[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 219

“Isn’t it crazy to come back from a scrim with SY smelling like booze?”

Even if it was just a scrim with another team, that’d be a scandal, let alone when it’s against SY, right?

What’s the plan? Just throw the game because they know they can’t win?

I shot a glance at Baek Seong-an, who looked queasy and barely managed to move his lips.

“Ugh… So, uh…”

According to Baek Seong-an, the original schedule was a scrim with BLH in the evening.

But due to some issues on their side, the schedule got canceled, and that’s when SY reached out first.

“…That’s how it turned out.”

“Hmmm.”

From Seong-an’s perspective, since there was a schedule in the evening, he thought he’d handle the hangover somehow, but the original plan got scrapped, shifting the scrim to daytime.

“Then why didn’t they come to me…?”

Aren’t I technically the team owner here?

Yeah, up until now, Seong-an was the one setting everything up, but they reached out to him instead of me?

“What’s the point of talking now… You’ve never even gotten a scrim on your own before.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Nailed it.

“Anyway, it’s happening, so everyone get ready. …I’m gonna lie down for a bit.”

“Oh, okay.”

With that, Baek Seong-an threw himself onto the couch in the center of the practice room.

He looked not just a bit but seriously out of it, but we couldn’t just back out of the scrim now.

‘SY…’

Sure, we narrowly lost to SCV in the spring finals, but nobody underestimates SY’s strength.

In fact, if you look at history, SY was a team that really stepped it up during the summer season with the Red Cup approaching, more than in the spring.

‘Why us, of all teams?’

I had an inkling. One of the reasons SCV won the spring season was their scrim with us.

But even so, considering the symbolism that team SY carries, I thought they’d reach out after we got promoted to the first division… This felt way too early.

‘Maybe it means they’re in a rush.’

The shame of spring.

The subsequent failure of the Korean national team in international competitions.

For SY, which essentially symbolizes Korea, the heat was definitely on.

‘Will we be okay?’

I turned my gaze to Baek Seong-an lying on the couch.

“Ugh…”

His forehead pressed into the couch, looking like a patient doing some kind of duty.

That said, we didn’t have a second-string team or any substitutes, so Baek Seong-an had to participate in the scrim like that.

“If it’s too much, just say so. It’s a scrim they requested, so we can decline without issue.”

A scrim is just a scrim.

If we’re not prepared, half-heartedly going at it would only be rude to the opponents.

“…I’ll be okay after a little rest.”

“Got it.”

I said that, but it didn’t look like Baek Seong-an would be getting better anytime soon.

Given the situation, if it were any other team, we probably would have just declined.

But the fact that it was our first scrim against SY pushed the word “decline” out of my mind.

‘Opportunities like this don’t come often.’

Sure, once we eventually move up to the first division, this will feel like just another day. But right now, we were a newly promoted team in the second division.

Normally, it would be a rarity to even get a chance to scrim against a first division team like SY, let alone SCV and others, but for some reason, luck struck, and we got this chance.

Letting it slip away would be a sore loss.

‘Let’s give it a shot.’

Win or lose, scrimming a team as significant as SY is definitely an advantage for us.

We should be the ones begging for scrims, and yet they reached out first, so there was no way we’d let this go.

As I solidified my resolve, Seo Yeon-woo came into the practice room looking slightly disheveled.

“You’re here?”

“Yeah. Jaem-min says you sing really well?”

“……What?”

Yeon-woo looked taken aback.

I could have teased her a bit longer, but sadly, we didn’t have the luxury of time.

“Just kidding, but could you check on this guy before the scrim?”

“Ah… yes, yes!”

Yeon-woo seemed to notice Baek Seong-an’s grave condition and nodded without further questions.

“Do you know who we’re scrimming today?”

“Ah, yes. I heard.”

“Good. Let’s do our best.”

“Yeah!”

Yeon-woo replied energetically as always.

‘Her responses are spot on.’

Well, to be fair, she was pretty good at the game too.

‘So…’

I headed directly to my seat and started searching for SY players’ solo queue records in prep for the upcoming scrim.

With Seong-an in his state, it was up to me to take charge of the scrim prep.

Of course, solo queue stats are public information, so the opposing team would also prepare based on that, but it’s definitely better than doing nothing.

‘Let’s see…’

Most SY players seemed to focus on meta picks in practice, but some were surprisingly practicing some unusual champions in solo queue.

For example… Rainbow’s Malphite.

‘Well, well…’

I wondered if he picked that just for fun in solo queue or if it was a specific strategy against LeBlanc, but Malphite’s presence as a pick raised my eyebrow.

‘Not just once or twice either.’

Just from what I saw, at least five games or so.

It looked like he mainly brought it out as a counter-pick against LeBlanc, but it was enough to not be surprised to see it in a scrim.

‘And it turns out he frequently played champions like Yune too.’

A typical hyper-carry champion.

It’s similar to Yasuon, but Yune is a much more stable pick, and it’s one of the cards that strong players confidently pull out in tournaments.

‘Other than that… TheOne’s Yasuon also caught my eye.’

Yasuon and Yune…

One of the combos typically mentioned when talking about team fights, but you wouldn’t see that combo in practice very often.

‘Hmmm.’

Next, my gaze shifted to the jungle.

‘Nothing particularly special here.’

This included picks like Elise and Nidalee, which come out a lot due to solo queue characteristics.

Those picks might be tough to find in scrims or tournaments, but they show up fairly often in solo queue, so labeling them as joker picks felt a bit off.

‘…Huh? Wait a minute…’

As I browsed Yoon-ki’s records, I spotted a troubling champion.

[Shaku – Win]

A champion I despise more than anyone else in the Legends of League.

It was Shaku.

‘I remember Yoon-ki used to do well with Shaku back in the day… but these days he hasn’t touched him at all.’

The nightmares of the past resurfaced.

I once slammed my keyboard after losing to Yoon-ki’s Shaku, nearly breaking my already weak fingers—a tale that isn’t exactly one to laugh at.

Of course, if I faced Yoon-ki’s Shaku again now, it wouldn’t be the same as before, but still…

‘He wouldn’t bring out a pick like Shaku in a team game, would he?’

Something… ominous vibes were bubbling up in me right before the scrim.

*

Time was not on our side.

As if to prove that, the scrim time was imminent.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Yes.”

“…Uh.”

“Ready to go!”

“All set.”

Despite Baek Seong-an sounding like he was about to die, the other team members were pumped, probably because we were about to face SY.

That was at least a good thing amid our misfortunes.

“Then let’s head out.”

Once we entered the waiting room, it was finally our team facing off against the SY players in the lobby.

[SY TheOne]

[SY YunGi]

[SY Rainbow]

[SY Longbow]

[SY GuineaPig]

The world’s top team.

Though we had to leave the title of the strongest to SCV and GRS for now, no one can deny that SY is the greatest team in the history of the Legends of League.

We weren’t close enough to share casual small talk, so only formal greetings and the usual chatter flew around.

The stark reality of our team’s social skills hit me hard.

[“Whoa… they’re oozing presence.”]

Kim Jae-min said.

I couldn’t help but agree.

‘I’ve met SY before, but we’re in a completely different situation now.’

Today’s SY is not the playful, trolling team from back then.

SY stood before me now as fellow professional gamers and a team.

“Phew…”

[“Are you nervous?”]

“…Yeah.”

[“Really? …Seriously?”]

I didn’t expect Kim Jae-min would look that puzzled by me admitting I was nervous.

“Let’s do our best.”

[“Fighting!”]

[“Fighting.”]

[“F-fighting……”]

Just as our mutual encouragement dropped off, a chat popped up.

[SY TheOne: Shall we start?]

[OLZ Outlaw: Yes]

OLZ vs SY.

The first ban/pick phase was about to begin.