Chapter 174 : Double Disadvantage
Chapter 174: Double Disadvantage
“Then that’s it for the trial run! Everyone, good work!”
“”Good work!””
“Whoa! That was the last one! So sweet!”
-Ah fuck, it’s ending
-No!! I still haven’t gotten to participate!!
-Me not getting picked till the end makes no sense; this is rigged;;
-For real, I didn’t get picked so it’s rigged ㅇㅇ
The first viewer participation game for the ‘Nuclear Tourism’ content came to an end with the tenth match as the finale.
It was a clean finish with even the number of matches falling perfectly into place.
Viewers who had applied to participate but were repeatedly passed over couldn’t hide their disappointment, but continuing for their sake was simply impossible.
The number of participants per match was only six people: one from the panel team and five from the viewer team. To get tens of thousands of people to participate would take days.
Moreover, since team all-in practice for the SSR Cup was scheduled to begin, it was reasonable to conclude the viewer participation game here.
“Good work, Hackphysical. Nayeon.”
“Good work, Nayeon. And Mr. Cheater.”
-Bye Cha~ Bye Clo~
-Why are they leaving early ㅇㅇ?
-Cha is going to prepare for commentary, and Chloe said she’s going to make story videos
-Both of them are diligent ㄷㄷ
“You worked hard.”
“Good work! See you next time!”
After the viewers who had been selected for the last viewer participation game left, panel members Cha Seongcheol and Chloe also said their goodbyes and departed.
As one viewer’s chat suggested, Cha Seongcheol had a lot to prepare separately since he was participating as an SSR Cup commentator, and Chloe was a story specialist.
Even before, she would sometimes skip pure PVP sessions. Her participation as a member of the panel team in this viewer participation game was an exceptional case.
“Should we get going?”
“…Why me too…?”
-??? : You’re doing team all-in too
-Ah ㅋㅋ She went to greet them together at first, so she’s on the same team ㅋㅋ
-Forced overtime scheduled ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-All the other panels are leaving but she can’t ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Viewers giggled as they watched Jeong Nayeon make an expression that said ‘Why are you taking me too…?’ Her situation of being unable to leave alone was quite amusing.
Just like when she was forcibly dragged along by Baek Woohyun during the previous ‘Hackpaywin’s Team Member Gacha (Feat. Kang Soyul)’ despite not even being part of team all-in.
However, Jeong Nayeon was only expressing that outwardly; inwardly, she considered participating in team all-in practice quite favorably.
Not only could she use it as useful sub-content for her iTube channel, but this kind of collaboration was itself an opportunity.
‘The response isn’t bad.’
Yet the reason Jeong Nayeon pretended to be heartbroken about not being able to leave was for entertainment.
After all, many viewers enjoyed seeing broadcasters suffer appropriately, so she was acting accordingly.
Her acting worked perfectly, as viewers giggled while making jokes about ‘absolutely no leaving work’ and ‘overtime without pay.’
“Hm?”
“Oh?”
-What
-Why are they all gathered
-Aren’t they late?;;
-ㄴㄴ There’s still some time left until the announced time
When Baek Woohyun and Jeong Nayeon arrived after changing locations using the training ground code they had received earlier, they immediately became surprised.
All the other team members were already gathered inside the training ground. There were still about five minutes left until the appointed time.
It was a scene that could momentarily make one mistake it for ‘Did we get the time wrong and arrive late?’, so the viewers were equally confused.
If one or two people were missing it would be one thing, but even the coach ‘Enre’ Kim Jijun was dutifully keeping his place.
“Ah! You two aren’t late for the appointment! No need to worry!”
The one who instantly resolved their concerns was a man with clear eyes and impressive red hair—Redok.
He keenly noticed what thoughts Baek Woohyun and Jeong Nayeon were having and waved his hands to reassure them.
“Ah, I see.”
“We were startled that everyone was already gathered.”
“Haha. It just happened that way.”
-Bad people saying they’re being ostracized ㄴㄴㄴㄴ
-There’s someone above casually slandering!
-Surprisingly that’s true; they just gathered one by one with nothing to do and ended up all together
-That’s funny in its own way ㅋㅋ
“What were you doing gathered here first?”
“Ah, we were—”
Redok shrugged his shoulders upon hearing Jeong Nayeon’s question.
“Should I say we were doing…preview study?”
“Preview study?”
“Yes, well. That’s it.”
-What’s preview study again
-Don’t know
-Were they watching Hack Disciple
-Then wouldn’t that be review, not preview?
‘Preview study?’
Jeong Nayeon tilted her head in puzzlement.
Preview study when all the team members except Baek Woohyun had already gathered first—she couldn’t even guess what they had been doing.
If they had said review, she might have thought they were watching the ‘Hack Disciple’ content where he taught the Beau-tiful Twins, but that wasn’t it either.
This doubt was easily resolved by Redok’s following explanation.
“Since you two were in the middle of ‘Nuclear Tourism,’ we were previewing what we’ll learn from Coach and how.”
“Aha.”
In short, they had all been sitting together watching the ‘Nuclear Tourism’ content.
If they had done this without permission, it could have caused controversy about stream-sniping or whatnot, but fortunately the agreement about this had already been concluded.
During their first meeting when deciding the team name and coordinating schedules along with handling various other matters, he had permitted this as well.
Moreover, since this viewer participation game was conducted by Baek Woohyun to practice coaching methods, there was nothing bad about the team members who would be educated in the future watching it.
“You’ve arrived, Coach!”
“We’ve been waiting.”
“Hello, Dodo, Lee Sihoo.”
-Ugh, so burdensome
-Tell them to back off a bit;
-They’re rushing at him like wolves ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-It’s because they’re overflowing with enthusiasm ㅎ; Please understand ㅎ;
While Jeong Nayeon and Redok were conversing, the two Bronze line members in charge of Team All-In’s holes, Dodo and Lee Sihoo, had already reached Baek Woohyun.
They looked up at him with sparkling eyes, very much looking forward to the practice time—a gaze that was quite burdensome even from a third party’s perspective.
Since they were well-built adult men, one might feel pressured by their appearance, but Baek Woohyun’s expression was utterly indifferent.
This was thanks to having similar experiences several times while teaching the new members of ‘Avengers’ on ‘that side.’ At least these people didn’t have faces covered in scars.
“You said you were watching ‘Nuclear Tourism’ as preview study. Then did you also check the method I prepared to teach you all?”
“Yes! We watched!”
“We confirmed it clearly.”
Baek Woohyun had repeatedly practiced during this viewer participation game not only with the first participant, Gold tier ‘Golgol’ Kim Jichan, but also with those who came after.
This meant he tested the ‘Degraded Hackphysical Mass Production Plan’ on viewers of various tiers over ten matches to gather data.
Thanks to this, he became proficient at hammering in ‘wedges,’ and subsequently mastered firmly fixing them through Combat Correction: Hackphysical.
“I didn’t know you’d go this far for us! Really moved!”
“I’ll work hard to repay your expectations.”
-For real, you guys need to repay this
-If you can’t do it even after all this… you know?
-Immediate mail terror ON
-Hey, get rid of those toxic people above!
For Dodo and Lee Sihoo who had been watching the broadcast as preview study, it was very easy to notice that Baek Woohyun’s method was prepared for them.
Right when team practice was scheduled, he proceeded to practice the coaching method, and when a Bronze tier viewer became a team member, he controlled even more earnestly.
Just doing ordinary Pungo—meaning one-on-one sparring—would have been more than enough, but he had even brought an amazing coaching method, so being moved was natural.
The fact that Baek Woohyun had already used the same method when teaching the Beau-tiful Twins in the ‘Hack Disciple’ content wasn’t very important.
Even if that were the case, it was too clear that it wasn’t an easy method, and he had even made adjustments through the viewer participation game for their sake.
When there were Master, Diamond, and Platinum tiers but he went this far for mere Bronze tiers, the story was already over.
“…However, this method has two drawbacks, so I think I need to ask for your understanding in advance.”
“Two drawbacks…?”
“Hmm.”
Dodo and Lee Sihoo tensed up and straightened their postures. They looked clearly fearful about what kind of drawbacks would require asking for understanding in advance.
If someone else had said there were drawbacks, they would have dismissed it with ‘What could it be?’, but they couldn’t do that with Baek Woohyun.
-Asking for understanding? ㄷㄷ
-Scared something huge might suddenly come out;
-To raise Bronze scrubs, even Hackphysical has to sacrifice something it seems ㅇㅇ
-What is it
“First, as the first drawback, there’s a high possibility that your individuality will weaken.”
“”……?””
While the viewers seemed to feel the same sentiment as the chat window stirred, Baek Woohyun calmly explained the first drawback.
However, the Bronze duo of Dodo and Lee Sihoo who had been listening tensely just widened their eyes. This was because the meaning didn’t immediately register.
‘Our individuality…’
‘…will have a high possibility of weakening?’
Dodo and Lee Sihoo, who glanced at each other, realized that the other person also didn’t understand the drawback Baek Woohyun mentioned.
Those who had wondered if they alone didn’t understand could be relieved thanks to this. They learned they weren’t the only stupid ones.
But as for whether they understood what weakening of individuality meant—that still wasn’t the case.
“As you saw through the preview study, this coaching proceeds by forcibly engraving my degraded combat method into your bodies.”
“Yes! We know!”
“The problem is that in that process, the combat methods you’ve built up until now will crumble. Because the guidelines I engrave will take precedence in all judgments.”
As could be understood from the name ‘Degraded Hackphysical Mass Production Plan,’ those whom Baek Woohyun hammered ‘wedges’ into became something like inferior versions of him.
This meant that the original called Hackphysical would be engraved, completely devouring Dodo and Lee Sihoo’s individuality. Surely escaping from that would require quite a long time.
“Huh? That’s—”
“Wait. Let’s hear more first.”
Lee Sihoo stopped Dodo who was about to say something and looked straight at Baek Woohyun.
“Please tell us the second drawback as well.”
“The second drawback is that despite having these drawbacks, your skill improvement won’t be that significant.”
“May I ask exactly how much ‘not that significant’ means? I’d prefer if you could express it in tiers.”
“In tiers… probably around Platinum tier, I think.”
-?
-He says the improvement isn’t significant
-Bronze going up to Plat and that’s not significant??
-Got baited by Hackphysical standards ㅅㅂ;
“So to summarize, if Dodo and I go through coaching, the drawback is that we become Platinum tier level degraded Hackphysicals…is that correct?”
‘ㅇㅇ’ donated ‘1000 won’!
[Why is the drawback exactly what we want most ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Lee Sihoo’s face as he asked back clearly showed traces of ‘How is that a drawback?’ The same Bronze line member Dodo was no different.
There’s no need to mention which side the watching viewers sympathized with. The donation itself was agreeing with Lee Sihoo and Dodo’s view.
Their broadcast chat windows were teeming with people saying if they could become Platinum tier level degraded Hackphysicals, they’d throw away their individuality and everything else.
“That’s correct.”
However, Baek Woohyun hadn’t laid out this drawback explanation for deception. He truly thought that way.
He had been someone who confidently promised to send them to at least Master tier regardless of their tier, and depending on talent, even to Challenger tier.
Moreover, abandoning one’s self-built combat method and becoming his degraded version would act as a tremendous obstacle to future skill improvement.
It was just that Dodo and Lee Sihoo considered it a great success if they could only grow to Platinum tier, so a discrepancy occurred between them.
“Will you still receive coaching?”
-Not receiving this would be stupid
-Is this a new type of leading question
-I think Hackphysical needs to relearn the word ‘drawback’ if you agree ㅋㅋ
-I also want to receive coaching, where should I go
“Yes! I’ll definitely receive it!”
“I feel the same way.”
Having heard Baek Woohyun’s question that was like a warning message, Dodo and Lee Sihoo vigorously nodded their heads in response. It was an affirmation without a moment’s hesitation.
After all, what fool would refuse this proposal?
They were fully prepared to become Platinum skill level degraded Hackphysicals. That was exactly what they had wanted.