I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 239

The day after winning the first match, scrims resumed.

With the tournament’s fast-paced schedule—matches every two days—we had to push ourselves as hard as possible. The finals were the day after tomorrow, so there was no choice but to keep the grind intense.

『Good work, everyone…』

『Yep, good work.』

『You all did great.』

『Good work today!』

“G-Good work, everyone.”

But the results weren’t encouraging.

In official scrims, the most we could play in a day was five matches—and losing all five of them crushed the team’s morale enough to make yesterday’s victory feel distant.

There were several reasons why a team that performed well in the tournament suddenly struggled like this.

First, the team synergy was slightly off.

Most of us hadn’t properly played team games before, and even Sanchaekkun, the only high-tier player among us, was more of a solo queue warrior. Miscommunication and poor macro decisions happened more often than not.

Second, our mechanics were slightly lacking in comparison.

In tournaments like this, high-tier players are usually placed in key roles—junglers who coordinate the team’s macro or ADCs who can carry late-game fights.

Because of this, Jeongjin-nam, our jungler, often got targeted early, and bot lane was frequently camped. Even when Nyangtamon unnie and I, who faced less pressure, tried to stabilize, a fed enemy ADC would often wipe us out.

Not that this was solely the jungler or bot lane’s fault. If I, the mid laner, had played better, things might’ve gone differently. There’s a reason mid is called the “royal lane.” These were just the main issues behind our losses.

『Sigh…』

『Haaah…』

This was the first time the Discord voice chat was filled with nothing but sighs. Everyone wanted to do well—myself included.

『Sorry, Sanchaekkun. I should’ve covered your top dive…』

『Nah, it’s on me. My lane was a mess, and my recall timing was off.』

『My bad, Lulu. If I’d just called the support roam, you wouldn’t have died.』

“I-It’s okay. I should’ve checked the map.”

『Ugh, why are the enemy team so good? Bot lane feels like hell.』

• Yikes…
• Five straight losses hurt.
• This is why weak bot lanes are a problem. (User blocked.)
• This is tough…
• Stop blaming others or I’ll flame you.

The team tried to comfort each other, but as the scrim results worsened, the chat grew toxic. Random viewers popped in just to trash-talk before leaving.

That part was whatever. Those hyena-like trolls were always lurking for excuses to pounce. We could ignore them as long as we focused on our own play.

But with such a disastrous outcome, even mutual encouragement felt hollow. We needed a concrete solution.

『You all did great today. Don’t be too discouraged—some of it’s on me for poor draft decisions.』

Glow, our coach, tried to lift our spirits, but the mood was too grim for proper responses. The sting of a full scrim loss was too fresh.

『Anyway, see you all for scrims tomorrow. Let’s call it for today.』

• Glow out.
• Bye Glow.
• Damn, this sucks…
• Felt like we were just one step short.
• That third game was legit winnable.

After Glow left, we should’ve disbanded, but no one moved. The frustration kept us rooted in the Discord call. Everyone was lost in thought, trying to figure out how to fix this.

I couldn’t break the silence either, but my mind raced for answers—not just generic “play better” advice, but a real, game-changing strategy.

“U-Um, cherries, I’ll head out too. It’s late, and I need to wake up early for scrims tomorrow.”

• K.
• Rest up.
• Good work, Lulu.
• Don’t beat yourself up.

Streaming would only sour the mood further, so I ended the broadcast and flopped onto my bed, deep in thought. Like dominoes, the rest of the team logged off one by one after me.

Thud.

“Haaah…”

Five straight games of intense focus drained me. The moment I hit the bed, a heavy sigh escaped.

What do we do?

The team that handed us three losses today is our finals opponent. The thought alone is terrifying.

Ding.

[Sanchaekkun]: Y’all awake?

[Sanchaekkun]: Need to talk ASAP. You free?

I hadn’t even dozed off yet. Rolling over, I checked my phone to see messages in the Lulu and the Auction Leftovers group chat.

Huh? Sanchaekkun? We just disbanded—what’s up?

[Me]: I’m here!

[Nyangtamon unnie]: Me too.

[Jeongjin-nam]: What’s going on?

[Kkomppang]: Was too pissed to sleep anyway. Go ahead.

Everyone chimed in. Soon, Sanchaekkun replied:

[Sanchaekkun]: If you’ve got time, let’s hop in Discord, crack open a drink, and talk honestly.

[Sanchaekkun]: No one’s streaming, so no eavesdroppers.

[Sanchaekkun]: I think our problem is we’re all too nice to criticize each other.

[Sanchaekkun]: (Except Nyangtamon. You’re fine.)

[Nyangtamon unnie]: Wanna die?

A brief back-and-forth between Sanchaekkun and Nyangtamon unnie lightened the mood, but the message was clear—we needed to hash things out.

Anyway, to briefly summarize the main point: it’s about setting aside time to openly share our honest feelings with each other.

As I listened, it sounded quite reasonable. Before I knew it, I was nodding along.

It’s true—what Sanchaekkun mentioned might be a blind spot: the fact that all our members are too kind.

We’re hesitant to criticize each other, so even during feedback, we end up saying things like, “I should’ve done better.”

During games, everyone keeps trying to play sacrificially, which just leaves us stuck in limbo.

Games aren’t meant to be played sacrificially to begin with.

Sure, if someone’s role requires it, fine—but if every pick or comp forces sacrifice, it just becomes a messy team.

[Me] – I think it’s a good idea!

[Me] – But I’m not good with alcohol…

[Me] – Is that okay?

[Sanchaekkun] – The alcohol thing was just a suggestion; you don’t have to drink.

[Sanchaekkun] – It’s more about borrowing the mood to share honest thoughts.

[Jeongjin-nam] – I agree. I’ll join.

[Kkomppang] – I’ve got an ad shoot tomorrow afternoon…

[Kkomppang] – Eh, it’ll work out somehow!

[Nyangtamon unnie] – I’m OK too.

And just like that, we ended up scheduling an impromptu session. Somehow, I booted up my computer with a giddy feeling—maybe because of the tiny hope that this could help our team move forward again.

Ding— Ding— Ding—

When I entered the Discord voice channel first, others soon joined.

『How long has it been since we last split up? And here we are again.』

『True. Our teamwork’s something else.』

『I’m turning my cam on. Brb, grabbing drinks.』

『I wanna crack open soju, but beer’ll do.』

“I-I’ll just have cola. Sorry…”

『Hey, no need to apologize, Lulu! Your mere existence is radiant!』

『Quit spouting nonsense at her!』

The Discord channel quickly grew lively. The live streamers like Sanchaekkun, Nyangtamon unnie, and Kkomppang turned their cams on as usual. Soon after—

Psst—

The sound of beer cans opening echoed around. Seems they chose low-ABV beer to avoid getting too drunk for the discussion.

Ugh… I’m not a kid, but I’m stuck with cola.

『Anyway, after watching our scrims, I felt we’re stuck in a rut. So I set this up. Today, let’s lay everything out—no filters.』

『Oh? Sanchaekkun, you scrub, you can do that?』

『C’mon, use your brain for once.』

『Oof.』

Despite the side chatter, when Sanchaekkun explained the purpose, silence fell as everyone eyed each other.

People hesitate when given the floor—especially our team, who avoid blunt talk. Well, except between Nyangtamon unnie and Sanchaekkun.

As the tension dragged on—

『Ugh, fine. As the eldest, I’ll take charge. We’re here to be blunt anyway. Jeongjin-nam?』

『Y-yes, unnie. Go ahead.』

(It might be rude to say this, but—)

Nyangtamon unnie called on Jeongjin-nam with the vibe of a delinquent gyaru from manga. When he replied nervously—

『Listen, dumbass—if you’re jungling, USE YOUR BRAIN! Quit fidgeting like you’ve got diarrhea every time a lane struggles!』

『Ghk…!』

The atmosphere flipped instantly after Nyangtamon unnie’s opening strike.

…Yikes. That looked lethal.

…You okay, Jeongjin-nam?