“Alchemists absolutely must drink a movement speed potion first.”
[Absorbing Swift Potion!]
[Movement speed increased by 100%.]
“And you need to lower the opponent’s movement speed too.”
[Sticky Potion thrown!]
[‘Suckeot3’-nim’s movement speed reduced by 25%.]
“When you throw, a parabola appears below, and a red bar shows up, right? A white throw line appears in the center of the bar—that’s the line showing your accuracy when you throw. Watch this, and when you need to throw, only throw when this line turns red.”
[Bomb Potion thrown!]
[Potion hit once again!]
“Wow……”
Even while giving complicated explanations, I was gradually becoming captivated by Banye’s cool appearance as he calmly won while hitting Suckeot-nim with everything.
Suckeot-nim seemed to have let his guard down at first, perhaps thinking I was the one playing, but then suddenly got angry.
[Guild][Suckeot3] Stop
[Guild][Suckeot3] What the hell, that’s cheap lol
[Guild][Suckeot3] Banye’s doing it for you
[Guild][Banyecredit] lol
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] Now he’s openly using the lover’s lifeline ㄷㄷ
“Wh-what are they saying……”
I glanced at Banye’s reaction while looking at the guild members’ sarcasm, but Banye showed no particular response and calmly overwhelmed Suckeot-nim.
And Suckeot-nim ended up losing the first match.
[Guild][Suckeot3] These couple scammers
[Guild][Yeongmyeong] lololololololol
Suckeot-nim was angry, but the other guild members found it entertaining instead.
“Do you want to try now, hyung?”
“Huh? I-is that okay?”
“We can afford to lose one match anyway.”
Saying that, Banye stood up.
I inadvertently sat in the seat where Banye had been sitting. A new match started, and I did as Banye told me……
[Absorbing Swift Potion!]
[Movement speed increased by 100%.]
I followed along well up to here.
But……
[Sticky Potion thrown!]
[‘Suckeot3’-nim dodged!]
[Extreme Shot!]
[Bleeding increased due to headshot effect!]
[Vision reduced by 20% due to excessive bleeding.]
“U-uaaah!”
I couldn’t do it as skillfully as Banye after all.
This time I got thoroughly beaten by Suckeot-nim’s skills, ultimately failing to lower Suckeot-nim’s movement speed and creating the disaster of not hitting a single remaining potion.
However, Banye didn’t say anything even while watching me play. When it was all over and I turned to look at Banye, he was just making a tsk-tsk expression.
“I didn’t have high expectations to begin with, but……”
“……”
“Putting everything else aside, hyung, you really get seriously nervous.”
“……That’s too much.”
“It’s not too much—you’re really doing this with your shoulders.”
Saying that, Banye lifted his shoulders up smoothly to demonstrate. Even when Banye did it, it was a rather ridiculous motion.
‘I’m doing that?’
But before I could say anything, Banye suddenly grabbed the back of my neck firmly from behind. I was startled and struggled.
“Wah! Wh-what!”
“Relax.”
“Let go, let go and then…… uaaang……”
Then he suddenly started massaging, and the feeling was tingly and the stiff tension pleasantly melted away, causing strange sounds to flow out.
Banye mercilessly pressed my shoulders firmly with his fingers while sneering, “You totally love it.” I couldn’t even answer and melted into mush.
Squeeze.
“St……stop.”
I pleaded with Banye while feeling my ears turn red. But Banye kept pressing down on my weak spots. I ended up squirming then going completely limp.
“Stop now…… I can’t take anymore……”
“I already let go.”
I jumped up in surprise at Banye’s words. Just as he said, at some point Banye had taken his hands off me.
I scratched my cheek, feeling embarrassed for no reason. Banye calmly spoke while looking at me like that.
“Try the third match a bit more calmly.”
“Mmm……”
“Suckeot-nim is a ranker, but he’s not that good at combat.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. If you just stay calm, hyung, you can definitely win.”
Meanwhile, Suckeot-nim had won one match against me and was getting cocky, provoking me wildly.
[Guild][Suckeot3] lol
[Guild][Suckeot3] Is that it?
[Guild][Suckeot3] Forfeiting, Aang?
I pressed my lips tight and hit the [READY] button for the third match.
We moved to the combat map again.
[Absorbing Swift Potion!]
[Movement speed increased by 100%.]
‘Lower shoulders, lower shoulders……’
And as Banye said, I lowered my shoulders a bit and decided to stay calm. Then getting helplessly combo-beaten by Suckeot-nim like before decreased.
[Extreme Shot!]
[Dodged!]
“Good job. He can’t move while shooting that, so try throwing to hit him, hyung.”
“Okay!”
[Bomb Potion thrown!]
[Potion hit!]
“Ooh!”
I was so excited about hitting Suckeot-nim for the first time that I consecutively threw the movement speed reduction potion.
[Sticky Potion thrown!]
[Potion hit once again!]
[‘Suckeot3’-nim’s movement speed reduced by 25%]
“Wooaah!”
I was amazing just now!
I was so excited about succeeding with two consecutive attacks that I became completely immersed. But now Suckeot-nim must have calmed down his excitement too, because he dodged all the potion throws I attempted after that.
I gradually got anxious again and ended up getting hit by Suckeot-nim’s [Turn Over Shot] twice.
“No, no, no, no…… ahhh!”
And when I had very little health left, while running away I ended up getting hit by [Cool Shot] and died. Ah……! This was a match where I could have beaten Suckeot-nim if I’d done just a bit better!
I let out a long sigh, feeling so disappointed. Then Banye patted my shoulder and said,
“You did well.”
I said with pouted lips,
“……What do you mean did well.”
“Still, hyung, you did what I taught you at the beginning.”
“……”
“That’s doing well. You could have won.”
“I guess……”
Hearing Banye’s encouragement, my heart melted a little and the disappointment lessened somewhat.
But then, Banye suddenly came closer and pressed the F12 button.
“Huh? What?”
“I was recording.”
“Whaat?”
I was dumbfounded at the news that he’d been recording a video of me getting beaten just now. But Banye rather questioned me back, “You’re a streamer, you said to work hard, didn’t you?”
“B-but…… when I said to work hard, I meant to show your skills……”
“Compared to you, I look even better.”
“That’s too much!”
I shouted loudly, thinking that Banye definitely doesn’t like me even a little bit after all. Banye, of course, didn’t budge at all.
* * *
Banye edited and uploaded the video taken that day for comparison. First he showed me following Banye, then immediately followed by showing the success case of Banye playing……
As Banye said, the comparison made his already good skills shine even more. It was a pretty well-made video so the view count was good too.
As a NewTube streamer, Banye doing well is a good thing but…… I was embarrassed.
And there was one more victim besides me.
[Guild][Suckeot3] If you were gonna film, you should’ve said so–
[Guild][Suckeot3] If I’d known, I wouldn’t have gone easy and would’ve properly crushed you;; haa……
[Guild][Neda] How unseemly, Suckeot-nim
[Guild][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] lolololololololololol
[Guild][Banyecredit] sorry I didn’t know he was filming either…
I made excuses, worried that a video of me losing had been uploaded. Of course, he’d gotten permission before uploading and covered the nicknames, but I couldn’t help being concerned.
[Guild][Suckeot3] lol it’s fine, just disappointed I couldn’t show my real skills lol
[Guild][Suckeot3] Consider that this hyung-nim went easy on you
[Guild][Haeyam] But Suckeot-nim, you’re not good at combat-yam
[Guild][Suckeot3] Shut it
[Guild][Suckeot3] I’m just a pacifist……
[Guild][Aang] Rematch with this then?
Suckeot-nim was silent for a moment.
Then he slyly changed the subject.
[Guild][Suckeot3] Anyone going to Tongjeol
[Guild][Haeyam] Running away-yam
[Guild][Suckeot3] Lilith is OP–
[Guild][Haeyam] lolololololololol
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] Did Sisi watch the video?
Then Anaki, who suddenly appeared, said something out of the blue. I felt disgusted and immediately typed [–].
[Guild][Banyecredit] Did Sisi’s boyfriend come
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] No, did you see the new uploaded video
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] That was completely targeting Banye?
……What?
I immediately went to Sisi’s NewTube channel.
Then I saw one video that the bastard, who usually doesn’t upload alchemist guides, had prominently posted.
[Common Misconceptions Novice Alchemists Make]
Even the title was really shitty.
