Chapter 265: The Triangle Formation
"Ah···. It's Hackphysical···."
—Hm?
—Why the reaction
—You even put out a teaser, don't tell
—Did a booking issue co up??
To the donations asking for Baek Woohyun, Lee Yeonwoo averted her gaze and trailed off. It was the kind of behavior anyone would recognize from soone who clearly had sothing to hide.
Especially since the situation already showed only two people—Kim Hyeonjun and Lee Yeonwoo—with no Baek Woohyun in sight, this kind of reaction made the viewers' response entirely predictable.
All the more so because the content teaser they had posted hadn't even revealed what they'd be doing—only that the guest was Baek Woohyun.
"We really did our absolute best to book Hackphysical···."
"That's right. We worked really hard."
"···So thanks to that, Woohyun-hyung, who's famous as the Hackphysical, ca on for us!"
"—Yes, hello. I'm Baek Woohyun."
—Oh co on ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—I knew this would happen ㅅㅂㅋㅋ
—Lee Yeonwoo's tongue is getting longer? It's a lie lol
—ㄹㅇㅋㅋ it's all nonsense buildup
As Baek Woohyun appeared on the naturally widening broadcast screen and greeted them, the viewers who had been thinking 'no way?' burst out laughing in disbelief.
So viewers—likely regulars of Lee Yeonwoo's broadcast—had apparently been pranked like this many tis before, firing off chats like 'Nikki did it again!' and 'Ugh, Nikki-ssi!'
But that was short-lived. The atmosphere shifted quickly—thanks to the sheer impact of seeing Baek Woohyun, Kim Hyeonjun, and Lee Yeonwoo gathered together.
The sight of the three of them sitting as if they were already one team was more than enough to captivate those who had co to watch the DH Empire channel's original content.
—Early preview of next year's lineup hehe
—The Triangle Formation is insane
—ㅋㅋ as expected, Hackphysical coming to DH Empire is just the natural order ㅋㅋ
—Welco, Hackphysical!
The die-hard DH Empire fans cheered the loudest of all. Even though nothing had been confird yet, they seed to be firmly convinced that Baek Woohyun, Kim Hyeonjun, and Lee Yeonwoo would be competing together.
After all, there was Cha Seunghoon—who had already found himself becoming like an art lover standing before a masterpiece the mont he laid eyes on the three of them. If even the DH Empire's General Manager had been captivated, the fans didn't stand a chance.
No one thought their reaction was excessive. Even fans of rival teams who had co to spy agreed it was warranted. Among them, a fair few couldn't hide their anxious expressions.
—Hackphysical signing confird??
—Nah, he already said flat-out he's not going pro
—Getting all worked up over one custom ga ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Listen up—you get disappointed because you get your hopes up. No expectations, no disappointnt.
The rival fans quietly kept bringing up Baek Woohyun's past statents about having no intention of debuting as a pro player, trying to shift public opinion.
They had no choice. How could they stand by and watch Baek Woohyun get signed by DH Empire—already considered a powerhouse dynasty with Kim Hyeonjun and Lee Yeonwoo?
If that happened, a DH Empire fielding a devastating Triangle Formation would reign as the absolute dominant force—a rciless tyrant—over the Korean Reverse Planet pro league.
For fans of any team other than DH Empire, that was nothing short of a disaster. A disaster as unstoppable as a natural calamity.
'Imperial Citizen' donated '100,000 won'!
[The greatest player belongs on the greatest team]
—Hah, what a quote
—Once Hackphysical gets hit with the Empire high, his thinking will change
—Looks like rival fans have fire under their feet ㅋㅋ you can tell by how they keep trying to kill the mood
—You think that's gonna shake the Empire? ㅋㅋ
Of course, DH Empire fans weren't the type to be swayed by rival fans trying to mislead them. Their collective sentint was rock solid.
Kim Hyeonjun—the ace who was the origin and very symbol of the team—alongside Lee Yeonwoo, regarded as the heir apparent to carry on his legacy, and now Baek Woohyun, boasting absolute dominance.
Quite a few were already getting ahead of themselves, imagining how formidable an empire led by three emperors would be. For rival fans it was terror; for DH Empire fans it was pure bliss.
"Wow, I've done a few original content pieces before, but today's chat firepower is incredible! Is this the Baek Woohyun Premium Effect!"
"Baek Woohyun Premium Effect? What's that?"
"Apparently, just being associated with Hackphysical raises your viewer count by at least 1.5x—that's why they call it the Hackphysical Effect."
—Does feel a bit like a cheat key
—The blue chip of the personal broadcasting world, Hackphysical
—Don't know what it is, but the na just makes you click anyway
—Just putting his na in the teaser and the viewer count explodes ㅋㅋ
Amidst the viewers' ironclad support, Baek Woohyun, Kim Hyeonjun, and Lee Yeonwoo exchanged conversation ahead of the main content.
aning: they finished their greetings and introductions—which were essentially unnecessary at this point—and began working through the script's outline one step at a ti.
Naturally, the first topic of conversation was: 'How did you co to know each other?'
"I found out about them pretty simply—Nayeon told ."
The first to speak up, saying there wasn't much to it, was Baek Woohyun.
He had only started Reverse Planet relatively recently, after all—practically a newbie (?). Naturally, there was no way he had ever watched the pro league.
So he explained that after sparring once and growing curious about who they were, he had asked Jeong Nayeon and found out their identities that way.
"What made you curious about who they were?"
"Because among all the people I'd encountered playing Reverse Planet, they were among the very few who stood out as exceptionally strong."
"I see."
—Oh? A bit of edge there? So you looked them up because you were like, 'who is this?'
—I do that sotis too ㅋㅋ
—Opponent plays well → imdiately search their match history
—Loose translation: I only bother finding out who you are if you're at least World Class
"Oh, so that ans Hyeonjun-hyung and I are the most morable people Woohyun-hyung has ever faced in PVP?"
"That's right."
Baek Woohyun nodded at Lee Yeonwoo's question.
At that, Lee Yeonwoo turned toward the cara with a dead-serious expression and began to talk nonsense.
"You all heard that, right? The minimum cutoff for Woohyun-hyung's mory starts at , and next is Hyeonjun-hyung. Anyone who falls below the standard is, regrettably, eliminated!"
—Minimum cutoff is real?? ㄷㄷ
—He doesn't even rember you unless you're World Class
—Eliminated from what ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Talking nonsense again, Nikki-ssi
"Well, it's not entirely wrong."
"You do have to be that good to be morable, for sure. Haha."
The viewers laughed along at the well-founded confidence Baek Woohyun and Kim Hyeonjun projected. No one would dare refute their claims.
The strongest player in Korea—the Battler who was considered the world's best after winning last year's World Championship—and the Hackphysical who had shattered every record and erged as the new apex.
Who would dare argue with the minimum cutoff these two set? You'd have to be at least a World Class player just to open your mouth.
"I found out about Woohyun-hyung when he did the hack clarification broadcast. It was such a shock back then."
All the viewers nodded in agreent at Lee Yeonwoo's answer. The hack clarification broadcast—which had even summoned the operators—had caused a massive stir.
On top of that, it was fairly well known among his fans that he frequently visited Reverse Planet-related communities out of sheer boredom, which lent further credibility to his claim.
Given that it had been the topic burning up the community for days, it only made sense that he would have caught wind of it.
"From then on I'd check in on the broadcast sotis, and watching him PVP made genuinely want to face him once."
—Ah, so that's why ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—"The secret visitor"
—???: I wanted to fight him and then his record got broken too? Can't let that slide ㅋㅋ
—Got my dopamine from that, thanks
"I found out a bit later than Yeonwoo."
Kim Hyeonjun explained that, unlike Lee Yeonwoo, he didn't tend to frequent communities much, so he had co across information about Baek Woohyun later.
It was an answer those who knew his daily schedule—revealed through DH Empire's other original content series The Players' Days—as one packed entirely with training would imdiately accept.
The reason the news still reached him only slightly later than it did Lee Yeonwoo was straightforward enough.
There was a chatterbox right beside him who kept jabbering and delivering unsolicited information. No need to say who—
"Ahem."
"···Well. Yes. That's about it."
—Why is he so proud of himself ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—A helpful source who shares information even when no one asked
—And thanks to that, Hackphysical gets pulled into the Empire. Godly.
—I'll actually give him credit for this one ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
DH Empire fans praised the mysterious figure who had brought Baek Woohyun's information to Kim Hyeonjun—because thanks to that, the terrifying Triangle Formation had been completed.
For so inexplicable reason, Lee Yeonwoo was wearing a smug expression. Ignoring him, the second topic of conversation followed: 'What connection had existed between them?'
"······."
Silence. Baek Woohyun, Kim Hyeonjun, and Lee Yeonwoo looked at one another.
The scene that ca to each of their minds was the sa. Just as Baek Woohyun had thought before the broadcast began, the only connection between them was one or two rounds of PVP.
And even then, the record was that Kim Hyeonjun and Lee Yeonwoo had one-sidedly co looking to fight—and Baek Woohyun had cheerfully defeated them both.
Since words are everything—'ah' and 'er' can feel worlds apart—depending on how you say sothing, the impression shifts entirely. So the three had no choice but to think carefully about what to say.
The first to collect their thoughts and speak up was, surprisingly, Kim Hyeonjun.
"It was who made the move and decided to face Hackphysical first."
—Really?
—Unexpected
—Figured it'd be Nikki for sure;
—Oh too? Oh too!
"People might not realize it, but Hyeonjun-hyung has just as much drive as I do."
Viewers stirred at Kim Hyeonjun's revelation that he had been the one to seek out Baek Woohyun first, calling it unexpected. By image alone, it had seed like Lee Yeonwoo would have been the one to go trotting after him.
So asked in confusion whether Lee Yeonwoo's 'secret visitor' incident during the consecutive win record break hadn't been their first eting.
That was likely because, at the ti, Lee Yeonwoo had been the most famous among Korea's World Class players for openly going to seek out Baek Woohyun.
"Back then, I just showed up using the sa build as Hackphysical without thinking much of it—looking back now, that was stupid."
"It's hard to bring out your full strength in a build you're not used to."
"Even if I had fought at full strength I probably still would have lost, but at least it would've been a more interesting fight."
"I thought the sa when I used my sub build."
"······."
Following that, Kim Hyeonjun and Lee Yeonwoo calmly recounted the stories of challenging Baek Woohyun—and losing.
Even though it could easily be summarized as 'we went to him and got stomped,' their tone and expressions conveyed a clear 'next ti!'—so no one said it that way.
Partly because they already had the World Class title, and partly because Baek Woohyun's standing had only risen further after successfully reaching Challenger rank 1.
As for Baek Woohyun, there was nothing to gain by jumping in—it would only look like self-flattery. He simply shrugged.
"During regular training—"
"In actual combat, when a situation like this cos up—"
"When it cos to the feel of using ability techniques by attribute—"
"I've also been wanting to try fighting the Doppelganger—"
—Their training is intense ㄷㄷ
—Makes sense for pros, but why is Hackphysical like that too···?
—Ability usage tips, thank you, gotta go practice right now
—Why is it so informative when they're just chatting
Even after covering everything laid out in the script, Baek Woohyun, Kim Hyeonjun, and Lee Yeonwoo continued to converse across a wide range of topics.
Things that ant little to them—yet to listeners sounded like nothing short of incredible tips—kept slipping out naturally.
Their conversation was being transcribed in real ti and posted to the Reverse Planet community, instantly claiming the spot of a trending post.
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