Chapter 17: VLL preliminary (4)

“So, I’ll end the stream here for today. Thank you everyone for watching.”

[Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go]

[Bye~]

[Bye Bye Bye]

[I’m cold… I’m cold…]

[Are you going to stream the matches tomorrow too?]

{ᄋᄋ donated 1,000 won} So, is the streamer going to keep participating in VLL?

“Yes, probably.”

VLL was a week-long tournament, with all matches up to the finals taking place.

And Han Byeo-ri said it would take at least a month to fully recover, so I told her I would play until the end, regardless of how far the team went.

[Let’s go for the win~]

[LOL It’s possible to win]

[LOLOL MianJuk is also there, they’ll probably lose because of the mid difference]

[That MianJuk got destroyed in solo queue and reached rank 1 though LOL]

[If you’re going to troll, at least check the match history LOL]

“Stop fighting, and I’ll turn on the stream an hour before the match tomorrow. Good work, everyone.”

I pressed the end stream button and took a deep breath, leaving the disappointed viewers behind.

‘…It’s been a while since I played a team game.’

The afterglow of the game I just played still lingered.

Even though it was a hastily formed team, I could once again feel the difference between team games and solo queue.

‘It’s tiring, though.’

I felt my body stiffening up, maybe because I was more focused than usual.

It’s said that women are more flexible than men, but this body, although it looked soft, creaked quite a bit sometimes.

“Ugh…”

I stretched and felt a pleasant stiffness.

Since I had started, I stretched my whole body lightly and threw myself onto the bed.

After enjoying the pleasant feeling of exhaustion, I was about to play solo queue again when.

“Who is it?”

A message came from an unknown number.

I only had my parents’ and Han Byeo-ri’s numbers saved on my phone, so I wondered who it could be.

Another message came.

[Did you not save my number?]

[Who are you?]

[Choi Eun-seo!]

Ah, it was the girl who talked to me at school.

She made a fuss about exchanging numbers before we parted, so I gave her my number.

I didn’t expect her to contact me the very next day.

[You were really good in the preliminaries today?]

[You were watching?]

[I always watch your stream?]

[?]

I didn’t think much of it when my dad said he watched my clips on YouTube.

But it felt strange to know that someone I knew, even if not very well, was watching my stream.

Honestly, it was a little embarrassing.

[So why did you contact me?]

[Just? I wanted to say you did well in the match]

‘She’s strange.’

In my past life, I was obsessed with LOL, so I didn’t have any friends.

So in this life, I thought I had made some decent friendships.

[But the Ryze pick, was it prepared in advance? Or was it on the spot?]

[I picked him as a counter to Sylas]

[Wow… your champion pool is amazing]

But I didn’t make any friends to talk about LOL with.

It felt strange to be talking about games with a girl.

[See you at school on Monday, good luck with tomorrow’s match! ( )·3·)]

That was the last message I received.

I wondered if that last emoticon was meant to be a cheer or a taunt in a boxing stance.

As I lay in bed thinking about it, my eyes started to close.

****

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are now witnessing how far one mid laner can carry a game.”

“Para is truly amazing!”

“The World Championship held in Korea, the culmination of a year’s work. With all Korean teams eliminated, no one expected ARK to make it to the finals, and they’re showing us why.”

“I think most of the viewers watching through the official LCK channel are probably hoping for ARK to win. But NK is really strong.”

“That’s right. They’re just one step away from the Golden Road in LPL history. And they’re being pushed to the edge, 2-2, against such a team!”

[They made it to game 5 LOL]

[LOL is a mid-diff game]

[But the fact is, if Para didn’t throw game 2, they would have won already]

[LOL]

[But didn’t he carry games 1 and 4?]

[LOL Without Para, they wouldn’t have even made it to Worlds]

[Go watch the quarterfinals LOL He carried the team by roaming alone when both top and bot were getting destroyed]

“In game 5, it’s time for the other teammates to step up.”

“That’s right. They’ve been relying too much on Para in their drafts.”

“Para did carry in game 4, but there were several mistakes. They need to relieve some of the burden.”

“ARK’s bot duo needs to carry at least once. They have to show up now that they’ve come this far.”

“Ah… Jhin. They’re going with the strategy of locking down the bot lane once again.”

“If Maokai comes out in the top lane, the mid laner’s shoulders will be too heavy.”

[Wow, Yone mid]

[Isn’t this the patch where Yone got nerfed?]

[He’s picking nerfed Yone in game 5 LOL]

[Hold my hand, Para! Hold my hand, Para! Hold my hand, Para!]

[One to cut, and the other to seal… One to cut, and the other to seal…]

[Para is good at all the flashy champions, but he’s really good at Yone]

“Para declared. I will carry.”

“But this patch version nerfed both Lethal Tempo and Yone. I wonder at what point his carry potential will come out.”

“Ah… the last flame of the LCK is slowly dying out.”

“Para needs to focus! He might be burdened by having to carry, but he has to endure it now that they’ve come this far!”

[LOL He’s throwing like a loser]

[It’s just a legendary performance to throw as soon as it’s game 5]

[I told you? He can never win, there’s a reason why he’s the eternal runner-up LOL]

[The King of Runners-up, Para~ The King of Runners-up, Para~ The King of Runners-up, Para~]

“NK, they’ve really come prepared.”

“They pulled out Poppy, which was hidden until the end, against Yone and played it perfectly.”

[But it’s too much to pick Poppy into mid]

[They thought they would pick K’Sante as a counter, but they first-picked it, so they must have picked Poppy for mid thinking Yone would come out]

[They just got out-drafted]

[If you’re going to be scared, just pick Jhin for ADC and Yone for mid LOL Even my cat knows that LOL]

“Ah… a solo kill.”

“He was too hasty, Para. He tried to dive without calculating Poppy’s W cooldown and gave up a kill.”

[Noob! Noob! Noob!]

[He’s broken down]

[They wouldn’t have made it to the finals without Para in the first place]

[Honestly, it would have been more fun if FDG or GK were here]

[It’s a stretch to say it’s just for fun, how many purely fun moments have there been in game 5]

[That’s true LOL How many highlight clips did they make today]

[There will probably be 20 more clips of the loser’s horror show after game 5]

“Baron! Baron! Baron!”

“They should just take it and leave, ARK! They need to win the smite fight here… ah, a steal…”

“NK gets the ace following the Baron steal.”

“But Jhin will revive in 20 seconds.”

“Para, you really have to do it one last time! You have to do it!”

[If they can hold until Jhin revives, he can clear the lanes with his full items]

[But it’s Baron?]

[Do you think 980 AP Jhin is a joke LOL]

[He’ll probably hit around 1200 when he revives because of Gathering Storm and Absolute Focus]

[He has Rapid Firecannon, so he can hold on]

[Please just hold on once, I won’t make fun of you for being a runner-up anymore, please]

“They have to cut off the ADC first. That’s the only way they have a chance.”

“Para is stacking his Q… Fate Sealed!”

“Oh my god, Regular? He reacted to the Q-flash!”

“Ah… Yone is going back, but if he gets hit by that CC, there’s no way to go back. He just dies on the spot.”

[GG]

[GG]

[Sigh, I shouldn’t have watched this game of a loser]

[They made it this far, give them a round of applause;;]

[Are you a simp LOL If you lose, you should just get flamed]

****

How long has it been since I had a dream about my past life?

Even though I knew it was a dream, it was a disturbing memory.

“”

||

I bowed my head and looked at my hand.

It was a fair, slender hand without a blemish.

I made a fist and felt a familiar sensation.

Why did my mechanics improve after I became a girl?

Why did I even become a girl in the first place?

I had been 고민 about these things for a long time, but they weren’t important to me now.

What I desired was.

‘To win.’

From domestic leagues to international tournaments, I was burning with a desire to win every single one of them in this life.

To do that, I needed to take it one step at a time.

‘For now.’

Win VLL.

Even if it was an event tournament, and even if I entered as a substitute.

As long as I was participating in the tournament, I had no intention of giving up the win.