Chapter 19: The Dolphin Flying Through the Sky

“I said don’t open your mouth unless it’s about a kayak, and then, a kayak actually appeared.

When Camilla came up, a Camilla expert suddenly appeared in the chat.

Were they always watching the stream? The sudden appearance surprised the viewers quite a bit.

‘This is like some kind of summoning magic or something…’

Nicang decided to put those idle thoughts aside for now.

A lesson, of all things, had just begun.

‘Are you talking about the build?’

-Yes.

The kayak expert suggested starting with the build.

Was it really the build that was the problem? Nicang felt a sense of relief hearing that.

For a Camilla master who had refined her to the extreme to first point out the build rather than something else… At least, it meant Nicang’s gameplay wasn’t that bad.

Of course, it could be that they were just being polite, suggesting to adjust the build first instead of saying outright, ‘You’re terrible.’

But at least Nicang thought so.

Until the next chat from Kayak.

-Your control is also an issue. Let’s start by changing the build, then gradually work on improving that too.

‘Who are you talking to right now…?’

-Someone in the chat asked a question.

[Huh?]

[Ignoring the viewers? Ignoring the viewers? Ignoring the viewers?]

[The teacher is better at communicating than the streamer, hmm…]

[Why not let the teacher stream instead?]

[Kayak just had their first stream today (ᄋ)]

[Should I unsubscribe from Nicang and subscribe to the teacher?]

Nicang pressed down the urge to ask why Kayak had to respond to every single chat.

At least one thing was clear: Kayak, their teacher, was not the type to be overly considerate when it came to teaching a new student.

It didn’t matter. Nicang actually thought that was better.

It’s more efficient this way, rather than someone bottling up what they need to say.

And Nicang was just as focused on efficiency.

-Did you receive the build links I sent?

“Yes, but isn’t the current build also one you made? Aren’t we using this one?”

-Hmm… Let’s try a few games with the new builds and see how it goes.

‘How many builds are there?’

Five in total.

Kayak had sent Nicang five different builds for Camilla.

Nicang, who thought there would only be two or three at most, was a bit taken aback.

Are masters usually this creative with their builds?

Having failed at creating his own build in the past, Nicang was amazed at how many builds could even exist.

Five builds. Even if he played one game per build, that would be five games at minimum.

‘Five games, and if I get feedback after each one…’

Was this more of a lesson stream, or a collaboration stream?

The content had been somewhat impromptu.

Yet this hastily put-together content seemed like it would keep Nicang occupied for longer than expected.

He had already been streaming for four hours.

If he played five more games and received feedback for each one, it would easily go beyond his usual six-hour stream time.

-Play them in ranked matches. Normal games don’t provide enough practice.

“Got it.”

However, Nicang couldn’t bring himself to say, “Can we do this some other time?”

The teacher’s passion, conveyed through the chat, was intense.

Today’s stream was definitely going to be longer than usual.

It was disastrous. Utterly disastrous.

Loss, loss, loss, loss, loss. Five consecutive losses.

Nicang was greeted by a match history painted in red.

[Wow]

[Legendary;;]

[I feel like I’ve seen this before]

[Is this a replay stream?]

[Maybe… we should stop here?]

[How can you not win even a single match, lol]

[The streamer’s bad, but the teammates are on another level of legendary]

[How many losses in a row is this?]

[Your MMR is wrecked. You might need to throw away this account.]

“Hah, haha…”

Nicang let out a hollow laugh, mumbling with a soul-drained smile.

A deep sense of regret washed over him.

He should’ve just said he would learn later.

He should’ve claimed he wasn’t feeling well today.

No, he should’ve never touched Camilla in the first place.

Was this how Pandora felt after opening the box of calamities?

Normally, Nicang might have been able to handle it, but after being repeatedly demoted, his already fragile mental state couldn’t bear such a blow.

As Nicang’s mind grew foggy and he started to feel faint, a message appeared.

-When you pick up a new champion, you tend to lose a lot at first.

-I’ve roughly analyzed everything.

-Do you want to join the room?

“Yes…”

At this point, there was no turning back.

Nicang wanted nothing more than to end the stream and collapse, but at the same time, there was an odd reluctance to quit.

Stubbornness, perhaps.

He didn’t want to give up after coming this far.

While he sat there with that mindset, an invitation popped up.

A custom-made training map.

A training room.

It felt like Kayak was subtly hinting that the real lessons were about to begin.

One question lingered in Nicang’s mind, though: Why was Kayak so determined to teach him?

Nicang eventually came to a conclusion.

‘Masters are always a bit eccentric.’

After all, people call them “masters” because it sounds nice, but they’re often just oddballs who do weird things.

Even the pottery master who spends all day crafting pots smashes them to pieces if they don’t meet their standards.

Nicang figured Kayak was the same.

To Kayak, teaching him was probably like creating a masterpiece, something to project his ideals onto.

‘Wait, does that mean I’ll get smashed too?’

Like a pottery master who hurls a pot if it doesn’t turn out right?

If I don’t show results, I’ll end up in pieces—

-Nicang?

“Oh, yes.”

…I must be really tired to be thinking like this.

Nicang, with a heart set on finally showing something, accepted Kayak’s invitation.

The training room, with its wooden mannequins placed all around, presented a rather bleak and desolate scene.

This was the place where people came to practice combos or test out the skills of new heroes.

To Nicang, it was a very unfamiliar place.

It made sense, though, because she was more of a practical player.

Instead of spending time in training, she always preferred to play real matches to get a feel for the game directly.

She often preached this philosophy to her viewers: “Why waste time in practice when you can learn through real play?”

‘It’s probably been a while since I’ve been in here, maybe back when I first started Abyss.’

Just as Nicang was reminiscing, Kayak’s message arrived.

-So, I’ve been thinking.

“Yes?”

-I’ve already explained most of the theory while we played earlier, and I’ve been talking about it for a while now, haven’t I?

“Yes, yes, that’s true.”

Nicang hadn’t been playing Abyss for long, and she had never received any professional coaching for the game.

She never felt the need for it.

Even when her viewers suggested getting lessons from high-ranked players, she always turned them down, saying, “Why bother with lessons when I’m already climbing in rank?”

So, now that the moment of actual coaching had arrived, Nicang found herself curious.

How would a top-tier player, someone who had clearly reached the highest level, teach her?

Her curiosity was quickly answered by Kayak’s next message.

-So, let’s go with real practice. We’ll start right away.

“Huh? Start what…?”

-The lesson.

Dodging the incoming blade right after Kayak’s message was nothing short of a lucky accident.

Her fingers had slipped and accidentally pressed the ultimate ability, causing Camilla to dance and evade Kayak’s attack.

[Whoa, she dodged it]

[How did that even happen?]

[Camilla suddenly breaking into a dance, lol]

[This was bound to happen the moment he said it was going to be practical, lol]

[This is real-time education]

[I’m liking this Spartan-style training]

[Is this a student or a master in disguise?]

-Oh.

Kayak’s impressed message arrived just a second later.

It was the first time Nicang had ever felt such a palpable sense of satisfaction through mere chat messages.

Feeling a sudden sense of unease, Nicang cried out with a trembling voice, “Wait, no, teacher, this isn’t fair! There’s a huge skill gap between us—how am I supposed to win?”

They say a lion teaches its cubs by pushing them off a cliff.

Kayak’s teaching method was exactly like that.

Push the cub off a cliff, and if it manages to climb back, then the lesson was successful.

Any cubs that didn’t make it? They were just labeled failures.

-I’m not asking you to beat me. Just do your best.

-Also, earlier, you should’ve dodged with movement instead of using a skill.

“How on earth am I supposed to do that?!”

-You’ll manage as you keep going.

It was like telling a dolphin to fly through the air.

Though Kayak was kind enough to offer solutions, all of his advice involved things that were simply beyond Nicang’s ability.

In that sense, it felt almost cruel.

It was like receiving unhelpful advice from her viewers!

[The teacher sure has a lot of faith in the student.]

[Haha, the teacher said it can be done.]

[Our kid can do it!]

[But how is he chatting while attacking so fast?]

[Apparently, he has 20 fingers!]

-That was good.

-Let’s try it one more time.

Nicang, with a face on the verge of tears, gripped the mouse again.

Here is another interesting novel suggestion for you. Please give it a read.

Your Commander in Chief