[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 370

The days of our chaotic trip to the U.S. had passed, and finally, All-Star Day had arrived.

“Wow… It’s finally today. Is this for real? I’m so nervous.”

“You’re not even the one competing, so why are you nervous?”

“…Do you really have to say that, sis? Ugh, that’s just adding to my pain.”

Kim Jae-min’s shoulders slumped. Seeing him like that made me wonder if I’d said something unnecessary, so I patted his shoulder.

“We can always try again next time.”

“Right?”

He was so easy to understand.

“By the way, it’s a real shame. Especially for Ji-hoon hyung.”

“I know, right?”

Unfortunately, Kim Jae-min and Kim Ji-hoon finished second by a razor-thin margin on the last day of All-Star voting.

Of course, whether or not they participated in the All-Star event didn’t matter much, as our trip to the U.S. was already decided.

As a result, the current roster for the Korean All-Star team was as follows:

Top: OLZ Honor (Seo Yeon-woo)

Jungle: OLZ Outlaw (Yujin)

Mid: SY Rainbow (Ryu Jin-hyuk)

ADC: SCV BlackDog (Baek Joon-young)

Support: SY GuineaPig (Yoo Sang-hyun)

For the top, jungle, and mid positions, the votes were so overwhelming that the rankings were practically set. However, the ADC and support spots remained quite competitive until the last day of voting.

If things had gone a little differently, maybe all four of us from our team could have been selected to participate in the All-Star event.

Anyway, the voting concluded with Kim Jae-min and Kim Ji-hoon finishing in a close second, leaving only me and Seo Yeon-woo to represent our team.

“But isn’t the rule that no more than three players from one team can participate?”

“Really?”

I’m not sure about that rule, but the important thing is that I and Seo Yeon-woo are going to the All-Star event together.

It’s incredible that two members from a team that just joined LCKR’s first division are going to the All-Star event…

It showed just how much attention our team was getting.

“But we’re still all going, right?”

“Of course! We came all this way, we have to check it out.”

“Agreed.”

Kim Jae-min and Baek Seong-an nodded.

“What about Ji-hoon?”

“Yeah. It’s a day off for him.”

Surprisingly, Ji-hoon seemed to also want to head to the All-Star venue today.

“Is everyone ready?”

“We just need you to show up, sis.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The All-Star event.

The day we had been waiting for had officially begun.

*

The schedule for the Legends of League All-Star event roughly looked like this:

─────────────

[Day 1]

– 1v1 Tournament Round of 32 (Part 1) – 10 AM

– U.R.F. Mode Game – 11:30 AM

– 1v1 Tournament Round of 32 (Part 2) – 1 PM

– LCSA (North America) vs. LECL (Europe) 5v5 Showdown – 3 PM

[Day 2]

– 1v1 Tournament Round of 16 – 10 AM

– Two Hearts, One Soul Mode Game – 11:30 AM

– 1v1 Tournament Quarterfinals – 1 PM

– LCKR (Korea) vs. LPLO (China) 5v5 Showdown – 2:30 PM

– 5v5 Showdown – 3:30 PM

[Day 3]

– 1v1 Tournament Semifinals – 10 AM

– Two Hearts, One Soul Mode Game – 11:30 AM

– U.R.F. Mode Game – 1 PM

– 1v1 Tournament Finals – 2:30 PM

– 5v5 Showdown – 3:30 PM

─────────────

As I reviewed the schedule, it hit me that the venue was just around the corner.

This time, the Legends of League All-Star event was being held at the NA LCSA studio in Los Angeles.

True to its reputation as a global festival, an incredible crowd greeted us as we approached the studio, even though it was quite early.

“Wow… There are so many people.”

Kim Jae-min looked around with his mouth agape.

The rest of us, including myself, were similarly awestruck.

“….I know, right?”

“Hey, isn’t that a European player over there?”

“Looks like it. Go talk to them, hyung.”

“Why me?”

“I can’t speak English.”

“…Me neither.”

“Eh? So you’ve been pretending to be smart all this time?”

“What’s your point?”

Despite the overwhelming crowd, Kim Jae-min and Baek Seong-an quickly started joking around as usual.

I envied their thick-skin attitude, but not everyone felt that way.

“…What do we do?”

Seo Yeon-woo looked pale and turned to me as if shocked by the crowd.

Sorry to say, I wasn’t immune to this either.

“…I don’t know, me neither.”

To be honest, my legs did feel weak, but with teammates watching, I tried my best to hold it together.

“Let’s just go inside. We do have some time, but we shouldn’t linger here.”

Baek Seong-an, the eldest and essentially our protector, led the way, and we followed him like ducklings trailing their mother.

Where were we supposed to go?

In that moment, I heard someone’s voice echo in my head.

“Outlaw player?”

“Oh, yes!”

“Looks like Honor is with you too. Please come this way.”

Thank goodness for small favors.

Not long after entering the studio, we ran into someone who looked like a Korean staff member.

For us, who had been considering what to ask to get through, this was truly a blessing.

“…What a relief.”

“Right?”

Following the staff’s guidance, we arrived at the players’ waiting room, where we had to pause for a moment.

This was because there were already guests in the waiting room.

“Huh?”

“Oh!”

Rainbow, BlackDog, GuineaPig.

They were the other members of the Korean team participating in this All-Star event.

‘…Ah.’

I knew they were part of the All-Star event already, so I expected to meet Rainbow again.

But this encounter was so sudden and swift.

“……”

In the suffocating silence, thankfully, it was Seo Yeon-woo and the other teammates who broke the ice first.

“Hello.”

“Wow… You really are here.”

“That’s insane.”

As we awkwardly greeted each other, BlackDog and GuineaPig nodded, mumbling something unintelligible.

“By the way, OLZ members are all here. Nice to meet you!”

It was none other than the cheerful and famous GuineaPig Yoo Sang-hyun who spoke to us first.

“Ah, yes…”

“Outlaw, I’m a huge fan! I really didn’t think I’d meet you.”

“Thank you…”

“Can I get your autograph, please?”

“Of course.”

While I appreciated that he was easing the tense atmosphere, I didn’t really know what to say…

GuineaPig was bursting with energy, making it hard for someone like me to engage.

“Hyung Jin-hyuk! Say hi too. You always watch Outlaw’s streams, right?”

At that comment, Ryu Jin-hyuk, known for his usually reserved nature, flinched.

“…When did I ever.”

“Oh, was that a secret? Sorry.”

“…That’s not true.”

I could tell he was subtly glancing around as if checking to see if anyone was listening.

Without him saying it directly, it was enough to understand.

So, he really does watch my streams…

What can I say? Seeing someone I know watching my stream felt kind of…

“……I want to die.”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“……Nothing. Just talking nonsense.”

Looks like tonight, my blanket wouldn’t escape being my dust collector again.

I felt a little bad for the blanket, but that’s just how I felt right now.

While I was basically in a groggy state, Yoo Sang-hyun unleashed his unique sociability and started chatting with our teammates.

“Looks like you made it, Proteen. You’re really a top player.”

“Thanks.”

“And your physical skills are incredible. You’re even more impressive in person. By the way, what’s your 3-rep max?”

“Last time I checked, it was around 630.”

“Seriously? That’s insane. You really are Sett in real life.”

As GuineaPig and Kim Ji-hoon were bonding over their common ground as support players, Seo Yeon-woo and Ryu Jin-hyuk exchanged light greetings.

“First time meeting, huh?”

“Seems so…”

Seo Yeon-woo and Ryu Jin-hyuk greeted each other awkwardly as if they knew each other.

“Huh?”

Kim Jae-min, who had been quietly observing, interjected.

“What? You know Rainbow?”

“Um… Uh-huh.”

“Really? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Oops, I wasn’t asked?”

I was just as surprised.

I had no idea Seo Yeon-woo and Ryu Jin-hyuk were acquainted…

As someone who was friends with both, I had completely missed that fact.

Wait, more importantly, Seo Yeon-woo himself hadn’t shown any signs of this, so how could I have known?

“How did you meet?”

“Just met in solo queue and added each other…”

“Wow… I didn’t get to meet Rainbow. Why does only he get to meet them? Unfair.”

“You’re a troll, aren’t you?”

“…I didn’t mean it that way.”

Just as he said, both Seo Yeon-woo and Ryu Jin-hyuk had played in a similar rank range as I did.

They likely faced each other enough times in solo queue that it would be strange if they didn’t have any connection at all.

Just as Kim Jae-min and Seo Yeon-woo were joking around, Ryu Jin-hyuk opened his mouth.

“Um, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh, yes. What is it?”

“Perhaps—”

Just as Ryu Jin-hyuk was about to ask Seo Yeon-woo something, a voice rang out.

“All players competing in the 1v1 Tournament, please get ready!”