I'm Really Getting Serious
New Dimension | 2,602 Viewers | 02:56:39
“Uh… everyone. It looks like I won’t be able to stream tomorrow… I have some things I need to take care of….”
Um. It seems like some of you are expecting me to stream as a VTuber tomorrow, but unfortunately both versions of me will be on break. Tomorrow I was invited to be a play coach for the Sirius AOS team. Of course, even though I received the invitation, I’m not heading over in person. It’ll be done through Miscode.
To be honest, I still want to cancel even now. I’m already shaking just thinking about it. What if I actually collapse tomorrow? I’d rather just stream like usual. But saying that at this point would feel too awkward… I almost wish I would get sick instead. No. Why would they even invite a mere streamer like me to be a pro gamer’s play coach in the first place? I genuinely couldn’t understand it.
“Ah… it’s hard to explain right now, but I think I’ll be able to tell you later… It’s nothing strange. You’ll probably be shocked when you hear it….”
“Anyway, I’ll be signing off now….”
“Hey, here’s your food.”
“Oh, thanks.”
At Tyuni’s words, Owen, who had been lying on the dorm bed scrolling on his phone, shot upright.
“Can you please stop making me do this kind of thing? It’s seriously annoying.”
“Sometimes I get cravings for Mom’s cooking. What am I supposed to do? I’m too busy to go home.”
“You talk a good game. Anyone listening would think I’m the one with all the free time.”
“What about the side dishes? There’s stir-fried soy, right?”
“Yeah. Stir-fried soy and dakgalbi. Bellflower root salad, blanched bean sprouts. And the soup was pork kimchi stew, I think? She prepared a ton of your favorites.”
“Nice.”
When Owen heard the list of side dishes he gave a thumbs-up. Tyuni let out a small laugh at the sight and turned around.
“Then I’m heading out. I left thirty thousand won for the errand on the table.”
“Do you really have to be like this just because you’re my older sister…?”
“Yep. You’re making good money now. Considering how much your sister suffered raising you, that much is only fair.”
Unable to come up with a rebuttal, Owen clicked his tongue in reply.
Just as Tyuni was about to leave the room—
“Oh, right. You started playing New Dimension, didn’t you? I thought you said you’d never touch it because of motion sickness.”
“Well, things happened. It’s actually pretty fun.”
“Want me to teach you a bit? It’s not an opportunity that comes often.”
“What could an AOS-only player possibly teach me? I’d rather learn from Gaeun.”
Owen couldn’t argue with that and simply nodded in agreement. There was no trace of inferiority in his expression. Gaeun was the undisputed peak that everyone acknowledged, and Owen genuinely admired him.
“Well, even if it’s not Gaeun…”
“Owen.”
The moment Tyuni tried to continue, the door clicked open and Gaeun poked his head in.
“It’s about time. Let’s get ready. They said they’ll be here soon. …Oh. Long time no see, Tyuni. Did you need something?”
“Ah, hello. He asked me to bring him food.”
“I see. Sorry, but we’re about to start training…”
“It’s fine. I was only planning to drop off the food and leave anyway. See you later.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
“That was casual speech.”
At Tyuni’s remark, Owen simply waved his hand lazily. Watching him, Tyuni wondered how she should deal with her shameless little brother…
“Wait, but Hyung. What could we possibly learn from a streamer?”
“I’ve told you several times. There’s definitely something to learn. If you’re asking because you don’t know who she is…”
“No way I wouldn’t know. Even if I only play AOS, I know what everyone knows. If you play New Dimension and don’t recognize the nickname Lene, you’re basically a spy.”
The familiar name in his little brother’s words made Tyuni’s eyes widen. She grabbed Owen’s shoulder.
“…Did you just say Lene?”
“Yeah. Now that I think about it, you’d know her too, Sis. That Lene person is coming today as our play coach. But does that even make sense to you?”
Owen’s words didn’t even register in Tyuni’s ears. That wasn’t what was important right now.
“Hey, Jeong Eun-ho.”
“What?”
“If you ask me to introduce you to Lene-nim later, you’re dead. For real.”
“…What are you even saying?”
“I’m saying you’ll die.”
“Threatening to kill someone out of nowhere…”
“Got it?”
“Ah, yes, yes~.”
At the incomprehensible sibling exchange, Gaeun could only offer an awkward smile.
“Ah, um… I’m the streamer who somehow ended up coming today as a play coach… L-Lene. Please take care of me…”
It's our pleasure, Lene-nim.
Please take care of us.
So this moment had finally arrived. What on earth did I do wrong to deserve this kind of punishment? The world felt utterly unfair.
First, even though Lene-nim is here as a play coach, please keep in mind that she isn't a professional. If you demand the same level of feedback you usually receive, it would obviously put Lene-nim in a difficult position.
Understood.
The format will be the same as usual scrims, but there’s a slight difference. Instead of playing against another team, we’ll be using our second-string players. Lene-nim will be playing jungle for the second team. Gaeun will be midlaner on Lene-nim’s team.
What about our midlaner?
We have Hyun-seong. To summarize, you’ll have Hyun-seong in mid instead of Gaeun. Lene-nim’s team will have Gaeun in mid and the rest filled with second-string players. Any objections?
No objections came. Instead, strange chuckles leaked through the call.
Coach. No matter how good Gaeun-hyung is, isn’t the balance too skewed? I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but we’re all first-string players…
Think whatever you want. We’ll be playing best of five. Don’t treat it like a casual scrim—go all out. We’ll talk about the rest after it’s over.
Understood.
With those words the pre-meeting ended. Gaeun and I immediately moved to a different voice channel on the server.
Ah, hello. Please take care of me today.
I’ll be approaching this with the mindset of learning.
“I-I’ll be in your care as well…”
I was already nervous. I wanted to run to the bathroom and throw up. Why was I even here…?
Lene-nim.
“Y-Yes…?”
The one who spoke to me while I was trembling was Gaeun.
From now on, please take full charge of all ban-picks and main shot-calling.
Huh?
Gaeun-hyung?
I already talked with the coach. Today our team’s ban-picks and shot-calling will all be handled by Lene-nim. Even if you think she shouldn’t be giving orders, just follow them. Got it?
Um… yes, understood.
If Hyung and the coach are saying this, there must be a reason.
…Excuse me? Are you not going to ask for my opinion at all…?
“I’m being dead serious this time.”
“Yeah.”
After saying that, Owen slowly steadied his breathing. Someone watching might ask why he was being so serious against second-string players and a mere streamer, but for Owen this was a matter of pride.
The game began. Owen had chosen Holy Knight—a role specialized in frontline tanking and initiating fights. No matter how strong Gaeun was on the opposing team, with this big of a power gap, he believed they couldn’t lose in a damage fight. That was why he picked it.
In contrast, the enemy jungler had chosen Traveler. A fifth-tier class that was awkward at tanking, dealing damage, or initiating. In other words, the jungle matchup was already won from the start.
The only variable was the lanes. The mid lane was against Gaeun, so winning that was unlikely anyway. Therefore, Owen as the jungler needed top and bot to win their lanes without fail. The problem was the matchups.
Owen’s top laner, Prophy, was on Berserker. The enemy top was Battle Mage. Owen’s bot lane was Hunter and Priest from the Elun Church. The enemy bot lane, however, was Archer and Wizard. The opponent’s composition was one that made even holding the lane difficult… literally a lineup that had poured everything into the laning phase.
“So that’s how you want to play…?”
They would seize control of every lane, win the laning phase, then push the game with Gaeun at the forefront. In other words, they were going to win even if the jungler did nothing.
“It’ll be tough in the early game, but we’ll definitely be stronger in the late game, so let’s take it slow.”
“Okay.”
Well, the jungler is just a streamer, so it can’t be helped… Owen thought, completely misunderstanding the situation.
CLANG!
“Ah, I got caught. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Just focus a little more.”
CLANG!
“Why are they all coming here?”
CLANG!
“Ugh, seriously…”
CLANG!
“This person keeps bringing the jungler and bot to us.”
CLANG!
“We can’t go. If we do, it’s a hundred percent wipe.”
CLANG!
“How are we supposed to break through this!”
CLANG!
“Why is it us again!!!”
“They’re not even giving me gold.”
Berserker — 4/5/3
Holy Knight — 1/9/2
Spirit Master — 3/4/1
Hunter — 2/4/7
Priest — 0/11/8
“…Hyung. Honestly, this was a jungle diff, right?”
“Fuck.”
Aris, who had died two more times than Owen, spoke up, but Owen couldn’t refute it. A hundred out of a hundred people would have called it a jungle difference.
They had been thinking about it wrong. The reason the opponent had poured everything into the laning phase wasn’t to prevent the jungler from intervening. It was the opposite. They had used their lane priority to secure total vision control, allowing the jungler to do whatever she wanted.
As a result, the first set ended in a complete jungle difference, just as Aris had said.