[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 160

Our team doesn’t have enough manpower to run internal scrims separately.

It was only natural since we were a new team with even the ADC position vacant from the start.

Due to that situation, we had to find practice opponents through Getback’s personal contacts and the Legends of League internal war channel.

To be honest, I couldn’t expect much in terms of quality from our practice partners, but since there were sometimes challengers and above among them, it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

After all, our current goal wasn’t to gauge the opponents’ skill but to assess our own team’s performance.

[Getback: Found them. Two masters, two grandmasters, one challenger, and the two masters are free rank challengers.]

[Me: That sounds good enough. Let’s go right away.]

The free rank challengers aren’t exactly impressive, and in practice, they aren’t that great, but having players with a ranked tier of master or above means they have a decent understanding of team play, so it wasn’t a bad deal.

‘The urgent one is us.’

Of course, from their perspective, they probably just came to play a team game, but from our perspective, they were doing us a favor as practice partners, so we were grateful.

[Getback: I’ve opened the room.]

[Me: Okay.]

+

[Allies]────────────


3 Min Top School Honorary Member – Challenger


Outlaw – Challenger


Returned Getback – Master


ShowMeTheAgal – Diamond 1


Timid Person 190 – Challenger


───────────────

[Enemies]────────────


IIIIIlllIlIIIII – Grandmaster


DiaorDai – Challenger


Master of Je-do Kim – Challenger


Let’s Go There – Challenger


Chansik Chansik Chansik – Grandmaster


───────────────

+

At first glance, the opponents’ ranks seem higher, but in reality, it’s just inflated due to free rank challengers.

‘That said, there are quite a few usernames that seem a bit familiar…’

Well, I might’ve seen them somewhere.

It’s not strange if I met Outlaw a few times while playing on his new account.

[DiaorDai: Whoa.]


[DiaorDai: Is it really you, Outlaw?]


[Outlaw: Ah, yeah.]


[DiaorDai: Whoa.]


[DiaorDai: I’m a fan.]


[DiaorDai: Can I ask for a lesson?]


[Outlaw: Hehe, right back at you.]


[Master of Je-do Kim: Whoa, it’s the real deal! ㄷㄷㄷ]


[Master of Je-do Kim: By the way, are you that Getback who was a pro mid laner?]


[Returned Getback: Yes, that’s me.]


[Master of Je-do Kim: Whoa;;]


[Master of Je-do Kim: ㄷㄷㄷ]

After what felt like an unwitting fan meeting, the game finally started.

[Returned Getback: Let’s begin.]

*

After a series of twists and turns, the ban/pick phase began.

Our allies were on the lower team.

That means we had first pick.

‘Hmm, their mid-jungle is master’s.’

The mid-jungle is the critical lane often called the first option in a game. Having a relatively lower tier in such a lane was a clear sign of how this game would swing.

[Me: Let’s try a ban/pick that focuses on bottom lane.]

[Getback: Confirmed.]

Since this was just a test game, once the mid-jungle became the focus, we wouldn’t want to waste them.

And so, the ban/pick phase came to an end.

+

[Allies / Enemies]


Top: Malphite / Jason


Jungle: Aivern / Elise


Mid: Janna / Orianna


ADC: Lucian / Vayne


Support: Nami / Leona

+

The jungle champion was intentionally chosen to have as little killing power as possible. I planned to keep it moderate, but I couldn’t help but aim for kills, so I restricted myself with the pick.

‘Aivern, it’s been a while.’

Once, when his champion tier was high, I used to play him quite often, but to be honest, he wasn’t a champion I frequently played.

Not just me, but most junglers probably felt the same way.

‘Lucian and Nami make a 1-tier combo in the current meta. Since I got a Lucian, who is my most played, I couldn’t have asked for a better setup.’

You could say the ADC had a nearly perfect opportunity to shine.

Of course, since there are champions like Jason or Orianna on the enemy team with comparatively long range, it might be hard for Lucian to do his thing, but that’s up to him.

‘And we also have Malphite.’

Champions like Jason or Orianna struggle against a forced initiation champion like Malphite.

-Welcome to the Summoner’s Rift!

The game officially started.

[❕] [❕] [❕]


[❗] [❗] [❗]

Due to Aivern’s nature, it’s great for engaging in risky early fights, but I decided to avoid any variables, including early invades.

That was for the sake of sticking to this test’s purpose.

Of course, no matter how noble the goal, a game is still a game. The essence doesn’t change.

[⨷] [⨷] [⨷]


[3 Min Top School Honorary Member (Malphite) has marked IIIIIlllIlIIIII (Jason)]


[“Top, top, top!”]

I’m not sure how exactly a Malphite without ultimate would ask for a gank, but after a few days of testing, I had grown accustomed to it, so I pinged back in response.

[⬇]


[Outlaw (Aivern) is on the way.]

One thing that had truly amazed me during these past few days of testing was how consistently 3 Min Top School Honorary Member hadn’t changed at all.

I mean, what’s wrong with consistently being the same?

But I remember my encounter with the 3 Min Top School Honorary Member.

His face was so delicate that it was hard to believe he was a dude, and he would blush and struggle to make eye contact, just like a younger sibling.

He wore this naïve and innocent expression, smiling like a child.

Given all that, I could hardly believe that the top enthusiast was the same person as Seo Yeon-woo.

‘……It’s true that Legends of League is a game that crushes humanity.’

Or perhaps that is just his nature.

Well… honestly, as long as the game goes well, I can’t complain.

[“When are you coming?”]


[“……I’m on my way.”]

Of course, I wasn’t really paying attention to his whining.

However, I intended to show myself on the top side to see how the bottom lane would adjust.

Well… whether he knew my intention or not, Malphite was diligently rolling around to react to the gank.

[“So close.”]

I traded my flash to burn Jason’s summoner, but honestly, it didn’t result in anything significant worth turning the jungler around.

‘What matters is the bottom lane.’

I turned my attention.

*

Six rounds of laning tests in total.

After a few days of mechanically repeating tests, the focus that had been in Timid Person 190 gradually slipped away.

To be exact, as I witnessed increasingly unfortunate sights during the tests, I eventually became so exhausted physically and mentally that my enthusiasm waned.

This guy is just the same.


Why’s he doing this here?


He’s doing poorly.


You want him to hold a lane? That’s a bit much.

In that sense, I felt that Timid Person 190, Kim Ji-hoon, was different from applicants I had seen up until now.

‘What’s going on?’


Have I finally found it?


…No?


Not that.


What the heck.

He seems to be good, but then he makes strange, nonsensical decisions.


I can’t figure out if he’s good or bad.

For Timid Person 190, who had stood in lanes with pro and amateur players at the Challenger level, it was quite unfamiliar.

‘Hmm.’

That’s why Kim Ji-hoon intended to take this opportunity to judge exactly what he saw.

He had already decided to become a professional gamer and had even signed the contract. The treatment, including the salary, wasn’t bad either.

So, more than ever, he was prepared to be serious.

Even if he didn’t show it on the outside, after all, becoming a professional gamer had always been his dream.

The official laning began.

To my surprise, it started smoothly.

Considering that the opponents’ ranks were relatively higher than ours, it would be fair to say they had basic laning sense.

‘It really confuses me.’

In the midst of that, Kim Ji-hoon instinctively looked for trading opportunities.

[⨷] [⨷]


[Timid Person 190 (Nami) has marked Chansik Chansik Chansik (Leona)]


[Timid Person 190 (Nami) has marked Chansik Chansik Chansik (Leona)]

Kim Ji-hoon knew the opposing support.

He had met them a few times in solo queue, where they had been opponents.

‘Not bad, but a pretty average support.’

That was the impression Kim Ji-hoon had of Chansik Chansik Chansik.

He maneuvered to bait Leona’s E skill with movement, predictively dodged it, and then continued a one-sided trade.

Thanks to that trade, the enemy was forced to back, and now our bot lane could shove the wave and go home.

But not everything went smoothly.

Due to his waning focus, Kim Ji-hoon accidentally last-hit a minion while pushing the wave.

‘Oh, that was a mistake.’

No words of apology came out.


The reason was simple.


Kim Ji-hoon was shy.


He was incredibly shy.

[“When are you coming?”]


[“……I’m on my way.”]


[“So close.”]

Maybe that’s why, until now, I mostly heard the voices of other teammates in voice chat.

Anyway, thanks to him, our lane gained a significant advantage, so nobody would fuss over a single minion mistake.


Moreover, weren’t the opponents not pros, but test applicants?

That’s why Kim Ji-hoon didn’t worry much.

Yeah, until that youthful voice broke through voice chat.

[“Why did you eat that!”]

Whose voice was that?


I didn’t recognize it.


That left only one person who could’ve said that.

Kim Ji-hoon genuinely thought.


……What’s up with this guy?