Chapter 24: “The Gladiator Who Became a Priest and the Saintess Who Became a Warrior”

There is a saying that spilled water cannot be collected again.

It’s not a profound saying, just a simple metaphor that once something is done, it cannot be undone.

In the voice chat room, where the connection with the coach had to be cut off according to the rules, there was only endless silence.

However, just as the dawn always comes, even if the rooster doesn’t crow, time doesn’t stop just because everyone is silent.

The time for preparation was quickly passing, even at this very moment.

The one who broke the silence was Sdak.

His voice, full of deep embarrassment, echoed through the microphone and speakers.

“Is there no pause?!”

His trembling words led to a growing chaos that began to consume everyone.

Hold Medic let out a choked voice, as if something was stuck in his throat.

“W-What should we do…?”

Parpeccino and Mohe couldn’t hide their own panic either.

However, the one most panicked here was the Gladiator.

He kept making strange, broken sounds like a malfunctioning machine.

I suddenly took a look at his character.

I didn’t have any particular hobby of describing male characters’ faces.

But I couldn’t deny that he had a terrifying face, one that could make even monstrous creatures seem tame in comparison.

His sharp eyes, nose, and scars that cut across his lips twitched occasionally.

Just his face alone could make someone lose their composure, and if you happened to meet him on a dark street, any man would likely flee for their life in fear.

It was the kind of face that would haunt you in nightmares.

And now, that character was wearing a priest’s robe.

The attire, which should have been neat to follow the will of the divine, seemed about to burst from the bulging muscles, as if it were being painfully stretched and about to tear at any moment.

No one in the world could call this person a priest of the church.

Rather, it looked like someone who had torn apart a missionary’s mouth to eat their flesh and bones, then stolen the priest’s robes and was now wearing them.

Though holding a Bible that preached the will of God, the way he gripped it in his massive arm and fist made it seem more like a stone to throw, rather than a book to read.

I could clearly imagine him using it to smash someone’s head while saying, “Don’t believe me yet? Let me engrave the Bible’s verses into your skull.”

That was certainly what he would do.

Feeling a slight dizziness, I turned my attention to myself.

More precisely, I looked at the Saintess.

While the Gladiator held the Bible and mace like a toy, on the other side, the Saintess appeared to be hanging from a massive sword, as if an oversized doll had been strapped to it.

The woman holding a greatsword that might even exceed her height looked so pitiful that it made me question whether she could actually wield it in battle.

And her body was—

“…”

It’s a random thought, but…

There were few players who showed as much affection for their characters as I did.

Having made the background of the idle screen showing the motive for joining the battlefield and emote play myself, it was not so strange that I had mastered customizing not just light armor, but all kinds of armor.

After all, I wouldn’t actually be using them, so it didn’t matter if they lacked practicality.

But now, I felt like slapping the past version of myself who thought that way.

Not too aggressively, though, because I definitely didn’t like anything overly obscene.

Since it’s a category,

shouldn’t there be a difference between leather armor and full plate armor?

First, let’s wrap it up,

yes, the legs would be the focus.

Not exactly the legs themselves,

but rather the armor wrapped around the legs,

with the flesh slightly bulging at the thighs—let’s focus on that.

I couldn’t help but wash my face with both hands,

feeling the heat rise on my face.

After a brief pause,

a silence fell,

and the chaos that had reached a boiling point within the team was on the verge of exploding.

In that moment,

the rational part of my mind snapped back to reality as if it had been splashed with cold water.

My brain, spinning wildly,

began to recall how everything had led to this point.

The ban-pick phase had gone smoothly.

It could even be called perfect.

The coach himself was pleased, saying the only thing left was for everyone to play the match without regret.

The problem arose during the exchange phase.

Once all choices and bans were complete,

the team could exchange their specialties and weapons freely.

That was why I had pre-selected the Gladiator build,

and why the Gladiator had locked in my build as well.

However…

Naturally, when I made the exchange request,

the Gladiator responded with silence.

The countdown was ticking,

and the voice of a teammate who had been teasing the Gladiator for not changing the build quickly became frantic,

yet the Gladiator remained unresponsive,

and in the end,

the game started.

“The internet…

I think it just cut out.

I can’t hear your voices,

and I clicked on the exchange request,

but it didn’t change.”

The Gladiator, who seemed to have frozen from panic, spoke in broken phrases,

and of course, this situation wasn’t something he had intended.

In such a critical moment,

the exchange process didn’t even get canceled, despite not completely disconnecting.

“What should we do…?”
“Let’s request a temporary pause first.”

Next,

was the way to resolve this.

No one could have predicted this would happen.

That’s why I, too, was in a state of great panic.

However, I was both the team leader and the main order-giver.

I was the backbone of the team.

If I fell into chaos,

the situation would be unsalvageable.

Trusting my instincts,

I opened my mouth.

“Calm down.”

“Saintess, please pause it…”

“It’s impossible.”

“Then, a rematch?”
“Probably not.”

This tournament, although it was called a tournament,

didn’t use the official servers and clients provided by the developers.

All players were playing the game on regular servers using their own IDs.

In other words,

unlike an actual tournament,

there was no pause function.

The countdown during the preparation stage was steadily decreasing,

even at this very moment.

In professional gaming,

if something like this happens,

the team that made the mistake would typically forfeit a few ban cards to allow a rematch.

But I knew.

Having read the terms and conditions countless times,

I knew.

This Streamer Cup was only the second one,

and there was no manual prepared for such incidents.

I thought of a possible solution.

It was a bit forced,

but we could switch accounts and log in again.

However, even if we used the same weapon and build,

there would surely be differences in the physique and size due to customizations,

which would result in different play.

Moreover, in the worst case,

we could be accused of account boosting and have our accounts banned.

After all, this was a game happening on a regular client.

So, this was definitely an unpleasant thought.

“No, uh, no, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”

I shook my head at the Gladiator’s words.

What did you do wrong?

Although the situation had improved compared to before,

the client lag was still a reality,

and issues caused by internet connection problems couldn’t be dealt with by an individual.

You didn’t do anything wrong,

the problem was the result.

Just when the game was about to start,

of all times,

the internet decided to cause issues.

Of all times, after the user got disconnected, the cross-selection process didn’t get canceled,

and all these situations piled up,

leading to this worst-case scenario.

Just like it’s impossible to gather spilled water,

blaming him wouldn’t solve the problem.

So, what I was going to say next was almost already decided.

“It’s okay.”

There was no tremor in my calm words.

“It’s okay.”

Like patting the back of a crying infant to stop the crying,

I repeated my words to convey my meaning once more.

Even I, hearing my own calm voice echoing back at me, had to calm my heart,

and the chaotic voice chat gradually returned to silence.

It seemed like the tension had settled a little.

Now, it was my turn to give orders as the team’s main commander.

“Let’s go with this build.”

“Are you sure? The greatsword Gladiator build…”

In response to someone’s question, I confidently said, “Of course.”

Of course, I had never actually used this build.

The deepest emotion inside me was screaming that it wasn’t right, contrary to the words I had just said.

But if I showed that, the already distant victory would disappear like a mirage.

Someone had to cut off the seed of doubt that had begun to sprout within the team.

And the only one who could do that was me.

So, I started communicating with each team member without showing any hesitation.

“Mohe, this time we won’t use chat orders.”

“Got it!”

“Don’t leave the voice chat, and listen carefully to the orders.”

“I’m a little unsure…”

“If you don’t follow the orders, you’ll get punishment right away.”

“…What’s punishment?”

…They said they just turned twenty this year.

Though it’s not my place to say, since I didn’t even go to the military.

“Stay focused, or your head will be smashed later.”

“Yikes. I-I’ll do my best!”

Next, HoldMedic.

“Medic, I won’t be able to call out every healing and buff timing like before when you’re beside me.

Follow the orders, but there will definitely be moments when your judgment is required.

At those times, I’ll leave it to your discretion.”

“I’m Purple, will it be okay? Without Saintess’ orders…”

“Of course.”

“Really…?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll train you until you’re fine with it later.”

“P-please… save me…”

“Don’t think you can escape because you’re sleepy. I won’t let you sleep, like last time.”

“Eek, I-I won’t, I understand, I won’t make a mistake. I promise.”

“Parfeccino.”

“I understand. I understand. I understand. I understand.”

“I’ll be in the front line doing close combat, so I can’t give detailed orders like before. But just like we’ve been doing until now. You know, right?”

“I understand.”

“With the mindset of giving the opposing mage and archer a hard time. Let’s rack up those kills. It’ll make the game less boring. If you don’t perform as well as I expect…”

“If I don’t…?”

“Well, what could happen?”

“…That’s more terrifying. I understand. I’ll approach this with the determination that I have a mace behind me, not a river.”

“Good.”

“Next, Stuck.”

“Yep!”

“I’m giving you the main order.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t fight in the front line, command from the center of the troops. Watch the situation and stop any rogues coming towards the rear, where HoldMedic is.”

“With this kind of armor, I don’t think I can do it.”

“You can do it.”

“Why me? According to the ranks, there are Gladiator and Mohe, but I’m just a Blue.”

“That’s because your physical ability and combat sense are lacking. You know that, right?”

“….”

“I’ve seen you study harder to make up for the things you’re lacking, I noticed that.”

“I got up for a moment, and the broadcast was on. I caught you watching tactical strategy videos.”

“When did that happen?”

“I wasn’t doing much, but… it wasn’t really studying, I was just bored…”

“The broadcast I saw was three hours long. You’ll find it all in the replay. Are you going to keep denying it?”

“…I’m getting chills. Okay, I got it. I’ll do my best.”

“I believe in you.”

And finally,

My character approached the Gladiator, who seemed completely deflated and motionless.

This wasn’t the kind of person he was.

Such a steadfast player, known for being reckless,

was now overwhelmed with the pressure of the entire game being on the line,

and the belief that it was all his fault seemed to be weighing on him.

What should I say?

Ah.

A good idea came to me.

I used the keyboard and mouse to grab the Gladiator‘s mace hanging from his waist.

Then, rather than saying something through the microphone,

I quickly typed a message.

[Saintess: Are you not going to do it?]

[Gladiator: keke]

At that response, despite the tense situation, I couldn’t help but smile.

Although it wasn’t much of a return for what happened before,

I let out a slight laugh and consciously let the sound escape through the mic.

At the same time, a heartbeat echoed.

It was the notification signaling that the preparation time had ended.

The Saintess wielding a greatsword began to cross the battlefield.