[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 73

“Guhuh.”

Somehow, I fell asleep and my pillow is all damp.

It’s not like I suddenly got emotional in the dead of night and soaked my pillow with tears; it’s just drool.

“Huh.”

Wiping my mouth with my sleeve, I instinctively rummaged under the pillow.


Even though I don’t usually sleep with it under there, my smartphone is always here when I can’t find it anywhere else.

[PM : 3:11]

The sun is so high that it wouldn’t be weird if it set in a few hours.


It could be considered quite late for stretching, but for a jobless guy like me, who cares?

I roughly straighten my blanket, and wake myself up with a quick morning shower in hot water.

For breakfast, or rather brunch-cum-dinner, I chose simple cereal and milk.


Like most people, I’m not a big fan of heavy food first thing in the morning.

Just another day like any other.


However, if there’s anything special about today, it’s the opening ceremony for the Legends of League Championship.

‘Hmm, should I watch or not.’


As I busy myself with various preparations, time has flown to 4:30 PM.


The opening ceremony is about to begin.

‘What should I do?’


…But in the midst of my dilemma, here I am, instinctively turning it on.


It was almost like a reflex.

– Want to be the best? Then join LLL Assistant! We’ve got everything you need—counter picks by champion, item trees, strategies, and more!

As soon as I turned on the official channel, chaotic advertisements greeted me.


Well, I should watch the ads diligently so that the game companies can survive, the pros can survive, the sponsors can survive, and we can all survive happily together.

Putting those thoughts aside, my eyes landed on the match schedule on the top right corner.

[NEXT GAME]

[SY vs SCV]

[21:42]

SY and SCV.


They could be considered fated rivals, but technically speaking, SCV has never managed to overcome SY’s stronghold.


No, to be more precise, even when SY underperformed, SCV still couldn’t clinch the top spot.

In fact, during last year’s Spring season when SY faced extreme struggles and finished in 6th place, SCV still didn’t manage to win the championship against their fated rival, SY.


Eternally in the second place.


In layman’s terms, SCV could be aptly described as the “bean line” team.

Of course, like other players or teams historically known as the “bean line” of eSports, SCV, while not on SY’s level, is still a team that boasts considerable popularity.

With SCV facing SY right from day one, the excitement couldn’t be hotter.

‘What do you mean… 50,000 viewers?’


That’s how many people are watching before the match even starts.


And that’s just the viewers on one channel, so if you include the numbers from various other platforms, it must be well over hundreds of thousands.

‘Definitely a big match, huh.’


To prove that, the chat room was on fire.

– ㄷㄱㄷㄱㄷㄱㄷㄱㄷㄱ


– When’s Rainbow coming out?


– Breaking) Rainbow’s not the starter, breaking) Rainbow’s not the starter, breaking) Rainbow’s not the starter


– Ignore that aggro


– Super looking forward to this


– SY is definitely gonna stomp


– lol you’ll get cut by the 29-level player next


– Anyone can tell SCV’s winning but are still stuck on SY? lol

I wanted to soak in this excitement a bit more, so I naturally opened the community page.

– Why hasn’t it started yet?


– Seriously, hurry up and start already


– SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY! SY!


– Chill out with the spam, guys


– SCV’s taking this lol

────────


Gallery Official Vote) SY vs SCV


────────


────────


The fundamental Red Cup champions, SY will win > Upvote


No way, the SY that gets wrecked by gameexpert4148 will lose to SCV. Downvote


────────


– This just became a mess lol


– Seriously, how can an amateur team that got wrecked by gameexpert4148 be ‘real’ professionals and beat SCV?


– For real lol


– So many haters, but it’s obvious SY was just having fun while these guys throw every game normally


– You’ve got your head up your ass


– It’s all tight, like SY’s hit or miss performance vs SCV who’s preparing for a fight

– No one said SY’s performance was hit or miss!

“Cough! Cough! Ack!”


I choked a little.


I honestly didn’t expect gameexpert4148 to just pop up here.

‘The atmosphere is tense.’


I had forgotten about how this used to be the community’s natural state since it’s been relatively quiet during this off-season.


This place is a mishmash of fandoms creating a hellish landscape of opinions.

Yet, I can’t help but peek because that’s the unique type of magic communities have.

[NEXT GAME]

[SY vs SCV]

[01:13]

While binge-watching community posts, the opening ceremony is now just around the corner.


…Why am I feeling nervous about this?


[00:01]


With a strange sense of anxiety, the opening ceremony finally began.

The opening video featured the representative players of each team appearing almost like protagonists in a dazzling montage.


The gist was something about fighting over a throne… that sort of thing.


Though my expression is clumsy, it was quite an amazing video.

‘As expected, a pro’s work.’


After the opening video, brief interviews with each player followed.

[“Honestly, it’s been a little tough. We didn’t perform as well as I expected, and I even thought about retiring. That’s why I’ve been working even harder. You can look forward to it.”]

[“I just did my best. Last season, our team did better than expected, right? So I worked really hard not to let the fans down.”]

[“The new guy? He’s a bit unique, but since he’s really good, there weren’t any huge issues. I think you can expect good things from him.”]

…

[“People say, right? SCV can never win. They’re forever second place. I want to break that stereotype.”]

[“Anything else to say? Not really… but I’ll do my best. After all, the championship is ours.”]

With Rainbow’s interview wrapping up, the interview video ended.

“……”

In the past, I wouldn’t have thought twice about such interviews.


I just thought they were the usual interviews.

But for some reason, it felt different now.

Thump, thump─


‘What’s going on? Is my heart racing?’


My heart feels like it’s malfunctioning.


If it weren’t for now, I would have seriously considered visiting the ER, but now I know this racing isn’t due to health issues.

‘I want to be a pro.’


That yearning has grown from being just a dream to something I actually want to reach out and grab.

*

Today’s matches are as follows:


1st Match: SY vs SCV


2nd Match: MYE vs BOQ

Based on last year’s results, the opening match’s first game was between top-tier teams, while the second was between mid-level teams.


It means a closely contested battle is expected.

[“Hello, I’m Jin Joong-han, the caster for the Legends of League Champions Korea Spring.”]

[“Hello, I’m Madman, Kim Park-sa.”]

[“Hi, I’m commentator Lim Gang-san.”]

[“Finally, the Legends of League Champions Korea opening ceremony has begun. How do you see today’s match? Let’s start with Madman Kim Park-sa.”]

[“As many fans might expect, it’s anticipated to be a close battle. However, if I had to pick a favorite, I’d cautiously lean towards the SY side.”]

[“I see. What do you think, Lim Gang-san?”]

[“I generally agree, but there’s one variable: there’ve been talks about Rainbow’s intra-team schedule recently, so the outcome is uncertain. And, is SCV an easy team? Top 4 in the Red Cup! Runner-up in the league! Those results aren’t easily obtained.”]

[“So it’s said to be a nail-biting match! Now, let’s go to the ban/pick phase!”]

As the grand opening screen passed and the ban/pick phase began, it was as follows:

[SY vs SCV]

*

The ban/pick for the 1st match was as below.

[SY / SCV]


Top: Viego / Renekton


Jungle: Xin Zhao / Diana


Mid: Akali / Raise


Bot Lane: Ezreal / Aphelios


Support: Leona / Braum

This was a composition that could be considered somewhat balanced.


However, given that Akali had been nerfed quite a bit in the current version, handling her has become trickier than before.

And…

[“This is too much, SCV! If you have this much of an advantage, shouldn’t you put up a fight at least?!”]


[“Ah… how is this happening,aaah!”]


SY lost.


It ended up being such a one-sided result that even the commentators couldn’t help but sigh in defeat.

As always with losing teams, there were various reasons, but the most significant one was losing the early skirmish at level 3 over the top crab.


After that, SY tried their best to follow SCV, but SCV is famous for their stability and tight snowballing. Naturally, they couldn’t give up that advantage, and thus, a smooth victory was claimed by SCV.

[“SCV takes the set from their rival SY!”]


[“You could feel how much they wanted this in the players’ performance!”]


[“But the opponent is SY. The ruler of the throne doesn’t simply fall!”]

After a brief break filled with advertisements, the 2nd match began.

*

The opening ceremony’s first match was a fierce battle.


It went all the way to Game 3.


And finally, the first match of the opening ceremony was completely over.

[“Ah… so this is the outcome?”]


[“What a nail-biter. Especially the duo of SCV’s BlackDog and WhiteCat displayed plays that will be talked about for ages.”]


The result was 1:2.


Victory for SCV.

Some may call it a shocking loss, but in reality, such an outcome can happen during battles between top teams within a season.


SCV did great, and SY had some shortcomings.


That was all there was to it.

Yet, even so, throughout the match, I felt a peculiar sense of alienation.


‘This isn’t the usual Rainbow.’


It’s not that they didn’t perform.


They could have done better.


Even so, with Rainbow, who was the team’s core, shaken, SY lost.


It meant that SCV was a formidable opponent.

‘…Is it my fault?’


If it is, is it due to the Prisoner, or from what happened with gameexpert4148 recently?


I had been worried a lot when I heard the rumors about Rainbow not participating in intra-team events when Prisoner disappeared recently…

‘Ugh, my head.’


I was pushing back memories I didn’t need to revive.


The events of that day still give me nightmares even now, waking me up mid-sleep.

Well… regardless of what it is, I do feel a strange sense of responsibility.


Whether it’s my fault or not.

For a professional gamer, the first match of the season, the very first game, is all crucial.


This match could decide the direction of the ensuing games.


Of course, logically, I couldn’t blame this on myself, but human conscience isn’t that clear-cut.

“……”

As I vacantly stare at the monitor with a complex mix of feelings, the announcement for the next match pops up.

[NEXT GAME]

[MYE vs BOQ]

[28:42]

The second match seems quite intriguing as well, but I turned off the Legends of League official broadcast channel.


Now isn’t the time for me to be caught up watching a tournament.

‘Level up and become a pro.’


Though it has always been my goal, I felt it becoming even stronger with today’s events.


I launched Legends of League.

‘First, let’s hit Challenger.’

*

A week later.


An enigmatic all-position user appeared in the Diamond rank.