I Have a Reason to Hate Streamers

[World Championship - Semifinals]
[Battlefield: Sunken Monastery]
[Rules: 5-Man Elimination Match]
[Sigma eSports vs W Titans]

As soon as the visibility opened, the damp, musty air greeted the players.
The ground, starting from a muddy field, left a squishy feeling with each step.
Deep footprints were left following the lead.

The stone walls of the ruins still showed clear signs of moisture.
Rotting wood and thick moss grew hideously.
In the monastery, which had been abandoned long ago, only the stench of dirty water filled the air.

《The match has begun.》
《The Sunken Monastery, huh. I guess the battlefield is... well-suited from the start.》
《It seems fine. It’s clearly a battlefield we can analyze and prepare for.》
《A lot of people have been waiting for the showdown between Ga-wol and Hero, and the stage has been set for it, in one way or another.》

The Sunken Monastery is a battlefield set in a flooded area.
The battlefield itself is fairly wide compared to the number of players entering.
However, there is a flooding mechanic that affects the entire field.

There are safe zones like tall spires or trees in the outer fields where the water doesn't reach.
But inside the central monastery, there are no such safe zones.
If you don't get out in time, the interior of the building will be completely submerged.

That said, you can’t completely avoid the monastery either.
Objects that provide strong buffs to those inside the flooded monastery will appear.
Since it’s not something easily handed over... fighting in the flooded area is inevitable.

Only one player from each team can enter the monastery, so there’s no need to worry about team allocation.

《It looks like both teams are preparing to enter the monastery.》
《Sigma eSports is entering through the southwest door, and W Titans is entering through the northeast door to push for buffs.》
《It seems that Ga-wol and Hero are the ones entering.》
《The snipers take position first, and the other players begin to scout for the enemy.》

The two swordsmen entered, as if they had made an agreement, heading straight for the center of the monastery.
It was the most likely place for an object to appear once the flooding started.
The camera shifted back and forth between Ga-wol and Hero.

It had been a while since I had entered this battlefield, but the paths of the monastery were familiar.
One of the most helpful things after becoming a pro gamer was understanding the battlefield and its gimmicks.

So, it was fine even if my mind wandered a bit.
I reached the central prayer hall without losing my way.
It seems I got there faster.

‘Normally, if I’d picked an assassin, I would have hidden behind that ceiling structure.’

But now, it seemed impossible to sneak up without leaving a trace.
In my hand, I was holding a long scimitar.
It felt so familiar, as if it were a part of my body... it sent a slight shiver down my spine.

And Hero should be arriving soon.

She’s the type of person who could turn even a stone into a weapon.
It would be troublesome if I tried to climb slowly and got spotted, or if I hid but couldn’t escape her line of sight.
So, having arrived first, I stood confidently waiting for Hero.

I didn’t have to wait long.
Maybe one or two minutes?

From the opposite entrance, a heavy footstep echoed, loud and distinct.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound of a knight in heavy armor running.
I stepped forward a little and met Hero at the end of the hallway.

“Hey, did you wait long?”
“Not really, nothing much to do.”

For now, it was still the middle of the match.
Any conversation was just a formality.

There was no need to wait, so I led with my sword and charged in.
As I pushed in, I aimed for Hero’s right calf.
I planned to push her into the corridor before she could spread out into the wider area.

“Good. That’s how you should come at me!”

Hero, in response, countered with a thrust.

With my current strength and position, it would be hard to deflect that attack.
A thrust is an attack that’s more effective with evasion than defense.
Dodging sideways wasn’t hard, but... I thought it would be better to step back instead.

I hesitated to go straight in due to Hero’s stance.
With her right side wide open, her greatsword divided the space, and she had already pulled one foot back.
She was trying to draw me in, and it was dangerous to push further.

Initially, I had led Hero into a confined space to limit her range of attack.

‘This is tricky. It would be foolish to proceed further. It would be worse than doing nothing.’

In a fight with Hero, I had to make more careful judgments.
I needed to wear down the strong and sturdy enemy bit by bit, starting from the outer edge.

It’s true that Hero’s play seems mindless.
But I couldn’t let myself get caught up in that. If she were truly that foolish, she wouldn’t have made it this far.
What we were seeing was the result of her pushing her strength to the limit.

As I retreated, Hero’s greatsword came again with its massive strike.
The blade was coated with powerful magic, and it cleaved horizontally through the wall.
I leaned back slightly and dodged the sword’s tip.

Even as I tore through the obstacle, the tip of the sword didn’t wobble.
In the barbaric and harsh strikes, traces of effort could be seen.
I felt the floor of the monastery slowly filling with water and tightened my grip on the sword.

In fact, I wasn’t always so obsessed with winning when I was younger.
It was certainly better to win than lose.
But I never felt angry about losing.

Traveler was a psychopath obsessed with victory from the moment he was born.
Many other pro gamers also have a natural competitive spirit.
Even Luche, after repeatedly losing to me, would sulk.

My attitude only persisted for a few months after I started kendo.
Looking back, it was quite natural.

The first person I faced with a sword wasn’t anyone else but my instructor.
And not just any instructor—one who had recently ended his professional career and still had the remnants of his prime.
Compared to him, I was just a rookie, having barely picked up a bokuto.

There was no way I could win.
I wasn’t even particularly passionate about the sword back then, so there was no competitive drive to boil over.

‘Ah, this feeling. It’s been a while.’

This was exactly how it felt facing my instructor’s sword.
It was too strong. It felt like I was facing a hunk of metal, even though I was clashing with the bokuto.
My instructor was notorious for his heavy strikes during his playing days.

• Such a physical gap in a match is rare.
• It might feel frustrating right now, but think of it as a valuable experience and endure it.
• You’ll skip past this hardship too quickly. But the world is unpredictable.
• How can I know where a monster might be growing?
• It’s actually a good thing. I’m glad I could teach you before I get any older.

Honestly, I didn’t believe it.
Isn’t it customary to be kind to beginners when they start training?

At the time, I thought my instructor was just venting his stress on me.
But before long, I truly benefited from his teaching.
I caught up to my seniors in an instant, and soon, I met a monster of a friend.

I never imagined I’d look back on that favor like this.

Before I could block Hero’s sword, I gently twisted my wrist.
The sword tilted just as the blades clashed.
I finely adjusted the strength, dissipating the shock or spreading it across my body.

[Passive: Martial Soul]
[The damage that can be countered by parrying increases. For physical attacks, beneficial effects are granted in the judgment...]
[Target: Sigma Ga-wol]

With the clear sound of metal, my body was pushed back.
Even though I had deflected the attack almost perfectly, a sharp pain lingered in my wrist.
The health bar didn’t take any damage, but it was a sign of how powerful the attack was, even with the parry.

I now had a sense of how strong her sword was.
Fighting head-on with such a greatsword would be a foolish move.
I retreated to the left and, at the same time, swung behind to leave a mark on Hero’s forearm.

A greatsword has its flaws.
It’s not just heavy or hard to wield.
I know that with Hero’s strength and skill, those things aren’t a problem.

But no matter how strong Hero is, there’s no overcoming the weapon’s inherent design.@@novelbin@@

How does she move such a massive sword with such freedom?
In reality, you need to move your whole body to wield it, but Hero focuses on using her arms and shoulders.
She doesn’t swing the sword with her whole body unless the moment is certain.

If she started using the greatsword for lower body swings, her movements would be too wide.
Naturally, Hero’s greatsword remains above her upper body.
More precisely, it’s forced to stay between her shoulders and chest.

Hero’s build is almost identical to mine.
If such a large weapon moves beneath her head, her vision is naturally blocked.
Ironically, her blind spot lies just beneath the greatsword she’s so proud of.

From our exchange, I confirmed my prediction.
Now, it’s just a matter of clashing our skills.

‘The variables...’

I swallowed and checked the ground.
A cold, damp sensation spread from my toes.
The flooding of the monastery had begun.