Season 5: Chapter 179. Strategy Meeting (3)
EggPlant was thick-skinned like eggplant stir-fry that always boldly occupied a spot on the cafeteria tray no matter how unwanted.
"Boooo! He's red~!"
"Traitor! Die~!"
"Booooooo!"
No matter how much the Cheese cheering section teased him, he only said, "I’m not red. Call it the red pill if you will. I've simply awakened to the truth that Paprika is stronger."
The Cheese cheering section got even more riled up and criticized him loudly.
"Wow... genuinely trash."
"Not even eggplant stir-fry. You're pickled eggplant."
"Moooom! This is why I didn't eat eggplant as a kid!"
"Beggar's stir-fry is better than you!"
EggPlant held firm. He knew better than anyone that the one who wins money is the victor in the end.
'I have no points.'
Most importantly, EggPlant was a bit short on points because he'd spent all his money and points buying this stadium ticket. Getting criticized and even being called a traitor didn’t bother him.
'If I can at least make money!'
EggPlant was willing to endure it, but the Group B result was a shock.
'Paprika is supposed to be good at LIL!'
Even so, how did everyone get eliminated?
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
Among Cheese's thunderous cheers, EggPlant was alone.
'Damn... this, this...'
His complexion was gradually turning eggplant-colored. Because of losing? No, there were still many matches left.
'The match itself was way too dominant.'
It was how the match played out. This hadn’t been a simple loss. It was enough to affect every match going forward.
'On top of this, Almond is the one who designed it?'
EggPlant was second or third in Almond superfan rankings... No, he was practically the same as first if donation amounts were excluded. Knowing Almond too well only made it harder to accept. The soul-crushing defeat felt like a friend who'd been the same height coming back after summer break, having grown ten centimeters.
'You... were smart? Almond?'
EggPlant's jaw trembled.
Kyahahahaha!
Look at EggPlant's expression~."
"Is there a funeral at your place? EggPlant?"
"Hey. Smile. Smile~. You're Cheese~!"
Enormous attacks poured from around him. His figure was even captured on the large stadium screen. Countless people laughed.
— lmaooooooooooo
— LOL
— EggPlant hahaha
— lmaooo
— The expression of someone who lost their country lmaooo
— What is that person even doing??? right in the middle LOL
Even people who didn't know him would involuntarily burst out laughing, seeing him glowing red in the middle of a yellow field. Around him was nothing but jeering and mockery.
Kyahahahaha!
“Booooooo!”
"O-okay! I'm switching! I'm switching!" EggPlant covered his ears as if he could no longer bear it.
At that, a woman with an enormous head looked down at him and murmured, "But we will remember your betrayal forever."
It was RubySword. Whatever item it was, her outfit hadn’t simply changed to yellow but was blazing in gold. The light was so bright that it was as if she were a deity. Above her head, in very large letters, were the words
[Traitor EggPlant].
Even Paprika fans on the other side of the stadium could see it.
"N-no, honestly, it was just one small mistake! Show some mercy! Please!" EggPlant threw a tantrum unreasonably. "I'll switch right now!"
He changed his cheering team.
Beep.
‘Hm?’
[You may change your cheering team every match, but additional points are required after the first change.]
[Would you still like to change?]
"It, it costs more."
It wasn't even added to the betting amount, but was a pure fee like a tax. That meant throwing money into the void.
'How can I pay this?'
At that moment, Paprika's massive airship rose above the stadium.
"Paprika! One two three!"
The Paprika side started their cheer.
EggPlant, before he realized it, raised both arms and called out, "Pa, Paprika fighting!!!"
He was holding onto the hope that Paprika would ultimately win.
— Wow ruthless
— Insane EggPlant
— lmaooooo
— Straight to Paprika fighting~ LOL
Above the many audience members around him and RubySword's head, their respective chats floated up.
— Wow ruthless
EggPlant stood up and turned around, shouting like a culprit throwing a fit. "Why! What! Almond isn't even here! What does it matter!"
RubySword shook her head.
Holding a megaphone item, she called out, "Cheese! One! Two! Three!"
The whole stands erupted with a cheer that shook the stadium.
"Cheese! Fiiiiiighting!!"
The Cheese fans seemed to have grown quite a bit. Everyone had used their one free chance to change their cheering team now.
"Group A’s match has started! Players have boarded the airships!"
Before the players dropped, there was nothing to commentate about.
The caster turned his attention to the stands. "Oh, first, the stands' atmosphere has changed a lot! Yellow conversions are appearing one by one!?"
OrangeKing nodded. "Right! Apparently, you can change your cheering team each match? But after the first time, it costs money?"
"Yes. I don't think this flow will change much now!? The audience would have decided carefully...! Seeing the Group B match made everyone firm in their decision, right?"
"Yes. The sooner you switch, the more betting points you accumulate! If you're going to switch, switch fast! But right now..."
OrangeKing greatly emphasized the present.
"The fact that everyone made that decision right now! That means they couldn't think of the Group B match as simply one big loss!"
The strategy of the earlier Group B match had created this flow, but he didn't want to talk about Group B's strategy again. That had already been discussed at length during the analysis desk segment.
"Oh, why is your face growing so red and large, OrangeKing!?"
— lmaooooooooooo
— lmaooo I thought he was using some item
— It wasn't an item???
— It was an item??
— lmaooooooooooooo
— It is huge though
What he wanted to talk about was this match.
"Right! What we should be paying attention to! Is that the Group A players this time watched all of that too, right!? How these players think about that strategy! It'll all come out in Round 2!"
Group A players had all watched the Group B match, and that would inevitably affect the match.
"Will they immediately use the walkie-talkie strategy too!? Or will they go with what they've been doing for now? Watching these points will also be interesting."
Whether Group A would use the walkie-talkie dispatch strategy in this match, or whether they'd go with gradually improving from their original strategy. This was the watch point.
"Oh. Won't it be a bit difficult for Paprika to immediately copy that? First, the slave team's sacrifice is enormous, after all." The caster expressed doubt.
The analyst also agreed. "Right. Setting aside practice, there needs to be an agreement between everyone, right? Most streamer teams have the goal of surviving as long as possible in this competition to get as much face time as possible! Who would agree to take that kind of sacrifice...?"
The most important thing in the walkie-talkie dispatch system was the dispatch team. They made the biggest contribution to the system while ultimately being the biggest victims themselves. Could this even be possible without having slaves pre-established?
"Oh, so this time too Paprika goes without walkie-talkies... and only Cheese uses walkie-talkies?" the caster asked in disappointment.
"No, Cheese struggles too. Even they could only do it in Group B, which had the slave team. Group A couldn't use that strategy because nobody would volunteer to be slaves there, right?" The analyst made a sharp point.
"Oh~! S-so there was that difference? That's why Group A just came out normally!"
He was right. Because of the presence or absence of Slaves, the strategy had split into two.
"In restaurant terms, even the original dispatch-style restaurant had to split the menu across two branches when releasing it. That's how extreme a dish it is." The analyst wrapped it all up perfectly with a metaphor for beginner viewers.
— Dispatch lmaooo
— Seafood dispatch
— ??? This dish is my creation~
— I see
— So Group A goes like before?
Nobody could counter the analyst's words. Not even OrangeKing, who'd first said the dispatch would become dominant. The logic was perfect. All of it was true. Paprika had, in fact, started dropping without any dispatch workers.
"Oh. Paprika is going without dispatch workers. It makes sense to go with what's familiar, right?"
"Yes. Well, can a place that's been stir-frying pork belly suddenly do pajeon[1]." The analyst seemed to have taken a liking to restaurant metaphors and kept using them.
— lmaooooooo fr
— Keep stir-frying that pork~
— Gotta do what you've been doing
— Suddenly changing is funny too~
— OrangeKing went silent?
OrangeKing had grown sullen since things weren't flowing the way he'd argued.
The caster noticed and addressed him. "Oh, OrangeKing's opinion certainly has a possibility, but even the original dispatch restaurant split the menu to re..."
At that moment, OrangeKing suddenly screamed, "Who says you can't put fish cake in green onion pancake!?"
— What is he saying??
— ??? That's me~
— lmaooooooooooo
— Insane
— You startled me LOL
"Look! Cheese!"
A Cheese team was dropping where he excitedly pointed. Among them was one member from another team.
"They're dropping with a walkie-talkie!"
All of the commentary desk froze. OrangeKing smiled like “See! I was right!”
The caster received some information from the production team and recovered. "Oh. We're hearing about the great Ah-Sung or something. Did Almond do some persuading? How is this possible? How did they create slaves?"
The analyst asked in disbelief and indignation, "How do you persuade someone to die for you!? Are they independence fighters!? And on top of that, Almond is in Group B! It's not even his business!"
— Red Glasses angry LOL
— lmaooo fr
— Why are you angry LOOOL
— Well Ah-Sung at least pays a lot of money lmaooo
— The type who gets angry at things they can't understand hahaha
— lmaooo what??
Not just Red Glasses, the Paprika chat had even fiercer backlash.
— Does this even make sense??
— This is just scripted
— Teaming up has limits too lmaooo. One whole team just takes a loss for the others???
— They need a special internal investigation
— What kind of rules are these??
"Oh~ now people are saying they must have been threatened! OrangeKing, what do you think!?"
"I don't think so? The walkie-talkies are smiling! They look quite happy!?"
Red Glasses raised a reasonable suspicion. "Maybe they just lost their minds?"
— lmaooooooooooo
— Red Glasses is so salty lol
— LOL
— lmaooo insane
— Way too openly showing dislike LOL
1. Savory Korean pancakes usually made with seafood and scallions. ☜

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