It was the day the number one spot in the regular season was finalized.
On a day I would usually have gone home, I was still in the dorm. After all, when the coach is going to talk about the qualifiers, you can’t just leave right away, can you?
“Most likely, our opponent will be th.”
The promotion and relegation tournament involves the 9th and 10th-place teams from the LCK and the 1st and 2nd-place teams from the CK. The format is a best-of-five series. The 9th-place LCK team selects one of the CK teams, while the 10th-place LCK team faces the remaining CK team.
Due to the CK playoff experience being generally limited, most 9th-place teams traditionally chose the 2nd-place CK team.
“So, ax will most likely avoid us, making th our automatic opponent.”
The coach mentioned that while ax might be tough, th is definitely beatable.
“True, this season, th has been overwhelmingly weak.”
This information came from following LCK while I was playing in CK. ax only narrowly missed making the playoffs, which landed them in the qualifiers. Conversely, th had disastrous point management, sealing their playoff elimination as early as the second round.
“But everyone, don’t let your guard down, okay?”
The coach addressed the entire team, especially the bot lane duo.
“The members of th have survived three straight promotion and relegation matches since last year. Even if their momentum is dampened, they’re still LCK veterans.”
“Aw, but we ended the regular season undefeated. We should be able to handle it.”
“Remember how bu was overconfident in the Spring qualifiers and got utterly crushed and relegated? Don’t forget that.”
The coach cut off Jin Yuseong’s comment sharply. Confidence is good, but disrespecting the opponent is never a good mindset.
“Are you confident?”
“Me?”
“I’m talking about the promotion series.”
I glanced over to see Kim Dojin talking to me, looking as serious as always.
“He’s been speaking to me more lately.”
It wasn’t in any romantic way; rather, it was like he was looking after someone. If I had to describe it, it was like a class monitor looking out for a somewhat isolated student in the class.
“Am I not getting along well with the team?”
When I thought about it, I did distance myself from the team, except during games.
“But I can’t go back to how it was in my previous life.”
To be honest, if someone got overly friendly with me because of my face, I would have no way to defend myself against confession attempts. Asking gamers—people who devote their entire lives to games—to distinguish love from liking can sometimes be akin to a crime, but that doesn’t make confessing itself criminal.
“But I can’t live like this forever either.”
Something had to change. I couldn’t keep doing this in an industry like esports, where transfers happen yearly and new people are constantly met.
“After the promotion series, I’ll have to rethink things.”
For now, the important thing was the promotion series. A best-of-five series could always include potential variables.
“Will the kids perform well?”
I thought our team was clearly better skilled, though. What we needed was unshaken mental focus.
“Wow, you’re already here.”
A Friday afternoon, after school ended. When I arrived at the café on time, Choi Eunseo gave a strange exclamation upon seeing me.
Is she into communities or something?
“You came early, didn’t you? Were you waiting long?”
“No! I just got here too!”
For sure, hanging out with the gamers everyday and then meeting Choi Eunseo for the first time in a while, made the energy a little hard to adjust to.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Are you buying?”
“I have money.”
“Really?”
Choi Eunseo pretended to deliberate, but then chose just a decaf Americano.
“Is there no syrup or artificial sugar in this?”
“Yes, it’s just an Americano, but syrup can be added if you’d like.”
“Then I’ll have it with nothing added, please.”
Every time I see Choi Eunseo, it seems like there are many foods she can’t eat. Naturally, I was curious about her story, but…
“She’ll tell it when she’s ready.”
Until then, I decided not to pry. Ignorance can sometimes be bliss.
“One decaf Americano and one chocolate frappuccino.”
When the drinks arrived, I took a sip of my chocolate frappuccino. The sweetness made my mood brighten instantly. We drank in silence for a bit, and Choi Eunseo stared at me with an odd look.
“What?”
“It’s just that you seem different when you’re in competition.”
“You watch my matches?”
“Of course!”
Come to think of it, it’s true, do I seem so different during games compared to normally? Teammates and the coach had remarked on it a few times, and fans at meet-and-greets also commented on it.
“Do I really seem that different?”
“Yeah, your eyes seem a bit redder and like you turn into a different person. Is it weird?”
“Originally, don’t most people just get serious during work?”
Truthfully, I don’t consciously pay attention to anything during games. I’m just more focused than usual.
“Is it strange?”
“Not at all! In fact, it makes you look cooler.”
“Then there’s no problem.”
I took another sip, answering her. This place has delicious chocolate chips.
“So, so, why did you call me today?”
Most meetings were usually initiated by Choi Eunseo calling me, but today was the other way around.
“Do you have anything going on the 5th of next month?”
“Next month?”
Choi Eunseo pulled out her mobile phone and confirmed the date.
“Saturday? I don’t have anything special.”
“Then do you want to go to the Riot Park?”
“Eh? Why there…oh!”
There are two events happening at the Riot Park next month in September: the World qualifiers and the promotion relegation matches. The match in the first week was…
“Let’s go watch the qualifiers!”
“Yeah, the coach got an invitation through connections with the rg coach. But apparently, no one is going.”
“I’ll go, I’ll go!”
As soon as I said we could go watch the match, Choi Eunseo grabbed my hand with a gleam in her eye. We chatted about various things, since we hadn’t met during the season.
“Anyway…”
“Hmm?”
“Is th going to be your opponent in the promotion series?”
“Why do you think that?”
“ax would never choose you.”
Indeed, Choi Eunseo, who diligently follows every LCK game, gave a sharp answer.
“It’s not confirmed yet, but likely.”
“Can you win?”
“Of course.”
“It’s obvious, right? After all, th had zero wins after the second round this season, and your team’s gameplay is far superior.”
Meeting after so long, just talking made for a surprisingly fulfilling day.
“Hello everyone.”
[Seo Ha~]
[Seo Ha~]
[At this point, we might as well change your nickname to Seo Ha.]
[Seo Ha~]
[No way, lol. I wouldn’t make you do that haha]
The first thing I did after coming home was turn on my stream. Since it’s mid-season, I haven’t been able to stream often, and I figured the viewers might be bored.
“Am I really a streamer now?”
Even though I internally make excuses, I keep turning on the stream whenever I have some free time. Isn’t this mindset what makes a true pro streamer?
Anyway, probably because it was the first time in a while, the atmosphere in the chat was rather friendly.
“Did everyone have a good day?”
[Oh thank God, I thought I was going to freeze to death if you didn’t stream today.]
[Same]
[What’s with the guy sitting next to me not moving?]
[🔥Turn on the heat]
[After a month, only to find my Highschool Challenger VLL champ, regular season undefeated MVP Seo Ha back…]
“So, after taking a rare day off, I figured I’d open the stream for you all.”
[Rewards?]
[Legit legend that 5,000 people are watching your first stream after a month.]
[If you’d streamed consistently, you’d’ve been at the top of female streamers by now.]
[What other streams would I watch when you have gaming, visuals, and great humor—just everything?]
[Obviously, since you didn’t stream, people watched other streams instead! 🔥🔥🔥🔥]
[True]
“If you all keep saying I didn’t stream, I might just decide to take a break.”
[Hell no!]
[Hell no, no, no!]
[No please don’t stop…]
[Just chill~ Watching stored superplays from ck while waiting is pretty good~]
[Wait, you watched all those useless games too?]
[True, I tried watching a few times but turned it off after seeing the terrible gameplay…]
[No, watch them after promotion, then you’ll understand.]
After managing the chat, things gradually settled, and I continued the communication stream as usual.
“How’s the pro life?”
[What exactly did you do to send ark to promotion when he used to struggle last season?]
[Playing games with cute girls must be tiring.]
[True, men get hyper-focused when they hear a woman’s voice while gaming.]
[? Isn’t Para the one who’s always carrying the team?]
[True, haha]
“It’s great. My teammates and other employees are all nice.”
…
…
…
“Alright, that’ll do for today’s stream. I’ll see everyone next time.”
[Ah]
[Please don’t go!]
[🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥]
[Aw man.]
[Okay then…]
[Looks like this clip is going to last us the next month…]
[Off to an illegal betting site to refresh then~]
“I’ll probably stream again after the promotion series. Everyone see you then.”
I ended the broadcast and, as usual, cannonballed into bed right behind my desktop. The routine has become automatic—whenever anything ends, I dive right in.
“Is this comfort enough?”
While idly scrolling on my mobile phone, I recalled something I mentioned earlier in the stream.
“Create a social media account.”
Even if viewers don’t expect frequent streams, they suggested I make an account to update people about my life. Since teams encourage personal social media once joining the top league, I judged it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start early.
“I should probably disable comments and messages.”
Since becoming pro, I’ve been putting my personal email on streams, but it’s been a flood of random photos and messages. Remembering the comment trolling I faced during a poor-performing stretch in my previous life…
“It’s better to just turn them off.”
“Account created.”
Wanting to post something, I took a quick selfie in bed and uploaded it. I added the social media profile link to the stream notice. That should be enough; they’ll find it themselves.
*
