Chapter 89: Blue LUV Enters Their First Tournament!

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Today, I woke up a bit late and had lunch.

There was a sudden Discord meeting, so I joined the Discord room.

It wasn’t a meeting with just our staff, but one with the members and the CEO.

Normally, our regular meetings are held in person at the company, where we can see each other’s faces.

But today, since it was called on short notice, we had no choice but to gather on Discord.

I wondered if there was some big news or something.

With a pounding heart, I entered the Discord room.

Ding-

[Hi.]

[Hi hi.]

[Hi hi hi.]

[Hi hi hi…]

[Stop being ridiculous, you guys.]

You’d think everyone would still be groggy since they just woke up, but no.

From the moment we started greeting each other, the energy was already high.

I was secretly wondering, “Do I have to say ‘hi’ five times too?”

However, thankfully, the CEO cut it off perfectly at Yuna’s turn, so that didn’t happen.

As expected of our CEO, they really know how to handle things well.

I wish I could do that too; I’m always just being swayed by the Cherries.

[Anyway, did everyone have a good meal?]

[Yes!]

[I had a late breakfast, so I’ll eat after the meeting.]

[I ate with my mom.]

[…Slurp. ……Chew.]

Huh? What’s that?

Did I hear wrong?

Just as I was about to answer after the members, I heard someone making noises as if they were eating.

When I checked the Discord overlay, I saw Chae-yoon unnie’s mic light flickering.

Unnie, are you…?

“U-um, CEO. I think Chae-yoon unnie is still eating…”

I didn’t mean to tattle, but I thought it might be better to delay the meeting until she finished, so

I cautiously spoke up.

[…Huh?!]

[What, Chae-yoon, are you eating right now? What have you been doing all this time?]

It seemed my comment struck a nerve.

When unnie made a choked sound, the CEO finally reacted.

[Gulp. Hehe, sorry. I woke up late and didn’t have breakfast, so I was hungry… I quickly ordered some food and was eating it.]

[Alright, take your time. We only have one thing to discuss anyway, so you can just listen casually.]

[Thank youuu!]

[Chae-yoon, swallow what’s in your mouth before you reply….]

Yep, our meetings are always like this.

Usually, Chae-yoon unnie or Yuna lightens the mood, and when things go off track, Jia unnie steps in to sort it out.

Ra-hee unnie just watches with a look that says, “Here we go again.”

What about me?

Well, I’m…

“CEO, so what’s the reason we’re gathered today?”

[Hmm, I was just about to tell you. I’ll post a picture in the Discord room, so take a look.]

I kind of play the role of the mediator.

If I don’t step in like this, things always go off the rails.

Back when we first debuted, the members used to listen to the CEO’s words promptly and carry them out, but now that we’re more used to the CEO’s presence, our meetings have turned into a bit of a circus.

[Huh? What’s this? Twitcher Winter Esports Tournament…?]

[It’s news Twitcher sent us before the official announcement. It’s nothing too grand, but since it’s the end of the year, they’re planning to hold a lighthearted tournament.]

[Is it just one game?]

[Yeah, just Overwatch.]

Overwatch.

It’s the most popular Team FPS game of this era.

Well, its peak was actually a bit earlier than this, but it’s still a very popular game, so there are still a lot of people playing it.

Besides, I remember this time very clearly because this tournament was the first one the Blue LUV team participated in together.

To be precise, it was the first and last tournament.

After this, they never participated in any externally hosted game tournaments again.

That’s because there was a rule that professional and high-tier players couldn’t participate.

Even though our relatively weaker Blue LUV team dreamed of winning and participated, we were unfortunately eliminated in the semifinals and had to swallow our disappointment.

We had prepared so hard that after the loss, all the members cried together; even Lucretia, who’s known for not crying.

It was really heartbreaking back then.

[What do you think about participating this time? Now that we’ve settled on the Blue LUV fandom name, it might be nice to have some content where we all work together.]

Yeah, the timing is definitely good.

If we show everyone working together, it’ll boost the fandom’s unity.

Of course, tournaments in streaming aren’t always purely positive, but in this case, the pros far outweigh the cons.

[I’m in. I play Overwatch often in my free time.]

[Me too!]

As expected, Chae-yoon unnie and Yuna were quick to express their enthusiasm.

They both play Overwatch quite often.

Especially Chae-yoon unnie, who recently climbed up to Diamond.

Yuna is also around Gold to Platinum, from what I know.

[I’m okay with it, but I haven’t played much… Ra-hee, have you played Overwatch a lot?]

[Hmm, not really. I only played it a bit when it was popular.]

On the other hand, Jia unnie and Ra-hee unnie seemed a bit hesitant, as expected.

Especially Jia unnie, who, from what I remember, hadn’t played many games before starting streaming.

Ra-hee unnie has at least tried popular games like League and Overwatch, but even then, she hasn’t played them much.

So, I guess they’re worried about holding the team back.

“It’s okay, unnies! You can always learn the game. Let’s all go out together and make some memories!”

[Should we…?]

[If our youngest says so…]

But when I encouraged them and gave them a little push, they both hesitantly agreed to give it a try.

Yeah, that’s good.

The meaning lies in doing it together, after all.

I’m really looking forward to it.

[Once the announcement goes up later, we can talk about it on stream… Oh, by the way, has anyone else besides Yuna and Chae-yoon played Overwatch? If you have, can you tell me your tier? We need to fill out the application form.]

[I haven’t played it before.]

[I think I was Silver in Season 3.]

[Jia hasn’t played, Ra-hee is Silver… Chae-yoon is Diamond, and Yuna is Platinum, right? What about Da-jeong?]

I hesitated for a moment when the CEO asked about my tier.

I was wondering if I should mention my tier from the other world but since I haven’t played it in this world, it’s better to just say so, right?

“I haven’t played it either. I’ll start practicing today.”

[Okay, do that. But Da-jeong, you’re good at games, so you’ll pick it up quickly.]

“Hehe…”

I couldn’t help but smile like an idiot at the CEO’s praise.

I quietly opened Overwatch in the background and started installing it.

＊＊＊＊＊

“…And that’s how we all decided to participate in the tournament together. Cherries, you’ll cheer for us a lot, right?”

• Of course
• I’ll cheer my lungs out
• Even if we don’t win, let’s just have fun, Lulu
• Honestly, expecting to win with this team is a bit shameless lol

After the meeting ended and I went live later, when I shared the news with the Cherries, everyone seemed excited.

I guess it’s because the last time we all played games together was during the Last event.

So maybe they’re looking forward to it even more.

As one Cherry said, I’m not really expecting to win, but…

We’re aiming for victory, though.

Even though the members know our team’s strength isn’t the best, we all agreed to give it our all and strive for the win.

“So today, we’re going to practice Overwatch! Cherries, don’t be too hard on me if I’m bad, okay? Got it?”

• Newbies are always welcome
• I’m already drooling at the thought of a newbie LOL

Since this is pretty much my first time playing such a mainstream game, the Cherries seem really excited.

Alright, let’s boot up the game and…

Ding-

[Mission: TINFH]

‘Win 3 Quick Matches in a Row’

100,000 won

“Huh? Oh, did I forget to turn off missions? Sorry about that. Wait, win 3 Quick Matches in a row?”

I usually keep missions turned off in my streams, but today, I must’ve messed up the settings because a mission popped up.

Apologizing, I checked the mission details, and it was quite a challenge.

Winning 3 Quick Matches in a row?

For me, it’s not too hard.

Of course, there’s some luck involved with teammates, but it’s not an impossible mission.

• Winning 3 Quick Matches in a row is too hard LOL
• At least bot matches are fine, but asking a beginner to win 3 Quick Matches?
• Isn’t this just trolling? lmao

On the other hand, the Cherries, thinking I’m a complete beginner, all chimed in saying the mission was way too difficult.

“Everyone, calm down. It’s my fault for not turning off missions, okay?”

Trying to soothe the Cherries, I decided to head to the training ground and test out the guns.

I adjusted the sensitivity, which is crucial in FPS games and practiced shooting arrows with Hanzo, my main character, to get a feel for it.

• Oh
• What’s that flick shot?
• The training bots have big head hitboxes, but even considering that, she’s hitting them really well
• Lulu-chan, have you played FPS before?

“Ah, hehe… I’ve played a little. I’m not that good, though.”

It’s clear from the way I play that I’m not a complete beginner, so the Cherries were all surprised. I awkwardly responded.

“I saw some videos online and really liked this character. So, I’ll start with them, okay?”

• Hanzo is tough though
• That’s a character for veterans, Lulu-chan
• Just let her do what she wants

Since Hanzo is a projectile-based character, you have to predict the enemy’s movements to land shots, which makes them quite difficult to play.

Because of that, the Cherries expressed concern and recommended other characters.

On the other hand, some Cherries said it’s best for a beginner to just play whoever they like.

• Heading to Route 77

Amidst the conflicting opinions, the Quick Match queue popped.

I immediately locked in Hanzo and warmed up my hands with a few quick clicks.

I feel a little bad for the Cherries.

They’re probably expecting to see me, a newbie, make all sorts of silly mistakes.

But actually, I’ve reached Master rank with Hanzo at 3800 points.

I don’t think I’ll be able to show them the kind of gameplay they’re expecting.

Yeah, I’ll apologize in advance.