Chapter 79: Rumble Stage vs VXG (3)

“This is it.”

“Insane.”

“Nexus, please!”

“Whoa… if I get this last kill on Rakan, I’m a madman.”

An overwhelming victory. Cheers erupted from my teammates as we crushed VXG.

I took off my headset after seeing their Nexus explode.

“Nice!”

My teammates hugged each other, excluding me, since I was still at my station.

‘Anyone would think we won the whole thing.’

But defeating a team considered a tournament favorite was a significant achievement.

It instilled confidence in my teammates, assuring them that we could beat anyone. They wouldn’t be intimidated by future opponents and crumble under pressure.

“Seo-ha, that mid lane carry was insane.”

Kim Do-jin, finally calming down, approached me and offered a fist bump.

I bumped his fist, the reality of our victory sinking in.

“Phew, everyone calm down and let’s go shake hands.”

In esports, it’s customary for the winning team to approach the losing team and shake hands, so we headed towards their side of the stage.

‘…They’re surprisingly calm.’

Despite their crushing defeat, they stood up calmly and waited for us.

I observed their faces as we fist-bumped, but none of them betrayed any emotion.

Returning to the waiting room, the coach greeted us excitedly.

But all I could think was…

‘Aren’t they even frustrated…?’

It seemed strange.

Pros, whether in amateur or professional leagues, are a fiercely competitive bunch.

Losing a match should evoke anger, especially a one-sided slaughter like this one.

Sensing something was off, I immediately searched for post-match interviews.

Fortunately, an LCK reporter had interviewed Hoon.

[I believe ARK was well-prepared for today’s match. They disrupted our strategy, which revolved around Orianna, our signature pick, from the laning phase.]

Respect for the winning team was the first thing he mentioned.

[The semifinals? Even if there’s a tiebreaker, we will win and advance. And if we face ARK again, we will get our revenge.]

That calm expression despite the defeat.

I’d seen that before.

‘It was us, after the first day’s match…’

We acknowledged that the opponents played well and that we lost due to our mistakes.

But that was it.

[We will definitely win next time.]

It felt like they believed…

…that upsets happen in best-of-one matches.

[Anything you want to say to Para, who you faced in mid lane?]

Hoon paused for a moment in the interview video, then said,

[Para, I truly realized how skilled you are through this match. And if we meet again, I will respond with a carry champion as well.]

After watching the entire video, I thought…

‘Next time? We’ll definitely win next time too.’

I was determined to crush them even in a best-of-five series.

---

After the best-of-one Rumble Stage, we had a four-day break.

The semifinals were on Friday and Saturday, followed by the finals on Sunday.

It was a tight schedule for an international tournament, but I felt it was for the best.

Taking too long a break could make us lose our momentum.

‘He said one day for rest.’

The coach had said that after playing five days in a row, we needed at least one day off.

There were no scrims today, and everyone was enjoying their free time.

So, today…

“Over here!”

…I was meeting Choi Eun-seo, who was also in Japan.

I heard she had watched the matches since Day 1, but due to our busy schedule, today was the first time we could meet.

“What are you doing here instead of being at school?”

“We have this great system in Korea called ‘field trip experience learning.’”

“Isn’t that supposed to be for actual learning?”

“This is learning and studying for me.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Anyway, isn’t this a bit of a cold reaction after not seeing each other for so long?”

“Don’t you know this is what real friendship is about?”

“…You sound like an old man.”

“But…”

Next to Choi Eun-seo, or rather, slightly behind her, I saw something strange.

Hiding behind her was…

‘…A school uniform?’

The design seemed familiar. As I tried to recall where I’d seen it…

“This is Ray, the singer who performed the theme song.”

“Oh, this is her?”

Ray was the girl I met on the first day.

I felt bad for not properly greeting her back then.

I wondered if I should shake her hand and approached her, but…

“…”

“Uh…”

…she hid further behind Choi Eun-seo.

“Let’s go inside somewhere. It’s getting hot.”

At Choi Eun-seo’s suggestion, we entered a nearby cafe.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Just an Americano today.”

‘Her Japanese is good too.’

After hearing my answer, Choi Eun-seo asked the girl something and then went to order.

As I watched, intrigued…

“Uh… S-Sorry about earlier.”

The girl, who introduced herself as Seino, apologized to me in broken Korean.

“You speak Korean?”

“A… A little. I learned from watching your… stream.”

A Japanese high school girl watching my streams? I felt slightly dizzy.

It was heartwarming that she watched my streams even though she probably didn’t understand everything.

Realizing we could communicate, I spoke slowly, and we had a surprisingly engaging conversation.

“You don’t go to school?”

“No… I have… circumstances.”

I learned that her current worry was not wanting to go to school.

‘What’s there to worry about?’

As far as I knew, she had already signed with a major label and performed the theme song for a globally popular esports tournament.

It seemed strange that someone like her would be worried about going to school, so I asked why.

“But…”

Her answer revealed an unexpected reason.

‘I see.’

A person’s fame and status influence their actions.

But as a faceless singer, unable to reveal her identity, it was understandable that she felt a disconnect.

All I could offer her was…

“Then just… act like you’re nobody special at school.”

“Huh?”

“A normal high school student won’t cause a scandal for making a mistake. Well, unless you’re bullying someone or something.”

Choi Eun-seo, returning with our drinks, chimed in,

“Look at Para; she’s different off-stage, isn’t she?”

“Eh… She’s pretty and cool right now too.”

“That’s true, but she doesn’t have that ‘I’m going to crush everyone and win’ aura like she does on stage.”

“That’s true…”

“And in promotional videos, she says some cheesy lines, but usually, she talks normally like this.”

Seino, after hearing that, nodded repeatedly as if something clicked.

---

“This place is better than I expected.”

“We wasted time looking for other restaurants. I’m eating here from now on.”

It was dinner time, and the whole team had gathered.

Today, we were trying a restaurant in the hotel basement, recommended by another team’s coach.

‘It’s surprisingly good.’

The menu offered a variety of dishes, from Japanese to Western cuisine, making it easy to choose, and the food was decent.

The best part was its accessibility – we could just take the elevator down from our rooms.

“Where did you go today, Seo-ha?”

I had told the manager, but maybe I forgot to tell the coach?

“I met a friend.”

“A friend? You have friends here?”

“A friend came to watch the tournament.”

“Impressive for a high school student.”

To the coach’s comment, the manager added,

“The… the woman from Hansan, our sponsor.”

She trailed off vaguely, but the coach seemed to understand.

“Oh, her? I’d be too scared to meet her… just thinking about last time…”

“I’m a little scared too. Last time, she said she’d put their logo in the center of our uniforms since they’re sponsoring us, but then she got mad because she didn’t like the design.”

“But then she didn’t even invite us to any events, and she was serious about only caring about our performance.”

It sounded like something had happened with Choi Eun-seo. I’d ask her later when the team wasn’t around.

“By the way, it’s interesting that we’re playing against TXG.”

“It’s also surprising that Brazil knocked out North America.”

“South America essentially dragged North America down with them.”

Our first opponent in the bracket stage was TXG, the team that defeated us on the first day.

“We lost to them once, so everyone needs to stay focused.”

“They’re really good. If we underestimate them, we could actually lose.”

TXG, initially considered easy pickings in the Rumble Stage, now stood firmly in our path.

And based on their performance, they were a team to be wary of.

Including us, they had defeated two of the four major regions, albeit in best-of-one matches.

“What about you?”

“Me?”

What about me?

“I’m good. It’s a chance for revenge.”

I was happy to have this opportunity for payback.