Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Time to Settle the Karmic Debt
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Usually, official pro leagues for games are hosted by the developers themselves.
They line up players from all over the world, of various nationalities, to determine the strongest.
However, Triachia's pro league has a rather unique vibe.
The residents of this hellish peninsula love Triachia so much that whenever the official pro league rolls around, over 90% of the main tournament qualifiers are Korean.
In fact, foreigners making it to the top four is so rare you could count them on one hand.
That's why Triachia gets called a Korean folk game.
That dubious honor eventually became a thing of the past.
It wasn't that players worldwide leveled up and pushed Koreans out.
The official pro league just up and vanished.
There are various reasons for that.
Other games popping up one after another and cooling interest played a part...
And it's deeply tied to the 'match-fixing' scandal that makes every Triachia player seize up just hearing about it.
After official matches disappeared.
Pro teams sponsored by corporations folded one after another.
Thus, the culture of pro gamers signing contracts and belonging to teams completely died out.
Long ago, back when the official league still existed, pro gamers who played in team uniforms.
They're what Triachia players commonly call the '1st generation pro gamers.'
And the fall of the 1st generation signaled the rise of the 2nd.
No matter how half-dead the game got, Koreans' love for Triachia wasn't going anywhere.
SOFT, a homegrown Korean giant in internet broadcasting, responded to the pleas of old Triachia fans by hosting an event league.
It unexpectedly blew up big, turning from a one-off into a seasonal event held regularly.
That was the birth of the STL.
Now that pro leagues are completely gone.
Among credible tournaments, STL holds overwhelming prestige.
The players who made their mark on the main stage of this new era are the 2nd generation pro gamers.
SOFT's 'pro gamer streamer' certification is basically based on STL performance too.
"And STL just wrapped up..."
The problem is STL runs every six months.
To make a proper pro debut, you'd have to wait half a year.
Does that mean getting pro certified is impossible?
Not at all.
There are plenty of mid-sized leagues hosted by smaller sponsors, though they lack a bit of authority.
And if you make it to the finals in those, you'd get recognized as a pro gamer.
One thing not to misunderstand.
Mid-sized doesn't mean low competition at all.
It's just called that because the prize money is way smaller than STL's...
Most current pros, except the absolute top tiers, enter every tournament like bounty hunters.
Conveniently, there was a tournament with preliminaries closing in less than a week.
Competition would be fierce as always.
But only the runner-up and winner get pro status.
Harsh conditions, but it still seemed viable.
Because STL winner Kang Jun-oh and runner-up Im Chan-ho probably wouldn't enter.
"If luck's on my side, it feels doable... but there are a few hitches."
Time to borrow nicotine's power once more and coldly weigh the pros and cons.
Assuming I safely make it to the main tournament...
They'd do a detailed interview on me, the newbie debuting in an official match.
Q. What's your motivation for entering?
A. To reach the finals and eat 10% off Inbang fees.
Hmm.
Whether to answer honestly might need more thought.
And the next issue.
Obviously, from the main tournament on, you have to show up in person, so face reveal is mandatory.
Exposing personal info is a big problem too, right?
At this point, I get that I've fully become the unshakeable 'Yoo Seo-ha,'
but I haven't decided yet if streaming will be my career.
If I go full pro gamer, there's no backing out anymore.
My face would be out there.
Now, the upsides.
Obviously, revenue from streaming goes up.
That's something I'd feel tangibly, so it weighs heavily.
Handing half my earnings to the platform pisses me off too.
And the biggest point remains.
Honestly, since my hand healed, my skyrocketing Triachia skills have been filling my self-esteem.
Seeing my name in the top ranks makes me grin involuntarily.
I check ranks at least 15 times a day, and adding pro gamer fame on top?
It'd realize my old wish, sort of!
The fantasy was belting out an awesome song on stage at school festival, getting 'That nerd hid this singing talent?' reactions, then basking in whole-school admiration and making tons of friends...
Now that I've graduated high school, that dream's impossible (not because I can't sing, absolutely not),
but I could fulfill it by earning admiration in another form.
Maybe even make streamer friends besides the boss lady...!
The only question left is whether I have finals-level skill,
which might sound arrogant to assume...
But the 'wall' etched into my bones from my three-finger days?
Even in TOP10, that hopeless feeling isn't there.
Knowing I have room to grow bolsters my confidence.
They say life brings a few big opportunities.
For me, getting that public corporation acceptance email was one.
Is now the turning point for Yoo Seo-ha's life?
Facing a big decision, I inhaled deeply from the e-cig like a ritual.
The faint tension and anxiety inside me floated away on sweet vapor.
A moment of deliberation.
Then I decided.
"True man special. Charge straight ahead refreshingly."
No reason not to reach out.
A chance to prove myself in what I'm confident in.
If I fail, my life doesn't crumble.
Just get a normal office job as planned.
Face gets known? Bet it'll be forgotten in days once I leave Inbang.
People are way less interested in others than I thought—office life taught me that.
Decision made to enter? Next up.
No half-assed peeking like a girl.
I pulled out my phone and started texting.
The message...
[Boss lady. Not sure if it'll work out, but I'm gonna try serious internet broadcasting.]
*
Vrrr———.
A mid-sized tournament sponsored by a company famous for energy drinks.
Applying for preliminaries took quite a while.
So I crashed past midnight.
Since shrinking, I've gotten oddly sleepy, so I was deep in late-morning slumber.
Vrrr——!
"Ugh..."
The phone vibration woke me.
Half-asleep, I grabbed it and held it to my ear.
No need to check who.
Obviously the boss lady.
"Yeees.... Boss lady..."
- Seo-ha! Just saw your text! But... were you sleeping?
"Went to bed late last night..."
- Fair. If not for shop stuff, I'd be sleeping too. Anyway, you're really going streamer?!
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and sipped leftover coffee from yesterday.
Packed with syrup, sweetness flooded my tongue fast.
Now I'm waking up.
"Not sure if it'll work, but since I decided, I'll give it my all."
- Woo! I'll cheer you on!
"Thanks."
- So no more of those crazy stunts from your free-for-all rooms, right??
"Huh? How'd you know I do that every time?? You only caught me during the singing stream?"
- Your free-for-all room's all over clips on other streamers... More terrorism than 'let's laugh together'...
"What."
What the hell??
Past antics were just to bleed off urges,
not because I'm actually insane.
No way most SOFT streamers saw my singing showcase, boss lady portrait session, male idol direct cam concert??
No, I took down replays yesterday, so the male idol one shouldn't have spread.
Still a disaster.
The other two were full-on mad acts too.
"Uh oh, this is bad..."
Key goal was high tournament placement, leverage fame to make friends one by one...
What sane person friends up with someone pulling that crap??
No, worse—embarrassment burned my face.
Viewers seeing my antics? Fine.
Our bond's chat only; we'll never actually talk, total strangers.
Streamers are different.
We'll collab and chat someday.
Ah...
"I can't block those clips?! Copyright's mine...! Why without my permission...!!"
- If you took down replays, maybe, but leaving them? Too late.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
How do I face new streamers now?
They'll see me as a retard...!
- Um... Seo-ha. Don't worry too much. Clips spreading means fame's rising. And some reactions are good... too...
"Good reaction clips?"
- *Cough*! Hard for me to say.
"I'm anxious. What the hell...?"
- You know, yesterday's... stuff with Min-seong... that, g...o...a... talk. Clips exploded all night—'chat that sends you to hell if you fail the laugh test.'
"What?? I deleted all yesterday's replays?!"
- Min-seong's replays are still up.
"I'm gonna die......!!"
Day 1 of streaming resolve.
My image shattered.
Another achievement...??
And turning on stream today? I could already see it.
My viewers are top-tier degenerates.
They'll play other streamers' reaction vids to my freakouts as DONES.
"Boss lady. I'm desperate. How do I block DONES?"
- Seo-ha...
"Yeah?"
- Senior streamer advice: too late, just enjoy it. You can't block that stuff...
"......"
- Brooding like Tiananmen makes them burn it for months, years...? Just grit teeth and take the hits for a few days...
Fuck.
World went dark.