[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 169

Feedback was brief.

The game itself was so short that it warranted a surrender, and the atmosphere was pretty bleak too.

[“Everyone, let’s fight.”]

The third scrim was about to start. Once again, we swapped sides, and we were first pick.

[“What should we ban?”]


[“Let’s change the pattern up a bit for the third one. We need to see how the opponent responds. Yeon-woo, you can ban whatever you want.”]

Basically, it meant letting the opponent’s picks through on purpose.

[“…Can I really do that?”]


[“Yeah.”]


[“Okay, then I’ll ban what I want.”]

There was a strange excitement in Seo Yeon-woo’s voice, probably because she had been given full authority over the ban by Baek Seong-an.

And…….

Finally, the bans were completed.

[Malphite]


[Graves]


[Aatrox]

Seo Yeon-woo’s intention for the bans was clear. She wanted to say don’t pick some mediocre champion and let’s see what happens for real.

Especially since the opposing top laner was currently Dia 1, there was even more reason for this.

‘Well… No matter how much they’re both Dia 1, it’s a whole different ball game than Kim Jae-min.’

There’s a massive difference between a current professional gamer being Dia 1 and an amateur just about to go pro also being Dia 1.

Each of them approaches solo queue differently.

Of course, it doesn’t mean professional gamers’ solo queuing isn’t important, but there’s a certain relative weight to it.

‘Well, that aside……’

The important part was the opponent’s bans.

[Ruler]


[Yuumi]


[Morgana]

The opponent had banned three supporters. It seemed that the results from the previous match were shocking enough to warrant that.

[“Hmm, what should we pick?”]


[“Since they banned a lot of supporters, I think it’s best to grab a supporter first.”]


“I agree.”

I could see Kim Jae-min’s shoulders twitching at Baek Seong-an’s words. Since I was two seats away, Baek Seong-an and Kim Ji-hoon must have noticed it too.

[“So… what should we take for supporter? Ji-hoon.”]

In response to Baek Seong-an’s question, the usually timid Kim Ji-hoon spoke up.

[“I don’t mind whatever.”]

Well, that’s helpful.

“I think we should take Lucian since he’s paired with Nami and is available. We can always switch him to top or mid if it comes down to it.”

Of course, sending Lucian to a lane other than ADC isn’t seen as great in the current meta, but still, there’s a clear difference between just not being able to send him and being able to send him somewhere.

[“Hmm… not bad, but let’s just grab mid first. Give them Twisted Fate.”]

The current ban situation was that the opponent had banned three supporters. Given that, it seemed reasonable to pick Lucian.

No matter what anyone says, in the current meta, the Lucian-Nami combo is on par with OP, and even if we lose Nami, using Lucian alone wouldn’t be bad.

Still, Baek Seong-an’s reaction suggested he didn’t want to hand over ADC champions to our ADC, ShowMeTheAgal Kim Jae-min.

‘Well, picking Twisted Fate first isn’t bad, but… it’s a bit too blatant.’

Kim Jae-min also seemed to sense Baek Seong-an’s intentions and quietly lowered his head.

[“…”]

In all matters, especially in Legends of League, it’s said that the guilty usually have nothing to say.

And…….

Finally, the ban-pick was completed.

+

[Allied / Opponent]


Top: Fiora / Sett


Jungle: Viego / Lee Sin


Mid: Twisted Fate / LeBlanc


ADC: Lux / Lucian


Support: Soraka / Nami

+

Unlike the previous game, even though picks like Miss Fortune and Jhin were available for ADC this time, we still couldn’t use an ADC champion in bot.

‘In this composition… If a combo lands from Lucian and Nami, one person is done for.’

Nevertheless, Baek Seong-an was stubborn. It felt like this scrim itself meant more than just the results of a scrim.

‘Well, I feel the same way.’

I didn’t so much as try to dissuade Baek Seong-an; quite the opposite, I supported his statements.

Baek Seong-an had taken on the role of the villain while holding the position of a playing coach, and I respected him for it.

‘But that’s not important right now.’

I examined the structure of the game. The concept for this game could be seen as somewhat similar to the previous match, though the key difference lay in the strengths of the composition leaning toward more organized play.

The first game was about team fights.


The second game was about lane phase.


The third game was about execution.

This formation was an excellent test for our team.

-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!

The game began.

*

There were several reasons why BOQ accepted the scrim against OLZ.

The first reason was the desire to directly experience and see the team that the infamous Outlaw was forming.

Outlaw was arguably the most talked-about figure in all the issues in the current Legends of League.

Even Rainbow, for all her fame, seemed to shrink in relevance compared to Outlaw, to the point where there was no need to explain the extent of her influence.

It was a sort of curiosity.

The second reason was that BOQ, who had advanced to the playoffs and was about to play a match soon, intended to use OLZ as a sacrificial lamb to boost their confidence.

It might be a bit cruel for OLZ, but in professional matches where important stakes were involved, it was common practice to intentionally select a relatively weak team for scrims to build up confidence.

Of course, from the perspective of a weak team like OLZ, scrimming against a stronger team provided its own benefits.

However…….

It didn’t take long for them to realize that such calculations had failed.

“These guys are no joke.”

Someone said. There were no responses, but everyone agreed.

So far, the first scrim had gone reasonably well. Ultimately, they lost due to the last team fight, but they had successfully shaken the opponent operationally.

As long as they didn’t make mistakes, they thought they could easily win again.

All the BOQ players laughed as they entered the second game.

And they felt it. The first game was just a taste, and the true strength of OLZ would reveal itself from the second game onward.

Facing the overwhelming strength of the top jungle with their three-supporter composition was unbearable.

What does it matter if the bot lane has double or triple CS advantage? The top jungle and mid had already been completely crushed.

The same approach continued into the third scrim. Despite having poured all their resources into banning supporters, the opponent still managed to respond with non-ADC champions.

The problem didn’t stop there.

[“Watch the top! Twisted Fate is missing.”]

Even while Getback was still active, BOQ had not performed well in their match history against him.

Getback’s playstyle was quite similar to BOQ’s, meaning their tactics didn’t work, especially since the players Getback was teamed up with at the time were considerably stronger than BOQ’s.

In other words, players of the same caliber don’t surpass each other.

But what about now? Is OLZ weaker than BOQ?

The BOQ players couldn’t bring themselves to agree to that.

Sure, mid and bot may be acceptable, but they couldn’t withstand the overwhelming top jungle destruction.

[“This top jungle composition has no answer.”]

Looking at the champions, this composition shouldn’t be at a disadvantage early on.

But still, BOQ’s top jungle kept losing to their opposing top jungle.

The difference in power was overwhelming.

It felt like meeting EZ and Prisoner as opponents in solo queue.

Thinking back to how hard it was back then was enough to make one jump out of bed.

[“Ah.”]

With someone’s sigh,

-Allied has been slain!

The news of their impending defeat rang across the battlefield.

*

[Victory]

They won again.

It was an easier game than the first and slightly harder than the second.

“……”

As he looked at the spear that seemed to arise as if it were a matter of course, Kim Jae-min had many thoughts.

Who were they up against? BOQ is a team that has confidently reached the playoffs in the top tier league of Legends of League in the country.

That is to say, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they rank among the top ten teams in the world.

For such a team to be defeated by a newly formed team, one that hadn’t even conducted proper team game practice, in a scrim was a remarkable feat.

‘…Really, we won.’

While Kim Jae-min still found it hard to believe reality, he had to accept it.

He was, after all, just a burden in this absurd team.

‘Am I… the burden?’

He couldn’t bring himself to accept that.

No, he wouldn’t acknowledge it.

His pride as an ADC built over time, the belief that he was a good ADC was shaking.

But now he had to accept it.

‘…It’s not over yet.’

He had to receive recognition.

He had to prove himself.

To do that… he had to climb the ranks.

‘Can I do it alone?’

Most metas were like this, but especially in the current meta, the ADC couldn’t be the main character.

In other words, grinding up solo queue points as an ADC was more difficult than usual.

So, what should he do?

How could he boost his solo queue rank?

In truth, he already knew the answer from the start.

He just couldn’t bring himself to do it because of fear.

“Um…”

Kim Jae-min hesitantly looked at Kim Ji-hoon sitting next to him, trying to hide the tremor in his voice.

Kim Ji-hoon’s expression seemed rather innocent.

But the fierce muscle armor, completely contradictory to that expression, emanated pressure like a weapon.

Under the feeling of being chased by a ferocious beast, Kim Jae-min stuttered his trembling lips.

“C-could you… possibly….”

“What is it?”

The voice was filled with annoyance.

Scary.

So very scary.

But he had to.

“Would you… if it’s not too much trouble… could you duo with me?”

The weak prince faced his fear.