Chapter 43: Obsession

“…Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

I unknowingly stammered under his gaze, which was so intense it felt burdensome.

Ban-ye continued to stare at me and spoke.

“No, it’s just that you seem to really like it.”

“Sisi must be incredibly embarrassed, so of course I’m happy!”

Did he really need me to say it out loud to know?

I was so excited I was on the verge of hugging Ban-ye!

There was no way Sisi hadn’t heard the news when his channel was in such an uproar.

As for why he couldn’t show up… well, Sisi himself would know best.

He knew he couldn’t win against Ban-ye, who was on a 30-win streak against Cavaliers.

“That b@stard Sisi always talked sh*t about rankers behind their backs, but he could never say a word to their faces.”

“This time too, he knew and hid, but I bet he’ll come up with an excuse later.”

“Something like he couldn’t log on because he was in the countryside…!”

He’d make excuses that he had a plausible reason and wasn’t just scared, but not everyone would believe him at face value.

How pissed must he be right now?

Thinking about how the always-arrogant Sisi got taken down a notch was so refreshing.

Just then, Ban-ye, who had been watching me continuously, opened his mouth.

“You still haven’t forgotten Sisi, it seems.”

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?!”

It was complete and utter madness.

Seriously, how could he say that after seeing me get so worked up over Sisi every time?

I jumped up in protest, but Ban-ye didn’t correct himself.

“No….”

“If you had truly forgotten him and let go of all your feelings, you wouldn’t react at all, but you still get incredibly agitated whenever Sisi is mentioned.”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

I can guarantee that not a single shred of affection for Sisi remains.

If anything, my hatred for him has grown even bigger than any affection I ever had.

Now, I’m just one of the people wishing for Sisi’s downfall.

Even now, thinking about the messages that b@stard sent on the official forums and the 5 million won I lent him made my stomach churn.

However, Ban-ye didn’t acknowledge my feelings.

“Anyway, you’re still obsessed.”

Why was he being so spiteful?

I fumed, but Ban-ye remained calm even after screwing me over.

Wanting him to understand how I felt for once, I shot back sharply.

“You did that live stream with Ban-yeStorage for me too, didn’t you?”

“Against the Cavaliers….”

“Me?”

Ban-ye retorted immediately, as if it was absurd.

His gaze was arrogant, as if to say, ‘For someone like you?’

“Sisi provoked the temporary channel first.”

“He provoked it, yes, but….”

“You… seem to think that people will naturally like you, don’t you?”

The moment I heard Ban-ye’s low, whispering words, my elated mood sank.

The malicious words stung a corner of my heart.

And it made me realize it once again.

Ban-ye doesn’t actually like me.

As I stood there, at a complete loss for words and unable to argue, Ban-ye drove the nail in the coffin.

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s just eat.”

“…You’re the one who started talking nonsense first.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Just answer me once.”

Ban-ye didn’t answer my immediate retort at all.

…He was truly detestable.

And the next day.

A post appeared on Sisi’s YouTube channel community tab.

[Sisi (1 hour ago)]
[Hello, this is Sisi.]
[I heard that a lot happened yesterday.]
[At the time, I was down in the countryside and could not log on.]
[Instead, when I return, I will upload a guide on how to face an Alchemist as a Cavalier.]
[Then, as announced, I will see you on next Monday’s live stream!]

[Guild][HeyYam] He’s really using the excuse that he went to the countryside, yam.

[Guild][Male3] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋAh, that’s hilarious.

I had told the guild chat that Sisi would make this exact excuse, and the very same excuse was posted.

Thanks to that, the guild chat window was filled with [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ].

[Guild][Neda] A guide on how to face an Alchemist as a Cavalier, now of all times……

[Guild][Youngmyeong] Talk about being late to the partyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild][Neda] I doubt he can even pull it off himself.

[Guild][Bogak] For real.

If he was so confident, he could just challenge Ban-ye now, but he couldn’t do that.

The sight of him trembling and announcing he would upload a rebuttal video was just so typical of Sisi.

[Guild][HeyYam] They’re calling him pathetic on the free-for-all forums too, yamㅋㅋ

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Ah, is that the ‘Countryside? Pathetic ㅋㅋ’ post?

[Guild][HeyYam] That’s the one, yamㅋㅋ

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] I wrote that one, hehe ㅋㅋ

[Guild][HeyYam] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild][Neda] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild][Male3] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

I felt proud seeing the guild members laugh.

Lately, I had been finding a subtle pleasure in relentlessly slandering Sisi anonymously on the free-for-all forums.

But just then, Ban-ye, who hadn’t participated in the chat at all, spoke up.

[Guild][Ah-ang] I’m planning to declare a Guild PvP against Sisi’s guild. Is there anyone who can’t participate?

[Guild][HugMeRaiseMe] You’re going to wreck his guild too?

[Guild][ImSoCute] When are you doing it? This weekend?

I was surprised by Ban-ye’s sudden words and asked him, as he was right next to me.

“…A-are you suddenly picking a fight with Sisi’s guild?”

“If we do a guild war now while the attention is high, we can get a lot of views.”

“It’s a good thing.”

‘Seriously, since when was he so much of a streamer…!’

I thought that to myself, but since Ban-ye wasn’t exactly wrong, I couldn’t refute it.

On top of that, the guild members were all buzzing, saying they would participate as if a festival had started.

[Guild][Youngmyeong] I wish to participate><

[Guild][HugMeRaiseMe] Me.

[Guild][ImSoCute] I’m free this week!

[Guild][HeyYam] I guess attendance is mandatory for the vice-masters and up, yam.

[Guild][Male3] Do we get a lot of guild points? If so, I’m in too ㅋ

[Guild][Bogak] Joining.

[Guild][Neda] I will participate.

Once more than half the members said they would participate, Ban-ye set a date.

[Guild][Ah-ang] We’re doing it this weekend.

[Guild][Ah-ang] I’m going to submit the guild war application now.

Then, without any hesitation, he went to the PvP map and declared a guild war.

[The ‘Slaughter’ guild has declared a guild war on the ‘Prosperity’ guild.]

Moreover, the guild war declaration was broadcast loudly as a world-wide message, like a proclamation of war, so there was no taking it back now.

Naturally, the in-game reaction was explosive.

[Shout][2ch][Canny] Wow, are they going to live stream this? ㄷㄷㄷ

[Shout][11ch][UnderworldTour] Go Sisi, win ㅋㅋ

[Shout][11ch][LickLick] This is a battle for server pride.

[Shout][10ch][Kabalyee] I’m a Cavalier, so I’m cheering for the Cavalier ^^

There were people expressing their opinions via shout, and the free-for-all forums were the same.

I was most curious about Sisi’s reaction, but annoyingly, he had disabled all the comments on his channel.

It seemed the number of people asking if he was scared had reached a level that couldn’t be controlled just by blocking them.

‘Still, surely he can’t run away from this too.’

‘If he does, public opinion will really be the end for him.’

There was no way Sisi didn’t know that he would forever remain second-rate, or even lower.

Besides, this wasn’t a one-on-one duel, but a guild-on-guild battle.

He might even decide he has a chance of winning.

I hoped Sisi would accept.

So that… I could sincerely pray that I, too, could land at least one hit on him.

“Ban-ye, can I participate in the guild war too?”

I asked Ban-ye carefully, but…….

“Of course you have to participate.”

Ban-ye spoke as if my participation had been decided from the start, which was unexpected.

I blinked at the surprising answer.

I had assumed that because my skills were obviously in the lower tier, he would exclude me for being a burden, or at the very least hesitate to put me on the list.

But it seemed Ban-ye had already been planning with me included.

While I was overjoyed at his words, I was also worried.

“But… I’m not that good.”

“You have to practice.”

“Starting today.”

“W-will I be able to get good then?”

Previously, when I had to hit the level cap in a week and asked a similar question, Ban-ye had replied, [You think that’s possible?].

But his answer to this question was different.

“Yes.”

“You can win even if you fight Sisi.”

“Really?”

“He’s not that skilled anyway, honestly.”

My heart began to pound at Ban-ye’s confident declaration.

From that day on, I started to practice PvP like crazy with Ban-ye and the guild members.

It was tough because I kept getting wrecked, but there were times I managed to scrape a victory, and each time, I was as happy as if I had beaten Sisi himself.

‘If I can just land a single blow on that b@stard Sisi in any way, shape, or form.’

Hoping for only that, I practiced as fervently as I did when I was grinding to the level cap.