I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 221 – Toward Another Page

Without a doubt, a position and an environment were ultimately derived from the countless people and the invisible competition among them.

The Streamer Tournament.

Consisting of seven letters and two words, it was given a meaning beyond mere text arrangement, yet automatically limited to nothing more than its implicit meaning.

Dozens of streamers, each with different goals, submitted their applications to participate in the tournament. Some intended to show a different side of themselves, to break away from their existing image, while others hoped to attract new viewers by displaying their skills.

There were 24 individual goals in total. Although similar ones could be forcibly grouped together, they couldn’t be placed on the same level.

However,

-I’ll approach this as if I’ll die the moment I lose.

Even if they couldn’t be combined, if the determination of one person and the resulting outcome could overwhelm others or even more, the story would be different.

First, the team name changed. The person who emerged as the hot topic of this tournament, not even a hot potato, easily pushed aside the Cartographer and firmly inserted themselves as the leader of the team. Or rather, it might have been inserted. It was a bit late to argue about such things.

Secondly, the team changed. The saying “clear water flows down from above” implied that the lower part is influenced by the upper part, and the results triggered by this were not hard to predict. Like accelerating the process of Theseus’ ship by dozens of times, she replaced the ship’s exterior and engine in less than a week.

And finally, the opposing team changed.

‘….’

Change brings immense pressure.

In this regard, including Manager Kim, the team members didn’t experience monstrous growth in practice but were essentially forced to grow. Confronting the subject’s prowess head-on, a sense of urgency that they couldn’t lose in such a miserable manner arose in everyone’s minds.

Their growth was a direct result of this.

Manager Kim himself, executing desperate commands he had never attempted even during his active duty, fought to slow down the attrition of his team’s strength in real time, and the team members responded accordingly. No matter how laid-back one might be, there would be no leisurely people when a storm hit.

It was somewhat unfortunate. If there was one regrettable point….

“It would have been nice if we had a chance for a scrim.”

“Indeed.”

What if they had been given a legitimate chance to prepare a bit more?

That was purely in the realm of imagination. Since the Streamer Tournament itself was prepared in a rather short period, the likelihood of realization was low…but still, they could voice a few words of regret. They weren’t going to grant it now anyway.

Moreover, as they were growing, Harmony wasn’t standing still either. Learning something meant broadening the horizons of thought, and perhaps the vessel of her, who might be seeing beyond Manager Kim, was still full of things to be filled.

Two rounds ago, Harmony had literally stolen Manager Kim’s specialty of organic squad operation, and through this, they completely seized control of the battlefield by crushing the allies who had advanced to point B. The only fortunate thing was that from the third round, it became a neck-and-neck fight. Although they lost.

And so, the fourth round. Possibly the last round. The team was driven to the edge of the cliff, but conversely – now the puzzle was complete.

-[Notification: 30 seconds remaining until the fourth match.]

“This round will be a watershed. Even if we go, we must inflict a wound once.”

“Can we do it?”

“It’s all hypothetical. But once you start with hypotheses, there’s no end to ‘ifs.’ We either become legends by defeating the opposing team continuously in the remaining rounds, or we lose in this round. The important thing is focus on the goal. Other than the efforts necessary to bring the most needed imagination to reality, there’s no need to worry about anything else.”

A brief silence.

Clang. The sharp metallic sound echoed in the ears of everyone present. No more preparation was needed. The final change brought by Harmony swept through allies and enemies alike, and only a head-on confrontation remained.

They had done enough, and there would be no catastrophic defeat beyond remedy. They would definitely prevent that from happening.

With the heavy rotor sound tearing through the cold winter air of New York, two Blackhawks landed in the heart of the deserted city.

Just before the time ticked down to zero, Manager Kim spoke.

“Let’s go. We need to do everything we can until the end.”

Thus, the third round began, and the final struggle opened its curtains.

And-

-It was truly an amazing effort. It was a match where every moment was unpredictable until the very end. However, in the final moment, the decisive blow for victory was struck by Team A’s main squad composed of Harmony, Dol, Limit, and Hotteok! With a total score of 4-2, the winner of this Streamer Tournament is Harmony Group!!!

“Ah, it’s so disappointing. Really, it’s so disappointing….”

“Indeed, I want to say a big thank you to everyone. Thank you for following my commands and enduring.”

4-2.

The final report card they received did not have victory stamped on it, but they were likely to receive more attention than the actual winners.

The short tournament among streamers held after the Asian qualifiers concluded in such a manner.

“After six matches, and a pre-interview conducted when not a single match had been played, four hours later – finally, we have gathered all the participants of today’s match here. Please give them a round of applause!”

Waaaah-!

Even today, there had been cheers and applause several times already, but the growing total, now reaching 400,000, was enough to put pressure directly on anyone.

Twenty-six, including the 24 participants of this Streamer Tournament and the two casters and commentators, Unreal and Luddite. Since they all had to come on stage, the stage naturally expanded, transforming into a layout reminiscent of a large talk show on public broadcast.

Microphones placed naturally before everyone. Despite the difference in scale, everyone seated there belonged to a profession inseparable from communication with the audience, and thus, anticipation rather than burden was etched on their faces.

At the front of the fan-shaped seating, at the center. Representing their respective teams, Harmony and Manager Kim were at the forefront facing the MCs.

After a round of applause ended, it was time for the official Q&A to begin.

The first question naturally came from the two group leaders who played the most pivotal roles in today’s match.

“It’s the first time the two of you have met up close since a few hours ago, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. We met on the battlefield just a few dozen minutes ago.”

“Haha, the battlefield isn’t exactly a suitable place for a friendly chat. It’s an honor to have you both here in such a peaceful place again. Now, before others get curious, let’s quickly move on to the main topic. I’ll ask you some questions, so please answer them freely.”

The two nodded, and the former caster and commentator, now turned MC, quickly scanned through the holographic script in his hand.

The first question began.

“First, I’d like to ask the representative of the winning team in this tournament, streamer Harmony. You participated and won today’s tournament. Can we hear your thoughts on that?”

“…Honestly, it was much more difficult and rough than I imagined. Especially since the opposing team grew stronger with each match, from the third round on, I faced my limits several times trying to cope with it.”

“Ah, I see. Indeed, throughout this tournament, Manager Kim’s team displayed the organic squad operation they had boasted about before the tournament. It might sound a bit clichéd, but as a viewer, I truly felt what a clash between a river and a willow was.”

– Unreal’s only embellishments are from martial arts novelswwwwwwwwwwww
– So today’s match was a martial arts tournament?
– These days, it seems mandatory to have bullets, guns, and grenades as martial arts techniques, lol

– The name of the demon lord is Green Cat lol

– You can see Manager Kim looking bewildered all the way from here, right??????

Of course, unlike the nonsense being spewed like machine-gun fire by the viewers, their interview contained not a single lie.

Sincerely, Harmony’s head still throbbed. Reading the ever-changing battlefield and responding to it was like playing chess with one hand while doing rock-paper-scissors with the other, exhausting the brain.

Naturally – not that it wasn’t always the case – Harmony’s mind was brimming with respect for Yoo Jin. In the early days when they collaborated, Yoo Jin invested over eight hours a day in the main missions, constantly giving logical instructions.

Although the number of people and the map might differ a bit now, the basic gist was the same. In other words, the path Harmony was walking on was one Yoo Jin had already passed long ago.

Meanwhile, naturally, the second question was directed at Manager Kim sitting next to her. When the tournament began, he exuded an overwhelming force, but now, only one utterly exhausted man sat in the chair.

Of course, such a gap was naturally the best way to open the conversation.

“Haha, sir. You can’t sleep here. We’re almost done!”

“Ah, my mind just wandered off for a moment. So, what’s the question you have for me?”

“Haha, I’ll tell you right away. Manager Kim and your team members really struggled and fought hard in this tournament, and you won twice as well. How do you feel about that?”

-Personally, it was really… much harder than preparing for the official Domination tournament last year. It felt like blocking a landslide with an umbrella. It’s hard to believe that Harmony had ordinary gaming skills just a few months ago.”

-Wow ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-‘High praise’

– Is Harmony a goddess?

-Green Cat can’t say he’s bad at games anymore, lol

-Fact) She reached Grandmaster from Unranked in less than ten days.

The continuous compliments. Only Harmony made a strange face as if wondering, ‘Am I really that good?’ while most of those sitting behind her nodded in agreement.

A beep signaled a request to speak. The two at the front turned their heads in curiosity to see the Cartographer, smiling widely.

He spoke with a subtle expression.

“In fact, ever since I found out Harmony was close with Yoo Jin, I thought this might happen. I got beaten up quite a bit by her.”

“Haha! I see. I understand what you mean. Was that during the tournament rank period? I also confirmed that while researching related materials for my Yourspace video.”

“Yes, that’s right. Still… fortunately, I found peace of mind.”

Then burst out laughter from all sides. Naturally, among the hundreds of thousands of viewers, there were regular viewers of the Cartographer as well, and most of them knew what had happened in the AP world a few months ago.

Rubbing his somewhat sore neck, Cartographer concluded his statement.

After Harmony and Manager Kim received their questions, it was time for questions – almost like an inquiry – to the team members under them. Naturally, they were eager to boast about and compare the trials they had gone through.

“We gathered for practice on the day Team Cartographer became Team Harmony. When asked if anyone came to win, having competitive spirits, the team members and I eagerly raised our hands. Everyone else did too. Then suddenly, they took evidence photos.”

“Haha, evidence photos?”

“Yes. After that, well… we were put through some tough times. That’s actually a very restrained expression. In VR terms, we spent about eight hours a day at the shooting range. It felt like returning to a training camp, not too disconnected from society.”

At the same time, photos popped up in mid-air.

In that screenshot, although the black hats had changed long ago, there were four individuals wearing the bright red hats typically associated with “military instructors” as they roamed the shooting range and training center, guiding the team members.

The most ridiculous part was that on top of two of those hats, cat ears and white tiger ears had popped up. Of course, the vividly green hair of Limit, hanging down, was also hard to miss.

Naturally, no one missed it.

“By the way, that green-haired lady….”

“Oh, no! Who took that picture like that!?”

“That’s our cute Limit. Isn’t she lovely?”

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-The avatar looks ridiculous ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-If she dives, the sea women might take her hair ㅋㅋ

-She’ll never be friendly fire ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– Congratulations, Limit’s avatar debuts in front of 400,000 people (Ha)

It was always fun to see someone else get teased.

Of course, it didn’t end there, and with the embargo lifted on what each team went through before the tournament, stories they hadn’t been able to tell began to flood in.

Initially, it was a bit of the more passive ones, but it didn’t take long for it to turn into a competition to press the red button to gain the right to speak.

“Suddenly, they said we’d receive a lot of feedback from pro gamers, so I thought it was good news, but then the boot camp started. I think we practiced at least ten hours a day. I never thought I’d feel the plight of trainees this intensely.”

“Oh, we were the same. What kind of training did you do? We kept running around the shooting range.”

“Ah, I see. We just endlessly practiced repeating orders. It was really tough.”

And as such remarks continued, Harmony and Manager Kim’s heads began to lower gradually, eventually almost touching the floor.

Of course, it wasn’t their fault, but well. Originally, commanders should know how to accept grumbling from their subordinates to some extent. This was almost a public execution, but it was inevitable.

In a way, it was a very debriefing with a large audience.

To put it another way, it was the end.

“Still, it was a very enjoyable experience. I was surprised by the sudden real boot camp experience, but I think I improved my skills a lot.”

“Urgh….”

“I feel the same. I got a lot of feedback from the pro gamers because they really pushed us hard. It was a rewarding time.”

“Urgh….”

“Haha, let’s stop. Let’s stop here. The two in front of us might cough up blood. Indeed, since it was a team match, it clearly shows that no single person’s effort alone could make it. Don’t you both agree?”

Of course, they were busy healing their internal wounds.

Anyway, it seemed like the closing remarks were approaching.

As the stage transformed again, with players shaking hands and greeting each other, the two who had turned into MCs went through a similar process, then looked at the audience with a smile.

“So, the Streamer Tournament, with all its ups and downs, is coming to an end here. We want to sincerely thank and praise everyone who has eagerly awaited today and who has generously devoted their time to it.”

“Although the joy is short and the waiting time is long, we hope to meet you again in the same tournament or another one. We’ll finish here. Thank you very much!”

A roar of mixed emotions erupted.

Though disappointment surely made up the majority, time would pass, and the hundreds of thousands of viewers gathered here would experience the biggest event of the year in a few months. And after that, a new tournament would open its curtains.

Thus, the milestone and festival known as the Streamer Tournament closed. Following the streamers leaving the stage to share untold stories or for an after-party, more and more people left the room, and the number of viewers in the room prepared solely for the tournament began to decrease.

The space itself evaporated.

And-

-[Harmony: Teacher~~~~!!!!]

-[Harmony: I’ve reserved an amazing hotel, would you like to do a recap broadcast with me later?]

“…Huh.”

“I thought so.”

Indeed, she seemed quite fond of her teacher.

Of course, Dice wasn’t one to talk.