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“Hey, Eunha. Don’t mess up the game while you’re at it.”

In the virtual reality waiting room, Seokguraam and Yoonsu immediately dropped this line.

It was a sudden piece of warning advice, but none of the team members found it odd.

And why would they? Considering the public image of Friede and the Lotus they had shown earlier, this was a very gentlemanly way of pointing things out.

Of course, Eunha frowned and shot back right away.

“What are you talking about? If I was like that, my sister would have cut me off.”

In Eunha’s eyes lay more conviction than annoyance.

If she couldn’t distinguish between professional and personal matters, Sehee wouldn’t have been so generous with her.

They probably would have stopped contacting her right after the finals or after a trial encounter at the mall.

Moreover, even if she revered Sehee, it didn’t conflict with her pride as a professional gamer.

Her sister definitely wanted to see her younger sibling do her best.

This was also what Eunha wished for, so she had no intention of going easy on herself.

Well, the majority of the team just shook their heads and wore exasperated expressions at Eunha’s stance.

“Wow, she’s really severe.”

“Such a Hardcore. Seriously Hardcore.”

“Please don’t stir up any scandals. We just built an image as a no-fun scholar team; we can’t break that now.”

“Shut up.”

In response to the jeers directed at her, she flipped them the bird.

It was then.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

A voice as solid as a rock emerged.

With a voice devoid of emotional fluctuations, and as firm as stone, but it carried a sense of strong trust.

Warden, Chanhyuk began the briefing.

“Friede will definitely charge in alone. The target is obviously the maze on our left side. That’s where the objectives spawn, so it’s a good spot for flanking.”

Based on his observations of Friede’s solo queue play, Chanhyuk was convinced that she would again rely solely on brute force and charge.

After all, she had shown a consistent pattern across all her solo queue records thus far.

He thought maybe she’d switch it up this time, but observing Friede’s thinking, she seemed to prefer taking confident positions over shallow strategies.

She would surely do the same this time.

“Yoonsu, you’re in charge of controlling the ADC in the center. Especially try to delay the entry as much as possible when Friede crosses the bridge…”

“Leave it to me.”

Yoonsu immediately altered his setup.

The weapon he selected for his role as ADC was a black wooden bow.

Though it had low damage, it was capable of rapid fire and volley shots, making it a speedy projectile weapon for ranged combat.

With her insane reaction speed, there was no need for her to select a Great Bow.

Regardless of how destructive it was, everything could be deflected or dodged.

If the outcome would be the same, it was best to unleash as many rapid shots as possible to delay the opponent.

Given that he had made significant contributions as the STK sniper until now, Yoonsu’s trust in him was unshakeable.

“Jinyun and Minho, keep an eye on the left-side maze entrance where Friede will approach. No need to fight yet. Just hold your ground as tanks and buy some time.”

“Okay.”

“Got it, hyung.”

“Woochan, you’re the central tank, and Seongyoon, take charge of our maze objectives.”

“And me?”

In response to Eunha’s question, Chanhyuk replied with a serious expression.

“Eunha, you’re coming with me to the special forces unit. Essentially, the team damage output will rely on you and me. Keep that in mind and set accordingly.”

“Understood.”

So, she’s avoiding a direct conflict with her sister, huh.

Might feel a tad disappointing…

As Eunha licked her lips behind them, Chanhyuk looked around and spoke up.

“Any other opinions?”

“None.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s do that.”

To Chanhyuk’s orders, everyone nodded in agreement.

Friede… it’s undeniable that she’s immensely skilled.

But this is a team game.

If she messes up in our opponent’s maze, we can just return the favor.

* * *

“Ha!”

It was only after connecting to the virtual reality that my mind finally eased, releasing a sigh of relief.

“Wow, who even looks like that?”

While waiting in the MS Room, Gundo finally let his thoughts out, now feeling unburdened.

He was an adult man and thought he’d met enough women until now.

It didn’t need to be in a romantic capacity, but in this day and age, it wasn’t hard to encounter a variety of women around him.

However, no one compared to Friede, who was on a whole different level, leaving him unable to maintain inner peace.

Models, actresses, and entertainers often shown on videos would end up being losers standing next to her.

“She must’ve dressed like that to mess with people, right?”

Gundo was certain of that.

Unless she was some extraordinary fantasy, she knew just how powerful that outfit combination would be on her own body.

At this point, he could roughly guess Friede’s disposition.

She was the type to walk down the street boldly flaunting, “Feast your eyes on my stunning figure!”

Oh, if only she wasn’t a streamer and was just a total klutz, he could’ve indulged completely and enjoyed the view to the fullest.

“Ah, what can I do about it now?”

Shaking his head, Gundo hurriedly accessed Soul Warfare.

He needed to log in quickly.

* * *

“What should we do? Should we just go for the standard line?”

“Still, we’re STK, it feels wrong to rely on such obvious tactics, right?”

“No, if we use flimsy moves, we could get stomped. Let’s stick with the standard development.”

“I’ve got a brilliant plan in mind.”

“We decided to call those ‘god-awful plans.'”

“Ping ping…”

Gathering a bunch of solo queue warriors to devise a strategy was hardly going to yield anything effective.

Let alone against an STK.

If anyone could whip out a valid strategy on the fly against a pro team, they’d have already made their pro debut.

Realizing this problem—that having strength didn’t equate to having a solution—was truly tragic.

As expected, even if they had strength, nothing was in place.

Sadly.

“Is this really natural?”

Discussing strategy here was merely an act of flailing around to avoid the STK label.

They’d never practiced together in offline broadcasts, so even while trying to remain optimistic, they were human too, and I couldn’t fault them for not understanding each other’s feelings.

“But, staying like this isn’t an option.”

Wasting time by just brainstorming in vain wouldn’t be practical.

Well, they were top-tier players, so they probably understood that much… I needed to step in a bit.

Observing from a distance, I clapped my hands together forcefully.

The sound of my palms striking echoed, drawing the team’s attention toward me.

Feeling everyone’s gaze, I smiled gently and shared my thoughts.

“Alright, let’s decide on our positions. Coming up with clever strategies won’t do much given our tight schedule. I don’t think we need to overthink this.”

It’s not exactly a grand statement to call it an order.

But it’s likely more effective to set positions that allow for flexible responses to unexpected happenings rather than crafting an intricate manual.

Luckily, three of the people in front of me had enough combat power from the brawl tournament to gauge their effectiveness.

“First, Haldir. You seemed strong in a direct fight during the brawl tournament, so could you take the central line? Please make sure the enemy doesn’t get through.”

“…Understood.”

“Sure.”

“Let’s do that.”

The three nodded in understanding.

As for the remaining three, I decided to assign them to the center as well.

Not sure about their main positions, but they were top-tier players so they should be able to handle any spot without issues.

“Um, where will you be going, Friede?”

Gundo raised his hand, asking the question, to which I responded with a gentle smile.

“I’ll go to the right lane alone.”

My declaration produced a collective wide-eyed reaction.

I felt a strong urge to capture each of those expressions.

Thought about asking them to do it but decided against it.

Trying to pull the rug from under a moment that was finally gathered would be a buzzkill.

“Is it okay to go alone? If two or more come…”

“Honestly, I’d rather be the bait alone. A bit embarrassing, but looking at my gameplay from the rank matches, they can’t help but acknowledge me on their side. Then we can hold numerical superiority from the opposite side. As long as the center is stable, we should be good.”

This might be a concept that an ordinary user could never imagine, but come on, say my name.

Yeah, I’m Friede. The woman who knows no defeat.

“……”

Even though I assigned the positions, everyone still had a strong unconvincing atmosphere.

Had I known it would be like this, I might have pushed myself to brainstorm when we were in the waiting room.

Well, what can you do? I just have to encourage them now.

“I get that it’s pretty heavy to go against a pro team with no practice together yet. But don’t be afraid and it’s okay to make mistakes. After all, it’s just an event. Think of it as putting on a good show for the fans while having fun. We all signed up with our own audiences in mind, right?”

With a soft smile, I tried to empower them, and then someone stood up and immediately yelled.

“Yeah, since it’s already started, let’s do whatever we want!”

The first to agree with my encouragement was Gundo.

Daeyoung had mentioned that he previously had a pretty cheerful and boisterous image.

Well, that worked out. Usually, those types tend to lift the mood.

“Well, I mean, let’s give it a shot. After all, fretting before an event like this is pretty funny. We’re streamers!”

“Right, there’s no need to overly strategize against people who make gaming their profession. Let’s go wild based on the positions Friede suggested.”

With everyone responding, the previously anxious atmosphere settled, and I felt a lot lighter.

As for the next step, I could only navigate through it spontaneously.

What I hesitated to call a strategy—based merely on my usual play style—everyone followed along without complaints.

“At least it’s getting organized.”

Thank goodness they were accepting without dispute.

Well, I suppose this was thanks to having won the brawl tournament.

In effect, I had reached the highest rank of skill in this place.

Still, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t take a beating… I thought optimistically.

No matter what, I had beaten Eunha and judging from the skills of the user Seokguraam that I’d played with before, I could get a grip on the STK team.

There was Warden as a variable, but… judging by the skills shown in the opening match, I figured I could find a way.

With a light heart, I began the game.

But after just a few minutes in, I felt something was a bit off.

To be precise…

“Uh?”

Four minutes into the game.

It was when I saw two hulking figures blocking the entrance to the maze on the right side of the opposing team, each wielding gigantic shields.

* * *