Chapter 54: Smear Jam on Me

While I was letting out a hollow laugh, Team 13 headed into the arena first.

Hannari, Hope, Moi.

It’s one thing for Hope to be there, but the combination feels a little awkward.

[Guild] Taki: Looks like Hannari volunteered for the bomb squad

[Guild] Manager Go: Sad but true...

[Guild] Bambi: LOL? What are you guys talking about?

[Guild] Taki: Info—Hannari is the kind deputy guild master. Hope and Moi are the resident weirdos of the guild

[Guild] Bambi: Ah, LOLLLLL

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

The three of us hurried into the arena as well.

[Party] Proposal: LMAOOOO I almost died laughing

[Party] Ro: Happy's gonna tank, right?

[Party] Proposal: Yup, I bet 500 won that kid will stick to Happy no matter what

[Party] Happy: LOLLLLLLLLL Ugh

[Party] Proposal: Jiho, who should we beat up first?

[Party] Ro: Of course, respect your elders, hyung

[Party] Proposal: Ah, you mean to attack, right?

[Party] Ro: Hehe

[Party] Happy: LOL

The first target was set, so the second was obvious.

Hope was definitely going to chase me the whole time.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Begin

Just as expected.

"Did that kid smear jam on me or something?"

Hope was running straight at me.

Letting out a sigh, I quickly backed away. Thankfully, Hope chased right after.

"Man, this lunatic."

The way Hope chased after me like a rabid dog was scary, hilarious, and just a little much.

"But why is this guy always doing whatever he wants?"

Absurdly, Hannari and Moi had clung to Jiho and were throwing punches at him. Looks like Jiho was their first target.

Then Hannari seemed to notice Hope stuck to me, and suddenly started running in my direction.

"In the meantime, Moi keeps getting pummeled but won’t dodge and just keeps hitting Jiho…"

Hannari, who was chasing after me, paused at that sight.

Maybe typing? I tilted my head in confusion, and just then, Moi stopped moving for a moment...

In that short pause, Moi got hit while defenseless and died.

A complete disaster.

Jiho and Proposal stuck to the plan and immediately chased after Hannari. Meanwhile, I kept dragging the frenzied Hope around and managed my HP.

But suddenly, looking like I was just running away from Hope made me mad.

Ugh, this hurts my pride.

"Should I just go 1v1? No, no. Think rationally. This isn’t solo, it’s a team match…"

Suppressing my half-joking, half-serious urge, I faithfully carried out my assigned role. Thankfully, Hope was so dumb that it made my job easy.

At that point, Hannari realized things were going downhill and desperately tried to get to me.

Since Hope had already hit me a few times, Hannari probably thought killing me would at least save some face.

But actually, this was in our favor.

I lured Hope toward Jiho and Proposal so they could beat up Hannari more easily. The two of them predicted the short distance and managed to land hits on Hannari even better than before.

From the side, from behind—each hit drained the red HP bar on Hannari bit by bit.

And then, Proposal landed the finishing blow.

As soon as Hannari collapsed, I immediately stopped, and the other two swarmed over.

Hope was instantly surrounded and got thrashed by us.

Even then, Hope only focused on hitting me. The obsession...

"Persistent. Seriously. Trying to kill me no matter what..."

My HP was about half left.

I couldn’t help it after getting hit a few times while dragging Hope around.

"Are they thinking I'll die if they hit me a bit more?"

But unfortunately, we killed Hope faster than Hope could kill me.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Round 2 over. Team 1 wins.

[General] Hope: F*ck

[General] WaterIsSelf: Wow

[General] Cheongri: Insane— —

[General] Shinyoung: ;;; Seriously

[General] GreenGrape: LOL

The chat bubble popped up the moment Hope fell, making my eyes almost pop out.

That’s not why chat for participants is allowed.

That guy’s nuts, seriously.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Please be respectful.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Hope, due to accumulated penalties, you are muted for 168 hours.

Still, the ending is always a happy one.

[Guild] Bambi: LOLOLOLOL

[Guild] Taki: That guy’s honestly an idiot LOL

[Guild] Hungry: What is wrong with him??? — —

[Guild] Grim Reaper: Is he a celebrity from another server or something hahahaha

[Guild] Green: I almost feel bad for Hannari now...

At this point, I started getting curious too.

[Guild] Happy: Is Hope always like this?

[Guild] Taki: LOL yeah

[Guild] Taki: He’s been known for being weird since he subbed a martial god main on the main server

[Guild] S: Yup, among the sub-accounts, there are even rumors he’s insane

[Guild] Happy: What?

[Guild] S: They say normal conversations are impossible with him

[Guild] Happy: That sounds about right

I laughed and agreed, but honestly, it was a little creepy. I’d just fought someone like that...

There are too many weird people these days, so it’s a bit unsettling.

Of course, since I only see Hope through the monitor, it’s not really my problem.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Moving right to Round 3.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Team 4 VS Team 16

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Please enter the arena.

"Oh, it’s Mushin’s team. All the top rankers are coming out from the start."

Mushin, Pineapple, FirstSnow.

Looks like they picked the best combo they could in their guild.

But their opponents, Team 16...

[Party] Proposal: It’s Hana Guild—

Dodung, Kaiser, IWasWrong.

Unfamiliar IDs, but clearly users wearing the Hana Guild mark.

I don’t know if they’re really low-level inside, but the outcome was obvious.

[Party] Ro: This feels rigged

As expected, Mushin’s team easily won Round 3.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Round 3, Team 4 wins.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: As I said before, I’d like everyone to be more proactive.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Good work, everyone.

Looks like the admin realized this match wasn’t normal either.

But since there’s a participation prize just for joining the event, there’s not much to say if people only want to participate. That’s probably why the admin only said that much.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Moving on to Round 4.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Team 8 VS Team 15

This one’s a pretty interesting match-up.

WaterIsSelf, Eungae, Fake. Team 8 made up of regular users.

Blue, Bambi, Grim Reaper. Team 15, our fellow Karma guild members.

All three of those regular users are longtime casuals on Another.

Their IDs always pop up in general chat, so I’d unconsciously gotten a feel for their vibe.

And Blue’s team, we’d gotten friendly with them recently.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but focus my attention and root for them.

[Guild] Happy: Blue, Bambi, Grim Reaper, fighting!

[Guild] INFP: Good luck, Desert Kings

[Guild] Taki: Obvious who’s gonna win LOL should be an easy victory

[Guild] Ro: Bambi, see you in the finals

[Guild] S: Nah, we’ll be in the finals

[Guild] Bambi: LOL

[Guild] Blue: We’ll win and come back!

Backed by the guild members’ enthusiastic support, Blue’s team confidently took to the field.

And as soon as the match began, their charge made me smile.

At least, until Team 8 suddenly retreated.

[Party] Proposal: Huh? What?

Water’s team just backed away and kept their distance from Blue’s team. Then they started circling around Eungae, Blue’s target.

Almost as if to block their approach.

Blue’s team was briefly confused, forced to hit the wrong people.

In the meantime, Eungae slipped back and Blue, Bambi, and Grim Reaper pressed forward, avoiding the blockers and chasing Eungae.

"No, no! Just change your target to whoever’s closest!"

I got so caught up watching that I accidentally shouted.

But maybe thrown off by the unexpected situation, Blue’s team just stuck to their original plan.

In the end, Water’s team surrounded Grim Reaper, who’d lagged slightly behind. And then, in a flash—

Their dazzling mouse left-clicks drained Grim Reaper’s HP in no time.

[Guild] Taki: ?????

[Guild] Manager Go: Wow, amazing

Grim Reaper died in the blink of an eye.

He lay there, giving a sheepish smile, and Blue and Bambi hesitated for a moment at the 3v2.

"Wow. It’s over."

In a 3v3 brawl, two can’t take on three. Unless the other team goes easy or does something stupid, there’s no hope.

Water’s team showed off impressive footwork from the start. So Blue’s team winning with two left was unlikely.

Blue and Bambi backed up briefly, then charged in and focused all their attacks on Fake.

But soon after, Bambi was surrounded and finished off.

With Blue left alone, the outcome was clear.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Round 4, Team 8 wins.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: That was an electrifying match!

[Party] Ro: They really caught them off guard

[Party] Happy: Once you lose a member, it’s over...

[Party] Proposal: I’m so nervous right now, guys

[Party] Proposal: What if we have to fight Water’s team?

[Party] Proposal: They’re so good???

[Party] Ro: Of course we have to win hehe

[Party] Happy: LOL

I laughed it off, but honestly, the result was really surprising.

[Guild] Manager Go: Wow, respect...

[Guild] Bambi: T_T

[Guild] Hungry: That was so unexpected, I can’t even react LOL

[Guild] Taki: Wow, guildless players won?

[Guild] Blue: I’m in shock right now

[Guild] Taki: LOL If they make it to the end, they’re gonna be a problem

[Guild] Gadfly: LOL Just give it up~~~

[Guild] Haema: Seriously didn’t expect that outcome LOL

[Guild] Trauma: Sorry, just curious—are guildless users not allowed to win??

[Guild] Manager Go: Uh, that’s not it;;; why?

[Guild] Trauma: Just, uh... everyone seemed so surprised so I was wondering haha;;

Trauma’s innocent but sharp question made the chat go quiet for a moment.

[Guild] INFP: Of course they can win, and there’s nothing weird about it

[Guild] INFP: It’s just because we’re in a guild

[Guild] INFP: Big guilds have an easier time dominating content, so it feels natural

[Guild] INFP: As a user and deputy guild master, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit

[Guild] INFP: But it’s not really a topic for now

[Guild] INFP: Just, let’s all celebrate honestly

[Guild] INFP: Congrats on your loss, you three!!

[Guild] Grim Reaper: Haha, thanks

[Guild] Blue: Was that congrats for us? T_T

[Guild] Haema: LOLLLLLLLL

INFP’s unusually long message got me thinking too.

"True, I never thought Water’s team would win either."

Maybe it’s because I’m in a guild, but I guess I’d gotten a little biased without realizing it.

Of course they deserve to enjoy the game and the content just as much as we do.

"I need to check myself. So, I hope we face Water’s team next..."

I was imagining how fun a match against Water’s team would be, when the admin called the next teams.

[Duel Arena ― All] Admin: Round 5, Team 2 VS Team 20.

[Guild] Proposal: Oh, it’s INFP’s team, go go!

[Guild] Bambi: Good luck T_T

[Guild] Manager Go: (Deputy guild master in action)

[Guild] Hungry: Who’s Team 20 though?

[Guild] Taki: Haven’t seen those IDs before

[Guild] Green: Whose alt is that— —lol

"...No way."

Team 20 was Ham, Yoonjae, and General.

Friends of the True Buffer.