[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 400

Even though we made eye contact, there wasn’t any special connection or exchange of glances.

It was just a brief, awkward greeting that passed between us.

“……”

And what began to flow was an exceptionally strange awkwardness.

I wondered what Rainbow was thinking right now.

No idea.

I also had no particular thoughts.

“Rainbow, please prepare for your next match against Outlaw!”

At that moment, Rainbow stood up as if waiting for the call from the Korean staff.

The one-on-one showdown against Rainbow on the world stage.

Finally, the moment had arrived.

“Ah, Yeon-woo. Do you happen to have a rubber band or something?”

“……What?”

When I asked Seo Yeon-woo like that, she opened her eyes wide and looked at me.

“Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”

“Because my hair might get in the way.”

“Ah….”

I don’t usually tie my hair up, but there are situations where even a single strand can become bothersome when I need to concentrate.

And this was exactly such a situation.

A situation where even a single stray hair shouldn’t be tolerated.

“I don’t have any.”

“Really?”

Well, it would be more strange for Seo Yeon-woo to have something like that.

“Oh, I have one!”

At that moment, it was none other than GuineaPig Yoo Sang-hyun who spoke up.

“……What?”

It’s really not my place to ask, but why do you have that?

“Ah, it’s not a hair tie, but I thought it might be decent to tie your hair with.”

Then, I accepted some sort of red ribbon-like thing that GuineaPig offered.

However, it was unusually heavy and stiff for a ribbon.

“……What is this?”

“It’s a ribbon from the gift wrapping that a fan gave me earlier… the material is a bit unique, right?”

“Uh… yes.”

“Still, you can tie your hair with this, right?”

“Yes, I think it should work.”

Even though it looked like it had some shallow wire inside or something, it seemed it wouldn’t hinder tying my hair up.

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Nothing, just nothing.”

GuineaPig said that while smiling brightly as always.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. That staff lady over there looks really mad.”

“Ah.”

At that moment, Rainbow, who had been standing up first, spoke.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah, okay.”

So, I stepped out of the waiting room with Rainbow, and the hallway appeared.

It wasn’t that long of a hallway, but for some reason, in this moment, it felt as if it stretched on forever.

“I saw your semifinals.”

“Ah… I saw Rainbow’s semifinals too. You performed incredibly. I didn’t expect you to do that well against that matchup.”

“That’s the same for Outlaw. How did you manage to do that against K’Sante as Viego?”

“Uh… I just did, haha.”

Even though I liked getting compliments, those were usually from online communities, so having Rainbow compliment me directly made the awkwardness creep in.

“I really didn’t expect you to deal with it like that.”

“Well, you see… I just wanted to win, so it turned out that way, haha.”

“No.”

Rainbow looked at me.

“That wasn’t something you could just do casually. How could you pull that off? It was… something else.”

Rainbow asked me that as she looked at me.

She seemed so impressed by my play during the semifinals that, instead of asking for tips, she just wanted to know how I managed it.

“Just….”

“……Just what?”

“I just moved to avoid where the opponent would likely use their skills. I made sure not to create angles that couldn’t be dodged. It just happened that luck was on my side this time.”

That was the truth.

Rainbow might have thought I was blessed or something after watching me dodge all of K’Sante’s skills, but my know-how wasn’t anything special.

I simply predicted and led the opponent’s movements and skill shots.

If I thought the opponent would use their skills, I dodged, and if I didn’t think they would, I led them into using skills unnecessarily.

Instinct merged with strategy allowed me to gain overwhelming skill shot advantage in a tricky matchup like Viego vs K’Sante.

‘Plus, I had the strategic element of starting with boots to mix in there.’

Starting with boots is a risky choice in many ways, and normally, such a choice is rarely made unless skill shots and distance are not that crucial.

That’s because the risks involved with making such a choice are enormous.

“…That’s impressive.”

“I was just lucky.”

“Luck is also a skill.”

Legends of League is a bewilderingly complex game, but at least in terms of one-on-one laning, it has quite a simple formula.

Dodge well, hit well, farm well.

And if you add in managing minions, what they call lane management, you could say that’s pretty much the entirety of a pure one-on-one laning phase.

Well, the Summoner’s Rift isn’t a 1v1 game, so it’s not that meaningful, though.

“We’re almost there.”

At last, the long hallway came into view.

The bright spotlight coming in from outside the hallway as well.

“What’s taking you so long? Let’s go.”

When I turned back to see Rainbow, who was suddenly stopped, she nodded as if to say she understood.

*

-Ladies and gentlemen! This moment has finally arrived. Two players from LCKR, two of the best superstars Korea has ever produced, are finally here.

-We’ll determine who’s the best in a one-on-one tournament today!

The shout of the caster echoed loudly in the arena.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been soaking up the American atmosphere for the past few days, but I somehow felt like I could understand it a little.

-Blue corner! Outlaw!

Along with the caster’s shout, cheers from countless spectators poured in my direction.

-Outlaw! Outlaw! Outlaw!

And then, it was Rainbow’s turn.

-Red corner! Rainbow!

-Rainbow! Rainbow! Rainbow!

With the cheers of countless spectators calling our names, Rainbow and I faced each other from opposite sides.

Finally, finally, we had made it to this point.

There was no need for renewed resolve.

That had long been dealt with already.

“Phew……”

After the player introductions concluded, Rainbow and I entered our respective booths.

I equipped my gear, booted up the Legends of League client, and checked a few settings.

Since the given time wasn’t long, I quickly wrapped everything up and signaled OK to the staff.

‘Let’s do this.’

Amidst the tension, the ban/pick phase finally began earnestly.

[Arelia]

[Sandra]

[Cassiopeia]

For my bans, I targeted highly skilled champions that could be considered Rainbow’s signature picks, along with champions that had performed well in this one-on-one tournament.

These were champions that were strong in themselves rather than having strong variables.

Champions that symbolized the fundamentals that Rainbow values highly.

[Gragas]

[Lee Sin]

[Rengar]

Rainbow’s bans were also similar to mine in the overall execution of ban/pick.

High skill-quality champions that could either fight well or create variables.

‘Hmmm.’

Reading the opponent’s intents in-game is one of my strong suits.

It’s not just about psychological warfare in-game, but I often use this during solo rank by predicting the opponent’s picks through their bans.

‘Gragas and Lee Sin bans are common, but… the Rengar ban indicates a fear of being bush-kited or a fear of kill angles after level six.’

The map for the one-on-one tournament is closer to the Howling Abyss than the usual Summoner’s Rift.

Thus, Rengar often thrives in terrain where he can leverage brushes.

So, in this one-on-one tournament, Rengar’s tier was quite high, and banning him wasn’t unusual.

‘However, the problem is that the opponent is Rainbow.’

There is nothing inconsequential in Rainbow’s gameplay.

Every action has meaning, and it’s because of that rigour in fundamentals that they stand where they are now.

But paradoxically, due to being so thorough in the basics, there’s a slight weakness in psychological warfare.

‘Combining the conditions given.’

A champion that is highly skilled and might trouble the champions that I previously banned while also being appropriate for a finals in a one-on-one tournament.

There was only one champion in that regard.

‘Good.’

The decision was made.

[Sylas]

Traditionally, Sylas isn’t a strong pick for laning, nor is he particularly useful in the early one-on-one contest.

However, there are some situations where he’s used as a late pick regardless.

For example…….

[Akali]

Like when Akali is on the opposing mid lane, like now.