Chapter 73: Opening ceremony

“Ugh.”

Somehow, I had let go of my senses and fallen asleep, and now the pillow was damp.

It wasn’t because I had suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of emotion in the middle of the night, causing me to wet my pillow with tears.

No, it was just saliva.

“Hmm.”

Wiping my mouth with my sleeve, I woke up from the damp sensation and instinctively reached under the pillow.

I don’t usually keep things under my pillow, but when I can’t find my smartphone, it’s always there.

[PM: 3:11]

The sun was high in the sky, and it wouldn’t be strange if it set in a few hours.

It was way past the time for a morning stretch, but for someone like me who was a jobless bum, it didn’t matter.

I half-heartedly tidied up the blankets and took a light morning shower with warm water to wake myself up.

For breakfast, or rather brunch and dinner, I chose simple cereal and milk.

Like most people, I don’t like heavy foods first thing in the morning.

It was just like any other day.

However, the only thing special about today was that the opening ceremony of the League of Legends Championship was taking place.

“Hmm, should I watch it?”

As I was preparing, time quickly passed, and it was already 4:30 PM.

The opening ceremony was about to start in a little while.

“What should I do?”

Even as I was contemplating, I instinctively turned it on.

It was almost an automatic movement.

• Want to be the best? Then join LLL Helper! With champion-specific counter-picks, item builds, and strategies, everything you need is here!

As soon as I opened the official channel, the chaotic ads greeted me.

Well, the game company needs to make money, the pros need to make money, the advertisers need to make money, and everyone has to live happily and eat well.

Enough with these thoughts, and what caught my eye was the match list in the upper right corner.

[ NEXT GAME ]
[ SY vs SCV ]
[ 21:42 ]

SY and SCV.

They could be called destined rivals, but if we are being precise, SCV has never been able to surpass SY’s dominance.

To be more accurate, even when SY underperformed, SCV never became the top team.

In fact, during SY’s major slump in last year’s spring season, even though SCV was SY’s rival, they still failed to secure a win.

Forever second place.

A team that is often referred to as the “forever runner-up” or “loser team” is SCV.

Of course, as is often the case with players or teams historically labeled as “losers,” SCV, although not comparable to SY, is still a very popular team.

So, starting with such a big match between SCV and SY on the first day, it was no wonder the interest was high.

“How many viewers… 50,000?”

Even though the game hadn’t officially started yet, that was the viewership number.

And that was only on one channel, so when you factor in viewers across other platforms, it would likely be in the hundreds of thousands.

“Definitely a big match.”

To prove that excitement, the chat window was also on fire.

• DGDGDGDGDGDG
• When is Rainbow coming out?
• Breaking news) Rainbow is not the starter, breaking news) Rainbow is not the starter, breaking news) Rainbow is not the starter…
• Ignore the trolls
• Really looking forward to this
• SY is going to destroy
• Haha, next time you’ll get cut by a level 29
• Who’s going to win? SCV obviously. Are we still talking about washed-up SY? Haha

I casually checked the community to see more of this heated atmosphere.

• Why hasn’t it started yet?
• Really, hurry up and get started
• SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!SY!
• Stop spamming, trolls
• SCV will win, haha

────────
Official poll) SY vs SCV
────────

────────
The legendary Red Cup champion team SY will win > Upvote

No way, SY, who lost to GameMaster4148 and the rest, will be beaten by SCV. Downvote
────────

• This is a joke, haha
• Haha, how could SY lose to a team that got cut by GameMaster4148?
• Haha, so many people underestimate SY. They were clearly just having fun, yet SCV players throw the game regularly.
• Seriously, SY is not playing poorly. They are going to destroy SCV.

“Cough! Cough! Ack!”

I choked.

I hadn’t expected GameMaster4148 to pop up at this moment.

“The atmosphere is intense.”

It had been a relatively quiet off-season recently, so I had forgotten, but this was the usual state of the community.

Various fandoms mixing together, creating an atmosphere that felt like an inferno.

And yet, despite all that, it was still strangely magnetic to peek into.

[ NEXT GAME ]
[ SY vs SCV ]
[ 01:13 ]

While scrolling through the community posts, I realized the opening ceremony was almost upon us.

…Why was I so nervous?

[ 00:01 ]

With a strange sense of nervousness,
the opening ceremony finally began.

The opening video was a flashy production, featuring each team’s representative players as the main characters.

The content was about them fighting for the throne… something like that.

Although I’m not able to describe it well, it was quite an impressive video.

“Truly a master’s craft.”

After the opening video, brief interviews with the players followed.

[“It’s been… honestly a bit tough. Our results didn’t come out as expected, and I even considered retirement. That’s why I worked even harder. You can expect a lot from me.”]

[“I think I just worked hard. Honestly, our team did better than expected last season, right? So, I worked really hard so that we wouldn’t disappoint our fans.”]

[“The new guy? He’s a little unique, but he’s such a skilled player, so we didn’t face any real problems. You can look forward to him.”]

.

.

.

[“People say… SCV will never win. They will always be second. I want to break that stereotype.”]

“Last words? I don’t have anything particular to say… but I will do my best. After all, the championship is ours.”

With Rainbow’s interview, the video came to an end.

“……”

In the past, I never thought much when watching such interviews.

I simply thought they were just routine interviews.

But for some reason, now, it felt different.

Thump, thump─

‘Why is this happening? Is it arrhythmia?’

My heart was pounding as if something had broken inside.

If this had happened in the past, I would have seriously thought about heading to the emergency room, but now I knew this pounding wasn’t due to any health issue.

‘I want to be a pro.’

This desire was no longer just a dream, but something I wanted to reach out and grab.

Today’s matches are as follows:

Game 1: SY vs SCV
Game 2: MYE vs BOQ

Based on last year’s results, the first match of the opening game was between top-tier teams, and the second match was between mid-to-high tier teams.

It was expected to be a close and thrilling competition.

[“Hello, I am the caster for League of Legends Champions Korea Spring, Jin Joong-han.”]
[“Hello. I am the analyst, Madman, Kim Park-sa.”]
[“Hello. I am the analyst, Im Kang-san.”]

[“Finally, the League of Legends Champions Korea opening ceremony has begun. How do you both see today’s match? First, let’s hear from Madman, Kim Park-sa.”]
[“As many fans are expecting, it’s going to be a close match. But if we had to pick a slight favorite, it would be SY.”]
[“Yes, that’s right. How about you, analyst Im Kang-san?”]
[“I mostly agree, but there is one variable: Recently, there have been rumors about Rainbow’s team schedule, so the result is hard to predict. And SCV isn’t an easy team to beat! They reached the semifinals of the Red Cup and were runners-up in the league! Those aren’t easily won results.”]
[“It seems we’re in for a breath-taking showdown! Now, let’s get into the ban-pick phase!”]

The grand opening screen passed, and the real ban-pick phase began.

[SY vs SCV]

The ban-pick for the first match was as follows:

[SY / SCV]
Top: Viego / Renekton
Jungle: Xin Zhao / Diana
Mid: Akali / Ryze
AD Carry: Ezreal / Aphelios
Support: Leona / Braum

Both teams seemed to have a fairly balanced composition.

However, the fact that Akali had been heavily nerfed in the current version made her harder to handle than before, which was a potential variable.

And then…

[“This is too much, SCV! If you’re this far ahead, shouldn’t you at least give us a fight?!”]
[“Ah… this is… ah!”]

SY lost.
The commentators sighed as the result was one-sided.

As is typical for losing teams, there were multiple reasons, but the main cause was the early-game 3-level fight near the top crab, where they were decisively beaten.

After the early defeat, SY tried to keep up with SCV, but SCV was a team famous for its stability and tight snowballing.
Naturally, they didn’t let go of their lead, and the game proceeded smoothly for SCV to claim the win.

[“SCV defeats their rival SY and takes the first set!”]
[“You could really feel how much they were grinding for this victory in the players’ performances!”]
[“But don’t forget, the opponent is SY. The king of the throne won’t fall so easily!”]

Short ads with brief preparation time passed, and the second match began.

The first match of the opening ceremony went into a fierce battle from the start.
It became a nail-biting contest, going all the way to a third game.

Finally, the first match of the opening ceremony ended.

[“Ah… this is the result?”]
[“It was a breath-taking battle. Especially SCV’s Blackdog and Whitecat duo’s play will be talked about for a long time.”]

The result was 1:2.
SCV won.

Some might say it was a shocking loss, but in reality, such results are very possible in a match between two top-tier teams during the season.

SCV played well, and SY was slightly lacking.
That was all.

However, even so, I felt some strange discomfort throughout the game.

‘This isn’t the usual Rainbow.’

It wasn’t that they played poorly.
They could have done better.

Even so, when Rainbow, who was the team’s center, faltered, SY lost.
That meant SCV was indeed a formidable opponent.

‘…Could it be because of me?’

If that’s the case, is it because of Prisoner, or because of GameMaster4148, who I had encountered recently?

When Prisoner disappeared, there had been rumors about Rainbow not attending the team schedule, and I had been somewhat worried about it…

‘Ugh, my head.’

It was a problem that these unnecessary memories came back.

That day’s dark past… I still feel it even when I’m sleeping, tossing and turning in my blanket.

Well… anyway, whatever the reason, I did feel a strange sense of responsibility.

Whether it was my fault or not.

For a professional gamer, the first match of the season, the first game, is all important.
This match could determine the direction of future games.

Of course, by principle, I couldn’t blame myself for this loss, but human conscience doesn’t always draw clear lines.

“…”

With these complicated thoughts, I blankly stared at the monitor, and then the next match announcement popped up.

[ NEXT GAME ]
[ MYE vs BOQ ]
[ 28:42 ]

The second match was also quite interesting, but I turned off the official League of Legends channel.
It wasn’t the right time to be watching a tournament.

‘Level up, become a pro.’

Although this had been my goal all along, I felt it become even stronger starting today.

I opened League of Legends.

‘First, let’s hit Challenger.’

A week later,
an unknown all-position user appeared in the Diamond tier.