Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Gong
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"Since Team Leader Soira has emerged victorious, Team Ugesal will have the right to choose the map first. Any objections to that?"
["None."] "Very well. Team Ugesal, please select your map. You have 30 seconds, and after selection, there'll be another 30 seconds of prep time before we kick off the first set."
["Got it!"] Thanks to a string of no-updates, Ias had long since lost the players' trust.
They'd promised a massive winter break update and gone live to announce it, but all they got in return were cold stares asking, "And what have you been doing until then?"
To weather that lean period, they'd ambitiously rolled out this PVP tournament: Ias: Immortal Battlefield.
GM Rio—one of the operators handling the event and otherwise known as Kang Bada—was bone-deep exhausted.
What was supposed to be a small-scale affair like last year had ballooned way beyond expectations on orders from above.
Participants, budget, schedule—all three times what they'd originally planned.
Naturally, the workload for the ops team carrying it all had tripled as well.
And with the players' opinion of the Ias team at an all-time low to boot.
One slip in professionalism here, and the entire community would erupt in hours.
Ding.
"Hoo..."
She muted her mic and let out a heavy sigh, checking the two teams under her watch.
'Nice Squad...'
The team that had submitted a famous in-game meme as their name was one the organizers were keeping a close eye on.
Because one of Ias's top streamers, Suha Yam, was on it.
Even folks with zero interest in PVP or Ias would tune in once a broadcaster got involved.
For the tournament's success, streamers like Suha Yam needed to push at least to the finals.
Not that she'd ever compromise fairness for it, of course.
"...Can't take it anymore."
While Team Ugesal picked their map, Kang Bada rummaged through the cigarette pack tossed haphazardly on her desk.
She pulled one out, lit it.
Tsss—
The brief flame flickered across her face, soon shrouded in acrid smoke.
Inhaling, she savored the nicotine flooding her lungs and felt a fleeting peace.
Impossible in the office, but the tournament staff had been granted work-from-home privileges.
Not that she was grateful, slaving away on a weekend and all.
"Ha... Fuck, why can't they just quit on PVP already?"
Hold a massive PVP tourney to distract players while prepping the big update.
The intent sounded noble enough, but Kang Bada seethed at the petty ambitions lurking beneath from the higher-ups.
"Like this is gonna revive PVP."
The execs seemed to think this event would spark a PVP renaissance in Ias.
She got it—they'd sunk tons of dev time into it and hated to let it rot.
But,
"Why would RPG players even touch PVP?"
Considering Ias players' preferences, it was a glaring miscalculation.
They couldn't care less about PVP; all they wanted were new raids and story content.
Kang Bada, one of the devs suffering under their blunders,
burned with inexpressible rage at the execs repeating the same mistakes—
"Tsk... Hoo..."
But the sharp nicotine sting in her lungs finally calmed her.
"Hoo... Whatever. I'm just here for the paycheck."
Yeah. She was a wage slave, nothing more.
Let them screw up and tank the game. Rack up experience, jump ship. Done.
[Soira: We'll go with Gregory's Ghost Island!] Couldn't even catch a proper break, and already 30 seconds gone.
"Hoo..."
Kang Bada stubbed out the butt in the ashtray and unmuted with a weary sigh.
"With Team Leader Soira's selection, the map for the first set is confirmed as 'Gregory's Ghost Island.' Both teams, get ready. Prep time: 30 seconds!"
Finishing up, she straightened in her chair and watched the teams prep skills and gear.
Preliminaries were fully online, so rooting out cheats fell to her eyes alone on monitor duty.
Any incident here became her fault, so tension was key.
That's when—
"What the... this player..."
One competitor's movements snagged her gaze.
[Daipal Meraridin: Paladin/Shield]
[Evorini: Warrior/One-Handed Sword]
[Soira: Assassin/Daggers]
[Eder: Warrior/Greatsword]
[Suha Yam: Saintess/Holy Book]
Most had solosuitable weapons and skills fitting the 'Ghost Island' battlefield—
[Saintess Nice: Saintess/Gong]
Except one, gearing up like she was about to start a one-woman folk band.
"A gong...?"
Is she insane?
ㅡㅡㅡㅡ
["With Team Leader Soira's selection, the map for the first set is confirmed as 'Gregory's Ghost Island.' Both teams, get ready. Prep time: 30 seconds!"] 💬 Live Chat — Viewer Ghost Island? — Viewer Isn't this the super boring ops map? — Viewer Wanted to see some fights, but Ghost Island... PVP annihilation matches.
To elevate it as a core feature, Ias had tried countless tweaks.
One outcome: diverse battlefields and win conditions.
Gregory's Ghost Island was the most experimental of the bunch.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Thick fog rolls in, revealing a hidden island. Gregory's Ghost Island—Ghost Island for short—had a unique win condition.
Unlike standard fields where you wiped the enemy team,
Ghost Island emphasized survival over straight combat: first team to escape wins.
Blanketing fog crippled visibility.
Ghosts drifting in the mist attacked anything alive or dead on sight.
The goal wasn't simple team kills.
Scour the island for relic fragments, offer them at altars to lift the curse's seal.
That was the sole escape—and victory.
A poor matchup for our combat-heavy squad led by me and Eder bro.
["Good call prepping for this, right?"] ["Yeah, figured they'd pick something like this against us."] Too bad for the enemy: we'd prepped Ghost Island already.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer For real? — Viewer Didn't they practice this on stream? — Viewer Private scrims, looks like? — Viewer Makes sense, streams would leak strats. We'd scrimmed Ghost Island privately, so no leaks to the enemy.
["Nicey, you're on 'Search,' right?"] "Yeah."
True to its quirks, Ghost Island demanded unique approaches.
Key: defined roles.
'Search' hunted ruins for relic fragments.
'Guardian' found and held altars.
Those two roles were the meta for clearing.
No altar, no escape—even with all fragments.
Fragments without an altar? Useless.
Perfect 'Search'-'Guardian' synergy was victory's core.
Ours: me solo Search, Eder bro and Suha on Guard. 1 Search, 2 Guard.
My speed at snagging fragments decided the match.
A heavy responsibility indeed.
[Saintess Nice: Saintess/Gong]
Feeling that weight in my bones, I drew the brass gong and striker from my inventory.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer This crazy bitch pulling out instruments again lololol — Viewer Why tf is her weapon always like this? — Viewer Dude this is an official tourney — Viewer Her weapon's glitched or something A quick peek at chat showed viewers griping about my weapon.
They figured it was another tambourine-level eccentricity.
But this? Pure strategy.
"Heh."
Anyway, opinions would flip by match end.
Twists hit hardest—and dopamine peaks—when unexpected.
So let 'em be for now.
Call me crazy all they want; they'd be fans by the end.
["Alright, let's go!"] ["Fighting!"] 💬 Live Chat — Viewer hg — Viewer Let's go~ — Viewer Her fault PVP instrument users are gonna spike again — Viewer AH prices for tambourines skyrocketed lol ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 3... 2... 1... We pray for your survival on this cursed isle. Prep over, thick fog swallowed my view.
My solo character on an unfamiliar shore, shrouded in dense mist.
Suha and Eder bro faintly visible beyond, but I didn't head their way.
Ghost Island favored scattering for fragments and altars over grouping.
[Haat!]
[Yaap!]
Half my 8 skill slots were mobility skills.
On this foggy rock, I was the fastest mover.
"Found it."
Less than 30 seconds in, target acquired.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer How's she this fast already — Viewer Girl filled her skill bar with nothing but moves — Viewer This is true 'Search' fr — Viewer Shaman already? Not a fragment or altar, but a suspicious figure in black hide.
Looked like a regular ghost, but this was one of Ghost Island's key NPCs.
[???: Soul fragment...]
Occasional wandering ghosts you kill for soul shards—their currency.
Shop NPC: buff allies via 'Blessings' or debuff foes with 'Curses.'
A game-changer depending on use—the Joker of Ghost Island.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer But u broke af rn Chat had a point: zero soul shards to spend.
Blasted past every ghost so far.
Reached the shaman quick, but empty-handed.
Eh, just farm some?
Brass gong and striker in hand.
This would do.
Chaaang!
Piercing metallic clamor cutting the fog.
Chaang! Chaang! Chaang! CHAAANG!!!
"Ghosts!!!! I'm right here!!!!"
Hear it once? Annoying.
Multiple times?
💬 Live Chat — Viewer ㅁㅊㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ — Viewer Ohhh that's why the gong — Viewer Aggro strat S-tier — Viewer But won't enemies hear too? — Viewer Ghost horde incoming —Even ghosts couldn't endure what Joseon kings banned.
A gong isn't music.
It's a protest tool, forcing communication.
CHAAANG!