Free Web NovelSeason 5: Chapter 33. Perfect Death (1)
LIL Pro’s tiny but precious Survival board was called Survival Pro. Was there anyone with their eyes glued to the stream more than these people?
[Is Survival finally going mainstream?]
[This isn’t a dream, right? Why are all the streamers playing Survival???]
[No way. There’s no way this many streamers would play Survival.]
Survival mode was long treated as the neglected second option next to Siege. Siege players always dismissed it, yet it now spread through the streamer scene like wildfire. Sure, the Platform War promoted it, but that detail didn’t matter to them.
[Once you try Survival, you’ll only play this LOL]
— Yeah LOL
— True, once it hooks you, there’s no escape
— Siege is just exhausting, this is peak light gaming
— For real, for real
— A light but deep masterpiece by Police
The Survival loyalists believed that the moment anyone dipped even a toe into Survival, they’d never get out again. The reason why streamers started playing didn’t matter to them at all. They conveniently ignored the sight of most streamers scratching their heads in front of the client.
“Can everyone even queue Survival ranked?”
“Uh... I have a rank, but I only did placements and stopped...”
“No, I’ve played normal. It didn’t really grab me. Honestly, I just play Siege when I boot up LIL.”
“I tried it, but my viewership tanked...”
The streamers were clearly flustered after being thrown into this unfamiliar game mode called Survival. In reality, even players who had finished placements often never touched it again.
Ting.
[Question has donated 2000 won.]
[Gi-Chan, are you saying Survival is a trash game~?]
— LOLLLL
— Trying to pick a fight right here?
— T-they’re coming...!
ForeverAlone shook his head at the sudden, slanderous question. “Trash game...? No, I’m just saying I did placements and didn’t feel like continuing. Look, there are tons of people here who haven’t even done placements. Why am I getting this again?!”
As always, ForeverAlone shouted boldly at his viewers. This wasn’t just misplaced anger. He had a reason to raise his voice. Four people stood where he pointed.
[Zelo]
[Bubblegum]
[Acorn Jelly]
[Choco Shroom]
Every Platform War member logged into This World hadn’t even done placements.
“Survival mode?” Zelo even asked, “I’m still in my prime, you know? Isn’t that kind of like... a urology clinic?”
— Hey, you lunatic LOL
— LOOOOOOL
— This guy is insane LOL
— Ah... LOL
— Survival is fun too!
“I mean, I’ve tried it, guys. Fun? Sure, it’s fun. It’s fine, but why play it?”
He had never found a reason to keep playing Survival.
“But our team needs to do placements, right?”
The others were no different.
“Yes.”
“Yup~.”
“Yeah!”
Zelo pressed his fingers to his forehead after hearing that Bubblegum, Acorn Jelly, and Choco Shroom also needed to do placements.
“Then who’s carrying the heavy log?”
— LOLLLL
— You said why bother, though
— Isn’t that just you too?
— Like you’d carry it either
The Log Theory was one of LIL’s classic explanations of teamwork. Five people had to carry the log together. Some were weak, and others just pretended to lift. However, the log’s weight wouldn’t change. In the end, someone had to shoulder most of the burden. If someone dropped it because it was too heavy?
‘He got kills and then threw.’
‘If you throw, how are we supposed to win?’
‘Then why did you go mid?’
One would hear such complaints. On the surface, it looked like five people were carrying the log. In truth, maybe two people were doing all the work and taking all the blame. That was the Log Theory. Right now, Zelo was figuring out who would carry the log on his team. The answer was pretty obvious.
“I guess... I will?” the challenger ranked ForeverAlone asked in a voice that almost crept along the floor.
“Is one person enough? Bubblegum usually, uh... stands on the log. This isn’t a normal situation, everyone!”
Bubblegum wasn’t just refusing to carry the log. He would stand on top of it as a legendary troll.
— HOLY SHIT LOL
— LOL freewebnøvel.coɱ
— Mythical beings...
— AH LOL
Bubblegum bristled. “Hey, Zelo. You’re unranked too, you know~!”
Zelo had once been a serious Siege player. His pride took a hit. “Back in my day, I...”
Perhaps unwilling to accept his fate as someone standing on the log, Bubblegum snapped back, “Come on! Survival and Siege are totally different!”
“Um...” ForeverAlone made a suggestion. “Instead of arguing, why don’t we all just run our placement matches?”
— LOLLLLLLLL
— Honestly, yeah LOL
— Just play the game already
— Hey, Zelo, stop talking about five years ago and go carry some bricks!
— Placements will make it obvious.
“T-That’s true. Fine, let’s do placements like Gi-Chan said. All of us!”
“All together?”
Zelo made a peculiar proposal. “We queue at the same time, so our queues overlap. That way, we’ll really feel the difference in strength. Won’t we?”
It was a provocative remark.
“Wahaha! I like it! Then, you’ll admit it if we meet as enemies and I win?”
“Of course.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Acorn Jelly and Choco Shroom.
Acorn Jelly nodded. “Mm. I’m in.”
Choco Shroom agreed as well. “I’ll do better than Mr. Gum, at least.”
— LOLLLLLLLL
— LOLL
— You’re... Silver though...
— Everyone gains mysterious confidence because of Bubblegum
And so, everyone queued up for their first placement match together.
***
In truth, they didn’t even need to queue at the same time. Meeting in placements, as Zelo suggested, was already happening everywhere.
[LOL apparently streamer queues are overlapping like crazy right now, this is peak entertainment]
— Low-popularity mode paying off at times like this...
└ Ugh LOL
— It is fun
— Interest is skyrocketing, clips are gonna explode
— Makes sense, 50 players per match and placements on top of that
Survival having fewer players than Siege was only half the answer. It had ten teams per match while Siege only pitted two teams against each other. The base number of participants was different to begin with.
On top of that, how many players even did placements at this stage of the season? The sample size shrank even further. Thus, a strange phenomenon emerged.
[This is basically the Streamer Placement Season LOL]
Unintentionally, this had become a streamer placement festival.
***
Slash!
[Zelo → Omedetto]
[Enemy defeated!]
Early in the game, Zelo cut down an opponent.
“Wow, lucky start. A straggler?”
After the kill, Zelo glanced at his chat.
— @$@(&@(*
— )(#!@!
— #(#(#
The stream-sniping prevention AI was censoring someone’s name.
“Looks like someone queued into the same match.”
With his long streaming experience, Zelo picked up on it immediately. Someone from their group had definitely landed here.
“Hopefully, Bubblegum is on the other team... No, no, that’s a bad thing to say. Don’t say stuff like that. He could be on our team.”
— ?
— No one said anything though?
— LOLLLL
— LOL
— Gum Bro!
“Honestly, isn’t it a freebie if it’s Bubblegum? We would obviously win? Don’t say things like that, guys~.”
— LOLLLL
— LOLL
— Chat from another timeline
— Who are you even talking to?
— Imaginary chat LMAO
Zelo was quite sharp.
‘Judging by the viewers’ reactions... Bubblegum really is in this match.’
Choco Shroom’s queue had started instantly, and everyone saw her enter a game earlier. ForeverAlone had already finished placements and wasn’t queueing. That left only Acorn Jelly.
“Zelo, I think Gum really did get pulled into this match.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.”
“Ah...”
They were on the same team.
“Ahem. He’s a senior in the industry, but a game is a game. I’m going serious.”
— Acorn Jelly LOL
— Why are you whispering, Jelly?
— Nice
— Storm Ninja Zelo! Storm Ninja Zelo! Storm Ninja Zelo!
— He’s already in serious mode just by picking that champion LOL
— Zelo the ninja!
Zelo had already contracted his main champion and secured a kill. Placements at this level was nothing to fear.
“Let’s go hunting~!”
“Yes!”
Tap tap tap tap.
The whole team moved in sync. Then, something occurred to Zelo.
“Wait. Who banned Iron Ball?”
— ?
— ...?
— Huh?
— @$&$
— Oh... yeah?
Iron Ball had been banned at the start. It was a ban clearly aimed at Bubblegum.
“I thought about doing that. It felt a bit much, so I didn’t.”
— LOLLLL
— You considered it?? Legendary
— LMAO
— How far were you planning to go?
Zelo himself had debated the ban. There was no guarantee they would even meet Bubblegum. It felt excessive, yet someone else had done it.
“That wasn’t a Zelo fan, right?”
It was probably a viewer.
— King behavior
— Uh
— Nope~
— Dunno
Zelo suddenly snapped. “Ha! Yeah, that’s it. Don’t do stuff like that! Seriously!”
— ?
— ??
— LOLLLL suddenly?
“No one will admit it if you win after banning Iron Ball!”
— LOL are you assuming a win already?
— Someone is getting ahead of themselves
— Did you win yet?
— Win first, then talk
— LOLLLL
— Celebrating too early!
Ding! Ding!
A warning rang out from one corner of the map.
“Oh... Someone is reviving?”
The Sanctuary of Resurrection had activated.
“Should we go make a big play there?”
***
“We just need to find the Sanctuary of Resurrection, and the plan succeeds~.”
Meanwhile, Almond and Bubblegum moved to revive their three fallen teammates.
— @@&
— Don’t miss the revive again, please
— You’re reviving this time, right?
— But is Almond actually a genius? Everything he plans works out
— @$*@!@#
Censored chat started to appear.
‘Someone is here.’
Bubblegum couldn’t be sure who, but he steeled himself anyway.
‘This is my chance.’
Getting matched with Almond, this stroke of luck had to be used well. If he could outperform even one teammate, his standing on the team would improve dramatically.
‘I can do it when it matters.’
More than anything, he had confidence in his own skill. This was his chance to prove himself.
‘Focus.’
When Almond pointed somewhere, Bubblegum’s eyes followed instantly.
“Oh, there it is.”
A bamboo forest stretched high into the sky. Inside it, a tower rose from within.
[Sanctuary of Resurrection]
“We’re here.”
Bubblegum swallowed hard.
“Let’s move while hiding first.”
They slipped into the bushes to scout.
Ting! Ting...!
“Huh?”
“Yeah.”
[Someone is performing a resurrection ritual.]
The shrine was already active. Another team was already reviving someone.
Bubblegum made a surprisingly smart suggestion. “Perfect. Almond, let them draw all the aggro while reviving. Then, we revive on the next cycle.”
When the shrine activated, it also alerted nearby players. Fights usually broke out because of this. They would gain a huge advantage if they joined in after things calmed down.
Almond shook his head. “No.”
“No?”
“Of course not. If they use it, then we can’t.”
Bubblegum’s eyes widened. “Really?”
‘Was it like that?’
That didn’t sound right. He couldn’t quite recall.
“You don’t know that?”
Almond looked confident. Hadn’t he just stolen an epic monster flawlessly earlier? Bubblegum couldn’t bring himself to doubt the Smart Young Man.
“D-Damn it. It’s been so long...” He scratched his head, blaming his rustiness. “Wait. Then we have to go now, right!?”
Almond nodded. “Let’s go.”
Bang!
Without another word, they charged out.
— ?
— ...?
— Who fooled who here, exactly? LOL
— Now he’s trapped in the Matrix himself
— TruMond Show Season 2 LMAO
— Did he just lie because convincing Bubblegum was annoying? LOL
— This streamer gets fooled for free!
— ???
— The weird thing is, it still works every time it starts as nonsense
— Bubblegum feels something is off, but can’t say anything during the Smart Young Man era
***
[Beginner’s Tip]
[The Sanctuary of Resurrection can be used multiple times as long as no Shadow falls upon it. Please form an orderly line and wait for your turn.]
