Guest Commentary (2)

Traveler has been obsessively fixated on winning since childhood.

It’s a past he’s revealed to Gawol before, but when he was young, he even cheated in bets involving money.

There was no other reason. Because he wanted to win. And because he hated to lose.

– Wow, you’re really something. Don’t tell me you even bet money?

– I did. But if I won, I’d give it back, and if I lost, I’d give it without complaint.

– You crazy bastard. Why on earth?

– If there’s something at stake, it becomes a much more important match. If I return the money, they’ll face me again later. I got a lot of allowance since I was young anyway. Winning was more important than money.

It sounds ridiculous at first hearing.

Some people laughed thinking it was a joke, and sometimes there were those who despised him.

Most seemed to think he was sharing an embarrassing past.

But Traveler wasn’t that ashamed of this past.

Proudly speaking, he was a psychopath.

Now he’s just learned to control himself through socialization.

The fact that he was a psychopath with an endless obsession for competition – hating defeat terribly and loving victory more than anything – hadn’t changed a bit.

[The blessing of valor envelops you.]

[All attack power increases by 8%, and all attack speed increases by 12%.]

[Caster: Q Prime Morning]

So Traveler wanted to win today too.

Because he lost yesterday, he wanted to win more, and because it would be difficult to win today, he wanted to win even more.

Even knowing the possibility was slim, he couldn’t stop.

The moment he sensed the game was flowing unfavorably.

Traveler threw himself in to see the outcome.

It was a decision made by instincts honed to seek only victory.

He blocks arrows with his shield at the forefront.

Thanks to the blessings stuck all over, the guard gauge wasn’t reduced as much as it appeared.

It didn’t end just because one was blocked.

He first fires the gunlance towards the priestess.

He wasn’t sure if it would hit, but it was better than doing nothing.

With a vibration that could shake his whole body, heat rises through his hand.

Lowering his head using the rising smoke as a curtain, an axe narrowly grazed by.

‘I should thank Gawol for this.’

It’s a technique learned from watching her matches.

When suddenly deprived of sensation, the opponent tends to rely on the most recent remaining sensation.

Just like now. Unable to assume it’s already been dodged, they aim their weapon at where the head was.

Approaching from this perspective allows gauging the most efficient evasion point.

Also, minimizing evasion means – it’s synonymous with enabling an optimized counterattack.

Using the heavy mass as a weapon, he rams straight into the Berserker’s body.

It hit properly. Then don’t stop.

Advancing with the Berserker’s body caught around his shoulder.

Using the priestess’s barrier as a wall, bang! He left a considerable impact.

“Got it! Now if the Fighter comes in…”

– Huh? I’m marking Luche right now.ъ

“…Why? What’s our Mage doing?”

– Marking with me. Should I go now?

Then it’s too late, you idiot.

Traveler barely swallowed the words that rose to the tip of his tongue.

It’s during a match now. You never know when the in-game voice might be disclosed to the audience.

If so, he needed to be careful in using words and language.

Because that’s what being a pro means.

Because it’s a condition for engaging in competition.

But… he couldn’t help the heat rising.

“Never mind, I’ll do it. Just make sure to catch Luche there.”

I can understand our Priest completely killing their own ego.

The Lance Knight with excellent solo combat power and the support-specialized Priest are a combination boasting history and tradition.

It’s no exaggeration to say that in this game, the Priest’s goal is nothing other than ‘not dying’.

But what about the other team members?

The Assassin tucked tail without even fighting.

And the Fighter and Mage are pressing Luche.

Thanks to that, Luche’s feet are completely tied… but thinking carefully, it was a meaningless act.

In a situation with sufficient distance, the Mage is at an advantage over the Holy Knight in terms of matchup.

It means they could hold her off alone if the surroundings are just cleared.

If the Mage had tied up Luche alone, and the Fighter had empowered Traveler.

It would have been a much better battle than now.

[Active: Knight’s Fighting Spirit]

[All defense increases by 16% for 30 seconds, and crowd control effects…]

Of course, there’s no way those guys didn’t know this fact.

Such fools can’t rise to the 1st division pro league.

Especially in a strong team like Q Prime, they couldn’t even get a foothold.

So, there was another reason.

Sparrow probably didn’t like the situation of losing to Camellia again.

More precisely, he probably didn’t like his defeat being cited as the cause of the loss.

Avoiding engagement might seem like a rational decision at first glance.

A method to minimize risk and take even small gains.

It creates room to excuse that although regrettable, it wasn’t the worst.

The Mage and Fighter are the same.

The Mage probably wanted to avoid the situation of failing while trying to stop Luche alone.

The Fighter probably wanted to avoid being criticized for getting excited while leaving the ADC they should protect.

So, his teammates’ gazes were already not looking inside the game.

They were directed towards something that would be after this game. After defeat or victory.

And for good reason.

‘This much is enough. Whether it’s money or fame.’

In this team, Traveler is the only one bearing disgrace and responsibility.

Among the teammates, someone is preparing for marriage, and someone else needs money for family matters.

Q Prime’s front office values the numbers that will be stamped in the ledger more than achievements in the league.

They prepare hard for the game itself, but that’s it.

If they make a dangerous play and ‘decisively’ ruin the game.

Their career as a pro gets damaged. They’ve got too much to lose to do such things at this point.

This much is doing well.

Even if they lose here, it’s not particularly dishonorable.

They just need to not lose too ugly.

And making the game look glamorous, Traveler will take care of that.

‘I don’t like that!’

The spear swung as if in desperation touched the priestess’s body.

Before visual and auditory sensory information could reach.

The hand closest to the gunlance reacted before the thought process.

[Active: Overheat]

[The damage of the next skill increases by 30%, but enters an ‘overheated’ state where gunlance use is impossible for 180 seconds…]

[Active: Full Cartridge Fire]

[Fires all remaining bullets in the current chamber.]

It projects firepower enough to make the weapon turn red-hot at once.

To shatter any shield or guard. He didn’t think about the aftermath.

This single blow would dull Traveler’s spear blade too, but the priestess’s life was worth that much.

[‘Q Prime Traveler’ has killed ‘Sigma Hecate’.]

Before the recoil could subside, the Berserker’s axe struck his shoulder.

It’s okay. It was expected.

A blow that Gawol would have dodged, and Cerberus would have blocked with a shield.

For Traveler, ‘prediction’ was still his limit.

In other words, it also meant he had prepared the next countermeasure.

He dropped his shield and grabbed the axe handle stuck in his shoulder.

Not with the purpose of snatching it, but to prevent it from coming out.

Soon after, an amputation judgment was left on his left arm.

A red solid line was drawn over the armor, making the arm unusable.

Still, he bought enough time.

Enough time for the overheated spear to pierce the Berserker’s heart.

[‘Q Prime Traveler’ has…]

“Uwaaaaah!”

A sound that seemed like both a roar and a scream came from Traveler’s throat.

Without a shield, there was no way to block the archer’s arrows.

Magic-imbued arrows battered his whole body, instantly shaving off his health bar.

If pushed this far, death was as good as predetermined.

Then he must take down at least one more.

Traveler threw the gunlance with all his might.

The massive weapon flew fiercely

─ and hit the archer’s leg.

“Ha, shit. This misses?”

A black dot appeared in the center of his vision, and that dot grew larger and larger.

The dot was shaped like an arrowhead.

The archer’s arrow touched between his eyebrows.

Traveler’s vision went dark, but he prepared to grasp the spear again.

Every time the deathmatch revival cooldown ended.

He fought like a mad dog.

The match ended in defeat.

Traveler was involved in 53% of the team’s score, but couldn’t grasp victory.

When he came out after finishing the first game, a beautiful young voice was ringing in the arena.

《 Q Prime’s players are making extremely rational decisions. Let’s not do it because it’s dangerous. Let’s not fight because we probably can’t win. In my view, it looks like they’ll lose all of today’s matches, so why did they come to the arena? 》

《 Uh, um… Player Gawol. Please calm down a bit… 》

《 This match. It was too sloppy. While all five from Sigma stood on the battlefield, only one came out from Q Prime. 》

A voice so delicate and beautiful that just the first sound makes you think of the word ‘beautiful’.

Compared to that, a voice that seemed to contain cold anger.

While Traveler thought ‘What the hell is that crazy woman saying in the arena?’

“Puhahahahat!”

Recently.

He laughed as happily as he had never done before.

Light entered his darkly deadened expression for the first time in a long while.