Season 5: Chapter 85. Because I Like Them (3)

Bzzt.

At that moment, several messages began appearing in a group chat. The former CK players had made this chat for the competition.

[Popcorn: lmao (link)]

[Popcorn: Choi Seong-Hyeon actually went and became a coach?]

[Popcorn: This guy's pride had him doing coach tryouts and everything lol he's actually insane]

These messages from Popcorn started it.

Bzzzt!

[Cosmic: What the hell?! We really get on his nerves that much]

[Banana: He said he's upset they didn't include him...]

[Cosmic: How would we include him? he can't play]

[Banana: Use him as a coach then]

[Cosmic: Are you serious? Do you not know his personality?]

[Popcorn: Banana liked him even back when he thought Choi Seong-Hyeon was a guy~ pour one out~]

[Cosmic: lmaooooooooooooo]

[Cosmic: Honestly, probably liked her less once she turned out to be a girl]

[Popcorn: Lmaoooo insane]

Just from the messages alone, anyone could practically see Banana's face turning red.

[Banana: Can you please stop saying that stuff ㅡㅡ]

Whenever things got this far, Marshmallow always stepped in.

[Marshmallow: You guys tease him with the same thing every time, give it a rest...]

[Marshmallow: Separately though, if we brought Seong-Hyeon in as coach, it'd be way too conspicuous. Mid is our only gap. Having some random person show up as a coach would be weird.]

[Popcorn: That's fair?]

[Marshmallow: This is probably the best she can do. She knows it too, probably.]

[Cosmic: But would she even be able to coach? She'd be going, "Why doesn't this work? I genuinely don't get it? every five minutes lmao]

[Popcorn: Lmaooooooo fr]

[Marshmallow: She did fine as commander at the world championship.]

[Cosmic: That's because Cookie trained everyone up, and she just did the showboating part]

[Marshmallow: lol]

Marshmallow could feel it. Cosmic still had a lot sitting with him.

[Banana: Wait? She's picking all CK players?? lmaooo]

[Popcorn: Nice]

[Cosmic: Okay, for me that's one thing, but picking banana genuinely means she has no intention of winning]

[Popcorn: Lmaooooooo]

And yet, astonishingly, Banana hard-carried. They won in dominating fashion.

[Banana: I won? as carry? What are you going to do about that? Huh?]

[Cosmic: If you lost to a soldier, you'd have to enlist in his place~]

Cosmic kept his usual breezy tone even then.

“Can you tell us why you picked CK players?”

“... Because I like them.”

The whole group chat, including Cosmic, went quiet. Banana broke the silence.

[Banana: Is this... a green light?]

[Popcorn: lmaooooooooooo]

[Cosmic: Are you insane? LOL]

[Banana: No, but she had me carry her and then says "because I like them" and you're saying that's not a green light?]

***

A little while later, a new face appeared at the commentary desk.

"Ahem. Yes, hello everyone. I'm BokChoy, formerly a player. After discharge, I’ll transition to coaching. Now, I've arrived as a commentator."

— LOL

— lmaooo

— BokChoy, the career speedrunner

— The career pivots are coming so fast lmao

— Are you retiring today too?

— His hair is broccoli-shaped, but his name is BokChoy?

"Wild career~." Sweet Potato chimed in from the side and introduced himself. "Hello everyone... I lost all my chips and followed a friend to the Han River! I'm Potato Servant, here as your commentator."

— lmaooooo Han River

— Not Han River view, Han RIVER lmao

— Wait, how does a servant get to do commentary?

Sweet Radish, who had taken the caster seat, explained the situation. "Following a certain someone's scattered commentary earlier, we've selected two people who can focus entirely on analysis."

Sweet Radish was obviously referring to someone they all knew.

— "Certain someone" LOL

— Almond?!

— The nut man

— The Smart Young Man Prevention Act has passed

— Then what about the rest?

Sweet Radish saw the chat and answered, "The rest of you just cheer like you're at the racetrack."

"YEAAAAH~!"

"LET'S GOOO!"

Lemon, Black Tea, and Almond waved and cheered.

— LOL

— Racetrack lmaooooo

— I mean it is a racetrack LOL

— Best Yi Sun-Shin became a racehorse...

"I'll leave the commentary to you two and head over to place my bet." Sweet Radish stepped down from the commentary desk and headed to the betting section.

‘Is this all I have?’

He had very few chips left. At this rate, the outcome had basically been decided anyway. Sweet Potato had already claimed last place.

"But Sweet Potato is already last. Is there even a point in betting anymore?" Black Tea asked.

"Let's give the winner something."

"First place is already decided too."

— What?!

— lmaooo

— Last place and first place locked in after one match lmao

"Is it though?"

Black Tea had won a round earlier, so she had a reasonable amount of chips.

"Come on. The chip gap is too big. It's one round. Almond can just mirror your bet, and it's an automatic win."

As Sweet Radish said, unless Almond was an idiot, his win was guaranteed.

— Almond can literally just bet the same as Black Tea but slightly higher and win lmao

— The game is already over?

— Check Almond's chip count lmao

"Bwahahaha!"

Craaaaash!

Almond dramatically let his chips cascade out for all to see. There were too many to count at a glance.

— The laugh lmao

— This is the Lord!

— He is literally just smart

— Lord looking pleased af

— His laugh is so funny LOL

It was a natural result of going all-in on Choi Sa-Rang at high odds.

Lemon raised a hand and proposed. "Excuse me~! Everyone? If we end it here, the betting is basically meaningless, isn't it?"

She raised her hand to speak, but only looked at Almond. First place effectively had the deciding vote.

"Could we go Last Stand Meta? Lord? Hmm? Hehe?" Lemon smiled slyly and proposed a reversal.

This kind of rule allowed the winner at the very end to flip everything like a final-round comeback mechanic.

"And we give first place a reward too."

"What's the first-place reward?" Almond asked.

Everyone fell into thought. Nothing had actually been decided.

Black Tea put forward a decidedly violent suggestion. "Hmm... Using Potato Servant as a human palanquin?"

"Wait, hold on?! This is Last Stand Meta! Why am I confirmed as Potato Servant already?!"

Sweet Radish shut him down. "Ahem! Silence, Potato Servant!"

— LOL

— Already over lmao

— Silence, Potato Servant!

— lmaooooo

Lemon twisted the knife. "Going all-in on your very first bet and losing all your chips! Last Stand Meta doesn't save you from that~."

Black Tea actively blamed Sweet Potato too. "The only reason we're even doing Last Stand Meta is because of you. You broke the game."

— lmao fr

— Potato Servant is crying...

— She's not wrong though

"Ugh..." Sweet Potato ground his teeth and suddenly yelled at the person sitting next to him. "This is your fault, Corporal!"

"What?! Who are you calling Corporal? Me?!"

"If a pro loses to an amateur, go stake a tent somewhere! You can't even do commentary!"

"No, damn it. That loss makes no logical sense! My ban-picks were completely optimal!"

LIL players constantly made this kind of excuse. The unusual part was that they hadn't even played, but just ran a simulator.

Sweet Radish proposed getting back on track. "Alright, let's leave those two to it and discuss the first-place reward. The coaches are still selecting their players."

The person with arguably the most say in the matter, Almond, finally proposed something. "Actually, I have something in mind."

"Oh? What is it? Whatever you want, you're first place."

He suggested to let first place choose their own reward. Then, they could run Last Stand Meta for more chip distribution like the other three proposed.

‘Honestly, even just that would be great.He's already in first place anyway. At least he's agreeing to reset the board.Nice~.’

All of them genuinely liked this approach and were prepared to agree to whatever Almond proposed. After all, anyone could end up winning first.

"First place calls the shots during the tournament."

A moment of silence followed. Almond had made this same proposal in the very beginning and still hadn't given up.

— ?

— ??

— He's saying it again LOL

— lmaooo

— The obsession is something else lmao

— Hahaha

— Is he trying to tank the tournament??

— The tail wagging the dog

Lemon, Black Tea, and Sweet Radish all made eye contact.

"Oh. Then, let's just forget it~."

"Right. Right. What's this Last Stand Meta? We're not children."

— LOOOL

— lmaooo

— Everyone cuts him off hahaha

— Can't sacrifice the real thing for content

“Tch.” Almond's expression shifted to visible disappointment as he threatened them. "Then I'm not going easy on anyone. I'll just take first."

"Oh yes, please do. But there's no first-place reward."

“Haha!” Sweet Radish laughed infuriatingly.

Only last place mattered. What was there to worry about?

"I'll give fifteen chips to Sweet Potato."

"... Pardon?" Sweet Radish's expression suddenly froze.

"There's nothing that says transfers aren't allowed."

"Th-that's..."

Almond wasn't wrong.

— lmaooooooo

— Wow

— Whoa

— Smart Young Man...

"And nothing said transfers were allowed either!"

"And nothing said there was no first-place reward."

What kind of reasoning was this? If a rule didn't exist, that meant there was no rule. They didn’t need a rule explicitly saying that another rule didn’t exist.

Sweet Radish was momentarily at a loss for words. He would drop straight to last the moment Almond forced a chip transfer to Sweet Potato. A long string of memories from his Danbo days flashed through his mind.

"Ah... no!"

Whatever he'd just imagined made him grab his own head.

— What lmao

— What did he just picture?!

— You remembered, didn't you?

"Wh-what do you want?"

"First place calls the shots."

— loool

— oh man...

— You maniac

— Guess we're giving up on winning the Platform War

— Smart Young Man is determined...

"J-just a moment for a quick meeting..."

"Sure."

Sweet Radish pulled Black Tea aside. "Black Tea, let's accept the deal and then go opposite. Where are you betting?"

"Tortilla."

"Hm? Why?" Sweet Radish had been planning to bet on Tortilla himself.

"What do you mean? No matter how good Best Yi Sun-Shin is, how is she supposed to beat Tortilla? He's a pro coach even if he's Tier 2."

That was fair. Pro coaches ran the LIL Champions Simulator three or four times a day. Beating them inside the simulator was genuinely difficult.

"Damn..."

Sweet Radish thought the same.

"Are you okay watching the Smart Young Man call the shots?"

"What?!"

— LOL

— The reaction lmao

— lmao Smart Young Man is that real of a threat~

— Black Tea's reaction lmao

"What does that have to do with any of this?!"

"It does." Sweet Radish laid it out carefully. "Because of Almond's guaranteed winning method."

"Which is?"

"Betting on the same side as you."

"...!"

"All he has to do is bet on the same thing as you. Just one chip more than you, and hold the rest. That's it."

If the bet succeeded, Almond would be first. If it failed, Black Tea, the next main contender for first, would also have lost, keeping Almond in first.

"So, what do we do?"

If Black Tea went slightly higher, Almond would be guaranteed to win.

"That's why you need to bet down. Go with the likely loser, and go all-in."

Sweet Radish wanted Black Tea to raise the stakes on the losing side by going all in. That way, Almond would take a heavy hit no matter what. If Sweet Radish won big at that point, the higher odds and relative advantage would push him to first. Then, they could avoid the Smart Young Man leading the Knight Order. This was their last move.

"Alright... I'll cooperate." Black Tea listened to Sweet Radish's plan and had no choice but to accept. "We can't let the Smart Young Man lead us."

— lmaooo fr

— He really is that dangerous

— The Almond Era would genuinely be catastrophic

— Can't have that in the Platform War lmaooo

— Uniting under the Smart Young Man

"Then, I'll go all-in!" Black Tea reached for her chips. "All in."

Slide.

One person pushed every single chip forward.

Everyone stared as if looking at a lunatic.

‘What? You said you were following my bet?’

Almond had no reason to go all-in, yet he did. He went all-in again on Choi Sa-Rang.

"YEAAAAH!" Sweet Potato cheered excitedly. "All-in again! At this point, it's faith!"

— Oh wow...

— Again?

— lmao why does he keep going all-in

— Is Almond physically incapable of betting anything other than all-in?? lmao

"Why did he just go all-in?" BokChoy asked with an odd expression.

"I don't know!"

"No... for real, w-why did you go all-in?"

"I said I don't know! Stop trying to find out!"

— lmaooo experienced

— Potato Servant knows the Lord well

— This man only does all-ins

— "Because I like her."

— lmao why did he do it?

— Is this flirting?

With that, Sweet Radish and Black Tea's plan changed. Naturally, they both went all-in on Tortilla. They simply had no other way to stop the Almond Era.

"Alright, both coaches have locked in their rosters! Let’s move to ban-picks!"

At those words, Almond smiled quietly to himself.

‘Finally...’

The chance to lead the Knight Order with his calls, win the Platform War, and have his intellect acknowledged grew near.