Chapter 36: The Road to the Quarterfinals.

As a YouTube editor who has had a rather unique experience of editing a game video containing my own appearance, another day has passed since then.

That meant the day of the preliminary round had dawned.

When it was afternoon with little time left until the game, I kept the promise I had made with myself yesterday.

‘Haa…….’

I had just gone outside to hunt for fresh boneless chicken and had just returned home.

It had been quite a while since I had gone out and returned with some special purpose other than for survival, but I didn’t have the leisure to feel the impressions of the hunting trip just now.

The chicken getting cold is a serious matter.

It’s not bad even if it’s cold, but it’s better if it’s freshly cooked, crispy, and warm in order to fully enjoy the luxury I had planned.

Therefore, I had ended the hunt and returned home just barely in time for the start of the preliminary round.

‘…It hasn’t started yet.’

I confirmed that the game had not started yet by glancing at EunSiyu’s broadcast screen that was floating on the turned-on monitor.

I immediately proceeded with the settings.

I moved to the bathroom, washed my hands, changed my clothes, took an appropriate amount of the chicken I had hunted, put it in a bowl, took out one can of beer from the refrigerator, and sat in front of the monitor.

A monitor with the image of the team I was cheering for displayed on it.

Chicken and beer to eat while watching the game in front of it.

It was the greatest luxury and pleasure that a modern person Ha Eunsol could indulge in.

The expectation for the game, which was floating around me, was wrapping around me.

I put a piece of chicken in my mouth and chewed, and watched the progress of the ban pick that had started.

There was only one situation that could smash the extreme joy I was enjoying right now, which was a chicken and beer combo with the game.

That one and only situation was Team Crinex getting completely wiped out in the preliminary round, not just fighting well, and then getting eliminated.

Considering the narrative that Team Crinex has built up since its formation until now, it would be a huge disaster. It would be a dragon-head snake-tail style story composition.

If that happened, I was confident that I would throw up what I had eaten due to the shock and loss.

However, this huge disaster obviously did not happen in reality.

I completely scattered the anxiety that I had faintly in my heart after watching the first game.

In the first place, the member who was Master 50 points and lower Silver at the time when the team was formed had achieved a tremendous point increase during the practice process.

Since they were seeing an effect similar to forming a team using much more points than others, it would have been strange if they didn’t show a good appearance in the game.

The two Challengers were people who were good from the beginning, and the two people I helped also showed off the skills that I had raised. The support Crinex, who had been mechanically programmed by Yu Sieun, also fulfilled his duty wonderfully.

The result of the first game was an overwhelming victory.

Team Crinex cleanly inflicted defeat on the other team they met in the second game as well, and confirmed their advancement to the finals with 2 wins.

It is a situation where the preliminary round cannot proceed in a neat way because the number of participating teams is ambiguous.

It was a really good thing to win the first two games and confirm advancement to the finals.

If a three-way tie were to continue to come out, there was a possibility that the teams belonging to that group could have suffered the huge disaster of going straight to work after the overtime work was over, but they achieved a knife-like leave work by getting 2 consecutive wins.

The members of Team Crinex did not continue the broadcast any further after confirming their advancement to the finals.

The broadcast turned off one by one, leaving the words that they would prepare hard for the finals, and EunSiyu’s broadcast also followed that flow and turned into a black screen.

‘For now, our team has gone up…….’

I started to look around at the situation of the other groups from then on.

I can know which team I will proceed with in the finals 8-strong only when the preliminary round is all over, and it would be good to confirm how strong the other teams are and how they play.

It was several hours after EunSiyu’s broadcast was over that the preliminary round was completely over.

It was because a three-way tie came out twice in one group.

Still, it was a level of match volume that was within the range of ending within a day, so the teams belonging to that group also did not suffer the huge disaster of the time to go to work being right after the overtime work was over.

The preliminary round ended like that.

The finals bracket was announced at noon of the day one day after that.

The way the finals were conducted was a knockout tournament in which 8 teams competed.

A simple rule that the losing side is eliminated by playing a 3-game 2-win match.

Team YuSieun’s opponent in the 8-strong  was, with a subtle feeling, the opposing team from when I had played as a scrim substitute a few days ago.

A few hours after the finals bracket was announced, when it was afternoon, I was talking with Park Hayan, who had called me.

It was a situation where Park Hayan had requested feedback on the preliminary round games first.

There had been feedback on the games within the team yesterday, but since it was focused on the team unit rather than the individuals, it seemed that she wanted to receive help in looking back on her play.

It would only take a few hours for EunSiyu’s pro editor Ha Eunsol to edit and upload the two games of the preliminary round, so I had the time and willingness to grant that request for me, who had met the afternoon.

The feedback was simple.

Since what had been done as a team unit had been looked back on yesterday, I only had to look at the plays in the laning phase and teamfights.

When it was in an atmosphere of finishing the feedback, Park Hayan thanked me once again.

“Haa… Thank you so much, really. I will definitely repay you.”

“It’s a good thing for me too if Hayan-nim does well, what.”

“Still, it’s true that I’ve received a tremendous amount of grace, right? No, should I say that it’s all of our team members? The other people are also very thankful. If our team has good results, Sol-nim is the top contributor.”

“It would be good if it goes well. In order to receive treatment as a meritorious subject.”

“Hehe. If I win the championship, I will definitely repay my master very greatly as a disciple! If I don’t win the championship… It’s a pity, but I’ll repay you a little smaller.”

Park Hayan, streamer Hayan’s mental state seemed good even now with one day left until the finals, and she even threw a joke at the end.

The next phone call I received was a few hours after the feedback with Park Hayan, when it was almost time to sleep.

The person who had called was Yu Sieun.

It was the time when Yu Sieun’s broadcast would have turned off and 10 to 20 minutes had passed, originally.

It was the time when she usually calls me right now.

It was a case where the broadcast had turned off early today, but I thought it might be due to habit.

I received the phone call, and continued the story as usual while hearing the happy voice.

When we were talking about each other’s day, I took out the story of what had happened in the afternoon earlier as the topic.

It was the story of the preliminary round feedback that had been requested by my second disciple. To be a little more detailed, it was the impressions I had felt at that time.

“Hayan-nim has also gotten so much better compared to the first time, right? But she still came to get feedback again today… It’s not really a master-disciple relationship or anything, but should I say that I felt something fulfilling? When I was watching the preliminary round yesterday, it felt like I had sent my child to university.”

Yu Sieun, who heard that, asked me a subtle question.

“How was I…?”

“You did well too, unnie. Honestly, there’s not much for me to say to you now. There are things that bother me a little, but most of them are trivial things that you have to judge yourself.”

“…I see.”

I felt some gloominess in Yu Sieun’s last words, so I turned the direction of the conversation to cheer her on as I thought it might be a worry about tomorrow’s finals.

“Are you worried about tomorrow’s game?”

As my guess was correct, Yu Sieun slowly opened her mouth.

“…It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t worried. Wouldn’t everyone be like that?”

“Even though you came up with 2 wins in today’s preliminary round too, wouldn’t the opposing team in the quarterfinals be sad if you said that?”

“That’s true, but since this is also a knockout tournament, there are times when variables happen…. They say that if there’s a lot at stake, they become a little afraid even when doing a fight that they are sure to win, right?”

“You can just do it comfortably, what.”

“I’ve received so much from the team members and you, Eunsol. I definitely want to give back with good results.”

“I”

“Hayan-nim was saying something similar earlier too, and you’re also like that, unnie. Embarrassingly.”

.Really? Hayan was also saying this? During the feedback?”

“Yes. At the end, she was saying that the team members are thankful to me. It’s an honor since I heard it from you too.”

Yu Sieun was silent for a while after hearing my words.

I had the thought that she was sleepy, so I recommended Yu Sieun to go to sleep in order to manage the condition of the player who will be playing the game tomorrow.

“Go to sleep now, unnie. I’ll cheer for tomorrow’s game too.”

“…Okay. You sleep well too, Eunsol.”

After the call was turned off, I checked the time that was floating on the monitor.

It was past midnight.

It was the day of the quarterfinals.