We'll Show You What We've Got

They say life is full of unexpected twists and turns.

It was an old proverb meaning that human happiness and misfortune are difficult to predict.

Na Jia wasn't one to spout proverbs, but there had never been a time in her life when those words resonated as deeply as they did now.

Before the group stage began, Na Jia had to prepare for a lot of things.

Those preparations included what to do in the event of a "disastrous defeat."

If they lost due to a poor performance, it was obvious that Yu Nabi, who would inevitably be singled out as the culprit, would face a barrage of criticism... and outright abuse.

Since Na Jia had a large, passionate fanbase, the backlash could have been even more severe.

Some might say she brought it on herself, but she wasn't the type of person to be that irresponsible.

After all, she was the one who had snatched away the player Hanul had his eyes on.

In that case, she had to shoulder the consequences and responsibilities that Hanul would have otherwise faced.

So, she had laid down a lot of groundwork before the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠match.

Claiming she was confident they would win all their group stage matches.

Boasting that she had come up with an incredible strategy.

She had spouted all kinds of nonsense and bravado, deliberately drawing all the aggro to herself.

That way, even if they lost, people would just laugh it off as a joke, saying, "Well, of course that didn't work," or "Did you really think you could pull that off?"

Her plan was to make the situation so ridiculous that they could just sweep it under the rug with a laugh.

She calculated that while she would inevitably take some flak, at least her own fans would stand by her side.

In other words, she never actually expected to win them all.

The nonsense she didn't even believe herself had become reality.

No.

That's not it at all.

I had absolutely no idea this would actually work.

What do you mean, "good at drafting"?

The moment the auction ended, my first thought was, 'We're screwed.'

In any case, things were taking a bizarre turn.

She had expected to spend today's stream doing massive damage control.

That expectation wasn't entirely wrong. She still had to stream to deal with the situation.

The only thing that had changed was the nature of the "situation" she had to deal with.

Things had gone well. Way too well.

Na Jia's eyes drifted to a button on her interface.

Pressing this button would switch the screen to show her avatar.

Closing her eyes tightly in tension, Na Jia took a silent, deep breath.

The moment her trembling hand pressed the button, she put on a smug expression as if she had never been nervous at all.

She even smirked, curling up one corner of her mouth.

"Ha. Hello, everyone. I am the genius team leader, Na Jia, the mastermind behind our undefeated run in the Challengers Cup group stage."

"You ask how much of it was planned? Ha, all of it, of course. I told you before the stream even started, didn't I? I was confident we'd win them all."

Na Jia knew it too.

She knew she was being incredibly shameless right now.

Honestly, her face was already burning, and she wanted nothing more than to fan herself.

If avatars had a feature that reacted to the user's embarrassment, hers would have turned beet red long ago.

But the die was cast.

She couldn't back down now and say, "Actually, I didn't expect this either! But somehow it worked out... hehe."

Since she couldn't stop, she had to double down on this persona!

She had no idea where the misunderstanding had even started, but somehow, all the pieces had fallen perfectly into place.

Thus, Na Jia had to resort to the bizarre tactic of spouting even greater nonsense to cover up her previous nonsense.

Fortunately, she had an ally.

It was Siz, who played the Artilleryman for their team.

He had been dragged into this simply because he was Na Jia's editor.

Such was the tragic fate of a salaried worker: when the boss says jump, you jump.

The two desperately kept the conversation going.

On the surface, they seemed perfectly calm, but to anyone who knew the truth, it was a pitiful struggle for survival.

"DoNotTalkToMe? Well, she's a bit shy. But her skills are the real deal. You all saw the match, right? If we had to vote for an MVP, every single one of us would vote for Nabi. Right, Siz?"

"That's right. At least, that's what I think. The Berserker made the biggest impact. And yes, requesting the curse from the Warlock was indeed agreed upon by the entire team beforehand."

"She said she wanted to focus entirely on combat. Given Nabi's personality... well, you all know how she is, right? And the result was a massive success."

It wasn't a lie.

Nabi had indeed requested the curse herself, and the team had accepted it.

For Nabi, to whom the very presence of other people acted as a debuff, it was indeed a fitting choice "given her personality."

It was just that the reality of the situation was slightly different from what the public imagined.

Same bed, different dreams.

Everyone looked at the same thing, but they all envisioned something entirely different.

"And while our comp might seem a bit unstable, the synergy itself isn't bad. It's true that Berserkers are currently very strong Bruisers, right? So..."

Now, there was absolutely no turning back.

Throughout this tournament, Na Jia had to maintain the concept of an "extreme dopamine-addict team."

Even if they couldn't win the tournament, they had to be remembered as the craziest team.

And that night.

As soon as she ended her stream, Na Jia called Nabi.

Upon hearing the explanation, Nabi reacted exactly as expected.

"W-W-W-What... wh-what..."

"W-W-W-What... wh-what?"

"What on earth did you do?!"

However, Nabi's trembling voice sounded incredibly cute.

So cute, in fact, that it made Na Jia think, Maybe I should just enjoy this?

This even led her to another ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought.

What if? Just what if?

What if they actually won the tournament by pushing this concept to the limit?

Wouldn't the impact be way bigger than it was now?

If that happened, Yu Nabi's reputation would be ruined beyond repair... but that was a problem for future Na Jia to worry about.

The professional league is a highly serious competition.

The sheer amount of practice and strategic planning that players, coaches, and managers put in for a single match is beyond measure.

It is not surprising that a single tournament spans several months.

However, the Challengers Cup, a streamer tournament, is cut from a different cloth.

At its core, it is a tournament where generating buzz is far more important than winning itself.

The tempo was much faster to generate maximum hype in a short period.

Not long after the chaotic group stage ended, before the burning hype could even cool down, the main tournament bracket arrived.

Our opponent was Team Hanul, who advanced from the group stage in second place.

He was the streamer who had originally planned to recruit me, and a man famous for his bitter rivalry with Na Jia.

Na Jia herself claimed they were actually on good terms.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Honestly, I wasn't so sure. I had never personally seen them acting friendly.

But then again, if they really hated each other, they wouldn't have been associated for so long.

In any case, this match drew a massive amount of attention for various reasons.

A match between two famous rivals.

And my second official match, now that I had become famous as the "socially awkward Berserker," the "hot-headed Berserker," and the "dopamine addict"...

Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more unfair it felt.

I could accept "socially awkward Berserker."

Because it was true. It hurt a bit, but it wasn't a lie.

If I stretched it, I could even tolerate "hot-headed."

But a "dopamine addict"?

That was 100% pure fabrication.

I wasn't some lunatic who couldn't find enjoyment in scrims.

If anything, I was the type who couldn't perform properly in scrims because I was too nervous.

Using Frenzy was a desperate measure to focus solely on the fight.

Regardless, it seemed the public's misunderstanding was not going to die down anytime soon.

The commentators' next words made me grimace.

Don't think about it.

Don't think about it.

Don't think about it.

Team Hanul's composition consisted of two Tanks, two Bruisers, and two Supporters.

It was a composition so heavily focused on melee combat that it could only be described as extreme.

Consequently, their performance in scrims had been quite polarizing. They were overwhelmingly strong against certain teams, yet completely helpless against others.

As for our team... we were, of course, their worst matchup.

After all, there was no way I could hold off four of them on my own.

When the bracket was first decided, I honestly thought, Well, this is as far as we go.

Surely, even Na Jia would be cautious during her interview today.

I managed to calm my racing heart after taking deep breaths for a few minutes.

Now was the time to prepare for the match.

Before the match started.

When asked about her determination, Na Jia replied:

"Confidence? Of course I have it. We're going to bury an axe right in Hanul's head. We'll show you what we've got!"