Season 5: Chapter 46. The Hopeless Trio (2)
People who fell into gambling always said one thing.
“Just one more. This one will win it all back.” “
Ah...
For real, this is the last one! Truly the last time!”
“We’re already here! Just go!”
“I swear it’s the final one!”
These people always lost the concept of the last time. They kept crying a little more
until they lost every chip. Right now, Almond looked a little like them.
‘The mission... the payout...’
With Bubblegum added as a variable, the mission payout rose to a ridiculous level. Countless viewers had pooled their money purely to watch Almond fail and despair.
[1,630,000 won]
One person tossing in ten thousand won for fun wasn’t much, but it became monstrous when it piled up.
‘It’s only a one-in-ten chance.’
It was like playing Russian roulette with a ten-round magazine. Only one chamber held the bullet called Bubblegum. The rest were empty. No, they were more than empty and practically rewards. If Bubblegum ended up on the enemy team, the mission became absurdly easy.
‘The ones gambling here aren’t me... It’s the viewers.’
Almond couldn’t help but think that. Mathematically, he held a crushing advantage. The real gamblers were the viewers throwing money at a mere one-in-ten chance, so he made a decision.
“Let’s go.”
He would queue together.
“Oh, for real? Okay~.”
Ting!
[Ranked Game]
[Start]
Shhhk!
The roulette began to spin.
[Searching for opponents...]
— My heart is beating!
— Please!!!
— Spare us!
— God of matchmaking, please!
— Pls pls pls
— Police, give us strength!
The chat was full of people who desperately wanted Almond to fail. Were they really gambling on a one-in-ten chance like Almond thought? Would the same people who fooled him every time be that stupid? No, they had something they believed in.
— Ignore the last placement match and you’ll get burned, you nut!
— He doesn’t know this is the last one, does he?
— Devil of the final match, please!
The devil of the final match and the devil of promotion games... These were nicknames for a matchmaking system that became vicious at critical moments. Anyone could see it clearly by looking at the LIL Pro Survival online community.
[The last placement match always gets an evil queue. Isn’t he screwed?]
The algorithm always turned cruel when it mattered in placement finals and promotion matches. Too many testimonies and cases existed to dismiss it as superstition. Even the devs had responded about this once.
[Q. Does the queue algorithm change for promotion matches or placement finals?]
[A. Trials make heroes stronger^^]
They had practically admitted it. At critical moments, the player would be tested. That wasn’t even strange. To earn a qualification, they had to overcome something harder.
[But Almond should know that. He’s done placements before.]
Even Almond knew that promotion finals got harder, but this was Survival mode.
— He doesn’t know Survival placements are five games LOL
— Most placements are ten games, so he probably assumed that
— it’ll be official if he gets Bubblegum on his team here
Almond hadn’t considered this variable. Survival was more casual than Siege, so placements weren’t ten games. Instead, they were five. Knowing this, ShyNapoleon had set the mission to five straight first place finishes in the first place.
[Big: This is our chance to revive Survival mode!]
A post started gaining popularity.
We Survival mains have tried hard to revive the mode, but it hasn’t worked. Not because the game isn’t fun, but because it doesn’t get enough buzz.
Almond, who killed that trash, has a placement mission right now. Raise the pot, everyone. There’s a high chance the fifth game matches him with Bubblegum.
You know, right? If you keep placing first, you get the worst matchmaking. And Bubblegum is on a losing streak. If they queue at the exact same time?
It’s 100%. Just bet hard. It’s a safe asset and a free way to make this blow up!
— Oh LOL
— True!
— Holy shit, is that right???
— Worst matchmaking = Bubblegum << why does that sound so natural LOL
— I’m betting too
— Legendary
— Wait, is that actually true???
— Is Bubblegum really that big of a factor...? He’s so good it’s scary.
└ That’s like Japan saying, “Is one nuke really that big of a deal?” after Pearl Harbor.
└ LMAO
└ “Fat Man” <<< that’s Bubblegum
└ Literally
└ They won the first time because the teammates were smart. Second time is gonna be hell
The pot exploded because of that post. Survival loyalists saw it as free advertising. They felt confident about the odds, and the veteran player’s predictions about the system rarely missed.
“Wow...
Hahaha?
” Bubblegum’s face lit up with a bright grin.
At the same time, his stream chat exploded.
— Noooo...
— DAMN
— This is happening?!
— The underdog hits on the final match
— Ah...
Bubblegum had added a betting game using streaming points. First place, top five to hold rank, or outright lose... He offered multiple choices to make it more fun to watch.
It was a true gambling den, except the currency wasn’t real money but streaming points for weird emotes. Even so, viewers valued the points.
— This is insane
— Finally!
— Almond!!
— Underdogs wait until the last minute!!
They were horrified because he had run into Almond. While Bubblegum’s viewers panicked, Almond’s viewers celebrated.
— LOOOOL
— NO WAY
— Kyaa!
— This is it!
— So the god of matchmaking really exists
— Police really saving the content
— The unmovable mountain has arrived
— LMAO
— Two out of five placements with Gum?! Legend...
— Honestly, they should double his MMR for this
Bang.
A sound seemed to ring in Almond’s ear. The bullet in the roulette chamber had fired.
“No, not yet.” Almond shook his head. “We haven’t lost yet.”
It hadn’t fired, not really. He would only get hit if he actually lost.
— LOOOL
— Did he snap? LOL
— LMAO
— Why is he talking to himself LMAO
— Your speech bubble changed, Almond~
Maybe he had been startled. Thoughts meant to stay inside had slipped out, but he couldn’t help it. The mountain called Bubblegum was just that terrifying.
“Gum, you’re not banning Iron Ball this time, right?”
“No, I won’t! I probably won’t even get the choice anyway.”
— LOOOL
— LMAO
— Checking the most important thing first!
— Smart Young Man’s walnut is on full throttle!
After confirming the most critical point...
‘I have to win.’
Almond switched into a perfect gambler mode. The days of joking around in-game were over.
‘This match...’
He couldn’t treat this game as a joke. It would determine if he could break free from Lemon’s teasing and claim the mission payout. Money and pride were both on the line.
Almond’s gaze changed.
“Nice to meet you, soldiers...!”
Wooooong!
The Hextech airship began to move, and the instructor appeared. Other teammates who had been matched onto the same team stepped out from the shadows as well. “
Uh...?
Mr. Bubblegum?”
Both Bubblegum and Almond froze. They noticed the familiar bowl-cut silhouette.
[ChocoShroom]
It was Choco Shroom.
— LMFAO
— It’s actually over
— Silver main has arrived
— Wow, the Police algorithm is brutal as hell
— This is... wow
— Guess they really crank it up after a winstreak
— Zelu’s mother?!
“Isn’t this a bit much for the last placement match?” Surprisingly, that line came from Bubblegum.
“Huh? You’re saying that to me?” Choco Shroom shot back without backing down.
— This is a true clash of equals
— LOOOL
— Gum vs. Choco showdown
Ba-bam!
[Choose! has donated 10,000 won.]
[Choose the streamer you least want on your team during placements. 1) Bubblegum 2) Choco Shroom. Ah... while you were hesitating! Alpha male Almond took everything! Haha]
— LMAO
— That’s crazy
— Endure the weight of an alpha, Almond...
— Choco is only silver...
— Is he really the alpha?
— First time in my life I’ve been grateful to an alpha male
— Wait, is Choco Shroom really that bad?
To be fair, Choco Shroom wasn’t quite the same level as Bubblegum. Bubblegum was Iron while Choco Shroom was Silver, a whole two tiers higher. If they met in a lane in Siege, Bubblegum wouldn’t even be able to breathe before getting toyed with by bombs. That was the difference in raw skill, but someone once compared team games in
LIL
to carrying logs.
The problem was that Choco Shroom wasn’t someone who helped lift the log. It wasn’t a cancellation, but an addition to the weight already called Bubblegum. Now, Choco Shroom had been stacked on top too.
‘A senior who used to do weightlifting told me this once.’
A person who could barely lift 100 kg would collapse immediately with 100.1 kg. Even pro athletes fell with just 0.1 kg. That was how terrifying a threshold was.
‘This is a full-on trial.’
It felt as though the matchmaking algorithm itself was asking Almond how much weight he could carry in this game. Where was his limit? The game intended to check that before finalizing his placement evaluation.
Ding!
[Choose a champion to ban.]
At least one piece of good news arrived. The person carrying the log had been given a choice. Almond could choose which champion to ban for the team.
— Ooooh!
— This time!
— You’re not banning Raina, right?
— Kyaa
— Why does this feel so reassuring??
‘Who should I pick?’
Almond had initially planned to pick Raina. It would help if he banned an assassin or counter-tank that could threaten Raina.
‘No.’
He shook his head.
‘There’s no guarantee the enemy will even pick those.’
Survival battles were highly random. The enemy wouldn’t get to choose based on Raina. Banning counters in advance out of fear was foolish.
“Does anyone have something they want banned?” Almond asked his teammates.
In Survival, bans were often used to simply remove a troublesome champion.
“Iron Ball?” “...?”
“Just kidding~!” “
Wahaha! ”
Bubblegum had tossed out as a joke.
Almond glared at him.
“N-no, I was joking...” “
Hm.
Seriously, does anyone need a ban?”
— LOL
— That’s cruel
— Poor Gum...
— ??? I respect Bubblegum among streamers
— Bro, this isn’t a game
— LMAO
— Gum is cute
— Sad Gum “
Um...
” Someone raised a hand.
It wasn’t Choco Shroom or Bubblegum.
[LetMeTank]
The username sounded solid and dependable.
“Could you ban Hammer Paladin Ulte for me?”
“Hammer Paladin? Why?”
“Well, it’s my most-played champion and keeps popping up. I dunno if it’s classified as a bruiser or what. No matter what I get, swords or staffs, it still shows up...”
Hammer Paladin was her most-played champion, and her ID was LetMeTank.
Almond’s eyes lit up. What a find. Then, why didn’t she want to play Ulte?
“If Hammer Paladin is your most-played, why don’t you want to use it?”
“Well, doing the same thing over and over isn’t fun. My second most-played is Wind Blade Seiko. I wanted to play that this season...”
‘What? Fun?’
Thunk!
[Wind Blade – Seiko]
LetMeTank stared in confusion.
— LOOOL
— AHAHAHA
— LMAO
— This lunatic
— His dictatorship has begun...
“Ah... th-that was a mistake... I thought I was picking it. Turns out it was a ban?
Ha. Ha. Ha...
” Almond’s awkward acting only made the air stiffer.
— No way LOL
— Almond going this far hahaha
— Do you want to win that badly!?
— Unhinged determination
The Smart Young Man was already shaping the team comp, even forcing himself into bad acting.
“I’ll make sure you can pick Hammer Paladin instead.”
“No, I said I don’t want to...”
“Descending~!”
Bang!
Almond jumped straight down.
Before Bubblegum followed, he patted LetMeTank on the shoulder. “Looking forward to it, my Paladin.”
Tap.
Choco Shroom followed as well.
Tap.
“Paladin? A fine profession.” She gave LetMeTank a thumbs-up and jumped.
— LMAO
— A fine profession indeed
— LOOOL
— Hahahaha
— They’re all mean
— Why does this remind me of my school days?
— Still cooler than being a miner, I guess
[Beginner’s Tip]
[Did you know? In the Abyss, you never know which champion you’ll contract with. Isn’t it exciting?]

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