I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 92

Competitive was a team-based game. No matter how well four players performed, if one person faltered, the entire team lost.

And when all five teammates carried different problems, the situation was downright disastrous.

It was time to discuss the results of the past three days of scrims.

Yeomisae, our Challenger-tier coach and former pro gamer, spoke up first.

[I’M SORRY!!]

That apology was for stubbornly burning all his points on Serena, leading to this mess of a team.

[But honestly, I didn’t think it would be this bad!]

That part was directed at our scrim results.

We had gone 0 wins and 22 losses.

Each game was a first-to-ten format, yet our round win rate didn’t even hit 30%.

In simpler terms, we were getting absolutely wrecked.

Even if we managed to break through enemy lines with a one-point push, our defense crumbled like a sandcastle once we had to hold the bomb site.

Every round was the same—attack went fine, but post-plant and defense phases were nightmares.

Breaking Down the Problems

First Issue: Serena’s Calls Being Overpowered by Crkemang’s Shouting

[Watch B long.]

[Copy that, they’re pushing B—]

[AAAAAH! I’M DEAD! MID! THERE’S A TON OF THEM! HOLY—]

[Kamik, what’s happening on Long? I missed the call because—]

[Ah... Sorry. I’m down too. They rushed in faster than expected.]

It wasn’t just that Crkemang’s loud comms interrupted Serena.

The real problem was that Kamik, our main carry, would get taken out in the split-second gap caused by the missing call.

[Crkemang, let’s cut down your calls. Keep it simple—‘I’m dead, I died at X location.’ If you can, add how many enemies you saw.]

[Ahh, my bad. I’ve just got a loud voice.]

[Your voice is fine. The issue is length. Keep it brief.]

We expected this problem, and even Yeomisae pointed it out.

But since Competitive was a fast-paced game full of sudden emergencies, Crkemang struggled to hold back in crucial moments.

Second Issue: The Opposite Problem—Bazubi’s Voice Was Too Quiet

[.........they ......... are...]

[What? Bazubi, can you repeat that?]

[.........uh ......... I’m dead.]

[Damn. Where? Call out your location!]

[............it’s—]

[AAAAAAH! A down! A down! Emergency on A!]

This issue combined with the first one.

If Bazubi’s call got drowned out, Crkemang, Kamik, and Bazubi all ended up getting wiped together, leaving us in an immediate 2v5 or 2v4 situation.

[Bazubi, no one’s going to yell at you. Speak up! Louder! You’ve got a nice voice, so—]

[................]

[Louder!!]

[...I c-can’t...]

Yeomisae’s coaching wasn’t bad.

But his unnecessary side comments made it worse.

The guy had no clue how small-time streamers felt.

"Coach. Stop hitting on people."

[Huh? I wasn’t flirting?!]

"She’s uncomfortable. Just say what you need to say, nothing extra."

[Ha. My thoughtfulness is being mistaken for flirting? This is crazy.]

"Want to do push-ups?"

[...No, ma’am.]

Third Issue: Me.

Serena’s coaching had helped me adjust to Competitive combat style and I’d even picked up an AR to extend my survival time.

But my Battle Colosseum ego kept making me go berserk at the worst moments.

And since Serena owed me one, she didn’t completely shut me down when she should have.

"I feel like I can wipe them all if I rush in now."

[Uh... Uhh... Then give it a shot.]

"LEEEET’S GO— Ah. I’m dead."

[Oh...]

No matter how much I messed around, this wasn’t Battle Colosseum.

The movement wasn’t as janky, and if the enemy had good aim, I was getting headshotted.

And what about my Smoker utility?

Shouldn’t I have used personal smokes for cover?

All gone.

I used every smoke to open paths and block vision for my teammates.

Like I said, if this was a game I could carry, I wouldn’t have played this way.

But this was Competitive.

And my chaotic movement style was a constant problem.

In Battle Colosseum, I could dash, slide, jump, and even spin in mid-air while shooting, and my aim would barely wobble.

But in Competitive, if I sprayed while moving, my bullets would outline the enemy like a chalk drawing.

Even Yeomisae, despite being a garbage team builder, still pointed this out as a coach.

[Gia, do you have to rush in? It’s like you physically can’t hold back.]

[And how many times have I told you to STOP spraying while running? Stop dashing, sliding, and spraying, dammit!]

The Snowball of Defeat

With these three problems, we lost every game.

If none of them happened in a round, we actually functioned well and won a few defensive rounds.

But there was one more massive issue.

Competitive rewarded players with gold based on kills and round wins.

Without enough gold, we couldn’t afford good weapons.

And if we couldn’t buy strong guns, we couldn’t land one-taps (headshots).

The game was all about snowballing gold to win 10 rounds first.

But since we kept losing round after round, even when we did win, we couldn’t maintain the momentum.

The enemy team, on the other hand, had been stacking gold all game.

Suddenly, they’d fully buy up and bulldoze their way in.

If we lost our weapons then?

We’d fall back into a never-ending ouroboros of defeat.

Team Morale Was Crumbling

The endless losses started taking a toll.

Kamik, usually a sharpshooter, began making mistakes.Serena, usually a tactical genius, started missing enemy rotations.Even Crkemang, the loudest one, went completely silent.At first, I thought it was a good thing—fewer unnecessary calls.

But then I realized... the team needed his energy to stay motivated.

Without him or me keeping things light, the voice chat was oppressively heavy.

Half the Team Had Already Given Up

At this point, most of them had mentally checked out.

The only one still holding on to hope?

Me.

But I had my own problem.

The longer we scrimmed, the more Yeomisae started restricting my playstyle.

That’s when it hit me—

Serena had actually been letting me play however I wanted.

Over the past three days, these were my accumulated warnings:

Don’t spray while moving. (Battle Colosseum habit.)Don’t put a mini-barrel in your pistol slot.Never use your smoke grenades for personal cover.If retreating, use smoke even without an order.Actually, just retreat once in a while...I already wanted to rush in and go wild, but I held back so I wouldn’t ruin the team’s positioning.

Yet whenever I waited for my teammates to be ready—

They got picked off first.

It was so frustrating.

***

The Next Day

"This isn’t working. Gia, let’s switch your role with Crkemang’s. You should be on defense. It’ll help with our overall defense and keep your impulsive plays in check."

And with that, Yeomisae officially pushed Magia over the edge.

The defense role was the furthest backline position.

On attack, the role’s job was to plant the bomb and set up turrets or traps to hold the area.On defense, they had to hold a site alone and stop the enemy from getting in.In short? It was boring as hell.

It clashed completely with Magia’s playstyle.

And worst of all? She couldn’t even use Smoker, her favorite champion.

Yeomisae had put a lot of thought into this, considering how much our team had struggled on defense.

But unless the person giving orders was Cheon Do-hee herself, Magia—who had been suffocated for four days straight—wasn’t just going to accept it.

[Before we switch roles, can I try playing my way? I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’ve been so frustrated these past four days.]

"...What exactly do you want to do?"

[Shotgun Smoker rush. I’ll use all my smoke for myself.]

"Wait. Hold on...."

In Competitive, a reckless rush was the #1 thing you should never do.

This wasn’t some fast-paced, arcade-style FPS.

The original game was so tactical that players studied CQB (Close Quarters Battle) military strategies just to keep up.

Infiltration, strike, tactics—each role existed to enable strategies like breakthroughs, flanks, and fakes.Blind rushing?

In a game where a single headshot could kill you instantly, it was objectively a terrible idea.Yeomisae knew this.

But after four days of scrims, he also knew his team wasn’t normal.

They functioned decently when things went smoothly.

But the moment one flaw surfaced, the entire team collapsed.

Magia’s charge-first instincts were part of that problem.

She was like a dog chasing after a flying ball.

If the enemy showed a single weak point, she had to attack.

Not even Serena could stop her.

And Yeomisae certainly couldn’t.

But that instinct had to be crushed.

Even if her aim was good, if she ignored Competitive’s team-based playstyle, she would drag the team down with her.

‘I knew this moment would come eventually...’

And frankly, the scrim losing streak had pushed chat into full riot mode.

— Bruh... This isn’t Battle Colosseum, what are you doing? LMAO.

— Why is she so aggressive? LOL.

— Just let her do it once.

— She’s never gonna fix this habit.

— Battle Colosseum Diamond rank is really making her cocky, huh?

— Watching this is frustrating. Just let her play her way.

— So arrogant, LOL.

— She should listen to the ex-pro instead of acting like a know-it-all Battle Colosseum player.

— Let’s see what happens if she tries. A few deaths should teach her a lesson.

Yeomisae exhaled.

The best approach was to let her fail first.

If she crashed and burned, they could force her to adopt proper Competitive tactics afterward.

And if she somehow made it work, the chat’s mockery would shut itself down.

After all, when she followed strategy, she was still a solid player.

Her Battle Colosseum habits just kept messing with her discipline.

"Alright. Try it. We’re ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) doomed at this rate anyway."

[Thank you.]

Yeomisae wasn’t just giving in.

At 0 wins and 22 losses, they needed to experiment before entering real matches.

Honestly, his mindset was starting to shift to ‘just have fun.’

Because he had seen Magia’s Battle Colosseum clips.

During an internal clan war, she had turned her smoke into a literal kill zone, slaughtering every single enemy who entered her fog.

Of course, Competitive was different.

Shotguns were trash at long range.Smokes were meant for team use.But still.

Who knew?

Maybe the puppy was actually a wild wolf waiting to be unleashed.

"Serena, from now on, assume Smoker’s smokes don’t exist. We’re adjusting the strategy to three smokes max."

[Understood.]

"Kamik, Bazubi. Do not react to Magia’s calls. Only follow Serena’s orders. Stick to your positions until the exact moment to move in."

[Got it.]

[...Understood.]

Crkemang noticed that Yeomisae hadn’t given him instructions, so he asked.

[Coach. What about me?]

"Crkemang, I need you to shut up."

[Huh?]

"Once Magia rushes in, we have no idea what’s going to happen. If you start yelling about every kill and death, you’ll screw up the team’s coordination. Keep comms clear."

[...Understood.]

And with that, the new strategy was set.

A dual-track approach—letting Magia rush freely, while the rest of the team followed Serena’s structured site entry.

The Chat Was Not Happy

— This is a waste of time.

— For real.

— They should just refine their existing play instead of messing around.

— She’s really out here acting like Battle Colosseum tactics work everywhere, huh?

— Sigh...

— This is why FPS players from other games don’t adapt well.

At this point, anything Yeomisae said would make it seem like he agreed with the criticism.

So instead of responding, he kept his mouth shut.

Either Magia would prove them wrong,

or she’d crash so hard that she had no choice but to change.

***

Meanwhile, Team Gongsadamang Prepares for Their 23rd Scrim

SuBakJeonGol, the in-game leader of Team Gongsadamang, smirked as he checked the next match-up.

"Alright, everyone. Let’s take it easy on this one."

[Oh, is our next opponent Yeomisae’s team?]

[Yeah.]

[Thank god. Man, Fandral’s team was insane because of Taro. Those flashbangs were driving me crazy.]

[Seriously, it’s been non-stop. Just getting blinded over and over is pure pain.]

By now, Yeomisae’s team had been declared the weakest out of the four teams in the scrim group.

The moment everyone realized they were facing them next, relief washed over the team.

After an exhausting week of non-stop scrims and extra training, playing against a weak team was the perfect mental reset.

It was a free confidence boost.

Naturally, the team prepared for the match with the same expectations as before.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"Same strategy as last time. If they push, let them plant. Their post-plant defense is garbage anyway, so we’ll just retake the site afterward."

[Roger that.]

[Got it.]

[Let’s go~.]

Everyone was relaxed.

With the Round Robin format, where each team played against every other team once, the top three would advance to the playoffs.

Since Yeomisae’s team was guaranteed to be last place, there was no point in wasting energy or preparing new strategies for them.

Normally, the pistol round was crucial in Competitive.

Winning it meant getting a better economy, buying stronger weapons, and snowballing the match.

But against the weakest team?

Not worth the effort.

Round 1: Defense

The 10-round game started.

Since Team Gongsadamang spawned on defense, they would be holding sites for the first 10 rounds.

Each player moved to their assigned position.

KalJam—the team’s 4th-tier player but an exceptional ambush shooter—took position at A-Short (a narrow, winding path leading to the A bombsite).

He crouched behind an arched tunnel, crosshair locked at head level, waiting for an enemy to appear.

Then—

TAP TAP TAP

Footsteps.

[Enemy on A-Short. They haven’t pushed in yet—]

Usually, attackers hesitate before rushing in.

They use flashbangs or concussions to disrupt defenders before entering a site.

But this time...

The footsteps kept coming.

There was no hesitation.

They were sprinting full speed towards A-Short.

[Wait, they’re rushing in! I need backup—!]

A white mustache and dreadlocks appeared around the archway.

It was Smoker.

It was Magia.

KalJam reacted instantly, aiming his gun at her—

But before he could fire, a smoke grenade burst around him, trapping him inside a dense fog.

‘What the hell? Is this a retreat signal?’

In Competitive, smoke grenades usually signal a disengagement.

A smoke dropped mid-fight often meant:

"We’re pulling back. Don’t chase."

Magia had always played Smoker strategically, using smoke to control space rather than engage fights.

So KalJam assumed this was the same thing.

His mistake.

He turned to reposition—

But before he could fully retreat, an assassin lurking in the smoke appeared.

[Huh?]

TUNG!

{{ Magia >> (head)(Mini-Barrel) KalJam }}

[WHAT THE HELL?! SHE ACTUALLY WENT IN?!]

Before, Magia’s smokes had always been Serena’s decision—used defensively, for positioning.

But to Magia?

Smoke wasn’t a retreat signal.

It was an attack signal.

To her, the inside of a smoke cloud was her hunting ground.

Her thought process was simple:

"Why would I throw a smoke and not go in?"

"Are you a coward?"

To Team Gongsadamang, Magia’s playstyle had just flipped upside-down.

And before they could process it, one of their players was already dead.

Chaos in Team Chat

[A-Short?! What happened?!]

[She threw a smoke at me, so I thought she was zoning me out... But then she rushed inside and shot me in the head.]

[Wait. She pushed INTO her own smoke?!]

[Yeah.]

SuBakJeonGol, the team leader, frowned.

"They might have reworked their strategy. From now on, if Magia smokes you, don’t move. Just wait inside and shoot."

[Understood.]

[Got it.]

A-Long: The Same Thing Happens

[Hold on, I hear footsteps at A-Long... Ah, she just smoked me.]

This time, the victim was DuDungi, the A-Long defender.

Following the new orders, he stayed put inside the smoke instead of retreating.

Positioning himself off-center to avoid getting pre-aimed—

Then—

TUNG!

{{ Magia >> (head)(Mini-Barrel) DuDungi }}

[WHAT THE—?!]

"Explain! Quickly!"

[She hit me from outside the smoke, so I moved... Then a second shot came instantly and killed me.]

"...Wait."

SuBakJeonGol’s expression darkened.

"Did she bait you into making noise... and then headshot you?"

If this was intentional, it was insane.

The Mini-Barrel was a terrible gun—

Short range.Only two shots per reload.But if Magia had actually planned to tag him just to make him panic,

then listen for his footstep and track his movement for a headshot...

"That’s not normal."

While SuBakJeonGol was still processing—

Now She’s at Mid

[Contact at Mid! Sounds like Magia. What do we do?]

"Hold position. B-Short, rotate toward Mid."

[Roger that!]

[Understood.]

Before they even finished repositioning, a final smoke cloud fell onto the Mid corridor.

It was Smoker’s last available smoke.

[...Wait.

Something was off.

Unlike the previous two smokes, this one didn’t trap an enemy inside.

Instead, it was placed off-center, leaving a gap on one side of the hallway.

A trap?

Jinsam, the Mid defender, was experienced.

Instead of walking into the smoke, he backed away and aimed at the gap.

If Magia came through the smoke, he’d have the advantage.

Or so he thought.

Because suddenly—

A faint footstep echoed inside the smoke.

Jinsam snapped his aim toward the sound—

But before he could pull the trigger—

TUNG!

{{ Magia >> (head)(Mini-Barrel) Jinsam }}

[ACK—!!]

[WHAT THE HELL?!]

His screen went black.

His teammates stared in shock.

[SHE BAITED YOUR SOUND?!]

"Wait, explain. What just happened?"

[I heard a footstep, aimed for it... But she never actually came out. I got shot from INSIDE the smoke.]

Silence.

SuBakJeonGol sat back, eyes narrowing.

"...This is gonna be a problem."

That was an incredibly cunning play.

It sounded like the footsteps were coming from within the smoke, but in reality, they were pressed right up against the edge, just outside of it.

Jinsam had been baited into focusing on the smoke. Then, in an instant, the enemy slipped out through the gap between the smoke and the corridor—blowing Jinsam’s head off in the process.

It was a trick that took advantage of the fact that, unless you were a pro, you couldn’t perfectly gauge the exact distance of footsteps.

In the blink of an eye, it was now 2 vs. 5.

A dark cloud loomed over Subak Jeongol’s mind, as if a smoke grenade had gone off inside his head. And he was the one supposed to be calling the orders.

It was good that the opposing team had changed their strategy. After all, Youngun’s team wouldn’t want to stay at the bottom forever.

But wasn’t this a little too surprising?

Just the simple shift from using smoke for the team to using it for personal plays had flipped the situation this much?

No need to be shocked...

But it was only the pistol round. Even if they lost it, it wasn’t a big deal.

They could just play another pistol round to save money. If they played well, they could even steal weapons from the enemy.

"Everyone. I think we let our guard down a little too much. Let’s focus."

More than anything, they’d all been too relaxed, thinking it was an easy match.

There was no way the same thing would happen again in the second round.

In a game that could go up to 19 rounds, unexpected variables like this were bound to occur at some point.

As long as they didn’t keep falling for the same trick, they wouldn’t throw the game.

"If you spot a smoker this time, immediately provide support from the nearest position."

[Got it.]

[Understood.]

And with that, the next round began.

Not long after Subak Jeongol gave his orders, KalJam heard footsteps from the same spot again.

[A Short, coming again!]

[I’m heading over for cover.]

Since KalJam had died at A Short last round, followed by the rest of the team getting picked off, this time Jinsam—who had been holding Mid—moved over to back him up.

After all, when two players were holding an angle together, it was rare for a solo attacker to take them both down.

KalJam focused intently on the arched doorway.

The moment anyone walked through, he was ready to turn them into a beehive.

But this time, the smoke landed in a completely different location.

It wasn’t covering KalJam’s angle. It wasn’t blocking Jinsam, who had come from Mid to support him.

Instead, it was smothering the archway itself, cutting off their line of sight.

"Huh?"

At this point, even Subak Jeongol, the shot-caller, was confused.

In the first round, the enemy had played aggressively with smoke. But now, in the second round, they had gone back to using it for map control?

Then, reports started coming in.

[I hear constant footsteps inside the smoke. What should we do?]

[Should we shoot? If we fire from both sides, we can take them out.]

Magia was inside the smoke.

She wouldn’t make careless noise, so it had to be bait.

But what was she trying to lure them into?

Was it just to draw their attention? And if so, for what purpose? Did she assume there was only one player holding this angle?

Then—BANG BANG BANG! A sudden burst of pistol shots rang out.

"What, are they fighting?"

[No, just caught a glimpse of them for a moment.]

[Damn it, I almost had them.]

A player who had been using smoke strategically wouldn’t suddenly peek out for no reason. That wasn’t how they played.

If they were willing to risk getting hit just to gather information, that could only mean one thing—the enemy was trying to confirm their positions.

And if they were checking locations, it was only to prepare for the next move.

The constant footsteps inside the smoke were just to keep the defenders focused on it.

They were definitely going to attack again.

"Don’t just hold angles in the smoke. Use grenades to flush them out and reposition!"

[I’ll throw a nade!]

Every ability in the game had a distinct sound cue.

Smoke grenades made a soft whoosh as they deployed.

Flashbangs had a pin-pulling ping sound before detonation.

And those sounds—those very cues—were signals for Magia to strike.

[What the—?!]

Magia burst out of the smoke at full speed, using momentum to propel herself forward.

She lunged straight at KalJam, who had been in the middle of pulling the pin on his grenade.

THUNK!

{{ Magia >> (head)(Mini Barrel) KalJam }}

Jinsam, watching from the side, immediately aimed his gun at her and pulled the trigger.

But before he could fire—whoosh—another smoke grenade flew in, engulfing him.

It was exactly the same situation as the first round.

"What happened?!"

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

[Holy shit. She heard Jamie pull the pin and just ran out to headshot him. Wait, I’m stuck in the smoke again—]

A clicking sound echoed through the air.

Magia was reloading her Mini Barrel.

Jinsam wasn’t about to let that slide.

The reload sound had come from the open area outside the smoke, where there was no cover.

If he rushed out now, he would have the advantage.

[She’s reloading—]

But the moment Jinsam dashed out of the smoke, he froze.

[... Huh?]

Magia had pressed the reload button on purpose to make noise.

She had already picked up KalJam’s pistol and was waiting in ADS mode.

People always got distracted by her movement tricks and smoke plays.

But they tended to forget—Magia was also perfectly capable of handling other firearms.

BANG! BANG!

{{ Magia >> (head)(Outlaw) Jinsam }}

The kill feed popped up again, and Subak Jeongol yelled in panic.

"What the hell just happened?!"

Once could be luck or a mistake.

Twice was skill.

The people watching the match from Gongsadamang’s stream were in utter disbelief.

It felt like they’d been getting stomped all game, only for the enemy to suddenly remove their training weights—only to reveal they weighed a whole ton.

Some of them even started experiencing PTSD.

Most of them had watched Mugeon’s Battle Colosseum matches before.

And a good number of them had been on the receiving end of Magia’s plays in the past.

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:: Shit, the signal flare just went up;; ::