I Have Reasons to Hate Streamers

How long has it been since I started this game?

I spent most of my game time as a loner.

Most of the conversations I had were only about ‘work’.

Other than that, it was mostly just trivial wordplay with targets to kill.

Even that wasn’t much fun because many of them just spewed curses freely.

But now it’s different.

Humans are evolving animals. Before I knew it, my relationships had evolved too.

Now I can form a party with just the people in my friends list!

[Party Member List]

[Party Leader: Elderin(Mage)]

[Gawol(Assassin)]

[Sansae(Bard)]

[SoolBbang(Warrior)]

[DadGoesToGokturk(Berserker)]

SoolBbang and I are people with unique tastes… no, that’s not it.

We gathered again at Elderin’s suggestion.

It was good that we gathered like that, but all we could do in the game was chat or hunt.

Naturally, opinions converged on party hunting.

The lacking numbers were filled as I called Sansae, and Sansae called Gokturk.

It was like the two ordinary people who gathered before for the SSA guild issue had gathered again.

“By the way, SoolBbang, is there a reason you chose that nickname? I asked on the broadcast before, but I didn’t get to hear the answer.”

“Ah, that. My parents used to buy sool-bbang often in the past. When I was young, I wondered what it tasted like… well.”

“Hahaha! That’s right, it’s such an old food. They don’t even sell it much these days. Do you have some meaningful memories with your parents about sool-bbang? I do.”

“No… I was going to joke that there was no such story after talking for a while… It’s just, there was a food called sool-bbang in a game I used to play… I’m sorry.”

“I see…”

Gokturk, the berserker, was a fan of SoolBbang.

Sansae seemed to watch Elderin’s broadcasts often too, and thanks to that, the party atmosphere started off in a good direction from the beginning.

Especially, the combination of Sansae and Elderin was good.

Maybe because they both have outgoing tendencies, they kept chattering endlessly.

I couldn’t possibly keep up with that, so I just listened.

Just watching others talk enjoyably gave me a strange pleasure.

I felt a sense of belonging just from those two not ignoring me.

This was how a loner accumulated warmth…

“By the way, Gawol, what kind of work did you originally do?”

“Ah, I’m curious too! When I watched Yurang’s broadcast last time, they said you might be good at sports.”

“Sansae, you watch a lot of broadcasts…”

“Well, I work alone, so I often watch broadcasts even when I’m not playing games. I watched all of Gawol’s coverage this time too. You were amazing.”

“Hmm.”

When they praise me like that, it makes me feel good again.

I don’t really want to talk about my past, but there’s no reason to tremble just from bringing it up.

It’s something I need to overcome someday. I just couldn’t do it right away.

I chose my expressions carefully.

“That’s right. I used to do sports in the past. But not anymore.”

“I see. Then are you really flexible? I heard something about being soft too…”

“That… hmm. I’m not sure. I haven’t had the chance to compare with others’ bodies. But I don’t think I’m stiff.”

Well, compared to my original body, it would be much softer.

I’ve been swinging a bamboo sword since I was young.

Still, it’s a woman’s body. It would be softer than a man with abs.

By the way, it seemed like the topic of conversation was moving to reality.

This is a bit uncomfortable.

To avoid showing it, I pushed forward a bit more.

It was my role to round up mobs this time anyway.

They probably won’t find it strange.

Fortunately, the real-life talk didn’t last long.

Sansae mainly works on video editing, and Elderin majors in design.

SoolBbang, who I thought would be older, is actually only in his mid-20s?

Gokturk was unsurprisingly a man in his late 30s, just like his impression.

“Gawol, is there anyone you want to face in the group designation ceremony?”

“Hmm… not really. I’d like to see the ones I want to meet a bit higher up.”

“You have no thought of losing in the main tournament?”

“Of course not. I didn’t enter with the intention of losing.”

“Right. It’s good to see your confidence.”

Still, there were several people I wanted to face.

I wanted to fight Luche even before the Arena started, and I also wanted to cross weapons with the supposedly skilled Cerberus at least once.

Especially Cerberus, it’s hard to meet in the field because we’re on different servers.

AT Kelberos.

Considered a key player in the current European league, and a strong candidate to win the Arena.

Also the one who defeated Luche in last year’s international competition.

If Luche defeats Cerberus, and I defeat Luche.

Could there be anything more enjoyable than that?

“Over there, please take care of one small fry~”

“I’m on it!”

As the party hunt went on, more stories were exchanged.

I enjoyed it too. It felt like I had real friends.

I don’t know how these people think, but at least that’s how I felt.

Since that guy died, I hadn’t had anyone I could call a friend.

I had a subtle sense of distance with most people I knew from my athlete days.

After my body became like this, I unilaterally cut off contact from my side.

Looking at other athletes… my change seemed too painful.

Actually, it was the same with Master, but I got used to it by constantly seeing his face.

I couldn’t bear to show my ugly inferiority complex to Master.

“Gawol. Where do you live, by any chance?”

“I’m… in Incheon area.”

“Ah, that’s close to Seoul!”

Elderin’s question.

I answered after overcoming a moment of hesitation.

It should be okay to tell this much.

“Then, if you do well in this Arena, would you like to come up to Seoul?”

“In real life…?”

“Yes. I’ll treat you!”

“That’s, well. Umm… Can I think about it a bit more?”

“Sure. Think about it comfortably, and let’s meet if you feel like it!”

I didn’t give a definite answer.

* * *

The announced time came.

After focusing on party hunting for a few days, we quickly reached the scheduled date for the main tournament.

Basically, it doesn’t matter whether you attend the group designation ceremony or not.

But since all choices are suspended if you don’t attend, there was no need to take the risk.

This was my first time in such a setting, so I was strangely looking forward to it.

[You have used the Main Tournament Group Designation Ceremony Invitation item.]

[You will be moved to a special field in 5 seconds… 00:03]

After a brief blackout, what appeared was a stage that gave a clean impression.

There were people who had arrived before me, with a few gathered and talking.

Unfortunately, Luche wasn’t visible yet.

Maybe because I was just standing there blankly, a familiar character came to find me.

“Nice to meet you! Is this your first time?”

“Ah, yes.”

“You can just sit down and wait. We’ve already notified you of the simple order and rules, but if you haven’t seen it, you can check again. First of all…”

Caster Ho-eun. A celebrity who never fails to show her face in domestic competitions.

It felt unfamiliar to hear the voice I only heard on broadcasts right in front of me.

I quietly listened to the explanation while Ho-eun kindly talked.

“…So, the order for group designation is like this. In Gawol’s case, you’re the 11th seed.”

“Thank you. That was very helpful.”

“There will also be highlight videos before the group designation ceremony. For Gawol… you can look forward to it a lot. You’re popular overseas, right?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, you don’t know yourself. Then enjoy it this time.”

Words that sound meaningful.

I’m popular overseas?

Aren’t they confusing me with someone else?

Even after pondering for a while, I couldn’t reach a conclusion.

I hadn’t done anything to gain popularity overseas.

Still, just in case, I searched for “Gawol,” “Kawol,” and such, but nothing special came up.

At most, a post from a few months ago came up.

It was about being harassed in ranked, but I’ve done that kind of thing once or twice.

Isn’t it too sudden to get attention for that now?

“All participants have gathered. We’re about to start the rehearsal, does anyone need time?”

After everyone who was supposed to gather had gathered, there was a simple rehearsal.

The intention was to familiarize everyone with the general order in advance.

They just mentioned the order of things like the highlight videos and player interviews that were mentioned earlier and moved on.

I spent that time in a daze.

I’ve done many tournament rehearsals before.

I don’t know why it feels so unfamiliar now.

Is it because it wasn’t a game back then?

“Live broadcast starting soon!”

After the producer’s announcement, until the cameras started rolling.

I sat in my seat and endlessly observed the other players.

There were people who wanted to talk to me too. For some reason, they didn’t follow through.

– Next is… Acid Gaming Reaper!

Highlight videos played along with the introduction of main tournament qualifiers.

People whose names I’ve heard at least once in each country.

Players from around the world, including North America, Europe, Japan, China, and the Middle East, made appearances.

I was among their names too.

“Then next… This is someone who’s recently gained fame. Known for a video called ‘Korean Tea-bagging Girl’ in English-speaking countries.”

“…?”

“Main class is Assassin! Sub-class is Swordsman! We’ll now see Gawol’s highlight video!”

As the host shouted, a video unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

It started with a video of me dipping and pulling out an archer in seawater.