Fading Ties, Rising Stars

Contacts with my teammates had dwindled. We weren't the type to chat constantly like close buddies anyway, but we'd kept up at least the bare minimum of friend-level messages. Not anymore.

It wasn't so much them cutting me off—it was more like I was just ignoring the usual pings. I was still exchanging a few words with Kang Hayun, but even those I kept short. And for the record, that jerk Kim Seongchan ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't messaged me once from the start.

I knew it. Building walls like this wasn't doing me any favors, and it sure as hell wasn't right.

But after that massive scrim blowout and with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a new midlaner joining the lineup, pride made it damn hard to reach out first.

Of course, I hadn't left the group chat. It was just that our team chat wasn't just the five of us anymore.

The new mid who'd taken my spot, AOD's Im Seongjun, had joined the chat.

With me still in there, the group wasn't buzzing like before. Hell, maybe the other five had made a new chat without me.

Im Seongjun, a year older than me, had naturally become the team's big bro. From what I saw in the chat, he seemed solid enough. Not as loud as Kang Hayun or as cocky as Kim Seongchan, at least.

Hard to judge from chat alone, but he'd blended into the team faster than expected. Kang Hayun even messaged me that Seongjun was adapting well.

As we shifted to game talk, I could feel Kang Hayun holding back. Text-only, sure, but just a hunch. Normally, he'd be teasing me already, saying he'd forgotten his predecessor existed.

That scrim must've hit him hard.

Obviously, fitting into the team took more than a good personality. AOD was one of the four great mids, alongside me, Proud, and Hansam's Saber.

Sure, critics said his champ pool was narrow, but not narrow enough to ban out. And on his best picks? Even Proud had to yield.

If he meshed well, Tundra could unleash their potential—maybe not at my level, but close enough.

"Good to hear" wasn't a lie. Even benched, I had affection for this team. I didn't want them crumbling without me—AOD shining was something to cheer for.

Even if it stung a little.

After my last message, silence stretched. Maybe he was mulling something over. I was about to ignore it when another ping came.

I was basically bench trash, but still part of the team. Watching scrims was the least I could do, even if I'd been dodging with excuses.

Couldn't ignore forever. For my comeback prep, I needed eyes on the team. Rival... nah (that was only Proud). But competing for starter spot meant studying AOD's games.

I was still hiding my gender change from everyone. Last time, I'd snapped at the coach in frustration, but he apologized profusely and begged me to hang in there a bit longer, so I did.

Point was, it came off awkward. No good comeback to Hayun's jab.

Yeah, that about summed it up.

Scrim rumors spreading, huh.

Didn't know if they were true. Easy enough to check, but I'd been willfully blind.

Scrim time hit. I closed the community site and logged into the scrim server. Punched in the room name and pass from the group chat. Most players were there, minus a few stragglers.

...Against Starforce today, right.

Starforce Gaming players filled the enemy slots, Proud included.

Rest trickled in, general chat greetings flew. I lurked, but enemy support Steak—Lee Ji-cheol—pinged me.

Not tight with Starforce guys, but Ji-cheol was a social butterfly, glomming onto anyone. Made sense—he guested on other teams' streams so much, folks joked about his roam paths.

Last in: AOD. Ten players ready.

I joined the team's in-game voice. Ban-pick kicked off. We had red side, no first pick. Engineer still the hot topic. Couldn't grab it first, so counter or ban time.

"Hyung, think you can handle Proud's Engineer? Poke this time?"

"Manageable. Bard sustain should hold fine."

Im Seongjun answered Hayun confidently.

Bard, the artist juggling instruments, was emerging as an Engineer counter.

Not a lane bully, but his object-destruction skill wrecked Engineer's satellite zone control. Long-range CC countered ganks too, pressuring the squishy Engineer.

Starforce first-picked Engineer. We snagged surging Ranger and Priest for bot duo.

Short range but explosive DPS hypercarry Ranger paired with gold-standard support Priest: weak early laning, slow scaling, but massive payoff.

Enemy insured with Hunter and Pagan. Hunter usually poking, but support-enabled attack speed build could carry. Flexible for later picks.

Third pick: Our promised Bard counter. Second ban phase.

Both sides, having first-picked mid/bot, banned awkward top/jungle. End result: Our comp unbalanced but counter-heavy; Starforce snowball insurance.

We usually favored balance, but AOD shifted the vibe.

Tough game ahead. Our mistakes would hurt more than usual—Starforce's bans edged it. Could AOD digest this fresh synergy?

Worse: Proud on Engineer, the top OP pick. Bard countered, but class weight favored Engineer. Even I'd struggle—could AOD?

Doubt lingering, game one launched.

And then,

The result shocked.

21 to 11 kills.

Tundra beat Starforce. Not a stomp, but against matchup-favored foes and shaky bans, a clean win. Gave up some kills, but mid-game on, Tundra never trailed.

Center: Mid lane dominance.

AOD's performance.

...Not me. AOD.

The scrim clean sweep rumor? No lie.