NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
[Did Kayak participate in the competition?]
I hoped she would show up, but she really did, haha! This tournament’s gonna be fun.
-I told you to apply for donations, good job!
-You’re a good little brother for taking action.
-The lineup for this time looks good, yeah. There was a reason Taker thought it would be fun.
-Frick, Eonix even supported with money, so the scale got super huge!
-Who’s Kayak?
-You don’t know Kayak?
-There’s still someone who doesn’t know Kayak?
-You don’t know the guardian deity of the gallery, Kayak?
-So who the heck is she then?
-A girl who can’t even score 1500 is a guardian, haha, the viral hype needs to be moderated!
-For real, the dislike is hitting hard.
-Do they seriously think someone’s sitting in front of a computer to watch this? Tch tch.
[They even have an athlete introduction segment, haha!]
Last year, there wasn’t anything like this. It was just “Here’s who’s who, tier info, and the heroes they’re good with,” and boom, done. But now they even show highlight videos!
-Starting with three commentators is already different!
-Taker really struggled in the first season, yeah.
-At that time, she got totally roasted, right?
-She couldn’t focus, and everyone was hating on Taker for all the screw-ups, haha!
-She really took all the hits.
-There might be some haters here too…
[Did Kayak submit her video?]
Since she’s on the list, she must have submitted it, but did this person really know how to edit highlights?
Seeing Han Kang show his highlight video, the quality looks really good!
-She probably just sent whatever she had.
-We’ll find out later, right?
-Did she practice editing for three years?
-There are plenty of streamers who edit well, for sure.
[Nicang nailed her highlights, haha!]
Based on the video alone, I would’ve thought it was the grandma challenge!
-NiTube really does a good job!
-I heard they pay the editor well, makes sense, haha.
-So, is the next one Kayak? I’m excited!
And then, the moment Kayak’s highlight video starts playing…
The gallery momentarily crashed the server.
[What the heck is that?!]
What’s that old-fashioned video? Ian’s pre-surgery illustration with Nox’s Q-charging? I don’t even know which season it is, haha!
-The public chat is going insane, haha!
-They’re asking if it’s that influx of abyss, haha!
-I thought it was another game for real!
-Wow, all the season 2 videos left on VTube are so blurry, I can’t even watch them. This one is a bit better.
-If it’s QR before Lennok’s rework, that was when all the squishy characters were getting wrecked, haha!
-Ah… oh king!
“Oh, Your Majesty!”
– “The one and only Kayak from Season 2… has returned!”
“Is that Season 2?”
“Yeah, seeing Jerome do a three-step dash, it must be Season 2.”
“Three-step dash, hahaha, what a throwback!”
“That thing got hotfixed in three days ’cause it’s so OP.”
“Isn’t it just full of OP characters?”
“Back to the age of romance then.”
“Romance? More like barbarism! ADC had to hold their breath while walking back in those days.”
“Isn’t it the same even now…?”
“These days, ADCs are actually holding up; back then, you could die in a second.”
<"This is a video I made, haha...">
“I didn’t expect to use something I had forgotten here.”
“It makes me feel good seeing it used well.”
– “What is this again? Hahaha.”
“Last time it was Joodak, and this time it’s Paddak?”
“A streamer suspiciously close to the authorities…”
“There was a reason why there was no Kayak drama in the gallery.”
“Oh hahaha, all those early gallery kids were authorities; of course, Kayak would be friendly with them.”
“I enjoyed the video; the editing is really good.”
“Such talent in the gallery, wow.”
“What’s your relation with Kayak? What’s your relation with Kayak? What’s your relation with Kayak?”
“Nothing at all;;”
—
“Advancing again, advancing.”
“The girl’s steps were as unstoppable as the conquerors of the old continent.”
“It seemed that she didn’t care how powerful the foes, who existed only in those times, were, and in reality, they didn’t matter.”
Boom—
The drums of the pop song layered in the background let out a powerful sound. To that pounding rhythm, Camilla on screen takes her steps.
From such a tiny girl, those footsteps seemed impossible, but the odd match likely proves just how well the editing was done.
The written works detailing tales from the past said to contain the wisdom of ancient sages.
Indeed, it was so.
The quality of the graphics was low, and the characters within looked somewhat pathetic. It must be because it was still early in development, barely a moment after the game launched.
Yet, the video, though crude, contained content so refined that it captivated.
Caster Lee Hyuk Jin swallowed without realizing.
“Ah…”
The dance begins.
The silver-haired girl, Camilla, starts dancing once more.
Simultaneously, the foes start to fall one by one.
Sometimes overwhelmingly, sometimes with barely a sliver of health left, sometimes in sluggish, sticky brawls.
For beginners, it was a struggle just to figure out what was happening, even with their eyes wide open.
The battle continued, making it hard to grasp what was happening.
But there was one common thread in all these battles: the one standing on the final battlefield was always Camilla.
The Dance of Death. Anyone who witnessed that movement would inevitably meet their demise, as if the dance was infused with magical power.
Lee Hyuk Jin thought that many watching this video might not fully grasp how amazing this scene was.
However, he knew. He understood the value embedded in this highlight, in this play.
After all, the season featured in the video was when he first started in the Abyss.
As a living witness of those times, he could boldly say that during that era, Camilla faced countless OPs, and that too, at the top tier.
The only person who could play like that in the video was probably the user Hana.
Doo-doo-doo—
As if signaling the end of the video, the pop song playing in the background gradually faded, and Camilla came to a stop.
And then came the zoom in.
The battlefield was in chaos, but such a background no longer entered the video.
Only Camilla’s back was captured on screen.
Slowly, Camilla turned around.
Silver hair and eyes shining with a blue hue. Those eyes gazed beyond the screen, as if they were searching for a connection with the viewers, somewhere nostalgically.
With that scene, the music stopped, and the screen slowly faded to black.
The video had ended.
“….”
Unbeknownst to him, Lee Hyuk Jin licked his lips. It felt like the video was too short in that moment.
Even though the length of the highlights was the same as earlier.
It was the first time he felt such an impression while watching player highlights.
‘This is fun.’
It felt like watching a movie.
Looking to the side, the two co-commentators were also dumbfounded. They probably had similar feelings. Still, being in the industry, they had an eye for analyzing games.
Observing them, Lee Hyuk Jin smiled faintly.
In truth, he had joined the commentary for the prize money, but somehow this tournament seemed to offer value beyond just earning cash. It had been a while since watching just one video made him want to play the game.
Among the commentators who hesitated to speak up, he was the first to grab the mic.
He grabbed the mic first.
He had a lot to say.
– At that time, Camilla’s status was at rock bottom. No one was playing her, and honestly, it was wise not to play. The performance difference was just too great. Her only advantage was that she looked pretty. Yep, that was it.
– Do you guys have a sense of what I’m trying to say? Do you understand the philosophy behind this highlight? There probably aren’t that many viewers who played during that time, so it might not hit home.
– So this is pretty much a divine play, you know? What god am I talking about? Camilla’s god!
[Wow, haha, lolololol]
[Administering max dosage of cringe ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ]
[Why is that person like that? LOL]
[Honestly, it was a video worth it; our chat was on fire earlier.]
[Hyukjin is getting excited; look at those veins popping in his neck as he talks.]
[Isn’t this guy usually calm? This is the first time I’ve seen him raise his voice like this.]
[That just shows how thrilled he is.]
[Camilla’s god! Camilla’s god! Camilla’s god! Camilla’s god!]
[Well-made video!]
[Feels like I’m watching a movie.]
[Camilla won’t go down!]
[From the opponent’s perspective, it’s a disaster movie, haha.]
…Um, well.
Honestly, I didn’t expect it to gain this much impact. It’s an old video, and the quality wasn’t that good, either.
I thought people wouldn’t properly understand what kind of play I had made in the game.
Was that just my delusion? No, it doesn’t seem like it was.
The commentary team’s influence had to be significant for things to turn out this way.
After the video ended, the caster suddenly started explaining what kind of highlight it was and what was impressive about it.
Like a professional game analyst, they pointed out each past scene to the viewers. Using metaphors so anyone could easily understand.
I have no idea why they went that far, though. They praised me a bit earlier, and now this?
It wouldn’t be weird if a biased commentary controversy arose. Or if people suspected collusion between the caster and me.
In any case, to put it simply, the current situation was incredibly burdensome.
[Camilla's god donated 10,000 won!]
– Teacher, please say something!
“…I don’t know.”
It was hard to even respond.