[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 408

“Ah, you’re here.”

As soon as we stepped into the waiting room, the first person to greet us was, of course, GuineaPig Yoo Sang-hyun.

However, he showed none of the frantic energy we’d seen before.

Instead, he looked like he was somewhat dazed, to put it mildly.

In any case, that was the vibe.

“Everyone worked hard.”

Next, Seo Yeon-woo and BlackDog welcomed us.

“That was a really awesome match! Both players were amazing. And congratulations to you, Outlaw, on winning!”

“Uh… thank you.”

Hearing the usually quiet BlackDog speak up so much in front of me made my face flush.

Just when I was feeling awkward, Seo Yeon-woo appeared like a savior.

“You did great, sister.”

“Uh, uh! Yeah. Thanks, Yeon-woo.”

“You really won, huh.”

“I got lucky. In many ways.”

Honestly, that wasn’t wrong.

Luck played a huge role, especially when it came to predicting the ban/pick phase. If Rainbow had chosen the standard picks instead of what I expected, it could have ended with Sylas getting completely smashed due to his weak laning phase.

Rainbow was best at playing the fundamentals, especially when it came to solidly taking the lead in advantageous situations.

“Luck is part of skill.”

“Sounds like someone I know.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

While we were talking, Rainbow and GuineaPig returned to the waiting room, chatting about various things.

“That was a shame. We could have won.”

“The opponent played well.”

“That’s true. Wow, Outlaw was really good. It’s the first time I’ve seen Jin-hyuk lose like that.”

“I’ll win next time.”

“Next time?”

Rainbow smiled slowly at GuineaPig’s puzzled response.

“Yeah. Next time.”

I was also looking forward to that next time.

*

The grand finale of this All-Star Event, the 5v5 match, was genuinely a game where everyone could laugh and chat together.

There were tons of kills and plenty of fun moments in-game.

The festival for League of Legends fans around the world was coming to an end.

And that also meant the year was drawing to a close.

I don’t remember much about the award ceremony held after all the events wrapped up.

To be precise, I was so nervous that I couldn’t even recall which hand held the trophy.

Anyway, the Korean team achieved great results in this All-Star Event, and with everyone celebrating, the long All-Star Event came to a close.

Now, it was time to go home.

“Well then… see you next time.”

“Yeah. See you next time.”

It wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t bad spending time with the All-Star team.

At first, I was worried it might be awkward being in the same space as Rainbow, but fortunately, it wasn’t as awkward as I feared.

“Oh, Yujin and Yeon-woo are here.”

“Who’s this? Isn’t this the proud All-Star MVP?”

“Glad to see you!”

As soon as the team members returned to the hotel, Kim Jae-min, Baek Seong-an, and Kim Ji-hoon, who had even skipped training today, greeted us.

“Really great job.”

“Sister, how did you beat Rainbow? Wow, I honestly didn’t think you could do it! You really did it. Epic!”

“Shut up.”

“Why are you picking on me? Didn’t hyung lose too? He totally flopped.”

“…I said, quiet.”

Watching their familiar, noisy antics made me realize I was finally back.

It probably felt long because this All-Star Event was so drawn out.

“I learned a lot this time.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Hmm?”

Everyone turned to stare at Baek Seong-an because his comment was so out of the blue.

“…Was that something to look at so intensely?”

“No… It’s just that it’s the All-Star Event, and I was wondering what you learned.”

Kim Jae-min nodded in agreement with my comment.

“Yeah, sometimes I feel like you say weird things just to sound cool.”

“…You really are asking for trouble.”

“Whoa, violence is bad! So what was it?”

“Just… I learned a lot. In various ways.”

“Sounds like you’re trying too hard to impress us.”

“…”

Baek Seong-an’s face flushed bright red.

So he was actually embarrassed.

“…Anyway! Let’s work hard next year thanks to this All-Star Event. Okay?”

“Yes, sure.”

As Kim Jae-min reluctantly agreed, Baek Seong-an shot him a glare.

“Yujin.”

“Yes?”

“Next year, let’s come back for the Red Cup, not the All-Star Event.”

“That’s a no-brainer.”

And there was no way I was settling for just being a sidekick at the Red Cup.

To reach those heights, or even beyond that.

I would make it there.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit. Then we should get going.”

“Can we not do any more sightseeing? We have some time left.”

“Ugh, sightseeing my foot. We need to hurry back to Korea and practice.”

It seemed like this All-Star Event sparked some fire in Baek Seong-an, who usually had a calm demeanor.

He looked unusually motivated.

“Ugh, I haven’t played much recently, so I want to get into solo queue quickly. My fingers are itching.”

“Right?”

“Huh?”

Kim Jae-min looked surprised as he stared at Kim Ji-hoon.

“…What did you just say?”

“Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

“No… not exactly.”

Squeak.

As always, Kim Jae-min turned into a mouse in front of Kim Ji-hoon, or maybe a tiger.

I didn’t really understand why a mouse would squeak, though.

“I think this is the first time I’ve heard Ji-hoon say he wants to play instead of work out. We must have been here too long.”

“Of course, it’s tough when you leave home.”

“What kind of trouble did we have? We just followed along and had fun.”

“Whoa, that was a local expedition. It’s a place I might come back to next year.”

Baek Seong-an chuckled and shook his head at Kim Jae-min’s confident words.

“Yeah, you should come back.”

“Oh, agreeing for once?”

“Shall we swear never to come back again?”

“That’s a bit much.”

Before I knew it, the team’s atmosphere had returned to its usual lively state.

Everyone was laughing and chatting together.

But one thing had changed.

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Go go.”

“Let’s head back now.”

Normally, our team members were pretty competitive, but after this All-Star Event, it seemed that competitiveness had grown even more.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

I moved my feet too.

Now, it was time to go home.

*

The long All-Star Event finally came to an end, and we headed straight back to Korea.

As someone once said, we couldn’t sit still anymore.

Even though all the competitions of the year were over, no one was taking a vacation.

Starting next year, we were a first-tier team competing in LCKR, and in this situation, there was no one on our team who was slacking off.

“Sister, look at this.”

“…No. You look at it by yourself.”

“No, just take a quick look. This is seriously epic.”

Reluctantly looking at the screen, I saw a screenshot of the All-Star Event with Rainbow and me in “same mind mode.”

“Anyone could tell—”

“Your salary is getting cut.”

“I already turned it off.”

Sigh…

This All-Star Event created quite the buzz.

Not only in local communities but also across global League of Legends-related communities.

Among them, the biggest topic was, of course, Rainbow and me, particularly me, and as a result, my picture was being used as memes all over the place.

“…Maybe I should just screenshot everything and sue them all.”

“That’s a bit much.”

“Do you want to be the first to get sued?”

“Eek.”

Has little mouse Kim Jae-min reached the level where he squeaks even with his mouth now…?

“But isn’t it a good thing? It means you got famous.”

“Pro gamers should be known for their gameplay, not their faces.”

“Isn’t it true that you got famous for your gameplay? You won the All-Star Event, after all.”

“Maybe…”

The glory I should’ve held felt a bit dulled, maybe because of those pictures circulating in the community.

Since I’m someone who naturally attracts attention, winning the 1v1 tournament in the All-Star Event didn’t seem to draw much interest at all.

Even so, my duel with Rainbow did attract quite a bit of discussion, in many ways.

“Come on, think positively. I’d love it if someone captured me like that and shared it.”

“…Yeah, sure.”

If you were to ask me if I was satisfied, I would absolutely say no, but that would be something time would fix.

What I need is proof.

That is, proof in the upcoming Spring Season.

*

Time flows.

And life continues.

It’s a peaceful yet noisy sort of daily life.

“Seriously, Jungler—!”

Of course, the dorm was still noisy, especially with Kim Jae-min being louder than ever, but this was just a normal scene.

“Stop looking for the jungler. I’m right here.”

My ears were about to bleed.