[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 415

“Ugh….”

Baek Seong-an looked genuinely troubled, sticking out his tongue.

He’s crying.

None other than Kim Jae-min, who was sniffling and holed up in the room.

For someone like him, known for his cheerful—no, lively—personality, it was hard to believe this was happening right in front of me.

“What do we do now?”

Seo Yeon-woo asked, seemingly at a loss.

To that, Baek Seong-an replied,

“Don’t you have a spare key? Just use that to open the door…”

“Oh, that’s one way to do it.”

“No, wait!”

These people are seriously going to get us in trouble!

I felt they would indeed just open the door if I didn’t intervene, so I had no choice but to step in urgently.

“It’s not just about opening the door.”

Even if we forcibly opened the door and pulled Kim Jae-min out, it would be useless if he didn’t want to come out himself.

What if Kim Jae-min just throws a tantrum and refuses to play today?

Actually, if we force our way in, it could really mess up the team dynamics.

“…True.”

Baek Seong-an also shook his head, indicating that he had no clear solution either.

The current situation was just hopeless.

“Sigh… I guess we have to give up on today’s schedule.”

“Wait? Is that allowed?”

“Of course not. But there’s no real alternative.”

Seo Yeon-woo spoke quietly.

“Then maybe we can find a substitute for the bot lane…”

“That won’t work.”

Baek Seong-an said firmly.

“It’s one thing to break a bit of trust with another team, but it can’t happen within our team. If that happens, it’s really over.”

As he said that, Baek Seong-an’s gaze seemed to drift somewhere far away.

As if recalling a long-forgotten memory.

I wanted to ask about it, but this wasn’t the right time, so I could only nod slightly.

Legends of League is especially a game where coordination and team atmosphere have a massive impact on actual gameplay.

Each lane is interconnected as such, and even if one player is incredibly skilled, it’s crucial that positive influence propagates from that player to the others to win.

As Baek Seong-an suggested, it was better to avoid doing anything that could break trust among teammates.

How would Kim Jae-min feel if he found out we were looking for another bot laner to practice with?

He would probably think he wasn’t needed in this team, right?

“…I’m sorry.”

Seo Yeon-woo bowed her head slightly at her earlier slip.

“Why are you apologizing to me? You should be apologizing to that kid.”

“I’m not sorry to him.”

“……”

Such was the conviction of a top player.

“Hmm…”

“What do we do?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Realizing we weren’t getting anywhere like this, I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands.

Knock knock-

“Jae-min.”

“……”

Kim Jae-min had also clamped his mouth shut, as if he heard us whispering outside.

“You don’t have to come out. But could you tell me what the problem is?”

“……”

“Staying in there won’t solve anything. You have to come out to fix it.”

“……”

Whether it was the fact that he had been crying that bruised his male pride, or for another reason entirely, Kim Jae-min remained silent.

“…But I feel like Yujin is talking better now? She could hardly say a word on broadcast before.”

“Yeah, right?”

“I agree.”

The team members murmured behind me.

I was trying to speak grandly as OLZ’s team owner and main jungler, and they were doing this…!

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just saying you’re speaking well.”

“You’re cool, sis.”

“I agree.”

“……”

Their audacity left me speechless.

“……Ahem. Alright.”

After shooting them a glare, I turned my attention back to the door.

“Jae-min. Let’s talk.”

“………I have nothing to say.”

“Come on. Huh? If you don’t say what the problem is, we can’t solve it. I’ll listen to everything, so just tell me.”

“………Really?”

“Yeah?”

“The part about you listening. Is that for real?”

“Uh… Unless it’s about salary negotiations?”

“Then I’m good.”

“……Was it a salary issue?”

That’s a bit tricky for me.

And you, for a newbie without any experience, are getting paid pretty well, dude!

‘Or am I wrong?’

Anyway.

“It’s not a salary problem.”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief. So, what could it be? Shall we try to guess?”

“……I won’t say.”

Wow, got a real knack for messing with people, huh?

“……Why?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“……Why don’t you look at the bot lane?”

Kim Jae-min, finally opening his mouth, whined about why no one was paying attention to him.

“Why does our team always leave the bot lane behind? Why….”

As he spoke, his voice started to choke up again with emotion.

“Well, uh, Jae-min…”

What am I supposed to say here…?


In fact, it was true our team often neglected the bot lane as he mentioned.

Generally, neglecting the bot lane, being the main damage dealer, isn’t typical, but our team was a bit different.

To be honest, Kim Jae-min is still lacking compared to those monster bot laners in the top league.

Especially when a game shifts into late-game team fights centered around bot lane carries, our team’s victory rate plummets sharply, which is why the support often gets pulled to the top side to avoid situations like that.

This situation has only worsened since we got promoted to the top league; although we had neglected the bot lane before, it hasn’t been to this extent lately.

Back in the second league, we did have games won through bot lane carries, but as the caliber of the teams we faced improved, our winning plans diminished accordingly.

Right now, our team’s strongest assets were definitely the top and jungle players.

If we put resources into bot lane and they can’t carry, we’re likely to lose the game then and there.

So our team’s basic strategy often involved sending the support to help the top side when we’re losing those fights, leading to the bot lane being neglected, or getting dragged into team fights where they end up struggling to grow most of the time.

The glorious late-game team fight carries, the dream of every bot laner, just never seem to happen for our team.

“……I can carry too, you know. Why don’t you believe me? Why….”

I finally understood why Kim Jae-min was acting like this.

Until now, there had been no real formula in our team’s winning strategy that depended on the bot laner.

Even those games that could be labeled as bot lane carries were just situations where the bot lane picked up kills after other lanes had already stomped the game to the ground.

In essence, our team didn’t rely on the bot lane at all.

Usually, in teams, the winning formula allows the bot lane to play a crucial role at the very end, but we didn’t even have that.

In fact, in our team’s carry order, the bot lane simply didn’t exist.

Moreover, fundamentally, we didn’t trust the bot lane, who is supposed to be the team’s main damage dealer.


Neither me, nor Seo Yeon-woo, or Baek Seong-an, let alone the support who should always have supported the bot lane.

“Every time I try to farm, you say I shouldn’t, and when I say I can carry, you don’t believe me!”

Kim Jae-min seemed to explode with pent-up sorrow, ranting away.

“Then why am I even here? Just throw any diamond bot laner in and play. Is that really how you play this game?”

“Uh… I’m sorry to say this, but that diamond bot laner is you.”

At those words, a silence that felt eternal filled the room for a moment.

“That’s true.”

“Yeah, he’s a Diamond smurf.”

Perhaps hearing the murmurs of the team behind me, Kim Jae-min’s voice shot up.

“I’m not a Diamond anymore!”

He yelled from inside the room like he was about to burst.

“Wait a second.”

That’s when Kim Ji-hoon, who had been quietly observing the situation, stepped forward.

“I’m done. No, I’m not doing it!”

While Kim Jae-min was inside, shouting and protesting, Kim Ji-hoon casually grabbed the doorknob.

“Wait, what are you trying to do—”

Sadly, it was way too late to stop him.

With a creak──!!

Is that sound even possible for a doorknob made of metal?

I was left wondering, but ultimately, the tightly closed door to Kim Jae-min swung open.

With the doorknob that had somehow ended up in Kim Ji-hoon’s hand.

“……Wow.”

“Did that just happen?”

“Uh, uh….”

Everyone, including Baek Seong-an and Seo Yeon-woo, couldn’t hide their shock at the scene.

Of course, I was astonished for another reason entirely.

“……Ji-hoon.”

“Yes?”

“That door wasn’t cheap.”

“…….”

“Not that I want you to pay for it, but just so you know.”

“……I’ll pay for it.”

“Could you? Oh, no need if you don’t want to. But then again, considering how much we’ve been spending on you, it’s not a big deal.”

In reality, Kim Ji-hoon accounted for the largest chunk of our budget on the team.

A gym complete with showers.


Though it was smaller than an actual gym, considering it was operated for just five members, it was immensely spacious.

Above all, it was filled with high-end equipment used in real gyms.


So, this isn’t just a matter of ripping off the player.


It’s simply to ensure proper compensation for what the player broke.

No question about that.

“Kim Jae-min.”

Regardless of all that, Kim Ji-hoon, who had burst into Kim Jae-min’s room, stood before him.


“What? What?”

The previous bravado disappeared, and Kim Jae-min, facing Kim Ji-hoon, turned meek like a mouse before a cat.

“Follow me.”

Kim Ji-hoon said that and turned to walk out of the room.

Stunned, Kim Jae-min managed to snap back to reality and, almost like Pavlov’s dog, instinctively followed Kim Ji-hoon.

“Oh… he left.”

“Yeah, he did.”

It looked like a storm had passed by.


Baek Seong-an, who had been quietly watching the scene, finally spoke up.

“Is he gonna get killed or something?”

“……Who knows.”

I couldn’t dare to guarantee it.