NOVEL NEXT Chapter 59 - Someone's Memory
Fan.
It refers to a person who enthusiastically likes a player or professional in a specific field.
I still remember.
The stadium filled with countless spectators.
The sight of a player raising the Golden Mouse, signifying three championships, high above his head with both hands and cheering.
It was a historic moment.
Watching that, I felt joy and excitement.
Even if it was just vicarious satisfaction, not something I achieved myself.
Anyway, those emotions continued unchanged even when ‘Starcraft’ collapsed due to match-fixing scandals and a new scene was set with ‘League of Legends’.
The gloomy period when Europe and North America led the meta and we painfully followed behind.
The glorious moment when our country’s team overcame that dark age and won the League of Legends World Series for the first time!
Conquering the World Series for two consecutive years and competing against each other in the finals, proclaiming LCK as the strongest league.
A team even succeeds in winning three times.
All those moments were joy for me and became opportunities for my fandom towards the players to grow.
Soldier was a member of such a World Series championship team.
The pick and ban phase begins.
Our team was on the red side, in the upper formation with last pick.
I had the fifth pick order, which is generally most preferred by players, and Soldier was second, but since the red team picks 1st and 2nd together, he essentially had to choose a champion from the start.
So I typed in chat.
-HaniHani: Top, do you want last pick?
-??? Is he giving this up?
-Is this right? Where did the solitary solo queue warrior Hani go, sucking up to top lane?
-Isn’t Hani trying too hard to ride Soldier’s bus? It’s really obvious.
“No, don’t make false accusations! Top lane is such a fierce counter-pick battle, it’s advantageous for the team if they get last pick. That’s why I suggested it.”
-I find myself nodding at the streamer’s clear explanation. But why haven’t you given up your pick until now?
-For real, when top laners asked for last pick before… you’d say “Sigh, met another top lane maniac”
-Please apologize for all the insults you’ve made to top laners so far!
“Shut up and those lacking top lane sensitivity should go study!”
I deliver a sharp retort with their witty remarks and start the proper pick and ban phase.
Champions known for their overpowered performance are banned, and the opponent team’s first pick is revealed.
“It’s Sett. Hmm, the probability of top lane is a bit higher but…”
Since it’s a pick that wouldn’t be out of place as support or mid either, I reserve judgment.
Our team’s first pick chose Ezreal, and Soldier picked Jarvan IV as I suggested.
Back to the opponent’s side, their 2nd pick was Ashe, 3rd pick was Thresh.
Our team picked LeBlanc and Morgana, the traditional counter to grab-type champions… good choices.
Now we just need to watch the opponent team’s final selections.
After stalling for a moment, Lee Sin and Lissandra are revealed.
Lissandra pick, which appears occasionally as a counter to LeBlanc.
This confirmed that the enemy top was Sett.
-SoldierAndMedic: Give me Teemo please.
-HaniHani: What?
-As expected of a former pro! He knows about the broadcast!
It was the moment my fandom shattered.
-Breaking news) Soldier apparently has a 150,000 won mission for picking Teemo
-ㅋ This is hilarious. Hani, are you starting off with a crisp loss from the first game today?
-Teemo of all things!?
Trying hard to ignore the viewers’ excited reactions, I received Teemo’s leash and started jungling with the red reverse buff.
The bottom lane will try to delay their correct buff as much as possible, but at this level, there’s no one who falls for it easily.
Then now is the moment of decision.
‘Of course, counter-jungling.’
It’s a choice to maximize the ability of Guillotine Match 4.
I boldly ping and enter towards the enemy’s blue buff.
Looking at the lanes, mid has LeBlanc slightly retreating due to weak early push, and top has Teemo constantly firing poison darts to push Sett back.
Although he picked Teemo because of the mission, Soldier wasn’t originally a person of this tier.
Even with an entertainment pick, he’d easily do his part and more.
Putting aside my slight worry, I place a ward in the bush next to blue and retreat to wait behind the mid lane wall.
Soon after, Lee Sin appears with a sonic wave and is seen fighting the blue buff through the ward.
‘Whew…’
It was a slightly tense moment.
Smite fights were high-difficulty, ultra-precise operations that even famous pro players often make mistakes in.
My skill damage, the opponent’s auto-attack and skill damage… and even predicting and calculating the timing of using them.
In the midst of such tension, the ability of Guillotine Match 4 activates.
Thrilling sensations felt between the joints of my fingers.
They urge me on.
Right now!
“…!”
I dash out from behind the wall with my spear.
It was timing that completely shattered Lee Sin’s expectations, and the use of the smite spell that followed was perfect like flowing water.
-Wow! She’s really on fire these days. I can’t even remember the last time Hani failed an early counter-jungle.
-For real, it must be so frustrating from the enemy jungler’s perspective. You work hard hitting it, then see it neatly stolen ㅋ
-Here it’s Korean League etiquette to type ‘gg Lee Sin’ in all chat. Agree? Yeah agree!
-The guy above keeps making malicious comments even in Hani’s broadcast, and now he’s the embodiment of a toxic chatter even in League of Legends ㅋ
The battle wasn’t over yet.
I achieved the initial goal of stealing blue, but all my skills were on cooldown while Lee Sin’s skill cooldowns were about to come back.
As expected, after exchanging two auto-attacks, he immediately uses his Q skill.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
That blatant movement rather became a hint.
The sharpened senses from the effect of Guillotine Match 4 allowed me to dodge Lee Sin’s sonic wave with an instantaneous judgment.
-She dodged that? What’s with that reaction speed!
-Wow, that’s insane. This is really insane.
-Hani player, I think we need to do a doping test? We’ll start with a urine test first. Right now, go to the bathroom and your underwear…
[User DirtyJokeExpert has been forcibly removed.]
-Look at this guy trying to make a urine test joke ㅋ
Mid lane Lissandra is fast, and top lane Teemo is close.
Since I gained an advantage, I retreat towards the top without overdoing it and then clear the gromp.
Level 3 like this!
Lee Sin would have cleared the frog, but due to losing blue, he should still be level 2.
Naturally, the top scuttle crab becomes mine.
I deliciously take the scuttle crab and clear the raptors and wolves to reach level 4.
I was slightly tempted by the bottom scuttle crab too, but since the bottom lane situation wasn’t good, I cleanly gave it up and cleared my original blue and frog before recalling.
I slap the merchant’s cheek with a well-filled money pouch and purchase shoes and a weapon.
A pink ward is a bonus.
I also change the trinket to a lens and prepare for another raid.
The first invasion ended lightly with blue, but this time I plan to take something more important.
The enemy’s life!
I disappear into the enemy jungle quietly and stealthily.
It’s boring.
Even with over 5,000 real-time viewers and a 100,000 won mission popping up, there was no particular excitement.
I just throw out comments carelessly as they come out of my mouth and play the game with mechanical movements.
When did it start?
It wasn’t like this from the beginning.
When I first quit being a pro gamer, I really worked hard… with the freshness and the thought of taking on a new challenge.
But after about a year, all those efforts became an illusion.
This is fake.
The real me is still tied to the past.
The most intense memory in 28 years of life.
I still can’t forget.
Countless people gathered.
Just to share that moment when I and our team took the strongest position!
The cheers of the audience deafen my ears and the flashes of cameras bursting from all directions blind my eyes.
That perfect moment that gave me goosebumps.
All the team members join forces to lift the huge World Series trophy above our heads.
And then I wake up from the dream.
Clutching my slightly trembling right hand.
Just 1 year.
It was a really short prime.
Basically, pro gamers had short primes.
It’s hard to find pro gamers in their 30s, and even after mid-20s, you often hear that your physical abilities are declining.
I debuted late to begin with, 2-3 years older than my teammates.
That’s why my prime ended faster, and when the team failed to make it to the World Series the following year, I took responsibility and announced my retirement as a pro gamer.
The path of a streamer I walked after that.
I was lucky to establish myself and even heard evaluations that I was quite successful.
But that’s just meaningless window dressing.
The true me was longing.
The thrill of the World Series I experienced only once in my life.
The sensation of that time.
A new experience that would make me feel something similar to that.
“A Teemo mission? Alright. I’ll show you properly in this game.”
Today too, I was eagerly waiting.