Waiting for That Day
Oh-ha grumbled about it, but before long she agreed to the wish ticket fairly readily, muttering something like, "What would you even use a wish ticket from a nobody streamer like me for, anyway?"
So I smiled and told her.
Who knew? Maybe she'd win the grand prize at the year-end awards someday and become a partner streamer.
I said I'd cash in the wish ticket once she got that big.
"I really hope that happens. When that day comes, I'll give you two or three wish tickets — not just one."
Even I had enough conscience not to take her up on that many.
After pulling Oh-ha out of the trap, I set her free with a repaired pickaxe. As a bonus, I threw in a diamond armor set with no enchantments attached.
It couldn't compare to Mist, who was getting every kind of support imaginable, but it was enough to save face.
"Dobby is freedom! Have fun with Minecraft, Oh-ha-ssaem."
"Huh? Am I not your junior anymore?"
"Come on! Once a teacher, always a teacher. A teacher's grace is like the heavens~ The more you look up, the higher it soars~"
"I'm being honest here, Seo-a — you know you're seriously asking for a noogie, right?"
I wrapped things up beautifully and even sorted out the hierarchy while I was at it. No matter how much she owed me, I couldn't keep treating someone six years older as my junior. I'd only used casual titles temporarily for the sake of smooth teaching.
After sending Oh-ha off, Miho came over and asked.
"If you like her, why not invite her to join us? She seemed like a decent person."
"No. I think she'll do better if we just leave her alone rather than dragging her over to our side."
This was a connection I'd carefully cultivated — it'd be a problem if I butted in and ruined it. Oh-ha needed to form her own company on her own, then join as Wang-ko's right hand when he entered the server later. That was the fate waiting for Oh-ha.
"More importantly, everyone knows about Saturday, right?"
"Yeah, we know."
"I think they said this week is the first time, so they're only running it for an hour as a test?"
"Mayo's super duper excited for Saturday, that is so!"
"But when did you start talking like that? You keep ending everything with 'that is so.'"
When I asked, she looked the other way and pretended not to know. She'd probably been doing it since Diamond CK. Don't tell me she saw Ami-chan's "is so" and thought it looked cool, so she cooked up her own version?
"Cute. So cute."
"Hmph! That Mayo is cute is something everyone already knows, that is so!"
But surely she wasn't going to shout "jungle diff" in that same speech pattern when she played League like usual… right?
Today, Rena-ttang didn't rest either. She'd said it was a rare day off, but then she suddenly went live to promote Rena World's first-ever content event happening this Saturday. Her intentions were so transparent I could barely hold back my laughter.
Poco Server is unlocking most of its rules starting Saturday, and the real war begins then.
She was trying to counter that buzz even a little. From setting the date to Saturday in the first place, to the content she'd prepared — it was all far too meaningful.
Purge Day.
The one day in Rena World — a server that billed itself as a healing server — where everything was permitted. Ah, they called it a "Day," but in reality it only lasted about three to four hours. And even that was being cut down to a one-hour trial run for the first Saturday, since they expected various growing pains.
"For now, we're thinking of allowing most things. PK is a given, and that includes looting and destruction as well."
Viewer opinions were mixed on the first server content event ever to appear in Rena World. As I hopped over to Rena-ttang's stream and scanned the chat, I was surprised by how many people already had foresight.
In reality, those exact things cause absolute chaos. Real tension, you could say.
Your precious My Home — painstakingly farmed from every rare material, built block by block while watching YouTube tutorials. If someone took a pickaxe to it or blew it up with TNT? Having your mental state shatter into pieces was only natural. After people actually went through it and some even cried on stream, community opinion split so hard it caused a full-blown uproar. That was why they hastily revised the Purge Day rules — with a "look but don't touch" approach, buildings preferably wouldn't be touched. And if someone did destroy something, the culprit had to personally "restore" it.
That revision earned its share of mockery, too. What was the point of a so-called "Purge Day" if you had to rebuild everything after destroying it in plain sight? On the other side, plenty of people argued that going too deep on a healing server was a bad idea. In the end, Purge Day grew progressively more watered-down over several iterations before being abolished entirely. And in its place, the Arena content was born.
But that was a story for the future. For now, interest in Purge Day was running hot.
"Yes, yes, I'm aware there are various concerns. That's why this week we're planning to run it for just one hour as a trial, identify any problem areas along the way, and improve from there."
The moment deep content appeared, the ranking games started right on cue, as if everyone had been waiting for it. Being ranked number one in combat power on a healing server didn't mean much to begin with — but on Pangea TV, where the male audience dominated, it was always going to be irresistible clickbait. Combat power number one? What a heart-pounding phrase.
"This is our first attempt at this content, so there will be rough edges, but I'm hoping as many streamers as possible will participate… We've prepared a modest prize pool as well. First place for the most kills gets 1 million Rena, second gets 500,000, and third gets 300,000 Rena. So please think of it as a festival and have fun."
One million Rena meant a full two hundred diamonds. Even with an endgame pickaxe, you'd need good luck to finish that in under three hours. There was no way I was passing up prize money that sweet. And if Mayo and I locked down first and second together, that was 1.5 million Rena.
The key point was that nobody considered Mayo or me contenders for the win. I'd intentionally steered public opinion that way, too. All I'd ever shown them was mining every day, then heading into town to banter with other streamers whenever the viewers got bored. Good gear, sure — but zero flashy control plays, zero displays of combat power. Of course nobody expected anything from me. Mayo was in a similar position.
"Start time is 8 p.m., and we'll only run it for one hour. Once again, I'd appreciate everyone's interest and participation."
With that, Rena-ttang's impromptu stream ended. And once it did, my own chat started filling up with mixed opinions. Some viewers said not to bother logging in and risking a rough time — just do something else during that hour. Others were already fretting that we absolutely had to protect the V-Live crew building.
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down. You don't need to worry that much — I'll make sure the building is protected."
Of course, protecting the building wasn't all I had planned. Strictly speaking, I'd be the one going out to do the destroying.
Ah, but this week was just a taste test anyway — maybe it was better to take it easy?
Better to properly build up the board and detonate it with a bang when more eyes are on us.
Ideally, I'd make my move after a major corporate streamer joined the server and overall viewership had climbed. That way I could leave a truly intense impression on a much larger audience.
I was already looking forward to that day.