Season 5: Chapter 82. All In (3)

"JeonJaPa...?"

In one sense, it was perfectly reasonable. When given the choice, people would pick the best player. However, it wasn't that simple for people who followed LIL Champions closely these days.

— ?

— Ah...

— It's been a while since JeonJaPa was active

— Picking him?

The LIL Champions Simulator was a program for currently active pros who had tournaments the very next day. Naturally, active players were far better simulated and easier to work with. JeonJaPa was simply too far removed from the active scene to be called current.

Every game evolved as its players developed over time. That tendency was especially pronounced in LIL. Champion usage knowledge accumulated, and the meta shifted countless times.

In the years since JeonJaPa had vanished, the meta had changed more times than anyone could count. Could JeonJaPa even function properly under the current patch? That question alone made him a difficult pick.

"This is a bit of a surprise." Sweet Radish, who had been a pro until recently, offered that assessment.

Sweet Potato channeled his inner commentator. "What's surprising about it? If you were picking, who would you take?"

"If it were me, I'd probably go with Saury, currently considered the best in form."

"Oh. The one whose nickname is great except for the actual fish part...!"

Saury was currently evaluated as the strongest mid laner in LIL Champions. Naturally, they were rated S+ like JeonJaPa.

Thud.

[Saury]

[Position: Mid]

[Rating: S+]

BokChoy, the opposing coach, had picked Saury. The pro scene was cold. Despite being a legend, JeonJaPa was no longer active. Both the game and its players had continued to advance. In pure stats alone, other pros would eventually surpass him. Saury was one of those players.

"Well, JeonJaPa is such a legendary figure. If you have a deep understanding of him as a player, you can make it work. Active players wouldn't have any reason to make that choice, but his stats are still respectable."

"Right~! He's a legend, isn't he!"

— What are these two doing? lmao

— Sweet Potato lmao

— Actually good commentary

— Sweet Radish does know a lot

With the knowledgeable Sweet Radish doing solid analysis, the atmosphere shifted to the streamers feeling obligated to offer commentary too.

‘Should I say something too?’

Almond didn't really need to say anything, but sitting completely silent felt awkward. He threw in a few words.

"Mm. I see."

He'd learned one thing about conversations at Ah-Sung. When an expert or important person was speaking, just repeating this phrase would earn someone a reputation as someone who communicated well.

"Agreed."

"I see."

"Right."

— lmaooooooo

— What are you agreeing to lmao

— He's just not interested

— Auto-farming the commentary lmaooo

Ding.

[EggPlant has donated 3,000 won.]

[Question! Is Almond a stupid young man?]

EggPlant fired off with an extremely cheerful girl's AI voice.

Almond went straight-faced and denied it immediately. "No, I'm not."

As always, his reaction speed was exceptional.

— lmaooooooo

— He's not falling for it

— Reflexes

— lmao he uses physical instincts in conversation too

— lmaooo nope??

***

Eventually, both coaches selected their full rosters of five players.

Dun dun.

BokChoy had assembled what looked like a current dream team, the players considered to be in the best in LIL Champions right now. Choi Sa-Rang had exactly one player still listed as active, and the rest were a squad of retired players.

"Alright, the team selection is complete. There’s not a single overlapping player between the two sides. That almost never happens in free-pick format."

"I think it's because Choi Sa-Rang's concept is very deliberate~."

Even her one active player, Cosmic, had recently announced his retirement.

"ADC Cosmic, support Marshmallow, mid JeonJaPa, jungle Banana, and top Popcorn!"

"Wow!"

Black Tea's admiration was followed by a wave of viewer comments.

— Kya

— Yes!

— Wow...

— Aw yeah

— Let’s go!

— lmaooo incredible

— Is this real?

— LIL Champion’s golden fleet

— Wow

This was the squad from JeonJaPa's prime era. For anyone who followed LIL, those were unforgettable years.

Lemon chimed in, "That woman is a real one!"

"Ah... but is this... good? Sweet Radish? Honestly, I can't tell?" Sweet Potato asked

"Right. This is... outside of JeonJaPa. You really can't make sense of the pick intent beyond the aesthetic. They've all retired, and the LIL meta has kept developing since..."

"Is she just a massive JeonJaPa fan or something?"

"Probably?"

Sweet Potato, who had gone all-in against Choi Sa-Rang, grew a bit aggressive. "Or! I hesitate to say this, but... given that her LIL history is also unknown... Worst case, is Choi Sa-Rang just a CK fangirl who never actually played?"

— lmaooooooo

— Fangirl lmaooo

— Haven't heard that one in a while lmao

— Choi Fangirl

— A fangirl is doing this...

— No way...

— Almond brought her to coach and she might be lmaooo

Back in the CK golden age, a CK fangirl was the term for fans who loved CK and cheered for them even though they didn't actually understand LIL. It was a kind of casual bandwagon fandom that existed in every sport.

Those fans cheered for CK and JeonJaPa even though most of them didn't even have LIL installed on their capsule. A large portion had never played a single match. LIL players who genuinely knew the game didn't really acknowledge such fans, which gave rise to the nickname.

There was nothing wrong with having fans like that. However, Choi Sa-Rang was supposed to be a coach. A fangirl with no actual LIL knowledge would be an enormous problem.

"Agreed." Almond suddenly agreed.

— Is he agreeing with the fangirl thing?? lmao

— Why are YOU agreeing lmaooo

— You just went all-in on her lmao

— He went all-in for the bit lmaooo

"Almond?"

"Agreed."

"No, bro. Do you know what being a fangirl means?"

"..."

"Ahem. So, from the position of someone who put their entire stack on that side, how do you feel about it? That’s an all-retired squad." Sweet Potato put it in plain terms so Almond could follow.

"Ah..." Several thoughts flashed through Almond's mind. "Retirement isn't necessarily because your skills declined... I think picking a retired player is still a valid choice."

"Oh... good point."

— JeonJaPa is fair game for that

— True

— Popcorn is kind of accounted for in Almond's mind, though

— Yeah lmao don't disrespect romantic fangirl picks

— Almond went all-in so he's speaking up for once lmao

***

“Is Choi Sa-Rang just a CK fangirl who’s never actually played?”

The coaches heard these words on their side as well.

‘A fangirl?’

Sa-Rang had already grown somewhat irritated by Sweet Potato's remarks. Being called a fangirl actually gave her a small measure of warmth.

‘It's been a while.’

She hadn’t heard something like that for a long time now.

‘This scenery too.’

Not just the fangirl comment, the simulator itself felt long overdue. Seeing the match venue rendered in the simulator gave her the strange feeling of having gone back in time. The way the staff and support personnel ran around in the rough simulation created a surprisingly convincing atmosphere.

Crackle.

A voice came through her earpiece.

“Coach, what should we ban?”

The voice was simulated from a player.

‘That's Marshmallow...’’

Marshmallow typically led the ban-pick coordination.

‘What to ban...’

Sa-Rang looked over the opposing roster. Banning, in a way, was like blocking a pressure point. Do it right, and not just that one spot, but the whole body went numb. It was the same with bans. Done right, not just one position, but the entire enemy team could be critically damaged.

‘They just went with the current best players.’

Sa-Rang still followed LIL Champions closely and knew everything about the pros. The current state of those players, why they'd been picked, and the compositions that could come out of them... Everything began to take shape in her head. She started writing things down on her notepad.

‘They have no natural synergy. They're going for pure stats and a high-value composition.’

Quickly, the number of possibilities from the opponent was narrowed down to a few.

‘High-value mid and ADC getting fed, early jungle and support play bridging roles, top doing mid-game bridging... which means...’

Her pen moved. She listed out champions and player names connected to each. Even the best players couldn't handle every champion equally. Each season had specific champions that were mained.

‘There have to be gaps.’

Beyond that, these players hadn't been on the same team. Champion range gaps were inevitable. Forming a team was like fitting different puzzle pieces together into a single picture.

Right now, those puzzle pieces had been pulled from completely different pictures. Exceptional individual skill could still make it roll forward in a clunky way, but what would happen if a single stick was properly threaded through the gap in those rolling wheels?

"Ban Monkey King."

"Understood."

The first ban went in.

***

‘JeonJaPa? Really?’ When he saw that mid pick, BokChoy thought, ‘Classic casual CK fan energy.’

‘Hmm.’

He'd been on the fence when JeonJaPa appeared, but then Popcorn and Banana were also picked. BokChoy studied the opposing coach's expression.

‘Mm.’

Nothing in her face changed. It wasn’t a mistake.

‘She’s definitely not an active player.’

Choi Sa-Rang wasn’t a particularly well-known name either. She was just someone famous in Civil Empire who had dabbled here and there in LIL.

The fact that she was a woman was also no small factor in BokChoy taking this lightly. In esports, 98.9% of professional players were male. Whether second division or third, he was confident that she had no competitive background.

‘I've gone a bit dull from military service anyway... Let's go easy.’

On top of that, BokChoy wasn't fully confident that his mind was as sharp as it used to be. He wanted to give his brain a rest ahead of the finals. What he'd assembled was basically an all-star exhibition squad.

‘Just pick whoever's the best right now and steamroll with raw value.’

His squad was built on pure stats with no consideration for player synergy or champion compatibility. With a setup like this, the picks naturally followed high-value compositions that scaled progressively better into the late game.

The most reliable path to victory was always a simply superior roster. Mid and ADC typically carried the high-value load. Having two of them was called a dual-cannon composition. When a stat-dominant team ran this, a weaker team couldn't win.

[Ban-pick phase begins.]

Under the current meta, common high-value champions numbered two or three. For mid, there were champions like Gunslinger and Baby Dragon. For ADC, there were those like Terrorist Bonnie and Demolisher Terry. In a normal situation, one would expect to see a few of these banned.

[Ban]

==== ===

1. Monkey King: Son

==== ===

The opponent's first ban was a peculiar champion used in top or jungle.

‘Huh?’

BokChoy smiled slightly and easily proceeded with the ban-pick. In the end, the opposing bans hadn't touched the mid and ADC, the two most critical pieces of the high-value dual-cannon composition.

[Bans]

==== ====

1. Monkey King: Son

2. Dragon Tamer: Jeremiah

3. Blind Monk: Jaguar

==== ====

Three champions had been banned. Even at this point, BokChoy simply nodded along and checked his notes. He had to work out what to hand to each player.

Suddenly, his eyes went wide.

‘Huh?’