Chapter 45: Season Opening (1)

Scrims to prepare for the upcoming large-scale patch.

Our record was 2 wins and 5 losses, which wasn’t very good.

The reason was the newly introduced objective this season, the Voidgrubs.

They appear in the Baron pit starting at 6 minutes of game time, 3 at a time.

The respawn time is 4 minutes, and up to 6 can be hunted.

The effect is that up to 3 provide additional true damage when attacking turrets, and when attacking turrets with 4 or 6, a monster called Voidmites is summoned.

The point where Voidgrubs are overpowered is that in professional games, it’s common to give and take.

For example, if the opponent is focusing on the bot lane, you give up the bot turret and destroy the top turret.

But because the pushing speed of the side that ate the Voidgrubs was too fast, the exchange didn’t work.

The opposing team had the problem of having to force a fight to prevent the turrets from being hit.

There were even quite a few cases where the game ended due to Voidgrubs, in situations where it could end in a few seconds difference.

“We have to eat these Voidgrubs.”

“Yeah, they’re pushed too fast.”

“The exchange doesn’t work the moment they’re eaten.”

The problem is that our team is relatively weak in the top lane, and we don’t invest in the draft for the top lane.

That problem appeared in the early Voidgrub fights, frequently giving up the Voidgrubs to the opponent.

The scrim win rate was bound to be poor.

‘Mid lane power has its limits.’

The mid AD champions I like were good in the Voidgrub fight meta.

Nevertheless, if Renekton or Udyr came down from the opponent’s top lane, the fight itself was impossible.

‘Voidgrubs will get nerfed later.’

From the position of aiming for international competition, managing points in the early season is also an important issue.

To do that, we needed to gain an advantage in the Voidgrub fights in the early season.

The conclusion.

“We have to pick Gwen in top.”

The top lane also needed to have some initiative.

“Certainly, there’s a big difference between using Gwen and not using it.”

The cards that could be picked in the top lane this season were Udyr, K’Sante, and Aatrox.

And if you looked at the details, there was Gwen, who could beat all three champions.

‘He’s good at enduring.’

To say he’s good at enduring means, conversely, that being pushed by the opposing top laner is the default.

“For now, let’s stop here for today.”

In a bad atmosphere, the coach clapped his hands and ended the practice.

After the team members went up to the dormitory on the 3rd floor, I was about to go home.

“Do you have a moment?”

Park Jin-hwan, who was the last to remain and replay the replay, stopped me.

Could it be that he’s going to confess when no one else is around?

I asked cautiously, just in case.

“Wh…why?”

“Do you know how to play top?”

But the story that came out of Park Jin-hwan’s mouth was different from my expectation.

“Top lane?”

I didn’t know all the matchups perfectly like top-tier top laners, but I had a grasp of the basics.

I answered like that.

“Then…can you teach me?”

It was a series of unexpected stories, so I was a little surprised.

‘It’s the first time.’

Park Jin-hwan was someone I had spent 3 years with in my past life.

I thought we were close in those days, but it’s the first time he’s asked me to teach him the game like this.

Park Jin-hwan wasn’t the type to ask someone for something in the first place.

“I can’t teach you perfectly, is that okay?”

“Honestly, I think you’re better at top than Spread.”

Spread was the Chinese top laner of VXG, who won this Worlds.

To think that I’m better than such a person, I thought he was overestimating me.

But looking at Park Jin-hwan’s serious expression, it didn’t seem like that.

“But, why are you asking me? There must be other close top laners, and aren’t you usually the type to not ask others?”

“That’s…”

Park Jin-hwan hesitated for a moment and answered.

“You helped Yoosung when his mentality broke down during the last qualifiers. After that, his skill suddenly seemed to improve.”

So that was the reason.

“Would it be difficult?”

Park Jin-hwan waited for my answer, fidgeting like someone who had confessed and was waiting.

That look of wanting to learn, there was no need to Worry.

“I don’t speak softly like the coach or Dojin oppa.”

“It’s okay.”

“Really?”

“You’re the one teaching, of course.”

‘Is he the same person…?’

Park Jin-hwan looked to the side cautiously.

Certainly, his face hadn’t changed.

A doll-like appearance that anyone would turn to look at once.

But where did that gentle, honestly, the person that no man could hate, go?

“Do you have time to look to the side now? Are you calculating how many seconds are left on the opponent’s Aatrox skill cooldown? That’s why you’re always getting solo killed by the opponent’s top laner, you know?”

It wasn’t that Yoon Seoha was yelling or getting angry.

She was just pointing out Park Jin-hwan’s mistakes by the second, as if she was frustrated.

Even so, the reason Park Jin-hwan was listening quietly was.

‘It’s all correct.’

He gave real-time feedback, and none of it was wrong.

He thought he had accumulated various theories and basic knowledge while living as a pro, even if it was in the 2nd division.

He was even more confident after winning the promotion match.

He felt like everything he had until now was being denied.

“Do you know what’s ridiculous about this? Ghost got nerfed, so you brought Ignite, but you keep losing to Aatrox.”

“The opponent’s jungler…”

“No, if you use W to dodge just the tip of Aatrox’s Q, you win even with a 2-level difference.”

“Doesn’t that require the opponent to be bad?”

“No, you have to charge Q4 stack and then move forward to play mind games, and you have to gain an advantage there, you know?”

“What if the opponent doesn’t fight?”

“You have to push. Just look at the Q cooldown difference.”

Yoon Seoha’s words were like saying that if you study every day with a focus on textbooks, you can go to Seoul National University.

If any student said that, it would sound absurd, but if a person who actually went to Seoul National University said it, it was the right thing to say.

From Park Jin-hwan’s point of view, there was not a single wrong thing in what Yoon Seoha said.

‘He wasn’t just good at mechanics.’

When evaluating Yoon Seoha, most players, including Park Jin-hwan, picked unreasonable trades and engagements that came from mechanics as strengths.

But learning like this, I could know.

That the unreasonable trade occurs due to the 0.1 second difference in skill cooldown.

How much work you have to prepare in advance for an engagement that you will always win.

As the saying goes, you see as much as you know, the more I learned, the more I could see how far away Yoon Seoha was.

“I think I have to go now.”

“Ah, that’s right. You’re going home late because of me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Instead, try reviewing what I taught you today while playing solo queue.”

Watching Yoon Seoha leave the practice room, Park Jin-hwan could finally understand what his teammates had said a while ago.

Unlike himself, who had a girlfriend, he thought that the team members who didn’t have a lover might have a crush on Yoon Seoha.

But, all the team members denied that it would ever happen.

‘…He’s just an object of respect.’

I think I get it now, Park Jin-hwan started playing solo queue again.

“Wow, hyung, is it true that you mastered Gwen and Aatrox in a week?”

“You succeeded in this.”

“Well done, Jin-hwan.”

“Wow, you did in a week what you couldn’t do in 2 years.”

The coach and team members didn’t spare praise for Park Jin-hwan.

That was because all three scrims played today were games that started in the top lane and ended in the top lane.

‘He had to do this much since I worked overtime every day.’

It was me who taught him, giving up the time to go home and watch Reels and Shorts.

He has to do this much to make it worthwhile.

‘He’s good in the future, though.’

Anyway, Park Jin-hwan in the future was a talent who would grow into one of the top laners representing the LCK.

He was a so-called late bloomer, struggling for several years even after going up to the 1st division, but eventually turning into a top-tier player.

The problem was when he could equip a carry champion, and I pulled that a little closer.

“I think my skills have improved a lot thanks to you. Thank you.”

While I was satisfied with Park Jin-hwan’s skill improvement, he approached me and thanked me.

“It’s because you worked hard, oppa.”

“No. It’s all because you taught me well.”

“There are people who can’t follow, though.”

Time was already mid-December. Led by Park Jin-hwan, who was equipped with a carry champion, our team was doing well in scrims.

At the same time that the victory screen, which had now become routine, popped up, the coach said.

“You know what day it is today, right? Let’s all get ready.”

3 weeks until the LCK opening. Today was the day to film the profiles and the LCK opening.

I packed my uniform and got in the car.

“All the other teams are there, so don’t do anything too flashy.”

The coach was also nervous because it was his first time in the LCK.

Still, aren’t the coaching staff all acquainted from their StarCraft days?

LoL Park was a little further away than the CK stadium, so it took some time to arrive.

‘Did they film this season’s opening at LoL Park?’

Usually, the opening is usually filmed by renting a set.

But sometimes there were cases like this where it was done at LoL Park, so it wasn’t strange.

“Except for Para…um, we’ll only film Resher.”

“Yes?”