Season 5: Chapter 165. Platform War (1)

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

A massive cheer blanketed the stadium. Not just the sound, but even the shockwave vibrations were rendered, making hearts pound.

"Wow, this sound is..." Sweet Potato, sitting in the waiting room, muttered tensely, "The technology keeps improving?"

The Platform War used the same All-Dive system as the previously held streamer competition. The system was integrated with This World, using virtual reality to its absolute limit. It advanced daily, adding more realism. Participants in the last competition felt the difference firsthand.

Sweet Radish nodded. "Right, this is insane. Even the vibrations..."

His eyes also looked slightly tense, but nobody could tell.

Black Tea said, "I heard they also sold tickets in tiers this time."

"Gold, Silver, and Bronze."

"Different seats?"

"No, there’s hardly any seat difference."

The All-Dive system audience members could zoom in on the match right in front of their eyes whenever they wanted. Different seats were meaningless, but participation level varied by ticket.

"Apparently, your chat text appears larger the more expensive the ticket and the louder your cheer."

At Black Tea's words, Almond looked it up.

"Gold gets maximum chat size, maximum cheering volume, bonus betting points... and temporary legendary emotes..."

In virtual reality, all kinds of perks could be given.

"Even making your head bigger so you stand out is possible."

— lmaooooooooo

— late stage capitalism

— Wow so jealous

— That's expensive so there can't be many people

— Gold is the one that can influence the game

Gold tickets were ten times more expensive than Silver. They had all sold out.

Black Tea asked, "Oppa, then what about Silver?"

"Oh, Silver is the original All-Dive we knew. Bronze is the value model with no chat display board and lower volume."

— Bronze is honestly fine

— Actually Bronze was created for more seats so it’s value

— Money is everything...

Ba-bam!

[RubySword has donated 100,000 won!]

[Gold is nothing special. Bronze is the best value.]

— RubySword who says that is on Gold...

— Why is there a gold badge?

— lmaooooooo lmaooo

— Oh when someone donates, fireworks go off from the audience member

— lmaooooo

Stadium viewers could open a window to watch any streamer's broadcast. Even the ratio of ticket revenue paid out to streamers changed based on how long ticket buyers watched each streamer's perspective.

"Oh. RubySword, you even bought a ticket. Thank you."

On top of that, donations or chat from there appeared massive in the stadium, which was an enormous promotion from a streamer's perspective. Almond had to be grateful.

Ding!

[EggPlant has donated 3,000 won.]

[Gold is nothing special. Bronze is the best value.]

— lmaooooooooo

— Do you even have Bronze?

— lmaooo

— Same words sound different...

— Breaking news: high school graduate, “University is pointless”

— lmaooooooooo

— That's technically true but...

— This guy doesn't even have Bronze lmaooo

"Oh. Yes." Almond just nodded once.

"Wow. Hyung, but is even the heat rendered? The heat is really intense~."

"That's probably the capsule."

— lmaooooooooo

— LOL

— fr

— Heat isn't rendered...

— lmaooooo

— Get a better capsule~

"I-is that so."

Sweet Potato preferred to believe that. He'd been sweating gradually and started to think it wasn't normal. It was probably because the weight on his back felt different.

"This is completely different from the past streamer competition. Have you all seen Paprika? They're completely serious."

Sweet Radish scolded Sweet Potato. "Phew... just be quiet a bit."

"Oh, why! I need to talk to feel even a little relieved."

"Feeling relieved, relieving who, fool? Does Almond hyung seem nervous?"

— lmaooooo fr

— lmaooooo

— Right

— fr fr

Sweet Potato hadn't been talking about Almond.

'I meant Lemon.'

He'd said it with Lemon in mind, who'd been silent this whole time.

Ding.

[A message from the organizers]

[Today's match prediction results.]

Suddenly, a message arrived for the streamers.

[Paprika v.s. Cheese]

[5.1:4.9]

The odds were essentially five to five. They were so evenly matched that predicting the outcome was hardly possible.

— What odds

— What

— Wow tight

— 5 to 5 legendary lmaooo

— fr???

— Dead even

Sweet Potato, full of fight, called out, "Ohhh! Right! Let's do this!"

Black Tea pumped herself up too. "Let's gooooo!"

Sweet Radish had no particular reaction.

'This is unexpected. Did they deliberately adjust it to half and half?'

He knew Paprika's strength better than anyone because many of his old colleagues were there. A match had to be played to be known, but predictions would normally overwhelmingly favor Paprika.

'Or did our strategy leak?'

Sweet Radish even had this suspicion.

"Why? Why are we lower?"

He questioned his ears.

Almond was actually complaining about why they were lower.

— ?

— ...?

— ??

— Where's the shame?

— lmaooooooo

— lmaooooo

"Well, the thing is, Paprika is... more favored."

"Really? I won the last streamer competition."

"Bro, that was among ourselves..."

"I know. I won anyway."

Sweet Radish didn't know where to start explaining, but Almond's dynamic vision couldn't pick that up.

"Ahem. O-okey." Sweet Radish just let it go.

— “You are correct”

— lmaooooooooooooo

— lmaooooooooooo

— lmaooooo

— Is he just hard of hearing?

— lmaooooooo

— Lord Almond style humor~

Whoosh!

At that moment, the coach appeared.

"Everyone rested well?"

They all straightened up.

Sa-Rang pulled up a memo and conveyed the news. "First, all the other coaches confirmed the dispatch strategy again."

She looked at Almond and nodded.

"It'll go as you wanted."

Almond's eyes went wide and round. He looked seriously delighted.

"Now, let's go over the Group A Round 1 strategy."

***

While the players made final strategy adjustments in the waiting room, various content was being run in the stadium.

"Hello, I'm Yoo Hayeon from the analysis desk."

An announcer appeared to introduce each streamer and team one by one, comparing their strength.

"The qualifying Group A Round 1 is starting soon. Both Cheese and Paprika have volunteers selected."

Orange King asked from beside her, "WHAT!? Volunteers!?"

He deliberately overreacted and made a fuss.

"No, the group composition wasn't random! They took applications!?"

This was a struggle to get the tournament's features into viewers' heads as quickly as possible.

"Isn't this corruption!?"

— ?

— ?

— ??

— Overacting fr lmaooo

— Is Orange King also Gold? Why is his head so big?

— What's with the acting tone lmaooo

Announcer Yoo Hayeon received this with a beaming smile. "Yes! It kind of sounds like a theory Acorn Jelly would love, right? There’s no corruption. Both sides made identical strategic group compositions. Why would that be?"

Similar to Orange King, Yoo Hayeon shrugged and made exaggerated gestures expressing curiosity.

Hearts flooded the chat.

— Noona!!

— This is it

— Why is Orange King even here?

— Can't they just proceed with a Yoo Hayeon close-up?

— Legendary clip born;

"Why is that?"

"That's something Orange King should explain, right?"

— ?

— ???

— ?

All the hearts changed to question marks.

"Oh... probably because the teams that survive here advance to the next main round, so Cheese and Paprika are playing a kind of reading game."

The role-play had gotten muddled, but Orange King started explaining regardless.

"Hm? A reading game?"

"Look here. Not all teams in Cheese or Paprika are equally strong."

A chart showed each of the ten teams’ ranking. Orange King took Paprika's first place team and placed it next to Cheese's last place team.

"What if Paprika's first place team burned themselves out beating Cheese's tenth place team?"

"Paprika's team would be at a loss!"

"By that principle..."

Orange King pulled up and matched various numbers.

==== ====

Paprika 1

Cheese 2

Paprika 3

Cheese 4

Paprika 10

Cheese 1

. . .

==== ====

"If the matchmaking went this way, the average rank each team sends out would be the same. But! In fact, Paprika could end up with a clean sweep."

"Oh~! That's why it's a reading game!?"

"Yes. In this scenario, an unfortunate situation can arise where all ten main round teams are Paprika. Of course, there's no way it would line up this precisely...! The battlefield is full of variables! But anyway, to gain maximum advantage, group compositions were added as a strategic element to consider!"

"Then, who from each team made the group compositions?"

"I understand that it was coordinated, led by the coach of the first place scrimmage team."

"Correct! Before seeing those results, shall we take a look at who those people are?"

Ding.

[Teams to Watch!]

They introduced the top scrimmage teams and compared their strengths.

==== ====

Cheese

Team: Knight Order

Coach: Choi Sa-Rang

==== ====

"For Cheese, of course, it’s the famous ‘From now on we'll get first place, right?’ The Knight Order takes first!" Yoo Hayeon imitated Choi Sa-Rang, raising her chin and adopting a high-handed posture.

"Oh wow~! That was amazing!"

"For Paprika..."

==== ====

Paprika

Team: Underwater

Coach: Tortilla

==== ====

"Under the sea~ it’s team Underwater! The coach is Tortilla?"

"Oh, Tortilla...! Quite an impressive spec to be appearing here."

"Right. On the other hand, the Knight Order side has absolutely zero track record."

"Yes. That contrast is interesting, right? These two have even met before!"

— ??

— fr?

— When?

— No track record though?

Reference footage appeared. It was the scene of Tortilla losing to Choi Sa-Rang and getting eliminated.

"Oh... h-he lost?"

"Right. Even this kind of behind-the-scenes exists between coaches. It’s blood-boiling stuff! The Paprika coach lost to a coach with zero track record. He has sharpened his blade and returned to the stage!!!" Orange King shouted it almost like a roar.

"Yes. From Tortilla's perspective, there must be quite a deep grievance. Then, let's take a look at the group compositions these two made!"

However, the screen didn't advance. Question marks appeared above countless audience members.

— ?

— ??

— ?

— ...?

The Gold ticket heads had completely turned into question marks.

Pop.

"Noooow!"

A massive champion appeared in the center of the stadium. It was the caster.

"What group is everyone in!? See for yourselves! Paprika vs Cheese! Cheese vs Paprika! The long-awaited Group A’s first match!"

Huuuuumm!

Airships carrying the players appeared around him. Below that, the Survival mode Abyss Shadow appeared.

"BEGINNNNNNNNN!"

Players began jumping from the airship.

"GOOOOOOOO!"

[Group A Match]

— Wow

— What the

— Police as the organizer? Insane

— What the

The audience's glow sticks burned bright.