Cracks in the Team
After three scrim sets, the voice chat room fell into silence.
And I, the cause of it all, could only hang my head low—even though no one could see me.
"...Hyung, you okay?"
"D-Don't worry about it. It's just scrims anyway."
Kim Suhyun and Kang Hayun tried to console me, but it didn't help much. They'd both been silent for a while too. And that definitely wasn't a good sign.
That was all I could say.
This wasn't like the solo queue mess-ups. Saying "it's just scrims" meant nothing.
My teammates had figured out my current state.
It wasn't unexpected. I had the judgment to assess my own skills objectively.
Still, I'd joined the scrim thinking I could at least keep up with the games and that favorable bans and picks could create a situation tailored to me—maybe it'd work out.
...I was wrong.
No, the first set wasn't that bad.
In set one, I held the lane against the Engineer with the Telekinesis user's strong laning phase. I got pushed hard, but I didn't give up any solo kills. If I could just survive like that, our team's comp would eventually pull ahead.
But poor communication led to way more issues than usual. We'd picked jungle and support that could protect the carries, so I managed to hang on. Suhyun's ADC form was solid, and I prioritized survival above all.
Of course, just not dying isn't enough. Without mid control, we took bigger losses than expected.
In the unfavorable mid-game, Seongchan in jungle called for a sneaky Frost Lord burst.
On the Horizon Valley map, a random epic monster spawns every game. The team that kills it gets a powerful buff and support from the monster's minions.
This time's Frost Lord was a massive wolf epic. Killing it adds slow to ally auto-attacks and spawns wolf packs alongside minions on lanes.
The timing itself wasn't bad. But sneaky bursts always carry risk. Before we could finish it, the enemy caught on and jumped us. We had to choose: commit to the burst and take the Lord, fight the teamfight, or somehow do both.
My judgment was still sharp.
I thought teamfighting was better than taking the Lord. The basic epic kill buff strengthens guardians, but it wouldn't fully turn the teamfight around—and the wolves wouldn't help right then.
But opinions split.
"Burst it, burst! Take it and bail!"
Seongchan ordered the Frost Lord burst. I wasn't in a position to call shots, so I followed. We got the Lord like I wanted, but lost the teamfight.
...My fault. A slight hesitation in movement from the split opinions. A tiny positioning error, unforgivable in pro play.
Suhyun survived alone and resisted, but without me on DPS, that fight was unwinnable.
We couldn't close the gap after and lost helplessly.
VP was a 6th-place team with potential. We'd given them a set.
Up to then, the mood wasn't ruined. Just scrims, after all.
"Ah, close one. Three seconds faster on the Lord burst and we'd have won."
"If Yeonwoo hadn't popped first, it might've been doable."
My clear mistake made Hayun jokingly pin it on me. It was light-hearted ribbing between friends, not forced. But I felt guilty anyway.
"It's fine. What're you sorry for? Yeonwoo's personality died with the TS."
"Hyung likes picking on sick people?"
"Fuck, why am I the trash-talker again."
Set two: do better. Give it everything. I had tried, but more—more effort.
From laning phase, I got shredded.
No counterplay. When mid explodes like that, there's nothing you can do.
The gap was so wide scrims weren't worth continuing. No data value, so we surrendered. Impossible in tourneys, but common in scrims.
Me exploding? Not common.
"Hey, don't sweat it. Scrims, scrims."
I hadn't said a word in chat, yet Hayun assumed I was down. Me, Seo Yeonwoo of all people.
"Doesn't look fine."
"Hey, Kim Seongchan. Shut it."
Seongchan's voice had an edge. We'd rarely imploded this hard, so he seemed pissed.
"Condition really okay? Last set wasn't normal either."
"Hey, hey, save feedback for after. Quiet."
"...Got it."
Seongchan seemed to calm... but,
"You joking right now?"
After losing set three the same way, he snapped.
"How's this 'fine'?! You didn't say it'd be this bad!"
"Hey, you're heated. Calm..."
"Seong Yujin, we a hobby club? We're pros. Season starts in a month. I got it at first—solo queue slumps, bad condition. Fine. But two weeks later, still like this in scrims? How do we play matches?"
...Spot on.
"Body management is pro gamer basics! Sure, maybe you collapsed from bad luck illness. Rest up. But you can't suck at the game. That's pro gaming."
Familiar words. Ones I'd always preached.
"Hey, just three sets."
"Everyone thinks it. Can't play like this. We're just not saying it 'cause Yeonwoo-hyung's sick."
"You... could be an off day. Even for Yeonwoo."
"Hate to say it, hyung. I know your smurf."
...What?
"Didn't watch every game, just records. Stuck in Master. Didn't see personally, can't swear, but didn't look good there either. Thoughts?"
"That the point now? I stayed quiet suspecting. But scrims like this? Shouldn't have joined."
...Damn.
"...Remember finals recently? You cried, but I wanted to too. Fucking pissed, shitty! But I don't wanna be the one crying next. I wanna win, take the trophy."
Yeah, of course. What we'd always talked about.
...Lift the Eld Cup, Worlds trophy for sure.
"Not in this state."
...Painfully true.
"Um..."
As tension peaked,
"VP ended quick, asked if we wanna scrim more."
"...Haa."
Suhyun's words deflated Seongchan like air from a balloon.
Only one thing I could say.
~
Voice chat ended, leaving four in the scrim room. Mood was sour. Yujin eyed Seongchan.
"Kim Seongchan, wasn't that too harsh?"
"Thank me for saying what everyone wanted."
"Watch it, Kim Seongchan."
"It's true. We're pros. Yeonwoo-hyung's key, did great—doesn't matter. Sick? Sucks. Hurts me too. But poor play from illness? Separate issue. He said he was fine, owns that. Cold fact: no sub mid, gotta field him in a month."
Yujin, Hayun, Suhyun—all knew Seongchan was right. Sudden form drops happen. But crumbling to where games don't work? Rare, but not impossible.
And not some bottom-feeder—Tundra Silver Airs. Defending E Champs champs, Eld Cup runners-up. More pressure on their shoulders.
They agreed but couldn't voice it. Seo Yeonwoo was that vital, that dear.
Then the door opened. Director Kim Sang-cheol and Coach Jang Cheol-su entered.
"What's all this? So noisy."
"Director. Coach."
"Director, got something on Yeonwoo-hyung."
Seongchan went straight in. But Kim beat him.
"...Was gonna talk about that anyway."
"Pardon?"
Kim laid it out. The four players listened silently. He finished, sighed, and said,
"That's how it is."
~
Scrims over, talk done—I fled the voice chat.
Honestly, saying I'd be fine was a lie. Thought so then, but now? Lame self-justification.
My state wasn't pro-level. Couldn't scrim properly, let alone compete.
Yet I stubbornly joined.
Even the "decent" first set? Barely scraped by—zero positive impact from me.
Even as nominal captain, pure selfishness.
Hated thinking it, but had to. Nominal or not, captain's responsible.
This went beyond me—team issue. No ugly pro play in this state. Couldn't ignore it.
...Need a sub mid. Now.
Trembling hands dialed the director.
...No answer.
Damn, said he was busy.
Fuck it—hurled the phone. It hit the wall, landed on my bed.
No fixing this shit mood.
My old self wouldn't fold to that bastard Kim Seongchan.
But even I couldn't refute him. It matched my own thoughts, my own words.
Nothing to do but fume.
...Damn.