Spring That Handles Winter

This wouldn't do. At this rate, wrapping up the promotion series with three straight losses and dropping straight back to Diamond 1 was as good as settled.

Jin Gyeo-wool told her viewers she'd be right back after a short break, then killed the mic and left her seat. Jin Ju-yeong came running, demanding to know what on earth that was about—but the door was already locked.

She lit the incense candle just like that and tried to catch a nap.

Normally sleep wouldn't come easily with adrenaline dumping like this, but whether it was the candle's effect or not, she dropped off in an instant.

When she came to, an hour had passed.

Jin Gyeo-wool snuffed the flame so the candle wouldn't melt any further and bolted straight for the mirror.

"Wool-ah. Jin Gyeo-wool!"

No answer. To find the girl who'd fled into the glass, Jin Gyeo-wool pressed herself flat against it and started scanning the inside.

"Where are you? Huh?"

Hurry up and come out. I've got a lot to ask you.

How the hell am I supposed to control that fiery temper of yours? Hon Gyeo-wool!

"I'm here."

Hon Gyeo-wool appeared belatedly, slowly descending upside-down from the sky above. With her hair hanging lank, she looked exactly like a ghost out of a horror movie.

"Ugh. Shit. You scared me."

"Sorry. I was trying a bunch of stuff."

Hon Gyeo-wool had only very recently realized she could move freely in the world inside the mirror. She'd been flying up and down experimenting with this and that when Jin Gyeo-wool happened to light the incense candle and call for her.

"What's up? You seemed to be doing fine for a while."

"…Well."

Asking for help felt almost ridiculous.

After all, the medium—the true owner of the body—was Jin Gyeo-wool herself. It was pathetic that she couldn't even control Hon Gyeo-wool, who was just a companion spirit, and kept getting jerked around by her. The second game had been somewhat better, but the problem was what came next.

Only three games remained in the promotion series. And she had to win all three to promote to Master tier.

If she got swept up in Jin Gyeo-wool's emotional torrents again and threw another game in this situation, it was straight back to Diamond 1.

But Hon Gyeo-wool was the one who'd given her the body, and she was also the one handling the body's physicality, wasn't she?

Bae Do-hyun had lived his whole life without bowing to anyone except when work demanded it—but in the face of a desperate dream, pride was no help at all.

Still, he was a man, and he didn't want to look small in front of a girl much younger than him.

"You. Why's your personality such a mess?"

Jin Gyeo-wool naturally spat out the barbed words.

"……. That's the first thing out of your mouth?"

"No. Hey. I'm serious. Playing games these days is really hard for me."

It had never been like this before.

The body had always moved according to the head. He'd never gotten mad at his body for failing to execute what he thought—and his body had never invaded the thinking domain of his brain on its own.

But ever since the Memory Erosion Rate exceeded 10%, the same phenomenon kept occurring.

"Why do you get so emotional when you play?"

Hon Gyeo-wool, who'd been hanging upside-down, spun around and landed on the floor, speaking bluntly.

"You watched my YouTube, right? You should know my playstyle."

"Not that. I mean ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠basically, you seem like someone with a lot of anger. You've got so much anger that that style comes out."

"That's… true, but. It's not entirely my fault. It's annoying, but I take after Mom."

So even though she'd said she hated her mom, one of the reasons was because of the similar personality.

Jin Gyeo-wool muttered with a low sigh.

"So. Is there no way to calm down that fiery temper? You've always lived like that, so I figured you'd know something—which is why I came to ask."

"Hmm…"

Every time Hon Gyeo-wool tilted her head, her long hair swayed this way and that. Looking at her again, she was definitely a pretty girl.

Normally he didn't think much of it, knowing the core was himself—but Hon Gyeo-wool living and moving inside the mirror was rather lovely. Except for the personality.

Except for the personality.

"Honestly… there wasn't really anything. Even before, I don't remember ever doing something myself."

"Yeah. With a personality like that, people around you would've run away rather than help."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"You're holding back a lot right now. Isn't that the truth?"

Hit with the facts hard enough to make her dizzy, Hon Gyeo-wool trembled and glared at Jin Gyeo-wool.

"So there's no way…"

"It's not that there's none at all. I just can't use it anymore."

Sadness flickered across Hon Gyeo-wool's face as she said that. At the loneliness of looking at a small bird frozen to death in midwinter snow, Jin Gyeo-wool unconsciously bit her lip.

"I think I know what you mean."

"…. Really? I'm surprised you understand."

"Don't treat people like complete idiots who know nothing. I may not look it, but I've lived longer than you."

"Pfft. Really? I thought you were around my age. Unexpected?"

"Kids these days, I swear…. Aiiiing."

When Jin Gyeo-wool clicked her tongue in full old-man mode, Hon Gyeo-wool burst into giggles like it was hilarious. Her mood seemed to have lightened a bit, and she started talking about things she hadn't even been asked.

"Bom-ie was my suppressor."

"Of course the girl who played Recon would compare it to a suppressor."

"What, so what? Are all girls the same?"

"Yes. Sorry, ma'am."

Even at Jin Gyeo-wool's attitude—hard to tell if it was an apology or not—Hon Gyeo-wool laughed lightly and let it pass.

"Anyway, that's how it was. There's one more besides Bom-ie, but I don't want to tell you about that one."

"Why?! Who's the other one? Tell me that too."

"No. Bom-ie is one thing, but I don't want to tell you."

Why won't you tell me? Jin Gyeo-wool seemed put out and made a joke she didn't have to.

"I'm actually Bom."

The moment she heard that, Hon Gyeo-wool's eyes sharpened.

It was a joke that crossed the line, honestly—Hon Gyeo-wool only let it go because she'd gained some understanding. Bae Do-hyun immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"Say that kind of thing again and I'll kill you."

Hon Gyeo-wool let out a long sigh, then continued.

"I had two suppressors. Their methods were different, but when I was with them, I definitely felt calmer."

"…Bom and… I don't know who, but anyway that's it."

"Yeah. I don't know the principle or anything either. That's all I can tell you."

"Got it."

A warning tone sounded as the Memory Erosion Rate rose. Bae Do-hyun sensed there was some change in the Soul Assimilation and apologized to Hon Gyeo-wool again.

"I might've been a bit rude today. Sorry."

"It's fine. Nothing else you're curious about?"

"Yeah. I'll figure out the rest somehow."

The Master promotion series. It wasn't over yet.

"See you. Your game sense has definitely improved. Physically too, you feel better than I used to be."

Hon Gyeo-wool's praise, heard just before she left the mirror's field of view. Jin Gyeo-wool stopped in her tracks and shouted loudly.

"I'm only going to get better from here. Look forward to it!"

That's right. There was no reason to sit around stuck here.

She just had to calm the rampaging Hon Gyeo-wool somehow. Whether through more inner cultivation or finding another method.

And to him, who'd regained his spirits, came an unexpected gift from Hon Gyeo-wool.

A new ability! Exactly what she'd been hoping for.

Ideally it would be the ability Jin Gyeo-wool needed most in this exact situation—but even if it wasn't, anything would help.

Jin Gyeo-wool immediately tapped the Soul Assimilation window and checked the details.

She hadn't expected to extract the perfect answer just by talking with Hon Gyeo-wool—but the exchange with her had been the right call either way.

The side effect was exactly what Jin Gyeo-wool had predicted. The good news, if you could call it that, was that more bonus abilities existed depending on hidden conditions.

Raise the Memory Erosion Rate, level up the abilities, hit the hidden conditions, and bring the side effects under control.

What mattered most going forward was something even a child could figure out—and it was sitting right there on the bedside table.

Jin Gyeo-wool's gaze drifted naturally to the incense candle.

About half remained. Based on how much she'd used so far, she calculated she could burn another thirty hours or so.

No matter what, I've got to get more of that candle.

She'd already googled the candle's origin countless times, but even reverse image search turned up nothing similar.

Searches by category and keyword were just as useless.

At this point, her only option was to seek advice through occult enthusiast communities.

But wherever she found the answer, what mattered right now was the Master promotion. If she hit Master tier before the new semester started, just as she'd planned, she could finally begin her amateur career in earnest.

And so Jin Gyeo-wool turned the stream back on and immediately queued up.

"Chat, pipe down. I'm about to three-peat from here, so brace yourselves."

"I'm serious. If you don't hold on tight, you're all falling off."

Jin Gyeo-wool's third pick was Irelia—inspired by the Irelia one-trick she'd just watched. Her opponent was Aatrox, the champion she'd been practicing like a maniac until recently.

Her form was the best among all ten players in the game. An endless wave of lane pressure followed, and the enemy jungler got forcibly summoned top by the noisy top laner's pings.

But what good was a gank angle? The moment Rengar's face appeared, Jin Gyeo-wool's Irelia flashed out without hesitation. Her own jungler was busy snacking on the bottom scuttle, so bailing was the right call.

A flash used without the slightest hesitation. It wasn't even a situation where she needed to force a fight with Cerberus out—the enemy jungler had just wasted a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠path for nothing.

Before long it was the eight-minute mark.

Judging that a critical moment had arrived, Lee Do-jin's gaze locked onto Jin Gyeo-wool's Irelia. A tense atmosphere settled over the Hyeonseong Universe dorm, quieted by the Stove League off-season.

Beside Lee Do-jin, who was deep in concentration, his longtime teammate Bae Tae-jun sidled over.

"What are you watching so hard?"

"A kid I know. Spectating."

"Spectating? Oh. Pro hopeful?"

"…Something like that."

"Let me see… mind if I watch too?"

He dragged over the chair from the seat beside him and sat down.

And right as he was settling into position, Jin Gyeo-wool's Irelia—who'd been lightly poking at the melee minion wave clustered in the middle of the lane—went active.

"If Aatrox takes one more step forward, he dies."

"This?"

"It's a kill angle."

Bae Tae-jun froze halfway into his seat, eyes glued to the monitor in an awkward crouch. But even at a glance, both champions trading in lane still looked like they had over 70% HP.

"How is this a kill angle?"

"Watch and you'll see."

As if to prove that even after last year's decline and slump, his game sense was still intact—six-year League of Council veteran Lee Do-jin's eyes read the future with perfect precision.

The moment Aatrox stepped slightly forward to snag a melee minion CS, Winter's Irelia finished one of the melee minions with Q/Bladesurge and dashed in as if she'd been waiting for exactly that.

Aatrox, who'd anticipated the engage, immediately backed off—but Winter retreated once, then surged in again with another Bladesurge and unleashed E/Dual Sweep.

To avoid getting stunned the way she'd intended, Aatrox used E/Umbral Dash a second time. With that, his charged Umbral Dash charges were fully spent. Jin Gyeo-wool used Bladesurge on the caster minion she'd just half-health'd with Dual Sweep, advanced, and started carving into Aatrox with her blades.

At this point Aatrox couldn't just keep retreating, so he started fighting back. Q/The Darkin Blade came flying in. Jin Gyeo-wool used Bladesurge again to finish another caster minion and slipped out of range, and Aatrox immediately popped his ultimate, World Ender, spreading his wings wide.

Buffed up, Aatrox used Q/The Darkin Blade II again, sweeping a fan-shaped arc. This time Irelia slipped out of range with a light sidestep. Another of Irelia's blade strikes punched through Aatrox.

"Conqueror stacked."

"It's over."

The Council rune Conqueror, triggered by five consecutive attacks on a champion. Irelia's attack damage and healing skyrocketed.

The golden rune effect floating above Irelia's head was nothing short of a death sentence for an Aatrox who now had less than 40% HP left.

Knowing from the start that Aatrox needed to land his third Q to survive, Jin Gyeo-wool used Bladesurge on a melee minion behind her the instant he cast the skill and left the fight.

Aatrox, who'd pushed forward trying to reverse the situation, became the dog that chased the chicken—and the moment his third Q slammed down in a circular AoE, Irelia's ultimate, Vanguard's Edge, carved through the air.

Six blades marching in formation sliced through Aatrox's body and shattered into dozens of fragments, forming an inescapable V-shaped barrier.

The panicked opponent failed to flash-react, and still mid-combo, Irelia's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Q/Bladesurge into auto-attacks blew him up.

Still half-crouched, Bae Tae-jun turned to look at Lee Do-jin—and Lee Do-jin, who knew Jin Gyeo-wool better than anyone, lifted the corner of his mouth.

"See? Told you he was dead."