[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 226

Ryu Jin-hyuk’s expression stiffened for a moment, but then he casually said, “Nah, there’s no way.”

“Right?”

A perfectly reasonable exchange of opinions.

However, the doubts in both of their heads still lingered.

“But seriously, didn’t you hear anything? You were close to Prisoner, after all.”

At that, Ryu Jin-hyuk’s expression hardened again.

He still remembered.

The day Prisoner disappeared.

[Prisoner: Hello, Rainbow.]

[Prisoner: I have something to say.]

On the historic day when Prisoner hit 2000 points, Rainbow celebrated it with pure admiration and awe.

The very first 2000 points…

It was something Rainbow himself had never achieved, but his long-time friend Prisoner had done it.

Of course, that celebration didn’t last very long.

It was due to Prisoner’s mysterious words following that.

[Prisoner: Um… I think it might be a bit difficult for me to play games going forward.]

[SY Rainbow: Huh?]

[Prisoner: It was fun while it lasted hehe.]

[SY Rainbow: What do you mean… Is something wrong?]

[Prisoner: Personal issues.]

[Prisoner: Ah, I think I need to go now. Take care!]

An unexpected announcement.

And then Prisoner vanished.

That was all Ryu Jin-hyuk knew.

But it was also the only farewell Prisoner left in this world.

Only, a farewell meant for himself alone.

Ryu Jin-hyuk felt a strange sense of responsibility for that farewell, so he had never spoken about Prisoner anywhere.

And that was still the case.

“Well, I don’t know.”

“Didn’t you even tell your brother? I thought you knew something…”

Park Yoon-ki’s suspicion was valid.

The fact was that after Prisoner went missing, Ryu Jin-hyuk seemed mentally distressed enough to even take a vacation.

Could one get that shocked just because Prisoner deleted his account?

Not many would readily agree with that opinion.

“Well, if you say so, then I guess it is.”

But Park Yoon-ki didn’t ask more.

If Ryu Jin-hyuk didn’t want to talk, there must be a reason for it.

It was a consistent trust.

“…If you find out anything, let me know. But why did you suddenly say Prisoner might be Outlaw?”

“Just because he’s really good.”

If he wanted to, he could have come up with other reasons, like some sort of style or position being similar, but the main reason was just that.

He’s way too good.

It’s hard to believe there are two players of Prisoner’s caliber in the world, so the thought that the missing Prisoner might have come back as Outlaw wasn’t far-fetched.

“…That’s true.”

Ryu Jin-hyuk agreed with that opinion.

Outlaw is just that good.

To the point it’s hard to comprehend.

It’s not weird for Park Yoon-ki to suspect Outlaw of being Prisoner at all.

“Oh, by the way, do you know?”

Maybe feeling that continuing this topic was a bit awkward, Park Yoon-ki skillfully changed the subject.

“What about?”

“I saw somewhere that in a popularity poll, you lost to Outlaw.”

“……”

Ryu Jin-hyuk was momentarily at a loss for words.

*

After the end of the match against SY, which could be seen as OLZ’s first match loss since its founding, team members might have blamed each other or felt disheartened, but instead, they worked even harder in practice.

[“Can you cover mid?”]

[“On my way!”]

If we should say it helped, the results of their scrims afterward were excellent.

3:0.

2:0.

3:0.

.

.

.

2:1.

3:1.

Until now, they had faced countless set losses, but in a week of scrims, the sets lost could be counted on one hand.

“Ah, I shouldn’t have done that here.”

“Too bad.”

The atmosphere within the team was also very good.

Even though they hadn’t considered personality much when choosing team members, seeing this atmosphere, I felt quite lucky.

‘But… if we kept losing, this wouldn’t be the reaction.’

The morale of a team that has faced losing streaks is typically low, and conflicts arise among team members.

YSG, which I had previously been part of, was like that, and so were many other lower-tier teams.

But we had been on a winning streak, and meeting the gigantic mountain called SY was just a brief stutter along the way.

The defeat against SY ended up boosting our fighting spirit.

Not only that.

“Oh, you’ve gained quite a lot of points?”

Baek Seong-an’s score had now exceeded 750 Grandmaster points.

The current Challenger cutoff was about 800 points, so he would reach Challenger soon if he kept it up.

No matter how much people say solo rank scores of pro gamers don’t mean much, solo rank points are still one of the best indicators of a pro gamer’s current form.

Official casters don’t choose it as a crucial basis for nothing.

On the other hand, the lowest tier score in the team belonged to Kim Jae-min…

“Why are you going in there!”

Hadn’t it been long since he got promoted to Master? He was eagerly bouncing back and forth between Master and Dia 1.

At least one difference from before is that his time in Master was a bit longer than before.

In that sense, Kim Jae-min was rather good in team games.

In team games, Kim Ji-hoon was seemingly holding the reins tight on Kim Jae-min, so he couldn’t play recklessly like in solo rank.

It was strange to see Baek Seong-an, who played more team-oriented games than anyone, and the two who played more individually, have their solo rank scores go in opposite directions…

“Great job, everyone. Let’s wrap it up for today and focus on personal practice.”

“Sure!”

Little by little, the season preparation was coming together.

There was only about a week left until the official start of the season.

It was truly the time to put forth our best efforts in preparation.

‘Then I too…’

It was time to start personal practice.

Even as a pro, I shouldn’t neglect solo rank.

Researching new meta picks, OP champions, and champion interactions often happens in solo rank.

‘Should I stream? …Nah, it feels a bit off.’

I thought about streaming once more before the official season started, but today didn’t seem like the day for it.

‘Hmm.’

As I pondered whether or not to stream, suddenly a queue popped up.

The fateful dice of destiny decided today was not a day for streaming.

+

[Game found!]

[Accept / Reject]

+

Accept, of course.

+

───────────────

FFF Ogre has joined the lobby.

RoastedPotatoTasty has joined the lobby.

OLZ Outlaw has joined the lobby.

BLH Shotgun has joined the lobby.

BLH Tool has joined the lobby.

───────────────

+

Familiar nicknames popped up.

Some of them were even familiar faces from scrims not long ago.

‘What a coincidence.’

Back in the day, I’d remember every single gamer in the top league, but I surely wouldn’t remember those in the second league. But since our team is currently in the second league, I couldn’t help but recognize them.

‘Top laner from the first-place team in the second league BLH, and FFF’s top laner from the second place.’

What a peculiar meeting.

‘It’s quieter than I expected.’

Maybe because most were current pros, not much was being said in the chat.

‘Well.’

After all, there have been times when a pro gamer messes up while chatting and ends up facing controversy or severe penalties, so it’s beneficial for them not to engage in unnecessary chatting.

Our team was in the lower lane.

So, we were first pick.

And…

Finally, the ban/pick phase was completed.

+

[Our team / Opponent team]

Top: Jax / Gwen

Jungle: K’Sante / Graves

Mid: Katarina / Irelia

Bot: Jhin / Ezreal

Support: Jerastu / Blitzcrank

+

At long last, all ban/picks were finalized,

[Please select your champion!]

[Please select your skin!]

The loading was officially starting.

‘…Huh?’

Where is the world’s strongest team?

When someone asks that, the team most often pointed to at this time is GRS.

Just not long ago, in the international tournament MSL, they had almost completely crushed the Korean team SCV that had defeated SY.

So who is the best mid-jungle at this time?

The reason I’m thinking such unnecessary things right now is simple.

+

───────────────

Jungler’s Slave – Gwen

MaBing777 – Graves

qq7785dd55 – Irelia

BotLordJin – Ezreal

YSG YYYSSS – Blitzcrank

───────────────

+

The world’s best.

Currently rated as GRS’s mid-jungle duo was now right in front of my eyes.