NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 212
Chapter 212 – Team Harmony
“Uh…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Sigh.
How should I handle this?
Such thoughts flitted through the mind of the ICARUS-Dark Zone service team employee who was in charge of this streamer competition.
Unlike typical streamers, this was a large-scale event involving broadcasters partnered with Dark Zone, making it something ICARUS could manage.
Anyway, that wasn’t the main issue.
The presence of one or two more people didn’t offer a good solution on how to handle the situation.
The fact that two pairs of eyes were fixated on the email from Harmony displayed on the screen without opening their mouths easily was proof of that.
The rules of the competition were simple.
Six teams, each consisting of four members, would be divided into two groups of three teams each.
These two groups would then compete in a best-of-seven match.
The user with the highest tier would lead the lower-tiered users to form a strategy team….
This was where a slight problem arose.
“The highest-tier user in Team Cartographer is Kato…but this is based on AP (Attack Power), right? Can we apply this to Domination as well? Shouldn’t we hand this over to Harmony?”
“It’s just a one-tier difference. Even if Cartographer is based on AP, he has a Medal of Honor. Harmony is now Tier 1, Grade 5. If Kato has played Domination rank games multiple times, there’s a chance his tier is higher than Harmony’s.”
“That’s true, but isn’t Cartographer’s team a bit overpowered?”
“That’s true, but unless you’re at Yoo Jin’s level, there’s a limit to overcoming all games with just individual skills… If it gets too bad, we’ll contact Manager Kim’s side and suggest giving them an additional advantage. I’ll handle that today. Let’s monitor for now.”
Nod, nod.
In the end, that was the issue.
The sudden increase in strength due to Harmony’s presence.
How should we balance this?
With about six days left until the competition, it was neither a lot nor a little time. It was the perfect time to take action.
There weren’t many advantages that came to mind. Perhaps allowing more direct support from professional gamers? On the other hand, we could impose a slight handicap on Team Cartographer.
In any case, in today’s South Korea, there were very few people who didn’t know the names Yoo Jin and Dice. And Harmony, who brought both as exclusive coaches.
That alone was enough reason to impose a handicap.
About a few tens of minutes later, a colleague came back and added.
“…I think we need to give a pretty strict handicap to Harmony.”
“What? That bad? What’s going on?”
“If this continues, when the competition starts, Manager Kim’s team is going to be wiped out. We need to stop Team Cartographer from getting more professional feedback quickly.”
“Well… Manager Kim’s side will be fine, right? Let’s not touch them too much. I think we need to have a meeting with Cartographer’s team leaders… I’ll handle that. What else needs to be done?”
“We need to decide on the handicap for Team A and connect Team B with a professional team for practice if possible. Or we could move Cartographer to Team B…but that might be too drastic.”
“Right.”
Meaningful data began to pile up one by one.
As discussions and revisions continued, the number of people involved grew from two to three, then from three to four, and five.
Thus, a few hours after receiving Harmony’s email, the matter was shared among most of the temporary department staff overseeing the streamer competition.
Like pieces of a puzzle assembling themselves, every staff member took on specific, detailed tasks.
People were recruited to lead meetings, B teams were contacted to announce the new advantage, and the remaining staff desperately thought of handicaps and prepared to announce the revised plans.
All this irony stemming from a single email.
“Don’t think you can finish everything with one meeting. Those attending the meeting should freely share their opinions with the streamers. Summarize the discussions and send a clean summary later.”
“Yes, understood.”
A wave that hit out of nowhere.
The sun was just past its peak as it was lunchtime, and the cool autumn breeze was blocked by the glass windows, making it warm inside the building. Yet, strangely, my fingertips felt cold.
The arrow had been shot, and now we could only wait for the results.
And how much time had passed?
-[Notice // As of now, Team Cartographer has been switched to Team Harmony.]
For some, it was an expected outcome.
For others, it was a situation beyond imagination.
A chemical reaction had been triggered.
“Unexpected results, huh.”
“It’s all because Teacher Yoo Jin got too big. She should have stayed as my little Teacher Yoo Jin…”
“Sigh.”
“Ouch!”
Thunk!
A light but solid feeling brushed over my head with a cheerful thud. When I glanced up, a tail was brushing my scalp. It was the first time in my life that I didn’t feel bad about being hit like this.
Though I escaped reality for a moment, many things had changed within just a few hours. First, Team Cartographer became Team Harmony. Adding to that, the name Team Harmony didn’t sound quite right, so I decided to just call them Team A from now on.
Anyway, Team A could no longer receive tactical feedback from professionals or those of equivalent skill. Conversely, Team Manager Kim, let’s call them Team B, could now receive more relaxed feedback from professionals than before.
Fortunately, we managed to prevent the squad members from being scattered…but did anything really change? Personally, I felt it hadn’t. But asking others might yield different answers.
And the final change….
“Harmony will soon take on the role of an instructor. How do you feel about that?”
“Well… It’s my first time teaching someone under such odd circumstances, so it’s hard to say.”
“You’ll do great. It’ll be a worthwhile experience.”
“Kato said the same thing. Though he didn’t look too happy about it.”
“Haha.”
Is teaching others really that hard? I pondered.
Since the team was decided, we met a few times, but until then, I had just nodded along to explanations. A few tens of minutes ago, I had my first real conversation with someone – quite late, but better than never.
Regardless, the conversation flowed smoothly. Naturally, we had common ground – of course, having experienced a disaster with Dice helped.
Is there anyone who met Yoo Jin under good circumstances? I didn’t either, but hearing others’ stories, I kept realizing my first encounter with Yoo Jin was relatively peaceful.
…I digress.
Teacher added in his calm tone.
“Practically, nothing has changed. Focus on what you can control. Discard what you can’t. Squad leaders have their titles for a reason.”
“Uh…yes.”
“By the way, I’m not sure if giving this level of advice is allowed. Are there detailed guidelines?”
“Eh. This much should be fine. I’ll ask later. Surely they won’t nitpick about this, right?”
30 minutes before the broadcast started in-game.
It was a sudden request, so there was a mountain of tasks, but somehow we finished them all – for example, examining the validity of the request, confirming how to comply with it, and preparing detailed explanations for viewers who might have questions about the notice.
There were other things too. As the newly appointed team leader, I had to explain that and consider how to run the curriculum.
Well, Teacher Yoo Jin said to focus on what I can control….
My thoughts naturally shifted.
“That aside, you’re truly amazing. I tried to match up with the team yesterday, and it was just… How on earth did you do it?”
“Min Ah lived up to my expectations. The same goes for the three of you.”
“Of course, that’s what I’d expect. Thanks to you, I think we can tackle the tournament without much worry.”
Even considering this happened on a missed Monday, it’s terrifying—there truly are heights in this world that cannot be reached… or perhaps should not be. Maybe I experienced just a glimpse of that.
In the end, Yoo Jin’s methodology worked again. Initially, we covered the gaps with intensive lectures and training, then slowly built up the status of each person, making it hexagonal. When the foundation was so solid, we didn’t need any fancy tricks.
The conversation continued until the scheduled broadcast time.
“Anyway, it’s such a shame. Still, with everything we’ve learned so far, we’ll manage somehow. At the very least, we won’t make fools of ourselves.”
“Of course you won’t. Do well.”
“Yes….”
Oh, come on. With all we’ve learned so far, it’s unlikely we’ll freeze up and fail… Still, we should predict our opponents’ skills to be a bit higher. Let’s focus on individual and group training as intensely as possible.
As the broadcast start time approached, Yoo Jin disappeared to do her personal stream. It was disappointing that we wouldn’t see her in-game for a few days except for personal contact, but soon, even that thought would vanish.
We’d be quite busy.
With practiced ease, I turned on the broadcast and moved to the session where Kato was. The scenery changed in the blink of an eye. The location was the shooting range, the briefing spot I had requested in advance.
Including myself, three people were gathered. As mentioned, one was Kato, and the last was another squad leader, the streamer Human Boss. They were all skilled individuals, but when did I rise to a level where I could lead these people?
This, too, was all thanks to Yoo Jin.
We exchanged brief greetings.
“Hello, nice to meet you all… I’m Harmony, who somehow ended up as the squad leader. Nice to meet you.”
“Ha ha, nice to meet you. I’m Human Boss. I’m close with Kato, so feel free to speak comfortably with me.”
-Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony! Team Harmony!
– I knew you’d cause a commotion after all that intensive ranking practice these past few days. LOL
– You crazy person, stop being so good! Stop being so good, I said!
– Where in the world does someone reach Grandmaster in unranked just days before a tournament, LOL
– Nocknyang, reveal whether you have a snake tail by showing your butt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The chat was going wild.
Since things had come to this, I just gave a brief greeting to the viewers and decided to ignore the subsequent commotion for a bit. Although the streamer’s duty lies in their viewers, I had mountains of work to do.
Today, however, both the viewers and the industry peers in front of me seemed to share the same curiosity.
“Ah, you’ve arrived. Let me greet you again. Congratulations on your promotion to group project leader.”
“I’ll be in charge overall, but Kato has to coordinate the squad members. If he doesn’t do it right, I’ll call Yoo Jin.”
“No, please don’t!”
– LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
– Genetic-level fear of Yoo Jin, LOL
– Grandpa’s washed up, LOL. Now, if you don’t listen, the anaconda will take you away, right?
– Lost his pride but gained peace of mind, though looking quite pathetic, LOL
– Yoo Jin, come out!!!!!! Return the proud Kato from before!!!!!!
Leaving the bowing Kato behind, I connected with the squad members Limit, Hotteok, and Stone. The shooting range expanded significantly. It had to be larger to accommodate the twelve people invited.
A few new features appeared in the UI, ones I hadn’t seen before. Group leadership authority. A tool Kato had until just a day ago, now naturally transferred to me. So, I called everyone here.
Briefings and debriefings had become an inseparable ritual.
People started to trickle in.
Most wore bewildered expressions. My team members, however, maintained a composed and dignified look – it didn’t take long for everyone to take their seats.
Before delivering a long speech, I quietly called my team members and asked them to sit in the three chairs behind the podium. With slightly puzzled looks, they took their seats behind me.
After a brief pause to catch my breath, I began to speak.
“Nice to meet you all. Since we don’t have much time left, I’ll keep it brief. I’m Harmony, taking over from streamer Cartographer as the overall leader for this team. Please take care of me until the tournament.”
Clap, clap, clap.
As I bowed my head, applause, half-formal, half-genuine, echoed.
I didn’t have much prepared to say, so I got straight to the point.
“I won’t say much. Some of you may aim just to participate, while others may aim for victory. Could those in the former category raise their hands?”
Silence.
On the contrary, when I mentioned the latter, everyone raised their hands high into the air.
At that moment, I conjured a camera in the air—
───Click!
And captured it as evidence.
Realizing something was off, they exchanged glances, but I spoke with a sly smile on my lips.
“With this, you’re all in the same boat.”
– What? What, what, what??????
– Wow, LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
– That crazy person, LOL LOL LOL LOL
– Getting craftier, LOL
– Attention! Yoo Jin’s training begins now! The Yoo Jin van is on its way, so abandon hope!!!
Of course, this wasn’t just limited to them.
I naturally assigned the squad members to their positions—like a roll call.
From the spot with the best view of all eight, I spoke again.
“These three, including myself, will help you improve your skills until the tournament.”
“What?”
“Wait a minute! Harmony! You didn’t mention this!”
“Putting this runaway armored vehicle in the driver’s seat, we’re in big trouble.”
Voluntary enlistment, dramatic personnel changes, and even outsourcing.
Everything, inside and out, began to operate under the new engine called Team Harmony. Anyone could foresee the explosion at the end.
But whether that explosion would hit the enemy or ally depended on the steering direction.
“Heehee.”
– First disciple of Yoo Jin’s madness, LOL
– This person’s the craziest, LOL
– Giving power to someone unpredictable, Yoo Jin LOL
– Fine, do as you please, LOL
– Yoo Jin needs to explain this
The Harmony, setting sail.