Chapter 76

Our match against ‘Cotton Candy Fluff’ ended in a 2-0 victory for our team.

The first game was largely thanks to Chaenarin’s performance.

She one-shot the enemy Challenger, so it was only natural.

Every team has its own victory plan.

For the ‘Cotton Candy Fluff’ team, the key was rolling a snowball with their strong Scout and Guardian.

They needed early kills, and since they brought in high-tier players for that, they had to succeed. But their plan got blocked by Iron from the start, making their loss even more absurd.

The second game was also dominated by Chaenarin.

The enemy misjudged our strength and wasted their ban cards in weird places.

They banned all the close-range Main Carries Chaenarin could use, but honestly, Chaenarin’s character proficiency is terrible. If it’s a basic melee damage dealer, it doesn’t matter what she picks.

Our victory plan wasn’t even about Chaenarin carrying.

If they wanted to play normally, they should’ve banned my main character like Rozon’s team did. Then I wouldn’t have gotten so many kills with Thierry and wrecked their team fights.

Well, analysis is part of the skill. No reason to feel wronged.

Should’ve made a PPT and briefed like I did.

“Ugh!”

I watched Choco Full Bread trip and fall on the sandy ground, then slowly opened my mouth.

“Bbangbbang-nim.”

“Why so formal? You didn’t call me that before.”

“Bbangbbang-ssi. You said you were moved by Choco Full Bread’s growth, right?”

“…Did I say that?”

Bbangbbang dodged the question. Maybe it’s because he’s been a runner-up so many times. His skill at deflecting is no joke.

I shook my head and continued.

“It’s fine. I never trusted your… supporter sensitivity anyway. I even double-checked it.”

“You did that without me?”

“But when I checked, it wasn’t this bad. Guess you’re just weak in actual matches.”

I recalled Choco Full Bread’s Iron-to-Bronze level play from yesterday.

He kept using skills late, as if his ping was over 500, and ended up feeding the enemy Main Carry.

It was such a disaster that even Mos got dragged into it, resulting in a double kill.

Thankfully, I rushed in and shattered the enemy Main Carry’s pot. Otherwise, we might’ve lost a game to ‘Cotton Candy Fluff.’

I tapped my cheek with my finger.

“Not easy, huh?”

“That’s why I asked if we could really win when we first met.”

“It’s fine. Pape-nim will take the blame anyway. Us small fries can just quietly ride the coattails of the big companies, right?”

“Dad’s not sleeping.”

Pape, lying under the parasol, quietly replied.

I thought he was AFK, but apparently not.

“Pape-nim. Eavesdropping so gloomily? No wonder your old nickname was like that.”

“Don’t wanna hear that from ‘VirginUnicornLoveDog.'”

“I have very normal tastes. It’s you and Bbangbbang who are weird.”

Our conversation lit up the chat.

―――

“Similar freaks causing chaos.”

“VirginUnicornLoveDog or DefeatHeroDefeatComfort lol. Honestly, Rumen’s the only normal one. ‘BbangbbangLover’ is something even parents wouldn’t mind.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yoorim, do you like virgins?”

―――

Time Gates is truly great.

They had already dug up Pape’s old nickname long ago.

For genius detectives who can analyze a building’s interior from a reflection in someone’s eyes to find a broadcaster’s house, clues like ‘VirginUnicornLoveDog’ and ‘BbangbbangLover’ were child’s play.

Too trivial to even make it into their case files.

To stop these great detectives, we’d need the great old ruler, ‘THE Holiday,’ but since it’s not even August yet, that’s impossible.

We just have to take it.

“I’ve always thought that people who like NTR are all masochistic perverts who enjoy torturing themselves.”

“Exactly. That’s why I said I don’t wanna hear it from ‘VirginUnicornLoveDog.'”

Bbangbbang retorted to Pape’s grumbling.

“But I agree with Han Yoorim. Why NTR when there’s pure love stories?”

“Especially since Pape-nim likes the kind of NTR with an unusually long pure love part. A monster among monsters.”

Talking like this felt like going back to middle school. It was nice.

But back then and now, I’m still holed up at home doing game development.

Back then and now, I still don’t go to school.

Nothing’s changed, huh?

Just as I was marveling at this new realization, Pape frowned and muttered.

“You played NTR games too. Why act like you didn’t?”

“I only played them because I have a duty to experience all creative works in the world. I didn’t go crazy like you, Pape-nim.”

“I didn’t go crazy either. Just played a few. Don’t frame me.”

“Someone like you probably enjoys losing in real life too. Like how you lost the bet to me.”

Pape replied in a disbelieving tone.

“You have to separate reality from fiction. Just because you like FPS games doesn’t mean you like shooting guns in real life.”

“But I like purity in real life too?”

“Unnie. Did you find me?”

“No. Didn’t find you. Go ask ChaMVP-nim if he wants jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk.”

“Please keep a close eye so they don’t order meat.”

“Got it.”

Suddenly, a rabbit popped out, and Bbangbbang stood next to me, adding, “I like you in real life too, noona.”

“Since I lost, let’s stop.”

“I won!”

“Wow!”

Bbangbbang and I high-fived to celebrate. Pape sighed and waved his hand.

“So, aren’t we going to brief about our next opponent?”

“Yeah, we should.”

The one-day break was given to reorganize the team and analyze the enemy, so it was about time.

“Everyone, gather around.”

I projected a PPT into the empty space.

Mos slowly read the material that appeared in front of him.

“‘Fluffball Special Forces’?”

“Yes.”

“The members are impressive. Well, it’s the quarterfinals after all.”

Actually, the round of 16 was a best-of-three, so calling it the main event felt a bit ambiguous.

That’s why fans of <Ilympic> often say the qualifiers go up to the round of 16, and the main event starts from the quarterfinals, which is a best-of-five. Since proper matches usually start from the quarterfinals, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“The team leader… Hmm. It won’t be easy.”

“She’s an amazing person in many ways.”

Agreeing with Pape, I flipped the PPT to display the key player of our quarterfinal opponent.

The team leader and key player of ‘Fluffball Special Forces.’

An amateur female top-tier player and the pinnacle of Bbangbbang.

It was Arena.

*

Arena woke up and pressed a button to open the blackout curtains.

She looked at the clock. 1 PM. It was very late for ordinary people, but not for internet broadcasters.

Since many people start broadcasting at 7 PM, it was actually early.

Especially since the quarterfinals start at 7 PM.

Unlike her generation, Arena turned on her computer instead of a VR device and entered the VR Broadcasting Gallery to skim through the featured posts.

<Quarterfinal Opponent Team Play Compilation> (Views: 189,314) (Comments: 1,823)

One post’s views and comments were skyrocketing.

‘Impressive.’

Her quarterfinal opponent was none other than ‘Iron Saves the World,’ led by Han Yoorim. Arena’s quarterfinal match was already drawing a lot of attention.

Even more so because the team included Pape and Bunny Run, making it the most anticipated match of the quarterfinals.

Arena clicked on the post and played the video.

“Han Yoorim uses Thierry’s water elemental ultimate skill to crush the team fight!”

“This is insane. There’s no other way to describe it. Thierry’s water elemental ultimate skill is notoriously difficult to use in actual matches, even for pros. Viewers who haven’t played <Eternal World> might think it’s just using a skill, but anyone who’s played it knows how impossible this is. It’s a control that’s impossible unless you have two bodies.”

“Now, the ‘Cotton Candy’ team must be regretting not banning Thierry.”

“What’s the point of killing the enemy’s scout and guardian to grow? If they grow together, Thierry has the highest growth potential. Ah. In the end, the [Rift] in the city goes to the ‘Asegu’ team.”

Arena was impressed.

She had never seen anyone use Thierry’s water elemental derived ultimate skill, [Doppelganger], like that.

It’s already a difficult skill to control separately, but using it to assassinate the enemy’s main carry and support the main team simultaneously?

It was a mystery that couldn’t be explained just by multitasking skills.

But it’s okay.

If you can’t stop the play, just ban the character.

Moreover, with 3+2 bans, there’s plenty of room.

Han Yoorim’s three signature picks are famous.

‘Thierry.’ ‘Ormal.’ ‘Kakeyama Ryo.’

Thierry was obviously a no-go, and the latter two were also hot picks that Han Yoorim popularized, so they couldn’t be given away.

When those three were banned, Han Yoorim picked ‘Amano Yukiko,’ but that’s Arena’s main pick. Even if they didn’t ban it, Han Yoorim’s team would.

If Thierry, Ormal, Kakeyama Ryo, and Amano Yukiko were unavailable, what would Han Yoorim do?

Arena checked Han Yoorim’s most-played characters.

He uses a really diverse range of characters, not just for a challenge to use all characters in the city.

Analysis is meaningless. Even a shaman couldn’t predict Han Yoorim’s picks.

It wouldn’t be strange if he prepared a completely different pick he hadn’t used before.

That’s it. Arena turned off the internet and walked to her home sauna.

Against Han Yoorim, focusing on her own game was more beneficial.