Chapter 56: Round Two: Friendly Fire

In the midst of the icy response from our party to the showdown between the unpopular, the guild chat window was busy cheering on Takine.

[Guild] Woong: Taki, go crush them for real, lol

[Guild] Chorok: Crush what??

[Guild] Team Leader Go: Haㅡㅡ

[Guild] Blue: Uh, elder…

I quietly trailed after Team 20.

They had set up camp at the five o’clock position on the map, all gathered together.

Around them, acquaintances were swarming, darting about here and there.

“Watching them spinning around like that, it almost feels like a festival.”

Well, the team they sent out as their representative had flipped the mood of the match, so they had reason to be proud.

Just seeing the ‘Jina’ character wriggling around made me smile without realizing.

“It’s actually kind of cute, watching them all gather up to cheer.”

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Begin

While I was watching with a warm feeling, round 6 started right away.

Takine’s opponent for round 6 was Team 6: Akis, Firebird, and Sensibility.

[Guild] Team Leader Go: You have to win no matter what, lololol

[Guild] Haema: If you lose, I’ll kill you, lolol

[Guild] Baegopa: We only believe in Taki, lolol

Even Taki, who was always so talkative, had gone uncharacteristically silent at that moment, maybe because he was feeling grim.

[Party] Cheonghon: Baegopa and Gakdagwi, those guys are the weak links

[Party] Cheonghon: Feels like we’re gonna lose, lolol

Just as he said, I knew those two weren’t great at controlling, so honestly, I didn’t have high hopes.

But Taki has to win.

Because…

“That Firebird guy, after the first guild war, wasn’t he the one who kept whining to me about some kind of zombie bug?”

He said it made no sense for a debuffer lackey to die less than a tank.

If memory serves, that’s what happened. So of course I couldn’t look kindly on Team 6.

I didn’t know if they were new guild members or old veterans, but personally, I really hoped they wouldn’t make it to round 2.

[Party] Ro: Guess we’ll have to cheer for Taki’s team

[Party] Ro: Better than Firebird advancing, haha

[Party] Cheonghon: That bastard, it’s really that guy, right???ㅡㅡ

Jiho and Cheonghon were both reluctantly rooting for Taki’s team.

“Uh, but honestly, looks like we might not even have to cheer…?”

Oddly enough, Firebird from Team 6 started fumbling the moment the match began.

He’d take a few steps, freeze. Take a step in the wrong direction, freeze again.

His movements were choppy, almost like he was lagging.

Meanwhile, his teammates Akis and Sensibility were already targeting Gakdagwi and beating on him, but Firebird was still twitching off by himself.

During all that, Takine’s team focused their attacks on Sensibility and took him out.

“If one guy drops right away and Firebird’s still flailing… well, it’s over.”

[General] Pineapple: Ah

Maybe he actually messed up, because even the Hana Guild side reacted with disdain.

But over at Karma…

[Guild] Team Leader Go: lololololololololol

[Guild] S: Wow… must be nice… that was an easy win…

[Guild] Baegopa: lolololololol, awesome~

[Guild] Grim Reaper: Congrats, congrats ^^

Fireworks and laughter exploded.

[Party] Cheonghon: Man, why is that guild always so sloppy, lololol

[Party] Ro: Seriously, lolol

As usual, losing even one person in these duels is a huge disadvantage, so Team 6 lost without even putting up a real fight. Compared to the previous match, it was remarkably one-sided.

“Well, I guess it’s a relief that Firebird lost, at least…”

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Hm…

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Yes, Team 10 wins.

The admin seemed a bit displeased with how this match turned out.

Maybe because Firebird was just too sloppy?

Anyway, after the match was decided, a crying speech bubble popped up over Firebird, with some consonants that seemed to be a real apology. Must’ve really had a problem.

[Guild] Baegopa: lolololololol what was that

[Guild] Haema: Maybe he really was lagging, lolol

[Guild] Team Leader Go: This game could run on integrated graphics, what kind of lag…

[Guild] Chorok: Is he using a Pentiumㅡ ㅡ?

[Guild] Chorok: Nothing else would cause lagㅡ ㅡ lol

[Guild] Team Leader Go: Okay, if it’s a Pentium, I’ll allow it

[Guild] Gakdagwi: Come on, who even uses that nowadays~

[Guild] Trauma: …Isn’t that something you’d only see in a museum?

[Guild] Grim Reaper: hehehe

[Guild] Haema: Ha, these guys are showing their age again

While the banter continued, the admin called out the teams for round 7.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Team 7 VS Team 12.

“Team 7 is… Monone’s team, and 12 is… Nu, Yongho, Beomsik?”

Because I’d pulled up the application board on my phone, I could check the teams right away.

“Who was ‘Ma’ last season?”

Ma was the user who, in season 15, when Jiho and I made it to the desert, scoffed at us for being ‘small fry crawling up’ after seeing us die.

Taki said that guy always had a bit of an attitude anyway.

[Party] Ro: This time, let’s root for Monone’s team

[Party] Cheonghon: Those Nu guys aren’t anything special, are they?

[Party] Cheonghon: Fighting Monone’s team in round 2 would be more fun

[Party] Cheonghon: Wait, but why are we only talking about Hana?

[Party] Cheonghon: Why are we planning on fighting our own guild, lolololol

[Party] Ro: lolol

[Party] Happy: For real, lololol

[Party] Cheonghon: Guess we really have lost all attachment to our guild, lolol

[Party] Happy: Just when I was starting to get attached, lolol

[Party] Ro: At this rate, we’ll all quit soon

“Right? Right. I even quit a company I liked just because I didn’t care for it anymore. Why should a game be any different?”

Honestly, I’m ready to leave at any time now.

[Guild] Baegopa: lololol Even Swordsman is here

[Guild] Team Leader Go: Hm, what’s he even doing here

[Guild] Team Leader Go: Is there really any need to watch?

[Guild] Taki: Alibi, for sure

[Guild] Trauma: ???

Meanwhile, talk came up about Swordsman, the leader of the newbie guild. Well, more like ridicule than actual discussion.

It felt like the same vibe as last time he was mentioned. Guess there’s something fishy about that Swordsman user too.

“I’ll just ask Infpine about it later…”

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Round 7 begins

Just as I’d vaguely expected, Monone’s team did really well. The three of them moved as one, showing just how long they’d been playing together, and dove right into the other team.

Nu’s team tried to stick together and put up a fight, but it was no use.

Monone’s team kept splitting them up, drawing one member away at a time and focusing them down, dragging the match into a war of attrition.

In the end, someone from Nu’s team, exhausted by the drawn-out psychological battle, died first.

Victory for Monone’s team.

[Party] Ro: Monone’s team doesn’t look easy either

[Party] Cheonghon: It only ended quickly because they’re good

[Party] Cheonghon: Watching them stick together like that, their tactics aren’t bad at all, lol

[Party] Happy: Wow, the way people use their brains is scary, lol

[Party] Ro: Right

[Party] Cheonghon: I bet each team has their own voice chat rooms set up

[Party] Ro: Everyone’s really going all out

Since we aren’t using voice chat, maybe we’re at a bit of a disadvantage compared to the other teams. Real-time communication makes a big difference in the game, after all.

Just as tension started to creep in—

[Party] Cheonghon: Don’t worry, guys!!

[Party] Cheonghon: As long as we set our order and move fast, we’ll be fine

[Party] Cheonghon: Just enjoy it!! lolol

[Party] Ro: lolol

[Party] Happy: So we can just do whatever we want?

[Party] Cheonghon: Well, not that much

[Party] Happy: lololololol

Immediately after, 7 team’s victory and the start of round 8 were announced.

Round 8: Team 3 versus Team 18.

Team 3 was the guildless OrganizationBoss, Guldari, and MapleLeaf. Team 18 was Hana Guild’s Neomuhae, Bebe, and Gwisin.

“Ah, those are the people I used to bully in the desert. Maybe I should root for Team 18 out of guilt?”

To be precise, I just didn’t like Team 3 because they spread pointless chatter on general chat.

Well, at least the match result went the way I wanted.

After a hard-fought contest, Team 18 won, and the admin moved on straight to round 9.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Round 9, Team 9 VS Team 19.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: 999 showdown.

Maybe because it was the ‘999 match,’ but the team compositions were something else.

“Team 9 is Gamchal, Shinyoung, and Gomae. 19 is Yai, Ame, Cheongri… Team 19 is Hana Guild too?”

[Guild] Blue: Hana Guild keeps fighting each other, lol

[Guild] Team Leader Go: Oh my, Mr. Kang is working overtime again….

[Guild] Taki: He worked yesterday too, so it’s a hundred percent

As the karma side grumbled about the unlucky matchup, Team 9’s Gamchal squad claimed a bland victory, just like the Mushin team had before.

The final, 10th round of the first bracket was Team Leader Go’s 14 team versus the guildless Gumul-sang, Cheongpodo, and SogogiGood of Team 17.

Naturally, we all rooted for Team Leader Go.

Chorok and Haema were a bit worrying, but thankfully, Haema had high PVP skill and managed to hold out and win.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: End of round one.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Winning teams from round one are Teams 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18, and 20.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: There will be a five-minute break before the round two matches.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Spectator chat restrictions will also be lifted for five minutes.

With a break before the second round, I stretched right away.

Without realizing, I’d been leaning in, totally focused, and my neck was super stiff.

“Wow. People are still holding their seats and watching.”

Even those who lost were back in as spectators.

I get it. Honestly, it is pretty fun.

[General] OrganizationBoss: Water-nim, congrats congrats

[General] NextDoorAjoshi: lolol this is hilarious

[General] Sensibility: Ah, Firebird-nim, seriouslyㅡ ㅡ

[General] MapleLeaf: Will they give out full buffs after this

[General] Meeeeh: What, they blocked general chat, lolol

[General] SojuLover: They should do this event on the main server too, sigh

[General] Daram: Yunjaeeeeeeeeeeee win plzzzzzzzz

Frustrated spectators were all letting loose now, chattering away. I scarfed down a chocolate bar for a quick meal.

I wiped my hands and mouth and was just about to pour a drink into my ice cup when the admin, who had vanished for a moment, reappeared.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: The 3:3 team event continues.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: For smooth matches, chat will be restricted to participants only again.

Wow, five minutes flew by.

As I watched the chat bubbles vanish from the screen in real time, I hurried to clear the trash off my desk.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: We’re starting immediately.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Round two, match one.

[Colosseum — All] Admin: Team 1 VS Team 11

“Huh? We’re up first?”

I almost spit out my drink.

“But Team 11… that’s Jelly’s team, isn’t it?”

[Guild] Taki: What the heck

[Guild] Team Leader Go: ㅡㅡ

[Guild] Blue: Even if it’s random, this is a bit much;;;

Of all things, Karma vs. Karma. It made me question the fairness, but either way…

[Party] Cheonghon: lololololololol

[Party] Ro: Representing Karma, let’s be the ones to win…

[Party] Happy: Who do we hit first?

[Party] Cheonghon: Obviously!!!

Facing Jelly’s team, all we could do was get excited.