Chapter 76: The Path to the Quarterfinals

Our team achieved an overwhelming victory of 2:0 against ‘CottonCandyHuru.’

The first match was largely thanks to Chae Narin’s outstanding performance.

• She instantly killed the opponent’s Challenger in one strike, which naturally tipped the scales in our favor.

Every team has its unique winning strategy.

For the ‘CottonCandyHuru’ team, their core tactic was to snowball using a powerful scout and guardian.

They needed an early kill to set things in motion, and to ensure that, they brought in high-tier players.

But when their plan was blocked right at the start by an Iron-tier player, losing became almost inevitable.

The second match also heavily relied on Chae Narin’s efforts.

The opponents misread our team’s strengths and wasted their ban cards on unnecessary picks.

They banned melee main carries that ‘Cheon Seoa’ or Chae Narin might use.

But honestly, Chae Narin’s proficiency with those characters was subpar.

No matter what melee damage-dealer based on basic attacks she picked, her performance was pretty much the same.

Our team’s victory strategy never depended on Chae Narin carrying the game anyway.

If they had analyzed the game properly, they would’ve been better off banning my main character, like Rojon’s team did.

If they had, I wouldn’t have been able to rack up kills with Thierry and dominate team fights like I did.

Well, analysis is a skill too. No point feeling bad about it.

If only they had made a PPT and briefed like I did beforehand.

“Ahhh!”

I looked at Bbangbbang, who had tripped on the sandy beach, then slowly opened my mouth.

“Bbangbbang-nim.”

“Why are you being so formal? You didn’t used to talk to me like this.”

“Bbangbbang-ssi. I heard you were moved by seeing Pulbbang’s growth.”

“…Did I say that?”

Bbangbbang pretended not to remember.

Maybe it’s because he’s used to being a runner-up so often—he’s quite skilled at feigning ignorance.

Shaking my head, I continued, “It’s okay.

I never really trusted Bbangbbang’s… support-player sensibilities in the first place.

I even conducted a separate evaluation.”

“You did that without telling me?”

“When I checked, it didn’t seem this severe. Maybe you’re just weak in actual matches.”

I recalled Pulbbang’s performance yesterday, hovering around Iron and Bronze levels.

He kept missing skill timings, like his ping was stuck over 500.

Because of that, what could’ve been a close call turned into a catastrophe where he outright handed a kill to the enemy’s main carry.

Even worse, Moss, who had been moving alongside him, got dragged into it, giving away two kills in total.

It was a good thing I rushed over and shattered the enemy carry’s skull right after.

Otherwise, we might’ve lost at least one match to the ‘CottonCandyHuru’ team.

I tapped my cheek with my finger.

“It’s not easy.”

“Didn’t I ask you when we first met if we could really win?”

“It’s fine. Any criticism will just go to Paepae.

Players like us just ride under the radar of the big corporations anyway.”

“I’m not asleep.”

Paepae, who had been lying under a nearby parasol, responded quietly.

I thought he was AFK since he hadn’t moved, but I guess not.

“Paepae-nim, eavesdropping like that is sneaky. No wonder your old username was so odd.”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone named ‘PureUnicornLoveDog.’”

“My taste is entirely normal. You and Bbangbbang are the weird ones.”

Our conversation lit up the chatroom.

People with similar quirks were going wild.

‘PureUnicornLoveDog’ and ‘LoserProtagonistLoserMain’ lol honestly, Lumen’s the most normal here.

Even ‘ILikeBbangbbang’ is fine.

You could tell your parents about that one, no problem.

No way.

Does Yurim like pure girls?

TimeGatesAreGreat.

They’d already dug up Paepae’s old username ages ago.

These super-genius detectives, who could analyze reflections in someone’s pupils to figure out a streamer’s house location, didn’t need much more than the clues of ‘PureUnicornLoveDog’ and ‘ILikeBbangbbang.’

Honestly, cases like this were too trivial for them to even bother with.

To stop these amazing detectives, you’d need the help of the old ruler, ‘The Holiday.’ But with it still being before August, that wasn’t happening.

We just had to accept our fate.

“I’ve thought this for a long time—people who enjoy NTR genres are all masochists who like to torment themselves.”

“Which is why I don’t want to hear that from ‘PureUnicornLoveDog.’”

To Paepae’s grumbling, Bbangbbang responded.

“But I agree with Han Yurim. Why go for NTR when you have pure romance?”

“And Paepae-nim even likes the kind of NTR where the so-called pure romance phase lasts for ages. You’re a monster among monsters.”

Talking like this, it really felt like we were back in middle school.

It made me feel good.

Then again, back then and now, I still stayed holed up at home developing games.

Back then and now, I didn’t go to school.

Nothing’s changed.

Realizing this, I marveled silently to myself.

Just then, Paepae furrowed his brow and muttered something.

“You played NTR games too. Why are you pretending you didn’t?”

“I’ve only tried them because I have a duty to experience all creative works that exist in this world. I didn’t play them obsessively like Paepae.”

“I didn’t play them obsessively either. I just played a few. Don’t label me.”

“People like Paepae probably enjoy losing in real life too. Just like you lost the bet to me.”

Paepae responded in an incredulous tone.

“You need to separate reality from fiction. Just because someone likes FPS games doesn’t mean they enjoy shooting guns in real life.”

“Well, I like purity in both fiction and reality.”

“Unnie, have you found it?”

“No, I haven’t. Go and make sure ChamMVP doesn’t order ganjajang and tangsuyuk again.”

“Got it.”

After sending Bunnyrun away, Bbangbbang stood next to me and added,

“I also like you in real life, noona.”

“Alright, I lost, so let’s stop here.”

“I won!”

“Woohoo!”

Bbangbbang and I clapped our hands together in celebration. Paepae sighed and waved his hand dismissively.

“Anyway, aren’t we going to brief about our next opponents?”

“We need to.”

The one-day break was meant for teams to regroup and analyze their opponents, and the time had come.

“Everyone, gather around.”

I projected a PowerPoint presentation into the air.

Moss carefully read through the materials displayed in front of him.

“‘Fluffball Taskforce’?”

“Yes.”

“The members are impressive. Well, it’s the quarterfinals now.”

To be honest, the Round of 16, with its best-of-three format, felt a bit lacking to be considered the main event.

Fans of Elimpics often referred to the Round of 16 as a preliminary round, considering the quarterfinals, with its best-of-five format, as the true beginning of the tournament.

Given that proper matches typically started in the quarterfinals, it wasn’t an entirely inaccurate perspective.

“The team leader… hmm. This won’t be easy.”

“That’s because they’re an extraordinary person in many ways.”

Agreeing with Paepae’s assessment, I flipped the slide to show the key player of our quarterfinal opponents.

The team leader and ace of the ‘Fluffball Taskforce.’

An amateur female prodigy who stood at the pinnacle of Bbangbbang players: Arina.

Arina woke up and pressed a button to open the blackout curtains.

She glanced at the clock.

1 PM. While this was extremely late for an average person, it wasn’t unusual for a streamer.

Since most streamers started their broadcasts around 7 PM, it could even be considered early.

With the quarterfinal match beginning at 7 PM, it made sense.

Instead of using a VR device, Arina, contrary to her generation’s norms, turned on her computer and browsed the VR streaming gallery, skimming through trending posts.

One post, titled “Quarterfinal Opponent Teamplay Highlights” (Views: 189,314 / Comments: 1,823), had a particularly insane view count and comment section.

“Impressive.”

It was no wonder the post was gaining traction—her opponent in the quarterfinals was none other than ‘IronSavestheWorld,’ led by Han Yurim.

Adding to the hype, the team featured members like Paepae and Bunnyrun, making their match the most anticipated showdown of the quarterfinals.

Arina clicked on the post and played the video.

“Han Yurim uses Thierry’s Water Element ultimate to demolish the teamfight!”

“This is insane. There’s no other way to describe it. Thierry’s Water Element ultimate has such a bad reputation for being impractical in actual matches, even among pros.

For viewers unfamiliar with <Eternal World>, it might seem like just another skill. But for anyone who’s ever played the game, they’d know how absurd this is.

Controlling that skill with such precision—without being two separate people—is simply impossible.”

“It’s safe to say the ‘CottonCandyHuru’ team is regretting not banning Thierry now.”

“What’s the point of growing stronger after killing the enemy scout and guardian if Thierry’s growth potential is the highest in theory?

Ah, and as expected, the [Rift] in the city goes to the ‘Iron Saves the World’ team.”

Arina was secretly impressed.

Thierry’s Water Element derived ultimate, [Doppelgänger], was one of those annoying skills that were difficult to use individually, let alone for simultaneous assassination of the enemy’s main carry and support for one’s own team.

It wasn’t just a matter of multitasking—it was outright mysterious how someone could pull it off.

Still, it was fine.

If you couldn’t counter the play, you could always prevent the pick by banning the character.

After all, each team had three bans and two additional bans to spare.

Han Yurim’s three “god-tier picks” were well-known.

‘Thierry,’ ‘Ormal,’ and ‘Kageyama Ryo.’

Thierry was obviously a must-ban. The other two, popularized by Han Yurim to the point they were used in tournaments, also couldn’t be left unbanned.

If those three were banned, Han Yurim had been seen picking ‘Amano Yukiko.’

But that was Arina’s main pick, so the opponent’s team would ban it themselves.

What would Han Yurim do without Thierry, Ormal, Kageyama Ryo, or Amano Yukiko?

Arina glanced through Han Yurim’s profile.

She used such a wide variety of characters that analyzing her picks felt meaningless.

It wouldn’t be surprising if she prepared an entirely new strategy with an unconventional pick.

Enough.

Arina closed her browser and headed to her home sauna.

Against someone like Han Yurim, focusing on her own performance was far more beneficial.