I Have Reasons to Hate Streamers

In this event, the first preliminary served as a minimal filtering process.

It was a mechanism to maintain a basic level before the main event.

In fact, the participant database was only revealed after the first preliminary ended.

Both the organizing company and the users consider the second preliminary to be the real competition.

The reason for this preparation was that the upcoming second preliminary would be decided by a points system.

Cutting off the lower-ranked users every week, ultimately leaving 10,000 people.

To survive, you need to accumulate points like a racehorse.

It would take quite a lot of time to advance to the main tournament, and there wasn’t much time between the event’s end and the pro league’s opening.

So it seems quite a few pro gamers declared non-participation.

The participation rate was just over half, roughly estimated… Well, what do I care about others?

As long as Luce participated, I didn’t care about the others.

The event’s popularity itself is also going smoothly.

All my recommended videos have become like this.

[Jackpot in 2 weeks? Koo’s Arena Reward Summary]

[Research Complete! Pre-season Great Sword Warrior, Finally Found the Answer.]

[Infinity Veteran’s Arena Tier List]

[Even Tanks Go Down in One Hit! Do It Before the Nerf! Shotgun Hunter Build]

Videos sucking in views using strategies as bait.

I had thought about trying it myself, but it wasn’t my path.

After several attempts, all I realized was that I lacked the talent to teach others.

A teacher who often encounters the question “Why can’t they do this?” probably wouldn’t be a good educator.

I felt a bit wronged.

All skills in Infinity Black are designed to be avoidable or defendable.

Most of them are things you can just react to by seeing, but if they say they can’t do that, what am I supposed to do?

I, who can’t even fix my own leg, had no way to fix others’ eyes.

Anyway, looking around various broadcasts, everyone was talking about the second preliminary.

It’s natural since it’s the pre-season with no ranked games to play right now.

This excitement should continue until the pro league opens.

Among them, there were research broadcasts that even invited pro gamers, and the content was quite good.

Everyone seemed to be diligently preparing ahead of the full-fledged competition.

And I, too, didn’t waste this precious time.

“Hey, how about resolving misunderstandings through conversation? Peacefully.”

“I’ll think about it later.”

The corpse keeps talking.

I need to quiet it down so people don’t get startled.

[You have forcibly eliminated adventurer KimchiNinja.]

[Warning: Due to field PK penalty…]

You know, everyone has something they develop when playing games, right?

The thing they call a Death Note or a hit list.

“I’ll kill them if I meet them in the field. If I meet them in ranked games, I’ll drop their score one way or another.”

A record used to write down unforgivable names and calmly sharpen the blade of revenge.

Of course, I had such a list too.

It was a memo hidden in a corner of the interface.

I usually erase names as soon as they appear, so they don’t accumulate much, but the names I wrote down recently weren’t disappearing easily.

There’s no need to match internet community and in-game nicknames, after all.

[Author: CreamFullInside]

[Title: The Turn-On Point in That Gawol Clip is the Thighs]

[Author: Anonymous (328.26)]

[Title: Gawol’s Female Movements Are Getting Ominous These Days]

[Author: LabPaperThief]

[Title: We Can Rest This Sunday]

Since I couldn’t possibly find all the authors of those many posts…

I was just visiting them as I remembered.

[You have forcibly eliminated adventurer LabPaperThief.]

[You have… adventurer NewCityMissHunter.]

[You have… adventurer CornSoup.]

[You have… CreamFullInside…]

It wasn’t a useless act.

After all, there’s no better practice than actual combat.

People become desperate when they have a lot to lose.

Fighting with your life on the line will bring out much better skills than a fight where you just lose a few points.

The Infinity Arena is ultimately PVP. There’s no harm in getting a feel for it.

It absolutely wasn’t venting because of ‘that video’. Really.

Actually, after some time passed, I didn’t feel that bad about it.

Due to the limitations of brainwave operation, Gawol’s body shape matches mine, but that doesn’t mean that body is mine.

A slightly mischievous thought arose that this was also a kind of attention…

Fortunately, the screen was a bit blurry too.

“Still, I should finish what I started.”

“W-What? Why me again?”

[You have… adventurer SojuBread…]

[Infinity Arena 2nd Preliminary]

[Time Remaining: 08:21:01]

8 hours left.

I need to spend time diligently enough not to be embarrassed in front of others.

Let’s run for about two more hours and then sleep and wake up.

* * *

[Q Prime Traveler donated 30,000 won]

[Has Luce seen this video? It seems to be showing up a lot these days.]

[(Attached video)]

“A video? Ah, it’s Gawol’s video. I’ve seen this. They were surprisingly small and cute. Have you met them, Traveler?”

– Died twice during Traveler’s broadcast

– Died 5 minutes after saying ‘I’m a spearman so I won’t be able to come up’

– Winning and never coming back is really malicious

Luce chuckled.

It wasn’t simply because the chat was funny.

Traveler was a player known for his strong pride even within the league.

People say it’s subsided a lot since he’s past being called a rookie… but that wasn’t true at all.

He just learned to hide his anger in front of the public.

When Q Prime, his team, loses and he’s not satisfied with the game content, Traveler goes crazy.

It’s a fact known to everyone in the industry.

His shouting in the waiting room is not an ordinary level.

He probably doesn’t like the chat content much right now either.

It’s hard to hide the pleasant feeling when thinking about how hard he must be trying to hold back.

Isn’t he probably pausing the chat for a moment while gritting his teeth?

Still, it didn’t lead to mockery.

Because she didn’t want to belittle the effort he put into that one moment of patience.

“Don’t be too harsh on him. You know Traveler’s skills, right? I heard he’s already accumulated a lot of Arena points?”

– Luce, you’ll rise up quickly too.

“I’ll have to try. Since I’ve participated, I’ll definitely make it to the main tournament.”

[Infinity Arena 2nd Preliminary – First Phase matching completed.]

[Do you accept the match? Y/N]

[…You will be moved to the battlefield in 20 seconds.]

“Come to think of it, it seems everyone has met Gawol at least once, but I’ve never met them.”

Luce’s eyes checked the opponent’s information.

A sniper. I thought they were rare in one-on-one matches like the Arena.

A few names came to mind, but Luce first grasped a solid shield.

– Really never met Gawol?

– Didn’t Sigma’s rookie meet Gawol not long ago?

“Ah, our maknae… I heard they met. They were happy about getting their initiation too. Isn’t it unique? They’re a good kid. Skilled and competitive. Please love them too, everyone.”

While speaking lightly, Luce’s fingers didn’t rest.

Changing traits, swapping equipment predicting the opponent’s build.

Luce’s rise to this position was entirely due to her painstaking efforts.

Those efforts naturally included attempts to understand opponents and research on all existing builds.

Even though she seemed to be conducting the broadcast leisurely, she didn’t miss a single small detail.

If Q Prime’s captain Traveler was famous for being good at combat, Luce was a player good at the ‘game’.

Forward guard, super armor, invincibility, damage reflection, heal inversion, enlargement.

A player said to best utilize the systems that exist because Infinity Black is a game.

Luce pondered for a moment, then finished her setup with some variations.

“By the way, I’d like to see a video of you two fighting. Traveler is a given, and I heard Gawol is good at combat too. It must have been an incredibly flashy fight.”

[Q Prime Traveler donated 30,000 won]

[It’s a bit embarrassing since I lost, but the video turned out well. By the way, what do you think of Gawol, Luce? I think they participated in this Arena.]

[(Attached video)]

A pause.

Luce’s lips twitched for a moment.

Her eyes checked the time until combat starts.

Unfortunately, there was still time left. If the match had started right away, she would have used it as an excuse to choose her words more carefully.

Would it look strange if she dragged out the answer too long?

After a moment of contemplation, Luce spoke again.

“Well, I don’t dislike them. I don’t want to badmouth someone I haven’t met. But… I can’t view positively the fact that they bully other players and streamers.”

I hope the words don’t get too distorted.

The internet is a place you can’t let your guard down.

Should I have chosen my expressions more carefully?

A faint regret settled in Luce’s heart.

But it was only for a moment. A certain chat caught her eye.

– April26’s chat: Can you win if you meet Gawol?

“If I can win? Have I ever only won against opponents I could beat? I’ll try my best somehow. As always!”

– April26’s chat: I wish you good luck.