Chapter 34: “I’m Disappointed”

It was a battlefield reeking of blood.

A place littered with the fallen, both allies and enemies alike, soldiers piled without distinction.

From amidst this field of bodies, a young boy staggered to his feet.

His body wavered, unable to find balance, and his irregular breathing made it clear that he wasn’t in any normal condition.

Clearly, some part of him was damaged.

But he had no intention of complaining about these things.

Even dragging around a numb, uncooperative body, he could still think, and that alone was proof he was alive.

The dead said nothing.

He locked eyes with his fallen comrades who hadn’t even closed their eyes in death, pausing briefly before stumbling forward.

The road ahead was long.

Staying here would mean dying like the rest of his comrades.

Despite being left as the lone survivor, he vowed to keep living, however wretched it might be.

He would return, bringing the news of his comrades’ deaths to their families, and fulfill the promises he’d made to his mother and younger siblings, to return home.

With these thoughts, the boy soldier dragged his injured leg toward the fortress.

It was the eastern fortress, the only one still standing.

He knew his chances of survival would be higher if he reached it.

How many minutes had he struggled to push forward?

Finally, the eastern fortress came into view, the grand iron gates with a red flag waving above them.

Ignoring the accumulated fatigue from his march, he raised a hand to signal as he approached.

And then—

A deafening explosion ripped through the air, followed by a blinding flash.

The boy survived only by sheer luck, tripping on a stone jutting out from the ground.

But as he lifted his head to look skyward, his face fell in shock.

The fortress—his goal, the eastern fortress—was ablaze.

Simultaneously, the sky was painted with countless streaks of fire.

Having already escaped death once on the battlefield, the soldier knew all too well what this meant.

This was the sign of a great spell, a spell powerful enough to turn the tide of war.

The enemy’s grand mage had cast it to bring down the eastern fortress.

Realizing his end was near, the boy closed his eyes.

Any moment now, a flaming mass the size of a house would come crashing down from the sky.

Ah, Mother.

I’m sorry I won’t keep my promise.

Carlson, Smith, Jerry… I’ll be joining you all soon.

Even though he tried to steel himself, the impending death was terrifying.

Eyes closed, his body quivered uncontrollably.

…?

After a few minutes, he sensed something amiss and opened his eyes.

No matter how much he braced himself, the world hadn’t gone white, and there had been no cataclysmic noise of destruction.

So, he opened his eyes and saw—

The sky was opening.

An undeniable truth, free of any exaggeration.

The sky had literally split open.

Clouds that once occupied a corner of the sky vanished, leaving a hole, through which a brilliant light shone down.

The pure, sacred radiance slowly descended, taking shape as it approached.

As the light began to fade, a figure emerged from within the beams of light.

The soldier, forgetting he was in the middle of a battlefield, stood staring at the figure in a daze.

It looked like an angel—a being that matched the very image of a heavenly figure etched into human minds.

With skin as fair as white jade and snow-white hair crowned by an oval halo, it was as if an angel had descended from the heavenly realm above.

The soldier couldn’t take his eyes off the angel draped in flowing white robes.

Whether aware of the soldier’s gaze or not, the angel seemed occupied with rummaging through something within their robes.

What could they be pulling out?

The boy soldier pondered and found his answer within himself.

They were likely retrieving a weapon for battle—this was, after all, the middle of a battlefield.

He felt no urge to run away.

The sudden appearance of this angel didn’t seem hostile, and besides, his injured body couldn’t run even if he wanted to.

In place of fear and tension, there was only a vague curiosity.

What kind of weapon would the angel wield?

The soldier was genuinely curious about what kind of weapon this legendary being might draw.

Would it be a rosary often used by clerics?

Or perhaps a holy scripture?

An arcana that only those beloved by the gods could wield?

But the weapon the angel finally pulled from their robe shattered the soldier’s expectations in an instant.

It wasn’t some unfamiliar, otherworldly weapon he’d never seen before.

In fact, it was surprisingly ordinary—a fact that made it all the more unexpected.

He had not anticipated such a weapon would appear, assuming that this extraordinary being would wield something more exceptional.

The soldier’s gaze shifted to the angel’s small, pure white hand holding the weapon.

In that tiny, delicate hand, something wholly out of place—a blunt mace—was firmly gripped.

“Hoo…”

A sigh of relief echoed from across the Discord channel.

Despite exhaling heavily, the slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth hinted that Lily had somehow managed to win the game.

This match had been particularly grueling from the start, but Lily had triumphed, proving her worth.

[Wow.]

[This game was intense, lololol.]

[Did she really win? Did she really pull that off?]

[The Bronze rank has a charm of its own…]

[Pretty skilled for a Bronze player.]

[What build is this? Never seen it before.]

[Calliope using a mace…? What kind of hybrid is this?]

[If you’re going this route, might as well go with Alex the Paladin.]

[But Alex has hairy, bulky legs and is ugly…]

[Alex can’t use Angelic Descent either.]

[The Mace Calliope build is ridiculous.]

[Ridiculous? This build has roots dating back to Season 1.]

[It was a troll build back in Season 1.]

[I’m surprised Kayak knows even the specifics of the Mace Calliope build.]

[At first, I was like, “Why recommend this?” but it actually looks good now.]

[Does Kayak’s custom-rebuilt Mace Calliope look good to you?]

[Kayak’s endless build collection, lol.]

[Hmm… No matter how you look at it, it’s trash.]

It seemed everyone was quite impressed with Lily’s intense gameplay, with chat messages pouring in nonstop.

Her total record was now three wins and two losses.

After five games as a support, which she had recently transitioned to, it was a solid result, especially considering that, as a former ADC, most of these heroes were new to her.

Even in the matches she lost, she had played her part without wasting her chances, which was quite a positive factor.

Fundamentally, her absorption skills were impressive.

Had she said it had been about a year since she started playing Abyss?

That was hardly a period that could be called a newbie, but it was still her first time learning about the game from someone else.

Seeing her soak up what I was teaching like a sponge brought me immense joy.

Of course, just like a sponge, if too much knowledge was poured in at once, some of it would inevitably spill out.

But that was manageable; as long as I reminded her to remember it, it would be fine.

Above all, she was working hard, which made her even more precious.

Newbies are always valuable, but a newbie who puts in effort is bound to look appealing.

Though many new players had come into the game, diluting the value of such newbies, back in the day, if you had one like this, players from all over the neighborhood, from the old-timers to the fossils, would rush to share their knowledge.

As I reminisced for a moment, the adorable voice of my student came through my headphones.

“Teacher, I… um…”

She took her time choosing her words.

This was Lily’s stream, which I had intentionally kept on to check her habits and focus while playing.

She hesitated so much that I checked the screen and immediately understood what she wanted to say.

“Good job, Lily. The last match was great. Your mace accuracy is surprisingly high.”

“Hehe, thank you! It’s all thanks to you, Teacher!”

“Even if I tell you, there are plenty of people who still can’t do it. Anyway, shall we call it a day and get some rest?”

“Um, is that okay?”

Fatigue clung to her eyes.

If it was visible even through the webcam, I could only imagine how she really looked.

While I did feel a sense of desire for my unexpectedly brilliant student, it wouldn’t be wise to push her beyond her limits when she wasn’t in top condition.

Besides, today was technically the first day of proper practice.

She was probably the one who brought it up because of that.

She was naturally the type to be observant, so I decided to speak first.

She could have said she was ready to call it a day, but maybe it was still hard for her?

At least when we were playing, she didn’t stutter, and her confidence seemed to have improved, which suggested that there wouldn’t be any issues with team communication.

After sending Lily off, I also ended the stream.

As usual, people tried to keep me from leaving, but all the other team members had already logged off, and I was feeling hungry, so unfortunately, I planned to skip any extra broadcasts today.

I casually ordered some food through an app and flopped onto my bed.

It wasn’t good to keep eating like this, but I was too tired today to care.

The food would arrive in about 40 minutes.

After confirming that my order had been received, I idly grabbed my phone and rolled around for a bit.

What could I do until the food arrived, or even while I was eating?

That was when my thoughts drifted to my first student, Nikang.

While browsing through VTube and communities, I checked in on Twitch to see what streams were available.

Today, I had kind of created a second student.

Speaking of which, I had heard that my first student, Nikang, was also participating in the tournament.

Although we weren’t on the same team, I was curious about how she was doing.

I peeked to see if she might be streaming, and she had just started not long ago.

“A short solo rank before group practice.”

It seemed like an interesting stream that could help me pass the time.

I quickly settled down and began setting up to watch her broadcast.

Let’s see, do I have any beer left…?

—Hmm, what should I do? ADC is out of the question… It’s hard to find a good composition…

Just as I rummaged through the fridge and grabbed a rolling beer, it was Nikang’s turn to pick a champion.

Upon hearing her muttering, I checked the composition and felt a bit puzzled.

Isn’t it obvious what she should pick?

I immediately started typing in the chat, just in case Nikang might not be aware.

[Looks like Camilla is a good pick, Camilla ᄀ]

[Scourge Camilla or balanced Camilla, either would be fine.]

[If it’s Scourge Camilla, the enemy Miriam won’t be able to breathe, right? ᄋᄌ?]

However, Nikang seemed too deep in thought to check the chat.

She continued to deliberate until the pick timer was about to hit zero.

“I’ll have to pick Renekton.”

She chose a strange character instead.

Then she belatedly checked the chat and covered her mouth in surprise.

“What’s with the ‘near Camilla’… Ah, Teacher, you’re here? I saw the chat late. If I had seen it, I would have picked Camilla right away!”

[….]

[I’m disappointed.]

“No, Teacher. It’s not that. I have my reasons. Ah, the game has started. I’ll explain after this match!”

After that, I stayed quiet, sipping my beer and watching the stream.

I was disappointed, for sure.

Then, about 30 minutes later, just as my food arrived, Nikang miraculously lost the match.