One Victory After Twenty-Four Losses

Just one game. Just one game.

After twenty-four losses, I finally scraped together that single win.

It was nothing special—just a casual 1v1 with no stakes, no rewards, no meaning whatsoever.

So why did this victory taste so goddamn sweet to me?

Aranggaiger was spamming chat, and the viewers were piling on too, but I couldn't see any of it.

I didn't want to see it.

Right now, I just wanted to savor this fleeting rush, pure and undiluted.

I didn't think it'd last or anything... but for that one moment, I'd reclaimed a piece of my old self.

No, it was even better. More intense. More devastating.

Once the high finally ebbed, I looked up at the screen. Sure enough, chats were flooding in, just as I'd expected.

Ha, sick my ass. That little shit Aranggaiger was full of energy. After getting smashed twenty-four times, I knew. She didn't seem that sick—maybe a bit off, but her condition was fine.

And the important part? I won.

I turned to the game screen and saw Aranggaiger unloading a barrage of chats. It was unexpected. Really unexpected. But she was pissed—way more than I'd thought.

I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Aranggaiger rage like that was fresh, and winning the game was just plain fun. Honestly, it had been forever since I'd enjoyed a match this much.

Not that my usual games sucked—it just meant the dopamine hit right now was insane.

"Kuhk, heh, heh, I... I won."

"I said I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠win, right? Told you Aranggaiger was total fodder."

"Yeah, yeah. No matter how much you hatestack me, I still won, right? Aranggaiger? Oh, wait—I banned your stream, didn't I?"

I paused and sent her a chat.

Haha. Right on cue, Aranggaiger raged and challenged me again. Normally, I'd accept and teach her a lesson, but not today.

Honestly, after almost six hours of streaming, I was beat. And I didn't want to ruin the afterglow. Absolutely not because I thought I'd lose if we went again.

Oh, shit—that might've been too much. I got caught up in the vibe and trolled hard, but thinking about it, Aranggaiger had a cold. Separate from her game form, she might actually be wiped out, and here I was messing with her after she humored me for hours. Probably pissed her off for real.

I hadn't thought so at first, but with no reply, my conscience started nagging.

No response.

A bit later, as I scrolled through viewer chats feeling pointless anxiety, a mystery message popped up.

What was I supposed to do? Some vague worry hit me, but with nothing else to do, I waited. Soon, another from Aranggaiger.

My mind flashed to that asshole troll from Crisu's stream recently—the one who clipped to stir shit. Why was he popping into my head? It wasn't Aranggaiger, but I knew she could turn into that kind of player anytime.

Tried to deflect, but no dice.

I surrendered. What else could I do? After five hours of sparring, this was fair trade. Say what you want, Aranggaiger was a loyal viewer—and at this point, basically an online friend.

Yeah, that was fine. I'd unban her eventually anyway. My stream already had trolls her level—no manager yet, and I didn't moderate chat much.

But still,

Mod spot? Hadn't even crossed my mind.

Oh well, couldn't be helped.

I doubted she'd mod properly—probably troll more. But those five hours earned it.

If I hadn't sparred her that long, no way.

Finally, I made Aranggaiger a mod.

"Nah, come on. I'll buy you something tasty instead. What do you want? Chicken? Pizza?"

"Mala tang?"

The random pick threw me. Not weird or anything, but it's more a girl thing, right? Usually it's chicken or pizza giftcons for this.

"Mala tang instead of chicken? Really."

"Misogynist? Cut the hatestack. Anyway, mala tang giftcons exist? We'll talk later."

Anyway, mission accomplished. For one brief moment, I'd hit peak form—no, surpassed it.

Didn't mean much practically, but that flash of light had my heart racing still. Big enough to hand Aranggaiger mod powers.

"It's late, guys. Thanks for watching. Anyway, today's 1v1 was fun."

Nah, that was pure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hatestack. While I was grinding Aranggaiger, it was the ECK Challenger League Spring regular season finale: Tundra Silver Airs vs. Starforce Gaming.

"That wasn't boring stream—it was everyone dipping for ECK Champs."

Huh?

"What's 'Byuntcheonji sobbing' mean?"

...Tundra won again?

"For real?"

"Ah... got it."

"I'm fine."

Sure, they could win. Makes sense—top two teams clashing. Tundra winning post-me with AOD? No biggie.

Should feel good, even. Tundra was my two-year home, half my pro career.

So why...

Did my mood feel so off?

"No, not that. Just sleepy all of a sudden. It's late."

"Yeah. Won the last one, had fun. Time to crash—sweet dreams, everyone."

"Aranggaiger, just this once."

Stream off.

But the weird mood lingered. Really, Tundra beating Starforce didn't bum me out. Even 2-0 post-me? Fine.

Ex-teammates thriving without me? Should be great. No bad blood—I rooted for them for real.

Yeah, Tundra winning was cool.

So why?

Why did the joy from moments ago sour like this?

...Aranggaiger sent a Discord emoji of a cute sleeping hamster.

Right, gotta buy that mala tang. Not a hundred giftcons worth of good vibes, but ten? Easy.

Thanks to her, I'd glimpsed a light I thought gone forever—even if just for a moment.

~

Next day, I woke past noon, rolled in bed checking my phone, and saw Aranggaiger's Discord.

Figured it'd be her nagging for mala tang, but nope—a link. Clicked it: LoE Gallery concept post.

Worried it was spam, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no.

Still weird as hell.

Couldn't have seen it coming.

Translation: Only jungler Jesus Yuseung left in E Revolution Gaming.

Meaning the team was done—even a nylon fan like me couldn't believe it.

My pro debut team. The one that miracle-ran to Eld Cup runner-up.

Gone.

Yesterday? Or today.