Click. Click. Click.
"Haaak! Why is it taking so long...!?"
Click. Click. Click.
"Hurry up! Damn it!"
Click. Click. Click.
The persistent clicking sound of Mia pressing the keypad echoed through the room as she desperately attempted to get the video to load.
But no matter how hard she tried, the video refused to load.
The screen remained pitch black, with a small wheel spinning at its center, endlessly rolling over and over.
"What's going on? Why is it not loading? Don't tell me you broke it, Mia."
"No, shut up Olivia."
"What..."
"No, not now!"
Click. Click. Click.
Mia clicked on the mouse pad for the nth time. Her frustration was evident. Eventually, her gaze fell on me.
"Is there something wrong with the laptop? Did it break while I was setting it up?"
"Don't worry. It's probably because a lot of people are watching right now. The server is probably lagging."
"R-really?"
"No, I was just guessing."
It'd be nice if that were the case.
It was probably the Wi-Fi.
"Manager!"
It wasn't just one glare. All the girls were glaring my way with the exception of Sarah. What? It wasn't like I was wrong. It was definitely a possibility.
I waved my hand.
"Just restart the Wi-Fi. That should fix it."
"Let me do that."
With a long sigh, Dean walked to the router and restarted the cable. In the meantime, I turned on my mobile data and started searching Star Board.
'Blue Daisy'
{Blue Daisy finally makes its debut on Dungeon Seekers! A bust or a star?}
There wasn't much just yet, but there was still a little bit of discussion.
﹂Who exactly are Blue Daisy...?
﹂Never heard of them.
﹂Ah, I know them. They're the girls who screwed over Price with their skills.
﹂Hasn't that issue already been resolved, though? Apparently, the sword was faulty.
﹂Pftt. And you actually believe that nonsense? They were obviously threatened by Emblem of the Sun to make it seem that way. Their push is so obvious. But it doesn't matter. Their skills suck. Watch them fail in the video.
'Quite the haters.'
There was a mix of good and bad. Primarily bad. It was expected. After all, the girls had been in quite the controversy already.
"Aik! You were right, manager! It's on! It's on! It's finally starting!"
"Shhhush! Stop making such a fuss."
Finally, the long-awaited Dungeon Seekers debut began.
But it didn't start all too well. In fact, it started horribly.
[As we can observe, the movements are quite clumsy. There's hardly any coordination within the team, and what an awful error by team member Olivia!]
Unknowingly, commentary started to play.
What in the...
'Since when did we have commentary? How come I was never told about this?'
My gaze met with Dean's as he looked back at me. He seemed just as clueless. So he also wasn't aware?
[Who was responsible for training this team? How could someone make such a novice mistake? Was she merely trying to show off, or does she not prioritize the team's safety? I haven't seen such sloppy play in a very long time.]
The commentators spared no effort in criticizing the girls, with a particular focus on Olivia. They were ruthless in their assessment.
Turning my attention toward Olivia and seeing how stiff her face was, I was secretly glad she didn't have social media accounts.
Because they were having a field day at the moment.
﹂So it wasn't that just one member was bad, but another one too?
﹂What a mess. Ay.
﹂Why is Emblem of the Sun pushing this team?
"..."
The room was quiet. None of the girls were talking as they all paid attention to the broadcast. The air started to turn gloomy.
This continued on for what felt like an eternity. The yapping of the commentators as they constantly threw criticism at the girls felt like sharp daggers that stabbed directly at our backs.
But even then, the girls remained quiet and continued watching. Oblivious of the storm that was brewing on Star Board.
When I turned off my phone, unable to endure the comments anymore, Dean nudged me with his elbow. Then, casting a quick glance in Lyla's direction whose focus was on the TV, he mouthed, 'What the fuck happened?'.
I shrugged my shoulders in reply, 'How am I supposed to know? This is all new to me. They never told me they were going to add commentators. What about you? Did no one say anything to you?'
'No.'
Dean irritably clicked his tongue and shook his head, 'If nothing changes, the aftermath of this is going to give me headaches for weeks.'
'Hmmm. All we can do is wait...'
It wasn't yet time to lose hope. The climax of the dive still hadn't shown up. In fact, from the video, it was becoming increasingly obvious that it was being delayed. But the viewers seemed to be eating it up. Especially the haters who seemed especially vocal.
'Just wait. Just wait. Just wait... It'll come soon.'
I kept repeating to myself that all was going to end well soon, but a little part of me started to doubt this as the clip went on. Doubt started to creep in.
But what if they also found faults there...?
What would happen if that was the case? Would the Guild...
I stopped my thoughts on that note. Feeling my mouth grow dry, I took a sip of warm water.
"M... maybe we shouldn't have taken it so lightly. If we knew that it would've been broadcasted like this..."
The already gloomy atmosphere seemed to turn even more gloomy at Mia's words. Glancing at the other girls and taking in their reactions, beside Lyla who seemed entertained by the program, everyone else looked stiff.
Even Sarah was clutching a pack of candy with everything she had. Oh, she was about to spill them on the floor...
No, never mind.
She stopped herself before they could spill.
[Why are they messing around now? I won't lie, their banter is quite entertaining, but they are inside a dungeo... oh! What's going on?!]
But then, it finally came.
The climax of the dive.
[What is this that I'm seeing? Eight enormous pillars!? Wait... Is that...?]
The commentator's voice instantly captured the attention of everyone in the room, rekindling the previously subdued atmosphere.
Mia instantly sat up.
"That's right, we finally getting to the good part!"
"Shush. Stop talking so much."
[Red-ranked beast, Mother of all Spiders.]
I have to say, the commentators did a really nice job at building up the tension as I found myself moving closer to the television.
"Hey, manager! Move away, I can't see."
"Oh, sorry."
As the clip progressed, the previous tension that was eating up at me started to leave my body as my shoulders slowly started to relax.
Right, no matter how hard you try, you can't make this look bad.
The video was just as I gave it to them. There were no exaggerated edits, and besides the commentators who seemed to be speaking in hurried tones, adding further tension to the situation, everything was perfect.
It was everything that I wanted it to be, and the heavy weight that had been pressing at my heart finally lifted.
Mia was the first to break the silence as her dazed voice echoed out.
"That... is us, right?"
"It's without a doubt us... I've seen the clip multiple times already, but why does this seem even more impressive than the clips that I've watched before? Manager, did you give them the wrong clip?"
"As if I could do that."
I wouldn't even know where to start if someone asked me to edit a video.
But I understood where Joana was coming from. No matter how I looked at it, the girls's dive seemed far more impressive than when we were watching it ourselves.
"It's the commentating."
Dean suddenly spoke, taking his eyes away from the television.
"They purposely downplayed your performance in the beginning in order to surprise the audience. As a result, when everyone's expectations of you fell, the moment you put on, well... that type of performance, you all look incredibly skilled."
"Ah, is that the case?"
"Yeah."
There was no denying what Dean said. Just one glimpse at the comment section on Star Board was enough proof.
﹂Am I... seeing things? Or is this video real?
﹂No, I think you're not the only one who isn't seeing things right.
﹂What happened? Why is everyone acting like this?
﹂Have you watched the video?
﹂Eh, I quit halfway. It was kind of boring. They were nothing special.
﹂Watch it now! It's mad! Mad! I'm telling you, it's crazy!
To say that the comment section was blowing up was an understatement. If before, there were only five comments per ten minutes, at the moment, there were a dozen comments per minute.
It was starting to blow up!
[Olivia suddenly threw her shield! What, why would-Oh my god! Oh my god! What a divine move! This...! What am I watching right now!]
The commentator's voice continued to echo in the background, and as the clip progressed, it became louder and louder. So much so that my blood started to boil.
As expected. It truly was making a huge difference.
[This is unprecedented! Unbelievable! Am I really watching the same group from before? What in the world happened? How is it possible that such a team has gone unnoticed for so long?]
The sudden surge of excitement by the commentator caught the girls off-guard as Mia trembly pointed at the television in front before saying.
"I-s... this the same guy that was insulting us before?"
"Ha... Ha... Seems like it."
[Blue Daisy is it? I'm a fan! After today, I'm a fan!]
"But who said we want you?"
Perhaps because of the sudden surge in adrenaline, Mia stood up and flipped off her finger at the television.
"Where's all the criticism from before? Who did you call inept and not cut out for this? Ha! Do you think I'll forgive you for all the mean things you... No, ehm. Lyla. Wrong finger."
Mia hurriedly rushed in Lyla's direction and switched her finger from the middle one to the ring one.
"Uh..."
Looking up, Mia pursed her lips. Joana was looking down at her with cold eyes.
"I... the atmosphere got the better of me."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yea-hyak!"
Bumping Mia on the head, Joana picked Lyla up.
"Ay! Ay! That hurts!"
"It was supposed to!"
"Ukh. My head."
"Lyla, how many times did I tell you to not copy Mia and Olivia? They're a bad influence on you."
"Wait, why did you bring me in all of a sud... never mind, I guess you're right."
"Good that you know."
"Um."
Olivia grunted. Her self-awareness was something to marvel at.
[Thank you all for watching. And wow. Blue Daisy, I will keep an eye on that name from now on. What a treat.]
Like that, the video finally came to an end.
Vrr— Vrrrr—!
My phone, which had started blowing up a couple of minutes ago, vibrated even more fiercely, and as I opened my laptop and checked Star Board, a big smile appeared on my face.
On this day.
Blue Daisy finally made its name known.