LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 128
The day my temporary contract ended and I officially became a pro.
The first person to send me a message was…
Teacher!
[Jeong Seok-won’s Message]
– Congrats! That’s truly amazing.
– With your skills, there’s nothing to worry about.
– Just do what you’ve always done and you’ll get good results.
– You’re still my most cherished student.
– After this tournament is over, let’s grab a meal together.
The person who supported me during my tough times. He was my teacher when I was practicing Kendo, and tried to fill the void left by my parents when I couldn’t train anymore. Once again, he celebrated my achievement as if it were his own.
Now that I’m earning decent money, I want to treat him to a meal. But he’s always been adamant about never letting his students buy him anything.
So, what can I do? I should bring a gift when I visit to make it hard for him to refuse. Since he’s busy, I planned to pick a date soon.
Even during the season, there should be room for a quick meal. So for now, let’s finish the goals I haven’t achieved yet.
[Streamer ‘Sigma Gawol’s Lounge]
[Author: Sigma Gawol]
[Title: I’ll wrap up today’s ranking climb broadcast.]
You all have a lot of questions, right? But I don’t think there’s any need to rush things. I’m planning to stream regularly from now on.
I’m really close to reaching rank 1, just a few games away, right? I’ll take my time achieving that goal.
I also need to think about what to do for a celebration once I hit rank 1.
By the way, did you notice? I changed my streaming nickname! Now I’ll show up as Sigma Gawol in-game.
[Comments]
– So what time are you streaming?
– If you don’t say the time, what am I supposed to do?
└ Ah… I’ll start at 3.
– So now we’re not killing streamers anymore?
└ I talked to the front, and they said there are no regulations against it.
└ But it’s a shame my field time is getting cut down.
└ ?
Originally, I wanted to finish climbing to rank 1 before my professional debut. I was so close, but sadly, timing didn’t align.
It’s true that I’d lost some motivation. But I couldn’t just silently give up, especially with all the promises I’d made.
Well, it’s not a bad idea for an event to celebrate with the viewers. Not everything is bad about this.
If things go well, I might have something to brag about to my teacher later. Your student is still the best. I’m sure he’ll love that.
[Title: 83 RP to Rank 1]
[‘Sigma Gawol’ is currently broadcasting.]
[ON AIR | 00:01:17 | Waiting Room]
“Ah, ah. Can you hear me? Thanks for coming today.”
*
The Prelude is nearing its end. The surviving teams are faces I can only think “Oh, it’s you again.”
It wouldn’t be strange for anyone to win; we were just waiting for the final battle.
Once the Prelude is over, the league will start again. The gap is generally about a month?
My debut match was scheduled for the Summer League.
Sigma decided to start their boot camp and scrims two weeks before the opening. Until then, everyone can enjoy their free time.
Well, no player would spend all that time doing absolutely nothing.
Inbl is a full-dive VR MMORPG where players control characters directly. Characters possess physical abilities that vastly exceed human biological limits and utilize skills that do not exist in reality.
It’s natural to take time to regain your momentum if you lose the feeling.
So, there should be strong contenders from the Prelude queue now.
Professional gamers who couldn’t handle their surplus time feeling salty about getting eliminated.
Since this is my first broadcast after debuting, it wouldn’t be surprising to catch their attention.
We can expect much higher quality matches than the usual queue.
“Thank you for the support, Ba-da-eu-rin-tibaek. As for the cam stream… there’ll be an opportunity soon. I owe my sister a favor and I plan to pay her back in a few days.”
After about 20 minutes of streaming, I spent some time answering viewers’ questions while waiting for people to log in and game.
“I feel like I’ve shared almost everything. Shall we start queuing now?”
Just like from my first broadcast, I purposely don’t hide the timing for queueing. The times when targeting me would be easy have long passed.
If you’re not a top-level player, it’s rare for players to get caught up together in serious games, so I’m not afraid of targeting.
Well, the results were lacking, to be honest.
I expected a decent match, but the first game ended rather anticlimactically.
The second and third games were pretty much the same.
I almost faced a dangerous situation due to a bad map gimmick, but overall, I won comfortably.
I couldn’t help but frown a little.
This was my long-awaited climb to rank 1. There’s no way it could end so easily, right?
“…Did I raise my expectations too high? What’s Luce’s score now?”
I opened the interface to check the ranking screen.
At the top was a name I recognized.
There were specific players competing for rank 1 in the game.
In Korea, that’s Luce, Donghae, a few other pros, and some amateurs.
Originally, Traveler was in there too, but that guy flew off to England.
After running and running, my rank was currently at 2.
The point difference between me and Luce was just 15.
Winning the next match would probably flip the rankings.
I couldn’t shake my dissatisfaction.
I wanted this moment to feel special.
Is it true that the world flows without consideration for my wishes?
[Matching Complete.]
[Would you like to accept the match? Y/N]
[……20 seconds until you move to the battlefield.]
After some hesitation, I hit the queue.
Fortunately, the final match matchup looked good.
*
[Rank Match – Infinity 2,739 RP]
[Battlefield: Arena of Duel]
[Rules: 5-player Winner Takes All]
[Round 2]
[Defeat]
[vs NYX (Sorcerer)]
The regions that once dominated eSports were Northeast Asia.
Korea. And China. For a time, these two countries swept all the awards and were the kings of the scene.
But due to the stringent regulations placed on virtual reality games in China…
In Korea, the Phantom’s unfair treatment incident sparked a large-scale exodus of talent.
Even during the prolonged golden age, an end came.
Meanwhile, the Anglophone world absorbed the lost talents from Northeast Asia.
With powerful capital and newly gained know-how, they widened the gap, and Korean players also contributed significantly.
The main players back then are still active and well-known.
Phantom. And Hero.
Representing the North American league, those two were… Korean pro gamers from the generation before Luce.
Phantom had even gone so far as to naturalize in the U.S, so saying he’s ‘of Korean origin’ is more accurate.
[Victory.]
[Prepare. Your next opponent will be immediately entered without wait time.]
[Remaining Health: 91.4%]
As I drew a dagger, blood trickled from the wound.
An amateur Sorcerer. He fought better than I expected, but he was inexperienced.
In other words, if they filled the team with players like him, an all-kill is possible.
If a powerhouse like that shows up, I’d have to give it my all.
[Round 3]
[Defeat/Victory]
[vs W Titans Hero (Paladin)]
As the light signaling battlefield entry appeared, a colorless knight emerged.
He was clad in old-fashioned gray armor—holding a massive greatsword.
However, the knight himself was short.
From what I could tell, he was just slightly taller than me.
I heard that in-game, the height was slightly increased.
If we met in reality, we might have been at eye level.
There was a bit of an age difference, but they were famous for looking much younger.
When together, they might even seem like friends.
Anyway, as the burst of light vanished, the battle began.
Hero let out a loud, “Haah-!”
Considering the voice belonged to the wielder of that enormous greatsword, it was hard to believe.
It was a tone reminiscent of a small girl.
[You receive the effect of ‘Warrior’s Roar.’]
[Strength decreases by 8%, and the enemy’s strength increases by half that amount.]
But don’t be fooled.
Among top-tier players, she had one of the roughest playstyles.
Suddenly, the greatsword targeted my lower body.
The speed was not something I could easily take, but the real problem was what came next.
The sword crashed into the stone ground, creating a small crater instead of embedding itself.
Paladin class has great performance with the subclasses.
Paladins have solid defense and sustain. Spear Knights have overwhelming body weight. Dark Knights excel with debuffs and high damage output.
Hero chose the class ‘Knight’ for a single reason.
To maintain overwhelming strength stats.
A mad build, maximizing strength to the theoretical limits.
The greatsword embedded in the ground started to tear it apart and leapt upward.
“Nice to meet you, junior. I heard rumors about you reaching here, so I wanted to meet you.”
Facing that lunatic and her weapon would be suicide.
I dodged left, aiming for a counterattack.
Leading with my dagger, I charged forward while raising my shadow as a spike.
It’s polite to return greetings with greetings, right?
I pushed a blade toward her face while smiling.
“Certainly, senior. I’ve been wanting to meet you as well.”