Chapter 38: By any chance, what’s your tier?

…It’s freezing.

Park Junsu shivered as he stepped out of his rented studio apartment, trying to brace against the cold.

This was supposed to be the season to leisurely enjoy winter break.

Even if “enjoy” meant locking himself in a PC cafe and grinding ranked games, that would still be far better than dragging himself to school in this freezing weather.

And yet, here he was, out early in the morning and heading to school.

The reason? That cursed winter semester.

Even though he had fortified himself with plenty of alcohol the night before, the biting cold made him feel like winter break existed for a reason.

…If I’d known it would come to this, I would’ve been more diligent about attendance. His seniors had assured him that the professor didn’t care much about taking attendance.

They hadn’t been wrong.

The professor was, in fact, known for being lax about attendance, and for the most part, that held true.

It was just bad luck.

Apparently, only three students had shown up that day, and the professor, fed up, marked everyone who was absent as unexcused. That single blow sent Park Junsu, who was already teetering on the edge, straight into F territory.

“Sigh.”

Who could he blame?

It was all his own doing.

‘After lunch, I’ll have a two-hour break. Might as well kill time at a PC cafe.’

Typically, students only take one or two courses during the winter semester to catch up. Not Park Junsu.

His academic record was such a mess that his list of required make-up courses could form a mountain.

It felt more like this was his real semester.

Sigh.

As Junsu sighed and prepared to leave the classroom, someone called out.

“Hey, you have a break now too, right?”

In the barren winter semester, where familiar faces were few, it was surprising to have someone initiate a conversation.

It was his classmate, Kim Suhyun.

Suhyun was an active and sociable figure both within and outside their department. While his energy made it odd for him to be taking winter courses, Junsu didn’t pry.

Maybe he’s aiming for early graduation.

“Yeah.”

“Perfect. I’ve got an assignment to do, but let’s grab lunch and hit a PC cafe afterward.”

“Sure.”

There was no reason to refuse, nor any need to. Junsu agreed without much thought.

Originally, he’d planned to head back to his apartment and squeeze in a couple of quick ranked matches. But a PC cafe wasn’t a bad alternative.

More importantly, his apartment was freezing because he’d turned off all the heating. Warming it up for just two hours seemed like a waste of money.

That wasn’t the only reason, though.

‘At least I won’t need to stop by the convenience store today.’

Even in an age where eating and drinking alone is common, dining solo near a college campus isn’t easy.

“What do you want to eat?” Suhyun asked.

“Anything’s fine.”

“If you say ‘anything’ one more time, we’re getting tteokbokki.”

That was dangerous.

It wasn’t that Junsu hated tteokbokki, but as a lunch option, it felt… lacking somehow.

It was hard to put into words, but it just didn’t sit right.

“How about dak-galbi? The lunch special.”

A nearby franchise offered a dak-galbi fried rice lunch set for 8,000 won per person. Adding ramen or udon noodles made it a hearty meal, which appealed to Junsu.

“Over there.”

After a satisfying lunch, Junsu and Suhyun headed toward the PC cafe.

“…Wait a sec,” Suhyun said abruptly.

“Huh? What’s up?”

Suhyun stopped and entered a cafe they had just passed.

Since they’d agreed to order coffee at the PC cafe, it seemed Suhyun had spotted someone he knew.

Junsu hesitated about whether to follow but stopped when he caught a glimpse of a face reflected in the cafe’s window.

‘…Yuri Lee?’

Had she run off earlier and ended up here?

Yuri Lee was quite famous within and beyond their department.

Her outgoing personality played a part, but it was mostly due to her striking appearance that turned heads wherever she went.

Rumor had it her mother was a well-known news anchor.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that more than half the male students in their department had a crush on Yuri Lee.

A few had even mustered the courage to confess, only to fail and retreat to the military shortly after.

Even Junsu, who was usually indifferent to campus life, couldn’t help but be aware of Yuri’s whereabouts.

‘How long will this take?’

In the end, Junsu stepped into the cafe.

He kept a reasonable distance, not wanting to get too close.

Yuri was with someone.

‘Huh?’

The moment he saw the woman next to Yuri, Junsu felt like reality had slipped away.

“What…?”

What did I just see?

Silky silver hair peeked out from beneath a baseball cap.

Rosy cheeks flushed with warmth.

Her features weren’t just exotic—they were better described as mystical.

She wasn’t simply beautiful.

There was something about her that transcended that plain word, an indescribable air of mystery that surrounded her.

Even more surprising was that this girl, who looked no older than a high schooler, was Yuri Lee’s older sister.

“Unnie.”

“…What?”

“Should we go too?”

While I was standing there, stunned, I somehow found myself heading to the PC cafe with them.

Although we sat next to each other, there was an unspoken distance that made it hard to call us a group.

Naturally, since we weren’t going to play games together, I stuck to my original plan and launched League of Legends.

As I focused on my game, a soft, melodic voice reached my ears.

“You shouldn’t head to bot lane right now.”

…?

What did I just hear?

“…Was I imagining it?”

At first, I thought I had misheard.

But the more I replayed it in my mind, the more I realized it wasn’t just a hallucination.

‘What was that?’

I couldn’t concentrate on the game.

It felt as though my brain was overloaded, unable to process the excessive input of information.

Already at a disadvantage in the game, my team couldn’t recover as I, the core mid-laner, lost focus.

[Defeat]

And with that, we lost.

‘Huh?’

After the game ended, I glanced to my left.

It wasn’t deliberate—I just happened to stretch and catch sight of her.

‘Esports articles? League of Legends?’

My confusion deepened.

Based on the clues I had, it seemed plausible that the person who gave the advice earlier was Yuri Lee’s older sister.

Even though it sounded absurd, I couldn’t shake the suspicion.

“…Do you watch League of Legends tournaments?”

“Huh?”

Unable to contain myself, I blurted out a question.

Even though it was a casual inquiry, my heart pounded as if it were about to explode.

“Oh, sometimes.”

And then silence.

I mustered some courage.

“You don’t seem to play games much, do you?”

“Oh, I do, but not right now.”

“What kind of games do you usually play?”

“Well… a bit of this and that.”

Even though I tried to clarify my doubts through conversation, my thoughts only became more tangled.

‘What’s going on?’

From the information I had, it seemed certain that Yuri Lee’s older sister was the one giving advice earlier.

But how could someone like her, giving advice about League of Legends, be addressing someone like me, a Diamond 4 player?

I couldn’t reconcile the image.

‘I can’t leave it like this. I need to find out.’

The method was simple.

I just had to act clueless and ask for advice in an obvious way.

“I wish someone would tell me what to pick…”

Honestly, it was an embarrassing move.

As I sat there, cringing at myself, a voice responded unexpectedly.

“Sylas might be a good choice.”

“What?”

“I saw in a tournament that players often pick Sylas in situations like this. Or am I wrong?”

The voice belonged to her.

“…Now that you mention it, I think you’re right.”

And the game began.

“Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.”

As if some kind of restraint had been lifted, Yuri Lee’s older sister began casually making remarks, as though letting out what she had held back.

It wasn’t directed at me, more like muttered thoughts.

“You should recall right now… and don’t hold back your ult.”

At first, I wondered why I was even listening to this.

But as the game progressed and situations became more complex, I found myself following her advice without question.

“The top laner just recalled. If you roam bot now, you’ll get backup from the top teleport and win for sure.”

“The enemy jungler just went back. If you start dragon now, it’s a free take… Ah, but our jungler just recalled too.”

When she said to recall, I recalled. When she said to roam, I roamed.

“Steal Sett’s ultimate and dive in with it. Pull aggro with Jhin, and you can turn the fight around.”

“They don’t have vision on Baron right now. If you rush it, you can take it.”

If she said to steal a specific champion’s ultimate, I did. If she said to burst Baron, I followed.

[Victory]

And we won.

It was an effortless win.

‘What just happened?’

I sat there, dumbfounded.

Was League of Legends always this easy?

It wasn’t like we had particularly good team synergy.

Our top laner got solo-killed twice, and the bot lane suffered heavy losses in most 2v2 skirmishes.

Yet, as I carefully followed the magical voice that resonated in my ears, we somehow won the game.

‘Is it even possible to be this insightful just from watching tournaments?’

This wasn’t some low-tier gameplay—it was Diamond.

A rank that sits atop countless tiers like Silver, Gold, and Platinum, and represents the top 1% of players according to statistics.

Yet, this person, who didn’t even look remotely interested in gaming, displayed judgment and perception far beyond the ordinary.

Park Junsu couldn’t contain his bubbling curiosity.

…

“Uh… by any chance, what’s your tier?”

Park Junsu knew better than anyone how inappropriate it was to ask someone their rank upon first meeting them, and how rude it might seem.

But his curiosity was unbearable.

“It’s a secret.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said, it’s a secret.”

As she spoke those words with a light smile, Park Junsu felt his heart stop for the first time in his life.

‘Now I can die without regrets.’

But before he could ascend to heaven, her voice yanked him back to reality.

“What are you doing?”

“…Huh?”

“You’re not queuing up.”

That day, Park Junsu ranked up to Diamond 3.

And he was late for his supplementary class.

“Ughhh.”

Stretching deeply, I stepped out of the PC cafe with my younger sibling.

Their friend and the male classmate had already left before us.

I heard they were late for their supplementary class… I felt a little bad for holding them up for so long.

In the end, I didn’t get to play a single game at the PC cafe, but I had indulged in something else entirely, so I didn’t feel too regretful.

‘Games are always something I can come back to later.’

Of course, whether I’d get the chance to come back or not was an entirely separate matter.

‘Come to think of it, I never even caught their names.’

I realized I hadn’t exchanged even basic introductions with them, having only given unsolicited advice. They probably didn’t leave with the best impression of me.

As we walked home, my sibling looked at me and asked,

“Did you have fun?”

The question sounded like something you’d ask a child, but for some reason, I answered with innocent enthusiasm.

“Yeah.”