Season 5: Chapter 79. The Masked Coach (3)

Almond had announced he was bringing a coach, but that didn't mean he could bring her immediately.

‘I don't think this will work...’

It wasn't like he was close friends with Choi Sa-Rang the way Sweet Radish was with whoever he was bringing. Almond didn't even really know what she did with her time. All he knew for certain was that she was absurdly good at LIL, which was why he'd pushed this so hard.

“Almond?"

The others looked at him, puzzled. Why wasn't he answering?

"Hmm... That person might b-be busy?"

Almond vaguely assumed that someone that extraordinary was probably busy.

"Didn't you work this out with her ahead of time?" Sweet Potato asked.

"No. We just briefly talked about it."

"You actually talked? This wasn't just coercion, right?"

"Yeah. That person brought it up first."

"You didn't mislead them, right?"

— lmaooooooo

— lmaooo

— Coercion lmaooo

— lmao the ones who were right next to him in Survival Craft have every right to be suspicious lmao

— The paranoia of those who have experienced Fertile Land...

— Sweet Potato lmao

— To be fair, everyone in Survival Craft volunteered to become fertile...

Almond explained that Choi Sa-Rang had raised the idea herself. He had agreed because he thought it was a good opportunity.

Sweet Potato finally accepted this. "Oh, really? In that case, that person is probably watching this stream, right?"

If Choi Sa-Rang had been that eager about it, she'd be watching today’s first Knight Order collab stream.

"That person is quite busy. They probably wouldn't be watching something like this at this time."

— ?

— ...?

— "Something like this" lmaooo

— That's a dig at the ten-million unemployed lmaooo

— What lmao

— lmaooo

— What do you mean something like this!! You nut!!

— Us...

***

Meanwhile, Choi Sa-Rang tilted her head in silence.

Almond assumed she was very busy, but she was currently watching that “something like this.”

"Goodness."

It was absurd, yet watching Almond fumble around trying to recommend her like this felt a little endearing. He wasn't the type to express himself smoothly at the best of times, yet here he was trying to persuade others for her. It looked genuinely difficult.

Well, he was asking them to hand the coaching role to an anonymous LIL player who wouldn't even share their username. That was a hard sell.

“Pfft.”

A smile found its way to her lips.

‘It's fun watching him struggle.’

Watching Almond squirm felt oddly satisfying.

‘I’ll let him sit with it a little longer.’

She could easily resolve this if she stepped in, but decided to let him figure it out on his own for now. Watching this kind of thing was what made the stream fun. She continued quietly laughing while watching.

‘Somehow...’

Without thinking, her hand drifted toward the phone beside her. Something told her it was coming.

Bzzt.

[Almond]

There it was. She picked up her phone without realizing it.

‘Ah.’

She hesitated for a moment.

‘I’m quite busy... I wouldn't be watching something like this.’

Was that the line? She felt mildly embarrassed that she had almost answered immediately.

"Ahem."

Choi Sa-Rang briefly waited.

Bzzt... bzzt...

She let it ring a few more times before picking up.

With that in mind, she answered, "Hello."

"Oh. You picked up quickly."

"I didn't."

"Pardon?"

Almond had only meant that the call connected on the first try. For some reason, she was saying that wasn't the case. Being told that she'd picked up quickly had irritated her for no reason, so she pushed back more flatly than she'd intended.

"I didn’t pick up quickly. I'm busy, so get to the point."

***

‘Huh?’

Almond was a little thrown off. Why was she insisting so much that she hadn't picked up quickly?

‘Does she have a physical technique for answering faster?’

As far as Almond understood, Choi Sa-Rang was someone with enormous pride in her abilities.

‘So, even answering the phone is a matter of skill for her.’

That was the conclusion he arrived at.

"No, I mean, you really did pick up fast." He decided to reassure her.

"...?"

A peculiar, sharp intake of breath came through the line.

"Impressively fast, actually."

"I didn't."

"You did. That was quite fast enough."

"You clearly haven't seen truly fast." Sa-Rang tried to hold her ground, but her opponent was a wall.

"I probably wouldn't, no. At that speed, there'd be nothing to see."

Sa-Rang finally changed the subject. "A-anyway, just say what you need."

Almond smiled quietly to himself, just barely.

‘It's hard to even compliment her.’

He assumed she'd finally accepted that being fast was a compliment.

***

When the call first connected, the viewers erupted.

— Oh!!

— It's a woman

— Wait

— It was a woman?

— Almond, the world's worst streamer...

— Damn...

They'd been expecting a deep male voice to answer the coach call. Instead, a woman answered. The opposite gender sent everyone's hearts racing.

— This is the first woman Almond has personally called, isn't it???

— Telephone date

— Oh

— An archery person?

— You social butterfly

— He's bringing a female friend as a coach!?

Everyone pretended to criticize him while quietly hoping to see some chemistry, but the conversation immediately turned strange.

— ?

— ??

— What's this about not picking up quickly?

— Huh?

All they did was bicker about whether she'd answered quickly or not.

Ding.

[NoLuckWithGirls has donated 10,000 won.]

[As an introvert, I don't get it. Is this flirting? Hehehe, I should try scolding the next girl I call for picking up too fast~]

— lmaooooooo

— lmaooo

— NoLuck lmao

— Gi-Chan...

— That's a massive misread lmao

— Scolding someone for picking up too fast lmaooo

It wasn't just the viewers. The Knights Order members, watching from a distance, were whispering too.

"Why is she so fixated on that?"

"I don't know..."

"Is there a time bomb on the phone or something?"

— Time bomb lmaooo

— lmaooo

— lmaooo

Sweet Potato felt uneasy that the person on the other end didn’t know this was being broadcast. "More importantly, shouldn't Almond be telling her that this is being streamed?"

"What if they start flirting~?"

“Bwahaha!”

They were supposedly worried, but clearly very eager for something to happen.

— This guy lmao he wants it to happen lmao

— The stream would explode

— Why does he want this so badly? lmao

— lmaooooo

— Then it really would become Devil's Plan~

— The demon advisor Potato Servant lives on...

Almond finally got to the point and asked her to coach the team. "Please, be the coach for our team."

"Sure."

The answer came out as if it had already been prepared. The Knight Order didn't know who this person was, but they immediately felt enthusiastic.

"Finally!"

"Besides picking up the phone, that answer definitely came fast!"

"That was quick."

However, this was where things got complicated. Almond had to explain the current situation.

"This is kind of like a... masked coach contest? Just among us... an audition..."

The rambling began. To be fair, this wasn't really Almond's fault. Hadn't they only just come up with this? It was inherently hard to explain.

— lmaooooo

— Masked Coach King lmaooo

— Coach King lmao

— Calling it an audition is honestly so disrespectful lmao

— Who would understand "Masked Coach King" lmaooo

— lmaooooo asking her to coach and it turns out to be an audition lmao

What was truly remarkable came next.

"Got it. I'll participate."

Again, she agreed immediately.

‘She understood that?’

‘What?’

‘How?’

The Knight Order felt stunned.

— ?

— Hm?

— lmao?

— She's just going along with it?

— She unlocked face ID

— Damn, face ID just works on her

— Disgusting face ID

Viewers thought she was agreeing because of Almond’s face ID, but Sweet Radish began to think differently as the conversation continued.

‘Something is off here.’

Face ID aside, the conversation was flowing far too smoothly given Almond's usual verbal skills.

He whispered to Sweet Potato, "Hey. I think she's been watching the stream."

"So, she picked up fast and understood the Masked Coach King thing?"

"I mean, what else could it be...?"

Sweet Radish and Sweet Potato looked at each other.

‘So, why is she pretending she wasn't watching?’

***

With that, all the coaches had been recruited.

"Shall I call them in?" Sweet Radish asked.

They planned to summon the recruited coaches to This World.

‘Will this work?’

Almond felt concerned.

‘Can you have multiple IDs in This World?’

He knew that LIL didn't allow duplicate accounts. Even if This World allowed multiple accounts, wouldn't her physical body data carry over? He had no idea how Choi Sa-Rang planned to show up.

‘But she said she understood.’

Almond decided to just trust her for now like how he'd trusted her orders back when she was in command.

"Hahaha. Hello."

"Nice to meet everyone~."

The coach candidates that the team members brought in began to appear. The strongest candidate among them was Kim Tae-Hyung, Sweet Radish’s former teammate who had recently transitioned into coaching.

"Oh? You're Tortilla, right?" Someone next to Black Tea recognized him immediately.

"Ah, yes. That's right."

Black Tea had also brought a former pro now coaching at an academy. Yun Deoksu’s in-game name was KnifeKnife due to his preference for blade-wielding champions.

"And you're KnifeKnife?"

"Oh, you know me."

"Of course, we played against each other."

"That's right."

The LIL professional scene was small enough that everyone was connected by a single degree of separation. The person Sweet Potato had brought was also a bit of a surprise.

"Reporting for duty~!"

"Oh! Gyeong-Tae?"

He'd brought in a pro gamer currently serving in the military. This person hadn't officially retired, but a return to professional play after his military discharge seemed unlikely. This looked like an attempt to get his name out before transitioning to streaming.

"I’m the jungler formerly known as BokChoy, Im Gyeong-Tae. Pleased to meet everyone."

— Whoa

— Oh it's been a while lmao

— Can you even coach while in military service??

Everyone wondered whether he could even coach while serving.

"Ah, I'm on my final leave right before discharge. It's fine time-wise as long as I don't earn any income."

— You're on final leave?

— Already???

— Other people's military service always goes by so fast lmao

— What

That left Lemon and Almond.

"I didn't bring anyone~."

Lemon hadn't called anyone, which meant the only candidate who hadn't arrived was Almond's. At this point, Almond had a strange intuition.

‘Something's going on... She's late on purpose.’

Almond had noticed something off in their conversation about her picking up so quickly. He tilted his head, trying to trace back the memory.

Ding.

Finally, she appeared.

"Hello." A woman with long dark hair entered. "I previously went by Best Yi Sun-Shin. I'm Choi Sa-Rang."

— Stunning!

— Huh???

— She was Best Yi Sun-Shin????

— What?

— She plays LIL too?

— Wait

— What

— Oh wow...