Group Draw Ceremony (1)

After Bunny went out with the parting words "Pervert!", I rode the momentum all the way through the final round.

In a single-elimination tournament, the field halves with every round. Among the survivors vanishing at that blistering pace, not one of them was weak. My last opponent, though, was an archer-type class with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a brutal matchup disadvantage against me. Separate from how skilled they actually were, it turned out to be an easier fight than either Camellia or Haruka.

The result was exactly what the system message said. Even if it was only an event tournament, I had closed my hand around one of just thirty-two tickets in the entire world.

A rush of pure satisfaction climbed up from my clenched fist.

Even a quick glance through the community boards turned up Gawol's name everywhere. It wasn't all praise, but that hardly mattered. I sprawled out on the floor, still soaked in the afterglow of victory.

It felt like I owned the whole world. The idea that something like this could happen to me barely felt real. I half-expected to wake up and find it had all been a dream. Until the feeling wore off, I was content to just lie there.

Elderin and Sulpang were wrapping up their streams, and Luce seemed to have already ended hers. A little loafing wouldn't hurt. While I was thinking of it, I saved Luce's broadcast VOD in advance. She was the careful type, which meant she wiped her VODs more often than not. There was no way I was letting today's stream slip away. After all — for me, this was a historic day.

Something to discuss? Was there anything left? I wasn't sure, but she wouldn't have called unless it mattered. Checking the server, I found Elderin had already claimed a channel.

"You're here! Just a moment — Sulpang will be joining us shortly."

"What's this about?"

"Well, you've made it to the main stage. That means our casting is done."

"Ah……."

Right. From the Arena main stage onward, the game company itself stepped in as the official host. The group draw ceremony was coming up soon, and every match would be broadcast through the official channels. Famous casters would be part of the package, of course. However hard Elderin and Sulpang had worked this time, they weren't professional commentators. Their co-stream had always been meant to end right here.

I must have been riding too high on the win. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

"The matches were incredible. I'm a little late saying it, but congratulations on the wins."

"Thank you. And… thank you for reaching out to me in the first place. You were the first one who ever did."

"Hehe. Really? So next time we run into each other in the field, you'll go easy on me?"

"I won't kill you. I do have some sense of decency… it'd feel wrong."

I genuinely had no intention of hunting Elderin from now on. She had never been the kind of target I went after in the first place. Last time, I'd just been suffering through period cramps and she'd happened to catch my eye. Not being able to kill Sulpang was a little disappointing, but I figured I could chalk that up as paying back a favor. The world was full of streamers — I'd just have to find someone else. Though maybe dropping by once or twice every so often wouldn't be the end of the world? The viewers had fun with the Sulpang stuff, after all. If I was really desperate for a kill and had no one else… maybe just then? I'd ask about it later.

"I'm here."

"Alright. Shall we start with the most important thing?"

"Sure. Gawol — we need to split the donations we took in. How do you want to receive your cut?"

"Uh…… huh?"

My brain short-circuited at Sulpang's words. Split? Right — we'd talked about that at the start. Donation revenue would be split from each of their streams. The terms hadn't seemed bad, so I'd agreed. But now that I thought about it… how exactly was I supposed to receive the money? I knew absolutely nothing about how streamers handled this stuff.

"What do people usually do?"

"If you don't know, just give me your account number. I'll send it right over. If any other revenue comes in, I'll poke you again in a month."

"Account number? Uh, that… hang on. Give me a second."

"Take your time. Nobody's rushing you."

Ah. So they just deposited it into a bank account. Nothing complicated after all. Of course I had an account — cashing out in-game currency eventually required somewhere for the money to land. The catch was… receiving it meant revealing my real name.

Was that okay?

It was only three syllables. Why was I hesitating over something so small? The words just wouldn't come out. The only reason I'd kept my identity secret until now was to stay clear of the siege guilds. But Elderin had no connection to them, and Sulpang only dabbled as a mercenary each season. Common sense said giving these two my name wouldn't cause any problems.

"……Nobel Bank. 70301-6581-2204. Han Daeun."

"Han Daeun? Hold on — sending it now."

"Mm."

"I just sent mine too! Please check."

It was only after I'd said it that I understood. What had made me uncomfortable was equating this world's Gawol with the real me. Gawol didn't limp. Gawol wasn't a loner locked in a one-room flat. Even if I was stuck in the gutter, I wanted Gawol to shine. That childish little wish had been sitting in my heart all along.

The self-pity didn't last long. The moment the deposit notification came through and I checked my balance, my jaw dropped at the amount staring back at me.

"Th-this much? Did you send it wrong?"

"Sent it correctly. No mistakes."

"Same here. I'll send you screenshots of the donation logs right now."

"Oh. Uh-huh. Okay……."

Somehow I felt like the only idiot in the room. My head dipped on its own.

"But doesn't it feel a little incomplete to just end things like this?"

There was still some time left before the second qualifier fully wrapped up. Plenty of people hadn't even started their matchmaking queues yet. With so many foreign players, time zones were a factor, and some people — like me — had casting schedules to work around. For a while, I got to enjoy a stretch of pure free time.

A previous-season Infinity ranking meant a top-three-hundred player — the absolute highest tier. Someone like that would have a trained eye. Reading through the post, the corners of my mouth curled up in pure satisfaction.

"Gawol? Something good happen? You look like you're in an amazing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mood."

"Hmm? No, it's nothing."

"If it's something fun, share it. Or wait — is it a boyfriend?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Hmmm…… alright, if you say so."

The Halfling Bard, San-sae, grinned at me with a sly look. We were a few days out from the end of the second qualifier, and I was deep into party hunting again.