Chapter 170
[I saw someone at the hospital last week who looked exactly like NoName][48]
I know everyone hates it when people post cringey stuff like this here, but this is the only community I use, so please understand.
I'm hospitalized because of leukemia. I'm not here to whine about my situation, so I'll just give a quick bit of proof.
(Hb, RBC Count, Platelet Count levels.jpg)
Since I'm hospitalized long-term, there's nothing I can do, and watching Internet broadcasts and giggling all day is the joy of my life.
Anyway, I was on my way to get a detailed blood test when I saw a tiny kid, maybe six or seven years old, sitting alone in the testing room.
Honestly, all the patients getting tested in this section have something or other seriously wrong with them, so I just thought, Ah, that's kind of pitiful, and left it at that.
The kid was next in line for the test, and when they stood up, they glanced my way for a moment. What the fuck? They looked exactly like NoName. Holy shit.
I watch NoName's broadcasts for ten hours a day, so I wondered if I'd finally developed a mental illness and felt ashamed of myself, but no matter how I thought about it, it really seemed to be NoName.
Another thing I remember is that the nurses kept passing by and complimenting the kid on how cute they were. They didn't even give me a glance...
[Comments]
-NoName is fourteen, what are you talking about?
-Didn't they say they were in second grade?
└ Yeah, I think they're in their second year of middle school, right?
-Isn't it their little sibling?
-Gasp, there are two NoNames? Is this heaven?
-The last line was the key, lol.
-Were they pretty?
└ Eek, you pedo bastard.
└ (Poster): You idiot, they were really about first-grade elementary-school age. I mean, they looked exactly like NoName's main avatar.
└ I'm reporting you. Bye.
└ No, I meant the nurse, the nurse!
-Young kids all look alike, so you might have misunderstood.
└ (Poster): Even if you chalk up the face to me having prosopagnosia, I remember their hair being really long too.
-Their mom and dad must have made them cosplay NoName.
└ If you were born to parents who are stream junkies, lol, your future's already bleak.
[Since the rumor's going around, here's my own NoName sighting story][20]
I didn't see them myself; it's a story from a friend. It was at Dogok Station, I think? Anyway, somewhere along Line 3, my friend said they'd seen NoName.
But they said NoName looked exactly like the avatar, lol.
If they looked exactly like the avatar, then they'd be a European model with blond hair and golden eyes. Does it make any sense for them to speak fluent Korean? I told my friend to stop bullshitting and cursed them out.
Then my friend said they didn't mean that one, but the main avatar?
So I told them to stop bullshitting again. But with this sighting rumor suddenly popping up, maybe there really is another kid who looks similar?
[Comments]
-I'm the author of the post right below, and I definitely saw her! It's so unfair. I saw her going to school in an elementary academy uniform!
└ Really? Which academy was it?
└ I didn't ask.
└ But how did you know she was in elementary school?
└ They said it was obvious at a glance.
-That's pretty weird;;
-But NoName already proved that she's fourteen.
Rumors don't spread linearly.
They always lie low beneath the surface, only to leap suddenly into view like flying fish.
And journalists were fishermen who specialized in catching those flying fish.
They had to catch them before anyone else could see them if they wanted to make a living, and that was the fate of a journalist.
“Seongmun, the editor-in-chief is looking for you.”
“Me? Why?”
“How would I know? Maybe you got caught playing an AR game and slacking off during work hours?”
“Shit, how did he know? Am I really getting fired today...?”
QBS Game Magazine reporter Jang Seongmun took a deep breath and went to face his superior.
It was a position that rarely gave him a chance to meet with someone at the director level, and in reality, Reporter Jang was very satisfied with his job.
“Ah, Reporter Jang. During this morning's meeting, while organizing the material submitted by viewers, I came across something that only you could handle.”
He had not been told to submit his resignation, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yes, Chief.”
“Everyone says investigating people is another one of your specialties.”
“Investigating people...?”
The only kind of investigation he could possibly be asked to conduct was one involving an Internet broadcaster.
He was also reminded of the unpleasant memory from last year, when he had openly refused the entertainment department deputy chief's order to obtain an interview with Seol Yoonseul right to his face and suffered a major disadvantage in his performance review.
“Chief, actually, investigating people isn't my main job. I review games...”
Investigating people had always been nothing more than a side task.
“Really? Your colleagues have testified that you recently investigated that ‘NoName’ person, whatever her name was.”
“Oh, NoName?”
But why?
In response to Jang's question, the editor-in-chief explained everything that had come up in the morning meeting.
“I hear she's fourteen.”
“Ah, yes.”
“And she's a genius.”
“Of course. A total genius.”
“They say she uploaded something incredible on VTube this time. Have you seen it?”
“No, Chief. I've been busy with work lately. What was it about?”
It was a lie. Reporter Jang often stayed up all night playing through Resonance's scenario quests.
“I wouldn't know what it was even if I saw it! I'm a liberal-arts guy, you see, haha! Anyway, depending on how it turns out, if the quality is good, we'll put it on the News Talk program too. Get the details from your section chief. Work hard, got it?”
“Ah, yes, sir...! But, Chief!”
“Yes?”
“Isn't it an unwritten rule in the industry that you shouldn't put children like this on TV just because they have talent?”
‘The Ham Chorong murder incident’ had made it taboo for every news outlet in South Korea to write articles centered exclusively on young children.
It was not legally mandated, but whenever it happened, the public pelted broadcasting stations with stones, accusing them of playing business with children, and an implicit rule had formed.
Rather, only the long-running variety program Genius Discovery Squad, which had maintained its legacy since before that incident, possessed the privilege of covering such sacred ground.
“Ah, yes. Hahahahaha. That happened thirty years ago, thirty! All the people who left malicious comments back then have blurry eyes now and probably can't even read articles properly! Besides, this one came from tips submitted by countless viewers, so we have more than enough justification. Got it?”
“Ah, yes, I'll work hard!”
“That's a good attitude. Have a good day!”
Back at his desk, Jang watched NoName's VTube videos and tore at his hair.
[#1 Brocard’s problem (1876)]
[#2 Erdős–Straus conjecture (1948)]
[#3 Weaire–Phelan structure optimization (1993)]
[#4 Collatz conjecture bound further to n^0.737 (1937)]
[#5 Moving sofa problem upper bound improvement (1966)]
[#6 Twin prime conjecture (1849)]
[#7 Strong Goldbach conjecture (1742)]
“I'm a liberal-arts guy too, for fuck's sake...”
If even one of NoName's proofs was true, it would unquestionably be a scoop, and her subscribers had kept sending tips to the station.
And Reporter Jang Seongmun had to call upon every connection he had to find someone who could verify them.
* * *
In contrast to Name's team struggling in WoA, the League of Legends team made up of five Challengers was already considered the overwhelming favorite to win even before the tournament began.
The LoL Fall Tournament had started five days earlier than Ttagapdae because of its qualifiers.
The Round of 32 and Round of 16 qualifiers were nearly over, and only one step remained before they reached the quarterfinals proper.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaa! How! Does! This! Make! Any! Sense!”
“NoName! NoName! NoName won't stop! NoName is charging in! She's beating Ornn until he actually dies!”
“They were eight thousand gold apart early on! Now the difference is only one thousand! It's not just that they've caught up in that losing game—they've practically turned it around!”
“You call yourself a tank? What are you going to do? I'm a damage dealer! Damage dealers are the best in the late game! Incredible! Ornn had ten kills, that mountain of an Ornn—who could have imagined he would go down so helplessly!”
A roar rang out through the stadium.
The spectators caught up in the excitement and the commentators shouting themselves hoarse were all focused on the match deciding the final team to advance to the main event.
Thirty-five minutes. Fifty kills in total.
With two teams that could not resist fighting whenever their eyes met, the outcome of the match sank even deeper into mystery.
One side was a team made up of three former pros.
True to their veteran experience, they fiercely pressured the top and mid lanes, driving Name's team into a corner.
Yet even after the limbs of their top-lane split-pushing champion had been cut off, and even with their jungler starved for fifteen minutes straight, all of Name's teammates trusted her and focused solely on helping their ADC grow.
Their team was overwhelmingly behind, with only the ADC barely keeping pace in gold.
Then, with a single teamfight, the losing game was turned around in an instant.
“When I look at NoName right now, I think of a machine. Our top laner got solo-killed three times? No problem, NoName got twelve CS per minute. Our mid laner got caught out on the side again? No problem, NoName killed the support who was trying to provide vision. I don't even know how many times she's rescued the team from the brink with the best possible decision every time!”
“That's right! She's truly terrifying. She has absolutely no fear. You can clearly see Team Trident shrinking back. The moment NoName even feints a step forward, they jump in surprise and waste their Flash!”
“Her ability to measure the distance between champions is truly extraordinary. NoName is an Asteria specialist, isn't she? An ADC whose attack range changes—how difficult is that to handle!”
“Yes! She hasn't been able to play it even once because it's been permanently banned, but even though it's considered a Tier 2 champion right now, they can't recklessly leave it open because no one knows how it might transform in NoName's hands!”
“It's probably too late to say this now, but I don't think they should give NoName any long-range ADCs!”
“Another teamfight looks like it's about to start! They're growling at each other the moment their eyes meet! Again!”
A battle involving all ten players.
The ground shook, and smoke billowed upward.
NoName, a cannon slung over her shoulder, emerged from the flames.
She had taken advantage of the moment when every attack was focused on her to bait out their skills.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah! If they can't catch NoName here—!”
“This could be over if they make one mistake! They can't afford to die again. The moment I say that, NoName mercilessly sweeps up the kills! Quadrakill!”
“This team is strong... especially NoName. The teams they'll meet in the main event had better prepare themselves thoroughly. She's come back even stronger lately.”
“We're going to the quarterfinals! The long, long game ends after forty-one minutes and thirty seconds!”
““GG!””
The sensation prickling through their entire bodies left them no time even to savor the afterglow of victory.
Temporarily dazed by their surging adrenaline, Name's teammates stared at the enemy team's crumbling fortress.
Only when they could feel the audience's cheers against their skin did they finally share in the joy of advancing to the main event.
“We did it!”
“That was so damn hard... I'm never playing top again...”
“Hey, Minjun oppa, you died eight times and that's what you have to say...! Eek.”
“You worked hard, Name. We got put in a terrible position because of the draft.”
“A win's a win.”
The opponent they had faced in the qualifiers had also been a powerful favorite to win the tournament.
In fact, if you looked only at team synergy, it would have been fair to say the opposing team was even better.
However, as time passed, Name's team steadily improved its teamwork and was able to secure a perfect, decisive victory in the final teamfight.
[Time - 41:34]
[NoName(Kaluya) - 16/1/7]
[Total Damage Dealt - 43.8K]
“Get ready for the interview!”
They had to choose one person for the winner's interview, but Name had to sit it out.
“Don't tell me you have to go practice WoA scrims right away?”
“Yeah. The game took longer than expected, so I have to hurry back.”
“You really live an insanely busy life.”
“Hey, Name, what would you have done if we'd played one more set? Where does that confidence come from!”
“It's only a qualifier. There's no way I could lose. See you later.”
Without even having time to enter the private room, Name immediately launched WoA.
[NoName: Sorry the tournament ended a little late. I'm coming right in.]
[NoName: Kariri?]
[Kariri: Ah, yeah! Hurry up, everyone's waiting!]