Go Jae-hyun smiled. While he was primarily a healer, not a damage-dealer, Go Jae-hyun was undeniably a professional. His skill was such that he could easily reach Grandmaster rank as both a damage-dealer and a tank.
“Then, God Jae-hyun, would you like to join my Discord? I’ve sent you my Discord ID in a private message.”
Wadeulwadeul called out to Go Jae-hyun during her broadcast. Upon checking his messages, Go Jae-hyun found a new one from Wadeulwadeul.
[ Wadeulwadeul: wadle2 ]
‘Since there were two ‘Wadels,’ perhaps that was why her ID was wadle2.’ It was a rather charming way to choose a username. As soon as Go Jae-hyun sent a friend request to Wadeulwadeul on Discord, she accepted it immediately. Soon after, Go Jae-hyun was invited to a voice channel.
“Ah, ah. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you.”
As Wadeulwadeul’s voice came through Discord, Go Jae-hyun turned off her broadcast, as the audio would have overlapped.
“Hello. I’m Wadeulwadeul.”
“Ah, yes. Hello. I’m God Jae-hyun.”
There was an inexplicable flutter within him, perhaps because he was hearing her voice directly through Discord, rather than through a broadcast. It sounded more three-dimensional than when he heard it on stream, giving her voice a more distinctly adorable quality.
“I saw you briefly appear in chat during that hacking controversy back then. Thank you.”
“Ah, yes. I did. But I spoke rather ambiguously at the time, so I feel a bit awkward accepting your thanks.”
“Not at all. From God Jae-hyun’s perspective, there wasn’t much else you could have said.”
“Well, if you put it that way, I appreciate it.”
Go Jae-hyun let out an embarrassed chuckle.
“By the way, why are you participating in my viewer game?”
Wadeulwadeul asked suddenly. Go Jae-hyun had, in fact, already anticipated this question. It was, after all, something every viewer would be curious about.
“As a professional, I’ve never seen someone play so skillfully with their assist settings at zero. I wanted to experience playing against you directly. Even among pros, those who use genuinely low assist settings typically keep them around seven or eight.”
Go Jae-hyun spoke only half the truth. Everything he said was accurate, except for the part about him having orchestrated her invitation.
“Ah, I see. Well, for me, assist settings at zero are simply the most comfortable.”
“Having your assist settings at zero implies that you can perfectly execute all of your character’s movements in-game. How exactly is that possible?”
“Haha. Well…” It was a rather sharp question, but Wadeulwadeul merely smiled, seemingly evading a direct answer. Indeed, someone with such physical prowess would likely possess capabilities unimaginable to ordinary people. Not intending to pry further, Go Jae-hyun changed the subject.
“Since we’re both team leaders, why don’t we each pick one player?”
“Yes, let’s. How should we decide the picking order? Rock-Paper-Scissors?”
“Wadeul-nim, since you’re the room host, please go first.”
“Should I? Hehe…” Seeing her giggle like a fool, Go Jae-hyun realized she had intended to go first all along. Although he had never met Wadeulwadeul in person, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was someone utterly incapable of masking her emotions.
“Then I’ll pick this person. Latima? This player. They’re Grandmaster 1.”
“Grandmaster 1, that’s truly a high-ranked player.”
Wadeulwadeul immediately selected the participant with the tier directly below Go Jae-hyun’s.
The game tiers in Royal Commando were broadly categorized as the so-called “mineral ranks”—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond—followed by Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger. Within each of these tiers, players were further divided into numerical ranks from 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest. Thus, Grandmaster 1 meant a tier just below Challenger.
“Shall we check their match history and most-played heroes?”
“Ah, right.” Wadeulwadeul began searching by battle tag, and the player’s match history instantly appeared.
[ Latima / Grandmaster 1 ] Most-played 1: Siren – 78 hours Most-played 2: Rita – 31 hours Most-played 3: Delios – 8 hours …
“So, they’re a healer,” Wadeulwadeul remarked. Latima’s top three most-played heroes were all healers.
Go Jae-hyun chuckled to himself. He already knew Latima’s most-played heroes. In the high-elo queue, where the same players constantly faced each other, it was impossible not to know.
Furthermore, Latima’s top two most-played heroes, Siren and Rita, were renowned for being highly team-reliant characters. Both served as healers and buffers, which meant the roles of the damage-dealers and tanks receiving their buffs were paramount.
For this reason, Go Jae-hyun had never even considered picking Latima.
“Then I’ll pick while reviewing their match histories.”
“What?!” Wadeulwadeul exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief at Go Jae-hyun’s words. Her lively reaction instantly flooded the chat with laughter.
– LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
– What a great reaction, LOLOLOLOLOL
– But seriously, of course you should check their match history before picking, LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
– Jae-hyun, do you really need to win *that* badly??
– Bro, Jae-hyun’s being too competitive, for real.
While some viewers criticized Go Jae-hyun, it was all part of the WWE-like spectacle. As long as it was entertaining, nothing else truly mattered to the viewers, did it?
Consequently, Go Jae-hyun began searching battle tags, starting from the highest tiers, meticulously checking each player’s match history.
“I’ll go with this person. This player, Nanhalgeodahaetda.” Go Jae-hyun decided immediately after searching through three players.
[ Nanhalgeodahaetda / Grandmaster 4 ] Most-played 1: Ironbelt – 62 hours Most-played 2: Great Harli – 9 hours Most-played 3: Chen – 3 hours …
– Picking a tank user right away, LOLOLOLOLOL
– Now *that’s* a ‘pro’ move.
– Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit…
As Nanhalgeodahaetda’s most-played heroes appeared on the broadcast screen, the chat erupted in a frenzy of reactions. Royal Commando was a game structured around one tank, two damage-dealers, and two healers. Naturally, the single most crucial position was that of the tank. Knowing this, Go Jae-hyun had immediately selected a tank.
“……Alright,” Wadeulwadeul said, her voice betraying a subtle sense of disappointment. Go Jae-hyun inwardly winced, but the world of competition was inherently ruthless.
Frankly, this was a battle Go Jae-hyun stood to lose even if he won. He knew that if he triumphed, he would undoubtedly be mocked for giving his all against a newbie who had started the game less than a week ago. Yet, even that ridicule would be minor compared to the fallout of a defeat.
A victory might be dismissed as a mere joke, but the public shaming he would face if he lost was unimaginable. Therefore, Go Jae-hyun absolutely had to win this battle.
“I’ll make my next pick now too.”
Wadeulwadeul, too, now began examining match histories. Seeing her skip over high-tier damage-dealers and healers, it seemed she was also searching for a tank. Unfortunately, tanks were quite far down the list. This was inevitable, given the scarcity of tank players themselves.
“I’ll choose this person. Wapyakya.” Wapyakya was a Master 2 tank, essentially one of the lowest-tiered participants selected. There had only been two tank players among all the chosen participants to begin with. In that regard, Go Jae-hyun, by first-picking a Grandmaster tank, had already gained a significant advantage.
“Okay. I’ll make the next pick.”
“Understood.”
Thus, Wadeulwadeul and Go Jae-hyun took turns selecting players, one by one. The resulting teams were as follows:
– Wadeulwadeul’s Team –
Damage-dealer: Wadeulwadeul / Unranked
Damage-dealer: Boost / Grandmaster 3
Tank: Wapyakya / Master 2
Healer: Dwijom-bwajuseyo / Grandmaster 5
Healer: Latima / Grandmaster 1
– God Jae-hyun’s Team –
Damage-dealer: SIN / Challenger 4
Damage-dealer: twistedlogic / Master 3
Tank: Nanhalgeodahaetda / Grandmaster 4
Healer: Gwangdong Sniper / Master 2
Healer: Neodunadubaidu / Grandmaster 5
Aside from the tanks, there were indeed instances where damage-dealer and healer positions didn’t perfectly align. For example, Gwangdong Sniper on God Jae-hyun’s team was primarily a damage-dealer, but due to an abundance of damage-dealer players, they were shifted to a healer role.
However, Go Jae-hyun wasn’t particularly concerned. The tank tiers had a three-rank difference, which meant his team’s frontline was virtually guaranteed to dominate.
“Now, you can create the custom game.”
“Ah. I don’t know how to set one up myself. Would you mind creating it, Jae-hyun-nim?”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
Once the teams were finalized, all the remaining team members joined the Discord channel. The custom game was created, and every participant entered. Naturally, Go Jae-hyun had set a password and shared it only with his teammates, preventing anyone else from joining.
“Shall we split the Discord channels now?”
“Ah. Before that, just a moment.” Just as Wadeulwadeul was about to split the Discord, Go Jae-hyun called for a timeout.
“I apologize, but would it be alright to add one observer? I have a friend who wants to watch.”
“An observer?”
Custom games allowed for up to four observers. Since they wouldn’t influence the gameplay, there was no particular reason to refuse.
“It’s fine. Who is it?”
“Thank you. It’s Gaho, a close junior colleague of mine.”
“……They’re a professional, then.” Wadeulwadeul understood immediately. Indeed, if one knew God Jae-hyun, it would be difficult not to know Gaho, as they were on the same team.
– Suddenly, Cheongdo assembly, LOLOLOLOLOL
– What are you guys doing not practicing??? Isn’t the league starting next week??
– Oh, this *is* practice, LOLOL
Ultimately, Gaho, a damage-dealer from Cheongdo Magic Star, Go Jae-hyun’s team, joined as an observer. Since Go Jae-hyun would only be able to see in first-person during the game, he had added Gaho to provide a third-person perspective.
“Let’s split the Discord now. Our team will move to the lower channel.” Following Go Jae-hyun’s instruction, his teammates moved to the designated Discord channel. Now, it was a Discord channel exclusively for their team.
“You all know, right? If I lose here, our coach and director might actually tear me apart. We absolutely *must* win!” Go Jae-hyun abruptly declared to his teammates as soon as their room was separated. These were words that Wadeulwadeul’s broadcast wouldn’t pick up, as only her screen was being streamed.
His teammates laughed at Go Jae-hyun’s words. It was a team led by a professional versus a team led by an unranked player. Naturally, the professional felt a greater burden.
“Ah, of course.”
“I actually ran into their tank in a lower-tier queue once, and I absolutely stomped them.”
The teammates displayed confident attitudes. The Grandmaster tank, Nanhalgeodahaetda, was particularly self-assured.
“That’s reassuring. Shall we begin then?”
“One, two, three. Fighting!”
With a dramatic cheer, Go Jae-hyun’s team declared their resolve, and the game commenced.
****
The map was the Vast Highland, characterized by its wide, open battleground. Since the map was random, Go Jae-hyun inwardly smiled with satisfaction.
The Vast Highland, with its flat terrain, was the map with the fewest variables. It was, quite literally, the ideal map to showcase one’s aim and mechanical skill. Go Jae-hyun had gotten exactly the map he wanted.
‘Alright, show me what you’ve got.’
Go Jae-hyun muttered to himself, picking Mikhail, a sniper character. Mikhail was a character whose effectiveness relied entirely on hitscan aim. As a professional, he had no intention of resorting to something as embarrassing as an assassin character.
This would be a head-on confrontation.
