Chapter 114: Chapter 114

When I logged out of the connection device, the area around the practice room was unusually quiet.

Normally, you'd see at least a few people around, but today it felt oddly empty, like I’d been left alone in a vast, open space.

It wasn’t that Sigma’s players had suddenly become lax in their training.

The trainees and second-string players were on a short vacation, and the main squad, including Luche and Camellia, were busy preparing for their departure.

The first international tournament of the Spring League, where all the top teams gather, was about to begin.

Its official name was Champions Prelude, though most just called it Prelude.

Among the players, it was seen as a mid-season checkup of sorts.

That’s not to say it wasn’t impactful.

Even now, the esports community was buzzing with anticipation, cranking out article after article.@@novelbin@@

Champions Prelude: Which Team to Watch?

[Feature] Sigma's Unprecedented Power—Will They End the Curse of International Matches?

The Tide is Shifting—Watch Out for This Team: ‘Falcon’

The Value of an S-Rank Assassin! Insights on the Middle Eastern League, Home of the Hashashin

This is the Land of Martial Arts—An Introduction to the Chinese League Teams

[Column] Can a Team Without a Strong Assassin Survive?

With a new season starting and the previous league having ended, certain questions naturally arise for esports fans.

How well have last year’s powerhouse teams maintained their strength?

Have they adapted to the new meta seamlessly?

Which new challengers are worth watching, and which region seems strongest?

Prelude is a precursor to the World Championship that caps the year.

A good showing in Prelude could give teams an edge in the Championship, allowing them to gauge their competitiveness in advance.

This year, the spotlight seemed to be shining on Sigma, perhaps due to Camellia’s unexpected strength, or maybe because of Traveler’s departure weakening Q Prime.

At home, expectations were heavily focused on Sigma.

Well, none of that really mattered to me right now.

After all, I wasn’t going to participate in the tournament.

I’d just analyze the matches when necessary.

‘Maybe I should grab something to eat?’

I was feeling pretty hungry since I hadn’t eaten anything after waking up.

In the past, a single bowl of ramen would’ve been enough to keep me going for hours.

But now that I’ve started exercising and taking care of my health, my eating habits have changed, and I find myself needing more food.

In the days when I survived by selling gold, eating would’ve felt like a hassle.

But not anymore. Being part of Sigma meant I had access to the players’ cafeteria.

A paradise where I could get delicious meals for free, 24 hours a day.

Now that I was also earning income from streaming, I hadn’t checked, but the donation money should’ve piled up quite a bit by now.

Maybe it was time to take a look.

“Whoa!”

I knew it wouldn’t be a small sum, but the amount on the balance sheet far exceeded my expectations.

...With this much money, maybe cosplaying wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Sigma’s practice room was on the fifth floor of the dormitory building, but the players’ cafeteria was on the third floor.

With my leg in its current state, that meant I had to take the elevator.

Thankfully, as soon as I stepped out of the elevator, the entrance was right in front of me.

"Third floor."

"Doors opening."

As soon as the elevator doors opened, I found myself face-to-face with Camellia.

It must have been mealtime.

“Oh.”

“Hmm.”

Since we’d already bumped into each other, we naturally ended up sitting together.

It was an awkward meal.

My relationship with Camellia... well, it wasn’t exactly bad.

Sure, she had a bit of a rivalry with me, but that was all there was to it.

She’d never given me any attitude or tried to put me in my place.

In fact, I’d say it was rather good.

From what I’d heard from Luche, she’d even helped me out behind the scenes a few times.

I didn’t hold any grudges either.

I’d already accepted her apology, so harboring ill feelings would be pretty immature.

Neither of us had any emotional baggage left over.

Still.

Even with that, having a meal with Camellia—Shin Eun-chae—felt awkward.

“...”

“...”

Before becoming a pro gamer, Shin Eun-chae had been a typical model student.

She had a sharp look about her, but aside from her molten hot competitive spirit, she was usually pretty calm.

In other words, she was fairly introverted.

I wasn’t much different.

I wasn’t the type to start a lively conversation just because I was alone with someone.

So, we sat there in an endless silence, both too introverted to break it.

You know how it is sometimes.

When there are three of you, everything’s fine, but the moment it’s just two, it gets awkward.

That’s exactly how things were between me and Camellia whenever Luche wasn’t around.

It seemed Camellia realized we couldn’t go on like this.

Her lips twitched, as if she was about to say something.

“I heard you’re doing a cosplay.”

“Pffft! Cough, cough. Ack!”

What the hell did I just hear?

The sudden comment caught me so off guard that I started choking, pounding my chest.

Thank goodness I didn’t have any food in my mouth.

“News travels fast.”

“Word gets around. So, what character are you going to do?”

“Why are you so curious about that...?”

“Of course I’m curious. I know the person doing it.”

“Well, I haven’t decided yet. I’ll take my time and think about it.”

The roulette wasn’t something I had actually planned to use.

Its original purpose was just to exist as bait, never to be spun for real.

That’s all it was—no more, no less.

But once it had spun, all of that became meaningless.

Thinking about it left me feeling a little bitter, and before I knew it, I snapped.

“So, you must be pretty confident about the tournament, huh? Since you’ve got time to be curious about pointless stuff.”

“Well, it’s your thing. Doesn’t seem pointless to me.”

Is that so?

I almost smiled at that.

“Just don’t get too cocky, ‘Royal Roader’...”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, of all people. The person who’s the least humble in the entire world.”

“...Anyway, you’re prepping for the tournament, right? How’s it going?”

“Yeah, I’m working hard.”

Camellia’s passion was undeniable.

After her loss in the Arena, she’d even come up with her own strategy to counter me.

It wasn’t perfect, but still pretty impressive.

Thanks to that, she’d now become a formidable opponent in Assassin matchups.

Even I couldn’t deny her physical skill.

“You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

“We’re heading out of the dorm tomorrow, but the flight isn’t until after midnight.”

“I see. Do your best out there. I might not be able to see you off since I’ll be streaming tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to come back with a good result. I won’t lose to you again, though.”

Camellia smiled brightly.

Was she hoping for my encouragement?

If that was the case, I’d be happy for her, but for some reason, I felt the urge to tease her.

“Win? What are you talking about? You’ve lost every time so far. You’re terrible.”

“...”

Ah, her eyes got scary.

[Title: Until I Reach Rank 1]

[Ga-wol is streaming.]

[ON AIR | 04:10:24 | Waiting Room]

Despite my contract with Sigma and the personal streaming equipment I’d longed for, nothing about my daily life had really changed.

I ate, slept, and played games.

Sure, I had more time for other activities now, but games still dominated my life.

I couldn’t let my guard down just because my circumstances had improved.

In fact, it should be the opposite.

Now that I had an environment where I could truly excel, I needed to push myself harder.

“Can I really make it to number one? I don’t know. We’ll see once I try.”

A viewer’s question popped up in the chat.

I wasn’t too sure of the answer myself, so I just responded honestly.

The road to rank 1 was tough.

It wasn’t just about being good at the game; it also required playing a lot of matches.

Even if I won every game from here on out, it would still take quite a bit of time.

[Matchmaking complete.]

[Do you accept the match? Y/N]

[... Moving to battlefield in 20 seconds.]

Infinity Black’s ranked matches used a point-based system, with no theoretical upper limit to the score.

For most casual players, Diamond was the usual ceiling.

Above that was where the “Heavenly Realm” began—the true ranked competition with unlimited scoring.

The top tier, Infinity, was limited to the best 400 players, while the Abyss rank encompassed the top 1,000.

The higher you climbed, the fewer points you earned per match, so it wasn’t an endless marathon.

There was usually a cutoff point where things stabilized—at least for maintaining tier ranks, like in the previous season.

But to make it into the single-digit ranks, the points you needed skyrocketed.

“If I didn’t think I could do it, I wouldn’t have started. Once I’ve begun, I have to see it through.”

Ultimately, this game was determined by skill.

If it took a lot of matches to get to the top, then I’d just play more matches.

After all, time was something I had in abundance.

[Rank Match – Black 541 RP]

[Battlefield: Roiling Lava Zone]

[Rule: Duo]

I twirled the dagger in my hand.

By now, the hilt felt like an extension of my body.

After a brief loading period, the names of my allies and enemies popped up.

The chat immediately started to buzz.

“What the hell is that?!”

“Why is that guy in this match?”

“Another snipe?”