Season 5: Chapter 78. The Masked Coach (2)

Every Knight Order member trusted Almond in two different ways. The first was his in-game skills as measured by his VNS rating. They recognized Almond as the best at solving problems through raw mechanical ability, even in a group that included Challenger ranked players and a former pro. As for the second kind of trust, he'd probably want it to be called his deductive reasoning.

‘His streaming instincts, his streaming ability, the grace of the Lord...!’

The second thing they trusted in Almond was his feel for the stream. Every one of them had benefited enormously from following the Lord in Cheese Village. Sweet Potato and Sweet Radish had essentially doubled their viewer counts. Even the already popular Black Tea and Lemon had seen increases of over 30%.

From the perspective of streamers, Almond was simply a god. It was no surprise that they had boundless faith in whatever he steered toward.

"I’m not telling."

He'd announced that he wanted to bring in a hidden master as coach. Then, he refused to share even the username. They instinctively read a deeper intention into this absurd statement.

"So, it's like a masked coach thing?"

"Then, should we all bring whoever we're recommending and do a skills showdown?"

"Oh. That works. One-on-one tells you everything you need to know."

"That sounds so fun~!"

Suddenly, they arrived at this conclusion on their own.

‘This is actually working?’

Ju-Hyeok had been watching closely to see how Almond would persuade them. He couldn't believe how simple it had been.

‘It really turned out like this?’

How much preparation had he put in to convince them? All the material he'd assembled, the data he'd analyzed, the psychology he'd anticipated and planned around...

Whoosh.

Ju-Hyeok turned away with a prim expression and tried it himself. “I’m not telling.”

In one sentence, everything was resolved.

‘What even is this?’

He scratched his head.

***

Ji-Ah glanced toward the director's office. She'd been checking in that direction roughly every ten minutes.

‘Having him this close by is oddly distracting.’

Her eyes just drifted there without her meaning to. Whenever she paused from editing and her mind wandered, she'd look toward Ju-Hyeok. The view from that direction happened to be nice too, which made it look natural enough.

‘What is he doing?’

“Pfft!” Ji-Ah couldn't hold back a laugh.

She'd just watched Ju-Hyeok suddenly turn his head away all alone and mutter something to himself.

‘So, that's how he works.’

This was the first time she'd actually spent time working in the same space as him. It felt strange and fluttery like they were a real team now.

‘Is her neck stiff?’

Macaron watched Ji-Ah rotating her head and doing odd little stretches. He tilted his own head in puzzlement. Out of some vague instinct, he did a stretch too. What Ji-Ah considered natural was entirely her own assessment. From Macaron's perspective, it was strange enough to make him wonder if there was a company policy requiring stretches every twenty minutes.

‘Is there some kind of policy? Come to think of it... I haven't received any guidance at all.’

He realized he'd never been told how the work was supposed to be done or given any procedures.

‘Is it just like this?’

Click. Click.

Macaron just edited the way he always had at home.

‘Actually, this might be surprisingly comfortable.’

Since the way he worked hadn't really changed, there wasn't much to be uncomfortable about. What felt uncomfortable was the video he was currently editing.

‘Watching myself faint is a genuinely strange feeling...’

The image of Kim Ji-Hu in the footage felt unfamiliar, like watching someone else. So many people surrounded him. He watched the moment when they thought he'd died, and then he came back. He looked at their reactions.

Macaron had to clip and zoom into their expressions one by one, so he had no choice but to look closely. Everyone was shocked, but also delighted. Some were clapping with their mouths wide open, heads thrown back, and beaming.

‘Did waking back up really mean that much to them?’

Macaron scratched his head. He had felt the same at the dinner. Everyone was talking about something with so much energy while laughing. The director had been so worked up that his rear end was practically levitating throughout the footage.

‘Hm? Is this... me?’

There was a clip of Macaron laughing and completely losing it. He barely recognized himself having a conversation with Ji-Ah and a few other Jang Productions editors.

‘I thought I would look really weird.’

Watching it like this, he looked like any ordinary person. No matter how much he zoomed in, how carefully he looked at himself from every angle, he looked just like any other person working at a company. This realization could seem self-deprecating to some, but not to Macaron.

‘It’s actually pretty convincing.’

Most people rarely get to see themselves from a third-person perspective. Generally, who they thought they were and who they actually were diverged considerably. Maybe Macaron had learned something. What had been keeping him confined wasn't that tiny room.

‘Was it just me?’

It had been his own thinking. His mind had been the only thing imprisoning his body all along.

Zzzzzt.

Right then, his phone rang.

[Mom]

‘Ah, right!’

Macaron jolted up from his chair.

"You okay? What's wrong?"

"Ah, that, um... M-my mom is calling..."

"Oh!" Ji-Ah's eyes went wide too.

‘He was a shut-in, wasn't he?’

She didn't know exactly how long he'd been in his room. A son who had finally come outside after who knew how long, and then he sent zero word and still hadn't come home? Of course, there would be panic.

"Go answer it."

"Yes, yes!" Macaron dashed out of the office and took the call.

"Hey. Ji-Hu! Why haven't you been answering?"

"Ah, no. Mom, I sent you a text..."

"How am I supposed to know if you sent it or someone who kidnapped you sent it... Goodness..."

"No, Mom. I'm at work. We can talk later."

"Is it really work? Your sister sent me something. She says you fainted. What does that mean?"

Of all things, she'd seen that video.

"You're not being bullied, are you?"

"Oh, come on, Mom! I'm not a child..." Ji-Hu had been about to say he wasn't a child, but the words dried up.

The spectacle of someone who couldn't step outside his own room confidently declaring that he wasn't a child was funny.

‘Is it accurate that I'm not being bullied?’

For a moment, he reflected on whether Mixed Nuts, this enormous and somewhat violent system, constituted bullying or not.

Ji-Hu shook his head.

‘Compared to Ah-Sung, this is nothing.’

He had faked fainting, but Ah-Sung had real fainting once a week.

‘I saw it in Survival Craft.’

Ji-Hu's world had been inside a monitor all this time. He had seen another version of Ah-Sung in Survival Craft. That place was a hell where people turned into soil and plants were grown from them. Then, more people were hired and turned into soil... Such a human composting system would make even a demon king's head sorcerer weep. That was Ah-Sung.

Ji-Hu calmly said with certainty, "Mom, it's fine."

It was a good place.

"Everyone here is kind. I'm going to do well."

"..." His mother went quiet for a moment. "Good... I'm proud of you, son."

She said it with some effort, and the call began to wrap up.

"Text me if you have to stay out again."

"Yeah."

Click.

Ji-Hu hung up. Then, he immediately sent his sister a message.

[Don't show Mom the videos, okay? Seriously.]

A company founded by two people had someone faint at their office. His mother definitely wouldn’t be pleased.

[Sister: Hm? Oh lmaooo oppa what is that company?? lmaooo I was genuinely shocked lol]

Ji-Hu fired back a string of messages defending himself before heading back inside. Warm air met him at the door. He could see sunlight pushing through the glass curtain wall.

"Guess summer is nearly here."

The warmth had nowhere to escape to. The inside felt especially sunny.

***

"This is going to be so fun! Masked coaches!"

"Coaches going one-on-one sounds incredible."

The conversation converged toward a one-on-one contest to determine the coach.

Almond quickly shouted, "Theory only!"

"?"

"L-let's do it in theory only."

Virtually all VR games had no concept of alternate accounts, especially LIL. Even if Choi Sa-Rang could play for a bit, she'd be on her main account.

‘That won't work.’

He couldn't reveal that she was JeonJaPa. She obviously wouldn't want that, hence the contest being only on theory.

"Analysts and coaches are all about theory anyway, aren't they?"

"Oh..." Sweet Radish found it slightly puzzling.

‘Wouldn't a live game be better than theory for the stream, though?’

Not that coaching had anything to do with live gameplay, but there was nothing like a one-on-one match from a watchability standpoint.

‘But if the Lord has decided on this... it must mean something.’

Were LIL skills even that important? For streamers, the stream was what mattered. In a competition like this, the coach's actual role wouldn’t be much anyway. It consisted of some third-party commentary and mental support, nothing too demanding. Following whatever made for better streaming made sense.

Everyone thought along similar lines, especially Sweet Potato. He was obsessed with the broadcast’s potential and already grinning.

‘Who is this person, really? Why is the Lord being so weird about it? Are you bringing in someone like JeonJaPa...?’

It was practically written on his face.

Sweet Radish looked at that transparent, calculating expression and shook his head.

Then, he made a suggestion. "Should we use that? The LIL Champions Simulator that pros use."

Only pro teams used this program. Players would play as an analyst or coach in the LIL Champions League, assemble a roster, call for bans and picks, and direct strategy. It was a full-on simulator. Most people had only heard of it, but Sweet Radish was quite familiar with it as a former pro.

"Oh... I've only ever heard about it."

"But oppa, that's Siege mode only, isn't it?" Black Tea seemed to know about the simulator too and mentioned it with mild disappointment.

Sweet Radish shrugged. "So what? The finals are Siege mode anyway."

"Oh, right. Can't be helped."

Almond felt startled again.

‘Wait. The finals are in Siege mode?’

He was hearing this for the first time and looked over to the viewer chat.

— Right, the finals are in siege mode, isn't that obvious?

— Finals locked in mindset

— Do you even need a coach for survival mode?? lmao it's a casual mode

— Picking the coach based on siege might actually make more sense

Why did everyone just accept the finals being in Siege mode as obvious?

Almond switched his mic to the viewer channel. "Everyone, is the final round Siege mode?"

— ?

— ?

— ...?

— lmao you didn't know?

— But you watched the video lmaooo

Apparently, it had been mentioned in the rules explanation video.

— Making his attendants watch it twice while he himself doesn't know lmaooooo

— LMAO

— He was eating spicy almond snacks. Of course, he missed it

— He just straight-up didn't watch it LOL

— Hahaha

‘I didn't know.’

Why didn't he know? He'd watched the video twice.

‘I guess I didn’t pay enough attention.’

Almond had watched it carelessly and never read instructions about anything. The Platform War briefing was essentially an instruction manual, so he'd let it go in one ear and out the other. He had been significantly more invested in the spicy almond snacks.

"Wow. That's a genuine twist."

— lmaooooooo

— Self-twist, what is this lmao

— That's not a twist

— Your head is what's twisted

— LOL

— LMAO

— Total twist

— Siege mode is something you already played, it doesn't really matter

— Hahaha

The viewers didn't know why Almond was so startled.

‘We have to beat those people in Siege mode.’

He knew who was on the hidden team, so he understood just how brutal this format was.

Sweet Radish made a crisp proposal. "So, should we contact our coach candidates and get going? Everyone bring someone."

Finding a coach before practice would be more efficient that way.

"Yeah. Let's do that."

"Sure!"

Everyone nodded. Almond had been the most forceful about proposing this, yet now he hesitated.

"Ah... the thing is... I'm not sure that person is available right away..."

Would Choi Sa-Rang be free? Was she busy? These worries began to surface.

‘Wait. Why is he hesitating now?He was talking like he'd bring someone immediately.Just how impressive is this person?’

Even the Knight Order members could tell that whoever Almond found was someone difficult to deal with. Their expectations for this mystery coach kept rising.

***

Meanwhile, Almond's stream was playing on a large screen in a large room. The woman in the wheelchair tilted her head while watching it.

‘I’m available right now...’