Prideful Fools' Showdown
“Calling you… ehehehe Seon-a… ID d…n…”
“What are you doing?”
“Sending you a prisoner. I’ll call again. Ehehehe.”
“Ah. No. You don’t have to send one.”
“Huk… Thanks. My friend.”
She was seriously grateful!! Such a good friend!! Thanks to her, I didn’t have to send the viewer as a prisoner. What a relief. I immediately shared the good news with everyone.
It really was wonderful news. Right. I’d gotten the viewer back, so if I could win the war too, it would be perfect. I pictured the ideal scenario in my head.
“So, we doing this?”
“Wait a second!!”
“Now what?”
“That… you said you’d go easy on me… We promised… Say it officially.”
A promise means nothing unless it’s stated officially. I’d forgotten after saying it. No… I could still argue my way out, right? Promises need to be solid.
“What do I have to do?”
“I hereby officially declare. I, Raming, will go easy on Seon-a!!”
“Same here.”
“Huh?”
“I already said it, though?”
“No, you have to say it yourself.”
“I hereby officially declare~ I, Raming, will go easy on Seon-a~”
“Thank you.”
Now that Raming had promised, she had to keep it. In that case, it was time to unleash the ultimate tactic I’d learned after watching the wiki and YouTube ten times over. All-in cavalry. A simple charge that steamrolls the opponent. I wasn’t sure if it was actually perfect. I just wanted to try it. If it worked, great. If not, whatever?!
While I went all-in on cavalry, Raming recruited a variety of units starting with artillery. Don’t worry. If I hide in the trees and zip around, I’ll win. Everyone loses to overwhelming speed.
“I’ll win this for you.”
“Oh really?”
Uh… I didn’t see this coming. Who fights on open plains? On a completely flat map with not a single tree… Of course I’d lose. Was the map itself bullying me now? Still, it was fine. If I climbed the mountain and stalled for time, I’d win. I moved all my troops up the mountain.
“My all-in cavalry is currently climbing the mountain.”
“That’s it, then.”
“Ah. Shoot!! I’m retreating.”
This was part of the plan too. Feed false information on purpose to throw her off.
“You said you were retreating, but you’re not? I can see everything.”
“Oh, right.”
I’d forgotten. This game had full vision, so everything was visible. Damn it. I’d spaced because it was outside my expectations. It was okay. There was still a way. I just had to think of it now. Not hard. Let me think carefully. I had fast cavalry. I just needed to gobble her up in one go. Huh? Yeah!! What if I attacked from both sides? That was the tactic Raming had used on me earlier. What did she call it? Pincer?
“What was that strategy you used earlier? The pincer thing.”
“Pincer? Oh, pincer maneuver. Pretend you’re fighting on the mountain, then fight in the field instead.”
“Oh. Right. I’ll do that.”
“Okay. Then I’ll think of a way to counter the pincer maneuver.”
“Sounds good.”
I kept half my forces moving up while sending the other half sideways. I also kept scouting. I couldn’t tell what Raming was thinking. She was just clumped together, climbing the very mountain I was on… I didn’t understand this tactic at all.
“Raming, what are you thinking? I’m about to come down the mountain. You’ll get wiped out.”
Her ignoring my troops made me angry. I immediately ordered my cavalry to charge down. My samurai were excited to taste blood as they rushed downward. But… no.
“Wh-what?”
My samurai were dying pointlessly.
“No, if you only send half you’re just going to lose. What are you doing?”
“Ah… ah, right.”
I’d completely forgotten. What was I supposed to do with only half my forces… I was an incompetent commander. Without thinking about my own troops, I’d launched a reckless tactic just because the enemy was climbing the mountain. But… even if I was an incompetent commander… I still loved my soldiers.
“Th-that… go easy on me… spare them…”
“Should I? Say ‘please go easy on me.’”
“Please go easy on me…”
“Cuter.”
“…”
“Not going easy, then?”
“Go easy on me… I’m sowwy…”
“Hahhahahahahaha. Fine. I’ll go easy. Counting ten seconds.”
Ten seconds? She was giving me a whole ten seconds? On the battlefield? Did she not know how huge ten seconds was in battle? This was my chance!! Ten seconds to attack again~!!
“Attack again!! She can’t move for ten seconds. We’ve got a shot.”
“Ahahahahaha.”
“Kill them all!!”
Actually, I’d been a brilliant commander all along. It was all an act. Now I’d show my real skill!!
“Kuhahahaha. You didn’t expect this, did you? Thud thud. Thud thud… Taste my samurai’s katana!! Huh… huh? Huh?”
Ten seconds was very short. The moment it ended, my samurai were shot and slashed off their horses. I was an incompetent commander again. No, more importantly, why weren’t the rest coming? If I told them to hurry, they should hurry. Half my troops were still far away. What a frustrating general. That was why I lost.
“Th-that… can’t you go easy again? I’ll say it with both hands clasped…”
“Ehehehe. Again?”
“Uh… if the other half arrives I don’t know.”
“Looks like they’re already wiped out?”
“There’s still a chance.”
“Fine. I’ll wait.”
“Then!! Remaining troops, attack!! Kill even one more in the spirit of the samurai!!”
Honestly, the strategy was good. A genius strategy. Because it was one Raming had made… and I’d copied. But the opponent was just a little better. In the end, everything was relative. It couldn’t be helped. I did my best.
After that, I suffered eleven straight losses.
“I lost everything…”
“It’s okay. You faced me, after all.”
“Still… you didn’t go easy even once… I hate you.”
“No, you still have to do it properly. Is the hosting fun?”
“Uh… I’m having fun. I wish you’d keep going easy.”
“Whoa. Then it’s not fun anymore.”
Raming was good at the game, so of course she thought that way. I wasn’t. I was bad at games, so using bugs was fun. Just getting full gear and cheating was enjoyable. That was my joy.
“No… I like cheats. I win by using cheats.”
“Then it’s not fun.”
“I’m having fun. I’m not good at games. I’ll become the best by using bugs.”
“Then you’ll get banned.”
“Then I’ll spend money. I’ll play a game where I get stronger by spending money. Good work.”
“I’ll reflect the good work back at you.”
“No, I’ll reflect it again.”
“You reflected it again. Rainbow reflect.”
“I’ll reflect that rainbow reflect reflect reflect reflect lock.”
Even if I lost the game, I wouldn’t lose the war of words.
Even if they called it a kid fight, it was a serious battle to me. Nothing was more humiliating than losing a serious fight. I had to win.
“Unlock with the master key and reflect.”
“I’ll reflect that again and lock it with the ultimate padlock.”
We fought with reflects and locks for thirty minutes before ending the stream. The collab had been really fun. Playing games happily with a friend, one of my lifelong wishes, had finally come true. I was so happy that after the stream ended, I even wrote in my café diary. I’d abandoned it for nearly five months, but I was happy enough to pick it up again.
I had so much fun playing games with my friend yesterday. Fun is fun, but today is the real problem. The long collab is over, and it’s time for my first solo stream to test my skills, but I have no content.
“This is bad…”
I really had no content. This was terrible. At this rate, all the new viewers I’d barely gathered would disappear. I didn’t necessarily want to hold on to every single one. If they left, I’d just say goodbye, but it would be sad if they left because I was bad at streaming. I had to prevent that at least.
“What should I do… though.”
I checked the VODs of some fellow streamers I was close with. If there was good content, I’d learn from it. I was still someone who had a long way to go. There was nothing shameful about learning from others’ art. I just had to make it my own style.
“Hmm…”
But nothing looked particularly fun. Maru was playing some weird game, Moddeok was singing… Raming had played games with me… Maem was… rewatching her Minecraft VOD. There weren’t any particularly creative streams.
“This is tricky.”
What should I do? Should I just start the stream first? Yeah. Let’s start the stream. If I don’t know what to do, just start streaming. That’s it!!
“Hello everyone…!!”
“I came early today!! I wanted to hear your ideas for content…!! Everyone, what should we do today?”
The people who knew best what made a stream fun weren’t the streamers, but the viewers. No matter how much I prepared or put effort in, it only mattered if the viewers enjoyed it. So this wasn’t begging—it was gathering opinions. That was the beauty of two-way communication. So please!! Don’t call it begging!!
“Is there anything you want to see? This is also left chat!! If you give me your opinions, I’ll listen.”
Even begging sounded better if you phrased it nicely. Let’s all speak nicely!!
“Then what should I do… There must be some fun game out there. I’ll check the café!!”
I searched the café diligently. First, it had to be a game I was good at. Actually, it was fine even if I wasn’t good at it. As long as it wasn’t too hard. A lot of people recommended soulslike games, but I honestly couldn’t do those. If I tried, not only the new viewers but even the angels would evaporate.
“Hmm…”
An easy, simple game. What could it be? This was really difficult. So difficult. But… I had to overcome this to grow. Growth would come quickly. It was only hard because it was the first time. Once I pushed through, I’d be able to decide easily. Definitely!! I cheered myself on.
“Seon-a!! Let’s do our best today too!! Aja aja fighting!!”