Chapter 73: Kawaii Culture

‘What’s going on?’

People calling my name in Japanese.

People trying to talk to me in broken Korean.

People waving uniforms. A larger crowd than expected was waiting for us.

“Wow… Seo-ha, the rumors about your popularity in Japan were true.”

“Me?”

“Look, they’re all wearing your uniform.”

Indeed, everyone holding or wearing an ARK uniform had my nickname on it.

“Let’s get out of here.”

The coach, momentarily stunned by the crowd of fans, urged us to move.

It would be more of a nuisance than fan service to stay here.

We got into the car, still feeling bewildered, and the manager, behind the wheel, explained.

“Seo-ha, I didn’t realize your popularity in Japan was this intense.”

“But I’ve never played for a Japanese team.”

Usually, for a Korean player to be popular in Japan, they’d have to have played on a Japanese team.

Or at least frequently scrimmed against or shown respect towards Japanese teams.

None of that applied to me.

“The reason? There probably isn’t one.”
“Huh?”
“You’re just cute.”

I’d asked out of curiosity, but it took me a moment to process the answer.

Cute?

Seeing my confusion, the manager elaborated.

“The team sometimes uploads challenge videos on SNS, right?”

“But I haven’t seen many Japanese followers on my SNS.”

“Of course not, they’re all watching from unofficial channels.”

So, someone was re-uploading the videos from my SNS onto Japanese social media platforms without permission.

And that’s what made me popular and increased our team’s fanbase?

I thought it was absurd that just that could make me popular, but…

“And you know about ‘kawaii’ culture in Japan, right?”

“Isn’t that just… cute?”

“It’s a whole culture in Japan. And apparently, the way you play games looks cute to Japanese people.”

The conclusion seemed to be that I was popular simply because I looked cute.

Of course, my skills combined with that cuteness probably led to this explosive popularity.

If I were just cute, it would have been a fleeting trend.

‘It’s a good thing our international fanbase is growing.’

Japan, despite its lack of League popularity, has a sizable viewership for FPS games, driven by internet streamers.

Having a chance to tap into that was a significant achievement.

---

“Whoa, we’re staying here?”

“It’s so tall.”

“It looks nice.”

“I think only the upper floors are a hotel. There are height restrictions in Japan, so they usually use lower floors for offices and upper floors for hotels.”

Arriving at the hotel entrance, my teammates looked surprised once again.

For Riot-hosted international tournaments, all teams stay at the same hotel.

And they usually provide five-star hotel suites, which is a nice perk for players.

It’s good to be comfortable when traveling abroad.

“Usually, for international competitions, we get single rooms. This time, we’ll be sharing rooms in pairs, so keep that in mind.”

“Who am I rooming with?”

“You’ll be with me, Seo-ha.”

After entering the hotel and unpacking, it was already dinner time.

We gathered not in our rooms but in a room equipped with five computers, like a practice room, to discuss dinner plans.

“Since we’re in Japan, shouldn’t we have Japanese food?”

“Just us?”

“The manager and coach went to a meeting.”

“So, what should we eat?”

We put our heads together to utilize the wisdom of the crowd, but we ended up going in circles.

After over an hour of indecision, we concluded that we’d just grab something from the convenience store.

As we were leaving the convenience store below the hotel with our snacks…

“Ano…”

A girl who had been behind me in the checkout line spoke.

Judging by her uniform, she looked like a high school student at most.

She seemed quite young.

“What’s up… Oh, right, Japan.”

The girl hesitated after speaking, unable to continue, and I couldn’t understand Japanese at all, leading to an awkward silence.

Fortunately, Lee Yoo-chan, who had followed me, came to the rescue and translated.

After a brief exchange with Lee Yoo-chan, the girl held out her phone. The screen showed a screenshot of me from an LCK match.

“She’s asking if this is you.”

“How do I say ‘yes’?”

“‘Hai’ or ‘Sou desu’.”

After hearing Lee Yoo-chan’s explanation, I answered, and the girl’s face immediately brightened.

She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a notebook and pen.

Even without understanding Japanese, I could tell she wanted an autograph.

I took the notebook, signed it, and even drew a little star next to it, making her even happier.

“And she wants to take a picture with you.”

As Lee Yoo-chan translated, the girl looked at me with eager eyes.

It was surprising to meet a local fan here, but there was no reason not to oblige.

“She also wants you to do your POG pose.”

After taking a picture together, the girl showed me a picture of my POG pose on her phone.

I smiled and made a finger heart, as I usually do.

“E… Kawaii…”

After taking another picture with the POG pose, she bowed deeply and left.

Watching her, my teammates said,

“Seriously, Seo-ha’s more popular than the four of us combined.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Still, I’m at least second.”

“What makes you think you’re second?”

The next day…

I woke up groggily and turned on my phone to see something strange.

‘My follower count went up by tens of thousands overnight?’

My SNS followers had increased by tens of thousands overnight.

Wondering what happened, I looked into it.

‘A famous Japanese singer mentioned me?’

While browsing the community forums, I found a post. A globally popular Japanese singer had mentioned me.

“This singer is performing the MSI theme song.”

The manager, who had just woken up, told me that the famous singer who mentioned me was in charge of the MSI theme song.

“Seo-ha, did you meet this person yesterday?”

“Huh? No, I just played a few ARAM games with my teammates and went to bed.”

“But there’s a picture of you two together online.”

The picture the manager showed me…

‘…This looks like the picture I took with that student yesterday.’

I finally understood what had happened.

The student I met yesterday was a famous, talented singer.

And by mentioning me in a post with our picture together, my follower count exploded.

“Wow, Seo-ha, what do you think of her?”

“Huh?”

“This singer performs with her face covered. I heard she’ll be performing at the finals without revealing her face.”

That piqued my interest.

‘I’m pretty sure she was beautiful…’

---

Ikemi Seino, 17 years old.

She performs as a singer-songwriter under the name Ray, and she’s a talented artist with a hit song that has over 100 million views on YouTube.

But Seino had a worry.

“Seino, aren’t you going to school again today?”

She struggled to interact with her peers.

There were various reasons for this.

Frequent moves meant she had no local friends.

She stuttered during self-introductions when she started high school.

And, though unaware of it herself, her exceptional beauty drew envy from those around her.

“I’ll leave your food here, so make sure to eat. Even if it’s late, go to school if you feel like it.”

Despite her parents’ concerns, Seino had no intention of going to school.

She was a successful singer; she didn’t need to waste time with foolish kids her own age.

After making sure her parents had left for work, Seino went to the living room and started eating while looking at her phone.

[Para, Para! Destroying the Nexus here for the win~]

Seino was watching the LCK finals featuring ARK. She always watched the Korean broadcast for LCK matches.

Even though she didn’t understand what they were saying, she enjoyed the energetic shoutcasting and reactions.

There was a Japanese broadcast, but she’d gotten into the habit of watching the Korean one.

‘Right.’

As she was heading back to her room after finishing her meal, Seino remembered a task she’d been putting off.

She had to compose the theme song for MSI, which was being held in Japan.

She had initially wanted to decline due to the tight deadline, but she agreed after a Riot official pleaded with her, saying they needed a singer from Osaka.

With the tournament just days away, she had completed the overall melody and composition but was struggling with the last few lines of the lyrics.

‘The last part of the second verse…’

Seino preferred to develop a story and then translate it into lyrics.

Therefore, she was struggling with the lyrics for the final part of the song, equivalent to the finals of a tournament.

It was difficult to envision the finals when only the first round brackets had been released.

‘Should I go out?’

She’d been racking her brain for so long that the sun was already setting.

She decided to go outside for some fresh air.

She chose her school uniform.

She didn’t have anything else to wear, and during after-school hours, a school uniform was the best way to blend in.

She got dressed, went to her favorite dessert shop, devoured a giant parfait by herself, and came out.

Still unable to come up with any good lyrics, she felt a headache coming on.

‘ARK?’

She saw some familiar figures enter the convenience store ahead.

Four men and one woman. She couldn’t quite make out the men, but she recognized the woman’s face instantly.

‘Para!’

She knew ARK was participating in MSI, but she never dreamed she’d run into them like this.

She cautiously followed them into the convenience store, waited for them to finish checking out, and then spoke to them.

However, unlike her usual admiration, words wouldn’t come easily.

She worried about coming across as a strange person, but Para was kind to her regardless.

‘…She’s the same age as me, but she’s so confident and cool.’

Returning home, Seino completed the song in a flash, as if her previous struggles had meant nothing.