The Seventh Balance Game

I'd been unable to let Ajeong's taunting slide, and ended up proposing a bet.

"A bet?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, right. Should we do that first?"

I had no idea what "that" was, but apparently there was something we'd already agreed on.

Ding—

I accepted the new invite that popped up and found myself dropped into a custom user game.

"We said we'd do one-on-one!"

"Ah…"

I hadn't seen that coming.

The only reason I'd accepted a one-on-one bet was because I'd assumed we'd be playing side by side at the PC bang. Without being able to work her flanks in person, my odds of winning dropped cold and hard.

"Let's save that for later. We've got a long way to go today."

"Mm…"

"We need to check placements first if we're finishing today."

"Does it really matter if we don't finish today? The whole point is just playing all day."

"Then… next North London Derby day! Let's do it then. We go to a PC bang together, play one-on-one, and watch the match. How's that?"

"Oh… I like it! Hehe… Today, unnie will look after you!"

Thankfully, I managed to push the one-on-one off.

"So what's the bet for today?"

"Who carries harder? Whoever gets more votes in the post-game popularity poll wins."

"I'm going to win that for sure."

"Just try it. I've got a plan."

"Fine! Accept the invite again, quick! Let's go!"

I wouldn't deny that Ajeong was better at League than me—by a razor-thin margin. And because that margin was so thin, I figured I could flip it any time. Just not right this second.

On top of that, her position was ADC. To rack up popularity votes, you needed to leave a deep impression in the late game—and that was usually the ADC's job to collect.

Even so, I had my own reasons for betting with confidence.

Roaming.

Roaming meant intervening on other lanes. And the position that came to mind the moment you said roaming was the one I mainly played: Support.

Care for every teammate one by one, tailored to their needs, and start banking points from the early game. The popularity poll didn't force you to pick only one person, so you didn't have to be the absolute best. Minimum goodwill. That much was enough for people to spare me their leftover votes.

"Woohyun, since it's the first game, let's go with the combo that worked last time!"

Ajeong locked in first—the same carry-type ADC she'd played before. Something about constantly swapping weapons; I still didn't fully understand the mechanics.

If she was talking about the combo that had worked well, she was asking me to pick a utility support again.

But the champion I planned to main today was already decided.

Woooooooooaaaaah—

The moment I selected the character, a space-shaking sound effect rolled through the speakers.

"Woohyun? Why that all of a sudden…"

"This is my main. I'm confident—just trust me."

"Mm… okay! Fighting!"

The champion I'd locked was one of the more hands-on supports. Every skill could deliver massive returns depending on how you used it—or get you flamed as complete trash. And among those skills, the most distinctive was the passive: chimes that spawned all over the map. Eat them and you got a speed boost plus experience.

In other words, you didn't even need to farm XP on lane. You could race around the map and crash other lanes at will.

The only level I needed to hit on bot was three. After that, the only time I came back was when the jungler was coming with me.

"W-Woohyun, where are you going!"

"Just grabbing some chimes. Be right back."

"Okay… our early laning is rough, so hang in there a little!"

First Blood!

I'd left Ajeong alone on bot, climbed mid, and snagged a kill.

"Ajeong, pretty good, right?"

"Yeah… come back soon!"

"Just a sec—a bunch of chimes spawned top too."

Enemy slain!

Double kill!

"Ajeong, I got top and the jungler, so you don't have to worry about ganks."

"Nice… but when are you coming bot?"

"I've got a ton of gold. Just swinging by base real quick, then I'm there."

…

"You came! I held the line pretty well, right?"

"Of course you did. I'll drop a heal pack behind us—grab it if your HP's low."

"Okay! …Where are you going?"

"Just grabbing some chimes."

With the sheer map pressure I was putting out, we forced the enemy surrender seventeen minutes in.

Woooom— bang!

"Playing with Ajeong really does make winning easy."

"Waaaah…"

When the game ended, the popularity poll window popped up. I cast my two allotted votes for Ajeong and the mid laner.

Then I checked my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own tally: three votes total. One each from mid, top, and jungle.

"Ajeong, you didn't vote for me, did you?"

"Ah! I… forgot! I just skipped the poll!"

"Is that right? I voted for you first."

"Th… that so."

At my words, she seemed to check who had voted for her. The game had ended before the ADC even got to do anything, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the single vote I'd given her was probably all she had.

"Next game."

"Yeah…"

Riding the momentum, we queued straight into the next match, and I set the champion I'd just played as my preferred pick.

"Woohyun, you're doing that again…?"

"Yeah. No real counters, pretty solid."

"…Can't you play something else?"

"Hmm… we're in the middle of a bet, so I want to play what I'm best at."

"Ah… fine!"

After that, Ajeong locked a safer, more survivable champion instead of her carry ADC—and once again, the game ended before she could really shine.

"Oh, four votes this time. Seven total so far. What about you, Ajeong?"

"Me?… Two…"

I'd voted for her again, which meant across two games she hadn't received a single vote from anyone but me. The girl who'd been so full of herself was visibly deflated.

"Woohyun, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this time let's actually match a bot combo!"

"Should we?"

"Yeah!"

"You want that that badly?"

"Yeah!"

"Ah, but we're still betting, so I want to play a champion I'm confident on. You get it, right?"

"…I lost."

"What?"

"I lost, so Woohyun can just sit behind me and throw heals!"

Ohhh…

Her pride had taken a bigger hit than I'd expected.

"Really?"

"Come back and be my small, precious tool again…"

"Alright. Then since I won, you owe me one wish later?"

"A wish…?"

"Don't want to? Then I—"

"No! I'll grant the wish!"

"Good. Next game, quick."

"Hehe… let's go!"

I didn't have anything particular in mind, but I figured it'd come in handy someday. Honestly, just beating Ajeong at League was more than enough to make me happy—because I already knew exactly how I was about to get treated for the rest of these games.

"Woohyun, heal!"

"How is it? Isn't unnie cool?"

"Yeah. Cool."

Once we properly synced our combo and I started enabling her, the sulking vanished without a trace. I'd known it since our first game at the PC bang—Ajeong genuinely seemed to think of supports as tools.

"Woohyun, go in there."

"Won't they be camping that bush?"

"Exactly. So hurry up and go in."

"Fine… they're here!"

The second I stepped into the brush, four waiting enemies dogpiled me. My health melted in an instant, and when I checked Ajeong's position, she was already halfway across the map.

"Ajeong… the heal?"

"I have to save that for when I'm in danger."

"From now on, use it to save me too…"

"Is that your wish?"

"…Heals are for when the ADC is in danger."

"Hehe."

There were other rules when we laned together. Namely: I was only allowed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠use my skills on Ajeong's timing.

"Water."

Piyorong—

"That's it. Good boy, Woohyun~!"

Either way, the fact that Ajeong was playing well and carrying the games was real, so I didn't have much to say. More than that—playing like this was fun for me too. Calling me a tool was obviously a joke, a bit of concept play to make the games more entertaining. And watching her light up from the care I gave her, then go completely feral, was pretty cute in its own right.

"Heheh… Woohyun's the best!! Better grip feel than any tool I've ever used!"

"…"

After that, I pulled the roaming champion back out and reasserted some discipline.

"Woohyun, hurry up and stir-fry me some jeyuk!"

"…Woohyun, water."

"Woohyun, could you maybe drop a heal pack?"

"Sniff… Woohyun, just come dance next to me, I don't even care… come back…"

Once I showed her what happened when she crossed the line, I managed to earn at least a baseline of respect.

Our sixth ranked game ended at 11:50. With the Balance Game KokoaTalk message due in ten minutes, I suggested we take a short break.

"Already…?"

"We should eat lunch soon. Stretch a little too."

"We can just eat ramen while we play!"

"No. You need to eat something proper."

"Hehe… you really are my tool. Want to come stir-fry some jeyuk?"

"I kind of want to roam around a bit. One more game, then we rest?"

"I'm sorry…"

In the end, I managed to extract thirty minutes of free time from Ajeong.

"What are you having for lunch?"

"Gonna tear into some chicken titties."

"Eek… pervert!"

"…What about you?"

"I'm eating the leftover pizza from yesterday!"

"Alright."

It wasn't my job to manage Ajeong's diet, but pizza still felt like a step up from ramen. I ate the Hwanggung Olive Chicken–flavored chicken breast I'd prepped that morning and waited for noon.

KokoaTalk—!

Twenty minutes left of the time Ajeong had granted me. I tapped the notification and checked the contents fast.

"Oh…"

"Whaaat?"

"Nothing. Just looking at something."

Today's Balance Game had, thankfully, landed on options where either choice was a win. And both of them boosted my League skills—the game I'd been grinding for ages.

If someone who was already good got options like these, it might be a wash. For me, either pick was pure profit.

So this is why I haven't been grinding that hard until now.

The twenty-minute time limit was also nice in its own way. Since either option was a gain, better to pick fast and get the effect applied immediately.

At a glance, picking Challenger might seem like the obvious move—but from the moment I saw it, I leaned toward the second option.

First off, I have no idea which character the "one" would be.

Obviously I wouldn't get to choose the champion I wanted, and there was no preview of which one it'd be. Pick the first option and land on a boring champion, and I was cooked. Sure, even a dull champion would be fun if I kept winning and hit Challenger—but after actually reaching Challenger, I doubted it'd stay interesting.

The second option—Diamond-tier with every champion—had nothing but upsides for me. Being able to play every champion meant I'd never get bored, and since Ajeong was Platinum, I'd land one tier above her, close enough to queue together comfortably.

Skill-reversal world.

From now on, I would be the one carrying Ajeong.

Practically speaking, the second option was locked in. As a final check, I decided to get Ajeong's take too.

"Ajeong."

"Yeah?"

"If it were you—become Challenger-tier with one character, or become Diamond-tier with all characters. Which would you pick?"

"Is this a Balance Game?"

"Yeah."

"I'd…"

After hearing Ajeong's opinion, I was able to lock in my choice right away.