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The preliminary rounds held in a best-of-three format obviously don’t stream every match.

It’s tough to simultaneously broadcast dozens of matches occurring at once, and even if it were possible, viewers wouldn’t want to deal with excessive fatigue.

So, the organizers carefully select what they deem “highlight moments” to air one by one.

However, some matches had a bit of an exception… Friede and Haldir’s match was a prime example.

Haldir faced a disheartening defeat in the first set after being taken down with a clean thrust, causing the chat to heat up like a furnace.

[Friede! Friede! Friede! Friede! Friede!]

[Wow, Friede really has that competitive spirit.]

[Yeah, one missed first hit basically means you lose the game.]

[I noticed when he picked up the Broken Greatsword.]

[That’s not strategy; that’s just asking to get clobbered.]

[Haldir got too careless. If he had anticipated the hit and moved even half a step early, Friede would’ve been wrecked.]

[Don’t you know Friede’s reaction time? How do you think Haldir could evade her?]

[It wasn’t a complete failure to respond, but it’s definitely tricky. Right now, getting hit with Haldir’s setup is a one-shot kill level.]

“Haha! This feels different from the regular season. With Friede in the match, the chat atmosphere has heated up even more.”

“Absolutely. Seeing real-time reactions from the broadcast booth fires us up as well.”

“Plus, Friede has a spectacular background. She’s the second female challenger after Lotus. There was plenty of buzz when she was involved in that hack controversy, so many users remember her. She’s always insisted on using only the Broken Greatsword, but now that there’s a weapon restriction in this tournament, we’re curious what weapon she’ll use.”

“Moreover, the weapon she chose this time is the Thornpoke Spear, which is more suited for group battles than one-on-one. That shows she’s confident in her control. And she really proved it with her results.”

“Starting her streaming and showcasing various mad movies, she could be called the dark horse of this tournament.”

“I wonder if Haldir will choose the same setup in the second set… it’s quite intriguing.”

The previously aired highlights had already showcased outstanding skills to satisfy the viewers.

With so many famous high-ranking players packed in, the line between the preliminaries and the main tournament seemed nonexistent.

Yet, none of the previous matches had captivated the audience as much as this one, and as the second set began, even the chat was forgotten, with all eyes glued to Friede and Haldir’s duel.

A quiet chatroom is what you’d call this kind of phenomenon.

However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, the second set ended disappointingly.

Proving he was not wrong, Haldir again went in with the same setup, and ultimately, he couldn’t do anything but got eliminated like a ghost.

The highlight from the total duel time of 2 minutes across sets one and two was a mere 2 seconds.

—

[General][Friede is a god, Friede is invincible.]

Posted by: Light Sword

No matter what weapon she wields, she’s invincible, so Friede is just a god, no debate.

Where do these challengers dare to mess with our leader?

Zikgaterbelt: Make a tier for Friede above the Challenger ranking right now!

ㅇㅇ: You piece of crap, go mess around in your own channel!

ㄴㄹㄹㄹ: Damn it, these Friede fanatics have taken over the postings… temporary evacuation, ugh!

—

[General][Starting now, we shall praise our leader.]

Posted by: Slim Guy

Everyone, please give a standing ovation and shower praise everywhere!

Sister’s Glutton: Yay!

ㄴZikgaterbelt: Yay! Friede is… a god!

ㄴKimKkaetulraku: Yay! Truly, the superhuman of the Heavenly Horse!

ㄴSweet Guy: What a treasure! Show more of sister’s matches… I feel like I might go crazy!

ㄴLight Sword: Yay!

ㄴDust to Bankruptcy: Um… yay?

ㄴSweet Guy: Yay!

ㄴyaSergei: Heh…

ㄴLAmpadu: Yay!

ㄴㅇㅇ: Damn, Friede’s stronghold is overwhelming, go away, filthy people!

ㄴdamgal: What the hell; those upper nicknames were all people invading Friede’s broadcast!

ㄴㅇㅇ: Ugh, these noobs are obsessed with a single girl, so disgusting…

—

[General][Today, after watching Friede, I wailed in every direction.]

Posted by: Dust to Bankruptcy

Did she really carry with that super hard Thornpoke Spear?

I gotta school the noobs with the Thornpoke Spear too.

ㅇㅇ: Hey you crazy fool, stop blindly following her!

ㄴLAmpadu: I’m not playing ranked today ^o^.

ㄴDust to Bankruptcy: You guys aren’t Friede… if you copy her, you’ll all die…

ㄴㅇㅇ: That’s true, for real.

—

[General][You all are good at using Friede, I’ll give you that.]

Posted by: ㅇㅇ

Just build karma moderately.

If you get wrecked, that’s when the karma payback season arrives.

ㅇㅇ: That is kind of the universal rule.

ㄴThe Dominator: Shut up, keep it reasonable, you piece of crap!

ㄴZikgaterbelt: Student, take down your post ^^.

ㄴLight Sword: Nah, Friede will obliterate even Lotus.

ㅇㅇ: I mean, this chat is so dirty.

ㄴKimKkaetulraku: Our fanbase has taken over the postings, ha ha ha!

ㄴWashbasin: If you’re that mad, just go out to the public and do some facepalm gestures or something.

—

[General][Today, analysis of Friede’s matches.]

Posted by: Sweet Guy

… It’s ridiculous to say there’s nothing worth mentioning, lol.

At least you could say there was something to see when she got a boost from the dash before the thrust.

The rest is just physical domination without any psychological warfare, so there’s not much to say.

ㅇㅇ: Why did Haldir go down with one hit? Is the Thornpoke Spear that damaging?

ㄴGRIIdaw: As mentioned, she boosted her basic damage with a dashed power before nailing Haldir right in the throat. That gives a critical strike boost. Plus, the thrust itself has critical damage maximization properties, and additional damage stacks upon penetrating armor. Basically, she dealt the maximum damage possible with the Thornpoke Spear.

ㄴdamgal: If you want to pull off an even clearer one-shot cut, just go to group battles, line up the enemies, and spearfish them all in one go… then the one behind gets sent to the lord’s side in one hit. It’s basically a legendary move.

ㄴㅇㅇ: I saw some guy showing the trends of the Thornpoke Spear…it was almost like using a toothpick, but how did he land that hit?

ㄴㄹㄹ: It seems Friede indeed has good physical skills. Considering she made Challenger with the Broken Greatsword, she’s not just some gimmick… even a fool can dodge with just timing on sidesteps.

ㄴSlim Guy: Bullshit, it’s not that easy to dodge.

—

[General][Is this record from Friede’s match for real?]

Posted by: The Dominator

Set score: 2-0.

Total match time: 2 minutes.

Total highlights: 2 seconds.

It’s seriously epic.

Sister’s Glutton: Truly, my sister is blessed by the divine favor now!

ㄴToothpick General: Go Friede… crush that divine enemy, the STK!

ㄴㅇㅇ: Who’s that, you nerd?

ㄴLight Sword: Ha ha, you’re such a noob, you don’t even know the divine one?

ㄴThe Dominator: A long time ago, there was a legend called the Three-Year Burst… the divine one is the protagonist of that story…

ㄴㅇㅇ: How old do you think that was for it to be called a legend?

ㄴZikgaterbelt: About 30 years or so?

ㄴyaSergei: Wow, it feels like reminiscing about tales my grandfather told me when I was a kid, lol.

—

* * *

Even though it was just the preliminaries, there was a certain tension in the air.

You might scoff, saying, “Is a Hero really that tense about such things?” but what can I do?

I’ve lived my life without ever having participated in such an event, so I can’t help it.

People are relative. It’s for the Heroes that a little tension for a mere tournament exists.

To put it simply, my first impression was that this opponent wasn’t much different from a ranked game.

Haldir, looking him up, I found out he was a Challenger just on the verge of ranking up.

Does he remind me of that guy named SUHO? Maybe it’s just my imagination.

It’s probably because both are straddling the line between Grand Master and Challenger.

‘Luckily, warm-ups went pretty well.’

I felt nicely warmed up, which felt great.

When I think about it, this could be seen as quite a coincidence.

Without any deliberate intent, I had chosen a weapon that would be ideal for poking opponents like him who were stuck in a turtle shell.

So, it’s a stroke of luck that my weapon happened to be theoretically a counter weapon.

Given that I picked a weapon without checking its characteristics, it was indeed quite a lucky draw for this match.

Moreover, I didn’t expect him to come out with the same setup in the second set.

This tournament fundamentally operates on a blind pick.

No one knows what weapon the opponent will bring out next, making it a substantial gamble for both of us.

These variables add to the excitement, and the thrill of showing each other’s setups right before the duel starts brings a certain rush.

Of course, since the conditions and processes were identical, the result was the same, making it rather tedious compared to the blind pick variables.

While mulling over such thoughts, I suddenly checked the time and realized there were still 15 minutes left in the break.

I had already rested for about 15 minutes, but it turned out I had time to spare.

Thanks to the match ending unusually quickly, I was granted ample time for diversion.

As we’re still at the Round of 64, it’s a grueling nonstop schedule advancing to the Round of 32.

In a tournament where both physical and mental stamina must be maintained, this was certainly a significant benefit.

Winning a match quickly and overwhelmingly awarded me a kind of advantage.

Was that the reason?

As I began to feel bored with time to spare, I suddenly got curious about how my viewers were reacting.

After all, I publicly declared my participation in the tournament while streaming, and even if it’s just the preliminary matches, I thought people would be buzzing about my victory in some way.

I accessed the panel board.

So, let’s see what kind of enthusiasm awaits.

<Sister, pierce my backside with that spear!>

<I shall receive that backside!>

<Gay! Borug!>

<Yay!>

“……”

I quietly closed the panel from the screen.

Let’s just take a break.

* * *

 

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