“Alright, this concludes the auction!”
“Wow, there were really unexpected combinations.”
“The directors who couldn’t recruit their desired players must be disappointed, but now the current players are our teammates. Whether we like it or not, we have to get in sync by the week after next.”
“The semifinals will be held starting in two weeks, right?”
“Yes, it could be considered a bit short, but in two weeks at this time, groups A and B will play their semifinals under the best of three matches rule.”
“Each team will be given two ban cards. The directors will need to diligently analyze who the ace of the opposing team is and what their main picks are before using the ban cards.”
“Yes. The ban-pick phase is one of the highlights of team battles. I can almost hear the heads of the directors aching right now.”
“Then, this wraps up the overall rules explanation and player introductions for the 1st Eo War Streamer Battle. Thank you for watching, viewers.”
The hosts at the desk bow their heads.
Is it finally over?
Glancing at the chat, I organized in my mind the team I’m part of and its composition.
So the team is under director ‘Jackie’. I have the highest tier, while the others are Platinum, Gold, Gold, and Silver.
It’s said that Grandmaster and Challenger are not allowed to participate in the first tournament for balance reasons.
It’s a tournament where the highest tier is Master, bringing back memories of a PC café tournament I had participated in with my friends in the past.
The Jackie team consists of Platinum, Gold, Gold, and Silver.
Among them, one Gold and one Silver are from players who were not selected.
Their nicknames are… Tex, Ryu-a, Cheol-woo. And what was the name of the last one again?
I can’t remember.
While biting the leftover noodle from my ramen, I held my head, wondering who the remaining member was. Was I going to have to rewind the stream?
[Jackie: Mollru, can you get on Discord right now?]
A message appears with a small notification sound.
It was Jackie, the director of my team.
Um, right now?
Is it normal to hold a meeting as soon as the team is formed?
[Mollru >> Jackie: Yes, that’s fine.]
I cleared away the ramen that was still on the desk and shared my Discord ID, quickly receiving an invite to the voice channel.
The five other members, excluding me, were already gathered there.
The call was ongoing, and judging by the lights on their profiles, I seemed to be the last to arrive.
There’s nothing more awkward than joining in the middle of a conversation.
I subtly slipped into the conversation and greeted everyone.
“Hello…”
“Ah, can you hear me? I’m Tex.”
“I can hear you well.”
“I’m having some lag, just a moment.”
Tex’s voice was slightly high-pitched, yet cheerful without being frivolous.
So this is Tex.
Cheol-woo and director Jackie replied in a lower tone.
In the middle, Tex’s excited voice rang out.
“Oh, I’m already excited. When I first got the offer for the tournament, I was really surprised. I wanted to participate since they said a tournament was happening, but I wasn’t sure if I could.”
“Me too! This is my first time having so many viewers! It’s also my first time playing a game like this with other streamers. It’s going to be really fun.”
“I’m feeling a bit… nervous. The scale is really big. The prize money and all.”
The high-pitched female voice empathizing with Tex sounded like Ryu-a, who also seemed to have high expectations for the tournament.
In contrast, another woman with a soft voice, Papijoa, seemed a little tense.
“That’s not all good, though. If we lose, it’s a struggle to find the culprit, and there’s the added pressure from the number of viewers. With that, there’s too much advice.”
“Since we’ll be monitored from practice to the tournament…”
Cheol-woo, the only streamer whose name I knew, spoke up.
I remembered watching some of his videos on YouTube.
His real name is Cheol-woo Lee, and as a streamer, he’s known as Cheol-woo.
He can be considered a veteran of online broadcasting, known for having a solid viewership base.
He’s generally someone who participates in tournaments for reasons far different from promotions.
In his introduction, he mentioned he came out to this tournament because he wanted to play games with other streamers.
As the oldest and most experienced among us, his comment considered the shadows that inevitably arise in such tournaments.
“Uh… advice. Now I’m suddenly worried. What should I do?”
Ryu-a seemed to react to the word ‘advice,’ indicating she might have been hurt by it in the past.
Tex and Cheol-woo comforted her.
What about the fact that no one heard my greeting?
I couldn’t find a good timing to greet again.
To find a moment to interject.
No, I mean, this is my first time meeting these people, and it doesn’t feel awkward at all. The audio isn’t even muted.
Why is the atmosphere so friendly?
“Has everyone gathered? I know you must be busy with your streams, but thank you for coming together. I’ll keep it brief today. I just wanted to talk a bit.”
Director Jackie spoke up.
“Mollru hasn’t arrived yet, sir.”
“Has Mollru still not come? I sent an invite earlier.”
“Is there a problem? I see they’re still streaming; I’ll check in on their stream.”
With Cheol-woo’s heavy statement, all attention was directed towards me.
Suddenly, everyone started looking for me.
“Uh, me! Um, I’m here!”
I got flustered and stumbled over my words.
The viewers enjoyed laughing at me.
[You need to come in and greet loudly so people know you’re around, lol.]
[??? : Oh, you were here? I didn’t know because it was so quiet.]
[??? : This is the first time I’m hearing this guy talk.]
[Ahhhh!]
[Memories of childhood…]
[PTSD hit hard.]
[We shared the same race; I feel a sense of kinship.]
[You were all lively on your personal broadcast, but now you’re just a couch potato?]
[Su Ah and Dae-sik were doing just fine…]
[They’re both a bit of a pushover, lol.]
[Truly, a man does not take words lightly. This is why I acknowledge you, Mollru.]
[Mollru is a woman though?]
[Lol.]
[Lol, for real?]
As I quietly listened to the conversation among the streamers, the chats were mocking me.
This time, I had no words to deny it and fell silent.
“Oh, I see you now. So everyone is here, right? It seems like you’ve introduced yourselves a bit. Today, let’s briefly discuss the agents we’ll be using, and we can work out some combinations.”
“Team play is all about combinations.”
“Director, don’t we need a team name?”
“A team name sounds good! Let’s decide on one today.”
Wow, the atmosphere perked up as people cheered.
I couldn’t keep up with the tempo and just tentatively joined in with some applause.
<Mollru's dedicated mazo-hist Oh Dae-sik has donated 1000 won!>
[Was this person a loser? Why are they so quiet?]
Ignoring the irritating donations, I focused on the director’s comments.
“Then let’s go around and state the picks each of us can handle. Tex, you have veteran, scout, outlaw, and bomber written down here, right?”
“Yes, I’ve tried other agents a bit, too. If needed, I can practice with other picks. Oh, I’ve been playing a lot of Swordsman lately; that’s also one of my main picks.”
“Who are you bringing Swordsman in front of right now?”
A mix of laughter filled Cheol-woo’s voice, making Tex exclaim “Ah!”
Swordsman had become my nickname.
It’s fine if someone else plays it, but still.
“Oh dear, Mollru is here. I’ll pass on Swordsman.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
Tex spoke passionately while Jackie tapped away at his keyboard.
Tex, a Platinum player with the second highest tier after me, will likely assume the DPS position.
Each of us stated the main agents we could handle sequentially, and Jackie wrote them down.
“Papijoa can handle Medic and Bard. Have you tried Witch before?”
“No… should I give it a try?”
“No, let’s wait until we see if we need it during practice.”
Finally, it was my turn.
“Mollru can handle Swordsman, Sniper… and the rest as well.”
“Yes, I can handle any agent.”
“So does that mean your skill level with those agents is at least on par with Swordsman and Sniper?”
“Yes. I can handle all roles, including DPS and Tank.”
When listing my most picked agents, I decided to reveal all my capabilities.
In fact, Swordsman and Sniper were the agents I primarily played after my physique improved and I excelled significantly.
Before that, I usually played veteran or scout, which required less hand usage and relied more on strategic plays.
Everything else is similar.
Among DPS, aside from agents that require extreme physical prowess, I had skills with most.
Though I hadn’t played recently, those experiences didn’t just vanish.
“Wow… that’s impressive. I can’t quite grasp it, but it seems like it will make forming combinations easier. I feel reassured.”
I’m weak to open compliments.
While I was awkwardly laughing it off, Jackie shifted the conversation to another topic.
“Okay, now that we’ve seen the picks, let’s set our team name. Does anyone have any good ideas?”
“Um, how about ‘Nothing Mollru’?”
“Isn’t that a bit too focused on Mollru? How about ‘Cheonje’—’Cheonhaje-il’?”
“That’s too old-fashioned, bro. Not fitting for today’s vibe…”
Various suggestions were tossed around, but nothing meaningful came of it.
Something like ‘Mollru, Moll? Ru. Mollrrrrrrrru.’
Most of it was random nonsense from Tex.
No, why does Tex keep trying to come up with a team name with me in it?
“How about ‘Cheol-Tex-Papi is Mollru’?”
“Oh, you just took the first letters, right?”
“I just threw them together based on the first letters.”
Ryu-a, who had been quiet until now, finally offered her opinion.
“Isn’t that a bit forced? ‘Papi’ sounds a bit like a pet name.”
“That’s ‘Puppy’, but there’s also a brand named ‘Papija’ nowadays.”
“Oh really? I didn’t know.”
“…This seems to be the best option among the names we’ve gathered so far.”
Tex, who was making side comments, was silenced by Ryu-a, and Papijoa agreed.
Cheol-woo, who had looked glum after being called ‘old-fashioned,’ finally spoke up.
“Hey, the director’s name is missing, though.”
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s hard to come up with combinations with my name anyway.”
After much discussion, the team ‘Cheol-Tex-Papi is Mollru’ was formed.
Amidst the cheers, I stared at the monitor with a slightly puzzled expression.
It’s a strange name, huh?
Will this team do well?
