126. G1 vs Rin - A Brief Rest (5)
126. G1 vs Rin - A Brief Rest (5)
***
Minseong was just rising from the stands, his face full of anticipation.
Before he could, Kang Hyeok spoke up.
"Why don't we take a short break and then continue?"
Kang Hyeok's intense voice rang out broadly.
He had switched his voice channel from general to the entire Colosseum, so his voice was now echoing throughout the whole arena. Kang Hyeok had opened his mouth with that very intention.
"...?"
Minseong, halfway to his feet, shot Kang Hyeok a look that seemed to ask why all of a sudden. But even under that gaze, Kang Hyeok gave a small shake of his head.
"We each only duel twice, but Rin is doing all ten duel scrims by herself. Now that I think about it, having her do five matches before a break doesn't seem right."
Ten duels, and not a single one against the same opponent. Every match was a different player.
From weapon types to classes. Even individual tendencies and skill levels—everything was different.
The accumulated fatigue would obviously be on a completely different level.
Kang Hyeok's thinking was that taking a short break every two matches would be better in many ways.
"...Well, that's true, but."
Minseong answered hesitantly, but he couldn't help feeling regret that the break had come right at his turn. He had been burning with fighting spirit while watching the match just before.
The Rin that Minseong had been watching was... in a word, truly strong.
So strong it was hard to believe.
Her appearance was as beautiful as it had been on screen, and every movement was so natural that even the smallest gesture or light tone of voice kept drawing his eyes for no reason.
Watching her duel felt like watching a work of art the entire time.
She was composed in every situation, and whenever Rin made a variety of expressions as if enjoying herself, he found himself staring blankly without realizing it.
'Seriously... no wonder she has so many fans.'
Minseong, who watched internet broadcasts fairly often, naturally understood why people donated to her stream.
Whoosh!
Rin passed through the outer ring and launched herself toward the stands.
"Shall we rest for about ten minutes, then?"
She spoke lightly, and Kang Hyeok nodded, turning to look at the other players.
At his gaze, everyone gave small nods as if they understood.
"Yes, let's rest for about ten minutes and then continue."
"Sure. Then."
Serin answered and slowly moved to one side of the stands.
Minseong stared blankly at Rin's figure.
Seeing her up close, she was pretty all over again.
'Is it really okay for a character to be this pretty?'
"Minseong. You're going to bore a hole through her."
Minha muttered, looking at Minseong as if she couldn't believe him.
Minseong awkwardly averted his gaze and laughed quietly.
"No... well, seeing her in person, I can't help that my eyes keep going to her. What am I supposed to do?"
"Well, who said you can't look? I'm saying this because you're staring so intensely it's uncomfortable. And people do feel those gazes even if they don't show it. You think Rin, who you like so much, would be any different?"
"Minha, seriously... really?"
"Yes. Just because she's a character doesn't mean she doesn't get embarrassed. Minseong, you... you have a girlfriend, so why are you talking like you don't know anything?"
"No, well... I don't normally look at people like this. It's just because Rin is so special."
"Yeah, yeah... Rin. She is pretty."
Minha shook her head and then glanced at the other players one by one.
They all differed only in degree. Honestly, they were similar to Minseong.
They were giving her looks without realizing it, and to Minha's eyes, it was clearly excessive enough to make the person receiving those looks feel burdened.
She didn't particularly like Rin at the moment, but even so, Minha didn't think the other players' behavior looked good.
Minha looked at Rin, who was seated off to one side of the stands, then slowly walked over, her lips moving slightly.
"Are you all just going to stay here?"
She didn't forget to warn the other players either.
"Minha. We all know without you saying it."
Kang Hyeok chuckled and flexed his hands lightly.
"Ah, then at least go ask her how the match just now was. Get her thoughts or something."
Jinhyeok smiled a little awkwardly as he said that.
Right after his loss in the second match, Jinhyeok had been feeling strange.
It was no different from a crushing defeat, but still, he had felt something small from that match.
And he was also curious about Rin's thoughts...
"Hey, Jinhyeok, why are you talking about that during break? Ask her yourself after the scrims are over."
Minha shot down Jinhyeok's words as if they were ridiculous and walked off.
"Is it a bit much...?"
Jinhyeok nodded as if wondering if she was right, but his mind was busy replaying the second match from moments ago.
Click. Click.
Minha's footsteps echoed out.
......
Minseong watched Minha walk over to Rin, then turned his head toward Kang Hyeok and Hajun and asked in an excited voice.
"Rin really has star quality, doesn’t she? Guys! Did you guys feel that aura from Rin too?"
He was so curious whether it was just him feeling this excited or if everyone else felt the same.
Everyone must have felt something seeing Rin.
"Well... she is a bit unusual. She probably does have star quality. I mean, with looks like that, what wouldn't make her famous?"
Kang Hyeok gave a faint nod in agreement.
Seeing Rin's character customization up close like this, his eyes had drifted to her without him even realizing it.
It was surprising that his gaze kept going to her even knowing she was a character.
Rin overflowed with presence that much, drawing the eye.
"Her play style and her appearance... she definitely has star quality. Rin, do you have any thoughts about going pro? With skills like that, she could really pick and choose from most teams."
Hajun chuckled as he chimed in. Minseong shook his head.
"I heard Siwoo subtly sounded her out about it, and she turned him down flat."
"...That figures."
Kang Hyeok nodded as if he understood, and Hajun thought it made sense.
"Well, they say Rin's making a fortune as a streamer these days. No need to go looking for hardship."
The stress of being a pro player was greater than people imagined, so Hajun could understand Rin.
No matter how outstanding her skills were, there was no need to choose the pro path.
If she could make money relatively comfortably, honestly, what could be better than that?
Minseong nodded vigorously at Hajun's words.
"No, seriously, Rin really is making a fortune. Lately her average donation amount per stream is basically in the millions of won. Just looking at the donation scale, it's nothing to envy compared to most pros."
Kang Hyeok chuckled at Minseong's enthusiastic tone.
"Minseong... how do you know so much about streamers and stuff?"
At Kang Hyeok's words, Minseong answered with utter confidence.
"Me? I'm a true Rin fan. This much is basic."
"Look at this guy bragging."
"A hardcore fan has arrived, seriously."
Hajun and Jinhyeok burst out laughing at Minseong as if they couldn't believe him.
"Well. Everyone's going to become a Rin fan before long anyway, so really... just wait and see."
Minseong answered in a playful tone, acting all smug as he looked at them.
***
"Hoo..."
Serin, seated at a reasonable spot in the stands not far from the G1 players, let out a small sigh.
She had only played two matches, but she already felt a faint fatigue.
A feeling of tiring faster than usual.
Probably because she had prepared strategies tailored to each G1 player and had to think about a lot of things in the moment.
She idly wondered if her condition would be normal by the time she got to the ninth and tenth matches.
'...It's fun, but I get tired fast.'
Click.
Lost in thought, she turned her head at the sound.
"Rin...? It’s... nothing much. I just came to rest a bit, girl to girl. Is that okay?"
'Girl to girl...'
That comment from Minha made her laugh involuntarily.
She had laughed because it was absurd, but Minha must have taken it some other way, because she quickly spoke up.
"Ah, if... if it makes you uncomfortable, Rin."
Minha spoke cautiously, and only then did I belatedly answer.
"No. It's fine."
As I said that, I glanced at the seat right next to me. As if telling her to sit there.
Sliding softly.
At my gaze, the woman carefully took the seat beside me.
Honestly, I had wondered if I had gone a bit overboard showing my skills in the first match. I still had no intention of holding back, but there was such a thing as moderation. I did feel a little regret about having been so aggressive against Minha.
Maybe the memory of all-killing Charlemagne's melee classes while toying with them last time had lingered, and I had done it without thinking.
On top of that, I clearly remembered Minha treating me coldly, so I was curious about Minha suddenly approaching me so casually like this.
Usually, after getting beaten that badly, people didn't try to approach. But this woman was coming right up to me.
When I stared at Minha out of curiosity, Minha suddenly frowned slightly and spoke calmly.
"Really... Rin, if the way the guys are looking at you bothers you or anything, please tell me anytime. I'll give them a serious warning."
Looks, she said.
Was she talking about how the players had been looking at my face?
"No, it's not like their looks bother me. It's just a game, isn't it?"
In the game, my mind felt much lighter, so I didn't really feel anything about those gazes.
I just thought, oh, someone's looking at me again. That was all.
Reality and the game were clearly different.
"That's true, but... watching from the side, it just made me feel bad for no reason."
At that, I found myself looking at Minha again.
Didn't you... dislike me?