Season 3: Chapter 274. Currents (1)
As soon as the match broadcast began, a record-breaking crowd flooded in.
— Thump, thump, thump.
— Finally.
— I watched Fake National Team and came right in, perfect timing, lol
— Wow.
— This is it!
The chat lagged right from the start, but it wasn’t just the chat lagging. The venue itself was overwhelmed and crowds sometimes came to a halt.
“Please, don’t push! Stay in line! You there, don’t push!”
“Oh, man.”
“Crazy... Can all these spectators even fit?”
The crowd that came to watch the match was so large that it was beyond control. Even though the number of seats hadn’t changed, the excitement for this match was far greater than it had been for the Korea-Japan match.
“It’s not just spectators. There’s a street cheering event happening in the park next door. The stadium has to manage that as well...”
A large park next to the stadium had set up a big screen for a cheering event. The nearby Chinatown had organized this event, attracting a massive mostly Chinese crowd.
“... Wow, this popularity is insane.”
The Japanese staff felt stunned as they looked at the wave of people gathering like clouds. The Korea-China match’s popularity was beyond imagination, especially when—
“The national team is here!”
“The national team!?”
“Look, it’s Liu Bei!”
When the Chinese national team’s bus arrived, the faces of the Japanese staff turned pale.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
They had just managed to get the crowd in line, but the Chinese fans suddenly jumped over the barriers and rushed toward the team.
“Oh no, over there!”
“If you don’t stay in line, we’ll have to make you line up again!”
“Ahhh! Don’t push, don’t push!”
The crowd was already uncontrollable. They charged toward the players as if they couldn’t see anything else.
“... What a sight.”
From afar, Ju-Hyeok stood with his arms crossed and watched the chaos unfold.
“Tsk, tsk.”
He clicked his tongue, but secretly envied them.
‘Merchandise is going to sell like crazy.’
***
The Korea-China match felt as weighty as, if not more than, the Korea-Japan match. Being neighboring countries, issues naturally arose between them and matches between neighboring nations always drew significant attention. This wasn’t just a phenomenon in Korea. It was common worldwide.
However, this Korea-China match in the national competition held a special significance. For one, China was ranked third in the world while Korea was the ultimate underdog. China had marched through undefeated while Korea fought their way up, leaving blood in their wake.
This stark contrast drew the interest of not only Koreans and Chinese, but also many international viewers. Some even felt more excited about this match than the battle between Rome and Mongolia, the top two teams.
These factors made ticket sales for this match some of the most competitive in history. The main reason for the frenzy was that the match was being held in Japan.
Koreans and Chinese frequently traveled to Japan for tourism. In other words, it was incredibly convenient to attend the match in person. Naturally, this meant more people tried to secure tickets.
[Breaking News: Korea-China Match Sells Out in 57 Seconds]
[Whoa, are the on-site tickets already gone???]
[Ugh, ticketing is way too tough??]
[The swarm is coming, lol.]
The competition for tickets was beyond fierce. Tickets basically sold based on internet speed. Those who failed to get tickets ended up organizing a street cheering event at the park next to the stadium, which wasn’t even in their own country but in Japan.
China’s Civil Empire fans fully displayed their sheer dedication, economic power, and loyalty. This led to some worries on Embul.
[I’m worried that there won’t be many Koreans in the audience this time...]
[Are we going to be overwhelmed by their numbers??]
[With the surge in popularity after the Korea-Japan match, I think more Koreans will go but those fans are intense...]
Some felt concerned that few Koreans would manage to get tickets and that most of the audience would be Chinese, making it a difficult match for the Korean team.
***
Inside the waiting room, Hui-Chul held the microphone and addressed the players.
“You’ll need to brace yourselves.”
His point was not much different from the concerns being discussed on Embul.
“Most of the audience might be Chinese. And... don’t let it shake you even if there are boos, insults, or other distractions outside the game.”
Hui-Chul gave the team a heads-up as an experienced Civil Empire player who had seen the power of Chinese fans many times. The players nodded with serious expressions, especially Carrot, whose determined gaze seemed to harden from the hurt she experienced from her Chinese friend at the hotel.
“Alright, and...”
After checking the players' expressions, Hui-Chul nodded a few times and stepped onto the podium.
“I swear on my Civil Empire career...”
He suddenly declared that he was betting on his career.
“Even if their crowd is a hundred and ours is zero, it doesn’t matter at all!”
Hui-Chul was trying to fire up the team one last time.
“No matter if they’re ranked third and we’re at the bottom, it doesn’t matter!”
The players’ eyes began to burn with determination. China was a formidable opponent, but Hui-Chul raised his voice with conviction.
“We’ve never once had a favorable match!”
He was trying to convey the significance of the journey Korea had walked. Sometimes, the heroes who braved the thorny path didn’t realize it themselves. How far had they come and how much they had achieved?
“What happened to all the teams that faced us!?”
Korea had never been considered the favorite. And yet, all those teams that had been favored over them were no longer in the tournament.
“We beat every single one of them! Was it luck that made it possible!?”
No, it wasn’t.
“We’re strong! But were we always strong from the start!? Could we have beaten Japan if we faced them in the qualifiers!?”
No, they couldn’t have.
“No! That’s why we’re getting stronger! And now! I swear on everything, we’re better than China! It doesn’t matter if every expert and every community says China is better!”
The players' hearts raced. Their eyes trembled slightly in surprise. Hui-Chul had never so confidently predicted their advantage before.
“We’ve gotten stronger. We’re still getting stronger. And we’ve already surpassed China. So go and crush them!!”
At his shout, the players stood up with a roar of enthusiasm.
“Waaaaaah!!”
“Let’s goooo!”
Then the staff came in, signaling that it was time for the players to enter the arena.
“Waaaaaah!”
Deafening cheers shook the ground. The energy seemed even more intense than during the Korea-Japan match. Although Hui-Chul told them not to pay attention, the players instinctively glanced at the audience. Sang-Hyeon was no exception.
‘Huh?’
Now that he thought about it, both China and Korea wore red uniforms in the stands. It seemed impossible to tell them apart, but he could.
‘White?’
He spotted a section of white. Who were they? Was that the Chinese side? Then, all of a sudden, white Korean flags started waving across the white section. Only then did he realize. The Korean cheering squad had coordinated to wear white.
‘...’
Sang-Hyeon gulped. If Koreans had worn red as well, he would have mistaken the majority of the audience as Chinese. Anticipating this, the Korean cheering managers had already issued an instruction on the day the Korea-China match was announced.
[Notice: Korea-China cheering uniform changed to white.]
Since the uniforms made by Monster were originally white, it hadn’t been hard to coordinate. By wearing the players’ uniform colors, they would also automatically be in white. Thanks to this, uniform sales skyrocketed outside.
Now Sang-Hyeon knew how many Korean fans had come. He turned his head to check the numbers around him.
“...?”
No matter how much he turned, the white section didn’t end.
“What the...?”
***
“Aaaand! The players are entering! Please greet them with applause and cheers!”
At the caster’s shout, OrangeKing began commenting on the atmosphere.
“Wow. Honestly, I thought most of the crowd would be Chinese for this Korea-China match!”
“Ah! Yes! Since their market is so big and they’re known for their popularity!”
“That’s right. As a Civil Empire player, I’ve heard so much about China’s fan power! But look at this!”
The broadcast screen panned over the Korean cheering section dressed in white. It was endless, filling the frame beyond its limits.
“About two-thirds of the crowd is Korean!?”
“That’s right! Just from looking at this sea of white, we clearly outnumber the Chinese!”
— Whoa.
— Is this real?
— Did they beat the swarm with tickets? lol
— Wow, lol.
— So is that why the Chinese fans are outside cheering?
— Did Korea win the ticket war? Crazy!
— What are the Chinese hackers doing? lol
— “Golden Shield.”
"This is Korea! The land of ticketing! The land of the quiet morning! Of course, it’s quiet because everyone leaves at dawn!"
"The country where the early bird gets in line! Ah, yes, that's right!"
In fact, there was a reason behind this.
"I heard there’s something they call the ping difference, right?"
Indeed, the results came down to slight differences in reaction time or processing speed since the ticketing process ended in a flash. Simply put, Korea was much closer to Japan in terms of internet connectivity. Korea also had superior internet speed and generally better computers.
— Wow!
— The IT powerhouse strikes back!
— LOL, ping difference!
— If you're upset, live next to Japan and go through the Imjin War, lol!
— Haha, trying to do ticketing from a country where YouTube doesn’t even work, lol!
Thanks to this, the difference in audience numbers was clear. Even cheers for the players from both nations had a noticeable gap.
"But there’s something even scarier."
OrangeKing hinted at more information.
"Really? What is it?"
"The Chinese fans who succeeded in getting tickets are all fans living in Japan."
"......"
Just the Chinese fans residing in Japan made up one-third of the stadium.
— Whoa.
— LOL, that’s insane.
— ??? We only used 10% of our power.
— So that’s how it was possible, huh?
— Local ticketing, lol.
"Now! The players are entering the capsules!"
Meanwhile, the players finished entering their capsules.
"The national competition! Semi-finals!"
The caster took a deep breath and stood up from his seat.
"Korea versus China! China versus Korea! The long-awaited first game begins now!!"
“Waaaah...!”
As the crowd roared, a holographic map began to materialize.
— Thump, thump, thump.
— Let’s go~
— Honestly, I’m not expecting much, but let's do this!
— Even 4th place is amazing~
— Let’s go!
Boom...!
Rugged rocks shot up to form a mountain range and enough water filled the area to create a valley.
[The Treacherous Gorge]
Korea would face China for the first time on this battlefield.
[Translator Note]
Liu Bei is a general from the famous Three Kingdoms story. He’s basically the Napoleon of China.