The intention to practice for the Finding Cup didn’t mean I was going to neglect the game itself.
My goal was simply to get to know the random champions better.

“I bet there’s some hidden combos.”

I had a solid understanding of Reore, but that didn’t mean I knew every combo in the game.
Reore had various skill interactions, and some combos were impossible due to the game’s structure.
There were even some bugs that remained uncorrected by the developers, making some combos feasible that shouldn’t be.
I couldn’t uncover all of them on my own.

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: There are so many hidden combos for each champion haha.] [But honestly, even without combos, I think you’re gonna win Finding Cup.] [Don’t be too scared of Finding Cup haha, it’s not that hard.] [The prize money is high, so it could be a bit tougher.] [How much higher can it really be?] [Surprisingly, the prize money is 10 million won..] [That’s pretty high.]

Those combos would probably be easier to learn by searching online later.
For now, I just needed to figure out the combos I could discover myself.
With that in mind, I randomly selected a champion.

“Why do I get this champion when I’m trying to research combos?”

There are many champions in the game, but some are so simple that they only have one or two combos.
Take Nasus, for example.

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Nasus’s combos are ridiculously simple hahaha.] [Is there even a combo?] [There’s not really a combo.] [You just use Wither and then do your basic attacks, and the game’s over.] [Game’s over (lost).] [You lose without much trouble.] [Hwanhee: Isn’t Nasus kind of okay lately?]

I only knew the skill set of Nasus, but I hadn’t really looked into him.
He was so simple that he didn’t seem to have much depth.
Creating variables with him was also difficult since he was a very straightforward champion.

“I guess I’ll just play him and move on.”

For champions like this, controlling the game is crucial, but the reason I was practicing was for the Finding Cup, not to win a normal game.
So, it wasn’t about winning on the Rift today.
Thinking this, I began the game, and—

“Whoa, this is oddly fun.”

I started enjoying Nasus as a champion.

Two days later, before starting my broadcast, I was playing solo rank.
I was playing Nasus because I hadn’t had a chance to play him much on stream, where I randomly choose champions.

“Hm.”

I was farming hard, following the in-game dialogue, when Yeram opened the door and walked in.

“Yawn, what’s for dinner today, I’m hungry.” “Right... What should we eat today?”

I wasn’t struggling with finances.
I did try to save on food, but I wasn’t broke either.
I had money in my bank account and earned some through streaming, so it wasn’t like I couldn’t afford a decent meal.

“Should we have some bean sprouts with rice? I suddenly really want it.” “Oh, that sounds good.”

If you’re not into cooking, you might not know, but bean sprouts are really cheap.
About 3,400 won per kilogram.
It’s perfect to pair with rice.
Cheap, healthy, and filling—great for a quick meal.

‘Or I could just eat human-grade pet food...’

Human-grade pet food wasn’t exactly healthy.
It was priced at a ridiculous 7,500 won for 2 kilograms, but I got tired of it quickly and stopped eating it often.
Though back when I couldn’t find a place to stay, I did survive a week on that stuff.
Now, I made sure to eat well.

“Alright, I’ll take a break then.”

I clicked the surrender button and watched my team’s Nexus get destroyed before standing up and heading to the kitchen.
It wasn’t far, but it was good it wasn’t right next to me.

‘If the kitchen were right next door, I’d be covered in oil and food smells all the time.’

I used to sleep in restaurants when I couldn’t even afford a place to stay.
I wouldn’t call that a fond memory.

While I was stir-frying the bean sprouts, I received a message.

[Jeong Ye-wool: Hey hey.]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Why are you playing solo rank alone?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: And you’re using Nasus?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Why not stream it?]

I hadn’t been contacting Jeong Ye-wool much, except to finish broadcasts.
Lately, though, she had been the one reaching out to me.
She must have been bored without any friends.
I thought sympathetically and replied.

[Me: When I’m streaming, I’m using random champions.]
[Me: So, why bother?]
[Jeong Ye-wool: Ah, I see.]
[Jeong Ye-wool: You have your principles.]

Though I hadn’t been streaming long, I had some principles.
It was bothersome, but if I did something, I wanted to do it properly so no one would talk behind my back.

I stirred the bean sprouts and carefully placed the rice and bean sprouts on the table.

“By the way, this table is really useful now. You didn’t know how to use it before.” “Oh, this stuff is super durable.”

This was a temporary desk I bought when a teacher used to visit for home study.
It still worked great.
It was pretty durable.
Even though there was a map drawn on the desk, it wasn’t too uncomfortable eating here.
I could study and eat at the same time, which wasn’t bad.

While we were eating, Yeram said:

“By the way, I heard you’re entering the Finding Cup. Got the news.” “Yeah, that’s old news. You’re really keeping up with things.” “I don’t watch live broadcasts much anymore, I usually catch up later.” “Hmm, I see, good job.”

Even though it was Yeram’s life, it was important to guide her in the right direction occasionally.
There’s nothing more irresponsible than just saying, "It’s your life, do whatever you want," and leaving her to figure it out on her own.
I really hated that approach, so I always looked out for her.

“If you win, the prize is 10 million won. If you win, can I get 20,000 won?” “Why 20,000 all of a sudden?”

“Well, there’s a new chicken flavor out, and it looks delicious.”

Hmm.
20,000 for chicken?
Considering the current prices, it didn’t sound too bad.
If 20,000 could motivate her, then it wasn’t a bad deal.

“Okay, get ready for 20,000. I’m going to win for sure.” “I think Harin is going to win.” “Well, I’m not streaming, so I’ll be honest. Even if it’s Harin, I could win with one hand.”

“Wait, I just recorded that.”

Back when I first started Reore, I wouldn’t have been so confident, but now, even with one hand, I could beat Harin.
She wasn’t that high of a tier anyway.

I finished my meal and sat down in front of the computer.

‘Let me double-check the Finding Cup schedule...’

I decided to check again just in case.

A little later.

‘This tournament is definitely long.’

The tournament was indeed long.
There were a lot of participants.
It was going to be held over two days.
There were 128 total participants.
It seemed like every streamer worth their salt in Reore on Twis was joining.

‘Fine’s reputation definitely brings in the crowd.’

If I had hosted the tournament, I doubt we’d have had more than 6 participants.
I thought this as I started the stream.

[The broadcast has started!]

“Hiya!”

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Hey hey.]
[Caught Dama playing Nasus secretly in solo rank hahaha, caught Dama secretly playing Nasus in solo rank hahaha.] [Why secretly play Nasus of all champions..] [Such a cowardly thing to do hahaha.]

[Temporarily banned!]

[Such a cowardly leech.] [Can you just permanently ban him already, please?]

“What, how could I permanently ban that? What would I even say if someone asked why I banned him? 'Because he’s a cowardly leech' doesn’t sound good.”

It was too awkward to say aloud.

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: True hahaha.] [Stop hiding Nasus, just explain yourself.] [Playing Nasus three games in a row? Seriously?] [Hwanhee: What’s going on?]

I was going to ignore it, but since people kept mentioning Nasus, I decided to speak up.

“I’m just playing Nasus because I like him.”

That was my simple answer.
If I didn’t enjoy it, why would I play him?

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh.] [Same here, I like watching him get hit too, we’re allies haha.] [Fur hahaha.] [It’s definitely noticeable that Fur has risen to the major league.] [Hwanhee: Wow, the chat’s going crazy hahaha.] [Ah, these trolls are really hard to stop.]

We were having a playful conversation as usual, and I started my broadcast for the day.
It was all for the upcoming Finding Cup tournament.