Chapter 185 : SSR Cup - Group Viewing
Chapter 185: SSR Cup: Group Viewing
〔The largest event tournament in history! The SSR Cup! Let’s get staaaarted!〕
-Waaaaaaah!
The tournament many had been waiting for so long, the SSR Cup!
The SSR Cup, which had been confidently promoted as the largest event tournament in history, finally reached its moment of beginning.
Even before opening, it had been bustling with the recruitment of numerous personal broadcasters, former pros, celebrities, and more—a fitting noisy and elaborate opening ceremony for such a tournament.
Along with this, they announced that various divisions would be held simultaneously over the ten-day tournament period. With a total of nine divisions, it was unavoidable.
Even if each division ran for three days total—two days of full league format preliminaries, plus one day for finals and the 3rd-4th place match—it would consume nearly a month.
No matter how much it was the largest event tournament in history, spending that much time on a single tournament was unreasonable.
That’s why the SSR Cup ran three divisions simultaneously at once. It was to reduce the tournament period that could have taken a month to one-third.
The problem of attention being somewhat dispersed by running three divisions at once was adjusted as much as possible by properly controlling the start times of each division.
Players and viewers would inevitably have complaints either way, but for the tournament organizers, that must have been the best choice.
‘The Struggle-Annihilation division is in the second lineup.’
According to Jeong Nayeon’s explanation, since there was Team All-In as the overwhelming favorite, it was a placement that took into account the possibility of the matches flowing one-sidedly.
After all, having such a dominant match from the first lineup, or saving it for the last lineup where the fiercest battles would be, couldn’t be seen as a particularly good structure.
This wasn’t just Jeong Nayeon’s opinion alone, but the common opinion of the community and the alliance. The alliance Team All-In belonged to considered them a sure division for victory.
Anyway, the important point was that until the fourth day after the SSR Cup’s start, Team All-In’s true sortie wouldn’t occur.
That said, they couldn’t just practice regardless of whether the SSR Cup started or not until their turn came, so they all gathered to watch the first day’s matches.
Baek Woohyun also readily agreed, since the Hack Tour content was difficult to proceed with anyway because Cha Seongcheol, who could be called the main panel, was away as an SSR Cup commentator.
‘Well, I could do it if I wanted to… but why bother?’
Just in case, he had already received broadcasting permission and guidelines from the SSR Cup organizers, so there was no need to do anything more.
Team All-In’s members, who had been meeting for practice over the past several days, assembled the same way this time too. It had become something like a daily routine by now.
The only difference was that unlike other times, they gathered at Redok’s personal space instead of the Reverse Planet training grounds.
With a large hologram monitor in the center showing the SSR Cup official broadcast channel, Team All-In, including Baek Woohyun, sat gathered together cozily.
Coach Enre Kim Jijun—Captain Redok—Lee Sihu—Dodo—Kang Soyul—Baek Woohyun—Jeong Nayeon in that order. Yoojeu-Yoojeu had subtly brought a chair and positioned herself behind Baek Woohyun.
Since it was a sight they’d been seeing continuously since Baek Woohyun’s coaching, even the team members and viewers no longer said anything about her eccentric behavior.
“It’s already time for the SSR Cup to start. Time flew by while we were immersed in practice.”
“I know, right. We still need to refine our tactics more.”
-You were sharpening tactics until dawn yesterday and you want to do more…?
-Sad Enre story) Enre pulls up multiple practice videos of opposing teams simultaneously and watches them all while sharpening tactics
-Didn’t they say multitasking is bad for the brain
-Even if it’s bad for the brain, the tactics get betterㅇㅇ
‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 1000 won!
[A coach obsessed with tacticsㄷㄷ An old man sharpening tacticsㄷㄷ]
Kim Jijun and Redok, befitting their friendship, exchanged various stories while waiting for the SSR Cup to properly begin.
In the process, Kim Jijun was subtly revealing his true nature, proving he hadn’t become Redok’s friend—the madman with clear eyes—for nothing, but anyway.
“What kind of matches will unfold! So excited!”
“I hope our alliance’s teams win well.”
“Right! If possible, I want to win in the alliance battles too! After all, final victory looks best!”
“I think so too.”
-They came after a while, why are they pretending to be normal
-That time was weird, they’re originally normal;;
-Forget about the Bronze duo from when they just hit Gold
-They’ll probably hit Plat soon, then it’ll be fun to watch again ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Gold 1 tier Lee Sihu and Gold 2 tier Dodo conversed in a relatively calm atmosphere compared to before.
Since quite some time had passed after raising their tier to Gold, the instances of laughing crazily while flying around or shouting about Gold had decreased.
The madness already internalized within them was scheduled to burst out the moment they reached Platinum tier, but well, that was a matter for the future.
“Yoojeu-Yoojeu-nim is already at Master 741 points, right? I was so surprised when I heard! That’s amazing!”
“…W-Woohyun-nim taught me… well… thanks to that…”
“No matter how well someone teaches, if Yoojeu-Yoojeu-nim couldn’t keep up, you wouldn’t have climbed that much, right? When I occasionally ask Woohyun, he praises Yoojeu-Yoojeu-nim a lot.”
“…Really…?”
“Of course! Friend testimony is reliable, isn’t it!”
“…Hehehe…”
“Ah! Really, why is Yoojeu-Yoojeu-nim’s reaction so cute!”
“Eek-! L-let me go…!”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThis is funny too
-An introvert caught between extrovertsTT
-It’s the seat you chose, endure it with grit and determination
-Stop tormenting the poor introvertㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Interestingly, Yoojeu-Yoojeu, who had broken through Master and even raised her points to 741, approaching Grand Master, was caught between Kang Soyul and Jeong Nayeon.
The poor introvert, caught by two people who could be called nothing less than extroverts, was suffering without even being able to observe Baek Woohyun, her original purpose.
Of course, it wasn’t such a bad feeling, as she was smiling faintly. Kang Soyul and Jeong Nayeon knew that, which is why they didn’t stop.
“……”
Thanks to this, Baek Woohyun obtained peace and could calmly watch the opening ceremony.
Befitting the SSR Cup opening ceremony, which had grabbed the catchphrase “largest event tournament in history,” it was an extremely flashy composition.
Anyway, the mindset of spending money to promote it could definitely be felt strongly.
〔Hello, viewers! We’ve come to you with the SSR Cup Duel-Solo division. I’m Caster Kim Gwangjin, in charge of hosting.〕
Soon all the opening ceremonies ended, and the broadcast crew for the Duel-Solo division that started immediately wasn’t much different from the auction before.
Since it was the first division of the first lineup, they seemed to have used the most reliable hand they had.
〔For commentary, we have Commentator Cha Seongcheol and player Kim Oyun from Muz. Hello!〕
〔Hello. I’m Commentator Cha Seongcheol.〕
〔Yes, I’m Kim Oyun from Muz. It’s been a while!〕
〔Haha! That’s right. It’s the first time since the last auction broadcast, isn’t it?〕
-Familiar combination, familiar taste
-Kim Gwangjin+Cha Seongcheol is just the best broadcast crew combinationㅇㅇ
-Kim Oyun’s commentary has been pretty good lately too
-His jokes during the auction were kind of funnyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
〔Now then, let me briefly explain the rules of the Duel-Solo division to our viewers! The SSR Cup’s Duel-Solo is─〕
The broadcast crew led by Caster Kim Gwangjin quickly and accurately explained the rules of the Duel-Solo division, but unfortunately, there weren’t many listeners here.
Since it wasn’t particularly important information for those not participating anyway, and the rules of the Duel-Solo division were similar everywhere.
Even Jeong Nayeon, half-listening, casually threw a question to Baek Woohyun beside her.
“Come to think of it, didn’t you say there was someone among those entering the Duel-Solo division who received coaching from you, Woohyun?”
“That’s right. There’s one person.”
“Really? Who is it?”
“A new comrade! Exciting!”
-? When did you teach them?
-Please turn on the broadcast for things like that!!
-Back coaching is so meanㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Seeing no one knows, looks like the receiving side didn’t broadcast either ㅅㅂ
The Team All-In members who had been chattering among themselves brightened their eyes upon hearing Baek Woohyun’s answer.
If there was someone who received Baek Woohyun’s coaching, they’d be able to cheer more immersively beyond just supporting the same alliance.
In a way, they had a common point—”a person taught by Baek Woohyun.”
“It was Retez-nim…? The person you taught directly…!”
It was then that Yoojeu-Yoojeu, who had subtly joined in, spoke with eyes shining between her hair.
It wore the guise of a question, but strongly gave off the sense that she already knew the answer. A so-called “question for bragging,” if you will.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“”Ooh-!””
-Yoojeu-Yoojeu, how did you know that too
-I’m impressed but it’s kind of…;
-Don’t tell me you were stuck behind him during other people’s coaching tooㄷㄷ Scary
-The doll being next to the puppeteer, what’s the problem?
Baek Woohyun didn’t broadcast teaching Retez. Since he was already doing Team All-In practice broadcasts, he didn’t feel the need to.
On Retez’s side too, they received secret training whenever there was time, so among the team members and even among tens of thousands of viewers, almost no one knew.
Knowing that was definitely worthy of admiration. In many ways.
“Huhuhu…!”
“Uh, did you teach Retez-nim the same way you coached us?”
Dodo, naturally ignoring Yoojeu-Yoojeu who was laughing excitedly with her nose in the air, asked Baek Woohyun.
It was a question asking if he used the same method—the method of driving in a “wedge” and completely making the combat style a lower-compatible version of Baek Woohyun’s.
If so, the intent to gauge their own future to some extent through the Duel-Solo division was visible.
“No, that’s not the case.”
However, Baek Woohyun slowly shook his head.
“That’s a method that requires quite a long time. If done half-heartedly, it could just collapse the combat style they’ve built up until now and become neither here nor there.”
“I-is that so?”
“Ideally it should be long, and received as many times as possible for the effect to be applied reliably. Like all of you. Well, receiving it just once or twice short-term wouldn’t have bad effects though.”
-Oh, there were restrictions like this
-I want to receive it even once, please
-ㄹㅇㅋㅋ If Hackphysical offers coaching, the line would be ㅈㄴ longㅋㅋ
-Running up like Yoojeu-Yoojeu standing behind Hackphysicalㅇㅇ
“So when I coached Retez-nim, I used a normal method.”
“A normal method?”
“One-on-one duels. Since they’re a Duel-Solo division participant anyway, I sparred with them while taking turns using builds that other participants use.”
It was a simple yet extremely effective method.
If they dueled one-on-one with Baek Woohyun using the opponent’s build, supernatural ability builds used by weaker opponents would feel easy.
In fact, wasn’t this the method Team B pulled out as extreme medicine for victory in the Superstar N (meaning Nuclear~) content?
〔The first match of the SSR Cup and! The first match of the Duel-Solo division, the match between player Kim Chanwung and player Dek is about to start!〕
“Ah. Already!”
“Let’s see…”
While Team All-In was talking about Retez who received coaching from Baek Woohyun in secret(?), the first match of the SSR Cup was about to begin.
The team members who hurried back to their original seats saw two people standing with tense faces on the battlefield beyond the hologram monitor.
Fortunately, there were no team members from their alliance, so it was a match they could watch with a comfortable mind.