“Is that Para Sir?”
The young woman, likely in her early twenties, didn’t look much older than a college student.
“Yes, it’s me.”
“I’m such a big fan!”
Though not as high-energy as Choi Eunseo, she was quite enthusiastic. Upon reflection, female fans from my previous life attending meet-and-greets were generally like this.
“Would you mind taking a quick picture together? They’re only allowing autographs at the official fan meeting.”
Normally at fan meetings, you’d get both a photo and an autograph, but I hadn’t heard about this rule.
Maybe they’re limiting it because of the large crowd and time constraints today.
Since taking one picture doesn’t cost anything and isn’t particularly difficult, I gladly agreed.
“Could you look this way once?”
The woman turned on the selfie mode of her camera app and stood next to me.
“One, two, click.”
After checking the photo, she smiled happily and said:
“Wow… you really have such a small face without any editing.”
“Thank you. Are you planning to cheer for our team today?”
“Um…well…”
With handsome former professional players around, there likely wouldn’t be many female spectators here to support our team.
It probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there wouldn’t be any.
But asking is important, even when you already know the answer.
“I’m joking. But if you see our good plays, please cheer loudly?”
“Of course! That’s a given!”
“Then I hope you enjoy the event today.”
Esports differs from other sports in that players often have strong personal fanbases.
Sometimes fans only support one player within a team while showing little interest in the others.
However, to have a long career, a player needs to grow the fanbase that includes those with higher purchasing power.
This is where my strategy comes in:
“Keep cheering for those you already support, and develop some fondness for me.”
The next step is proving myself through skill.
No matter how much fans may admire a player’s appearance, they ultimately judge by performance.
“Um…could I take a picture too?”
Turning around, I saw a line forming with probably dozens of people.
Given that we have plenty of time until the event starts, it should be fine.
[LOL Gallery]
Title: Took a picture with Queen Seohwa?
(A photo featuring Yoon Seohwa, with the male’s face blurred out with emojis)
Went to the finals after mom and daughter invited me, saw Queen Seohwa, so I ran over to take a picture.
She’s really ridiculously pretty in person.
-Yup, her natural beauty shines through even in a rushed selfie.
-Hehe, her eyes!
-Queen Seohwa!
-Anyway, even if her ex-pro opponents are about to get destroyed, she’s still doing fan service.
-That’s what you narrow-minded people think, haha.
-By the way, the other four players are stepping up nicely too.
-Right, they wouldn’t have made it to the finals without skill.
[LOL Gallery]
Title: Should I not cross the line talking to Para?
(Picture of a business card from the large law firm “Dae Han”)
Came to the live event and saw an extremely attractive person.
I felt awkward but approached her to ask for contact info, and she said she’s married.
I was about to leave, disappointed, when I found out she’s actually Para’s mother who’s a lawyer at this prestigious firm.
She even handed me her business card.
-What about her made you try to hit on a married woman?
-Parah looks like he’ll grow up to look like that when older.
-Dae Han? Isn’t that the firm that recently won a big lawsuit in the U.S.?
-The place where new hires make 150 million won…
-They won’t get far if they keep sexually harassing people.
-As long as it’s not me, right?
[LOL Gallery]
Title: Real-time Para Photo Line lol
(A photo of a long queue forming behind Yoon Seohwa taking pictures)
Was taking a bathroom break picture, but the managers moved us aside because it was getting crowded, haha.
Isn’t he a middle schooler? He’s tirelessly taking individual pictures with everyone without showing any signs of fatigue.
-Meanwhile, it’s all women, lol.
-Ha, League of Legends guys will watch from home, lol.
-Which is more exciting: ordering chicken and watching the finals at home, or going there to meet Para?
-I kind of want to see Para in person.
-So intimidating that you can’t even talk to him in real life.
-His broadcast image is really cute, but seeing him in person is kind of scary and gives PTSD.
-He looks sharp like a cat.
[LOL Gallery]
Title: Is this Para’s autograph real?
(A photo of an autograph written in neat handwriting saying “para” with a small star drawn next to it)
Since I need to catch the last train, I can’t attend the official fan meeting, but I asked if he could give an autograph, and he did.
The autograph simply said “para” in English, that’s it, lol.
When I asked if that was it, he said it was really the end.
But the important part isn’t that.
He suddenly offered to draw a star for me and drew it immediately.
-More than ever, this kind of autograph has become valuable.
-The star is ridiculously cute.
-The handwriting is pretty too…
-The goat female middle schooler keeps producing good stories.
*
“Alright everyone, that’s enough for now.”
Just as we were in the middle of taking pictures, the staff came over to stop us.
Looking at the clock, it was already 4:30 PM, close to the time we should begin preparing for the match.
“Sorry everyone, but I’ll make sure to take pictures with all of you next time we meet.”
After bowing in greeting, I followed the staff’s directions to the waiting room.
Upon arriving at the waiting room, it seemed like I was the first to get there.
Checking our group chat, everyone else was getting held up by fans.
“Ah, that’s right.”
It had been so long since I’ve dealt with so many people that I had forgotten about mom.
After quickly sending a message, I received a prompt reply.
[Mom’s meeting dad to grab a quick coffee.]
[My apologies for being so busy.]
[Not at all~ Our daughter’s popular and looks cool!]
[We’ll come slowly since the match starts at 6.]
[Okay~]
After finishing the correspondence, I spaced out for a few minutes when the team members started arriving one by one.
“Arrived earlier than expected?”
The first to arrive was Shin Saengnim.
He mentioned once that he started playing as “Shin” because it reminded him of a champion he liked. They really do look alike.
But those clothes…
“Isn’t that…”
“Ah, these?”
The outfit Mr. Shin was wearing resembled a doctor’s attire.
To be precise, it was surgical scrubs in green.
Could it be…
“Is that a cosplay of the Surgeon Shin skin?”
“You’ve got a good eye! Isn’t it similar?”
Surgeon Shin.
It’s a budget-friendly skin known as “Jokbal Shin” among various pros who frequently use it in tournaments. Mr. Shin only uses this skin.
Yesterday, when he suddenly said to expect something in the group chat, this is what he meant.
He’s impressively action-oriented.
“Are everyone’s conditions… wait, what?”
The next person to walk in was Pressure.
He served as an LCK coach in the future, so I often met him. He looked almost exactly the same as back then.
“Hello everyone.”
“Today, I’ll show you a fun rebellion from the support.”
As well as the bot duo walking in simultaneously.
The entire team has gathered.
“Aren’t you guys supposed to, uh… what is that outfit?”
“Rest assured. It’s surgery without anesthesia.”
As Pressure asked his question, Shin Saengnim did a voice impression of “Shin” and made everyone burst into laughter.
He really does resemble it when he does that.
“Wow, but Miss Seohwa, you really are beautiful in person!”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, what bans do you think the opponents will throw at us today?”
This was our first meeting in this life, so I briefly exchanged greetings with the teammates.
They are fundamentally people who know how to draw the line and are extremely competitive individuals who appeared more interested in the finals than in me.
“Are we really going to see a full release of ‘Shin’ today?”
“Feels like the opponent might open it up and try to engage.”
“That’s true. I think there will be a mid-laning ban coming.”
“If they intend to open up and play with the bottom picks, it’s advantageous for us.”
As soon as they arrived, they were already talking about the game. Thinking about it, memories from my pro days came flooding back. Back then, we would always discuss the ban and pick process during the car rides to the arena.
“Since I can almost do champ select for everything, we can go with a mid-laning ban pick if you’d like.”
“Wouldn’t that be too tough on Miss Seohwa? After all, their mid-laner is an LCK champion.”
“Of course, I have no league championships to my name, so I could say I’m at a disadvantage in terms of career.”
But it’s hard to imagine the current me losing to a retired pro.
“Don’t you trust me? Even with a bad matchup, I’ll do my best to bring it at least halfway.”
“Pfft, who’s our team ace? Of course, we trust you.”
As we were deeply discussing the finals, the staff reminded us it was time to enter.
As we were preparing the equipment I brought from home at that moment,
“Oh right, I paid a ton for it and almost forgot about it.”
Mr. Shin quickly began searching through his luggage.
What he pulled out were five white hoodies.
“Check out our custom uniforms, what do you think?”
Looking closer, the words “Arts and Athletics” were lettered on the right chest.
Next to it were a soccer ball and baseball bat, a cute design that suited our team.
“Wow, boss has good style. This is better than the uniform I wore during Worlds.”
“Hey man, those Kimchi pancakes were extreme.”
“But Boss, are you going to wear this over it?”
“I’m just going to hang it on the chair. I might put it on during the post-game fan meeting.”
Mr. Shin handed out the uniforms he had brought to the team members.
Since none of us were particularly big, the oversized hoodies fit everyone well.
It was a bit long on me, but not excessively so.
“Alright everyone, let’s go.”
“Are you buying us meat if we win today?”
“The one who carries should buy.”
“I’ll show you support carries.”
‘Goal is Championship.’
No other outcome was needed.
