Stove League?

The live chat was already exploding.

Seeing the friends list grouped by team like this made it feel like a collection, which I secretly enjoyed.

I thought, Might as well collect one from each team while I'm at it. The match had just ended, and I let myself daydream for a moment.

"Well, I have another schedule in thirty minutes, so I think we'll have to stop here."

It was time to say goodbye to Bahamute.

"Ah. Thank you for all your hard work today."

"Not at all. I learned a lot thanks to you. And... if the chance comes up, would you like to visit the GOD Esports office sometime?"

A rookie player wouldn't make an offer like that on their own. It was clearly an instruction from GOD's coaching staff or scouts. And if things kept flowing this way, it looked like this world was following a similar trajectory to the first one.

In my memories, GOD Esports had always been a club optimized for player development. In their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first season after entering the league they mostly observed through loans, but once they saw the potential in the esports market, they became famous for aggressive investment in their second season—pulling back every promising player they'd sent out on loan.

That meant the current GOD Esports would definitely begin large-scale roster reinforcement and serious investment in esports next season. It was also more than half-certain they would form a three-way superpower structure with super teams like V4 and ZX.

To me, who knew this world was flowing similarly to the first one, this was clearly a good opportunity.

"...I'll think about it."

"Ah... yes, understood."

Of course, outright confirming I'd go to GOD while the broadcast was still on would be premature. I could still raise my value more, so I left some room and put off the decision.

"Then I'll end today's broadcast here. Thank you all for watching."

"Yes. Anyway, see you next time."

After ending the stream at an appropriate point, I immediately headed to Oh Seeun's room. There were too many things we needed to discuss, so this was unavoidable.

"Oh. You're here?"

Seeun greeted me casually as if she hadn't been waiting, but I could clearly see a bead of cold sweat running down her forehead.

"Should I speak first?"

I tested the waters, since there was a chance she'd done more than just create the NewTube channel without permission.

"Hmm... what could it be?"

Seeun smiled like she had all the time in the world and refused to show her hand.

"Didn't I tell you not to hide anything from me last time?"

"Then what is this?"

I showed her the video uploaded to the NewTube channel along with the additional description labeled "Official" to seize more control of the conversation.

"Ahaha... well, you see...?"

She played innocent, pretending she had no idea. I stared at her silently for several seconds.

"...Fine..."

Under the continuous pressure and my firm attitude, she finally looked ready to confess. Fidgeting uncharacteristically, she spoke in a tiny voice.

"...What?"

It was so quiet I couldn't hear properly. When I asked again, she avoided my eyes and spoke a little louder.

"...It's just that I want to see you, but interrupting while you're gaming feels wrong... At least with NewTube edits I can still watch..."

"And since it might help the broadcast too... I did a bit of editing..."

Seeun glanced at me nervously and trailed off.

"...So the biggest reason is that you wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see me...?"

"Yeah... After such a long, long time I finally created this body, but we barely get any chances to talk or even see each other's faces..."

"Haha..."

It was a slightly neck-pinching reason, but at least there was no impure motive. That was a relief.

"I see... Well, it's not causing any harm, so you can keep doing it if you want."

"Really? Thank you..."

Sometimes I still couldn't believe she was my clone. How could someone like her own face this much and obsess over it? Even if someone held a knife to my throat, I couldn't imagine developing feelings for a clone who looked exactly like me.

"You're not a narcissist or anything, right?"

"...."

"Right...?"

"...I can't say for sure."

The more we talked about this topic the more my head spun, so I decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, as you saw from the broadcast, it looks like pro teams are starting to reach out. I came because I thought we should discuss this together."

"Oh. If it's about that, I actually have an idea. Want to hear it?"

Seeun clapped her hands, her expression brightening as if she'd been waiting for this.

Did she already have a plan prepared?

"Yes. Let's hear it."

She rummaged through a drawer and confidently pulled out a chart, handing it to me. It contained various pieces of information about Stardust Gaming.

"STD? Isn't that too much of an eastern team?"

Stardust Gaming—STD for short. It was the team CSkiller belonged to. They'd finished fifth out of ten teams in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spring split, but I remembered them slowly collapsing from summer '39 onward. Honestly, all that remained in my memory was a low-tier team full of coaching changes, internal conflicts, and favoritism scandals.

"I know what you're thinking. But how about looking at this with me?"

What she showed me next was the market capitalization of the Crescent Group.

"Hmm... I know this is a successful company right now, but what does that have to do with STD..."

"Ah?"

Wait a second. Crescent was my old name—Oracle Crescent. Could it be...

Seeun smiled in satisfaction at my reaction.

"Yes, it's our company."

Only now did I understand why we were living in such a luxurious house.

"Then... are you saying we'll buy out STD completely and rebuild it from scratch?"

Seeun shook her head.

"No. I don't plan to go that far. Starting too easily wouldn't be any fun, would it?"

"We'll only get involved as title sponsor and in player recruitment matters."

Title sponsor... At the scale of this megacorporation, it was an offer Stardust literally couldn't refuse.

"Hmm... I roughly understand what you're thinking. Then the recruitment offer from GOD no longer means anything."

After a brief moment of thought, Seeun answered.

"If you really want to go there you can, but you'd have to give up the advantage of being able to adjust at least some of your future teammates."

"I prioritize your wishes above everything else, so the choice is ultimately yours."

The situation had narrowed down to two options: going to GOD, which guaranteed a western region spot, or going to STD in the east where I could become the team's center.

"The other teams don't offer much merit at this point, so it'll probably come down to one of these two."

The teams that would gain competitiveness next season were probably GOD, V4, ZX, AVL, KNT, and LF. But ZX would be busy selling players this year, and KNT operated almost entirely on youth players, so they clearly wouldn't be interested in mid laners. Even if I looked elsewhere, V4 had main roster competition issues and LF had front office problems. Unless I went overseas, there weren't many choices left.

Oh, and no matter how good the conditions were, I absolutely never wanted to go back to AVL.

"After thinking about it, I think going to STD is the right choice."

"An excellent decision. Then I'll head out right now to finalize the sponsorship with Stardust?"

"Wait, that fast...?"

"I've ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been softening them up for months. It'll be done quickly, so just wait a bit."

She really was an unpredictable person.