Chapter 159: Starting to Get Ready (2)
Fifteen thousand viewers was a new record. Considering he was streaming at an awkward time at 5 P.M, twenty thousand viewers would be within the realms of possibility.
'Did people gather because they're curious about the tournament?'
When particular interest rose, it was common for viewers to tune in shortly to hear the answer they sought and tune out. As expected, there was a donation straight from the beginning.
[EvilDemian has donated 10,000 won!]
[All you did in LIL was steal Raina's first kiss! How are you entering a tournament?!]
[Pride has donated 5000 won.]
[Are you really entering the competition??]
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won!]
[Wow! A tournament!]
The donations were all related to the tournament.
"Thank you, EvilDemian. That's true... that's all I did. Thank you to RubySword as well."
— That's more than enough!
— Almond: Kissing Raina is all he did.
— You're our enemy now!
[Reporter has donated 10,000 won!]
[What's your goal for this competition!?]
"Well, my goal is obviously to win the tournament."
— Kya~!
— This is Almond.
— This is Walnut.
— This is Peanut.
[Reporter has donated 10,000 won!]
[SweetRadish is participating this time. Do you think you can win?]
"... Who's SweetRadish?"
— LOL
— Hahahaha, are you serious?
— Is this guy donating to write an article?
— You don't know SweetRadish?
SweetRadish was the best player among the retired professional players. He only retired five months ago, so he was still in form. Even during his pro-era, he was famous for being good. His team was the prime candidate to win the tournament.
[Reporter has donated 10,000 won!]
[The team with AcornJelly!]
"Ah... I see."
— Almond doesn't care.
— ??? I don't want radish. I want kimchi!
— He's so down now!
— Get out of here, reporter!
"SweetRadish must be someone good, but I just need to practice. First, the most important thing to me right now is to reach Level 30."
— His goal is to win the tournament, but he's now trying to hit Level 30? LOL
— You're not even Level 30 and trying to win the tournament?!
— Day one of working out: What if I become a muscle monster?
— So adorable.
He expected the chat to laugh at him.
Almond lightly laughed it off and added, "I'm going to play a new champion today. I hear you need to be able to play a variety of champions in the tournament. I have a bit of coins now, so I can probably buy more."
— Ohhh!
— Finally!
— You're abandoning Raina?!
The chat erupted after hearing he was going to use a new champion.
'There are so many people. Every little thing causes a storm.'
— You're getting rid of Raina?!
— Wow... are you serious...
— I thought you were taking care of Raina forever! I'm going to call the police!
— Bad boy, Almond...
— Hey, we're going to crush your nuts!! Pick Raina now!!
— So many fanboys, LOL
— Am I the only one who misses her already…
Almond smacked his lips and slightly hesitated, but he had no choice.
'What can you do.'
Raina was at the bottom of the tier list, which meant it was difficult to use her in the tournament. Ju-Hyeok thought the same.
‘You need to practice at least three other champions besides Raina, so even if they use three bans on you, you still have a champion you can use.’
Ju-Hyeok learned from his research that tournaments had a rule where teams could ban certain champions, so the other team couldn't use them. This feature was implemented to prevent OP champions from being used repeatedly. If they were to ban Raina, they wouldn't be able to use her either. If a player were to practice Raina for a year, a single ban would make that meaningless. As a result, many one-trick players who could only play one champion weren't effective in tournaments. Almond was in the same situation because he only played Raina.
"I need to practice with other champions. Otherwise, my team will say something..."
— Use Raina to destroy everyone!
— But you're her first... doesn't that mean something...
— This cheater...
— But he does need to practice. Raina will remember this.
"So I'll head to the shop now."
The shop looked like a library and the librarian was a giant cat.
"Welcome! Summoner!"
"I'm here to take a look at some champions."
"Champions are this way!"
Several books were lined up and he headed to where the cat pointed. These were all books with the legends of the champions written inside. Instead of having to read the cover for every single book…
Woong!
A text appeared as he approached them.
[The Mad Axe - Murite]
[Sorcerer of the Sulfur Swamp - Cuifan]
[Electric Wizard - Kaizad]
He could see familiar names. Their legends were also interesting, but he had a specific champion in mind.
"Where's Sana?"
He wanted to purchase Sana.
'There.'
[Sana - Light's Melody]
On the first page of the book was a beautiful illustration of Sana. If Raina was beautiful among humans, Sana looked like she wasn't from this world. She had pale white skin, silver hair, and fascinating red eyes. Instead of armor, she wore a white robe that resembled heavenly clothes. He could understand why she was called a saint.
— Kya! Sana's the best!
— Raina! Out!
— Wow...
— These guys change so fast, LOL
— I like Raina more! I like Raina more!
The chat went wild after seeing Sana's illustration appear on the screen. There was a fight between Raina's and Sana's fans. Almond didn't pay much attention because they weren't seriously fighting.
"I'll go with this one."
"Oh ho? Sana?"
The cat made a weird face.
"Light's melody, Sana. She's a wonderful champion. Truly wonderful..."
The cat turned red.
— What does he mean by wonderful?
— Her skills, right? Her skills?
— LOL, this freaking cat.
— The cat's a male? No... no...!
"But do you have coins? Sana's legend is quite expensive."
[8,900 coins needed]
[20,000 coins in inventory]
He had enough money.
"Yes, I'll have her."
"Ho? You're a low-level summoner, but you have this many coins? However—"
The cat lifted his fat thumb.
"Sana isn't a champion that's swayed by money. She loves peace."
Almond stood still because he had no idea what the cat was talking about.
"Unlike other champions, Sana doesn't want conflict. She'll want to see how your relationship is with other champions," the cat told him with his face close to Almond’s. "What that means is that you have to have a close relationship with other champions! But..."
"?"
"A low-leveled summoner like you, there's no point even looking. It's best if you look for another champion."
The cat smiled and tapped on Almond's head with its nails.
Woong!
A blue light enveloped him.
— Why's the cat bragging about Sana?
— The human earns money, but the cat takes it.
— Why's the pussycat so full of himself?
— ??? If it was Kingdom Age, the cat would be silent…
"You have to have a friendship level above fifty to buy Sana... huh?"
It was obvious to Almond what the cat was seeing. The only champion he owned was Raina and his rapport level with her was a hundred, which was well over fifty.
"Y-You... are a summoner with a first achievement!"
Thud.
The cat fell back in shock.
— LOL, he has good reactions
— If you know that, serve him well!
— The cat found out he was Raina's first kiss.
— Be careful, Almond. The cat could also be one of her fanboys.
— I think he likes Sana more, so don't worry.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"What good would it be if I said something?"
"If you're a summoner with a close relationship like that, you can make a contract with Sana at no cost!"
At that moment, Sana's book started to glow.
"Oh..."
— Oh...
— Oh, man...
— LOL
— It's been a while.
— Sana for free?!
— Damn...
— How's that possible?! First, he kisses Raina and now he gets Sana for free?!
Slam!
A loud noise echoed and white light shone from the sky.
Bzzzzt—?
Within moments, the form of the champion Sana began to take shape. With a white gust blowing through her hair, her figure was truly that of a goddess from mythology. Among them, she was undoubtedly a goddess of benevolence.
[Nice to meet you, summoner.]
She put her pale hands out while smiling. Almond grabbed her hand.
[You've successfully contracted Sana.]
[You may now interact with her.]
[You may now select her for battle.]
[You've unlocked skins.]
[You've completed the quest, first purchase.]
After a list of notifications appeared, Sana disappeared from out of the air.
"Is there anything else you want to purchase?"
Almond was going to take a look at other champions since he had plenty of money.
"I'll come next time."
But he wanted to play Sana right away.
***
It was given to play the tutorial with first-time champions. However, Almond's viewers didn't give him a chance.
— The tutorial is for pussies.
— There's literally no point in doing the tutorial.
— These losers probably play ten games of tutorial before playing ranked.
— At least donate to scold him.
They wanted him to play normals, so they wouldn't have to watch him play the boring tutorial. They wanted to see Almond get criticized by other players.
[BigHandColony has registered a mission.]
pa??read.com ".
[Mission: Win the first round with Sana without playing the tutorial.]
[Reward: 200,000 won]
— Damn, 200k won for one normal game?
— First win 200k? Wow...
— BigHandColonly is still around?
— A saint! A saint!
"You know how to negotiate, BigHandColony. Alright," Almond joked around, signaling to the other viewers and queued up for a normal match.
— Capitalism nut.
— We almost got his nuts.
— Money man...
— If you keep chasing money like that, your forehead will turn into a target.
The last comment received a ban.
Bling.
[Takoyaki has donated 10,000 won!]
[Thank you for the ban. Don't joke about us bald folk!]
— Is that really Tako?
— Damn, it's Takoyaki
— Why's a big guy like you here?!
[Takoyaki has donated 10,000 won!]
[I'm here to watch Almond practice. Or should I say, to see how passionate he is? But Sana is a weak champion when playing alone... I'll watch carefully.]
— That octopus is still like that, huh?
— Tako, tako...
— We'll see how well you observe...
— He forgot to observe the hair on his forehead.
"Tako is going to give me feedback. He's streaming it as well, so if you want to watch him, check out his channel too."
As Almond explained, he found a match.
[Teammates found.]
[Transporting to the lobby.]
He was transported to the waiting lobby.
"..."
There was silence among the five players.
'Strange to see nothing is happening.'
Initially, there was always a fight for the positions, but he was lucky today.
"Where do you want to go?"
"I want to go bottom, ADC."
Almond quickly declared his position. The other players declared their own as well.
— Wow, how peaceful.
— This is Sana's blessing.
— It's so weird to see no one swearing.
"ADC, what are you going to play?" Almond's support asked him.
"I'm going to play Sana."
"Ah, then I should play an offensive support."
"... Yes, yes."
Almond didn't know what that meant, but pretended to understand and picked Sana.
[Sometimes, to achieve peace, we must fight.]
Sana went to Almond with an automated dialogue.
However...
[... Hmph.]
He could hear a voice that wasn't Sana's.