“The returning champion of the North, MG has a new face!”
“Indeed, MG Brutal! A name more familiar to North American league fans as trainee Brutal.”
“Achieving first place in the North American solo rank, this player has garnered a lot of attention even before turning pro.”
Wowww—
Squeeeaaak—
As Brutal’s face appeared on the camera, cheers erupted from the crowd.
That guy’s definitely good-looking. There’s a reason why the female ratio in the audience feels distinctly higher.
With an impression reminiscent of a handsome foreign actor, Brutal, who has just transitioned from boyhood to young adulthood, had a look that was more than enough to make a living even without being a pro gamer.
Plus, the fact that his family is so wealthy as to arrange plane tickets and accommodation for me individually made it hard not to feel a tinge of jealousy. I get why Brutal has many fans, but also plenty of anti-fans.
“Last season, MG finished with a record of 7 wins and 11 losses, with a set score of 18 wins and 25 losses, ending the season in 6th place.”
“Considering it was a team that once instilled fear in all others and earned the title of champion in the North American league, it was a disappointing result.”
“With Brutal at the helm, MG has completed its team rebuild. What kind of performance will they show this season?”
Indicators with a jumble of English appear on the scoreboard alongside the commentators’ words. The mostly unreadable words are mostly just numbers to me. 65%, 33%, things like that. Probably win rates or pick rates.
The commentators’ rapid-fire English was hard to understand, but I managed to grasp the gist. I could roughly guess what they were talking about.
Even if the language barrier existed, if we’re all human and share the same interests, it wouldn’t be a huge barrier.
Everyone gathered here loves Abyss, and they’re dedicated enough to follow the pro league and come to watch the matches live. When it gets to that point, whether we understand each other or not really doesn’t matter.
In fact, there were more spectators who didn’t look American than I expected. Some of them probably didn’t understand much English, like me, but still came to watch the game. All thanks to the unique atmosphere that can only be felt on site.
“MG’s final pick is…? Cruyff.”
“Statistics show that player Brutal frequently uses Cruyff in solo rank.”
“However, there are currently no tournament statistics for Brutal. A blank slate, a void. This might make analysis tricky for the opposing team.”
“It might have been a bit tricky to make.”
“Both teams are ready! We’ll meet you in-game shortly.”
I’ve heard that international league matches play out differently from domestic ones.
The picks, compositions, and strategies they favor are supposed to be completely different.
When I heard this from the best pro gamer in Korea, Lee Jun Hyuk, I just nodded and let it drift through one ear and out the other, but now that I’m actually watching the match, those words popped back into my head.
“Hmm…”
So, how should I put this? ACK claims that the Korean league relies on control in the early and mid-game, along with teamwork and meticulous strategies to secure victories.
But here at ACS, it felt more like Solo Rank. There were a lot of experimental picks, and individual skills seemed to take precedence over teamwork. This was just my subjective opinion while watching the game.
At the same time, even though only 10 minutes had passed since the first match began, I started getting predictions on which team would win. It was a gut feeling close to certainty I had heard before.
After all, if the game was leaning this much towards Solo Rank…
“Oh, Brutal is rampaging! Perfect counterplay, successfully deceiving the opponent and scoring his debut kill!”
“Is this your first appearance? Is today your debut? What an amazing play!”
“Unbelievable physical control!”
No one can stop Brutal.
Only I, who encountered him in rank games and experienced his battle prowess firsthand, knew this.
Watching him adapt smoothly in pro scenes, not just in rank games, made me feel a little choked up.
Yeah, you’ve grown magnificently, Brutal. Very commendable.
Now go ahead and destroy ACS with your own hands.
I watched Brutal carry the first set with a satisfied smile.
In various pro sports, they often briefly pan to the audience during or between matches.
This is to capture the audience’s reactions to amazing moments, and to provide viewers some delightful visuals of audience members who can elicit laughter or are good for broadcast.
For example, the silver-haired beauty, radiating a charm that seems to blend the East and West, that makes you go “wow” just by looking at her.
A silver-haired beauty radiating an allure as if intertwined with everyone.
Or a woman with silver hair and blue eyes who is surprisingly responsive while pretending not to be. An audience member with an alarming degree of synchronization with the hero of the abyss, Camilla.
Indeed, as a cameraman in charge of the scoreboard, there was no reason not to capture Kayak on screen.
She wasn’t frowning or acting hooligan-ish. With her stunning looks and great reactions, how could he resist?
Before long, the cameraman, who had inadvertently fallen for this beautiful Korean woman, started to casually catch glimpses of her in the audience quite often.
Thus, it wasn’t surprising that viewers watching the real-time ACS online would talk about Kayak.
-Who is that woman they keep showing on screen??
-She’s incredibly beautiful! Way more gorgeous than my ex-girlfriend.
-The synchronization with Camilla is amazing. This is the best cosplay I’ve ever seen!
-I can’t believe there could be a Camilla in real life XD
-Is she a fan of MG? She has such unique reactions whenever MG scores.
-Isn’t that the VIP section? Only team officials or sponsors sit there?
-You mean that girl is a VIP?
-I asked my friend who’s there, and they said it’s the VIP section. They kept showing her, so they were curious and looked for her.
-My sibling is working as a staff member, and they said she’s Brutal’s girlfriend?
-What? Brutal’s girlfriend?
-Before the game started, she cheered for Brutal, and he turned red and ran away!
-SHIT! Brutal, you jerk! I’m not supporting MG from now on!
-Brutal is handsome, so his girlfriend must be pretty too.
-Brutal’s mine… but since they make a good match, I’ll concede.
Stories tend to become embellished as they pass from mouth to mouth.
The news that Kayak attended the game at Brutal’s invitation ballooned into something where she was seen as cheering for him as his girlfriend.
Most American communities accepted this almost as fact. Whether it’s the American or Korean community, there wasn’t much difference in blindly accepting uncertain information.
And this news was caught by Kayak, who was watching the ACS League, a show she wouldn’t typically watch, waiting endlessly for her owner to appear.
In order to capture even a glimpse, Kayak was watching the ACS League, something he usually didn’t do.
Before long, the news made its way to Korea.
[Viewer Reactions to Live ACS Stream.JPG]
It seems they have already recognized the gallery owner as Brutal’s girlfriend.
– “Shut the hell up, shut the hell up, shut the hell up, shut the hell up.”
– “Haha, right? She’s booking flights and accommodations; isn’t she practically a girlfriend? LOL.”
– “It was a future foretold since the moment they boarded their flight to America.”
– “Brutal is a minor, and the gallery owner is an adult closer to a chicken coop; does that even make sense?”
– “What are you talking about, the gallery owner isn’t a chicken coop, idiot.”
– “Maybe to Brutal, it would be classified as a chicken coop.”
– “They’re not even ten years apart, what are you saying?”
– “If it’s to the level of Kayak, she could attract a truckload of men even at chicken coop age, you know?”
– “The gallery owner is not a chicken coop; she’s fine wine.”
– “Seriously, it’s Kayak, the master of real wine! DDDDDD.”
– “Damn it, who says she’s a girlfriend? Let’s see some spicy action!”
– “Dropping tactical nukes? Where is that?”
– “Those pathetic guys trying to invade overseas communities… that’s Kayak for you.”
It’s unknown whether she was afraid of losing her owner or simply annoyed by the misunderstandings from Americans.
Not long after the news spread, Korean became suspiciously prevalent in the Vtuber ACS stream channel.
– “The silver-haired guy on the stream is Korean and not Brutal’s girlfriend.”
– “She is Korean.”
– “Don’t take Kayak away, don’t take Kayak away, don’t take Kayak away, don’t take Kayak away.”
– “Brutal’s dick is 3 centimeters. Brutal’s dick is 3 centimeters. Brutal’s dick is 3 centimeters. Brutal’s dick is 3 centimeters.”
– “She doesn’t have a boyfriend, okay?”
– “What is this in the chat?”
– “What language is this?”
– “Are these Chinese?”
– “This is Korean.”
– “There’s a lot more Korean chat now.”
– “Wasn’t that Camilla supposed to be Korean? She looked like an American?”
– “Isn’t she a streamer on Twitch?”
– “What’s the streamer’s name? I want to follow.”
Kayak, who tsked at those embarrassing fellows, would have facepalmed if she knew of their antics.
“Brutal turns the battlefield upside down!”
“Very clean play. Brutal demonstrates seasoned skills by utilizing the terrain.”
‘Hehe, this is fun.’
She was too busy enjoying the match on site.
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