“Did… we win?”
Riri spoke with a somewhat confused voice, as if struggling to grasp reality.
“Yeah, it seems we did…?”
Hakchu added, echoing Riri’s bewilderment.
The reason for their statements was simple; they felt like they had won the game way too easily.
The semifinals were a best-of-five, and just now, the first match had ended in victory. With just one more win, they’d take down the Dekal team and advance to the finals.
Even though they had only won one set, it felt like a dream for Riri.
This feeling was a side effect of how unexpectedly easy the game had been. After being all tense, they ended up with a surprisingly anticlimactic victory.
In Riri’s mind— based on those simulations she had run before bed— today’s game was not supposed to be this easy.
It was meant to be a bloody battle, filled with urgent orders and briefings, showcasing all the practice they had undergone, and Riri saving the day at critical moments.
That was the competition she had envisioned, but now it felt, how should I put it… incredibly bland. Like a tasteless, watered-down broth…
However, it wasn’t that she disliked winning. On the contrary, she felt great about it. Very much so.
It turned out her teammates were just as thrilled, as excited voices began to echo.
“Nice, nice, everyone!”
“Wow. That was way easier than I expected! Everything just clicked perfectly according to strategy.”
“There’s one more set left, but they’re probably having a headache now. Honestly, it’ll be tougher for them now than before.”
With such a dominant first-set victory, the momentum had clearly shifted.
Even pros often struggle to recover after losing the first match in a best-of series. It’s no surprise that cocky newcomers can easily crumble under pressure.
Mental state, atmosphere, and momentum are crucial in games—especially in amateur competitions.
The victory plan had crumbled long ago; once the tide turned, teams would fail to execute their strategies, resulting in defeat.
Thus, the chances of winning the second set were also high.
Of course, it was thanks to someone else who had created this advantage and brought the team together—the mastermind behind this whole game.
If there were an MVP, it was undoubtedly her.
As the teammates waited for her input, oddly, Kayak remained silent.
Curious about Kayak’s silence, Rookie 2 (who felt a bit left out for not being Rookie 1) called out to her.
“Are you feeling a bit left out?” she called.
“Teacher? Where did you go?”
The answer came after a slight rustling sound.
“No, I’ve been… here since earlier.”
“Oh, so you were here. I thought you’d gone somewhere since it was so quiet, hehe.”
“Ah, I needed a moment to think…”
Hearing that, Riri thought, ‘Did the teacher analyze the play from the last match right after the game ended?’
Just like masters of Go, chess, and traditional games, Kayak might have been reflecting on her play and giving herself some feedback.
Riri felt a bit guilty for possibly interrupting her teacher’s focus, yet at the same time, she felt her respect for her mentor blossom even more, especially since they had overwhelmingly won the game and the teacher remained humble.
‘Just like the teacher!’
However, contrary to Riri’s imagination, Kayak was just fiddling around in front of the camera, playing with hand shadows, showing this is a bird, this is a rabbit—just showcasing various animal shapes.
After wrapping up her one-sided communication through the cam, Kayak opened her mouth, feeling a subtle sense of satisfaction.
“Everyone did well in the first set, let’s keep it up in the second set.”
With a demeanor as if it were only natural to mention victory, the team members nodded, their faces filled with trust.
*
– “Kayak’s march cannot be stopped! Behind the general who leads, many soldiers begin to rush in!”
– “Dekal tries to stop it somehow but is outmatched! It looks like it’s saying you can’t stop me with just this!”
– “Riri’s strike aiming for a gap! Oh, can she land this hit? Who would think this player is Bronze tier? Fierce! Absolutely fierce!”
As most expected, the second set also concluded with Kayak’s team winning, wrapping up the first group’s quarterfinal match.
From the moment that strategy clicked in the first set, Dekal’s team was pretty shaken.
It seemed they couldn’t shake off that influence in the second set either, as glimpses of flustering behavior appeared quite often, making their defeat almost expected.
Though more leaned towards predicting a victory for Kayak’s team, contrary to what most thought would be a nail-biter leading to three matches, today’s game was rather one-sided.
While both teams had similar skill levels, Kayak’s team’s unique and unpredictable play completely neutralized Dekal’s team. That was the commentary’s assessment.
[Well, where else would you meet something like that?]
[Maybe Dekal just overthought it? If they had just gone for it, they would have won.]
[You can tell how pathetic the level of getting defeated by that random build is. Tsk tsk, that guy.]
[Just level of ^Water Rocket^ just level of ^Water Rocket^ just level of ^Water Rocket^ just level of ^Water Rocket^]
[4th place 4th place]
[Is it still a no-show? Is it still a no-show? Is it still a no-show?]
[If you’re frustrated, just turn on your own broadcast and jump in. LOL]
[So what now?]
Currently, the official broadcast had a whopping 70,000 viewers, and that number was still increasing in real-time.
The scale of the tournament was massive, and due to the delay in the streamers’ channels, people flocked to the official broadcast.
While the admin staff was sweating bullets managing the chat, Lee Hyuk Jin continued the show without a care in the world.
Kayak’s broadcast was back on. Unlike the previous time, there was no delay and it was a smooth broadcast.
“Hello.”
[Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!]
[Didn’t turn off the handcam, LOL]
[Older sister, your voice is so nice ㅠㅠ]
[Congrats on being selected as MVP, Teacher]
[Is it nice winning with a random build? Is it nice winning with a random build? Is it nice winning with a random build? Is it nice winning with a random build?]
[What the;;]
[What’s good about a girl who doesn’t even show her face, LOL]
[You can tell just by seeing they can’t turn on the cam, right? You can tell just by seeing they can’t turn on the cam, right? You can tell just by seeing they can’t turn on the cam, right?]
[Ah, a bunch of trolls came, ugh]
[If you give me the sword, I’ll slice through everything!]
[I’ll capture this and sue you with whatever law for badmouthing our Broadcast Host, don’t mess with her!]
There was no chat moderator in Kayak’s broadcast, making it an optimal place for trolls to run wild.
Many viewers already came from other team members’ broadcasts only to get banned and ended up here.
Moreover, since Kayak was chosen as MVP on the official broadcast, all the spotlight was naturally directed toward her channel.
However, she seemed unbothered by the trolls in the chat and stayed quiet until she clicked on someone’s chat log to speak up.
“Is it nice winning with a random build?… Hmm, rladydtn0921 seems to think that’s a random build. This is a build I meticulously crafted one by one. Anyway, if you say it’s random, then yeah, it feels good. Winning is obviously nice.”
[Kya]
[Of course it feels good to win, who wouldn’t want that? LOL]
[Our Yong Soo is really mad, huh?]
[Yong Soo, Yong Soo… ]
[Kim Yong Soo, born September 21 confirmed]
[Don’t insult our older sister ㅡㅡ]
“Well, I guess without anything to roast, I’ll just roast the build! Haha!”
After that, Kayak continued to respond to the trolling chat. The handcam was already exposed, so it was enough; she could show her face or not—her choice.
By responding to trolls one by one, even normal viewers may have been tempted to join in just to communicate with her, but most refrained from doing so.
The trolls’ final destination was being banned, after all. Once Kayak answered their questions, she mercilessly banned them, asking if their curiosity was satisfied.
At that point, the chat started to regain some stability. The influx of unexpected trolls was overwhelming, and they flooded the chat quickly, but Kayak was perfectly capable of clicking each one to ban them.
What followed was like a celebration gathering for donations.
This was also one of the reasons streamers join tournaments.
After successfully wrapping up such a big event, legitimate donation time was supposed to come next. This rule, akin to a national norm, applied to Kayak as well.
The tournament hadn’t completely ended; it was just the top four. However, with the performance Kayak displayed today, getting donations was more than justified.
“Congratulations on reaching the finals… Thank you! A 10,000 won donation! Oh my, such a large sum again….”
“Is this room just about ‘thank yous’ now?”
“Reaction’s totally trash!”
“10,000 won gets a ‘thank you’ but 30,000 gets an ‘oh my’ huh, interesting.”
“Hmm, reaction… True, receiving donations feels a bit lacking. Since it’s a congratulatory thing, it should be alright, right? But still, I wonder if there’s anything simple I can do. I can’t show my face, though.”
After a brief moment of contemplation, Kayak snapped her fingers as if she had a brilliant idea.
“Oh, were you all in my room earlier? Did you see what I did in front of the cam?”
“Was it the finger flick thing?”
“Why did you do that, though?”
“Remember after the first set? You were fiddling with your hands.”
“You made animal shapes or something, right?”
“Exactly, animals! Since I’m still on handcam today, how about I try making animals with my hands? Is this the most pointless reaction ever? Hmm… Well, I have nothing else to do.”
Though she asked for the viewers’ opinions, their suggestions were all things Kayak couldn’t possibly reflect upon.
So, just like before, she began to wiggle her slender fingers in front of the cam.
Continuing until the backlog of donations was resolved.
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