Chapter 102: Worlds Quarterfinals (1)

‘Who believes in a Busan full course meal…’

When I first became friends with Choi Eun-seo and we introduced ourselves, I heard her mention it a few times.
Saying that Busan was her hometown, and if I ever visited, she’d treat me to a full course meal. It was now called the “Busan Full Course” meme.
At the time, I didn’t know Choi Eun-seo was the daughter of a chaebol family, and after finding out, I had simply forgotten about it.

“So, you prepared this too?”

“Huh? Nah, not this. Do you know how much this costs per day? I couldn’t get them to give us dozens of rooms just by nagging… Oh, I guess if I had asked Dad, he would have.”

“I thought you went out of your way for me.”

“Hansan is an official LCK sponsor, and Riot can handle it as business expenses. It worked out well for everyone.”

“Still, it’s thanks to you. Thank you.”

Hearing my thanks, Choi Eun-seo looked at me intently.

“If you’re thankful?”

Saying that, she held out her hand to me.
I held up both my hands as if holding something between them and placed them on her hand.

“What’s this?”

“The Worlds trophy.”

“…”

After three seconds of silence, Choi Eun-seo and I burst into laughter simultaneously.

“But seriously, won’t it be good for you if you win?”

“No, right? Hansan is one of our team’s sponsors, and isn’t it a great opportunity to promote it overseas?”

“Well, our company already makes more from overseas anyway. But for now, I’ll be satisfied with that.”

It felt awkward to keep talking at the door, so I told her to come in.

“Huh? Did you forget what I just said?”

“?”

“I said I’d treat you to a full course meal. Quickly, grab your clothes and come out.”

The quarterfinals were still two days away, and our match was on the fourth day, leaving almost six days.
For that reason, today was free time, so I readily put on some clothes and left the hotel room.
I took the elevator down as she told me to come to the parking lot.

“Here!”

Next to Choi Eun-seo, who was waving her hand beside a driver I occasionally saw, another familiar face appeared.

‘…Huh?’
I approached her with a sense of welcome and greeted her.

“Long time no see, Seino.”

“…”

However, Seino looked at me once and quickly turned her head away.

‘Is she still mad?’
I had replied to her messages after qualifying for Worlds, but all the messages I sent were marked as read, yet no reply came.
Since I was the one who had initially ghosted her, I had nothing to say.
But seeing Seino, who had been so kind since our first meeting, acting like this even now, felt a bit embarrassing and made me feel guilty.

‘She must be very angry.’
It didn’t seem like saying anything now would fix things immediately, so I glanced at Choi Eun-seo.
Seeing that she understood my thoughts, she simply said, “Let’s go for now,” and ushered us into the car.
The place we arrived at after a ten-minute drive was…

“This place is really good.”

A simple gukbap (rice soup) restaurant.
A place you could see near my house, or even near the team headquarters.

“But I kind of thought chaebols wouldn’t come to places like this.”

“Really? Dad and Oppa went almost every day before the company moved.”

While I was talking to Choi Eun-seo, Seino still kept her mouth shut and maintained a sulky attitude.
However, it didn’t last long.

“…You were mean.”

She puffed up her cheeks and said to me.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t in my right mind back then. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“I know that… But still, I reached out because I was really worried. And you ignored everything.”

I apologized and tried to appease her until the food arrived, and only then did Seino’s mood improve.
And then the gukbap arrived.

‘…It’s delicious.’
It was truly delicious, just as Choi Eun-seo had said.
The broth was a bit richer than other places, but it was definitely a good restaurant.

‘She eats like that.’
Looking ahead, I saw Choi Eun-seo only eating the rice and broth she had brought separately, without the meat and ingredients.

“How is it? Is it good?”

Noticing my gaze, Choi Eun-seo asked me.
When I replied that it was delicious, she asked Seino the same question, looking at her.

“It’s delicious! The broth is clean? And?”

Perhaps because she was from a country where people generally ate salty food, it was surprising that she called the broth, which was richer than average, “clean.”

“As expected, Korean Koopa… it’s delicious.”

“But why do you call it Koopa? You pronounce everything else well.”

I was also curious why Seino called gukbap “Koopa.”
I had assumed she just couldn’t pronounce it properly.

“Eh? You all don’t know?”

Seino’s subsequent explanation was shocking.

“In Japan, many people call gukbap, Koopa. You know that famous game. Mario, the character with the red hat.”

“I know that.”

“There’s a turtle there called Koopa, and that character’s name was taken from gukbap.”

She said it was a famous anecdote that the game creator heard someone saying gukbap and got the name Koopa from it.
I wasn’t very interested in games other than League of Legends, so I didn’t know that.
After finishing our meal, we went to a nearby cafe.

“Wow, you can see the whole ocean at once.”

The advantage was that you could see the ocean at a glance thanks to one wall being made entirely of glass.
But perhaps because the view from the hotel room was too perfect, I wasn’t as impressed.

“What do you all want to drink?”

“I want a chocolate chip frappuccino!”

“Then I’ll have that too.”

While Choi Eun-seo went to order, I asked Seino a few questions.

“But is it true that you’re performing at the finals?”

“Yes! It’s true, really!”

As far as I knew, the opening ceremony for Worlds held in Korea was the exclusive domain of K-pop idols.
Just as Seino performed the MSI theme song when it was held in Japan, Western countries usually have famous singers or rock bands perform, while in Korea, it’s usually idols, reflecting the famous artists of that country.
I wondered why Seino would be doing it.

“I’m becoming an idol!”

“…?”

My mind froze at Seino’s words.
And a moment later.

“You won’t understand if you put it like that,”

Choi Eun-seo, who had returned with a tray of drinks, began to explain.

“Her performance at MSI got a good reaction, so she went on a Japan tour after that. During that time, she made connections with an idol group performing at Worlds.”

By chance, an idol group whose performance period overlapped appeared as a guest at Seino’s concert, forming a connection.

‘I did hear that she liked idols before watching League of Legends.’
That’s how she ended up participating in this year’s Worlds theme song as a featured artist, it seemed.

“Actually, that’s not the only reason.”

Seino looked at me and said seriously.

“It’s a cheering song for a friend? Anyway, I’ll be performing at the finals this year, so you have to make it. To the finals.”

“Alright, I promise.”

“Hehe… And if I sing the opening ceremony song, I’ll also get to watch from the front row.”

I would have been a little moved if it weren’t for that last sentence.

“Good evening!”

“Hello! Now we’re approaching the final match of the quarterfinals!”

“Truly, isn’t everyone saying this is the greatest quarterfinals ever!”

“VXG and PG’s fierce battle going to five games ended with a bruised victory for VXG, and in the LCK internal match, Bon truly carried his team, smashing the 1st seed YK.”

“Additionally, in the Western matchup, the LCS’s pride, RRK, took the victory.”

“But aren’t many people looking forward to today’s match as well! It’s the match between ARK and OB!”

[Big match incoming.]

[If ARK doesn’t stomp this, they’ll just be a semifinalist if they advance.]

[If they win this, will they play against VXG?]

[If you win today, you’ll play against RRK in the semifinals.]

[How to marry Para?]

“Then, let’s begin the ban-pick!”

“First, OB has chosen the blue side. Immediately, Yone is banned.”

“Indeed, Yone isn’t a tier 1 pick, but if you’re preparing against ARK, it’s a card that causes a lot of thought.”

“He’s shown too many good performances!”

[Yone, Azir, Orianna 3 bans ㄷㄷ]

[Ban Yone and two mages, then it’s winnable?]

[But if they use 3 bans here and get first pick, ARK will get two good champions for free?]

[OB’s ban-pick has been off since groups, why are they like this?]

[Classic mid over-investment ban-pick against ARK has appeared.]

“If they’ve used 3 bans on mid, what will their first pick be…”

“They have to pick well, OB. They need to get a tier 0 pick on first pick. They’ve left too much open, so there’s a high chance ARK will win the ban-pick by picking two tier 1 champions.”

“They’re going with K’Sante.”

“It’s a pick that’s been soaring at Worlds, but…”

“And here’s Caster on Gwen!”

“Caster isn’t a player who can’t play Gwen. ARK follows up with Varus.”

“There’s no reason not to, right?”

[What will Para do?]

[But they’re getting banned quite a bit.]

[Are they just going to 5-ban her?]

“Indeed, they’ve just used 5 bans on mid in the second phase.”

“Actually, this is the right call. In the end, once ARK picked top, jungle, and ADC on first pick, it’s actually correct to ban all of Para’s picks.”

“But whether the picks this player, Para, shows can be stopped by bans remains to be seen.”

“First, OB puts Sylas in mid.”

“Among the remaining picks, a viable pick against Sylas is…”

“Ahri! She hasn’t shown her face much at Worlds until now, but she’s strong in lane and a good card.”

[Isn’t the reason they don’t play Ahri just because she’s bad?]

[Her max level Q damage is too low now, can’t one-shot minions at level 9.]

[Her early laning is still strong though lol. If she gets kills and items, she can one-shot minions just the same.]