[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 211

“Everyone worked hard.”

“Great job.”

The second match, just like the first one, had almost no feedback points.

“That was seriously so much fun.”

“I agree.”

Kim Jae-min blurted it out, and Seo Yeon-woo caught it.

Seo Yeon-woo, usually showing off her composure, just couldn’t hide her youthful excitement after that intense game.

‘Speaking of which, those two seem to get along surprisingly well.’

I don’t know when exactly they got closer, but lately, I’ve seen them stick around each other a lot in the dorm.

‘Well, they’re the same age.’

Unlike the other three of different age brackets, Seo Yeon-woo and Kim Jae-min are both 20 years old.

After living in the same dorm this long, it would be unusual if they didn’t become friends.

‘Kind of jealous, actually.’

I don’t have any friends my age.

Or more accurately, I don’t really have friends at all.

Of course, I can consider being a part of the 3 Min Top School Honorary Member, meaning I am somewhat friends with Seo Yeon-woo and Rainbow, but… we aren’t exactly the type to share everything.

In that sense, those two had something I didn’t.

‘Well… that’s that.’

Now the promotion match is almost at its final stage.


Just one more game, and we’ll finally step onto the professional stage I’ve dreamed of.

I can indulge in sentimentality later.


There’s no room for being careless.

“OLZ folks, please get ready for the third match!”

“Okay.”

With the staff’s words, we headed back to the arena.

And……

Finally, the third match began.

+

[GKG / OLZ]

Top: Claden / Graves

Jungle: Elise / Talon

Mid: Renekton / Sylas

Bot: Draven / Jhin

Support: Nami / Thresh

+

Did they feel that this wouldn’t work?


In a last-ditch effort, they brought a rather extreme composition.

Until now, the ban/pick phase had champions balanced for both early lane phase and mid-to-late game, but now they chose only for the lane phase.

“Claden is coming out.”


“Is this okay?”


“Yeah, I guess…”

Claden is a champion with a strong early game and can make an impact up until mid-game, but he loses power fast later on.


Given the recent meta where the timing of the fourth dragon is critical, he felt almost unused, so this feels like GKG wielding a secret weapon.

‘That means they’re in a hurry.’

Not just Claden.


As previously stated, champions like mid Renekton or Elise, which aren’t often picked in team games, came up in large numbers.

‘Plus, Draven and Nami on this.’

These are all picks that can’t afford to compromise—they must win the lane.


Whether it’s their last gamble or stubbornness,


It’s time to see for myself.

-Welcome to Summoner’s Rift!

The game officially kicked off.

While I previously said the enemy composition was outdated, ours wasn’t exactly stacked with champions like Graves and Sylas either.


It’s not ideal to just hold on and stall.

‘The key is Graves.’

With our AD carry being Jhin, Graves needs to take on the role of our main sustained damage dealer.


If Graves falls behind, chances are the game will go downhill too.

‘The enemy knows that.’

That’s why Claden, an extreme pick, came out as a counter to Graves.

“This game, they’ll probably invest a lot on top.”


“Yeah.”

Seo Yeon-woo answered casually, as if she had a rough estimate.


The early start was smooth.


Or at least I thought so.

“This is, top….”

Seo Yeon-woo’s voice was uncertain.


It was no surprise.


The opposing bot duo, who’d been lurking in the bush, just revealed themselves on top.

It was a lane swap.

“…What?”


Even Baek Seong-an, who had already faced the lane swap meta, seemed stunned by their move.

“Are they serious?”


It wasn’t weird for Baek Seong-an to react like that.


The lane swap meta, which once dominated Legends of League, had been wiped out after several patches.

Due to the defense differences between the bottom turret and the top turret added in patches, initiating a lane swap now brings unshakeable losses.

‘Look at that.’


I think I roughly understand their intent.


I won’t care about minor losses.


Instead, I’ll drag the game into chaos.

‘In this state, if we try to match the lane swap, we’ll just be led around by the opponent.’


So what we needed to do was simple.


If they want to take a loss willingly, we should just take the free profit.

Above all…

“Yeon-woo, just hold on a bit. Either way, we’ll benefit from this.”

We had a veteran in Baek Seong-an who had even seen the lane swap meta.


There’s no reason to let ourselves be swayed unnecessarily.

“But if they’re doing this, was it really necessary to pick Claden?”


Kim Jae-min said, sounding confused.


“They probably didn’t plan on it from the start.”

Of course, Claden isn’t an impossible pick to hold up 2:1 due to his traits, but if that were the case, there are plenty of better options.


The fact they were ditching Graves’ counter role and made such a choice means their plan changed during the ban/pick.

“Hmm, is that so?”


Sure, the answer won’t come until the game ends.

Thus the lane phase began.


The opposing top, aka the bot duo, ruthlessly pressed Graves, while our bot pressured the enemy Claden, who was alone.

It was a typical exchange setup, but the speed of scraping the turret plates was already different.


That’s when Elise showed up on top.


She executed the standard path called “Bur-Do-Bur.”

“I’ll back off now.”


Seo Yeon-woo didn’t get stubborn and backed off, letting the enemy just scrape at the unlucky turret plate.

Plus, since I started red, Elise couldn’t go for a counter jungle either.


It turned out to be a disastrous route.


After burning through a wave, Seo Yeon-woo snuck back to top.


With so much time passed, she figured Elise would have left that lane.

But soon Elise revealed herself.


“Ah.”


Elise hadn’t left top at all.


Having already taken a loss, she was determined to get something out of it.

“I’ll teleport.”


The moment Baek Seong-an hit the cover teleport button, the enemy Renekton used Flash to interrupt Sylas, who was hiding behind.

“Ah, it was cut off.”


Of course, Renekton paid the price: losing Flash and taking a shot from the turret, soon getting into a skirmish with Sylas.


He already gave up the early mid dominion, which he had to firmly hold onto in the Renekton-Sylas match.

Did they end up bearing all that damage for this?


-First Blood!


-The enemy has been slain!

Top Graves dove in.


“…Sorry.”


“Don’t worry about it. It was bound to happen.”

Despite that, I wasn’t sitting idle, either; I counter-jungled the enemy Rakan and Golem jungle while checking for dive angles on bot.


Claden is one of those champions that’s challenging to dive due to his passive, but in a 3:1 situation, as long as I manage aggro well, it shouldn’t be impossible.

“Let’s go for Thresh first.”


Kim Ji-hoon’s execution prophecy hit Claden, and shortly after, we threw in the cc with an e-skill.


Then Thresh tanked the turret while Jhin and I pounded on Claden.


Claden, while trying hard, managed to nearly fill his rage gauge, but ultimately went down.

-The enemy has been slain!

The top and bot exchanged positions.


However, this was merely an exchange on the surface; the differences in turret plates and jungle growth had created absurd disparities.


And,

Our team wasn’t nice enough to easily bridge those gaps.

The level gaps between the junglers.


The level gaps between the two bottoms.


Renekton lost in lane.

Amid all those circumstances and conditions, the game reached its end.

[Victory]

Game time 17 minutes and 11 seconds.


Kill score 13:2.


OLZ wins.

Overall, the game could be considered a fairly easy finish, but the enemy’s strategy was quite interesting.

‘Although, it was probably closer to a reckless move…’


Nonetheless, if we look at it, GKG didn’t give up until the very end, leaving an impression of making some attempts before their loss.

Considering how popular teams offering entertaining matches to fans remain, even if they dropped out this time from the promotion matches, GKG’s future isn’t entirely bleak.

‘Maybe that’s what they were aiming for.’


Having sensed defeat, they went for their last choice as a pro?


If we think positively, that could be one way to view it.

‘Well, that’s not the important part.’

What matters is that our team successfully promoted to the second league.

Finally, we’ve taken a step closer.

“Everyone worked really hard.”


“You too, sis!”

Baek Seong-an exclaimed with a voice full of emotion.


“Wow… we actually made it here.”


“Why are you saying that out of the blue? It was to be expected.”


“Right, we have to keep climbing. This is just the beginning.”


“That’s right.”

While the teammates were chattering happily, a staff member suddenly approached.


“Outlaw, we’ll have an interview soon, so please get ready.”