'Dispatched workers?'
The more specific-than-expected manual proposal sent cold sweat down Zelo's spine.
'No. This lunatic...?'
Taking beatings was manageable, but this had to be stopped. Once a manual was made, it really couldn't be undone.
"Um... uh, th-that, Lord..." Zelo came over to persuade him.
"That's the King."
"Oh, yes, Yo-Your Majesty...!"
— lmaooooooooooo
— Not even Lord anymore lmaooo
— What the
— King-mond
— fr he's a king
— Your Majesty Almond
Sweet Potato chimed in beside him. "Hey, sunglasses, is His Majesty your friend?"
"N-no, that's why I'm saying, Your Majesty..."
He poked Zelo with a long staff. "Say Your Majesty properly with your soul in it!"
"Yyyyour Majeeeesty!"
"It can be done when you try. Hm?"
— Your Maaajesty lmaooo
— Sweet Potato lol
— Wow you should absolutely never give Sweet Potato authority fr
— Streamer you'd least want as your senior
"Speak." Almond nodded.
Zelo continued, "I will gladly be a piece on the great chessboard called Cheese."
"And?"
"This body alone I'll burn! Dying and reviving a hundred times! Even as a rune spirit, I will fight!"
"And?"
"So it's not really necessary to go as far as a manual... haha..."
"If you're going to do it anyway, I'm offering to teach you how to do it well. Why would you refuse?"
— lmaooooooooooo
— Fr
— That's right lol
— True LOL
— Want to get used? Come to Ah-Sung
— Right?
— He's teaching them how to burn their bodies lmaooo
'That's fair?'
Zelo was momentarily speechless, but who was he? He was a streamer at peak popularity. Improvisation was his strongest suit.
"That's precisely why! It's because we want greater autonomy!"
"Autonomy?"
"Yes! Rigid rules are full of things that can't be resolved on the ground!"
Almond stared for a moment and then nodded. It was somewhat persuasive.
"I see, but..."
Though there was something odd.
"Didn't you tell Camebert earlier that you didn't want to sacrifice?"
"That was... I had a change of heart after getting beaten. Yes, it was like... tough love? You could say?"
— lmaooooooooooooooooo
— Zelo lmaooo
— Getting beaten does change your thoughts LOL
— That's fair
— Tough love'lmaooo
"That's it." Almond clapped at those words and looked delighted.
"Hm?"
"Tough love is the answer."
— LOL
— Hahahahaha
— Wow lmaooo
— lmaooooooooooo
— lmaooooooooo
Sweet Potato called out without missing a beat. "Hear, here! Give this slave plenty of the rod!!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"Ha... I'll do it."
"Indeed, when disciplined with love, children listen well. Hahahahaha!"
Zelo, the last resistance, surrendered to the Knight Order's royal authority. In truth, they didn’t feel any actual pain from getting hit here and had no strict reason to surrender.
— Dispatched workers, let's gooo~ lmaooo
— Dispatch dispatch
— So funny
— Can't ForeverAlone get dispatched to the Knight Order?
The momentum had grown so strong in that direction that he surrendered.
'He is a slave to the atmosphere.'
Almond had aimed for this from the start. Once the atmosphere settled, Zelo would follow. He’d learned this method of handling Zelo all the way back in Survival Craft.
"Then let's go as decided by the king class! The slaves get split up as dispatched workers!"
"Yes~!"
The nobility and commoners readily accepted the situation. The slaves looked at each other with blank expressions. How things would play out from here hadn't been decided.
"Now~ everyone worked hard today~!"
"Cheese Village fighting!"
— It became Cheese Village lmaooo
— Before we knew it, back to Cheese Village...
— This was always why they did Survival Craft~
— lmaooooooo
— Come visit Cheese Village!
Ding!
[Comprehensive Feedback]
It was time for comprehensive feedback. All teams headed to their respective team channels where their coaches were waiting. Some teams would get thoroughly scolded, and others would pass through uneventfully.
"We're getting praised, right?"
The Knight Order expected to get praised. Sweet Potato was hoping for that right now. He was full of excitement at the thought of showing the coach their all-first-place result.
"The cool ice queen Sa-Rang noona, she'll crack a big smile, right?"
Sweet Potato imagined the usually expressionless woman praising him just this once.
"I'm going for maximum head-pat."
He'd been reading too many manga.
— This lunatic
— Head-pat lmaooo
— Idiot
— lmaooooooo fr
— Just thinking about it is dopamine
— We'll see
— Head-pat is insane lmaooo
Sweet Radish, standing beside him, let out a contemptuous snort. "Hey, what did you do that's so praiseworthy?"
"Still, an all-first-place sweep deserves at least an AoE praise for everyone."
"You think pro feedback is easy? It's not just results. You didn't play well, fool."
"What?"
Da-da-DUN.
Sweet Potato’s soul experienced an earthquake. Even with an all-first-place finish, he wouldn’t get praised?
"B-but... this isn't pro feedback...!"
This time, Sweet Radish's eyes wavered. Of course, no one noticed.
'Hm?'
Come to think of it, that was right.
'Why did I think of this as pro feedback...?'
Whoosh...!
The coach appeared.
About twenty minutes earlier, the second joint scrimmage had ended.
[Knight Order First Place!]
Celebratory effects fired off. A coach would naturally be pleased. The result she'd declared had come through.
'Hmm.'
In a dimly lit room, Sa-Rang stared silently at her monitor. As if she wanted to see something again, she rewound a particular scene featuring Almond and Lemon.
''Lemon, want to try Frost Archer and Aqua this time?''
''Hmm... N-no! Lord, Sori is the best!''
''Really? But this time...''
''I, I can't do Aqua!''
''Hm? We decided to practice.''
''I practiced, and I can't do it...! I have completely zero talent with that champion.''
''Is that so?''
Their conversation was audible.
Frost Archer Leon and Aqua had an unusual couple setting in LIL and possessed linked skills. Frost Archer's arrows needed to hit the same spot twice to create a freeze effect, but a single shot would freeze them if Aqua had gotten water on someone first.
This synergy could create very significant variables. When a well-matched duo played Leon and Aqua, it often led to unexpected results.
Almond and Lemon practicing the Aqua-Leon combo would naturally be fitting. They operated as a two-person unit with a bow and a staff, respectively.
''Still, just one game~.''
''Lord! Aqua has been sealed away!''
''That bad?''
''It’s disaster level Bubblegum, Lord.''
''Sealing accepted.''
Sa-Rang paused the screen here. ''Even a lie will soon be found out.''
On her other monitor was Lemon's match records. Lemon had quite a number of games as Aqua.
'Bubblegum?'
Her wins and losses with Aqua were evenly mixed. This was far from disaster level Bubblegum. To claim Bubblegum level required five consecutive losses and a KDA below one.
'Doesn't seem like Bubblegum level.'
Sa-Rang didn't know the context of the games Lemon had played solo, so she couldn't be certain. Just looking at results, it didn’t seem as bad as Bubblegum. She compared it with other data too.
'Lemon used Swamp Sorcerer well.'
She'd watched footage of Lemon playing Swamp Sorcerer in the previous streamer competition.
''Hihii~! Dirty~! It's a toad!''
''Muhahaha! What do you think!? Feeling like rice, hm? Hm?''
She played perfectly and even threw in Cuifan lines periodically.
'Swamp Sorcerer and Aqua are the same as check-type supporters.'
Someone good with Swamp Sorcerer wouldn’t be bad with Aqua. In VR games, some champions occasionally didn't feel right with one’s body. Did Lemon genuinely not feel right with Aqua?
'I don't know.'
Sa-Rang rested her chin and tilted her head. Figuring out the uses of champions or devising strategies was too easy for her. This was hard.
'What is Lemon thinking?'
Getting to know teammates was always difficult.
'Oh, teammates...!'
Her eyes went wide. She'd realized something she needed to do.
A little while later, the old CK group chat suddenly started flooding with Choi Sa-Rang's messages.
[Choi Sa-Rang: lol]
[Choi Sa-Rang: lolol]
[Choi Sa-Rang: lololol]
[Choi Sa-Rang: lolololololololololololololololololololololololol]
She was savoring her moment of victory.
[Popcorn: Calm down]
[Cosmic: Sigh, you've gone strange after resting at home. Spamming over just a scrimmage sweep lmaooo]
[Choi Sa-Rang: those of you who whined and said what is the strategy, can this even work?]
[Choi Sa-Rang: But even knowing it, you couldn't stop it~]
[Choi Sa-Rang: (taunting)]
She added mocking emoticons of dancing rabbits, thoroughly punishing those who'd doubted her.
[Popcorn: Wow... it's genuinely been a while since I've seen her use emoticons]
[Cosmic: Ugh damn, just wait until we meet the Knight Order, they're done for!]
[Banana: Enjoy it now smh]
[Marshmallow: Wow Sa-Rang you look happy hahahaha glad you're doing this haha]
[Choi Sa-Rang: Shut up, it's not that I'm trying to be happy, you guys didn't include me, so this is what happened.]
[Marshmallow: :(]
[Popcorn: Wow what pettiness lmaooooooo]
[Cosmic: How were we supposed to include you lmaooooo. Then just walk in and play?]
[Banana: Maybe she wanted to be a coach, but we don't have one]
[Choi Sa-Rang: Yeah get lost]
[Popcorn: Are you a child lmaooooo]
An all-first-place finish really was impressive. Choi Sa-Rang was very excited, but she didn't quite look that way through the Knight Order's eyes right now.
"W-what is the coach doing right now?"
Sweet Potato, who'd been hoping for a head-pat, stared intently at her expression. He finally whispered to Sweet Radish, "Don't know. Writing a script?"
Sweet Radish didn't know either. "Why isn't she saying a word now that she's out..."
Ever since Coach Sa-Rang had appeared before the Knight Order, she hadn't said a word and was busily tapping away at a virtual keyboard.
"She does look in a good mood. She's smiling."
Sweet Potato tried to hold onto hope.
Black Tea cut in from behind. "Isn't she excited because she's about to tear someone apart? Like a Michelin chef."
"Damn..."
At Sweet Radish's words, Sweet Potato went pale.
"The road to head-pats is long!"
— lmaooooooooo
— LOL
— That head-pat obsession
— Though the coach does have a thing for Sweet Potato~
— Do you have any conscience, Sweet Potato?
With a look of utter disillusionment, Black Tea said, "What kind of coach gives head-pats anyway... Maybe if it were Takoyaki's head."
— lmaooooooooo
— Too much
— Takoyaki suddenly??
— Savage
— If it were Takoyaki's head, you'd want to touch it out of curiosity LOL
— Sweet Potato has a chance if he shaves his head
Everyone in the Knight Order grew anxious about why she was staying silent.
Only Almond settled in his seat and leisurely interacted with viewers because he knew Choi Sa-Rang.
'It's rare to see her this excited.'
Outside of extreme situations like the national team's win, he'd never seen that expression. Even when the national team won, she hadn't brightened up until after the victory. During it, she remained focused on the match and never showed anything.
'That means the split was that perfect.'
Almond smiled to himself, convinced that he would get praised.
— What are you thinking this time
— lmaooooooooo
— Why are you smiling?
— Smiling to himself thinking about fertilizing Zelo's team~
Various guesses flew by while he smiled at the coach.
Ding!
[WeddingShowAddict has donated 3,000 won.]
[By any chance... the coach...!?]
— How dare...
— Wow
— Interesting
— Wow lmaooo
— What about Raina, you fool!
Among them, one donation genuinely startled Almond.
[EggPlant has donated 3,000 won.]
[Almond is currently thinking the coach is about to praise him for the split]
Almond was so startled that he unknowingly stood up from his seat.
Then, every viewer understood that had been correct.
— LOL
— lmaooooooooooo
— So that was actually it lmaooo
— EggPlant is an Almond expert lmaooo
— fr
"Oh." Choi Sa-Rang finally looked over at the Knight Order.
'What... when did they get here?'
Her face flushed hot.

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