Chapter 13
1.
[P-position swap? Y-you mean it? Really?]
Harumong asked, stammering. They seemed thoroughly taken aback.
“Yes. I-I mean it.”
[B-but why?]
[I was kind of wondering that too.]
[Every time we scrim, Bullet-nim's damage is at least 1.5 times higher than everyone else's. That's why we won the opening team fights, too. Is there really a reason to switch?]
Heukrangi and Aura asked one question after another.
“Y-you all play Nova Syndicate a lot, so you probably know this, but… th-this game is kind of weirdly designed….”
[Weirdly designed?]
“Yes… S-supports don't just heal; they have offensive power on par with damage dealers….”
-That's true, yeah
-It's ridiculous how they keep buffing supports;;
The weapons each role used were different, but surprisingly, there wasn't much difference in DPS between damage dealers and supports. Supports had to heal, too, which was why their damage numbers ended up lower.
“O-one reason we keep losing fights even though I'm doing 1.5 times as much damage as the other damage dealers is this….”
The damage support provided. That gap was bigger than expected.
“Y-you came to the tournament on support even though you're not used to it, so you can't properly use your skills, heal, deal damage—you're not doing any of it r-right….”
-Damn
-She says what needs saying…! Bullet-Cola!
-It's true though lol
[Gasp….]
The voice chat fell silent for a moment. I guess what I'd said was a little harsh.
[……I'm sorry.]
Harumong said dejectedly.
“N-no, it's okay. Well, that can happen… You're free to choose your role. I-I bet it would've been less noticeable if you'd joined a strong team….”
-She won't even say they did a good job lol
-But watching Harumong, I kinda wanna strangle her, yeah;;
-H-honestly… I-I think it was shameless to join when it isn't even your main role…!
-Bullet-bullet, what do you mean by that…
Our team was weak to begin with, so it couldn't be helped. We were built in a way that meant we'd collapse if even one person failed to do their part.
“I-I guess, in the end, Aura-nim may have made a bit of a mistake picking her teammates….”
-Are we getting an Aura roast here?
-What was that drift;;
-What a sharp turn
[You're suddenly swerving right into me?]
“I-it's true, isn't it…? How did you even draft these people at auction… to end up with a roster like this….”
[There were 640 streamers! How am I supposed to check every single one of them!? I didn't expect it to turn out like this, either! And it was my first time being a team captain or doing an auction…!]
“…Picking t-this kind of roster out of 640 people is a talent in itself.”
-For real lol
-LMAOOOO
-True, how'd she manage to gather only deadweights? (Including herself)
-This is fucking hilarious lol
-A 3% win rate is a number you don't even see at Baskin-Robbins, damn
“Y-you could probably run a junkyard or something if your streaming career ever goes south… You seem so good at picking up junk…..”
[You know you're the 'junk' in that junkyard too, right?]
Heukrangi pointed out.
“I-I'm more like… an antique in the junkyard? Something like that… You know that pawn shop show with the bald guy… where someone buys something for 20 dollars, gets an expert to appraise it, and it turns out to be worth 200,000 dollars?”
[You think you're one of those cases? You're worth $200,000?]
“Well… y-yeah, you could say that….”
I smiled smugly and straightened my shoulders a little.
[What do you mean, $200,000? Considering the damage and trouble you've caused the tournament, you should be paying us $200,000 instead.]
“Th-then Heukrangi-nim can pay half of that….”
[Why me?]
“Because you kept insulting me and making false accusations….”
[Ah.]
[Kyahaha! Kyahaha!]
The girly duo burst out laughing.
-LMAOOOO
-That bitch always throws the first punch and gets hit even harder with the counter lol
-They're both so damn relentless lol
-What the fuck, a comedy duo lol
[All right, let's get back to the original topic….]
Aura clapped sharply, bringing the chaotic atmosphere back under control.
[So, Bullet-nim, you think we'd have a better chance if Harumong-nim and you switched roles?]
“Yes. That's right… A-and on top of that… could I-I take over as the main shot-caller…?”
[As the main shot-caller, too?]
“Yes… S-supports are in the very back, right? So purely in terms of positioning, I think they'd be in the best spot to make calls….”
Tanks had to hold the frontline, making it hard to read the flow of battle. Attackers varied by hero, but they had to keep changing positions, so their view wasn't stable.
‘Supports have to shift their positions around, too….’
I planned to leave that to Momoru, the other support. There were a few relatively easy-to-play heroes.
[Well, okay. Let's give it a try. We haven't had a main shot-caller this whole time, anyway….]
Surprisingly, Aura readily accepted my suggestion.
“Th-then I'm the commander of this team starting now…?”
[I guess…?]
“Th-then, from now on, I'll use informal speech. A-and you all will speak politely to me….”
[Huh?]
[What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?]
“Ahem…! How dare you speak informally to your commander? What unit are you with?”
[I'm unaffiliated?]
“I see… Anyway, for now, I'll handle the shot-calling and comms? And play support? And now I'll try using informal speech, too. Only during scrims.”
[Sounds good!]
[Let's give it a try!]
[Our win rate's 3%, so there's nowhere lower to go. Fine by me.]
The girly duo and Aura agreed without complaint.
[I can accept everything else, but informal speech is really a no-go… That bitch is already acting like that; who knows what she'll do if she starts speaking casually too….]
“The vote was held through a perfectly legitimate process, and I-I was elected commander. Or do you perhaps dislike democracy, Heukrangi-nim? Are you going to rig the election? Want me to snatch the ballots away?”
[W-what's with that insane rant all of a sudden!? No. That's not me.]
-Crazy bitch lol
-She really has no brakes lol
-The ballot-snatching joke is on another level;;
“You agree, right?”
[…What else can I say when you keep pushing it like that? Fine, do it. Go ahead.]
“Th-then I hereby announce that the motion has passed unanimously! I'll make our team great again!”
[Woooo!]
At the sound of applause, I kept bowing my head.
***
[The team we'll be scrimming this time is the Dog Hammer team.]
“…Dog Hammer?”
For some reason, the name sounded familiar.
[They're the people in that fight video you showed us earlier, Bullet-nim. The team with the second-lowest win rate, right after us.]
“Gasp! Why did you set us up against that team….”
Those people are kind of scary.
[I didn't ask for them; they approached us. I accepted because they seemed like perfect practice partners.]
“Th-they're definitely sparring partners at our level.”
[That team is treating us like prey, too. Apparently, they've been on a losing streak lately and their morale's low. I think they're trying to beat us to get their confidence back.]
I'd watched some of that team's scrims, too. When they lost, they tore into each other like they wanted to kill one another, but when they won, they praised each other like crazy. They had a strong team identity.
[Ha! That's ridiculous. They're the team with the second-worst win rate, and they dare think that? We really need to teach them a lesson!?]
“B-but that team has a 25% scrim win rate, so they might think that… And our scrim win rate is 0% now!”
[Why?]
“Harumong-nim and I switched roles…! The team we had before and the team we have now are completely different, so…! I-I think we need to start tracking our stats from scratch…!”
We're a New Neo Hyper Hybrid team now!
[I wonder if recalculating our stats will just make our win rate drop below 3%.]
“Th-that won't happen. It's impossible unless we're throwing….”
[Then you're saying we were throwing before?]
“Th-then are you saying we weren't?”
-Wow… you really hit the *core* of it…
-That was a profound thing to say…
-Your words truly rang out like a declaration…
[Enough talk. Just come in already.]
Aura sent an invite. When I accepted, the opposing team was already all there.
「Dog Hammer: Hey, can you hurry up already?」
“Hmm.”
Starting shit already? I didn't like it much.
「Me: Then maybe you should've sent the invite sooner….」
Ughhh, I couldn't hold back. Maybe I couldn't say it to their faces, but in chat, I had no problem standing my ground.
‘We need a little WWE, don't we?’
Just as everyone watched a fight between first and second place, there was a good chance people would be interested in the fight between last place and second-to-last.
『583 viewers………』
In fact, my viewer count had gone up quite a bit. That must mean a lot of people were interested in this match.
「Dog Hammer: Huh? lol」
「Me: Yesss.」
[B-Bullet-nim, what's gotten into you….]
[R-right. We should all get along…!]
The girly duo was horrified and tried to stop me. But sometimes, you had to come on stronger if you wanted to escape being a nobody streamer.
‘I'll use this scrim as a stepping stone to grow my stream…!’
「Dog Hammer: But shouldn't the team with the lower win rate—your team—be the one sending the invite? Honestly, with your team's win rate, you should be grateful we're even scrimming you.」
-Fact) true
-That's true…
-Thanks for scrimming with a team that barely has a 3% win rate…
“Ghh… It's all true….”
I couldn't refute it. But that didn't mean I had to agree with them.
「Me: Our team's win rate is going to be 100%, though?」
「Dog Hammer: Huh? What, how?」
Tap tap tap—
「Me: Our team has been reborn as the New Neo Hyper Hybrid team. Since we're a new team, all of our previous records are void.」
[Ugh, why would you say that? That's so fucking embarrassing.]
“Y-you should be more embarrassed about the things you've said, Heukrangi-nim….”
[You fucking bitch.]
「Dog Hammer: Where'd you get that stupid idea;;」
「Me: Right here.」
「Dog Hammer: Ah, okay. Well… good luck. Not that anything's gonna change lol」
Tap—
『The game is starting.』
The moment I started typing to reply, the game began.
“Grrrr!”
I slammed my desk once in frustration, then grinned.
“Dog Hammer team, you're dying here today…!”
Next chapter: Dog Hammer Team, Dead…!?