T/N: Ugh, I know. It’s been months, aahh!
- The 1st World Championship (3)
The scale was large, but they had already finished a perfect rehearsal through the in-house tournament.
There had been small mistakes and accidents, but the tournament proceeded smoothly without any disruption.
Just because it was the World Championship did not mean there was only the tournament. Various events had been prepared for this day, including sales of specially prepared limited-edition goods.
Among them, the event that received the loudest cheers was none other than…
-I will give everything I have and kill you!
-My name is Prinie. I’m a cute newbie working hard to become… the world’s greatest enhancer!
A voice actor show!
It was an online game that had gained enormous popularity all over the world. Naturally, it was serviced in each country’s language, but the original Japanese voice actors were still the most famous.
When all of them came to Korea together and put on a wonderful show, the Monster Eater users gathered at the venue went wild with excitement.
Takizawa Satoshi spoke to Taeyeon, looking extremely satisfied.
“The users seem to like it very much. It was worth preparing the performance.”
The person who had pushed this performance forward was, of course, Yoo Taeyeon, the general manager of the event.
At first, the idea of a congratulatory stage by a famous singer or actor had come up, but Taeyeon rejected it and suggested a voice actor show.
-It will be much more fun than singers who have barely anything to do with the game coming out to dance and sing.
The prophecy became reality.
The users who filled BEXCO were cheering at the top of their lungs for the voice actors passionately performing famous Monster Eater lines and famous scenes.
With an atmosphere like this, the voice actors were also excited and acted with all their voices.
While various events, including the voice actor show, continued, the matches were about to begin in another place.
In front of countless competition PC sets, participating teams of two had taken their seats.
And behind them, Crying Soft and Nexple Plus employees stood one by one.
A short while later.
-“From now on, we will begin the first preliminary match of the 1st Monster Eater World Championship!”
With the host’s declaration, the match began.
The preliminaries were focused more on quick operation than spectating. That was because there were an enormous number of participating teams.
Those who had finished their matches were anxiously staring at the scoreboards installed all around. Right there, the Speedy Racing rankings and records were being updated in real time.
“Ah…!”
“We dropped!”
Those who had barely been hanging on to the cutoff line for the main bracket but were eventually pushed out sighed in despair. A fierce battle was unfolding over who would advance to the main bracket.
The matches continued without a moment to rest.
‘Can we finish this within today?’
According to the calculations, there should be no problem, but even so, watching the situation on-site made him nervous.
The matches had to end within the scheduled time so the next event could proceed.
And then.
“PD-nim. There’s a fight between audience members over there right now…”
“There’s a complaint about unfriendliness….”
“The limited-edition stock ran out earlier than expected…”
There were far more things to worry about than just operating the matches. Taeyeon ran around busily here and there, directing the venue.
“That’s why we installed CCTV everywhere for situations like this. If a problem occurs, immediately pass it to the organizing committee, check the CCTV, and handle it according to the manual.”
“If the limited-edition stock is sold out, quickly announce the situation and release the discounted sale stock.”
Late at night.
Only after midnight did Taeyeon barely return to his lodging, and he collapsed as he was.
‘I have no strength left at all.’
When he thought that he had to do this for two more days, his mind went blank.
‘I really burned through today like crazy.’
He had been so out of it that the things that happened today did not remain in his memory at all. Around the middle, it felt like he had been moving with nothing but instinct left.
‘Still…’
He moved his arm with difficulty and took his cell phone out from inside his clothes.
‘I should check what needs to be checked one last time.’
Missed messages had piled up.
‘Even in the middle of all that, I somehow seem to have handled the things that needed to be dealt with first.’
He had no memory of it, but it seemed he had handled calls, texts, and email work. Seeing even the things he had sent recorded like this gave him a strange sense of dissonance.
“Urgh…!”
He struggled to raise himself and handled the messages he had not managed to process… in other words, the messages that had been pushed down in priority. Among them were not only Monster Eater matters, but also many work details related to Pantheon and Project D.
“Urgh! I’m really going to die at this rate!”
After handling all the important things and checking the time, another hour had passed.
‘Lastly…’
He checked Kim Yuna’s messages.
Even in the middle of the chaos, the things that vaguely remained in his memory were video calls and chats with Yuna.
‘I hope I didn’t make any mistakes because I was in a hurry…’
At times like this, a careless or half-hearted reply could hurt someone.
And if he had done that not to anyone else, but to his girlfriend…?
‘…Thankfully, I don’t see anything like that.’
For the most part, the messages Yuna had sent were full of words of support, with consideration tucked into every corner.
[There are so many people. I want to go in person and see you working on-site, Oppa… but if I go, I’ll probably only get in the way.]
[Oppa. Stay strong! I’ll keep cheering you on!]
[You must be busy, so you don’t have to reply anymore. ^^]
“Now that I think about it, I’m really blessed.”
He suffered as much as anyone, could not earn money, and the colleagues who had started later than him seemed to have already succeeded or married good people and were living happily…
There had definitely been times when he thought he alone was unhappy.
‘But now that I think about it, I was the happiest person of all.’
Because he was receiving love from such a kind and considerate woman.
Just remembering that fact seemed to bring his strength back.
[I’m back at the hotel now. Sleep well…… I’ll call you again tomorrow.]
Not long after sending the message, Taeyeon fell into a deep sleep.
The next day was even more hectic.
That was because they had to continue with the second preliminary round and the main bracket. On top of that, there were also plenty of large and important events, such as Crying Soft’s new game reveal event and a Q&A session during the intermission.
To supervise all of that and participate at the same time…
‘I’m going to collapse at this rate.’
Perhaps he was inviting hardship because of his perfectionist tendencies.
But if it was to satisfy the users who loved the game enough to come all this long, difficult way…
‘Even if I die, I have to work hard.’
This was something he absolutely could not disappoint them on.
If he could burn himself out and give them even a small memory, he felt like he would be truly happy.
He was simply doing everything he could for that.
“PD-nim. Please rest while you work. You’ll die at this rate.”
“You’re supervising the event and handling studio work at the same time right now, aren’t you?”
“If someone saw this, they’d think we were abusing you.”
It seemed his complexion had not looked good.
Even the Japanese employees from Crying Soft came to him with drinks and words full of concern.
Takizawa Satoshi also said something.
“Why don’t you go somewhere and rest for even just an hour? Something really bad will happen at this rate.”
As if pushed along, he went to a quiet cafe and drank a cup of cold coffee.
Then he sagged.
“I’m tired.”
Sleep began to wash over him.
‘I guess my nerves were wound up to an excessive degree.’
When he checked his face with his phone camera, his complexion looked quite poor.
‘All right. Let’s relax a little.’
What should he do to help refresh his mood?
‘A game?’
He did like games, but in his current state, it seemed like it would actually do more harm.
‘I need a way to empty my head and relieve stress.’
The answer came.
[Busy?]
‘It’s Yuna!’
He immediately called her.
-Uh… c-can I call you right now? Aren’t you busy?
A flustered face.
But….
‘She has makeup on?’
“Are you working right now?”
-Yeah. I had a little time left during a CF shoot, so I called….
As expected of the CF queen!
He looked around and switched to a video call.
“I came out to a cafe to rest for a bit right now.”
Then they talked while looking at each other’s faces.
To a surprising degree, his fatigue faded along with his tension.
-I have to hang up now. Sorry.
“Let’s call again.”
After hanging up, he stretched with all his strength.
He even felt refreshed.
“…”
Taeyeon, who had been staring blankly into empty space, sprang up from his seat.
“I rested enough. Now let’s go work.”
No matter how much they had told him to trust them and leave it to them, there were quite a lot of things that could only be handled if he was there.
‘They must be in quite a difficult situation by now.’
His guess was right.
“Ah, about that problem, well…”
“Over there, PD-nim is here! PD-nim!”
The organizing committee and the staff had all become flustered over the problems that had piled up in the meantime.
“What’s the problem?”
Taeyeon, who appeared like a savior, resolved all the problems in an instant.
Later, Takizawa Satoshi spoke with an awkward expression.
“It seems this venue really cannot function without you.”
Taeyeon laughed pleasantly.
Before they knew it, the main bracket was also coming to an end.
The players were playing thrilling matches, and the spectators were watching and cheering.
Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Only then did Taeyeon feel that he had gained a little breathing room, and he let out a sigh of relief.
‘Even so, it would have been difficult if this kind of situation had continued.’
All the side events were over, and now only the finals, the award ceremony, and the tournament closing ceremony remained.
-Ah! What is happening? Player Jang Jinho, who has shown amazing control and strategy until now! He failed to avoid the debuff bomb!
-The opposing team! They calmly seize the opportunity. They are continuing the strategy while exquisitely avoiding the debuff obstacles!
-Ah! The match is over! Players Jang Jinho and Kim Jinwook, who were considered strong contenders for the championship. Team “Black Tiger” is defeated!
It seemed the Korean player team that Taeyeon had also been interested in had lost the match.
He put aside his thoughts for a moment and looked at the broadcast screen.
The sight of the two young men, who had been standing there in blank despair, shedding tears and feeling wronged was broadcast exactly as it was. It contrasted with the American team, who did not know what to do with their joy.
After the main bracket ended, the final match followed immediately.
America VS France.
It was a situation where an upset had occurred, with the Korean and Japanese players, both from gaming powerhouses and considered championship candidates, all eliminated.
However, it would not have been strange no matter which team advancing to the main bracket won. That was because victory and defeat had been decided by literally a hair’s breadth of bad luck. Because of that, there was not a large difference in their raid clear records either.
-The two teams that reached the finals are calmly defeating monsters and collecting gold!
A match that made palms sweat continued.
The players, the caster, and the audience were all fully tense as they immersed themselves in the match.
-Ah! The French team! They failed to avoid the debuff obstacle! It would be good if they could get past this without anything happening… and as I say that, they are hit by Blue Dragon Kargarras’s tail swing!
It was the moment when sighs and cheers burst out.
And in that moment, victory and defeat were decided.
-Team America! They calmly finish the raid… Yes! Victory goes to Team America!
The American team, who took two wins first, becomes the champion!
The 1st Monster Eater World Championship came to an end like that.
‘It’s over!’
Only then did Taeyeon feel all the tension leave him.
‘Now I can go to Seoul and meet Yuna!’
At this moment, that was what Taeyeon wanted most desperately.
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