Chapter 28: I’m anxious…

YunGi slowly raised his head.

At the end of his gaze, the last person he wanted to see at this moment was looking at him.

SY Rainbow.

Ryu Jin-hyeok.

To Park YunGi, Ryu Jin-hyeok was both the most trustworthy partner and, at times, a difficult older brother.

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh? No, nothing.”

Park YunGi almost reflexively closed the game result screen.

Anyway, the solo rank results were something teammates would often search for when bored, so even if he couldn’t hide it, he didn’t want to be caught seeing it right now.

To YunGi, Ryu Jin-hyeok was always a difficult person to face.

It wasn’t because Ryu Jin-hyeok, like a typical “young old man,” would put age or authority over him.

Rather, Ryu Jin-hyeok always tried to make things comfortable for YunGi and the team, and actually got along with the other teammates without any barriers.

That didn’t mean his personality was odd or that they weren’t close.

In fact, despite the two-year age difference, YunGi and Ryu Jin-hyeok often spoke casually to each other and were comfortable together.

Objectively and subjectively, Ryu Jin-hyeok was a respectable pro gamer, a reliable teammate, and also a great older brother.

However, despite all of this, YunGi instinctively found Ryu Jin-hyeok difficult to face.

Whenever YunGi saw him, he instinctively shrank back like a puppy in front of a lion.

“Do you want to duo if you have nothing to do?”

“Duo?”

Ironically, the first thought that came to YunGi’s mind was, “What if we end up facing each other as opponents?”

It wasn’t because he was afraid of losing.

He was afraid of showing a pathetic side of himself in front of Ryu Jin-hyeok—that was what terrified him.

‘Prisoner was his first match today.’

YunGi knew that Prisoner’s number of games per day was limited.

So, if it was his first match of the day, the chance of matching with him again was high.

In other words, due to the nature of high-tier games, if he duoed with Ryu Jin-hyeok, the chances of facing Prisoner as an opponent would be extremely high.

YunGi didn’t answer.

Ryu Jin-hyeok had a high opinion of Prisoner.

The thought of showing any weakness to Prisoner in front of Ryu Jin-hyeok was something YunGi didn’t even want to imagine.

“Ah.”

Perhaps noticing YunGi’s uneasy expression, or maybe already having the idea in mind, Ryu Jin-hyeok added one more thing.

“I don’t mean we should take it seriously, just a casual bot duo. The scrims were tough today.”

As he said, today’s scrims were anything but ordinary.

Even though they ended with an undefeated record, there were several long games over 50 minutes.

“Bot duo?”

This wasn’t the first time YunGi and Ryu Jin-hyeok had played bot duo together.

In fact, it could be considered something they’d done quite a few times.

“Yeah.”

Playing in a different position than their main roles always lightened the mood.

Moreover, if it was a mid-jungle duo, it wasn’t a duo that felt too out of place even if they went with an ADC-support duo.

Although their understanding of the bottom lane might be a little lacking, there were definitely aspects where they performed better than the usual bottom duo.

However…

It was a duo invitation that Ryu Jin-hyeok would usually welcome, but today, he didn’t want to.

“…No, I’m a bit tired today. I’ll head out now.”

“Really? Alright.”

Ryu Jin-hyeok nodded without any particular questioning.

This straightforward personality was one of the reasons the team members liked Ryu Jin-hyeok.

‘Hmm.’

Ryu Jin-hyeok returned to his seat and casually searched Park YunGi’s match history.

From his reaction earlier, it seemed like something that happened in the previous solo rank match was influencing him.

[Match history search]

-SY YunGi.

‘Huh??’

-Defeat.

Having searched YunGi’s match history so many times before, Ryu Jin-hyeok couldn’t help but be surprised.

The jungler’s nickname, who had led YunGi to a loss just a moment ago, was incredibly familiar.

‘…Prisoner.’

He never expected this username to show up here…

In truth, it wasn’t a strange occurrence.

Who was YunGi?

He was the jungler who performed brilliantly in the recent Red Cup and won the championship, earning the title of one of the top junglers.

Even in solo queue, a jungler who could push YunGi to defeat was certainly one of the top players in the world.

Ryu Jin-hyeok naturally considered Prisoner to be one of those top-tier players as well.

Others might dismiss him as just an amateur, but Ryu Jin-hyeok always held Prisoner in high regard.

‘As expected…’

Ryu Jin-hyeok logged into his main account after a long time and checked his friend list.

[Prisoner]
Searching for a game…

As expected, Prisoner was online.

Ryu Jin-hyeok hadn’t spoken to Prisoner recently.

They used to exchange greetings regularly, but since the last time they spoke, things had somehow become awkward.

‘What should I do?’

Ryu Jin-hyeok pondered.

He had many thoughts running through his mind.

‘Should I message him?’

What should he say?

Just a simple greeting?

The apology he wanted to say last time?

Or maybe…

…Yeah, I’ll do that.’

His deliberation didn’t take long.

While waiting for the queue, he browsed through the community.

It was such a natural part of his routine.

Breaking News
Red Cup Champion YunGi’s Recent Status.jpg

Did I finally gain superpowers?
Just by reading the title, I can already see the content.

[SY YunGi]
Solo queue
2 minutes ago
Defeat
15 minutes 14 seconds
Karthus
1/8/2
0.38:1 rating

‘Foundational’ Teacher Huang ‘Prisoner’ taught me a lesson ᄏᄏᄏ

When I clicked on the post, what appeared was a screenshot of YunGi’s match history, along with a mocking sentence.

The comments were even more absurd.

• Soon, there will be a post for the upcoming Gold Cup.
• Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!
• Is this… the Red Cup champion?
• Ah ᄏᄏ You can’t do anything about being taught by Teacher Huang ‘Prisoner.’
• Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!
• The spammer must be a Rainbow fan.
• See? I told you YunGi got carried by Rainbow.
• What are you talking about, you fool? Can you even be the MVP among the Red Cup junglers?
• Your turn next, whining Rainbow fan.
  No, I’m not ^^
• Do you see him furiously tapping the keyboard? The truth is, YunGi, who used to boast, is actually just a bus rider who gets trashed by amateurs, right?
• Fact) YunGi recorded the highest MVP points among the Red Cup junglers.
• Fact) All the junglers who competed in the Red Cup declared that they felt like they were hitting a wall when facing YunGi.
• Fact: YunGi is a bus rider.

The community is great, but the problem is when these types of people cross the line.
Well, I guess that’s what makes it fun…
Of course, not all the comments were fights.
Though they were less frequent, there were definitely compliments about me.

• Skip the haters, but seriously, it’s a shame Prisoner couldn’t go pro. Winning 1st place every season like this, doesn’t that show some fundamental power?
• Honestly, I really wish I could see him play in a tournament.
• Huang ‘Prisoner’! King ‘Prisoner’! God ‘Prisoner’!
• But Prisoner’s gameplay is something that you can really learn from by watching his replays. Unlike other pros, he doesn’t just rely on physical skills to play.
• These days, that’s not the case though. His form is insane now.
• That’s because of his ability.
• Even with rare diseases, Prisoner still regularly ranks 1st… while our LoL players…
• What rank?
• Bronze 3.

I was absentmindedly looking at the comments when, before I knew it, the game was found.

[Game found!]

[Accept / Decline]

Of course, I accepted.

3-Minute Top Guild Honorable Member has joined the lobby.

SY Longbow has joined the lobby.

MAX WooChan has joined the lobby.

[Someone] has joined the lobby.

Prisoner has joined the lobby.

‘Hmm.’

Well, this isn’t a good start.

Things are tangled up.

‘Two AD carries and two top laners.’

I looked at my teammates.

First, SY Longbow.

As you can tell from the ID, they are an AD carry.

A Red Cup-winning AD carry.

It seems like I’m seeing a lot of SY players today, so their schedule might have just ended.

I also checked the history of Barcode, and they’re an AD carry.

Currently, they’re playing support.

At least it was fortunate that both AD carries were going to the bot lane.

‘I run into this person pretty often.’

The Barcode ID itself was hard to distinguish, but checking their history, I realized I had played with them quite a few times.

It wasn’t unusual, as this tier is mostly filled with regulars.

‘And the remaining one…?’

MAX WooChan.

This person also seemed to be someone I ran into quite often lately, and, as expected, they were a top laner.

[MAX WooChan: Top, can I go top?]

This was a familiar sight.

Well, there was no need to worry.

I was very familiar with the lane control of top lane players.

‘Of course, I’ll decline—’

[3-Minute Top Guild Honorable Member: Yes]

…?

What’s this sudden turn of events?

I immediately sent a private message to 3-Minute Top Guild Honorable Member.

[Me: You?]

[3-Minute Top Guild Honorable Member: Showing jungle duo ᄀ]

[Me: Is that correct??]

[3-Minute Top Guild Honorable Member: Oh, what do you take me for? I’ll show you mid Karma.]

Hmm… This feels a little uneasy.