Chapter 53: “Finding Cup”

Finding Cup

“Hmm.”

It was an invitation for a tournament called “Finding Cup.”

There was a major streamer named ‘Fine’ who dominates Twiss, and he was the one hosting the tournament.

“Sounds good.”

As I checked the date and purpose of the Finding Cup, it seemed like a pretty good tournament for me.

First off, it was a 1v1 tournament, not the usual 5v5.

And the champions were selected randomly.

For someone like me, who specializes in playing games where champions are picked randomly, this was an excellent opportunity.

“Random picks, no need to think about teammates, and the prize money is quite decent…”

There was no reason not to participate.

The prize money was a whopping 10 million won.

If I joined just for fun and ended up winning… that would be a huge gain, wouldn’t it?

I could add a bit to my living expenses.

“I’ll give it a try.”

By the way, if someone like me got an invitation, it seemed like they were inviting a wide range of streamers.

A streamer with about 200 viewers was pretty common, after all.

I started reading the rules carefully, thinking about that.

[Finding Cup]

1. You must not be late for the tournament. Any delay will result in a forfeit.
2. Complaints about picks are prohibited. Since it’s strictly random, there’s no possibility of manipulation.
3. Participants must prove they are the person playing the game.

“The third clause is a bit bothersome.”

Clause three.

You had to prove your identity.

To do that, I would probably have to reveal my face.

…I really don’t want to show my face to my viewers.

It would be fine if it was for verification with the organizers, but I didn’t want the viewers to know.

Who likes having their face exposed?

So I quickly wrote an email.

“I am ‘Dama’ (aka Dugong) from Twiss, and I received the invitation to the ‘Finding Cup.’ However, to participate in the tournament, proof of identity is required. Since I broadcast without showing my face, is there any way I can prove my identity without revealing my face?”

Sent.

Woong-

As the email was being sent, I fell into thought for a moment.

“I feel like there must be a lot of people like me.”

On Twiss, there are all kinds of people, and some of them stream without showing their faces.

So I figured there might be a solution prepared for those kinds of people.

I wondered what would happen.

Just as I was thinking, Ding-!

A new email had arrived.

I immediately clicked to check the contents.

[I have reviewed the email you sent. The Finding Cup is not a tournament organized by a game company, so we aren’t very strict about it. However, proving your identity is an inevitable requirement. You can either record a video privately, not showing it on the broadcast, and send it to us, or ask a streamer you know well to vouch for you. Then, take care.]

Thus ended the email.

So what this meant was—

“Vouching…

It means I have to ask a famous streamer I know to vouch for me. Since I’m not really keen on doing that, maybe I should just record a video and send it.”

At that moment—

Ding-!

The phone, which was placed in the corner of my desk, vibrated.

It seemed like I received a message.

I picked up my phone and checked the message that had just arrived.

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: Hey hey]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: Did you get the Finding Cup email?]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: I was watching the broadcast, and it came to Mangming too]

“…It looks like it was sent out in bulk.”

It would be easier for them to do it that way.

Thinking that, I replied.

[4:00]

[Me: Yeah, it came. But this]

[Me: You need to either get a vouch from other streamers around you or set up a cam to prove you’re the one playing.]

It was a message sent without much thought.

But then, a little while later—

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: Got the vouch.]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: Just send that you’re participating. They already sent an email confirming the vouch.]

“Eh?”

[Me: No]

[Me: I didn’t ask for that.]

[Me: Why then?]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: Didn’t you bring it up?]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: You said it, and now you’re asking me.]

Hmm.

That definitely made sense.

I had brought it up, so from Jeong Gyeo-ul’s perspective, it probably felt like— “I don’t want to ask directly, so can you do it as my manager?”

[Me: Oh, I see]

[Me: I must’ve said it in a way that caused a misunderstanding, sorry.]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: Anyway, hurry and apply. Heh heh.]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: The vouching is done.]

[Me: Who vouched for me?]

[Jeong Gyeo-ul: They want to keep it secret.]

[Me: ?]

[Me: Okay, whatever.]

The person who vouched for me could be found out later.

I could check the community for more information on that.

There was no need to pressure Jeong Gyeo-ul to figure it out right now.

Thinking that, I sent the email.

[I heard someone vouched for me, but I don’t know the details. I was told the information would already have been passed on, so I’m applying for the tournament.]

[Application Successful.]

And shortly after—

[Your application has been received. Detailed schedule will be provided later.]

I had actually been accepted.

It was that easy to apply.

‘I’ll have to search for who it is after the broadcast.’

It probably won’t show up easily right now.

Thinking that, I started preparing to go live.

I tinkered with the computer settings a bit, just like I had seen online before, and I was ready to begin the broadcast.

And shortly after—

[The broadcast has started!]

The notification that the broadcast had started appeared, and with that, the broadcast began.

Then, viewers started flooding in.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: The man invited to the ‘Finding Cup’ enters.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Everyone, welcome him.]

[BIGBIGBIGBIGBIGBIGBIG]

[Finding Cup Invitation Hehe]

[Not just anything, the Finding Cup]

[What cup would it be in soccer terms? League? Champions?]

[Audi Cup]

[Whoa]

[Hey hey]

[Stop it…]

“What? The rumors spread already.”

It seemed like Cthulhu had spread the word.

Otherwise, there was no way the rumors would have spread so quickly.

[The genius produced by the Fraternity Gallery, Dama]

Temporarily banned!

[Dama]

[I’ve been watching since he had 190 viewers. Never expected this kind of growth.]

[Didn’t you just start watching yesterday?]

[The veteran status is determined by the day count, heh heh…]

“So, I’m participating in the Finding Cup this time. Are there any streamers who’ve officially confirmed their participation? I’d like to know the list.”

I was curious about which streamers were joining.

Though, even if I knew, I probably wouldn’t recognize them, but it was better to know than not.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: So far, Harin’s in.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Sarok, Mangming, and others are all joining.]

[Wow, it’s really a battle of the stars.]

[Star (Red Giant)]

[Anyway, it’s shining, let’s have a drink.]

[Destined to burn brightly and disappear.]

Many were participating.

It would make the competition a bit tough.

At that moment, I thought it might be better to withdraw voluntarily in the near future.

Then—

[Wait, someone said Rimaldo is joining too.]

I received an interesting piece of information.

Not just any streamer, but Rimaldo.

“Rimaldo? The one who used to play mobile games?”

Therefore, I asked again.

Then—

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh right, Rimaldo is also participating.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I thought he was dead, but he’s alive.]

[Big Dama]

[Rimaldo is a god now. Haha.]

[Long time no see, that name.]

[Wasn’t he a one-trick strategy gamer?]

[Well, League of Legends is also a strategy game.]

It was surprising.

Rimaldo didn’t play much of League of Legends, but he was participating.

I wondered if something was going on with him.

‘I can look it up later.’

It seemed like I could find out more about Rimaldo later.

After all, the places where Rimaldo’s stories were shared were limited.

Thinking that, I roughly summarized the participants in the Finding Cup.

Then—

“So, about 50 people?”

The number came out to be 50.

I didn’t expect it to be this many.

Of course, since the prize money was high, I had expected many participants, but this many was unexpected.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s a lot.]

[There are probably some people just participating to get recognized.]

[Most of the participants are Diamond rank or higher in League of Legends. Haha.]

[Rimaldo is a bit of an exception.]

[Hwanhee: The surprising thing is that there are still people who haven’t even read the email…]

I wondered how many people would actually end up participating.

I thought it would be exciting, and I started the game for today.

“I need to reach Diamond 3 today.”

At least, I didn’t want the viewers to be embarrassed by the tier of the streamer they were watching.

With that resolve, I queued up.

I was thinking I should practice for the Finding Cup.