Chapter 40: As Expected of my Teacher!

“This… is a win?”

Lily’s somewhat dazed voice suggested that it didn’t feel real.

“Yeah, we won…?”

Hachu added in agreement, her tone equally puzzled.

The reason for their reactions was simple: the game felt too easy.

This was the first match of a best-of-three semifinal, and their victory had just been secured.

With just one more win, they’d defeat Decal’s team and advance to the finals.

Although they’d only won one game, Lily felt as if it were all a dream.

This sensation stemmed from the unexpected ease of the match.

Contrary to her initial tension, their victory felt anticlimactic.

In Lily’s mind—formed by countless pre-sleep simulations—today’s game shouldn’t have been so straightforward.

She had imagined a bloody battle, frantic calls and orders, and their hard-earned training shining through at critical moments.

A scenario where she would heroically save the team in a moment of crisis.

That was the kind of tournament she had envisioned, but instead… Well, it was bland.

The match felt neither spicy nor salty, more akin to a lukewarm broth—tasteless and unexciting.

Still, it wasn’t as if she disliked winning.

She was very happy, in fact.

It seemed her teammates felt the same, as excited voices began to fill her headphones.

“Nice, great job, everyone!”

“Wow. That was way easier than I thought. Everything just clicked, strategy and all.”

“We still have one more game to go, but their side must be struggling right now. They’re probably more stressed now than earlier.”

Having claimed such a dominant first victory, the team had clearly taken control of the momentum.

Even professional players often struggled in series play after losing the first match.

It wasn’t unusual for confident rookies to crumble completely under such pressure.

Mental fortitude, team morale, and momentum were all critical in games like these—especially in amateur matches.

When the plan for victory collapses early, it’s common to lose without even showcasing any of the strategies you prepared.

This was why the chances of winning the second game were also high.

But the real star of this match—the one who steered the team to victory, both through her brilliant leadership and ingenious strategies—was none other than Kayak herself.

If there were an MVP award, it would undoubtedly belong to her.

The team waited for her words, but strangely enough, Kayak remained silent.

This puzzled Student No. 2 (who was always a little disappointed about not being No. 1), prompting her to call out to their leader.

“Teacher? Are you still there?”

A response came after the sound of some rustling.

“Yes, I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Oh, I see! You were so quiet; I thought you left, hehe.”

“Ah, I was just… thinking about something.”

Lily pondered this.

“Was our teacher reviewing the match that just ended?”

Like master players of chess, Go, or shogi, perhaps Kayak was replaying the match in her mind, providing herself with immediate feedback.

Feeling both guilt for breaking her focus and admiration for her leader’s humility, Lily found herself brimming with newfound respect.

“As expected of our teacher!”

However, unlike Lily’s grand imagination, Kayak had actually been playing with her hands in front of her webcam.

She had muted her Discord microphone and was amusing future viewers with shadow puppets, forming shapes like “This is a bird” or “This is a rabbit,” and mimicking various animals.

After finishing her one-sided communication through the webcam, Kayak spoke with subtle satisfaction.

“Well done on the first set, everyone. Let’s keep it up for the second set.”

Her calm acknowledgment of their victory, as if it were only natural, prompted the teammates to nod in agreement, their faces full of trust.

• Kayak’s advance cannot be stopped! Behind the commanding general, countless troops are charging forward!
• Decal is trying everything to defend, but it’s not enough! It’s as if they’re saying, ‘This won’t stop me!’
• Lily strikes an opening! Oh, does she actually hit that? Who would believe this player was once considered a bronze-level recruit? She’s ferocious, absolutely ferocious!

As most had anticipated, the second set also ended with Kayak’s team victorious, concluding the semifinal match for Group 1.

From the moment their strategy worked so well in the first set, Decal’s team was visibly shaken.

They couldn’t seem to recover in the second set, often appearing flustered, making their loss almost inevitable.

Though slightly more people had predicted Kayak’s team would win, most expected a close fight that would stretch into all three matches.

Instead, today’s game turned out to be rather one-sided.

While the two teams were evenly matched in overall skill, Kayak’s team’s unique, unconventional plays completely neutralized Decal’s team. That was how the commentators described it.

• [Well, where else would they encounter tactics like that?]
• [It feels like Decal overthought everything. If they had played straightforwardly, they could’ve won.]
• [Losing to such cheesy tactics just shows their level, tsk tsk. Some Grandmaster.]
• [Just another “water rocket” strat—just another weak water rocket strat.]
• [Fourth-place fodder.]
• [No trophy this time either? No trophy this time either?]
• [If you’re frustrated, why don’t you stream and play yourself, lol?]
• [So, what’s next?]

The official broadcast had an impressive 70,000 live viewers, and the number kept climbing.

The scale of the tournament and the delayed streams of various streamers were driving viewers to the official channel.

While the moderators frantically worked to manage the chat, Lee Hyuk-jin continued the broadcast undeterred.

Then, Kayak’s stream went live again.

Unlike the earlier delayed broadcast, this one was perfectly synchronized.

“Hello,” she greeted.

• [Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!]
• [Still didn’t turn off the hand cam, lol.]
• [Your voice is so soothing, unnie! 🥺]
• [Congrats on being selected as MVP, teacher.]
• [Does it feel good to win with cheesy strats? Does it feel good? Does it? Does it?]
• [What the heck;;]
• [Haven’t even shown your face, what’s so great about you? lol]
• [If she can’t show her face, it’s obvious, right? If she can’t, it’s obvious.]
• [Ah, the trolls are here.]
• [If you give me the True Silver Sword, I’ll cut them all down myself.]
• [I’ll screenshot and sue them all under whatever law exists—don’t insult our host!]

Kayak’s stream, with no chat moderators, was essentially the perfect playground for trolls.

Many of them had already been banned from the streams of her other teammates and flocked to hers as a last resort.

Moreover, with Kayak being named MVP on the official broadcast and receiving widespread attention, it was inevitable that more people would flood her channel.

However, she appeared unfazed by the trolls in the chat, remaining quiet until she clicked on a specific chat log and spoke up.

“‘Does it feel good to win with cheesy tactics?’… Hmm, rladydtn0921, you seem to think what I did was a ‘cheese strategy.’ For your information, I painstakingly refined that build with care. But sure, let’s say it’s a cheesy tactic. Yes, it feels good. Of course, winning feels good.”

• [Legendary.]
• [Winning feels good. Why wouldn’t it? LOL]
• [Our Yongsoo is so upset right now.]
• [Yongsoo, Yongsoo~]
• [Confirmed: Kim Yongsoo, born September 21.]
• [Don’t insult our unnie —]
• [Out of things to criticize, now they’re going after her build. LOL]

Kayak continued responding to troll comments.

She stated that revealing her hands on camera was more than enough and that showing her face was entirely her choice.

While some viewers might have been tempted to post troll comments just to interact with her, most refrained.

The trolls’ final destination was always a ban.

After responding to each troll, Kayak would ruthlessly ban them, asking if their curiosity was satisfied before removing them.

Eventually, the chat began to calm down.

Although the trolls initially flooded the chat, Kayak had the skill and patience to click on each name and ban them one by one.

What followed was a celebratory donation session, akin to a festive gathering.

This was one of the reasons streamers participated in tournaments.

Completing such a significant event often led to a legitimate donation time—a universal rule that applied to Kayak as well.

Though the tournament wasn’t over, and they had only just finished the semifinals, Kayak’s performance today was more than enough to warrant the support she received.

“Thank you for the congratulations on making it to the finals… Thank you for the 10,000-won donation. Oh my, such a generous contribution…”

• [Is this stream just endless thank-yous?]
• [Her reactions are so stingy, LOL.]
• [10,000 won gets a ‘thank you,’ but 30,000 won gets an ‘oh my’?]

“Hm, reactions… Yeah, it feels a bit lacking to just accept donations. But it’s okay since this is a celebration, right? Still, maybe I should do something simple in return. But showing my face is not happening.”

After pondering for a moment, Kayak snapped her fingers as if she had an idea.

“Oh! Were you all here earlier? Did you see what I did in front of the camera a little while ago?”

• [You mean flipping us off?]
• [Why did you even do that?]
• [Didn’t you also play around making animal shapes with your hands after the first set?]
• [Yeah, you were creating animals with your fingers or something.]

“That’s right—animals! Since I’ve already turned on the hand cam today, I thought, why not make some more animals with my hands? Does this seem like a random reaction? Hmm… But I really can’t think of anything else to do.”

Although she asked for viewers’ opinions, most suggestions weren’t feasible for her to follow.

So, Kayak wiggled her slender fingers in front of the camera, continuing the hand-shadow animals she had started earlier.

And she kept doing so until all the pending donations were acknowledged.