Chapter 156: Chapter 156 – True Gamer
[Tier 5]
Surprised by his Tier, Max stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Really?" He asked no one in particular.
The grind would be worse. Under the Tier, there were 69/100 written inside a progression bar, which was the rate point he needed to increase his Tier. He could gain it by winning a ranked match or becoming an SVP of the losing team.
Of course, being an MVP would give him a lot of rate points. But in a ranked game, no one knew who the MVP was. Teamwork was more important than selfishness.
Still…
"I expected I would get Tier 4 from the get-go. But I only get 69/100 Tier 5, huh?"
— I am also surprised. You always did well, but how could you only get Tier 5
— Is Midnight Heist's ranked system flawed? You have 3 MVP from the 10 placement matches
— Why would it be like this?
— I think I know why. You always wear the default costume, and the system probably thinks you're riding on a bus. Many streamers also experienced it before in a challenge.
— The system mistook him for riding the bus because he never took the target item himself lolol
It was nonsense. The system should've known better. Max wasn't a newbie who was boosted but a real player who played alone.
There should be another reason why he didn't get to Tier 4 immediately.
The question was… Was it worth mulling over? Rather than finding out the reason, playing more games and increasing his Tier was better.
However, he had to stop today.
"I will begin my grind tomorrow. I hope I can reach Tier 3 before logging out. Or at least close to getting promoted to Tier 3."
— Hahaha, good luck!
— The enemies would only get harder and harder
— Many hard-stuck veterans will be waiting for you in Tier 3
— Kekeke, those low-struck in Tier 4 will welcome you with their stinky veteran odor
— HUahahaha, YOU WILL MEET ME! MEEE!!
— I am also Tier 4. I hope to see you there!
"Yeah, yeah. I welcome you to play with me, but don't troll or stream snipe."
He made sure to give his viewers a warning. Thankfully, they were understanding. Unfortunately, not all of them were like that. Some still said they would purposely snipe his stream and press the match at the same time so they were in the same room.
That was fine by itself, as it was not an active stream snipe. But that should be better left unsaid.
"Anyway, I will end the stream today. There are many things I need to prepare for the end of the month."
— Good job.
— Good bye!
[Jrnior has donated 1,000 diamonds!]
[Good bye, Breeze! That was fun]
[noBanTop has donated 100 diamonds!]
[…]
[BloodSucker has donated 500 diamonds!]
[You forgot to announce that stuff, so this noble me appeared. Watch Breeze's Punchtube later. New video uploaded!]
Reading the last donation, Max realized his mistake.
"Oh, right. The first video of my new editor will be uploaded after this. Please watch it!"
Many viewers guessed who the editor's identity was. It was pretty easy, after all, and the person in question didn't deny any speculations.
Donations kept pouring in for a while.
[BloodGod has donated 5,000 diamonds!]
[I am looking forward to your suffering.]
That was the last donation he read before he ended the stream.
***
Suffering. That was the right word. The next few days were hell and heaven at the same time. It was the essential time for Max to grow as a streamer and a gamer.
In one instance, he was getting angry at his teammate.
"Why the fuck did he go through that door?! I told him there was a police officer and he slammed it open. Is he out of his mind?! Man, use your brain! Listen to your teammate!"
The man ran by himself after taking the target. He didn't listen to his advice and met the police on the way to escape.
As a result, the target was secured and put into a safer vault. The thieves were unable to re-steal it under the five police officers' watch. Naturally, they lost the match.
The saving grace was that Max became SVP, and his RP wasn't reduced. In fact, it increased by 1, making it 70.
Following that unlucky match were three consecutive wins, boosting his RP to 97/100. Each match gave him +9 because he did pretty well, even though he didn't score the MVP.
Then, just as he got motivated to grind again and got promoted to Tier 4, he got a pretty frustrating match. His role was a police, and everyone did well in the beginning.
And the situation was as following. The thieves managed to steal the target, and there were three police officers near the area where the alarm rang. Max guarded the west getaway while the other officer guarded the east.
By now, he was already used to the strategy to stop the thief and thought that other players who played longer than him might even be the master of it. But… He was wrong.
The three officers had a simple job: to catch the distraction and leave one or two thieves so the getaway guard could catch the enemy himself. However, none of the enemy was caught, and five thieves rushed in his direction.
"Holy hell!"
Without any other choice, he tried his best to catch them. But it was impossible. He only managed to secure two out of the five thieves, and the others escaped.
Again, he became SVP and got +2 RP after catching two thieves. It should've been the match where he got promoted to Tier 4. He didn't need the MVP, only a single win.
When he was in the lobby, he raged.
"Why can't they do such a simple job?! I can even catch 2 thieves by myself without using fancy traps. They just need to shoot them! Just pull the trigger and cuff them! Hell, my baton is enough to get 2 thieves! How the hell?!
That was so unlucky."
Facing his outburst, his viewers only laughed.
— He's the true gamer
— Breeze has grown into a real gamer lol
— Just a month to see him rage like this. Precious
— True gamer is born. Oh, fate. Rage = true gamer!
— Truly
— As the BloodGod said… suffering.
"Shut it. I will play again. If I don't get to Tier 3 before 28, then I will tell you my embarrassing secret."
— BET!
— Embarrassing secret?! Do it!
— I clipped this and uploaded it to the fanspage!
— Finally we will have blackmail– something embarrassing!
— HEHEHE, is it about peeing in the classroom?
Everyone had gotten excited. Though, not for Max.
The only thing that made him happy was when he saw Tier 5 changed into Tier 4 after winning his next game. But the grind continued.
The promised day arrived without him noticing.
It was now April 28th, and Max wasn't Tier 3 yet. His current RP was 65, and it was close to 100, which was where he could get promoted to Tier 3. The journey was rough; even leaving the bed felt like a chore today.
His body felt sluggish as if he was underwater and got dragged down by something unknown. Dizziness ran through his head, making him see the world spinning around him.
When he raised his body, he immediately felt something pulling him from behind, and he fell back to his back.
"Oh." A realization came. He looked at the ceiling with a feeling of dread. "Fuck no… I got sick?"