The Direction of the Bet

The direction of the bet.

Nangin Geomgaek's bet request.

It was sudden, but I accepted his proposal.

The content of the bet was simple.

Within the next three games, if Nangin Geomgaek wins even once, I win; otherwise, I lose.

If he wins, I'll stream for just one day.

If I win, he'll grant me one thing I want, as much as possible.

It was a really simple bet, but at the same time, it was an unexpected one.

I don't know what his scheme was in wanting to make me stream, but...

Once the bet was established, I had no intention of backing out.

More than anything, the one who proposed the bet was incredibly arrogant.

I don't know what he was after from me, but proposing a bet with victory and defeat as conditions meant he thought he could beat me.

That's how the match was set, and I checked the broadcast screen.

Exactly three seconds after I matched, Nangin Geomgaek also matched perfectly.

I felt the success of sniping the sniper's bait and pressed the accept button.

***

As time passed, the number of viewers on Nangin Geomgaek's broadcast increased.

Now, it was approaching 5,000 viewers, and it was a broadcast of Nangin Geomgaek, who had risen to the ranks of a major corporation through his no-mic Leori broadcast, but...

Actually, the owner of the broadcast, Nangin Geomgaek, was focusing all his attention solely on the game to win the bet.

Chat kept pouring in.

Normally, if a streamer doesn't check chat, viewers stop supporting it, but even though Nangin Geomgaek barely used the mic or interacted through chat, the chat room was extremely active.

Actually, the reason chat was so active was simpler than you might think.

Nangin Geomgaek's broadcast was like watching a movie.

Continuing to lose but never giving up, rising again and again, just like the protagonist of a shounen manga.

Nangin Geomgaek was showing a clear, unmistakable growth against the mysterious Nayeon villain.

Viewers could see it too, and they kept cheering for the underdog who overcame adversity.

Even though this process was frustrating, viewers didn't leave the broadcast.

Or rather, they couldn't leave.

The possibility of victory that only Nangin Geomgaek had seen began to appear to the viewers watching the broadcast.

The Lord Dragon that would decide the outcome had regenerated.

The enemy team needed to secure at least four dragons no matter what, and everyone playing the game knew this fact.

It was play so artistic it could be called an art form.

Ally Nayeon entered through the waves, kicked the enemy Elise into the pit, and stole the Lord.

Yasuo's entry that dove straight in to target both the ADC and support overlapping on the hill at the same time.

But the ally Barus, who had already spotted the trap, flashed away.

Countless exchanges that were impossible to describe with words continued, and the trap either landed or was dismantled.

The artistic teamfight on the heavenly plane that lasted over a minute ended with the enemy team taking it.

Really, it was only a hair's breadth difference, and they couldn't catch Nayeon.

The only Nayeon who survived the teamfight headed toward the mid lane.

Pushing the lane, destroying the regenerated inhibitor.

Crack—

Crack—

Nayeon's lonely sword sound echoed through the gorge.

The sound approaching allies as a blessing and enemies as a curse kept coming.

Even though I tried to bring hope, the fastest reviving ally was the support Karla.

That also meant waiting a long thirty seconds.

Of course, finishing the game in that long time for Nayeon was possible even for someone seeing Leori for the first time.

So the ninth challenge, the second game of the bet, ended.

Now, Nangin Geomgaek had only one chance left.

But he didn't worry.

The ladder to cross that high wall.

Now it was almost complete.

"Huu..."

Nangin Geomgaek took a deep breath and spun the last queue.

Bets and all that, only the 'desire' to win moved his body.

Now, all his focus was on one purpose.

Nangin Geomgaek felt a free feeling for the first time in his life.

After a long time of patience and hardship.

Now, the time to win had come.

So the final game began.

***

The final game where the bet's result would be decided had begun.

Before the game even started, my head was already spinning a little, and entering the game made it even worse.

Because the enemy top, jungle, and support were all tank champions.

'The Sunflame Shield is too broken.'

After playing with Nangin Geomgaek for nine games, I could roughly tell what kind of item it was and how much op-tier performance it had.

At least the main items for tanks, the Sunflame Shield, and the Moonlit for assassins.

These two items, after directly experiencing them, were mythic items that boasted performance enough to make your head spin.

Of course, if someone asked if it was more broken than Nayeon's Inquisitor, it was hard to answer.

Still, the Moonlit was less broken than Nayeon's Inquisitor, but the Sunflame Shield was on the same level as Nayeon's Inquisitor.

[Minions have spawned.]

Minions spawned without any event in the invade stage.

Minions soon arrived at the lane, and the tenth lane battle with Nangin Geomgaek began.

'What is this feeling...'

It felt like touching a blade that had been honed to a razor edge.

A blade so sharp that it could slice with just a graze.

The momentum coming from Nayeon's Yasuo was not ordinary.

One might say such things as "what are you panicking about" or "that's just your misunderstanding," but...

I wish it had been a misunderstanding.

To erase this inexplicable burden I felt.

Even while securing all the minions, Yasuo never once gave up his shield.

He could remove the shield with a basic attack, but that would mean losing out on the damage exchange part.

If he couldn't strip the shield through harassment, it would be better to abandon it from the very beginning.

But he couldn't abandon the minions either, and every time he did, Yasuo dealt damage exchange on the line without crossing it.

The line standard here meant the line where the jungler ganking would decide survival.

Nangin Geomgaek was hovering on the edge of crossing the line and wasting his ally jungle's time.

Actually, ally Evelynn was preparing to gank mid in a place with no enemy vision.

'Pretty good...'

Evelynn who wasted time in mid left as is.

Then Yasuo, gathering his tornado, entered like a ghost and engaged in a damage exchange.

Even that damage exchange was short and blunt, without trying to take the kill angle.

Clearly, the situation just before was one where Yasuo could solo kill me.

But Yasuo looked beyond the solo kill right in front of him.

From Yasuo's perspective, if Evelynn were there right now?

The lane would tangle, and even if the solo kill was taken, I might die because my health was low.

Ally jungle Amumu had spotted the enemy top, and Evelynn could descend in the unseen situation, which was the best choice.

Clearly showing the will to abandon the solo kill and slowly, very slowly, drag out and kill me who hadn't managed health.

"Ha."

I read that will from Nangin Geomgaek and let out a dry laugh.

The monster who had proudly maintained Challenger rank with just physical ability was none other than Nangin Geomgaek.

Now that this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Nangin Geomgaek had also equipped some 'mental' ability, how many people would be able to stop this Nayeon's Yasuo?

Due to the sudden growth of Nangin Geomgaek, the pressure and tension became even heavier.

Ah, it wasn't sudden growth?

The experience accumulated while facing me three months ago.

Completely filled up by the previous game, wasn't it level up?

A silly but interesting thought filled my head.

The Nayeon in front of me was no longer the one I had known before.

The pressure felt from that 'he' who was once met and called a living legend.

A momentum similar to that pressure was felt from Yasuo.

'I need to concentrate...'

Concentrating too much in one game doesn't tire the body but the mind.

Physical can be covered by mental, but mental cannot be covered by physical.

A woman's body is too weak, but...

I had been covering my weak body with mental strength while playing games.

I thought I was getting a little better with exercise.

But perhaps I had only gotten a little healthier in the body through exercise.

[First Blood!]

Looking at this not concentrating thing.

***

[First Blood!]

"Huu... huu..."

Nangin Geomgaek let out rough breaths.

After concentrating too much on the situation just before, I felt a sensation like blood pouring from the nose.

Of course, no blood was actually pouring, but if this state continued even a little longer, it felt like blood would spill.

The first solo kill achieved under all conditions met.

I had definitely landed solo kills against the mysterious Nayeon villain before, but...

Even then, no matter how I took the solo kill, I had taken damage in some way.

After all, there was only one opponent mid lane facing me.

The pressure of facing both all along the lane battle.

Now, I had finally been released from that pressure.

Nangin Geomgaek, who had achieved the glorious 'true solo kill', didn't relax his concentration.

As the saying goes, glorious true solo kill.

After all, complete victory hadn't been obtained from the opponent yet.

So Nangin Geomgaek started rolling the game based on the gains he had achieved.

As the team's mid laner, exerting influence on both lanes and pressuring the entire lane.

The moment the honed blade finally shone.

That light created synergy with the allies and the game's balance began to collapse rapidly.

Tank Malphite with enormous synergy with Yasuo.

Tank Amumu whose influence in teamfights could be called number one.

Alistar, the 'pseudo tank' who would give wings to Yasuo's back.

For the first time, the game began to tilt toward the ally side instead of the enemy team.

However, even though the balance had collapsed, the game didn't easily come over to this side.

Even a toothless tiger is still a beast.

Even if Nayeon hadn't grown, he couldn't be complacent.

[Finished!]

Now, victory was really imminent.

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