Debut Match (3)

"What on earth is this? Mid-lane Nautilus?"

"They probably locked in Gwen top, so they're looking to shore up the tank line."

"Do you think it's a solid pick?"

"Her AP ratios got nerfed hard enough that she can't function as a damage dealer anymore, but with consecutive buffs to her base stats and the tank item upgrades, there's plenty of room for her to make an impact."

"The Para we know has always been a player who picks carry-oriented champions and puts on flashy performances. I'm looking forward to seeing what she shows us here."

"If she can make even this pick work, every team that has to face ARK going forward is going to have a serious headache. AP, AD, damage, tank — her champion pool isn't something you can just ban out."

"Could we get an overall assessment of the draft?"

"Nautilus mid is unexpected, but BU has plenty to work with in this draft as well."

"That Taliyah pick looks really strong."

"Exactly. Taliyah alone can counter ARK's mobility-heavy top side, and with Renata Glasc on top of that, BU has ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a lot of comfort in this composition."

"Alright then — let's get into the match!"

"Early laning looks like it'll play out fairly standard..."

"Wait — Lesser just finished counter-jungling the raptors and is sitting in the mid-lane bush."

"Is he looking for a mid gank? If Nautilus misses the hook, both mid and jungle could go down together..."

"Taliyah has crossed past the midpoint of mid lane, though... oh — Para!"

"She exploited the fact that Nautilus's auto-attack animation is poor — specifically, that the passive auto has a large windup — canceling the auto and landing the hook simultaneously."

"If Taliyah burns Flash here, applying pressure like this becomes a real burden going forward."

"Not even three minutes into the game, and she's already opened up mid lane."

"What an incredible player."

After a fierce teamfight in front of the Herald, Wukong went down — but ARK still walked away with a crushing victory.

With about fifteen seconds left on his own champion's respawn timer, Kim Dojin stretched and glanced to the side.

...She's incredible.

Even in her debut match, without the slightest change in expression, the girl was directing the game with the same calm face she'd worn the first day she walked into the practice room.

Kim Dojin's initial expectation had been simple: pretty, but a potential bomb that could blow up the team. That was about it. Honestly, he'd already written this season off for promotion and figured he'd just go free agent next year.

But.

She's different.

Kim Dojin was only a second-year pro in the Challengers League, but he could tell with absolute certainty. This was a player of a completely different caliber from every mid laner he'd ever teamed with. Now he understood why the coach had been so full of anticipation, saying summer would be different.

So this is what star power looks like.

Looks that most celebrities couldn't even put on a business card, a clean and captivating playstyle that drew every eye, and a champion pool no ban phase could contain. Looking at Yoon Seoha, Kim Dojin thought that the gods were not fair.

"This time we give them the dragon, drop the Herald mid, and shove."

"A teamfight wouldn't be bad either — wouldn't it be better to take the dragon and then look mid?"

"They're going to commit Ornn too, so just leave Gwen to push and we blow open mid. We're not going for a fourth dragon this game anyway."

ARK was already ahead enough that they didn't need to concede the dragon, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yoon Seoha pushed hard to give it up. The rest of the team, sensing something they couldn't quite put into words, followed her call.

"How much did we pull this turn?"

"About thirty-five hundred."

"That's enough that we could even take a free Baron."

BU celebrated taking the dragon — but that was as far as their joy went. ARK used the Herald they'd been saving to crack mid tower all the way through the second tier, then took the remaining top first tower, and the gold lead began to balloon exponentially.

With no major objective available at this advantageous timing, ARK started working on the enemy bot-lane second tower.

"If they dig in at bot second and refuse to back off, we just dive."

"What if we get wiped and they clean us up?"

Yoon Seoha's call looked a bit reckless, and this time the teammates didn't agree so easily.

"I'll mark with my ult. If they don't peel, Gwen TPs in and we shove them out."

"If Taliyah gets her combo off and Renata lands ult, we all die."

"We've already burned all their spells — are we not going to collect?"

The calm voice from moments ago was gone. In its place was the sharp edge of her first impression.

"If it fails, I'll take the blame."

What a rookie whose contract had literally started today could possibly take responsibility for, nobody knew — but the team found a strange comfort in those words.

"Alright. Let's try it. We pulled it off in scrims before."

At captain Kim Dojin's word, everyone prepared for the dive.

"Looking at their movement, they're not backing."

"Focus Jinx first, no exceptions."

"I've got ten thousand gold, half-moon plate."

"Saving polymorph."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

And so the second-tower dive began. BU saw the opportunity and resisted with everything they had.

"Ornn ult interrupted!"

"Gwen, take Taliyah!"

"Lulu, give me ult!"

"Heal in three."

Just as Yoon Seoha had said, the item gap that had already opened hit hard.

"I'm using Flash!"

"...Whoa. She got all three of them."

"...Insane."

"What was that?"

"She landed ult from that angle?"

Yoon Seoha's super play closed it out, and the game was over.

"..."

After the match, four ARK players — everyone except ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yoon Seoha — gathered in the third-floor dormitory. On any other day they would have been dissecting the game or sharing the joy of victory. Today, a strangely heavy silence hung between them.

"Somebody say something."

ADC Jin Yuseong finally broke first.

"What is there to say? She's just good. Words aren't even necessary."

Lee Yuchan answered, and Jin Yuseong shot back.

"That's the problem — does that make any sense? It's her debut match."

"We already knew she was good from scrims."

"Are scrims the same as a real match? In Spring we stomped everyone in scrims and still couldn't even make the promotion series."

As always, mediating the bickering bot lane fell to captain Kim Dojin.

"Quit fighting. Hyung, what do you think?"

"...She's good."

Park Jinhwan gave his usual top-laner-concise answer. Kim Dojin scratched his head once and turned to the rest of the team.

"We all know the mid who came in today is a monster, right?"

Nobody argued.

"I think the coach was right. I really think we can get promoted."

Every ARK member except Yoon Seoha was still in high school. Even the oldest, Park Jinhwan, was a senior. As professional gamers, they didn't have time to waste in the second division.

"So don't get too bitter about the special treatment. Let's just do well together."

Everyone agreed in silence.

"I'm home."

I arrived and called out a greeting, but nothing came back. Had both Mom and Dad said they'd be late today?

I stripped off my clothes, headed to the bathroom for a shower, and changed into pajamas.

I'm exhausted.

I'd been working on building up my stamina, but even though the match had been online, the fatigue hit harder than expected. I resolved to train even harder going forward — and right then, the phone beside me buzzed.

The caller was the manager.

I put on a surprised reaction, but it wasn't actually that surprising. At this point, ARK had only ordered about thirty name-and-number markings per player for the jerseys. In the second division, selling ten per player was already considered good — but with my name recognition, thirty selling out wasn't unreasonable.

After coordinating the pickup schedule for the next match and hanging up, my eyes drifted to the jersey hanging on the chair.

A white base with black lettering: para.

Until just now it hadn't fully sunk in, but in that moment I truly felt it — I had come back to ARK.