Hwasong High Charity LoC Tournament — Part Two (1)

Jin Gyeo-wool had finally reached 20% Memory Erosion.

This week, just like the last, she had burned through her sleep to get there — but she had broken through another wall, and that alone was enough to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leave her satisfied.

With her 3rd-Class abilities climbing to 2nd-Class, Gyeo-wool’s form had jumped straight to Grandmaster caliber.

Her tier itself hadn’t climbed yet, but her current rank sat at 759th — not far from the Grandmaster threshold at 700th. If she kept climbing at a steady slope, there was a strong chance she’d hit Challenger the moment she unlocked 1st-Class.

The most satisfying part of hitting 20% was this newly unlocked Spirit Medium innate ability — Spring and Winter.

Gyeo-wool’s entire life was tangled up with Lee Bom, so of course spring’s name had found its way into the ability title again. It probably meant that Spring and Winter would take turns controlling the body.

Either way, it was only after reading the ability details that Gyeo-wool finally understood why her mind snapped sharp the moment she sat down to play. The catch — that recovery required a Hidden Method — was a snag, but that too would come to light soon enough. Whether through completing Memory Logs or simply climbing further in Memory Erosion, the problem would resolve itself naturally. No need to lose sleep over it.

“…Nngh.”

Still. She was exhausted today, same as always.

She had a semifinal and a final to play. In this state, she’d have no choice but to borrow Hon Gyeo-wool’s Activity Points.

Still got 74% left. Should be fine…

Fortunately — maybe because she wasn’t physically moving the body herself — Hon Gyeo-wool only burned a relatively small amount of Activity during game time. Low consumption was good news, but if she went wild and drained it dry without knowing how to recover it, she’d be finished. So for now, the right answer was to husband it carefully.

Telling herself she’d just have to grind through until the final was over, Gyeo-wool once again leaned on Lee Yeong-bin’s support and climbed slowly onto the stage.

The caster, rest break over, seized the mic again with a voice full of excitement.

“Alright! In the first semifinal match we just saw, we got a breathless 2–1 thriller. Now for the second match — ‘GimmeThePrizeMoney’ versus ‘Winter Kingdom’! Who’s going to take it and punch their ticket to the finals?!”

His voice was practically vibrating with energy. Just having Lee Do-jin sitting beside him was a massive boost — and thanks to Do-jin, the auditorium was packed wall-to-wall with students in casual clothes even though it was the weekend. For a guy whose dream was casting pro league matches, getting to practice in front of a crowd this size was a once-in-a-lifetime shot.

“Alright, the players are starting to make their way onto the stage. Lee Do-jin, is there any player you’re keeping a particular eye on heading into this match?”

Do-jin, for his part, was feeling the pressure of sharing a desk with Hwasong High’s caster. He could have shown up in something ordinary and casted in something ordinary — but somehow this guy had dug up a tailored suit that made him look like an actual CCK desk analyst. Which left Do-jin, in a plain hoodie and jeans, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looking like the odd one out.

“For now… Winter Kingdom’s Jin Gyeo-wool stands out the most.”

“Of course she does! A female Master-tier player nobody saw coming! And it’s not just for show — she’s been proving that skill on stage every single game! Lee Do-jin, you missed last week’s matches, so let me catch you up real quick—”

And he would not shut up. The man had been born to cast; his word count alone was on another level. Do-jin was going to have to sit through this for the third-place match and the finals. Not exactly a fan of noise, he was already regretting how quickly he’d accepted his teacher’s invitation.

I came to watch Wool-i, though… I couldn’t exactly turn it down cold…

Still, the most important reason he was here was to check on Gyeo-wool’s condition. Watching her wobble weakly up onto the stage, he couldn’t help but worry. Just how many sleepless nights of grinding had she put in for this tournament? He’d already pulled up her match history and seen the absurd practice volume for himself, and his concern only kept growing.

She’s going to collapse at this rate.

If that happened, Do-jin was fully prepared to abandon the cast entirely, scoop her up, and haul her straight to a hospital. He’d thought that losing her memories of Bom might have helped her grow up a little — but she was still the same reckless kid. Watching her claw and scrape toward going pro while chewing through her own stamina didn’t sit entirely well with him.

Gyeo-wool’s pick didn’t even need a second look.

She’d already proven it last week — and with the ability upgrade on top of that, her confidence was through the roof.

“Alright, the game’s loaded up. While we wait out the three-minute delay, let’s chat a bit with analyst Lee Do-jin.”

And so began another round of Do-jin grilling.

“Jin Gyeo-wool has pulled out Vladimir again. Bringing back the pick she showed last week — that’s a statement of confidence, wouldn’t you say?”

Feeling the mental fatigue settle in, Do-jin still gave it his best. Vladimir wasn’t exactly a champion that left him with fond memories either. He’d tried it a few times in tournament play himself, and every single time the results had been catastrophic — cementing it firmly as a trap pick, at least for him. The lane was different, the play patterns were different, and it wasn’t like Gyeo-wool had chosen it to needle him… but he still felt a phantom throb in his bad wrist.

“That’s the right read. I watched the VODs on NewTube, and her play is rock-solid and stable. Watching her switch between aggressive and defensive movement depending on the matchup, you can tell she’s extremely well-practiced on it.”

“Wow. High praise. Sounds like you’re saying there’s nothing to pick apart in Jin Gyeo-wool’s play!”

Of course, that was only true at the amateur level. At the pro level, the swamp-control style she’d shown in round of 16 could get her killed by a jungler who twisted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their path for a surprise gank — and the tower-hugging she’d shown in quarterfinals could get her blown up by a three-man dive.

As long as she keeps growing like this, there’s nothing to really worry about… but still.

In game one of this semifinal, Gyeo-wool’s opponent was Ornn. In that matchup, early Vladimir could lean on his range advantage to apply pressure — but the moment Ornn started stacking magic resist, Ornn took over the lane. In a pro game, Ornn would typically be favored; but her opponent was a Diamond player well below Gyeo-wool’s current form. If she just stayed calm and didn’t overforce, she could recreate the extreme trading edges she’d shown in round of 16 and swamp him all over again.

And sure enough, Gyeo-wool’s pressure was utterly savage, pinning Ornn into the dirt. Playing from blue side, she shoved the wave right up to the red tower and camped there, forcing the enemy jungler Kayn’s path up toward top. With the bottom-side jungle suddenly empty, Choi Go-yun’s Jarvan IV vaulted the wall on cue and started the dragon take — and Winter Kingdom’s bot duo, having already shoved their wave into the enemy tower, rotated in immediately to join the hunt.

In that same moment, Gyeo-wool — who had been watching the bot-side movement — suddenly pivoted.

Normally this would be the timing to fall all the way back along the wave and recall home. Instead she dropped straight down from the enemy tower and headed into the jungle behind the Peacock pit.

“Ah… isn’t this movement a little dangerous?! GimmeThePrizeMoney’s Kayn is sitting on that side right now! And Ornn is following her down!”

The caster launched into a passionate spiel as the pincer closed in on Vladimir from both sides — but Do-jin’s follow-up was so calm it felt like a hard drop in altitude.

“It’s not a dangerous choice. She’s deliberately pulling vision so the enemy can’t contest the dragon.”

“Oh — is that right?”

“Yeah. She’s got ultimate up, and Pool of Blood is available. GimmeThePrizeMoney’s Cassiopeia recalled first, so the only mid support Winter Kingdom has available is Galio.”

Numerically it was a 1v2 deficit — but just as Do-jin said, if she wanted out, she could get out anytime.

“Ah! And as I’m saying it — Ornn engages first!”

Kayn was still hidden in the brush behind the Peacock pit, waiting for the follow-up. Ornn, who’d chased first, used E / Magma Charged to knock Vladimir up into the air.

But Vladimir — as if she had no idea Kayn was waiting ahead — just kept walking the path she’d chosen.

“Uh, if she keeps going like that she’s in trouble!”

“Watch the blast cone.”

“Ah, there is a blast cone, but—”

Vladimir tanked the blast cone sitting a centimeter in front of her, still eating Ornn’s damage as she forced her way forward. The moment she stepped into the cone’s trigger range, a basic-attack projectile fired off her — and at the same instant, Kayn burst from the brush with E / Shadow Step, lunging straight at her.

“NOOOO!!”

But Vladimir had already slipped into W / Pool of Blood, entering an untargetable, invulnerable state. She smoothly ate Kayn’s Shadow Step entirely, leaving both Kayn and the Ornn chasing her looking like dogs that had lost the rabbit. With a bang, the blast cone detonated and flung both champions over the wall — dropping them inside the Peacock pit.

They scrambled back around the pit to keep the chase going, but Vladimir was already strolling leisurely along her path to link up with Galio.

“That’s on Kayn. If he’d cleared the blast cone beforehand, she never gets out like that.”

“Ahhh! I see! But to calculate an escape route like that in that tiny window — Jin Gyeo-wool really is something else! She’s showing exactly why she’s Master tier!”

Gyeo-wool had played the perfect bait role without wasting a single Council spell or ability. Do-jin, who had clocked that immediately, kept going.

“Jungle camp spawn timers are about to flip their positions, and that tilts things even further toward Winter Kingdom. The second Cerberus comes up, Winter Kingdom’s Jarvan IV is topside while GimmeThePrizeMoney’s Kayn is botside.”

“Ahh~ and analyst Lee Do-jin called it exactly! Jarvan IV is hopping the wall into the Peacock pit again. All that vision they set up means nothing!”

Kayn had cleared the scuttle earlier and even dropped a scuttle vision ward — and it still wasn’t enough to stop Choi Do-yun’s sneaky Cerberus take.

Over the headset mic, Gyeo-wool asked, sounding faintly puzzled.

“Go-yun. Why’s your pathing so clean today?”

Choi Go-yun was definitely better than the rest of her friends, but from Gyeo-wool’s perspective there had always been something to be annoyed about. Today, though, it was as if every weak point had been patched overnight — his play was remarkably clean.

Go-yun snickered into his mic.

“I’ve been helping out the Human Butcher lately, and he started volunteering tips first.”

“Human Butcher?”

‘Butcher’ was slang for jungler. But other than Go-yun, there was no jungler in the picture — which meant Gyeo-wool’s thoughts landed naturally on Choi Do-yun.

“He watched the round-of-16 and quarterfinal VODs and started picking out every single thing I was doing wrong. I think something’s wrong with his head.”

How had two brothers who spent every day at home grabbing each other by the collar ended up peacefully talking LoC strategy? There was a clear reason, and most of it was Jin Gyeo-wool. Do-yun had been living on cloud nine thanks to her lately, and that happiness energy had naturally spilled over onto Go-yun too.

He’d have loved to enter the tournament himself and play alongside Gyeo-wool — but the brothers went to different schools. So if he wanted to raise her odds of winning, the only option was to coach his useless older brother. He’d spent the entire week patching every weak point, and that was how they’d arrived at today.

Gyeo-wool didn’t know the backstory, but she felt a flicker of gratitude toward Do-yun all the same. Thanks to him, the fatigue of having to carry the team had dropped a full notch.

“Yeah, having someone good teach you makes a hell of a difference.”

At Gyeo-wool’s jab, Go-yun muttered back with the first real spark of defiance he’d ever aimed at her in his life.

“…Come on. I was pretty decent to begin with, you know.”

The terror the student body held toward Hwasong High’s mad dog, Jin Gyeo-wool — that fear was starting to crumble, beginning with the members of Winter Kingdom themselves.