Cerberus’s character loses strength and falls.
A moment of silence. The message before my eyes seemed surreal.
The bamboo forest rustled slightly with the wind.
I won.
So, I became the champion.
Really?
It was hard to believe, so I turned off the system message.
An unconscious gesture. The notification window naturally disappeared from my view, but once it was gone, I felt a sudden fear.
Should I not have turned it off? What if something went wrong?
Because of the anxiety, the strength in my hand left.
The sword I was holding drops to the ground. Since there was no opponent left to fight, I didn’t bother picking it up.
Not that I could have; during the loud clanging of metal, my body was frozen in an awkward stance.
Maybe it was fortunate, or perhaps it was to be expected.
None of my stupid worries came true. When my vision came back after briefly fading, the stage was in sight again.
The first thing my gaze landed on was the large monitor in the center.
There on the biggest screen was my nickname, clearly displayed.
[1st Infinity Arena]
[Champion: Gawol]
At that moment, the confusion weighing down on my chest lifted.
Boom. Boom. The sound of my heart pounding reverberated up to my head.
Staring at the screen as if in a trance, bright lights dimmed the previously dark stage.
The light beams were predominantly white with a touch of red, reminiscent of my hair and eyes. A fitting symbolization of me.
The beams shot up like pillars, and petals rained down gently with confetti.
There was a slight audio hiccup.
After a brief static noise, unfamiliar music began to play, midway through, as if it had been playing all along.
The fast and cheerful sounds suited my taste, followed soon by the commentators’ excited voices.
《… Nevertheless, we can now proudly proclaim.》
《If anyone asks, ‘Who’s the strongest assassin in this game? And who’s the most powerful swordsman?’ Today’s match has given us conclusive evidence.》
《It wasn’t an easy journey. Those who’ve watched our champion’s path to victory would know. In the preliminaries…》
Receiving praise is always gratifying.
The official broadcast’s chat window scrolled so fast, it was unreadable.
Even if I could have read it, I wouldn’t have understood anything other than Korean anyway.
All the sounds and information overlapped, making it a bit noisy.
It was chaotic and rambunctious, but overall, it wasn’t bad.
Even when I won the national competition, it wasn’t this intense.
When the staff approached from behind, they draped a large cloth over my shoulder.
It was commonly known as a champion’s gown, a large cloak-like item.
From the side of the stage came caster Ho-eun, and the female announcer who had conducted the winner’s interview.
Didn’t she say her name was Yeonbit?
I responded to the greetings from the two of them like a broken robot.
“Congratulations on your championship win.”
“Congratulations again!”
“Uh, right… yes, thank you. Ugh, it hurts.”
Wait?
For some reason, I started stuttering more.
My mouth wasn’t working properly.
Even though I had prepared what to say in my mind, the words that came out of my mouth were quite different.
My pronunciation was off and my voice trembled.
At one point, I even bit my tongue.
It hurt because I bit it hard…
The announcer was grinning at me with a mischievous smile.
Is she laughing? That’s too much.
“Alright, player Gawol. You have become the champion of Infinity Arena by surpassing countless adventurers. We have to hear your thoughts, don’t we?”
“Oh… well, first, I’m happy. Also… uh, I’m just really happy. It still doesn’t feel real.”
“Yes, you seem extremely happy. You’re giving us very adorable reactions.”
“Cute… really? No, I’m not cute…”
“Ahaha… I see.”
Now that I think about it, she also called me cute the last time.
I know she didn’t mean it in a bad way.
I couldn’t find even a trace of malice in her eyes.
But isn’t that kind of comment usually made to young girls?
I’m a legal adult who can buy alcohol and cigarettes. Besides, I’m not even a woman in the first place.
But I’ve always felt less confident around women.
Perhaps being social isn’t part of my nature either. My entire school life took place in all-boys schools, my university path was fully focused on athletics.
Through life, I’ve had very little chance to communicate openly with women.
So, I didn’t know how to argue against her comment.
I just tried my best to answer the questions.
“Speaking of which, player Gawol, you looked very confident early in the tournament. Did you anticipate becoming the champion?”
“Somewhat. I wasn’t sure if I could definitely win… but I believed that if I gave it my all, I could climb high.”
“That sounds like you were confident in your ability to achieve great results.”
My words were disorganized, but whenever Yeonbit added onto my sentences, they sounded rather impressive.
Thanks to her, even if I stammered a bit, there wasn’t any problem with the interview.
Until I made a verbal blunder.
“Then, conversely, today’s third set. You lost two sets in a row to player Cerberus, putting you in a tight spot. What were you feeling then?”
“Ah, this thing, ㅈ… uh… I thought it was over. I didn’t know what to do. Definitely felt like I was at the edge of a cliff.”
I almost slipped an expletive before catching myself.
The caster, who had been listening silently, jumped in quickly.
“Wow, that’s really impressive as befits the best assassin. The broadcast was almost pushed to the brink too, but player Gawol’s quick thinking saved it. That’s quite an impression!”
“Haha, cough… Hehe…”
Ah, I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
Honestly, it seems not me, but the caster, is the one with quick thinking.
Her witty remark defused my slip-up.
Is this what they call the seasoned charm of a professional commentator?
There were more questions afterward.
Small details of the battles, inquiries about deciding moments, and when the question about the swordsman came up, I thought, “Here we go.”
“The reason I didn’t use the swordsman was… not because I underestimated my opponent, or anything. It’s just… some unpleasant memories tied to swords… Hmm, I probably shouldn’t delve into this too deeply. Let’s say it’s personal reasons.”
That’s it, I’ve tried winning as much as I wanted to.
It seemed a bit of an improvement, but maybe that’s just my illusion.
Even after saying just a few words, my stomach churned.
Thankfully, maybe they realized my state, so the sword-related questions didn’t continue.
I guess they were trying to be considerate.
Yet, this was something unexpected.
From both the person asking the questions and from myself.
As we moved into casual talk after almost all the questions ended.
“There is a light-hearted question from the audience. What did you eat before today’s match?”
“Salmon… grilled. I always have it on important days.”
“Salmon! I also love this fish. Does that mean you enjoy it regularly?”
“Not really. It was not like I particularly like it. Just, back then… Hich!”
Why.
Why am I crying over something so trivial?
A hint of tears crept into my voice.
People’s emotions are like dams holding back a river; once they break, it’s hard to calm down until everything is emptied.
In the live broadcast, the audience heard my voice choking, “Hich… Kuch…”
It was a disaster.
The first champion of Infinity Arena… ended up crying while talking about salmon.
*
[Streamer ‘Elderlyn’s Lounge]
[Author: Elderlyn]
[Title: Notice of Broadcast Break on Friday]
Hello, this is Elderlyn!
As the title says, there will be no broadcast on Sunday (~♡’ㅅ’)~♡
The reason for the break is none other than…
I will be meeting with Gawol to have dinner together!
Everyone knows right? It’s in celebration of her recent championship.
Of course, it’s not just the two of us.
A few fellow party members from when I played with Soobin are also joining.
If the opportunity arises, I’ll introduce them to everyone.
I’ll try to upload lots of pictures!
I initially wanted to avoid streaming during this time…
But due to conflicting schedules, unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped.
Please bear with me for a little while!
[Comments]
– So will Gawol be a guest later?
└ We haven’t confirmed anything yet, but I’ll try to bring her on!
– How did you become so close after meeting during a Player kill in the field?
└ Uh… somehow?
– (Censored Comment: Going for salmon?)
[Author: Elderlyn]
[Title: Met Gawol-sama]
I’m losing my mind!
Whoa
Wow
Ah
[Comments]
– Speak properly, human.
– Why are you like this all of a sudden?
– Why does it seem like it’s only about you?
– If you’re going to act like this, at least show us something!
