If my avatar has blood, I'd be beet red by now with how embarrassed I am. Thankfully my predicament came to a halt when Liz immediately spotted someone and abruptly stood up.
"Chu! Over here!" She shouted again.
I spot a familiar-looking man in his customary Taoist set and butterfly swords hanging on his belt on both sides with a bow on his back.
He seems uncomfortable too with all the attention when Liz shouted. Welcome to the club, now you know the difficulties I'm dealing with.
As he walked towards us, our eyes met, and I identified him as he did the same to me.
NambaWan
Hp: 100%
Mp: 100%
Lvl: 95
Guild: none
Duel wr: 80%
Wins: 879
Matches: 1098
Team Rank matches wr: Hidden
1v1 Rank matches wr: 73% (Rank 921)
Wins: 1439
Matches: 1978
id#:***********
Introduction: I work alone.
One thing that I immediately notice from identifying him, aside from his high win rate in 1v1 of course, is his introduction. What an edgy guy.
He seems discontent after the brief interaction but he continued walking without missing a beat and sat at the farthest side of the large table opposite us. How edgy.
"You're finally here! Let me introduce you two, Kat, this is Chu, you have actually already fought against each other with our team match with June." Liz introduced us.
He was visibly shocked at the news and his discontent look vanished after hearing that.
"Where is her main account"
"Ohh, that was mine, she was just borrowing it, this is the account she will be using in the tournament."
"I....see." Chu accepted it in stride.
I'm right here guys, please don't talk to each other like I'm invisible. But fine, I'll let it slide for now since I'm also not good at conversing with strangers.
After that, Chu went silent, minding his own business, intent on maintaining his dignity as the edgelord he was destined to be while Liz is talking to her chat while occasionally asking me questions her viewers wanted to know about me.
It took a couple of minutes of me being interviewed by her chat with questions which ranges from normal ones like my age or my stats builds to bizarre ones like If I'm single or my romantic interests and so forth. All the while that is happening, Liz seems to be enjoying asking these questions for her viewers and putting me on the spot. I'll get you back for this someday Liz, I swear!
My savior comes in the form of a literal knight in shining armor set with a lance as his main weapon. Liz failed to notice him approach us while she was focused on interviewing me.
I identified him
Renz
Hp: 100%
Mp: 52%
Lvl: 95
Guild: Concord of Heroes
Duel wr: Hidden
Team Rank matches wr: 65%
Wins: 1871
Matches: 2876
1v1 Rank matches wr: Hidden
id#:***********
Introduction: High-ranking member of Concord of Heroes. Pm me if you wish to scrim for a team match.
"Sorry I'm late, my sister needed help with one of her projects and I lost track of time helping her finish it," he said apologetically.
"Ohh Renz you're here! It's fine, it's fine we weren't waiting for long."
It's not fine at all for me though, this guy's tardiness cost some of my dignity.
He looked at Chu.
"Wow, You managed to recruit a ranker? Good job Liz!" he said excitedly.
"Where is our last member?" He asked while looking around.
"Ohh all of us are already here"
"You mean that girl is also part of our team? I thought she was just a bystander."
"She's not, this is Novo, she's actually quite skilled."
"Are you serious? The qualifier is already in 2 weeks and she is still level 45. We can't have that kind of handicap while we fight max-level players! No matter how good she is, she won't be able to keep up with the level and gear of our opponents. I know she's your friend but you cannot be biased about something as important as this!" He was getting agitated.
His criticism hit me right in the feels. It was kind of my fault though for not giving it my all in power leveling. I was taking this tournament in stride, underestimating my opponents and also undervaluing how important this tournament is to some people. I felt a little bit ashamed.
"Clarence, calm down a little," Liz said placatingly.
"Calm down? Liz, we worked hard practicing for this remember? Don't tell me I'm the only one who was taking this seriously."
Liz was speechless. It probably hurts to have her resolve getting doubted just like that, especially when she's giving it her all in creating this team from scratch.
I was annoyed. It's fine if he only doubted my lack of drive but I knew how hard Liz worked for this over the past weeks. It's not right for him to question Liz's determination to lead our team.
I interjected.
"Isn't that a little too much? How about a match then? I'm not really sure if you're good enough for the team either so I want to test if you could even beat me?" I said haughtily.
"K-kat, don't provoke him"
"....Hah? Not only are you a newbie, but you're also a clown huh, what a combination. Let's make a deal then, whoever loses will quit the team?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I replied instantly."
"Wait, wait, wait! Stooooooppp! Nobody is quitting anywhere! Besides, I already submitted our team with the info and requirements I asked you guys to fill remember? We cannot change our lineup this late in the game!"
"I still want to beat this punk," I said venomously.
This sour feeling won't go away until I beat this guy and prove my skills. Looks like I'm getting a little bit competitive again.
"Right back at you, newbie." he spat out.
"O-Oh I have a solution, how about we have a 2-on-2 match? This way you both can gauge each other's skills while at the same time we will have a team-building exercise how's that?" Liz attempted to lighten the mood.
"...I guess."
"Sure thing, can't wait to teach this newbie a lesson."
I glared at him.
"Chu, you're in, right?" Liz suddenly asked our phantom member.
"...Fine," he said reluctantly.
"Great! This is gonna be a fun team activity!"