream. “…Even if I die tomorrow, I’m watching the live broadcast first.” That was the grim resolve I carried.
[By the way, Haju-nim’s voice is really nice. What do they call that again? Cave voice?]
Rua’s high-energy tone was leading the team voice chat. The Uni team was still awkward with each other. At times like this, you really needed someone to keep the conversation going.
[Ah, I hear that a lot. Thank you.]
Haju’s voice really did sound like a singer or voice actor—deep, pleasant, and cavernous. It was a complete contrast to his usual playful in-game behavior and speech.
[Speaking of voices, we can’t leave Uni-nim out of this conversation, can we?]
Haju brought up Uni, who had been silent in the team voice chat. Right, right. As expected of a romantic, he knew what he was doing. Our Uni was a big deal in the voice department, after all.
[…Yes. Me?]
[Yes, you. Uni-nim, it’s been about thirty minutes since you turned on team voice, and you haven’t said a single word except for the greeting at the start. You know that, right?]
The moment Haju spotted weakness, he pounced. He was famous for his sharp tongue, after all.
[Whoa, Uni-nim finally spoke!]
[Her voice really is nice. I just got tingles.]
Geoni, the mid laner, and Seojeong, the top laner, immediately joined in with reactions. When five people gathered, it was always easy to pick on one person. As streamers, they were all looking for the perfect target.
[…Ah. Was that so? I’m sorry. This is my first time doing a collab with this many people, so my head’s all over the place.]
[You don’t have to apologize. So you don’t do collabs at all, Uni-nim?]
After a brief pause, Uni answered Haju’s question. It seemed like he was trying to help her relax.
[No, it’s not that I never do them… I’ve only ever done them with just one other person.]
Uni didn’t have much experience collabing with streamers besides Nia. Partly because of her schedule, but mostly because she found these situations awkward herself.
Listening to the broadcast, I couldn’t focus on the assignment at all. The chat was probably exploding right now. I desperately wanted to see the stream screen. Years of being an Uniz hadn’t prepared me to be satisfied with audio alone.
…Should I just watch this and do the assignment later? It’s just a matter of order anyway. Doing the assignment after the stream or the stream after the assignment—what’s the difference?
“I’m counting on you, future me.” Praying to my future self, I closed the paper site. Then I grabbed a can of Pepsi Zero from the fridge, humming as I sat back down.
When I brought up Uni’s stream window that I’d minimized, the chat scrolled by. The screen showed them queuing up for a normal game. Finally, I felt a sense of peace settle over me. Yeah. This was what streaming was supposed to be. Listening to just the voices had been way too frustrating.
Maybe because it was normals, it took a while to find a match, but eventually the game popped.
[Ah, we got one. Since it’s the first game, let’s just play well, everyone.]
Haju locked in Riven in the pick window as he spoke. His trademark pick—the one he was most confident with.
This was definitely Uni’s chat. I couldn’t help but laugh at the Uniz chat going wild the moment Haju picked Riven.
[Play well? What do you mean play well? I’m good at everything.]
Haju burst out laughing at Seojeong’s comment.
[Pfft. Ah, sorry, Seojeong-nim. It’s my first time hearing a Bronze player say they’re good at something—]
[-Huh? Did you just laugh? Are you judging people by their tier?]
[Nooo, of course not~.]
Seojeong cut Haju off. She was the weakest link on the team—worse than even Rua, who was known for being bad at the game. At least top lane had less impact, so that was something.
[Feast time~!]
Of course Uni picked Kog’Maw in a game like this. She took pride in her Kog’Maw, after all.
The Uni team each locked in their confident picks.
[Alright, let’s focus and do this. Fighting!]
The game began with Haju’s voice as the leader. Thanks to his clear shotcalling, the game went better than expected.
[Enemy jungler’s at blue right now. Top, be careful.]
[Okay~!]
He warned top to avoid the jungler.
[Geoni-nim, push your lane and get some mid vision for me. I need to fight for scuttle.]
[Ah, got it.]
He used his winning mid lane to gain an advantage. Haju kept making calls while playing his own game. He was genuinely good at team play and skilled at the game itself.
[Unni, grab now.]
[Yeah, Uni-ya.]
Maybe because they’d already practiced as a duo, Uni was getting better at handling Rua.
> Kog’Maw and Lulu have slain an enemy!
> Double kill!
Haju didn’t hold back his praise for Uni’s play.
[Ah, it really is nice having someone good on the team. Our bot lane feels so reliable~.]
[Obviously. Obviously. Hehem.]
Rua got excited, thinking the compliment was about her.
[I was talking about Uni-nim, not Rua-nim, though?]
[…Ah. Thank you.]
Uni’s voice trembled slightly as she thanked him. That timid, slightly gloomy tone was exactly what captivated people. The chat exploded at the sound of her awkward but happy voice.
But the good situation didn’t last. Mistakes started pouring in from the team’s weak links.
> An ally has been slain!
It started, of course, in top lane. Seojeong’s Malphite was getting solo killed even in normals. Haju spoke calmly, as if he’d expected it from the weakest player.
[Seojeong-nim, as long as Malphite doesn’t die, we’re fine. Seriously. You can even ignore CS—just focus on staying alive and gaining levels.]
[Okay~.]
[At least she answers well.]
And then came the winner’s curse. The Silver brainrot that tried to balance the game when they were winning.
[Unni? Wait, there are way too many minions right now?]
[Ah. I already went in.]
Rua’s hook ignored both health and wave state. Uni tried to follow up, but in the end she had no choice but to abandon Rua.
> An ally has been slain!
[Unni, I’m sorry.]
[No, it was my brainrot. Sorry sorry.]
The game that had been heavily in their favor was now evening out. The guardian of balance was everywhere, it seemed.
[See, this is how a game should be. Now it’s getting a little exciting.]
Even in the chaotic situation, Haju didn’t lose his cool and kept cracking jokes. Then, just as the respawned Rua and Yuna started pushing the lane, Seojeong shouted in a panicked voice.
[Jax! Jax! Bot teleport! He used teleport!]
Jax’s teleport landed in the bush ward the enemy team had set up. At the same time, the enemy jungler was also heading bot. Uni and Rua frantically backed off and somehow managed to escape.
[Seojeong-unni, we backed off. The wave is pushing—]
[-Huh? I used teleport too?]
Seojeong, who pressed teleport later than Jax, was suddenly surrounded by enemies. With the numbers disadvantage, Uni and Rua couldn’t help her.
[…This is Bronze?]
[Suicide teleport is actually insane. This is how a game should be.]
The rock that had fallen right into the middle of the enemy team got focused and shattered with a hollow sound.
[Ah.]
Seojeong’s dying scream echoed through the voice chat. The chat filled with laughter.
[Wh… why would you…?]
Uni’s bewildered whisper came through the mic.
[…We’ll still make it through preliminaries, right?]
Haju’s anxious voice followed. Whoa. This really was a ragtag team. Watching their plays, all I could do was worry about the team’s future.