Chapter 150: Interest in Game Tournaments

“What strategy are we using this time?”

Uzkaran kept his eyes on the monitor and asked Xiao in a low voice. Nothing in particular came to his mind. And deciding which strategy to use was usually Xiao’s role anyway.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure yet.”

Since they had received systematic training, they had many ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strategies available. Even so, Xiao found it difficult to be certain. It felt as though the opponents were also still probing rather than getting serious.

“Then let’s just go with the standard approach. Better than just circling around forever.”

“Should we?”

If they spent too much time, they might accidentally reveal an opening or make a mistake, and if things went badly, the other side might figure them out instead. Uzkaran’s words made sense.

But at that moment, the opposing side began moving differently from before.

“Hey. Looks like they’re doing something. Focus.”

“Yeah.”

Xiao responded to the enemy’s attack while trying to figure out what kind of strategy it was.

Reverse rotation? No, hammer and anvil? What is this?

Hammer and anvil was a strategy where one player endured while moving back and forth between two enemies, while the other player pushed hard. This was also a standard strategy often used.

Even now, the opposing Weasel was hovering between Xiao and Uzkaran and getting on their nerves, so it seemed highly likely to be hammer and anvil. This strategy was dangerous because one player was essentially enduring a two-on-one, but it also forced a two-on-one situation on the other side. If the player had confidence in map understanding and evasion, it was a highly effective strategy.

“Looks like hammer and anvil, right? Let’s hit the Weasel.”

Xiao made his judgment and gave Uzkaran the order. The counter to this strategy was obvious. They had to somehow crush the one charging in two-on-one with a fierce assault first.

The two quickly began reading the opponent’s pattern. If someone charged in two-on-one, they needed to respond quickly, which inevitably simplified their pattern, no matter how much they had thought and practiced beforehand.

Once Uzkaran began charging in aggressively, the Weasel could no longer rampage freely between the two of them. Perhaps giving up on hammer and anvil, he began running away, and Xiao and Uzkaran looked at each other with satisfied smiles before launching a counterattack.

Did they panic?

When the Weasel fled, his ally, the Ostrich, began following. Several times, perhaps trying to draw their attention, he placed and threw bombs. But Xiao and Uzkaran endured it and continued focusing on the Weasel.

Then, in the middle of it, they saw the Ostrich kick a bomb toward a completely absurd place. Xiao viewed it as a mistake. At that position, it would not catch anything and would simply fly off and explode in a corner.

“Huh?!”

But when the Weasel suddenly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠charged out, broke through a wall, and rushed toward that bomb, the story changed. The bomb was blocked by the Weasel’s body and could not pass by, stopping right at the entrance of the alley where Xiao was.

Xiao hurriedly looked for a place to escape, but there was no opening. And since the opponent’s bomb had already flown in, there was no time to break through a wall either.

In the end, he became a ball of fire.

“Yeah! This is Bomb Trapping!”

When the operation succeeded, Vints clenched his fist and cheered. The two of them had been developing various strategies and uploading them to Spirit Space. Naturally, there was no way they would participate in a tournament like this without preparing strategies only they could use.

“Hey. Save me first.”

However, hidden techniques inevitably had low proficiency. According to the plan, he should have escaped immediately after trapping the opponent, but the enemy’s attack had been so fierce that he could barely block the bomb with his body, and he had not found an opening to escape.

Fortunately, his ally was closer, so he was soon freed from the flames.

“Huh? I can’t get there.”

But Xiao could not be saved. Uzkaran also tried to save Xiao quickly, but the opponents blocked the path with bombs and stalled for time. Since he had already lost a little composure due to the unexpected strategy, he failed to respond properly.

In the end, Xiao and Uzkaran lost in the quarterfinals.

“As expected! That was an astonishing strategy worthy of Spirit Space’s strategists!”

“Yes. When they kicked that bomb, I thought it was a total dud too.”

The Revol Bomb team, which had many fans due to their active presence, received tremendous cheers. Even the laughter that broke out at the commentary team’s corny joke was loud.

And amid all that, only Xiao and Uzkaran looked dispirited. People said you only truly understood something’s value after losing it, and the cheers that had felt awkward before now felt unbearably enviable.

“It’s alright. It’s not over yet, so straighten your shoulders!”

Fortunately, perhaps because the coach was still an adult, he maintained his composure. In truth, they had not actually been eliminated yet. Remembering that, Xiao still could not open his mouth because his emotions were a mess, but he fixed his expression and nodded.

Afterward, the two showed stable play in the loser’s revival bracket, entered the ranking range, and advanced to the finals.

Even though this tournament was still only a preliminary tournament, it drew considerable public attention.

There were several reasons. Games had become popularized, Ras’s company had become a large corporation, and on top of that, the tournament venue was being held in a top-tier stadium and had filled it completely, which was also a story worthy of attention.

But the biggest reason was still the recent dispute with the telecommunications companies.

Until then, no matter how large Ras’s company became, many people dismissed it as merely a company that made games. But after it fought a formidable group like the telecommunications companies and won without difficulty, people began looking at it differently.

Its political and social power seemed far from ordinary. So when people paid attention to Meta Soft and looked into it, they realized it was an even more impressive company than they had thought.

Being an export company did not just mean earning a little money. It was comparable to the Republic of Smite’s leading manufacturing companies, and in terms of market dominance rather than simple sales figures, it was truly overwhelming.

Once people began paying attention to Meta Soft like that, naturally some also began watching the game tournaments, which were major events held by Meta Soft.

“Amazing!”

Andreang, the president of Click Co., Ltd., who was one of those people, was deeply moved by the tournament’s excitement. Click was a company specializing in computer peripherals such as mice and keyboards, but he had held a somewhat negative view of games.

There was a reason for that. He believed that if people enjoyed games too much, the development of computers would proceed only in the direction of games, limiting their function as truly useful tools and causing them to decline into something like game consoles.

Of course, in Earth’s actual history, games had instead contributed enormously to the spread and development of computers. But not everyone could know the future, so more people than expected thought like Andreang.

However, after coming to the stadium and experiencing it directly, his thoughts changed.

It was not that he became positive toward games. Rather, he realized that even if people like him viewed them negatively and opposed them, this was not something that could be stopped.

And as a fairly capable businessman, he understood that if this was an unstoppable trend, then it was better to ride it instead.

I’ll need to release devices specialized for games.

As the president of a company ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠specializing in keyboards and mice, he quickly came up with several ideas for what kind of products he should make.

For games like that, the directional keys are important, so it would be better to make them more separate from the other keys and strengthen their durability. And to move that quickly, the input signal interval should probably be made faster too.

“Waaaah!! Tkai!”

While he was deep in thought, a sudden roar from the people around him startled Andreang. When he looked to see what had happened, it was the sound of the audience cheering for a player.

He looked to see what kind of player it was, but the player was not particularly handsome. He did look somewhat slick, but what Andreang saw was a Gnome with a face commonly seen even in his own company, wearing an arrogant expression.

It felt rather fascinating. Without any other particular charm, simply being good at games was enough to gain this kind of popularity. At this rate, it seemed he might not even need to envy entertainers.

But entertainers, huh...

At that moment, something flashed through his mind.

It was connected to the gaming devices he had just been thinking about. Once someone reached the level of company president, they did not stop at simply making products. They also thought about how to sell them. Or perhaps they even thought about that side more deeply.

A gaming device and an incredibly popular game player... It feels like something could work there.

When selling products, the most common method was advertising, and advertisements usually employed entertainers. The reason entertainers were used was because they had high name recognition.

But there was no need to insist on entertainers. As long as the person had high recognition, that was enough, which was why sports ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠players were sometimes used too.

And since the products he would develop were specialized for games, if he considered that the consumer base would be gamers, then popular game players like those seemed like they could serve as excellent advertising figures.

Of course, since they did not appear in media like television, their exposure was somewhat lacking, but the number of people coming to the matches was not small either.

If I have that player use it while gaming, or wear clothing with advertisements drawn on it... That might be pretty good.

He began memorizing the players’ names. Once he returned, he planned to contact them separately and push this matter forward.

At the moment, he did not have any gaming-specialized devices, but product advertising ultimately depended on how it was framed. If he looked, there would probably be existing products with characteristics more friendly to gaming.

And he was not the only company thinking this way. When they had no interest in game tournaments, that was one thing. But once their eyes landed on them, most company presidents operating businesses could think along similar lines.

“Advertising?”

This kind of proposal also reached Xiao. He was a foreigner, which made things somewhat awkward, but because he had shown a striking character and solid skill, some people thought he could be useful.

“Yes. They said it’s some clothing company. But maybe this isn’t something I should talk to you about directly. Maybe I should discuss it with the Baron...”

The coach trailed off, then saw Xiao’s blank expression and scratched his head in embarrassment. Well, it would actually be stranger if children from a premodern country with a class system immediately understood what this meant.

But Taito, who heard the story, was different. As a noble, the education he had received and the amount of information he had access to were different, and he was especially capable as well.

“Hmm. Is that so? I understand for now.”

“Yes. Then I’ll take my leave.”

The Baron was in a good mood because Xiao had advanced to the main finals, and he had been drinking a celebratory toast in his hotel room. He watched the coach leave, then sank into thought.

People from the Republic of Smite really are quick to think in this direction.

Using game players as advertising figures was a method the Baron had not thought of, even though he was personally raising game players himself.

First, he considered whether he could use such a method as well. But it did not fit his own company very well. For one thing, how many people from the Nuchin Kingdom would come to watch this tournament? Of course, he also considered holding a separate tournament in the Nuchin Kingdom, but it would never reach the same scale as this place, so there was no real meaning.

But his thoughts moved in another direction.

The act of using players as advertising figures itself seemed like it might become a decent business for him.