Chapter 30: Rising Star

A huge commotion broke out.

Not elsewhere, but in my stream.

The official broadcast’s chat, which had been chanting my name, had finally calmed down, but my stream still held onto the same heat from earlier.

The caster, showing professionalism, quickly moved on to the next player’s introduction after calming down, but my stream didn’t have such a thing.

Whether good or bad, my stream was something I was in control of and, ultimately, I was the main character.

Just as in certain streamers’ channels, mentioning or broadcasting unrelated content of another streamer would get you banned, in my stream, I was the most important and valuable figure.

From that perspective, even though another player’s introduction was ongoing, the viewers who were still talking about me must really care for and value me.

It was a grateful thing.

Really, I was truly thankful, but…

[The God of Camilla lololololol]

[This player is a god! A god!]

[Sir, are you perhaps feeling embarrassed?]

[Are you embarrassed by your highlight? Is this tournament a joke to you?]

[Honestly, being called a god is kind of embarrassing lol]

[Aah, I am ‘Kami’…]

[The streamer being shy is so freaking cute lololol]

[I don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t know…]

[What do you mean you don’t know?]

[Kayak is just a baby who only knows how to game and nothing else]

[Bet the streamer is laughing after muting his mic lol]

Really, I felt so thankful, it could bring tears to my eyes.

Every time there was a slight chance, they’d stir up such chaos.

No wonder streamers end up losing their sanity.

Enduring this constant harassment from a large number of anonymous people could drive anyone mad.

Cyber bullying, cyber violence, cyber harassment, please stop!

Of course, there’s no way they’d actually stop just because I asked them to, so I decided to take a slightly more forceful approach.

*Banned words registered: ‘God of Camilla,’ ‘I don’t know,’ ‘Embarrassed.’

It was a drastic measure.

This was a setting where anyone who typed a specific word in the chat would get immediately banned.

But I kept it reasonable with just three words.

After today’s stream ends, I’ll gradually observe the situation, and if things calm down, I plan to lift the bans.

The viewers must’ve noticed my intentions after suddenly seeing these banned words, right?

[Banned words? lolol]

[Suddenly oppressing the people…]

[Freedom of expression, freedom of speech, respect is needed.]

[Hmm… so we can’t use ‘god’…]

[Well, we’ll just use other words then.]

[God of Camilla! Kami of Camilla! Emperor of Camilla! Lord of Camilla!]

[Are you shy? Are you shy? Are you shy? Are you shy?]

[Why don’t you like it when we’re complimenting you?]

[Compliments can even make whales dance.]

[But the streamer doesn’t want to dance, huh~]

[Instead, Camilla will dance for us~]

But things never go as you wish.

I had no choice but to take a firm stance.

I selected a few who had been spamming excessively and temporarily banned them as an example.

Only then, seeing the messages being deleted, did the chat finally quiet down.

They’re not children, but it seems they only listen when discipline is enforced.

“Please focus on the official broadcast. They’re introducing the other players.”

With that, I too turned my attention away from the chat and back to the official broadcast.

These might be the people who could become my team.

It was best to familiarize myself with them all.

“We’re already at the last player! The streamer Yoo Hye-nim!”

“She primarily plays Renok. Her current tier is around 500 points in Grandmaster.”

“She’s not at the top, but she’s the highest-ranked among the participants in this tournament.”

“There’s no doubt many people want her on their team.”

“Without further ado, let’s watch the highlight she sent in.”

500 points in Grandmaster.

She’s definitely someone to watch out for.

Although the tier system has been restructured and the upper ranks have expanded, the skill of these high-tier players should never be underestimated.

Of course, it would be great to have her as an ally, but if the organizers have any sense, they wouldn’t put the two of us on the same team.

Even when teams are formed, they’ll be balanced according to tier.

So this Renok user would naturally end up as my opponent.

At this point, I had a hunch that she was probably thinking the same thing as I was — that we wouldn’t end up on the same team.

Well, that’s just speculation, though.

For all I know, she might not be paying any attention to me at all.

But as far as I remember, high-tier players are always thorough in scouting their opponents — they are extremely smart people.

So, I decided to keep all possibilities open.

My original intention was just to participate and enjoy the tournament, but now that seemed impossible.

Thanks to the commentator and the excessive recognition from viewers that followed, I had been hyped up far beyond what I expected.

Now, losing without putting up a fight would be utterly humiliating.

They’ve even called me a god, so I have to win.

This wasn’t part of the plan at all.

Sighing inwardly, I watched the next highlight video with extreme focus.

“And with that, we now have four teams formed.”

“Don’t you already feel excited to see what each of these teams will bring to the table?”

“That concludes today’s event.”

“Each team will have two weeks — which can be considered either long or short — before facing off against other teams.”

“There will also be a broadcast next week to determine which teams will go head-to-head.”

“We hope to see just as many viewers as we had today.”

“And with that, we’ll be signing off.”

“This was caster Lee Hyukjin.”

“Streamer Taker.”

“And announcer Kim Yeji. Thank you!”

With the commentators’ final remarks, the official broadcast ended.

I, too, wanted to wrap things up and head out like them, but unfortunately, I still had something left to do.

It wasn’t anything major; just a brief Discord meeting with my new teammates.

As soon as the teams were finalized, the streamer Hangang had taken the initiative to organize it.

Still, it was nice to see that kind of enthusiasm.

After all, enthusiasm is crucial in tournaments.

A team that’s driven and puts in effort has a good shot at winning — it’s almost like a morale boost in battle.

Before I started streaming, I was brimming with enthusiasm too, but now I felt completely drained and just wanted to rest.

Still, I couldn’t be the only one absent when everyone else had gathered.

After reinforcing discipline in the chat one last time, I joined the Discord call using the link I was given.

Not long after, a deep voice came through.

“Everyone’s here. Today, we’re not doing much, but I thought it would be good for everyone to introduce themselves, even though some of you might already know each other. Anyway, I’m streamer Hangang. My main character is Nixon. Nice to meet you.”

It was a very standard and polite greeting.

The start is always the most important, and he did it well.

As I was thinking this, someone else spoke up.

“Ah, um… Ahem! Hello! I’m Lilyyang. I mainly play Haven and Miriam, but I’ve tried all the other AD carries at least once. I’m in, uh, Bronze, but I’ll work hard! I’ll learn a lot! Thank you!”

It was an enthusiastic self-introduction.

Although she stuttered, likely due to being a bit shy, you could sense her passion for the game.

She mentioned “working hard” twice — you could feel her determination.

Lilyyang, low tier but full of energy.

I made a mental note of that as the introductions continued.

“I’m Cheonhoon. My tier is Platinum. I’ve been playing Abyss for about three years, but I’ve been pretty mindless with it. I’m not great at game management, but I’m confident in team fights. I mostly play melee bruisers.”

Cheonhoon, a team-fight focused player.

“I’m Limtak. I just finished my placement matches and got Silver. I played briefly in Season 2 but quit and just came back this season. It’s an honor to be on the same team as Kayak. I really enjoyed your highlight reel earlier. I mainly play tanks like Tons and Will — those sturdy types. I’m not good at much, except taking hits.”

Limtak, talkative tank player.

“I’m Hachu. My tier is Gold… I’ve been stuck in Gold forever. If you play in Gold, you’ve probably run into me at least once. I mostly play Cassia. I think I’ve played her about 300 games this season? If I need to improve anything else, I can grind it up quickly. I pretty much only eat and game.”

Hachu, a mage who plays a lot.

I mentally registered the remaining two teammates.

Now it was my turn.

What should I say?

Everyone had introduced themselves so well that I regretted not preparing something in advance.

I decided to keep it simple.

“Hello, I’m Kayak. I mainly play Camilla, and I’m in Master tier. Nice to meet you.”

But for some reason, despite my introduction being the shortest, the reaction from the team was very different.

“Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!”

It was as if someone had brought the chat from earlier straight into the voice call, starting with someone chanting my name.

“The God of Camilla! The God of Camilla is on our team!”

“Ka-Kayak, I’m counting on you. I’ll trust in you completely.”

“Wow, the legend from Season 2, right here.”

As if waiting for me to speak, they suddenly started talking all at once.

The only one who remained quiet was the Diamond-tier streamer, Hangang.

“Kayak, I ran into you in ranked not long ago. You played so well. Thanks for carrying me.”

I wondered if this was an extension of what had happened earlier on the broadcast.

The overall situation didn’t feel that different.

For some reason, I was getting far more attention and focus than I was comfortable with.

I resented the commentator.

I resented the caster.

Why did they suddenly call me a god and start this weird trend?

“Ka-Kayak, can I ask what kind of mouse you use?”

“He’s a god, so he doesn’t need a mouse.”

“Does Kayak even use a mouse?”

After hearing all these overwhelming comments, I finally finished introducing myself to the team.