NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19
When I was told not to speak unless it was about the kayak, I didn’t expect the kayak to actually show up.
After mentioning Camilla, a Camilla expert suddenly appeared in the chat.
The viewers were quite startled by the unexpected visitor, as if they had been watching the broadcast all along.
‘What is this, not even a summoning spell…’
Nicang decided to tuck those trivial thoughts away for a moment.
Because an impromptu lesson was being held.
“Are you talking about the build?”
– Yes.
It was Kayak’s suggestion to look at the build first.
I see, it must have been the build that was the issue. Hearing that, Nicang felt a bit relieved.
The artisan who shaved Camilla down to the limit pointed out the build before anything game-related. At least it wasn’t so bad that my play was unwatchable.
Of course, it could have been a polite way of saying I sucked without outright saying, “You’re terrible,” but Nicang liked to think otherwise.
At least until Kayak’s next chat came in.
– Control is an issue too. But I think we should change the build first and gradually improve on that.
“Who are you talking to right now…?”
– Oh, someone asked in the chat.
“…You don’t have to reply to every little thing.”
[Whoa]
[Are we abandoning the viewers? Abandoning the viewers? Abandoning the viewers?]
[The teacher communicates better than the host, hmm…]
[Why don’t we just have the teacher do the stream?]
[Kayak just did their first broadcast, okay]
[Nicang should unsubscribe and subscribe to the teacher instead.]
Nicang pushed down the question of whether it was really necessary to dig for those comments and respond.
But at least one thing was clear. Kayak, my teacher, wasn’t the type to filter their words to accommodate their new student.
That’s fine. In fact, I thought it was better. It’s far more preferable to speak up rather than struggle silently with what to say.
Efficiency mattered to Nicang too.
– I sent you the build link, did you receive it?
“Yes, but the one I’m currently using is also a build you created, aren’t we using that one?”
– Hmm… Let’s try a few rounds with the new build and then decide.
‘How many are there?’
Five in total. The builds Kayak sent for Camilla.
Nicang was taken aback because she expected there would only be two or three at most. Were artisans really this diverse in crafting builds?
For Nicang, who had previously failed to create her own build, discovering there were this many builds out there was nothing short of astonishing.
From the perspective of Nicang, who had failed in her previous attempts, the sheer number of builds was astonishing.
Five builds. Even if they played one round for each build, that would be at least five rounds.
“Five rounds. And if I get feedback every time I play this game…”
Should this be called educational broadcasting or a collaboration?
The content had been hastily put together. Yet, it seemed like this slapdash content would keep Nicang occupied for a surprisingly long time.
Having already broadcasted for four hours, if she played five more rounds and got feedback, her usual six-hour broadcast would be blown to smithereens.
– Please switch to ranked games. Regular games don’t allow for practice.
“Uh… sure….”
However, Nicang couldn’t bring herself to suggest to learn next time instead of today.
The enthusiasm of the Teacher coming through the chat felt somewhat overwhelming.
Today’s broadcast was set to be longer than usual.
*
“….”
It was tragic. Tragic beyond belief.
Loss, loss, loss, loss, loss. A total of five defeats. The crimson record welcomed Nicang with open arms.
[Wow]
[Legendary;;]
[I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before]
[Was this recorded live?]
[Um… how about we stop here?]
[How can you lose a single round? Haha]
[The host is one thing, but the team members are legendary too]
[How many consecutive losses is this?]
[MMR is all messed up, huh? Might as well abandon the account]
“Haha….”
Nicang mumbled with a spiritless smile, a wave of deep regret washing over her.
She could have just said she would learn later. Today, she could have said she wasn’t feeling well. No, she shouldn’t have touched Camilla in the first place.
Was this how Pandora felt when she opened the forbidden box?
Under normal circumstances, she might have endured, but Nicang’s already frayed psyche couldn’t handle such a shock after being deranked.
As Nicang’s dizzy mind started to crumble, she heard:
– You usually lose a lot when starting a new hero.
– I’ve roughly wrapped up the analysis.
– Would you like to join the room?
“Uh…”
At this point, there was no turning back.
Actually, she wanted nothing more than to end the broadcast and collapse into rest, but she also had conflicting feelings about it.
It must be her stubbornness. She didn’t want to give up, especially after all this time.
With that mindset, an invitation suddenly came flying in.
A training ground map made from user settings.
So it’s a training ground. It feels like it’s subtly saying that real education starts now.
However, one question remained: why on earth was Kayak so determined to teach Nicang? Despite that, Nicang kind of understood.
“Originally, artisans have their quirks.”
After all, artisans are just a fancy way of saying they’re weirdos who do peculiar things.
Even a pottery artisan who spends all day shaping ceramics will casually throw away a perfectly fine piece just because it doesn’t meet their standards.
Nicang thought Kayak might be similar. Maybe it was some kind of masterpiece reflecting her beliefs.
“Wait, does that mean I’m going to break too?”
Like a pottery artisan tossing their creations. If I don’t produce results, I might just shatter into pieces—
—Nicang?
“Ah, yes.”
…Looks like she was really tired. Having strange thoughts like that.
This time, Nicang accepted Kayak’s invitation with the determination to show something.
The practice area, filled with wooden mannequins, had a rather bleak landscape just by looking at it.
It was a place where people practiced combos or tested the skills of new heroes they wanted to try out, but for Nicang, the training ground was a very unfamiliar place.
She was more of an actual combat type than a practice type. Instead of rolling around in the training ground, she always preached to the viewers her belief that it was better to have one more game to learn the play through experience.
“I think I only came here briefly when Abyss started.”
It was at that moment Nicang felt a wave of nostalgia.
—I’ve been thinking.
“Yes.”
—I’ve already talked about the theoretical parts while playing the game earlier, and I’ve been saying it before that too.
“Yes, that’s true.”
Nicang hadn’t been playing Abyss for long, and she had never learned about the game from anyone professionally.
She just never felt the need to. Whenever viewers suggested getting professional training from high-ranking players, she always declined, saying, “Why bother with training when my tier will go up anyway?”
As the moment of education approached, Nicang couldn’t help but wonder.
How on earth would the ranker who had once reached the highest tier, clearly a high-skilled player, teach her?
Her curiosity was immediately satisfied by a chat message from Kayak.
– “So, it’s the real deal. Let’s get started.”
“Huh? What…?”
– “Education.”
Nicang miraculously dodged the incoming blade, her quick reflexes a stroke of luck.
She accidentally pressed her ultimate skill, and Camilla ended up dancing to evade Kayak’s attack.
[How did she dodge that? ㅈㄱㄴ]
[This girl suddenly starts dancing.]
[A surprise attack deserves a surprise dance;;]
[I thought this would happen right from the theory part lol]
[Practical education!]
[This is Sparta-style, I like it.]
[Doesn’t seem like a student though.]
– “Oh.”
The teacher’s impressed reply arrived in just a second.
It was the first time she felt satisfaction conveyed so vividly through chat.
Overwhelmed by sudden anxiety, Nicang shouted, trembling, “No, teacher! This isn’t right! With the tier gap between us, how can I possibly win?!”
They say a lion raises its cubs by dropping them off a cliff.
Kayak’s teaching method was exactly that.
Push the cub off the cliff, and if it barely makes it back, that would be considered a successful education.
The ones that die in the process? Labeled as failures.
– “I’m not telling you to beat me. Just do your best.”
– “You need to dodge using movement without using any skills!”
“How am I supposed to do that?!”
– “You’ll get it as you go.”
It was like asking a swimming dolphin to fly.
While the teacher was kind enough to provide suitable solutions for the situation, those solutions were simply impossible for Nicang, making it more cruel.
It felt just like listening to the viewers’ unsolicited advice!
[Trusting your student a lot, huh?]
[Ha ha, you’re saying you’ll become a teacher, right?]
[My kid can do it!]
[But how is she typing while getting hit like that?]
[Her fingers must have twenty!]
– “That was good!”
– “Let’s try it one more time.”
Nicang, with a pout, grabbed the mouse again.