I Have a Reason to Hate Streamers

After each group was assigned one member, it was my turn to make a selection.

Kelberos and Traveler were top seeds, so they were off the table.

Luce’s group still hadn’t been decided.

That meant, if I wanted to, I could put Luce in my group and face off.

But even with the opportunity at hand, I just wasn’t feeling it.

Many people hoped that a ‘Korean’ would perform well in this arena.

I didn’t have to care about them, but Luce might be different.

If she joined my group, she’d probably feel a lot of pressure.

So, I decided to let her go this time.

Because I could definitely win.

In the group of four, only two would survive. With me out, only one could pass.

We would meet again anyway, so what’s the point of adding pressure?

“Alright, moving on to group E, number 1, it’s Gawol! A player with a unique personality that we’re all curious about, right? I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Suddenly, Ho-eun approached and handed me the microphone.

She was wearing a weirdly excited expression.

What’s with that? Why the excitement?

It felt like the camera was focusing on me a bit too much, making me uneasy.

“Okay, Gawol. You’re likely to face Ripper from Acid Gaming. He’s a player many assassin users look up to. How are you feeling about that?”

“Honestly? Not much of an impression. I’m not included in that multitude of assassins.”

“Are you saying you don’t care who your opponent is?”

“Yep. He’s just someone I need to take down anyway. But I do think Ripper might be overestimated.”

As soon as I finished my sentence, everyone’s eyes turned towards me.

Surprisingly, Ripper didn’t seem to care, but I caught a glimpse of Kelberos looking my way.

He smirked, as if to say, “How absurd.” I didn’t miss that upward twitch of his lips.

I couldn’t just point it out.

After all, it was something I had to prove with my skills.

The universally recognized strong player was Kelberos, not me.

If my confidence matched my skills, that would be determination; if not, just bravado.

In any sport, there’s always a player who gains notoriety through provocative words.

This wasn’t exactly groundbreaking news. The era of gaining attention through mere strong statements was long gone.

I had to show that I’m not just all talk through my matches.

“That was an interview full of rookie bravado! I’m curious about Kelberos’s reaction, but… we’ve got many more entries to go through. Let’s see what Gawol chooses!”

In the central stage, I could see the name tags of the remaining players.

A lot of amateur players without affiliations like me had already been picked, leaving mostly well-known professional gamers.

As I looked over the name tags, I briefly saw Luce’s name.

One moment of temptation made me almost reach out without realizing it.

My choice lay a bit further to the side.

LB Rime. Known as Rime in Korea.

He was a well-regarded spear-wielder from North America, famous for his sturdy playstyle like Luce.

Generally, assassins struggle against spear-wielders… but I’m pretty good at taking them down.

When my pick was shown on the camera lens, Ho-eun let out a delighted scream.

“Oh my gosh! Rime is entering as E group number 2! You’ve picked an opponent that assassins typically avoid. What’s the reason?”

“I’m confident in combat against spear-wielders. I think I can handle it, but I’m not so sure about Ripper.”

That was a reasonable choice.

Ripper had earned my goodwill, but the world of competition needs to be ruthless.

No matter who Rime calls, he won’t be that tough of an opponent for me.

As I mentioned, I was confident I could survive against anyone.

If I were to be fazed by this level of challenge, I wouldn’t have provoked Kelberos.

Rime, the last player from our group, made a safe choice.

He could secure a favorable position while not being at a disadvantage against us.

The last spot was filled by Fury, a Japanese swordsman user, wrapping up the group selection.

As the contestants were randomized, my first opponent turned out to be Rime.

—

“Wait! Hold it right there, Gawol!”

[Do you want to exit the Arena special stage? Y/N]

[Cancelled.]

There was nothing left to do on the finished stage.

Players who knew each other were making small talk, but that wasn’t applicable to me.

Just as I was about to leave, a voice stopped me.

Turning around, I saw Traveler calling my name.

“…?”

“Finally, we meet. Why haven’t you accepted my friend request?”

“Why are you speaking informally all of a sudden?”

“You initiated it first last time. If you had a problem, you could’ve told me.”

“Did I really…?”

I think I might have.

I’ve confronted Traveler three times so far.

Twice during broadcasts and once by chance.

Back then, I was more malicious than I am now.

It was a time when I just hated the world. Even just breathing filled me with negativity.

Especially when I saw streamers or pro gamers, a deep-seated malice would well up inside me, making it hard to bear unless I burned them down.

Now? Well… it’s hard to say.

Maybe I’ve changed a little.

The malice is still there, but it isn’t burning as fiercely as before.

I’ve learned to relieve it in my own way, and these days, I’m slowly quenching that thirst in the arena.

In any case, if I met my past self, it wouldn’t have been a pleasant experience.

It might even have ended with just informal speech, which could be seen as fortunate.

“So, what’s up?”

“Why didn’t you accept my friend request? Didn’t I send you a letter?”

“A letter…? Oh, I must have deleted it. If the title seemed weird, I’d delete it without reading.”

“What kind of letters do you usually get?”

What kind of letters?

Requests to kill other users, of course.

If this guy sent it, it was clear that it wouldn’t have any attached items.

Letters without items got deleted without being read.

If I were to read them all, I’d never maintain a healthy psyche.

“Don’t worry about it. But I already accepted your friend request, you know? I think it was around the final phase.”

“What? No way! You actually accepted but didn’t send me a whisper once?”

“It was you who had business with me. Why should I reach out first…?”

“Okay, I get it. We think differently.”

I felt like I was treated as something special.

Traveler nodded as if relieved.

I frowned, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“Now can you get to the point? You didn’t come all this way just to chit-chat with me.”

“Do you know when I sent you my friend request?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“I sent it right before last year’s international war. Winter, so a few months back.”

Last year’s international war… I remembered that.

Luce participated in that tournament, after all.

Since it was a national team selection, Traveler wouldn’t have sat out.

Though I didn’t pay much attention to him.

“Did you lose to Kelberos?”

“…Yeah.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“It’s similar to the purpose this time. There’s an assassin in our group. Conveniently, there’s a spear-wielder in your group. Seems like our interests align, no?”

“Hmmm.”

I understood what he was saying.

Traveler’s main class was a spear-wielder.

While different in style from Rime, he could still prove a decent opponent.

“Are you suggesting we practice together?”

“Exactly. It wouldn’t be a bad deal for you either.”

“And what about your team’s assassin? Didn’t you have Sparrow?”

“He’s on vacation. He won’t log into the game until it’s over.”

So they came looking for me as a practice partner?

I didn’t feel bad at all. After all, it meant they acknowledged me.

Especially when recognition comes from an enemy, it holds particular meaning.

But there was something I needed to clarify.

“How much are you going to pay me?”

“What?”

“Money, I mean, money. You’re not thinking of asking me to practice for free, are you? If that’s the case, then I won’t.”

“That’s not a loss for you, is it…?”

“That’s a pro gamer’s perspective. I’m just an ordinary player. It’d be more beneficial for me to go hunting during that time.”

You gotta squeeze the money when you can.

My time isn’t free.

I realize practicing with Traveler could help me, but there was no need to cling to it.

In group E, everyone but me was a pro gamer.

There’s plenty of match footage, so there’s plenty of material to analyze the opponents.

If I could get the feel for it right before the match, wouldn’t live-streaming streamers help too?

Realizing my determination was firm, Traveler’s comments started to decrease.

“…How much do you need?”

“You gotta pay me more than what I’d earn going out to hunt.”

“Fine, I’ll ask the team. Just be sure to respond better next time.”

“Of course, dear customer!”

“Wow. How can a person be so irritating?”

Irritating? How dare he!

I’m just being dutifully professional.

If he was annoyed by me, he should just make me a pro gamer.

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