NoveLight ™
[Finding Cup]
“Hm.”
It was an invitation to a tournament called Finding Cup.
There was a big-time streamer named Fine, who dominated Twis, and he was the one hosting the event.
‘Sounds good.’
I checked the details about the Finding Cup — the date and the reason for the event — and for me, it seemed like a pretty good opportunity.
The competition wasn’t a 5v5 but a 1v1 tournament.
And the champions were chosen randomly.
Since I had specialized in random champion selections during games, this was the perfect chance for me.
‘Random pick, no need to think about teammates, and a decent prize pool...’
There was no reason not to join.
The prize money was a whopping 10 million won.
If I joined just for fun and ended up winning... that’d be an amazing profit, right?
I could use it to help with living expenses.
“I should do this.”
If someone like me got an invitation, it probably meant a wide range of streamers were invited.
Streamers with around 200 viewers would be very common.
I started reading the rules carefully while thinking about this.
[Finding Cup Rules]
“The third rule is a bit annoying.”
The third rule.
You need to prove your identity.
To do that, I’d probably have to reveal my face.
‘...I really don’t want to reveal it to my viewers.’
If it was just for verification with the organizers, that would be one thing, but I didn’t want to reveal it to my viewers.
Who likes their face to be shown?
So, I decided to send an email right away.
[This is Dama (aka Du Gong), who received the Finding Cup invitation. I’m someone who streams without showing my face, so is there any way I can prove my identity without revealing my face on stream?]
Send.
Hmm.
As the email was sent, I sat back, lost in thought.
“There are probably a lot of people like me.”
There are all sorts of streamers on Twis, and many stream without revealing their faces.
So, I figured there might be a solution for that, but I wasn’t sure how it would work.
Just as I was thinking about this, a new email arrived.
Ding-!
I quickly clicked on it and read the content.
[We’ve received your email. Since Finding Cup is not a tournament hosted by a game company, we’re not being strict about the details. However, proof of identity is a necessary requirement. You can either record a video showing yourself and send it to us, or have a streamer you know vouch for you. If that works, please proceed. Goodbye.]
So, this meant—
“Vouch…”
I had to ask a famous streamer to vouch for me.
I didn’t like that idea, so I was considering recording a video to send instead.
But then—
Ding-!
My phone, which had been left on the desk, vibrated.
It seemed like I had received a message.
I picked up my phone and checked the message that had just arrived.
[Jeong Ye-wool: Hey hey.]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Did you get the Finding Cup email?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: I was just watching the stream, and Mangming got it too.]
“...It must have been sent to everyone at once.”
It would be easier for them to send it all at once like that.
I thought about this and replied.
[Me: Yeah.]
[Me: Got it, but about this…]
[Me: They said I need either a vouching streamer or to install a camera to prove I’m really the one playing.]
It was a casual message.
Then, not long after.
[Jeong Ye-wool: I’ve already gotten a vouch.]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Just send it saying you’re participating, it’s fine. They already sent a vouching email.]
“Eh.”
[Me: No.]
[Me: I didn’t ask anyone to do that.]
[Me: Why then?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Didn’t you bring it up?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: You mentioned it yourself.]
Well, it made sense.
Since I had mentioned it, it probably felt like, from Jeong Ye-wool’s point of view, I was saying, “I’m too embarrassed to ask, so you do it instead.”
[Me: Ah, you’re right.
[Me: I miscommunicated, sorry.]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Anyway, sign up quickly.]
[Jeong Ye-wool: The vouching is already done.]
[Me: Who vouched for me?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: The person who vouched wants to remain anonymous.]
[Me: ?]
[Me: Alright then.]
I could find out who vouched later.
If I searched the community, I’d probably find out.
There was no need to press Jeong Ye-wool for it right now.
Thinking this, I sent the email.
[Someone vouched for me, I don’t know the details, but I’ve been told the information has been passed along, so I’m applying for the tournament.]
Shortly after, I received the response.
[Your application has been accepted. Further details will be provided later.]
It was really that easy.
I couldn’t believe it.
‘Guess I’ll search for who vouched after the broadcast ends.’
I figured it wouldn’t show up immediately if I searched, so I thought about it and began preparing for the broadcast.
I adjusted a few settings on my computer, just like I saw on the internet the other day, and got ready to start streaming.
Then, shortly after.
[The broadcast has started!]
With the notification that the broadcast had started, viewers began pouring in.
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: The man invited to the Finding Cup has entered.] [🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Everyone, give him a warm welcome.] [Congratulations! Congratulations!] [The Finding Cup invitation, nice.] [What’s this, Finding Cup? Is it a league? A Champions League?] [It’s Audi Cup.] [Woah.] [Hey hey.] [Stop it.]
“What, the news spread already?”
It must have been Cthulhu spreading the news.
There was no way it could’ve spread this quickly otherwise.
[The talent produced by the P-Gallery.] [Temporary ban!] [Major talent.] [I’ve been watching since the stream had 190 viewers. I never thought it would grow this big.] [Weren’t you watching only since yesterday?] [The veteran always rises within a day, haha.]
“So, who are the streamers officially signed up for the Finding Cup? Can anyone list them?”
I was curious about which streamers were participating.
Of course, I didn’t think I’d really know them, but it was better to hear than nothing.
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Harin’s in.] [🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Saro, Mangming, and others too.] [Wow, it’s a real battle of the stars.] [Stars (red giant)] [Anyway, they shine, so cheers.] [They’ll burn bright and then fade away.]
A lot of people were participating.
This would make the competition tougher.
I thought it would be better to quit early.
[Oh, wait, someone named Rimaldo is also participating.]
I got an interesting piece of information.
Not just any streamer, but Rimaldo.
“Rimaldo? The one who used to play strategy games?”
I asked again.
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh right, Rimaldo’s in.] [🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: I thought he was dead, but he’s alive.] [Big talent.] [Rimaldo is a god now, haha.] [Long time no see, that name’s really familiar.] [Wasn’t he a one-trick with strategy games?] [Reore’s also a strategy game in a way.]
That was interesting.
Rimaldo didn’t play Reore much, but now he was joining.
Maybe something was going on.
‘I’ll find out later.’
I figured I could look up more about Rimaldo later.
After all, there weren’t many places discussing him.
I thought about that as I roughly sorted out the participants in the Finding Cup.
Then—
“So, about 50 people?”
I hadn’t expected it to be that many.
Sure, the prize was high, so I thought there would be many, but this many?
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s a lot.] [Probably some people are joining just for exposure.] [Most of the participants are Diamond or higher in Reore, haha.] [Rimaldo is a bit of an exception though.] [Hwanhee: What’s surprising is that there are still people who haven’t read their emails…]
How many would ultimately participate?
I was excited as I started my game for the day.
“Today, I’m going for Diamond 3.”
At least I needed to make sure my viewers weren’t embarrassed by the streamer’s tier.
That was my resolve as I queued up.
I thought about practicing for the Finding Cup while playing.