Streaming (2)
Seven viewers. That's not just the four of us aside from the Student — that number includes Zeus, Athena, and Apollo too.
— Viewers: 7 / Chat has begun.
1:oh they look like they're gonna bail, let's block 'em
Just then, a viewer with the nickname 1 typed a message into the chat window.
The instant that text appeared, the middle-aged woman screamed and twisted her body.
"Wh-what is this force?!"
Exactly as the chat text read, some kind of power had manifested to obstruct the woman's retreat. Just as Jang Siwoon had once been pinned in place by my hand, the middle-aged woman writhed helplessly, unable to move an inch.
"It must be a perk that grants a random support effect every turn, based on the chat window's advice."
As I swiftly deduced the Student's perk, Jang Siwoon stared at me with bewildered eyes, clearly not following.
"But Jisan. If it's random, there's no guarantee the Student will get the option he actually wants, right?"
"It's a perk tied to game YouTubers. So the advice itself will be specialized in gaming strategy."
The backseat commentary of viewers watching a game streamer play is bound to be sharper than anything a layman could offer. If that advice was being fed directly into his perk... then the support effects became that much more potent.
He counts his viewers, which means he can draw on advice from however many people are watching the Student.
Now I understood why the Student had been so eager to play before I did.
Granted, avoiding the final round for the sake of survival had played its part as well. But with a perk this advantageous in a team battle, he would have wanted to trigger Live Streaming while as many of his teammates as possible were still alive.
"By the way. If a message ever pops up in that chat telling him to kill someone, doesn't that just end it all?"
"Hmm. I'd assume there's some balance adjustment or penalty in place."
"Jisan."
Even after all her questions were answered, Jang Siwoon still wore a sour expression. Her complexion wasn't good at all — she was evidently feeling the same unease I was.
"I know it's a great perk. But something about it makes me nervous."
Everything was clearly flowing in our favor — so why did I feel so unsettled?
— Viewers: 7 / Chat has begun.
1:oh they look like they're gonna bail, let's block 'em
2:couldn't you just use a skill tho?
3:saving apollo's skill so you can serve it with soup?
4:is the event card just for show too
Special Card Deployed!
A support effect powerful enough to break the rules?
Under the quest rules, a special ability or special card could only be obtained by solving riddles. The Student's perk had unraveled and burrowed straight into that very system. In anything other than a team battle it would be a liability, but the payoff was clearly tremendous.
"According to your thinking, uncle, immediate elimination is forbidden. In exchange, useful advice pours in nonstop."
Apparently he'd been listening to every word of our murmuring, because the Student offered me a supplementary explanation of his perk. And then, following the chat window's advice, a special card was played.
Shffl—
Restores the soldiers' strength with beautiful music and fortifies the Trojan army's defense.
"My stamina recovered right along with it."
"It does say 'the soldiers,' after all."
Jang Siwoon stared blankly at her leaflet as it announced the rise in her vitality. The Student, whose health was still completely full, clicked his tongue openly, evidently regretting the special card.
Whether Jang Siwoon's health rose or fell after finishing the first round, it made no difference to the Student.
"With the special card down, I shall now sweep away the Greek army with the blazing power of the sun!"
"AAAAHH!!"
This time, Apollo's special ability activated. The sun god drew back a bowstring shimmering with sunlight and loosed the arrow at the middle-aged woman. It flew swift and true, burying itself in her body.
Just like when the Greek team's young man had been struck by Set's scythe, no blood flowed — but the damage was clearly immense.
Zzzt—
"Whoa, that dropped fast."
Two blocks gone in a single blow — the Student let out a small gasp of admiration. He was spectating the situation with cool-headed plays, as though he really were running a PC game. Even though a real, living visitor was one hit away from becoming a component, he seemed to feel far less shock than the rest of us.
Jang Siwoon, still visibly uneasy, shouted advice at him anyway.
"Student, careful! They're going to use Athena's basic ability next!"
"From what I saw earlier, her basic ability is nothing a perk can't carry me through — and I've still got three pieces of advice left."
Having apparently judged that he no longer needed anything beyond the backseat wisdom of Live Streaming, the Student brushed off Jang Siwoon's warning without a second thought.
"When you can see the win condition, you've gotta pump the damage in right away."
He waited, letting Apollo's assault continue unbroken. And just as he wished, Apollo fired arrow after arrow without pause. The woman, shrieking beneath the pain of the barrage, curled in on herself and cried out to Athena for salvation.
"Lady Athena!"
"I do not tolerate ignorance, mortal. I shall grant you wisdom as well."
Now was the moment Athena would invoke her own basic ability — the wisdom of Athena, which pierces all secrets. She tapped her helmet twice with a fingertip, her mind whirring behind it.
"Trojan army — reveal all your secrets."
As Athena's clear voice rang out, fresh text poured rapidly into the Student's chat window.
— Viewers: 7 / Chat has begun.
1:oh they look like they're gonna bail, let's block 'em
2:couldn't you just use a skill tho?
3:saving apollo's skill so you can serve it with soup?
4:is the event card just for show too
5:DA-POLLO DA-POLLO
6:done? we got him?
7:gg
An ability that reveals every support effect before it's ever been triggered.
"Tch, my advice got leaked. Not that it can be stopped, of course."
Even clicking his tongue, the Student showed no cracks in his composure. It didn't matter — the exposure of his support effects wasn't the same as an actual attack landing.
Zzzt—
Apollo's arrow pierced clean through the woman's body. Along with the arrow, another block of her ink simply evaporated.
The middle-aged woman, who had been moaning in agony, finally gathered herself and rose to her feet. Standing unsteadily, barely upright, she hardly seemed to have any fight left in her.
"Student, why do you think it can't be stopped? You're dismissing me because I'm old, I see. Your perk isn't the only perk in this game."
"?"
The moment the woman's words began to feel distinctly off — before the Student could even ask what she meant — she cried out her perk with every ounce of strength she had.
"Perk — Soprano, activate!"
Soprano? Someone with a singing ability, like Go Gyumin?
Shffl—
- Launches a vibrational shockwave
Inflicts confusion upon the enemy's skill.
Allies are also partially affected by the vibration.
"Aaaaah—"
The middle-aged woman spread her arms wide and poured out her rich, resonant voice. It was a tone you could feel vibrating in your chest — a deep, resonating instrument. It was classical vocal music. Everyone was overwhelmed by the staggering vocal power laced with vibrato.
"Ugh, what the hell?!"
Startled, the Student clamped both hands over his ears. The woman's timbre was achingly beautiful. But as befit a perk, the wave rolling off that song was a weapon.
"Uuurgh—"
Exactly as the perk's description warned, the Greek team's middle-aged man retched violently, caught in the same vibration as their foes.
Her own teammate's health had even dropped by a block. But now was no time to be checking on the opposing team.
Inflicts confusion on the enemy, it says.
The Student was in danger.
"That's what you get, Student. I'm just a poor old thing — I agonized over whether I could really bring myself to use this."
"?!!"
"But what was I supposed to do when you came at me swinging? I want to live too, you know."
The middle-aged woman paused her song for a moment and clicked her tongue at the Student as if in regret. In the eyes of the woman facing him down — even as she fought an enemy — there was a flicker of confusion, of pity for a mere child. But just as I had abandoned my goodwill, everyone inside this tower moved for their own sake alone.
"It's not as though you'll die, anyway. You can go on living as a component, can't you?"
"What the—"
The Student, unable to make sense of her words, had just opened his mouth to object when—
— Viewers: 7 / Chat has begun.
1:oh they look like they're gonna bail, let's block 'em
2:couldn't you just use a skill tho?
3:saving athena's skill so you can serve it with soup?
4:is the event card just for show too
5:DA-THENA DA-THENA
6:done? we got her?
7:gg
The contents of the chat had changed in an eerie way.
...As if the game streamer had been swapped out for the middle-aged woman.
"The goddess's spear has turned to aim at you, Trojan army."
"Wh-what?!"
Apollo lowered his drawn arrow, turned around, and looked back at the Student. Struck by a terrible premonition, the Student stammered and stumbled backward. And at that moment, Athena hurled her spear at him.
"AAAAHH—!!"
The spear struck the Student, and one block of his ink faded. As before, no wound opened on his body — but the pain was unmistakably real, and he shrieked all the same.
Jang Siwoon stamped her feet and grabbed hold of me.
"Confusion! The victim of the skill must have gotten swapped!! What do we do, Jisan?!"
"I'm sorry to say... he's used up every ability he has. Perks included."
"......"
Even if I harbored doubts about the Student, I had no wish to see him erased. He was my teammate — and he was the Student. I wanted him to survive. No matter how hard I racked my brain, no answer came. With every ability spent, was there any way for him to hold off Athena on nothing but his own physical strength?
...There wasn't.
Still, I wish he'd at least tried to bargain with the god to the very end — or even fought back with his bare fists.
But asking the Student to pin his hopes on a battle with no chance of winning felt cruel, so I couldn't bring myself to say it.
It's similar to Siwoon's perk, yet different.
In that the middle-aged woman possessed a power capable of reflecting, her perk resembled Jang Siwoon's. But unlike Siwoon, she never bore the damage herself. Instead, since the victim of the skill was swapped, it was a gambler's perk that only showed its true force when the visitor facing her was overwhelming.
Zzzt—
Zzzt—
Zzzt—
The Student had given up. All his drive drained away, he slumped where he stood. His chat window vanished, and now only a single block of ink remained to him.
Apollo, on the verge of vanishing alongside the Student, seized him by the wrist. True to his nature as the god of the sun, Apollo's body dissolved, and a brilliant light spilled out from him.
"I shall lead you into the world of light."
"...Fucking hell. Fucked around and got fucked."
The Student muttered one last, bitter curse. Sunlight swallowed the bodies of the Student and Apollo alike and flashed. And just as the Greek team's man had sunk into the earth, the Student, too, vanished into the light.
"The second war has ended."
The moment the Student and Apollo were erased, Zeus's voice thundered through the arena.
"The victor is Athena of the Greek army!"