[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 380

Drip, drip.

Cola spat from my mouth dripped down Ryu Jin-hyuk’s face.

“…….”

“Sorry, sorry!”

Seeing this, Yoo Sang-hyun couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Ha ha! This is hilarious, ugh…….”

I couldn’t just punch him in the face…

Thanks to that, the situation turned into complete chaos in an instant.

“Damn, that’s hilarious. Haha!”

Along with Yoo Sang-hyun, even Kim Jae-min, with a touch of beer, found something to laugh about.

I felt like I was going crazy.

“Ugh… sniff…”

“Uh… is it okay?”

“……I guess.”

Now, people were either trying to stifle their laughter or wearing serious expressions.

“Use this to wipe it off!”

In a hurry, I grabbed the napkin nearby and handed it to Ryu Jin-hyuk.

“…Thanks.”

“Sorry, sorry!”

Ryu Jin-hyuk, wiping his face with the napkin, stood up.

“Be right back, need to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh! Okay! Take your time!”

Even after Ryu Jin-hyuk left, Yoo Sang-hyun and Kim Jae-min couldn’t contain their laughter.

“Haha! That was genuinely hilarious!”

“Sis, why did you just spray that? It’s so funny, hehe.”

…These guys are impossible.

I glanced at Baek Seong-an, who was wearing a serious expression beside me.

“Did I really mess up bad?”

“Only just realizing that now?”

“…….”

Baek Seong-an grinned wickedly as he spoke.

“Rainbow fans might come terrorize our team.”

“……I’ll take responsibility and retire.”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea. Just find a jungler before you go.”

“Hm. There’s no jungler as good as me, so I guess I can’t. I’ll retract my retirement.”

“Tough break.”

While I was momentarily lost in thought, I overheard BlackDog and Kim Ji-hoon chatting naturally.

“Protein, you not drinking?”

“Alcohol causes muscle loss.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

BlackDog hesitantly took a sip of beer, then with a thoughtful look said,

“By the way… if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your workout routine? I’ve started exercising lately, but it’s not easy.”

“I used to train pretty systematically, but these days I just go with what I feel like each day within a broad framework.”

“Oh… so which is better, aerobic or anaerobic exercise? I feel like strength training would be good for building muscle.”

“Building muscle is important, but performance in exercises is equally vital. Personally, I think aerobic is better. Since we’re pro gamers, stamina is essential.”

“Oh, I see.”

Maybe it was because they were both in the bottom duo.

Or maybe they just thought they should try to connect through their silence.

Surprisingly, BlackDog and Kim Ji-hoon seemed to get along quite well.

…Looking at them made me feel like a lone outsider.

Of course, I did have my forever outsider comrade, Seo Yeon-woo, but unfortunately, it seemed she was seriously upset and wasn’t throwing glances my way.

“……”

That little rascal.

While feeling a strange sense of isolation and sipping only cola, Ryu Jin-hyuk returned from the bathroom.

“Hey, I’m back!”

Yoo Sang-hyun, oblivious, continued to laugh when Ryu Jin-hyuk returned.

It was only natural for Kim Jae-min to laugh along.

“Sorry, sorry……”

“It’s fine. Mistakes happen.”

Even though he said that, the water still dripping from his face was hard to ignore, but I forced my lips shut.

Right now, there was absolutely nothing to say.

“So, what’s your relationship with Prisoner again?”

As soon as Ryu Jin-hyuk returned, Yoo Sang-hyun jumped right back into that topic.

I was hoping he’d skip it, but it didn’t seem like Yoo Sang-hyun had any intention of moving on.

“……We’re not involved at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Really really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Eh, I don’t believe that….”

Yoo Sang-hyun kept shooting suspicious looks at me, so Ryu Jin-hyuk intervened.

“Knock it off, Sang-hyun.”

“Still, I feel like there’s some sort of relationship… like a hidden disciple or something, right?”

“Enough.”

With Ryu Jin-hyuk’s firm tone, Yoo Sang-hyun finally quieted down.

“Still, your play style is quite similar, and you seem similar to Prisoner in many ways…”

Taking the opportunity, I spoke up.

“That’s because I learned by watching Prisoner’s replays before. I’m not a disciple, but you could say it’s somewhat similar.”

“Oh, I see… I guess Prisoner was pretty famous. That makes sense…”

It was a persuasive story, and since I had mentioned similar things during my personal streams before, it didn’t seem that unusual.

Even if it were a lie.

I couldn’t tell if Yoo Sang-hyun believed me or not, but at least it was enough to get me out of this situation.

“So, what was your old ID? With someone like Outlaw, I figured you’d have run into him in solo queue quite a bit.”

“……It was just a barcode nickname, so you probably won’t remember.”

“Hmm, was there a jungle player with a good barcode? I can’t recall.”

Yoo Sang-hyun said.

“So what’s your nickname now?”

“I deleted it.”

“Eh? Why?”

There had to be an obvious yet plausible reason.

“……I used to curse a lot.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s kind of a given.”

I knew it too.

Each lie I threw out now would eventually become an entrapment.

But I couldn’t help it.

That was the life I had chosen.

Soon enough, the gathering began to wind down.

Considering there was a schedule for tomorrow, everyone was showing a level of restraint.

“Haha!”

“Seriously, that’s what happened?”

…Except for Yoo Sang-hyun and Kim Jae-min, of course.

‘Hmm.’

In the end, we didn’t discuss much about the real purpose of tonight’s gathering—the upcoming 5v5 match against China—but that was something we could practice for once we returned to the dorm.

Instead, we bonded with the players from the All-Star Event, so I thought that was good enough.

“Alright, shall we head out? We need to practice a bit for the 5v5 match tomorrow.”

“Sure, let’s go.”

“Is it really okay? I think GuineaPig might be a bit tipsy…”

Ryu Jin-hyuk replied firmly,

“He’s not tipsy. He’s just acting that way.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

From what I could see, it was hard to believe, but since Ryu Jin-hyuk knew Yoo Sang-hyun better than anyone else as a teammate, I had nothing to argue.

“Thanks for your hard work, everyone. See you later.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ryu Jin-hyuk said.

“Tomorrow.”

Clearly, so I could hear it in my ear.

“Let’s win, guys.”

“Uh? Oh, yes, yes!”

With that parting remark, we went our separate ways.

The day was still not over.

*

The scrim results were not bad.

2 wins, 0 losses.

Although these were results against European and North American teams, given how the matches went, the upcoming 5v5 match against China looked promising.

[“Thank you for your hard work.”]

[“You too.”]

As Ryu Jin-hyuk said, was it merely a worry? The bottom lane’s form looked excellent.

The reason we were able to win relatively easily in practice scrims was thanks to quickly rolling the snowball based on bottom lane dominance.

“…….”

On the top side, they picked a tank, so there wasn’t much communication in this game.

Or maybe Seo Yeon-woo was intentionally avoiding communication.

“Good job, Yeon-woo.”

“…Yeah.”

Seo Yeon-woo said that and went back to her room to prepare for some rest.

Since we were all busy with tomorrow’s schedule, I didn’t push things further.

What a child, still pouting…

Being a petty person myself, I decided it’d be best to just leave her alone for now.

Most human problems tend to resolve after a night’s sleep.

‘So, the day is ending.’

While Seo Yeon-woo and I practiced, the other team members were off doing their own errands.

Baek Seong-an and Kim Jae-min were wandering about, and Kim Ji-hoon was excited about a CrossFit gym he had his eye on.

‘Then… should I take it easy today?’

Another day passes by.

*

It was the second day of the All-Star Event.

The schedule for Day 2 looks like this.

[Day 2]


– 1v1 Tournament Round of 16 – 10 AM


– Two-person Heart Unity Game – 11:30 AM


– 1v1 Tournament Quarterfinals – 1 PM


– LCKR (Korea) vs LPLO (China) 5v5 match – 2:30 PM


– 5v5 Match – 3:30 PM

I, for one, was going to be very busy today.

Well, that’s because I planned to participate in all the events happening today.

Sure, if I got eliminated in the Round of 16 of the 1v1 Tournament, I wouldn’t make it to the Quarterfinals, but I wasn’t thinking of getting eliminated.

Today, I intended to become the star of the All-Star Event.

“Yujin, are you ready yet?”

“I’m all set. Let’s go.”

It’s about to begin.