Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Super Rookie with the Archmage
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On the terrace of a building overlooking the Grand Confrontation screen.
Big Mouth was watching the screen, coffee in hand, fully prepared to write his article.
"Not messing around from the start."
Lee Soo-hyuk had appeared alongside Hielz.
The crowd buzzed, and Big Mouth's hands moved busily.
The headline of the article he'd dashed off.
Lots of reporters were probably scrambling to write the same thing right now, but no one would be faster than him.
A text that had come in just a few minutes ago.
At the time, he'd had no idea what it meant. Lee Soo-hyuk and the Archmage? No connection whatsoever.
But since Big Mouth had been prepared in advance, he'd been able to draft the article right away following Lee Soo-hyuk's message.
"Good investment."
With the article finished, Big Mouth sipped his coffee and skimmed the previous piece.
It was the article about yesterday's interview with Lee Soo-hyuk.
The article, based on Lee Soo-hyuk's interview.
It had garnered decent interest. But it hadn't gone completely unnoticed; it just hadn't blown up.
The Grand Confrontation was the stage of the stars.
Countless renowned rankers participated, and even they were overshadowed by suns and moons like the Heavenly Demon or the Archmage.
If it had been any other stage, Lee Soo-hyuk wouldn't have been dismissed like this. His achievements were nothing to scoff at.
But this was the Grand Confrontation.
A place where only the present mattered, not future potential.
Among the countless stars, only a rare few stood out with their brilliance. And at least until just moments ago, Lee Soo-hyuk hadn't shone that brightly.
Without a doubt.
"To think he'd make use of the Archmage."
The Archmage Hielz was like the brightest moon among those radiant stars.
By appearing at her side, Lee Soo-hyuk had announced his presence. And her attention would soon draw the eyes of the entire world.
It could be coincidence.
But even if it was, the odds were high that it aligned with Lee Soo-hyuk's intentions.
"You've given me one hell of an interesting scoop."
He had no intention of just brushing past this stage.
"No matter how unpredictable, there's no way you'll take the win."
Big Mouth muttered to himself, eyes gleaming with excitement as he stared at the screen.
"What exactly are you up to?"
He had no idea what was going through the guy's head, but one thing was certain.
The Lee Soo-hyuk coin was a massive hit.
And that was when it happened.
Bzzz-.
Big Mouth's comms device on the edge of the table lit up.
The view from Red Dragon's back was a sight to behold.
The top rankers standing at the pinnacle of the tower were visible at a glance. Their gazes felt piercing and scorching hot.
Cautious scrutiny. Interest. Jealousy. Excitement...
Every kind of emotion and glare rained down on him.
His companionship with Hielz had clearly rattled them.
'I've climbed pretty high.'
He could feel anew just how far he'd risen once more.
The Grand Confrontation was a kind of turning point.
Not a perfect comeback, perhaps.
But from this day forward, the name Lee Soo-hyuk would be etched into the tower once again.
No.
He would carve it there.
"How's all the attention feel?"
Hielz looked like she was having the time of her life.
"Eh... not bad."
"You secretly enjoy this stuff?"
"That's why I stream."
"Oh, is that it?"
Ignoring her amused giggle, he scanned the surroundings.
'...They're here.'
Familiar faces caught his eye.
The ones who'd led the charge in ending Blue Eyes' legend that day.
'Hold it in.'
He suppressed his killing intent.
Hielz was right beside him. And not just her—every participant here was a top-tier player.
He couldn't afford to leak any killing intent or mana recklessly.
The silver lining was that Kim Il-su wasn't in sight. If that guy had been there too, it really would've been tough to hold back.
"The Grand Confrontation's a huge event, after all."
"......?"
Soo-hyuk turned to Hielz, who had abruptly spoken up right next to him.
She continued as if she knew exactly where his gaze had been wandering.
"Everyone'll do anything to stand out. Streams, whatever. Though some just do it for kicks, I guess."
"...Why bring that up out of nowhere?"
He gave her a puzzled look, wondering what she was getting at.
But he quickly realized what misunderstanding she'd jumped to.
"Everyone, this is huge. Right here..."
"The Archmage and Heavenly Demon finally together in one place. Tension's already off the charts!"
"Know who I have right next to me? Guys, don't freak out..."
Here and there, participants were streaming live.
Reinhardt—who was long dead now—had streamed too, it seemed. Plenty of rankers did.
She must've thought he was watching those busy streamers.
'Better let her keep thinking that.'
No need to admit he was counting heads to lop off.
"Why? You're streaming too, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Actually doing it right now."
"Huh? Already?"
Soo-hyuk had flipped on his stream the moment they arrived at the arena.
But despite the massive event of the Grand Confrontation and the huge draw of Hielz, the viewer count wasn't as high as expected.
Not even 50,000 yet.
It was climbing fast, but still roughly the same as last time. Without Hielz, it might've even dipped lower.
'Guess dispersion's inevitable.'
As Hielz had said, this time of year at the start of the Grand Confrontation saw a surge in rankers streaming.
From the viewers' perspective, who'd pick daily grinders over the once-a-year spectacle?
Plus, unlike the prelims, the main event had an official broadcast channel.
With that beast dominating the main slot, personal streams were bound to get sidelined.
As expected, the viewers' focus was squarely on Hielz.
It was only natural. If the Heavenly Demon symbolized terror, Hielz was the tower's guardian deity.
"Mind saying hi?"
"Hi? Me?"
"Yeah. You're right here—earn your keep."
"You hitched a ride on Yongyong. Why do I have to pay up?"
"Buy me food."
The chat exploded at their banter.
Every kind of message scrolled by. Soo-hyuk ignored them and waited for Hielz's greeting.
After a brief hesitation, Hielz waved awkwardly at thin air.
"Hi? Nice to meet you? Is this right...?"
Her greeting was stiff, but she kept going.
"This showing up okay? Most of you are from Earth, right? Sorry, kids. Earth's toast again this year too. But don't be too bummed. I'm probably screwed this time as well."
She was surprisingly good at this. Afterward, Hielz chattered away on her own, filling the stream effortlessly.
'Born for broadcasting.'
She handled the audio gap perfectly. She couldn't even see the chat—how did she nail the topics so well? It was uncanny.
He was starting to think she should be the one streaming when the donations rolled in.
Obvious Hielz fan username.
"Someone's asking if Hielz doesn't stream."
"They miss Hielz's magic."
"A stream? Uh... I'm kinda camera-shy. No confidence I'd do as well as streamer Lee Soo-hyuk here."
She didn't look shy at all. More than that, if she started streaming right now, she'd pull a million viewers easy.
"Sorry to disappoint, but catch my action on the official channel."
One line from her, and the chat was ready to swarm the official feed.
Of course, it was all talk—no one actually left.
"And my magic..."
Hielz's words trailed off as a message appeared in the arena sky.
The message signaling the start of the Grand Confrontation.
Red Dragon lifted its head. The event rules materialized in the sky.
As it was the first round, the rules were straightforward.
A simple battle format with no tricky conditions.
The quirky part was that opponents didn't have to be singular.
Facing multiples was tough. But to rack up high scores, you'd have to take that risk.
'Victory's either Heavenly Demon's or Archmage's anyway.'
'This is a scrap for third.'
'Even for third, gotta bank points in the first round...'
There were various strategies to climb the ranks.
First: Pick off small fry for steady points.
But get greedy, and you might get knocked out early chasing them.
Second: Early elimination of rivals weak in 1v1s.
The first was standard, but preemptively culling competition was key too.
Guilds huddled, hashing out plans—target rivals or easy marks?
The matches kicked off with last event's champion.
Participants—who'd seen this coming—tensed up from the jump.
To dodge her pick, they averted their gazes one by one.
"Hmm..."
Hielz, who'd planned to jab at some random nobody, hesitated.
Normally, she'd point at some unfamiliar face in the crowd.
But her mood was different this time.
"Magic... you wanna see?"
Her musing dripped with deliberation.
Even as the event began, she was still mindful of Soo-hyuk's stream.
Soon, her hand extended forward.
Swipe-.
"Then from here."
Swipe-.
She gestured loosely.
"To here."
Casually sweeping over hundreds of visible participants, Hielz flashed a brilliant smile.
"If I'm showing it off, might as well go big."
In that moment, she was more committed to the stream than Soo-hyuk himself.