NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
It’s the end of the broadcast.
But instead of throwing myself onto my bed like usual, I sat in front of my computer, lost in thought for a moment.
A tournament, huh?
The comment from an unknown viewer piqued my interest right away because I’ve always been keen on tournaments.
If it’s a tournament, it must be the Abyss tournament.
I’ve been obsessed with tournaments, internal battles, and friendly matches since the old days.
Watching six heroes split into teams and clash against each other always made my heart race.
Since I loved Abyss so much, there was a time when I even hosted friendly matches in the Abyss gallery. I put up prizes and occasionally participated… all those memories are so nostalgic.
I enjoyed watching the matches, whether I participated directly or not.
Back in the days when there was no pro league, I mainly watched the ranked matches of high-tier users and event matches held before the game went under.
If the pro league had existed properly, I might have become a devoted fan attending every match.
You know, like those folks who always hang out at the baseball park, munching on chicken and watching their favorite team play.
Just like those people, if the game hadn’t died and the league was running smoothly, I probably would have followed suit.
After all, Abyss was my one and only hobby and the driving force of my life.
Now that the game has inexplicably turned into a divine game, I couldn’t help but wonder if a pro league had popped up or not— and when I checked, indeed, the matches were packed every season.
“Whoa.”
And the ticket prices for watching these matches live were quite hefty, so I couldn’t help but click my tongue in disbelief.
But I felt good. High ticket prices meant packed seats with no empty spots, which is just as good as saying they were selling like hotcakes. I figured ticketing would be a real challenge.
I’d love to go see a match sometime. I might need to start checking the ticketing schedule from today onward.
Anyway, I had a good impression of tournaments in general. Whether it was a match between pros or an internal battle among friends, it didn’t matter.
The tournament mentioned by the viewer in the broadcast earlier was no different.
The tournament I mentioned earlier was the same.
An event competition hosted by the Streamer Taker.
Regardless of tiers, any Streamer can participate.
However, most of the participating Streamers are either unknown Hako or not primarily focused on the Abyss, and there were rumors from viewers that those who were simply there to leech off would be cut without them knowing.
Am I going to be okay?
Is my broadcast at least up to the standard to not get cut? As soon as the explanation about Taker hosting this tournament ended, most viewers were urging me to join in.
My broadcast has been steadily on the rise. Thanks to that, there was definitely a good number of viewers today.
Probably… just under 1000 people.
With so many people telling me to participate, to sign up quickly, it honestly felt pretty pressuring.
So, I decided to end the broadcast for now. I mean, I had already hit Master, and I had played enough of the game.
I left the broadcast with a response saying I would think about it, so as not to be swept away by the crowd.
But the more I thought about it, the more inclined I was to apply for the tournament.
There are various reasons, but the biggest one is that it sounds fun.
I still remember those days.
The time when the viewer count was slowly dwindling, and anyone could feel the game was going downhill.
Holding tournaments and events to try and save the game, like the eldest son of a declining family, I was running around with the gallery people in all directions.
The tournament aimed to get more people to play Abyss, but that game back then was so much fun that it still lingers in my memory.
Of course, a lot has changed since then in terms of the game’s status and the users playing it.
Yet, some things remain unchanged.
Like the country or the fact that I, still known as a living history in the Abyss gallery, remain as I am-.
…Or maybe not? I’ve changed quite a bit, starting from my appearance, so saying I’m unchanged might be a stretch.
Anyhow, putting that aside, I found myself leaning towards applying for the tournament.
I moved the mouse and clicked the link provided by a viewer to check the tournament rules, application form, and dates in detail.
-Please enter your Twish ID and Streamer name.
-Please enter your Abyss ID and tier.
-Please enter your main character and position-.
Twish account name, Streamer name, Abyss tier, top rating, main heroes, etc.
Name, Abyss Tier, Top Rating, Main Hero, etc.
Well, there’s actually more to write than I thought.
When I held the tournament, just the gallery nickname and tier were enough—no hassle at all.
But then again, everything would be quite different from the somewhat haphazard gallery friendly match. It’s embarrassing to compare, really.
I was slowly filling out the required forms when I read further down.
-Please send a gameplay video (around 3 minutes, highlight or mad movie style edited is preferred) to be used for introducing the participants.
A sentence accompanied by an email address. They want highlights?
“I don’t have anything like that….”
I scratched the back of my head and leaned back in my chair.
It felt like the company suddenly increased the paperwork demands.
What do I do now? Should I start ranked matches and record and edit everything right away?
That sounds like it’s going to take forever.
While sitting there, spinning the chair with a subtle sense of despair…
“Ah.”
One thing crossed my mind.
Could this work? I should still have it somewhere.
“Did I stash it around here….”
After rummaging through the hodgepodge of my computer’s C drive for a few minutes, I found what I was looking for.
-Kayak Highlight Edit.avi.
A video file with a title that indicates its contents.
This was a highlight made by someone who claimed to be my fan from a few years back.
It’s the highest quality video I have. It’s good enough to post directly on VTube.
The reason it immediately came to mind upon hearing “highlight” is clear.
But the only problem is,
“It’s old… I wonder if that’ll be okay?”
The fact that the gameplay was from several years ago.
First off, the graphics are definitely different from now. Even with good editing, the game’s graphics itself have aged.
But it’s not so bad that it’s unrecognizable.
My gameplay stands out enough to be decent for a mad movie vibe, so that’s nice.
The only thing bothering me was that it was an old video. After a moment of thought, I reached a conclusion.
“I’ll send this along with a few solo rank matches recordings.”
I decided to send multiple videos. More is better than less, right?
Better than nothing, I guess.
So, I turned on the Abyss again and started queuing for solo ranks to record something for the highlight reel.
*
“Let’s see, Nicang has applied… and next is Han Kang.”
A few days had passed since the announcement for the event tournament was made.
The Taker was logging into their email, sorting through the applications of participants, and roughly finalizing the list of final contenders.
Perhaps it was because the scale of Taker’s broadcast had grown since the past, or maybe it was due to the news of the involvement of the game company Eonix spreading around, but the number of those wanting to participate had increased more than twofold compared to last time.
Thanks to that, Taker’s job of sorting participants had become even busier, yet he was humming happily while focusing on his work.
Regardless, it was undeniable that his content was running smoothly. As long as nothing major happened, Taker’s broadcasting life would continue without a hitch.
To ensure that, he had to be more careful with the current sorting task.
He needed to exclude anyone from the participants who might spark controversy or cause incidents and include those who would guarantee a certain viewer count just by participating…
“Eh?”
Amidst this, Taker found himself pausing his mouse in front of someone’s application.
The name on the application was both familiar and unfamiliar to him.
“Camilla Weak, Kayak? This person has broadcasted before, right?”
Quickly browsing through Twitche and rummaging through the community posts, he found that although they hadn’t been streaming for long, they were already boasting quite the popularity.
As he had felt during the previous filming, she also had a knack for gathering an audience.
Taker nodded with satisfaction.
“Good, good… a new face, and I’m sure the viewers will recognize her to some extent. Good skills, good performance…”
It was no surprise that Taker reached out for Kayak’s highlight video.
“Wow, you sent… quite a few videos? Let’s see.”
Playing the first video, the one with the largest file size, Taker expressed a puzzled voice.
– Kayak Highlight Compilation avi.
Before him, the footage was playing from Abyss Season 2, known as the legendary period.
It was the gameplay from that time being displayed right in front of him.