Chapter 31: Unveiling Strategies and Identities

The private fan meetings continued afterward.

Sniping was also easy to recognize. They would ban Thierry, type “I’m a fan” in the chat, or include “Han Yurim” in their username.

Give me a Master ID too, please.
I should’ve sniped you when your tier was still low.

Once a bus leaves, it never comes back. Opportunities need to be seized quickly when given.

While the fan meetings had taken some attention, I had already announced my goal of reaching Challenger without logging off.

There was no time for distractions.

Thierry was banned again this match.

And the pick was “Aslan,” a main carry specialized in escaping.

It was clear they intended to avoid me at all costs.

While this would slow down their growth, it would also hinder mine.

‘Ormal’ wasn’t exactly a mobile character. Fans like that 3rd-tier player, Gondeurimyeonmul Eoyo, lost because they challenged me head-on. But it’s tough to catch someone who plans to avoid you from the start.

This strategy was tailored specifically to counter Ormal.

I considered my options. While I could still grow sufficiently even with Ormal, I didn’t enjoy playing into my opponent’s setup.

Breaking the mold sounded more fun here.

I immediately picked a character specialized in mobility.

This one was originally released as a scout, not well-suited for urban cores. But hey, Ormal wasn’t exactly a great fit either, and I still made it work.

With an allied scout, I swept through the entire city. The character’s mobility was so good that we even scouted the outskirts.

We racked up kills left and right, and the results showed quickly.

[10/0/3]

The game was practically over before the 3rd-tier objective even spawned.

These stats didn’t belong to an early game. This kind of score could only come from the upper echelon stomping in lower-tier matches.

It was an absurd level of growth for a Master queue game, but I wasn’t surprised.

This is exactly why you need to learn a variety of strategies.

When the opponent walks into every trap, you can’t help but grow.

If you always stick to the basics, you won’t know how to counter anything unexpected.

Whoosh. Boom. The enemy base exploded. This happened just 10 minutes into the game.

Early surrender votes need to be unanimous. Usually, at least one player refuses, making it hard to surrender early.

Maybe since I had killed each of them at least once, no one objected this time.

Everyone promptly hit the surrender button.

In the chaotic lobby chat, I found the enemy’s main carry and sent a friend request.

I added my newly acquired fan, Yuri Princess, to the 4th-tier fan category.

“She hasn’t played my game yet, but she’s still a fan filled with affection.”

What even is the criteria for these tiers?
Some get placed in Tier 3 despite cursing at you, while others only compliment you but get put in Tier 4.
Isn’t it just based on whatever you feel like?

Interviewers aren’t supposed to disclose their standards. That’s because most people wouldn’t understand them.

In my case, since my criteria were purely based on “vibes,” it was even more important to keep them private.

Honestly, if I said it out loud, I could already imagine the backlash.

“I’m already at Master Level 1. Challenger is just around the corner.”

Once I clear Master Levels 1, 2, and 3, and then Grandmaster Levels 1, 2, and 3, Challenger will be right there. So, yeah, it’s close.

Are you seriously going to play without sleeping for a whole week?
Quit whining. I’ll be done in a few days.

I queued up for the next match without wasting time.

The queue popped, and no one on the enemy team banned Thierry this time.

No snipers this round?

I felt a bit disappointed but picked Thierry without hesitation.

Although I had memorized the mechanics of many characters, Thierry was still the one I played the most. It was hard to bring out the full potential of other characters the way I could with Thierry.

The game began.

As I moved quickly to secure the objectives, I glanced at the lower-left corner of the screen.

A message popped up in the chat.

[LightIsWithYou (Urban Core): I’m a fan.]

What? So it was a sniper after all?

Good.

I’ll be there soon.

Lumen is currently one of the top pro gamers.

From the beginning, his goal had always been to become a pro. Although some of the games he focused on suddenly fell into obscurity, Lumen ultimately became one of the first-generation pro players—and a legend—in Eternal World.

It was during his break after wrapping up a hectic overseas schedule that he got a message from an old friend.

PaePae: Hey, Unicorn’s back.

Unicorn.

As soon as he heard that name, Lumen thought of someone.

An encounter from about ten years ago—the player with the name VirginUnicornLoveDog.

The same person who played in a grim, suffocating style that made everyone uncomfortable—was back?

Lumen: How do you know?
PaePae: I ran into them. They’re the same as ever.
Lumen: Of course. It’d be stranger if that personality had changed.
PaePae: They’re using the name Han Yurim now. Even their streaming name is the same.

Streaming, huh.

Intrigued, Lumen logged into V-TV.

He searched for Han Yurim, and the channel appeared. The stream had 5,739 viewers—a pretty impressive number.

As soon as he entered, he heard a woman’s voice.

For a moment, Lumen thought Han Yurim was playing duo with someone, but then he realized that she was solo streaming and wasn’t even using voice chat.

“So… she’s a woman?”

That jerk PaePae. He must’ve kept it from Lumen on purpose just to see his reaction.

Thinking back, Han Yurim’s way of speaking had always been feminine—she always used polite language, and her manners were impeccable, like someone raised with traditional decorum.

Of course, her actions and personality were far from delicate. Back then, it was like seven screws were loose in her head—but that was when she was younger. She’s probably changed by now… right?

“Have you played my game before?”
“No? Then I guess you aren’t a real fan.”
“What did you find enjoyable about it?”
“So, it’s not the story, huh?”
“Well, I’m glad you had fun.”

Nope, never mind. I was wrong.

He had told PaePae, but the truth was, it would have been strange if Han Yurim had changed.

She’s exactly the same.

Watching her mercilessly torment the enemy’s main carry like a psychopathic killer brought back vivid memories of the past.

She used to pull off endless Level 1 ganks, driving her opponents to the brink of insanity. Even when people figured out her strategy, they couldn’t stop it, and the developers didn’t fix it for a long time. Everyone suffered until it was patched.

Because of her, the game developers probably lost a billion strands of hair. That’s how much Han Yurim enjoyed exploiting the mechanics.

As he reminisced, Lumen rubbed his arm, only to blink in disbelief at what was unfolding in the stream.

Han Yurim sent a friend request to a sniping viewer and placed them in her [Tier-3 Fan] group.

Is she really allowed to do that?

Lumen wasn’t a professional streamer, but he had his share of broadcasting experience. Most pro gamers these days signed personal streaming contracts as part of the job, so streaming became second nature.

From what Lumen knew, feeding snipers like that was a terrible idea. It only encouraged more of them. Honestly, it felt like she was begging her viewers to snipe her.

As expected, in the very next match, countless viewers started trying to snipe her, flooding the chat with friend requests and challenges.

But Lumen suddenly understood exactly why Han Yurim was doing this.

It’s all about the thrill.

The thrill of cracking open their heads like eggs—how could she ever resist?

Whenever a sniper was confirmed, Han Yurim eagerly tracked them down with a metaphorical bat, smashing through them with such exhilaration that even Lumen found himself wanting to imitate her.

It looked ridiculously fun.

Before long, Han Yurim had collected a small horde of snipers and reached Master Tier 1.

Lumen thought she might take a break now, but she continued queuing up for games.

Master Tier 1, huh…

With a sly grin, Lumen checked the rank of his secret alternate account—it was also sitting at Master 1.

A fun idea sparked in his mind. Without hesitation, he logged into his alternate account and joined the queue.

The queue popped.

He switched over to Han Yurim’s stream. Her queue had popped too.

Did I get in?

Soon, the ban-pick screen appeared. Lumen instinctively banned one of the current overpowered characters, as usual. Then he glanced back at Han Yurim’s stream.

It’s the same screen as mine.

Success.

A grin crept across Lumen’s face as he locked in his main character.

He deliberately avoided banning Thierry—while not a top-tier pick, Lumen wanted to face Han Yurim at her best.

The match began.

[LightIsWithYou (Urban Core): I’m a fan.]

Lumen normally didn’t enjoy making his presence known like this, but he had no choice. He had to let her know he was a sniper.

He started by securing objectives methodically, keeping his eyes peeled for Han Yurim. Judging by her usual patterns, it wouldn’t take long.

As expected, she soon appeared—quicker than usual, in fact. It was a move only someone with unwavering confidence would make.

Lumen summoned his familiar.

He had picked Han Chanhyuk, a summoner character. While somewhat similar to Thierry in versatility, Han Chanhyuk was a mandatory pick for professional players in the Urban Core meta.

Though easier to use than Thierry, Chanhyuk still required precise control. His summons had to be micromanaged, giving the gameplay an RTS-like feel.

Still, compared to Thierry, Chanhyuk was objectively simpler. And as a ranged character, the two weren’t even in the same category.

The community often debated whether Thierry or Han Chanhyuk was the better pick, but Lumen preferred Chanhyuk.

What’s the point of versatility if you can’t reach peak performance? Chanhyuk is a staple even on the world stage—he’s far more practical.

A shadow-cloaked wolf appeared before Han Chanhyuk.

The wolf had two abilities: [Bite] and [Howl]. Bite was just a basic attack-enhancing skill, but Howl was special—it reduced the enemy’s defense with a debuff.

Han Chanhyuk had four summonable familiars in total. Including his ultimate, which brought out a special summon with one unique ability, he had to juggle a total of seven skills to play the character effectively.

Lumen directed the shadow wolf forward and summoned two more creatures—a bear and a snake. Controlling all three summons simultaneously, he sent them attacking in perfect sync. Against most opponents, this combo left them helpless.

Now then, Unicorn, how will you handle this?

A mix of excitement and curiosity filled Lumen as he watched Han Yurim.

She opened her mouth to speak.

“Have you played my game before?”

“…No, I haven’t.”

“Really?”

A puddle formed beneath Han Yurim’s feet, catching Lumen off guard.

Water elementals began to appear—a spear-wielding water elemental, a sword-wielding one, and another armed with a bow—all surrounding Han Yurim protectively.

It was Thierry’s water-element summoning skill.

Is she really going for a summon battle?

Can she pull it off?

In Eternal World, summoned creatures came with built-in AI. The idea was to make it easier for casual players by having summons automatically use abilities and attack enemies.

Of course, this AI wasn’t particularly reliable. At higher ranks, most players disabled auto-casting and auto-movement for better control.

However, Thierry had no such option. Players controlling Thierry had to manually command every summon themselves.

This was supposed to be the developer’s way of balancing the character. But in reality, it practically sealed away Thierry’s water-element skills.

No human could micromanage summons manually while also engaging in close combat.

Or… is that what she’s going for?

Is she just setting all her summons on auto-attack to buy time and eliminate me in the process?

This strategy might work against average players or even low Grandmaster ranks, but not against Lumen.

Lumen was a master of manual control, a summoner who micromanaged every move. Auto-attacking summons meant nothing to him—they were easy to ignore.

She doesn’t know who I am, huh? What a shame.

Lumen smirked, prepared to end this with a dull but efficient strike. He sent out a basic attack, watching as the energy bolt flew toward Han Yurim.

But she twisted her body at the last second, dodging the attack, and charged forward with her summons in tow.

Lumen quickly commanded his snake summon to lure the water elementals. Sure enough, the elementals—drawn by the snake’s movements—abandoned Han Yurim and focused their attacks on it.

Just as I thought—mindless auto-attackers.

But then—whoosh!

An arrow shot through the air, aimed directly at Lumen.

The unexpected hit made Lumen flinch as his health dropped. Quickly regaining his composure, he realized what had just happened.

Feigning an attack on my summons, only to target me directly?

She still has room to maneuver in the middle of all this? Impressive.

But it wouldn’t last. Lumen wasn’t worried—he’d see how far she could take this.

He shifted focus, commanding both his bear and wolf summons to target Han Yurim.

The bear stomped the ground, sending shockwaves toward her—but the sword-wielding water elemental intercepted it.

The wolf lunged, baring its fangs—only to be pierced by the spear-wielding water elemental.

And still, Han Yurim kept running.

Suddenly, flames flickered to life along the blade in her hand.

What’s this?

Lumen’s eyes narrowed. Something unexpected was coming.

Lumen urgently activated his snake summon’s skill: [Recall], teleporting all his summons to his side.

The bear summon reappeared near him and slammed the ground, aiming to stun a target in a straight line. However, the sword-wielding water elemental once again intercepted the attack, taking the hit in place of Han Yurim.

With the path now cleared, Han Yurim’s sword blazed as she swung it directly at Lumen. His snake summon lunged in an attempt to block her, but the spear-wielding water elemental skewered it, halting its advance.

No more obstacles stood between them.

The burning sword cut through the air, and flames engulfed Lumen. His health plummeted, and he gasped in shock.

What did I just witness…?

Controlling summons manually in the middle of close combat required intense focus. Handling multiple tasks simultaneously in such a high-pressure situation was almost impossible—definitely beyond the limits of ordinary human multitasking.

Lumen thought for a moment. Using cheats would’ve seemed more plausible than this.

On the brink of defeat, Lumen heard Han Yurim’s voice through the game’s chat.

“So… you’ve never seen my game before, either?”

“Nope.”

“And you don’t care about it?”

“My taste in games is pretty limited.”

Han Yurim simply nodded at Lumen’s indifferent response, and without hesitation, swung her sword again.

The screen turned grey—Lumen had been defeated.

As his character lay in defeat, Lumen let out a chuckle.

She’s gotten stronger—way stronger than I expected.

Was her mechanical skill always this good? Maybe her multitasking and game sense were on this level even back then…

Even though he’d been taken out, he wasn’t ready to give up. Lumen tried every trick he knew, struggling to turn the game around.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

He stared at the lobby screen, shaking his head in disbelief.

I just wanted to throw her a surprise party, and instead, I got thoroughly wrecked.

The fun of the surprise was ruined, and a sense of disappointment lingered. But there was no point hiding his identity any longer.

Soon, a friend request notification popped up—from Han Yurim.

Opening her stream on his second monitor, Lumen wondered, Which fan group will I be placed in?

Given his half-hearted responses, he figured he’d be sorted into Fan-Tier 5—the lowest tier.

“Hmm… where should I place ‘TheLightShinesUponYou’?” Han Yurim mumbled, deliberating for a moment. Then she clicked on Lumen’s username and dragged it into a group.

[Fan-Tier 1]

Lumen gawked at the screen, stunned.

Why Tier 1?

He wasn’t the only one baffled—her chat exploded with confusion.

[Why’s that guy in Tier 1? He doesn’t even like you!]

“Why Tier 1, you ask?” Han Yurim paused dramatically before answering.

“Because… he’s totally head over heels for me. Couldn’t you tell by the way he was talking? So full of affection!”

Lumen was struck speechless by her playful lies.

How does she come up with this stuff?

For a moment, he seriously considered logging off and pretending this never happened.

Just then, a donation message popped up in her stream:

[Anonymous donated 1,000 won]
That player’s pick, gameplay, and username… it’s totally Lumen, isn’t it?

“Lumen? Hah, no way,” Han Yurim replied smoothly. “The old Lumen? He was a… support main. There’s no way he’d play as a carry now.”

Geez…

You really haven’t changed, Unicorn.

Lumen couldn’t help but grin. It’s kind of nice how consistent you are.