As JYJ declared the second match, giant screens lit up with falling Tetric blocks.
Holding the Crystal Ball, Johan shouted confidently.
“Alright, I’m going all out from the start!!”
“Bring it on! I’m ready!!”
Both human Johan and Dark Elf Elbaf were fierce, and the game turned into a fierce battle right from the beginning.
Blocks dropped and vanished with a frenetic pace, but the speed increased even more.
“2ComBo! Pyush-! Pyush! 5ComBo Pyush! Puh! 10ComBo Puh! Puh! Puh! Beep! 30ComBo Beep! Beep!”
“AAAAAH! The two players are going all out right from the start!!! There’s no stopping!!! Their combos just keep going!!!”
At first, the audience could see the speed, but soon blocks were moving so fast they became indistinguishable.
All that was left was the sound of falling and the effects of disappearing blocks.
“Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!”
“AAAAAH!!! I can’t see the blocks!!! I can only hear them! Did we come to a concert instead!? Their battle is creating music!!”
The combo counts for both players surpassed 100 and were racing towards 200.
Caught in a tense standoff, Elbaf felt himself starting to reach his limit.
“(It’s… fast…)”
He was someone who had won many battles in the North.
He thought Tetric blocks were nothing compared to flying blades, but the boy’s blocks were faster than any blade he had seen before.
“Whoa!!! Little by little!! Elbaf is slowly starting to pile up blocks!!!”
One line… two lines… though slowly, Elbaf’s blocks began to stack up.
Excited, Johan ramped up his speed, and that got JYJ all hyped up too.
“Johan isn’t slowing down!!! The genius boy is mercilessly attacking even his grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather!!!”
Under Johan’s relentless assault, Elbaf finally crumbled.
The moment the audience thought they could see the blocks, the screen filled with blocks, leading to a game over.
“Game Over!! Johan is the victor!!!”
“Woohoo!!!!”
“Grrr!!!”
At the moment victory was assured, Johan raised both hands in a victory celebration.
Meanwhile, the Dark Elf warrior Elbaf slammed the table, clearly frustrated.
BAM!
In modern terms, he seemed to express, “Why are we playing this game – beep!?”
From the start, the game was ablaze, and the audience cheered, supporting their match.
Before the fire even died down, the next match began.
“Round 2 also starts with a fierce battle!!! Is Elbaf showing his anger at the last match loss!!!”
In the next match, they jumped right back into a fierce showdown.
Invisible blocks started flowing, and the combos kept rising, but the situation was a bit different from the previous round.
“AAAAAH!!! Is this going to Round 3? Johan is getting pushed back!!”
Slowly but surely, this time, blocks began stacking on Johan’s side.
To the casual viewer, it looked like Elbaf was about to deliver a heavy blow to Johan, but those familiar with the game sensed something off about the accumulating blocks.
“Is Johan… gathering blocks?”
“What!? He’s gathering them?”
Stacking blocks is entirely different from collecting them.
Having blocks stack means an unmanageable crisis is growing, while gathering blocks signifies the power to flip the game and an acknowledgment of skill difference.
This feeling was palpable from Johan’s blocks, and it became a reality soon enough.
“Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! 30ComBo! 31Com, 32Co, 33C, 34C! 35C! 36C!”
“Johan suddenly started speeding up! AAAAAH!!! He’s coming back!!! The blocks sent by Elbaf are now coming back to him!!!”
As the gathered blocks detonated, Johan’s blocks, which had stacked to the brim, turned into combos and started shifting over to Elbaf’s screen.
The blocks piled up in an instant, and Elbaf was swept away, ending the game.
“Match over!! Johan is the winner!!”
“Woohoo!!!”
With victory secured, Johan performed his signature victory celebration.
Elbaf, frustrated, also found it amusing.
Having lived long, he realized the charm of humans lay in such moments.
Despite their short lifespan, they had an unexpected talent that could surprise even the oldest.
He acknowledged his defeat and stood alongside Johan in the arena.
“It was a fun match.”
“Me too, Dark Elf dude!”
As Johan shook hands with Elbaf, he expressed his gratitude for the fun game.
With the intense competition between the two, the tournament was heating up.
*
After the Dark Elf and continued matches, the tournament went on.
There was Bean, who coldly dominated his opponents, and Johan, who passionately burned through challengers.
The starkly different styles of these two players led them to defeat the remaining competitors and advance to the finals.
The finals were announced to start at 7 PM after dinner, and we made our way out of the arena to find a nearby pub for some food.
Even during meal time, the topic of conversation was undoubtedly the tournament.
“Jiren, who do you think will win?”
“Well, both are strong, so it wouldn’t be surprising for either to win, but if I had to choose one, I think Bean will take it.”
“I think Bean will win too. Noirin’s disciple!”
It seemed that Master and Jiren both had high hopes for Bean.
From watching the matches so far, Bean gave off a more overwhelming vibe than Johan.
While Johan had shown some close calls, Bean consistently crushed his opponents.
Karen turned to me and asked.
“Yuren, who do you think will win?”
“Like Jiren said, it’s hard to guess, but if I had to pick, I think Johan will win.”
“Johan?”
Noirin raised an eyebrow at my prediction of Johan winning.
“Doesn’t Johan seem a bit light?”
It seemed Noirin thought Johan looked quite carefree.
In truth, while Johan’s play can be overwhelming when he’s on fire, there were often moments where he seemed on the edge of failure.
Seeing those gaps could lead people to perceive him as weaker than someone who exudes overwhelming dominance.
However, my thoughts were a bit different.
“I think he’s not just being light but pretending to be. People like that always have hidden cards, which makes them scary.”
What if that lightness wasn’t arrogance but confidence?
Having hidden cards means he could win at any moment.
If that lightness derives from confidence, I believe Johan is slightly ahead of Bean.
Hearing my thoughts, Master and the other disciples looked at me.
“You sound just like Yuren.”
“True, you do sound like Yuren.”
“Is that a sibling shout-out?”
Huh? My name just popped up!?
I felt a twinge of anxiety.
What if Johan loses and I end up embarrassed…
“I hope Johan wins. I really don’t want to see that guy who beat me walk away with the prize!”
Julia, having been destroyed by Bean, seemed to cheer for Johan for a different reason.
I sincerely prayed for Johan’s victory in my heart.
*
Backstage before the finals.
The finalists were waiting there.
Johan and Bean were about to have their first direct face-off.
“Do, ti, di♫ Pyush-!”
“…………”
“Haah…”
As background music turned off, Bean was quietly playing Tetric, while Johan was lazily passing the time yawning.
In that tense silence, Bean was the first to break the ice.
“Why do you play while also giving your opponents a chance?”
Bean shot an honest question at Johan.
From Bean’s perspective, Johan seemed to be playing while allowing his opponents some leeway.
It looked like Johan was trying hard, but he wasn’t exerting himself fully, fitting his play style to match his opponent.
To onlookers, it might seem like an exciting match of near-equal skill.
However, for the opponent, it could feel like they were being toyed with.
“It’s not about letting you win; it’s about enjoying the game.”
In response to Bean’s blunt observation, Johan replied with a bright smile.
Enjoying the game.
What a loaded word that was.
Was it enjoying the battle with the opponent, enjoying the victory, or perhaps a mixture of both?
“Isn’t that the same thing? If I were being toyed with like that, I’d feel upset.”
“Don’t worry; you’ll go all out from the very start.”
“What?”
A declaration of starting fully powered!
Johan looked at Bean not with his usual playful expression, but like a wolf looking at its prey.
“I think I’ll have to go all out from the beginning against you; it just seems dangerous otherwise.”
The seriousness in Johan’s words hit Bean, sending a chill down his spine.
For the first time in this tournament, he felt a sense of excitement.
“Yeah, that’ll make the game fun, so do your best to let me shine as the first place.”
“Sorry, but I can’t give you first place; that’s mine.”
A fiery exchange of tension began.
It’s only natural; after all, they were competing for one billion gold and the title of winner in this first game tournament of the other world.
“Alright, contestants, it’s time to enter!”
The explosive Johan and the sharp Bean.
One dreams of being an Emperor, the other seeks to prove his worth as champion.
The final showdown was about to begin.
