“Hey, Eunha. Don’t screw up the game by getting too friendly with people.”
In the virtual reality waiting room, Seokgulam—Yoonsoo—blurted out those words without warning.
Though it was a sudden and cautionary remark, none of the teammates found it strange.
It made sense.
Considering the public image of Friede and Lotus that they had just witnessed, this was actually quite a mild critique.
Of course, Eunha frowned and immediately fired back.
“What are you talking about? If I were like that, Unni would’ve cut ties with me first.”
Eunha’s eyes held not frustration but firm conviction.
‘If I were an immature kid who couldn’t separate personal and professional matters, Sehee Unni wouldn’t have tolerated me in the first place.’
At most, she would have ended contact after the finals or after a brief encounter at the mall.
Even if she admired Sehee Unni, that didn’t mean her reverence conflicted with her pride as a professional gamer.
Unni would surely want to see her younger counterpart give it their all.
And since that was exactly what Eunha wanted as well, she had no intention of holding back.
Most of her teammates, however, just shook their heads with exasperated expressions.
“Wow, she’s seriously obsessed.”
“Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”
“Please, for the love of God, don’t cause a scandal. We’ve already branded ourselves as the ‘No-Fun, Strict Morals’ team. We can’t afford to ruin that now.”
“Screw you.”
Eunha shot them all the middle finger in response to their jeers.
***
“Alright, it’s starting soon.”
His voice was as firm as a rock.
No emotional fluctuations, stiff and solid like a block of wood.
Yet, the weight of absolute trust was unmistakable in his tone.
Warden—Chanhyuk—began the briefing.
“Friede is definitely going to charge in alone. Her target will, of course, be the left-side labyrinth on our team’s map. The first objective spawns there, and it’s also a great spot to ambush from behind.”
Having observed Friede’s solo queue matches, Chanhyuk was convinced that she would once again rely on brute force and charge straight in.
That was just how she played.
Her solo queue history showed the same pattern over and over.
‘Maybe she’ll switch it up this time?’
That thought crossed his mind, but knowing how Friede thought, she preferred playing from a position of strength rather than relying on flimsy strategies.
She would definitely do the same thing again.
“Yoonsoo, hold down the center and suppress their ADC. Especially when Friede crosses the bridge—delay her entry as much as possible.”
“Leave it to me.”
Yoonsoo immediately adjusted him settings.
As the designated ADC, he chose the Blackwood Bow.
It had low damage but allowed for rapid triple shots and quick successive fire.
Among all ranged weapons, it had one of the fastest attack speeds.
Given his monstrous reaction time, he didn’t need to rely on a heavy-hitting longbow.
Regardless of raw firepower, she could dodge or deflect anything thrown her way.
If the end result was the same, bombarding the enemy with continuous suppressing fire was the best course of action.
As the STK Sharpshooter, she had already proven her worth time and time again.
Chanhyuk’s trust in her was unwavering.
“Jinyoon and Minho, hold the left labyrinth entrance where Friede is coming from. You don’t need to fight—just hold your ground as tanks and stall for time.”
“Got it.”
“Understood, hyung.”
“Woochan, take central tank duty. Seokgulam, secure our team’s labyrinth objective.”
“What about me?”
At Eunha’s question, Chanhyuk responded with a firm expression.
“Eunha, you’re with me as a strike team. The two of us are responsible for nearly all of the team’s damage output, so keep that in mind when setting up.”
“Understood.”
‘So we’re avoiding a direct fight with Unni…’
A bit of a disappointment, maybe.
As Eunha smacked her lips in mild frustration, Chanhyuk scanned the team.
“Any objections?”
“None.”
“OK.”
“Let’s do it.”
Everyone nodded at Chanhyuk’s orders.
Friede…
Her exceptional skill was undeniable.
But this was a team game.
If she caused havoc in the labyrinth, they would just wreak havoc right back.
***
“Whew!”
The moment they connected to the virtual world, a sigh of relief escaped them, as if their minds had finally steadied.
“Holy shit. How can someone even look like that?”
Waiting in the MS Room, Gunder finally let out a complaint, as if something had been weighing on him.
He was an adult man.
He had met plenty of women in his life.
Not necessarily in romantic relationships, but in this day and age, it wasn’t hard to be around various women.
And yet—
Friede was on a completely different level from any woman he had ever encountered.
It was impossible to remain calm in her presence.
Even the models, actresses, and celebrities he had seen in countless videos—standing next to her, they would all look like nobodies.
“She’s messing with us on purpose, right? Dressing like that?”
Gunder was convinced.
Unless she was totally oblivious, she had to know the effect that her appearance—paired with that outfit—had on people.
At this point, he could already get a rough idea of what kind of person Friede was.
‘Behold my amazing body!’
She was the type to walk around confidently, basking in the attention.
Ah, if only she weren’t a streamer but a completely unhinged thirst trap, then he could shamelessly call her “Mommy” and simp to his heart’s content.
“Eh, what’s the point of thinking about it now?”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Gunder quickly logged into Soul Warfare.
Might as well just get started.
***
“So, what’s the plan? Should we just go with the standard lane setup?”
“I mean, we are STK. Using an obvious tactic feels kinda lame.”
“No, no, trying something fancy will just get us destroyed. Let’s stick to the basics.”
“Actually, I’ve got a brilliant strategy in mind.”
“We’ve decided to call those ‘disaster plans.’”
“RIP…”
Expecting a bunch of solo queue warriors to come up with a solid strategy on the fly was a joke.
And their opponent? STK.
If anyone here could devise a working plan against a pro team in an instant, they would’ve already gone pro.
Realizing this but having no actual solutions himself—that was the real tragedy.
As expected, despite having strong individual skills, there was no cohesive game plan.
It was honestly pathetic.
‘Wait, isn’t this just normal?’
Talking strategy at this point was nothing more than a desperate attempt to ignore the sheer weight of facing STK.
They had never practiced together offline, and while he wanted to be optimistic, they were still human.
He could understand how they felt.
‘But we can’t stay like this forever.’
Sitting around debating pointless strategies wasn’t productive.
They were all high-ranked players; surely, they understood that much.
Still, someone needed to push things forward.
Taking a step back, he clapped his hands together—hard.
The sharp sound rang through the room, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.
Feeling their gazes on him, he smiled lightly and spoke.
“Alright, let’s finalize positions. Coming up with an elaborate strategy is pointless at this stage—we don’t even have time to execute it. No need to overthink this.”
It wasn’t exactly an order, but rather a simple guideline for them to follow.
Rather than forcing a rigid plan, it was more effective to assign roles that would let them adapt in real-time.
Fortunately, three of the players had already showcased their abilities in previous brawls, making it easier to position them.
“First, Haldir. You seemed strong in head-on fights during the brawl tournament, so I’m assigning you to the central lane. Don’t let anyone through.”
“Gunder and Bisu, you two will take the left lane. Securing points quickly is the priority.”
“Understood.”
“Got it.”
“Alright, let’s do this.”
The three nodded in agreement.
The remaining three would be assigned to the center.
He wasn’t sure what their main roles were, but since they were all high-ranked, they should be able to manage any position.
“Uh… where will you be going, Friede?”
Gunder raised his hand and asked.
With a small smile, she answered, “I’ll take the right lane alone.”
A collective silence fell over the group.
Their expressions were so priceless that she almost wanted to screenshot each of them.
Maybe she should ask someone to do it for her…
No, that would just ruin the mood.
“Are you sure about going alone? What if two or more of them come?”
“That’s exactly why I should be the bait.”
She chuckled.
“It’s a little embarrassing to say, but based on my ranked games, they’ll have no choice but to pay attention to me. That means we’ll gain a numerical advantage on the opposite side. As long as the center holds, we’ll be fine.”
For an average player, this plan was impossible.
But…
Say my name.
That’s right.
She was Friede.
A woman who never lost.
Even after assigning positions, the atmosphere remained uneasy.
For a brief moment, she regretted not forcing everyone to strategize in the waiting room earlier.
But what could they do now?
They had to make the best of it.
“I know it’s intimidating to face a pro team when we haven’t even practiced together. But don’t let that weigh you down. It’s fine if we mess up—it’s just an event match.”
She smiled gently, trying to lift their spirits.
“Think of this as a fun broadcast for your viewers. That’s why we’re here, right?”
At that, one of them suddenly jumped up and shouted.
“Yeah! Screw it, let’s just go in and have fun!”
The first to respond was Gunder.
Dayoung had mentioned before that he had a lively, boisterous personality.
Perfect.
Guys like him were great morale boosters.
“Yeah, whatever, let’s just do this. It’s kinda hilarious that we’re stressing over tactics in an event match.”
“Seriously. We’re literally up against people who game for a living—why are we acting like we need to min-max everything?”
“Alright then. Let’s just go with Friede’s positioning and go nuts.”
As the excited murmurs settled down, she felt the tension in her shoulders ease.
The rest?
Well, they’d have to improvise.
It wasn’t even a real “strategy”—just positioning adjustments based on her usual playstyle.
And yet, everyone was on board.
‘At least things are falling into place.’
It helped that she had won the brawl tournament.
After all, she was the highest-ranked player here.
At the very least, this wouldn’t be a complete disaster…
She had beaten Eunha, after all.
And from what she had seen of Seokgulam (Yoonsoo), she had a decent read on STK’s overall strength.
The only unknown was Warden.
But based on his performance in the opening match…
‘Yeah, we’ll manage somehow.’
With that final thought, she let go of her worries and focused.
The game began.
And within just a few minutes—
Something felt off.
“Huh?”
Four minutes in.
She had just reached the entrance of the enemy’s right-side labyrinth—
And there they were.
Two massive tanks standing guard with giant shields.