Chapter 37: Preliminary Test (2)

[This turn, we have to defend!]

[WQ, they can’t end a year’s worth of farming, a year’s worth of results, in the qualifiers!?]

[But RG, they coolly push the opponent and advance]

[They’re strong as expected. The devil of the qualifiers, their 3rd consecutive year of making it to Worlds!]

[And with that, the Nexus is destroyed, GG~]

The match was a one-sided victory for RG.

WQ was pushed back from the picks and bans and lost 3 sets in a row.

‘Did they just use the draft that our team used?’

The draft RG prepared today was to force the opponent to pick an immobile ADC and pick a high-value AD champion in the mid lane to aim for teamfights.

It was a strategy our team often used in scrims.

But there was one problem with this composition.

‘The mid lane has to at least go even for it to be a good strategy.’

I expected it to be difficult because WQ was a strong top-side team, but RG split the jungle from the start.

And they used the bans not used on the ADC on the mid lane to develop the early game.

“It was 3-0, but it was still fun.”

“Yeah, WQ did well until the end.”

It was a 3-0 score, but all 3 sets were long games that went over 50 minutes.

If WQ had taken even one game, they could have tried to turn the atmosphere around.

It was a match that would leave the defeated players with a sense of regret.

“Are you going to watch the interview until the end?”

“I don’t mind.”

“Then let’s watch it!”

After the match, as the interview time approached, the audience seats began to empty.

There were still some people in the RG seats and the center seats, but the WQ seats were empty.

And after a while, the RG players and the announcer walked to the center of the arena.

[Let’s have an interview with the RG players who took the 4th seed spot in the LCK World Championship qualifiers!]

The applause of the fans echoed through the arena.

“My neck hurts from sitting for so long.”

After watching the interview, Choi Eun-seo stretched her neck by turning it widely.

“Our seats were in the back, so it’s okay, if we sat in the front, our necks would be completely gone.”

Due to the nature of the arena where the screen showing the match was attached to the ceiling, if you sat in the front seats, you had to keep your neck up for hours.

I had a few chances to sit in the front seats in my past life, and it wasn’t a good memory.

“Is that so? Anyway, I had a lot of fun today, thank you.”

“Yeah, then see you at school.”

“You’ve been skipping a lot lately. At least come.”

“It’s not that I’m skipping, I’m just leaving early.”

“I know that, but I’m not in the same class, so if you leave early during the 1st or 2nd period, I can’t see you.”

That’s true.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen Choi Eun-seo at school lately.

‘Because she usually leaves before lunch.’

“Then on Monday, let’s eat lunch together for the first time in a while.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, since it’s right before the match, I’ll have scrims in the evening, so if I go early, everyone will be sleeping.”

After making that promise, I sent Choi Eun-seo off to the driver? bodyguard? who came to pick her up.

I knew she was rich, but it was surprising that she had a personal driver.

“It’s finally today.”

Inside the practice room, the coach tapped the whiteboard on the opposite side of the seats where the desktops were placed.

“Our opponent is TH, their specialty is the carry potential of their mid laner, whose floor and ceiling are distinct, as I always say.”

Various draft plans and plays were written on the whiteboard.

“If it were other CK teams, it would be hard to beat TH, because those teams can’t stop the opposing jungler’s ability to develop the game.”

The coach said that and pointed to the section where our team members’ nicknames were written.

“But we’re different, Seo-ha will at least go even in the mid lane. If it’s manageable, she’ll win. Then of course, we can easily take the game plan.”

The strategy against TH was, simply put, to win the laning phase in the mid lane and have a big teamfight.

The opponent’s ace was the mid laner, and we had something to say about the other lanes.

If I just won the laning phase, it was a game we could easily take.

“And bot.”

“”Yes.””

The bot duo answered simultaneously with confident voices.

“We might do a support-focused ADC as a joker pick for one game, so keep that in mind.”

“Huh? A support-focused ADC in this meta?”

“The opponent’s bot lane is a weakness, so if we win from the laning phase, the game will be easy.”

Actually, that was said for the sake of the bot duo.

Given the high floor of our bot duo, it would be easier to give them something that’s a bit lacking in performance but easy to play in the laning phase.

“Then let’s get going.”

Following the coach, everyone got into the car familiarly.

The car started to go out on the main road, not the usual route.

“If we go this way, is it LoL Park?”

“I’ve never been there.”

“You’re a pro, and you’ve never been to a live match?”

“There was no reason to go. I only watched from home and immediately entered as a trainee.”

“Me too.”

Usually, on the way to work, everyone would be fiddling with their phones, but today, everyone was excited like children going on a picnic.

When we arrived, we headed to the waiting room through the staff-only passage.

“Wow, it’s on a different level from the CK arena.”

“I wanted to sit on this sofa.”

“Me too.”

“It’s so soft.”

Everyone was surprised by the interior of LoL Park, which they were seeing for the first time.

It was true that the CK arena was a bit lacking.

‘And they probably wanted to come.’

The LoL Park waiting room was frequently featured in various content, including team documentaries.

Whether you’re a pro player or a fan, if you watch LCK, wouldn’t you want to come here at least once?

“I want to go outside the arena.”

“Right. Is our team booth set up now?”

“Wow, we have a team booth too?”

“Shall we go take a look?”

We arrived earlier than expected, and everyone was looking at their phones when Lee Yoo-chan’s words sparked their curiosity.

“If you want to go, go see, but quickly before people gather.”

The coach also thought it was okay to go for a while, so he allowed it.

Everyone ran out of the waiting room as if they had been waiting for those words.

“Aren’t you going?”

While I was thinking about the upcoming match, I heard a voice next to me and looked up.

As expected, the team’s captain, Kim Do-jin, seemed to be looking out for me.

After a moment of hesitation, I answered.

“Let’s go together.”

I thought I would look too unsociable if I refused when he was kind enough to talk to me, so I got up from my seat.

“Our team is at the end?”

“It’s because we’re the away team.”

The team booths were set up one at the entrance and one at the end.

Our team was the away team, so we were at the end.

As we walked towards the booth, Manager Seo, who was busy preparing, greeted us.

“What are you all doing here?”

“We came to take a look.”

“Our team even has a booth installed in LoL Park, I’m so moved.”

“You’ll have to install it every week starting next year anyway.”

“Is that so?”

At my words, Manager Seo nodded, saying that was true.

“Right, right.”

Suddenly, Manager Seo rummaged through the luggage she had brought as if she had remembered something.

“Take these and put them on.”

“These…?”

“Yeah, we need to promote our team even a little more.”

“But this is a bit…”

What Manager Seo handed us was tattoo stickers with our team logo on them.

The size was perfect for sticking on the cheek.

Everyone thought it was a bit too much, but since there was effort put into preparing them, we agreed that at least one person should do it.

“”Rock, paper, scissors!””

“Nice!”

We decided to choose one person through rock, paper, scissors.

And I was the winner.

Since it was a fair game of rock, paper, scissors, I had no choice but to look in the mirror and stick the sticker on.

‘…It’s not bad?’

It wasn’t as weird as I thought it would be.

It wasn’t just me who thought that, the team members also had similar reactions.

“It’s pretty?”

“It definitely suits you because you have good skin.”

“It would have been terrible if we put it on.”

“I agree.”

And after a while, we heard a staff member saying that we should prepare for entry.

We left the waiting room and headed to the area where we would prepare for entry.

‘Most of them look depressed.’

Since it was a space where both teams waited together, I could see the TH players who had arrived in advance.

I could see various emotions on their faces.

Anxiety about what to do if they lose and fall to the 2nd division.

Confidence that they will carry and win.

Anxiety about being wary of the 2nd division team.

Anger at themselves for falling to the promotion tournament.

Even frustration towards the 9th place team that didn’t choose our team.

I could see many things.

How long did we wait in silence.

[Then it’s time to meet today’s protagonists! The players!]

The dazzling lights, enough to hurt the eyes, shone on each player.

[Even though they fell to the promotion tournament, the CK slaughterer! TH, who succeeded in staying for 3 consecutive times!]

After introducing the team, the camera captured the TH players.

Since they had depressed expressions overall, the cheers of the audience were not very loud.

And our turn came.

[The team that caused a storm in CK! Undefeated set win! Many people are already calling them a team that has transcended CK!]

[That’s right. There are even reports that foreign media are paying attention to them. It’s Ark!]

The camera, which had been filming from the front, arrived at my turn.

Usually, the camera filmed for about 10 seconds and moved on, but on my turn, it didn’t move on immediately.

The person in charge of the camera was the same person from my past life, so I understood what was going on.

‘Do they want me to pose?’

But I didn’t have a signature pose in this life.

I had no choice but to choose the simplest one.