Chapter 100: WORLD (1)

“Wow, TXG is back in Groups after all.”

“They’re a good team, even back at MSI.”

“Japan will shock the world.”

“But since it’s in Korea, it’ll be easier for Japanese fans to come if a Japanese team makes it.”

To summarize the Worlds schedule:
The Play-In Stage selects 2 teams out of 10, with 2 teams from each minor league participating.
Followed by the Group Stage, selecting 6 teams out of 16.
Then the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and finally the Grand Finals.

A question might arise here:
If the four major leagues go straight to the Group Stage, why does the Group Stage involve 16 teams, including the 2 teams from Play-Ins?
The reason was simple.

‘Because North America and Europe don’t have 4th seeds.’
LCS, North America, had only 3 seeds because they hadn’t won an international tournament in the last five years.
LEC won MSI last year, but due to league format changes, two teams dropped out, and they operated with only 8 teams, reducing their seeds to 3.

‘It’s good for us, though.’
Thanks to that, even though we were the 4th seed, we started directly from Groups without going through Play-Ins, which was an advantage for us.
While playing many games is considered good, games against Play-In teams aren’t always advantageous due to unexpected variables.
For this reason, the team was gathered, watching the Play-In matches, when…

“Everyone, please check this out.”
The manager opened the practice room door and came in.
He rarely visited the practice room, so the team’s attention was drawn to him, wondering what was going on.
The manager connected a portable tablet he took from his pocket to the screen on the practice room wall.
What appeared on it was…

“Wow, did they all draw these themselves?”
Dozens of fan arts.

“Everyone, pick one from here.”
I wondered how they would pick 5 people, and it turned out each person would choose one drawing.

‘They’re all well-drawn.’
Perhaps it was because the prize was quite substantial.
Most of them highlighted our team’s unique characteristics well, and were pleasing to the eye.

“I’ll go with this one.”
Park Jin-hwan chose a drawing of himself with K’Sante.

“I’ll take this.”
Kim Do-jin chose a drawing featuring all five team members.

“I’ll go with this one.”
Jin Yu-seong chose a drawing of himself holding Varus’s arrows.

“I’ll take this.”
Lee Yoo-chan chose a drawing of the bot lane duo.

‘Me.’
Among the many splendid drawings, what I chose was…

“What? You’re going with that one?”
The teammates next to me questioned my choice.
That was understandable; the drawing I chose was, to put it nicely, crude, and to put it badly, poorly drawn.

“Isn’t it cute?”
“This?”
“It’s not exactly well-drawn, but the fact that they even drew the coach, and these champions are the ones we mainly used back in CK.”

It wasn’t an idea that people who can’t draw well should also be chosen.
It was simply that I liked it when I first saw it.
That’s it.

And a few days later.
The day after all the Play-In matches ended, five fans who had won the fan art contest visited the team’s headquarters.
Today’s schedule was for each player to host the fan whose art they chose for a day.

“Ah, hello!”
The person I picked had a familiar face.
More precisely, I recognized her by her age, not her face.
A young girl, barely a high schooler, younger than my current self.

“Haven’t we met before?”
“Oh, yes! Um, after the LCK finals, in the parking lot…”

So that’s who it was. The girl I had signed an autograph for in the parking lot after the LCK finals.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yes! Um… Para, thank you for picking my drawing!”

Compared to the other drawings, it was a bit crude, but it made sense if a middle schooler drew it.

“It’s not that well-drawn… so I feel a bit sorry for the others who weren’t picked.”
“I picked it, so is it my fault then?”
“Oh, oh no! That’s not what I meant.”
“I picked it because I liked it. Don’t overthink it, and I hope you have fun today.”
“…Yes!”

For now, until lunch, we had time to freely introduce the team’s headquarters to our respective fans.

“Then, shall we go up and take a look at each floor?”
“Yes!”

The first floor of the building housed trophy display cases, a reception area, and offices.
One floor up was the practice room and the players’ lounge.
The top floor, the third, was the dorms.

‘What do I do.’
The problem was, after touring the first two floors, a question arose just before heading to the third.
It was a place that felt like home in my past life, but now it was a space I rarely entered unless I was waking up my teammates.
As I was wondering if it was okay for me to introduce this place, then…

“Oh?”
I ran into Park Jin-hwan and a male fan who seemed to have just finished their tour and were coming down.

“Is something wrong?”
“I was wondering if it’s okay to show the dorms too.”
“Yeah, it should be fine since we’ve already cleaned everything up anyway, right?”

Reassured by his words, I went upstairs.
Indeed, unlike its usual messy state, things were in their proper places, and the distinct smell of men living together had been replaced by a pleasant mint scent.

‘They must have worked hard.’
Feeling the manager’s efforts, I went up to the third floor and guided her through the dorms.
I showed her the room shared by top and jungle, the opposite room shared by the bot duo, and even the farthest room, which was technically mine, though I didn’t use it.

“Para’s room is completely empty, isn’t it?”
“I commute, you see.”
“I saw it in the documentary, but it’s amazing. Commuting two hours every day isn’t easy.”
“It’s not that hard.”

Afterward, we ate together and finished the coaching session in the practice room.
Today’s schedule ended here. Finally, while gathered for a simple fan meeting and autographs…

“Um, excuse me…”
The girl, getting an autograph on the keyboard she brought, hesitated and spoke.

“Today feels different…”
“Yes?”
“I went to watch your game during the regular season. Even though you lost.”

‘Ah.’
My condition wasn’t normal back then.
I felt sorry that a fan who came from afar had to witness that, but…

“But I’m glad you seem to be feeling better now!”
She simply said that it didn’t matter, and that she was glad to see me looking okay now.
The only words I could offer such a fan were:

“This time, I’ll definitely show you good results. Please look forward to it and cheer us on.”
“Yes!”

‘Wow.’
An arena building in Seoul where the Worlds Group Stage was being held.
Usually, studios named ‘arena’ have over 10,000 seats, but this one in Seoul had about 3,000.
However, perhaps due to the special nature of a Worlds match, Ye-jin was secretly impressed by the countless overseas fans, a number incomparable to the previous LCK finals.

‘Thank you so much, Para.’
Even amidst her awe, Ye-jin didn’t forget to thank Para for choosing her.
Following the 1st seed teams, who boasted incredible popularity, most of the remaining seeds were also popular and traditional teams.
Because of that, getting even a Group Stage ticket for this Worlds wasn’t easy, so thanking the player who gave her such a valuable experience, including a visit to the team headquarters and a ticket, was only natural.

[Contact me when it’s over.]
[Okay.]

If it had been a weekday match, she might not have been able to come even with a ticket. But fortunately, the first day of the Group Stage was a Saturday, so she could come with her parents.
However, her parents were sightseeing in Seoul, leaving Ye-jin alone at the stadium.

‘My seat…’
First, she found the seat written on the ticket.
She put her bag under the chair and was about to take a commemorative photo when…

“Are you an ARK fan?”
A woman sitting next to her asked Ye-jin in a friendly manner.
She pondered the situation for a moment, then realized she was wearing an ARK uniform.
And the woman next to her was also wearing an ARK uniform.

“Oh, yes!”
When she confirmed, the woman next to her smiled brightly and began talking.
After a series of discussions about ARK, a less welcome topic was brought up.

“Today’s opponent is… PG, right?”
It was today’s matchup.
The first match of the Group Stage pits a 1st seed against a 4th seed.
And the 1st seed in ARK’s group was PG.
They were being evaluated as even stronger than they were at MSI, having won the European league undefeated.

‘Actually, it’s a relief we’re not in the same group as VXG.’
In the Group Stage, passing was one thing, but it was crucial to advance as the first seed.

‘Though 2 out of 4 teams survive.’
If they advanced as second place, they could face a first-place team, for example, VXG, right in the quarterfinals.
Such a situation had to be avoided at all costs, so they needed to win all the matches in the Group Stage.
However, PG itself was not an easy team to face, and since they met a 1st seed in the very first game of a series where momentum was important, Ye-jin expected it to be tough.

“I think we can do it today.”
“Really? But PG is almost right behind VXG in power rankings.”
“Still, all our team’s players are in top form.”

As the woman spoke, the commentators’ shouts announcing the start of the first match were heard, and the players entered.

“Because mid lane has gotten their head straight.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Well, they’ll show us in the game.”

And less than 20 minutes later.

[No way, ARK, aren’t they too strong!?]
[They utterly crushed PG, who was called the ‘Scourge of Europe,’ in less than 20 minutes, with a perfect score!]