119. Why Am I Upset?
119. Why Am I Upset?
***
- August 13. Stream day, partner streamer application results announcement.
- August 14. Weekend break.
- August 15. Date with Seoyun.
- August 16. G1 scrim.
- August 17. G1 scrim.
......
Serin, who had been organizing her upcoming schedule and briefly reviewing the major dates once more, muttered blankly.
"...Once I get through tomorrow's stream, I'll finally have a little breathing room."
With that, she leaned back and sank into the plush chair.
Before ending today's stream, she had made it clear to her viewers that she would be taking weekends off starting this week.
Streaming seven days a week was absurd to begin with.
At first, the viewers seemed to push back when I said I'd rest on weekends, but when I held my ground, they came back with a compromise, asking if I could at least stream six days a week.
And my answer to that was...
"Not a chance."
I refused, obviously.
Sua had told me that when it came to days off, it was better to set them generously from the start rather than gradually increasing them later.
And what era was this, anyway?
2031. These days, a five-day workweek and weekend rest were common sense for working people.
In a world like this, I had no desire to pile more work on myself.
Letting go a little and adapting to this world at a relaxed pace was my biggest goal.
Streaming itself was definitely fun, but aside from the effort of preparing for a stream every single day, I simply didn't have enough time to rest.
So I figured taking weekends off properly from now on was the right call.
—Charlemagne's captain, Roland, chose the opener position in the gauntlet match, didn't he?
—Yes, that's right. It's likely he chose the opener to build momentum, but we won't know until we see how it plays out.
The sound coming through was ACK commentary.
What was on screen was talk about the ACK League.
During the short break between the end of my stream and falling asleep, I had been browsing tweetie channels.
The ACK League was airing live, so I naturally ended up watching.
The pro matches I'd watched together with my viewers on stream last time had been pretty entertaining.
And as I watched ACK, a familiar team appeared.
G1.
Maybe all the matches were crammed into the end of the season, because G1 happened to have a match today as well.
The match currently unfolding was between two teams: G1 and the Knights of Charlemagne.
"...Tied?"
I'd started watching midway through, so I didn't know exactly how the match had unfolded, but I knew G1 was supposed to be a strong team.
Yet for some reason, G1 was tied 1:1 against a team called Charlemagne.
As a result, they were playing a third deciding gauntlet match.
"What the... Is G1 actually a weak team?"
They were currently second in the league, so I found it a little surprising that they had gone to a third set against seventh-place Charlemagne.
And so the first set of the gauntlet match began.
When Roland, Charlemagne's opener, defeated Jinhyeok, the Warrior Class player sent out as G1's opener, the arena heated up even more.
—Roland of Charlemagne is absolutely overwhelming! He's showing his true worth as a melee specialist and has taken down G1's opener in spectacular fashion!!
—Incredible. Charlemagne is really showing their strength against G1 right now!
Listening to the commentary, I let out a small laugh without realizing it.
"No, seriously... how is a player's name actually Roland?"
The more I heard the commentators shout the name Roland, the more old memories surfaced.
In the world of Black Ark, the name Roland referred to someone quite memorable.
The name Roland itself originally came from a knight in a famous French legend, didn't it? I thought it was probably being used with that in mind.
But the Roland in the world of Black Ark meant something quite different by comparison.
He was misfortune incarnate—a character who symbolized tragedy, someone who could never reach the end he sought no matter how hard he tried.
Though he was a fairly popular character as one who never bent his convictions. A character whose tragic death was predetermined no matter which choice you picked in the main story.
He was distinctive enough that his was one of the names I still remembered.
—Watching Roland's desperate fight, even we feel our hearts burning!
Hearing the commentators cheer and praise that Roland, I even felt a subtle sense of dissonance.
'Still... if he's a pro player, his life is a success in itself, so it's not a tragedy.'
I was laughing softly and thinking that when—
—It's a shame that Charlemagne is facing playoff elimination right now, but even so, showing such a dazzling performance against a strong team like G1 is itself a fine finish to the season, isn't it?
—That's right. It's no different from giving a final gift to the fans who have cheered for Charlemagne all along. And this year, Worlds is even more important!
—The chance for the Worlds qualifier still remains, doesn't it?
"...If they're eliminated from playoffs, I guess that's a bit tragic?"
Listening to the commentary, it seemed Charlemagne's season had ended on a rather disappointing note, and even that felt strangely fitting to me.
It was as if the two tags of misfortune and tragedy were subtly attached to the name Roland.
—Indeed. The fans who always cheer for Charlemagne have shown even more passionate support, haven't they!? If Charlemagne manages to beat G1 today, they could really raise fans' expectations sky-high in the final match of the season!
—Ah, but G1's second player is Minha, who excels at long-range sniping. Doesn't Minha boast an overwhelming record against knights?
—Yes... that's right. Minha showed a disappointing performance against Baekya last time and faltered, but still boasts an overwhelming win rate of nearly 80% against the Knight Class... so Roland is expected to have a hard time.
Listening to the continuing commentary, I naturally pictured Roland's defeat.
......
—BANG!!
A gunshot so massive it seemed to shake the entire Colosseum.
Fire erupted from the muzzle of the enormous sniper rifle, and the bullet carved a single massive black trajectory across the Colosseum.
The knight was struck directly by a sniper round tracing a chilling path and hurled violently backward.
Thud!
At the end of it, he slammed into a huge boulder and tumbled helplessly.
But even then, the knight got back up without letting go of his sword and desperately tried to close in. Each time, fire burst from the massive sniper rifle, followed by unerring shots far beyond ordinary precision.
"...Is this even a game?"
Watching the match, I couldn't help but grumble.
The match was so one-sided it felt like it couldn't demonstrate any more clearly what a counter matchup truly was.
Roland's movement skill on screen was extremely linear, but his movement itself wasn't bad. If anything, he was so polished that I found myself wondering how much practice it took to move that naturally. Even so... his movements were completely readable even to me just watching.
"He's too honest... and on top of that, the matchup is seriously ridiculous."
Moreover, the matchup was so extreme that it made me think there was a reason pro matches had rules about player picks.
I even wondered whether I could break through that sniper barrage and close the distance if I were playing as Roland myself.
BANG!!
Once again, the massive sniper rifle spat fire, and at the same time, another black trajectory streaked across the Colosseum.
CLANG!!
Roland tried to parry against the sniper's trajectory to keep from being pushed back, but even those attempts failed time and time again.
From the failed parries, Roland's hand was flung high into the air as if it would be torn away, and the more he tried to block the shots, the more his body kept being pushed backward as if floating.
And that didn't just mean a failed ranged parry.
Every shot streaking out along those black trajectories seemed to be a skill.
—A truly suffocating sniper barrage. Minha is overwhelming her opponent!!
—There's a reason Minha is called the knight's nightmare. Although Minha is considered weak in melee combat, most players can't even get close...
Amid the continuing commentary.
The match kept repeating the same pattern.
Whenever the black-trajectory sniping continued, the knight Roland tried to block or evade it, and while he did manage to block and dodge a few times, in the end he was helplessly beaten down.
Thud!
Once again, the knight Roland was sent flying powerlessly by the sniper rifle and slammed into a huge boulder.
"..."
Even knowing I was watching a match, the more I watched, the more brutal it felt.
Before long, Roland's armor was dented all over and pierced in places. He raised his sword and kept leaping forward to close the distance somehow, his eyes still burning with fighting spirit.
His approach was so straightforward it looked almost foolish, and for some reason my gaze kept going to him.
BANG!!
But every time, the black trajectory of light cut off his approach completely, as if predicting the knight's movement. It looked like a sniper deliberately hunting a medieval knight.
No matter how famous a knight, no matter how skilled, closing in on a sniper in a space like that Colosseum was practically impossible.
And finally, the result came.
BANG!!
Roland's head was pierced by a shot fired from a bizarre angle. The knight collapsed futilely, and with that, he turned into light and vanished.
—Ah. A shame for Roland.
—It was an expected result, but truly incredible! Unerring sniper fire that leaves not even the slightest opening!
—If even one of Minha's shots had missed, or if Roland's parry had succeeded... he might have closed the distance.
—Actually, isn't all of that based on Minha's meticulousness in adjusting the gap between shots and arranging her skills so that parrying itself isn't allowed?
Listening to the continuing commentary, I let out a sigh without realizing it and found myself looking at the female player holding the sniper rifle.
A beauty in an all-black special suit, stylishly lifting the massive sniper rifle onto her shoulder, looked at the screen as if savoring her victory and gave a small wink and smile.
For some reason, I really didn't like that sight.
"Why. Am I in a bad mood...?"