Chapter 21: The Price Doesn’t Match

<“But wait, why is this person good at other heroes too?”>

Just from what we’ve seen, Kayak’s good at Renoc, Jin, Miriam, and a few others.

Isn’t this the guy who only plays Camilla nonstop?

Why is he so good with other heroes too?

• He’s always been like that.
• He knows how to play all the others to some extent.
• Probably because he needs to know how to counter them when playing Camilla.
• Knowing what’s dangerous and what their main moves are lets him know what to block and what to avoid.
• He’s just really cool, that’s all.
• Renoc with a greatsword is so cool!

It’d be awesome if he did it on stream.

• Sure, but Nicang’s just a low-rank player, so Kayak’s just using him for practice in sandbox mode.

He can’t use anyone but Camilla in his own rank anyway.

• Nope, he’s only ever going to play Camilla.
• If he reaches Challenger with Camilla, maybe he’ll try someone else on his smurf account.
• Or he’ll just make a smurf and hit Challenger with Camilla again…
• It’s funny ‘cause it’s probably true.
• The point is he knows how to play the others.

Nicang’s just making him pull out the tough ones.

• He’s practically an all-champ player.
• An all-champ player who only mains one.
• A one-trick all-champ… that’s rare.
• He’s basically putting chains on himself at this point…

<“The scariest part is he’s doing this while drunk.”>

To have that kind of precision even while drinking… that’s no easy feat.

• Drunken Abyss, haha.
• I can beat lower ranks even when I’m drunk too.
• From Nicang’s point of view, he’s completely toying with him.
• Kayak should’ve been streaming…

Would’ve loved to see it from his perspective.

• Now that we’ve seen him play other heroes, I’m curious about his personal screen too.

<“So the weird vibe was ‘cause he was drinking, huh?”>

It didn’t make sense for Kayak to suddenly show up in Nicang’s stream offering to teach him Camilla.

Kayak’s never been this kind of character.

• What kind of character was he supposed to be?
• He had the image of a serious martial arts master in the community.
• Sword Saint Kayak, haha.
• Watching Nicang’s stream, he did kinda seem like a martial arts master.
• It’s strange because Nicang didn’t even ask for help.

Kayak just offered to teach him on his own.

He’s not the type to give 1-on-1 lessons.

• Isn’t he doing a great job explaining, though?
• After that one incident with a guy from the forums, he stopped doing personal coaching and just posted guides.
• Hmm… maybe he’s just getting closer to Nicang to grow his own stream?
• Then wouldn’t he have turned his own stream on while doing it?
• Kayak’s not really that kind of guy.

<“So, is Kayak going to stream?”>

I’m getting impatient just hearing his voice on Nicang’s stream.

I wish he’d queue up for ranked with him, climb to Master, and read my chat too.

• I’ve been watching since earlier, and he hasn’t said anything about streaming.
• I asked if he’d stream after they were done, but Kayak scolded me.
• What did he say?
• He said, “Who talks during class?”
• Ah, haha. Yeah, you’re not supposed to talk during class. Makes sense.

<“It’s Kayak who’s playing, why would he queue up with Nicang?”>

Just let it be, haha.

He’s just saying he wants to see Kayak’s personal screen, that’s all.

How is there fanboying already happening?

Old-timers in the community always go wild for people like him.

<“This is basically the second broadcast.”>

The first one was too short, so thanks to Nicang, now there’s a second one.

Make sure to chew your food thoroughly~

Who does a second stream on someone else’s channel though, haha.

The educational session where Kayak coached the newbie Nicang wrapped up successfully.

Honestly, I hadn’t even considered streaming.

I wasn’t even live, to begin with.

I was solely focused on teaching Nicang.

That’s why I ignored the occasional requests from the chat asking me to stream.

A stream? No way.

This was an important lesson.

Besides, Nicang’s stream was already up, and my voice was being broadcast there.

I didn’t understand why people wanted me to stream.

I was too caught up in teaching to think about it.

Because of that focus, I believe the results were good.

Five wins in a row.

Five consecutive victories.

Even though Nicang had fallen into the gold rank due to a terrible losing streak,

and even though the opponents were weaker due to his shattered MMR,

a win is still a win.

In Abyss, which is a team-based game, maintaining a win streak is no easy feat.

Unless a player is much stronger than their current rank,

such a streak is difficult to achieve.

Nicang’s skill was far beyond this rank.

It wasn’t just because I was his teacher.

Objectively speaking, he had the talent.

At this rate, he’d probably—.

“I think you’ll easily make it to… Diamond.”

“D-Diamond?”

Despite my slightly slurred pronunciation, Nicang understood perfectly and replied with joy in his voice.

Could it really make him that happy?

Well, he did mention that he was new to Abyss.

No matter the game, the first time someone reaches a high rank is always memorable.

Diamond is certainly a respectable tier.

There are countless players beneath it.

In that sense, Nicang’s talent was indeed remarkable.

Even I, as the teacher, didn’t expect results to come this fast.

If this had been in the past, I might’ve been envious of his talent,

but now, I didn’t feel much.

Was this what they called peace of mind…?

“Heh.”

A small, empty laugh slipped out.

Not peace of mind, but financial peace.

Thinking about the money I received today—

wait, it’s past midnight, so I guess it was yesterday.

Thinking about the money I received yesterday put me in a good mood again.

And because I’m in a good mood, I drink something that makes me feel even better,

then I feel good again, and think of the donations,

and then I feel good once more—.

“-Teacher? Teacher?”

“Ah, yes.”

It was Nicang’s voice that interrupted my endless cycle of thoughts.

My reply came out lazily.

My tongue’s been getting tangled up for a while now.

“I’m not drunk, but my pronunciation is slipping. This really makes me seem drunk. But I’m still fine. There’s no way a few cans of beer would make someone drunk, logically speaking.”

“I think I’ll head out now. I learned a lot, thanks to you. Thank you so much for today!”

“Oh, no problem. You did great too, Nicang.”

What a polite student. So respectful and well-mannered.

Though she couldn’t see it, I smiled warmly and gave a thumbs-up toward the screen.

Thus, after exchanging goodbyes between teacher and student, Nicang’s stream ended, and I was about to step away from my computer as well.

[Are you seriously leaving just like that?]

[Kayak, start your stream, Kayak, start your stream, Kayak, start your stream, Kayak, start your stream.]

[Please stay for just a little while longer, ㅠㅠ.]

[The night is too cold without you, sis…]

[Everyone’s freaking out together, haha.]

The chat window, now without the stream, exploded like a dam breaking.

I had purposely muted and restricted the chat.

To prevent distractions during the lesson, I had asked Nicang for permission and set the chat so that anyone mentioning me or my stream would get temporarily muted.

After seeing a few people get reprimanded, the viewers had stuck strictly to discussing Camilla and Nicang during the lesson, just as I intended.

But now, it seemed these viewers genuinely wanted my stream.

I hadn’t expected such a passionate response, so I was a little taken aback but soon nodded.

-“Hey, everyone.”

-“Just for a little bit, okay?”

Well, I guess… I’ll chat for a short while.

I couldn’t simply dismiss those who had patiently waited and respected the lesson.

30 minutes—yeah, that should be enough.

I clicked the “Start Stream” button and headed to the fridge to grab another beer. By the time I returned, people had already joined the stream.

[Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!]

[2nd stream was great ^^ Is this the 3rd now?]

[Kayak’s form is on fire, amazing!]

[Please play a match as Greatsword Lenok in ranked, ㅠㅠ.]

[Turn on the mic, turn on the mic, turn on the mic, turn on the mic, turn on the mic.]

[Sis, are you drinking?]

Tssss—

The chat, filled with various messages, was honestly quite enjoyable to watch. It made a great accompaniment to my drink.

I could have just sat there, sipping my beer and watching the chat in silence.

But, I did start the stream. I should entertain them since I gathered the crowd.

Just as I was about to put down my beer and turn on the mic,

by some stroke of bad luck—maybe because of the alcohol—I dropped the can from my hand, despite having a body supposedly capable of superhuman reflexes.

“Oh no.”

I felt regret for spilling the beer and wiped the floor with a cloth several times.

Thankfully, I avoided spilling it onto my computer tower or the keyboard on my desk, but I still had to mop up the mess on the floor.

It was about 10 minutes later that I finally sat back in front of my computer again.

The chat had become amusing again, but in a different way than before.

[Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming…]

The chat had become amusing again, but in a different way than before.

[Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming… Sis, when are you coming…]

[Please turn on the mic, ㅠㅠ.]

[Didn’t she say it doesn’t work? Haha.]

[Someone donate already.]

[Haha… If you run your business like this, well, I have no choice but to donate.]

[How did greed set in already?]

…Greed?

I was confused for a moment, but soon realized what was going on.

It was the donations that had come in while I was away.

<The Great Kayak has donated 10,000 won!>

-Please let us hear your voice.

<Third Stream has donated 10,000 won!>

-So, what is the third stream?

<Mic Is Off has donated 10,000 won!>

-Teacher, please say something, haha…

Couldn’t they have just assumed I was briefly away?

But then again, I had told them to come because I was starting the stream, so it wasn’t strange for misunderstandings to arise.

It was at that moment.

<Danga has donated 50,000 won!>

-ㅠㅠ This is my entire fortune. Is this enough to meet the rate?

“Ah.”

Right at the moment the donation came in, I turned on the mic.

I had quickly turned it on to show that I wasn’t intentionally delaying to encourage donations.

I had turned it on as fast as I could, but…

[Crazed woman… crazed woman… crazed woman… crazed woman… crazed woman…]

[She’s a total money collector…]

[Kayak’s mic fee is 50,000 won, noted…]

Even though it was purely coincidental, there was no stopping the flood of comments.

“Money-obsessed,” “greedy collector,” “gold digger,” “You shouldn’t run streams like that from the start…”

Whether they were serious or joking, the angry masses kept the chat ablaze.

“Hmm.”

Whatever. I didn’t feel like explaining… Should I just drink my beer instead?

Once again, I sipped my beer while treating their comments as snacks to go with it.

Perhaps it was because of the donations that came in due to the misunderstanding, but the beer tasted especially sweet.

Very sweet.