Offline Match (2)

"First of all, we'd like to apologize for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the inconvenience."

"We're currently under a tech pause — we've been informed that there's an equipment issue with Roku of team an."

"Equipment setup is a critical matter, wouldn't you say?"

"Absolutely. Even someone like me, stuck in Diamond, will re-adjust my monitor angle at home before hopping into solo queue."

"I imagine these pauses are hardest on the players themselves."

"I think so too — I've heard the headset noise keeps going even during a pause. Is that right?"

"That's correct. Headset noise — I experienced it myself back when I was a player, and it's not something you can just tune out."

"What does it sound like? I've never been a pro, so I've never worn one."

"Well, when you're locked into the game you don't notice it, but during a pause like this — with no game audio and no comms — it just sits in your ear, and it's pretty rough."

"The pause is running longer than expected."

"Still, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it's a blessing it hit during ban-pick rather than mid-game, wouldn't you say?"

"True enough. If this had dropped in the middle of a game, it could've caused real problems — so in that sense, we can call this lucky."

"By the way, looking at the stands — quite a crowd has come out for us today."

"Even for an evening slot, I can't remember the last time a weekday CK match filled the seats like this."

"And there are far more people in team jerseys than usual."

"And we can see the players as well. Everyone looks a little worn down by the wait."

"Para's leaning against the desk, resting."

"Although..."

"She's still young, so there's still a bit of baby fat left in her cheeks."

"She usually gives off a sharper impression, but leaning like that, you can tell the baby fat hasn't fully gone away yet."

"And that's part of the charm, isn't it?"

"Exactly — great skill, beautiful face. An impressive player in every way."

The match, of course, ended in a 2–0 victory.

It had been a mismatch in base weight class from the start.

Still, if I had to leave a review:

They're getting relegated.

In a different sense from bu, the team we'd faced in our debut, an had put on a performance that screamed second division. I had a feeling we'd be meeting them in the third division next year.

"Alright, get home safe. We've got scrims this weekend, so I'll come pick you up."

"Yes — thank you for your hard work too, Manager."

Once again, I rode home in the car the manager drove for me.

Going back and forth like this is such a hassle.

Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd move into the team house too. No more hour-long commutes each way, and streaming would be so much easier.

But the manager clocked out in the evenings, and living in a place full of nothing but guys felt... complicated.

They'd probably be uncomfortable too.

Digging through my past-life memories, they were the type to stake their lives on the game — not the type to hit on anyone. Still, a bunch of guys living together and then a girl drops in? Of course it'd feel awkward. Of course it'd get in their heads.

At least the team does pickups for me. I should be grateful for that.

I was turning all of this over in my mind when I opened the front door.

"You're home, sweetheart?"

Mom was waiting for me right by the shoe cabinet.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your match today."

The moment I kicked off my shoes, she pulled me into a hug and stroked my hair.

I knew how busy she was, so I hadn't expected her to come cheer — but apparently she felt bad about it.

"It's fine. Come when we make it to the first division."

CK was just team seating with nothing much to offer, but the LCK arena had proper team sections and individual guest tickets.

LoL Park is the only place worth inviting someone to.

The CK venue, honestly, was a little too bare-bones for guests.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"No."

"Then go wash up quick and come out."

As she said it, Mom pinched my cheek the way she always did.

Is this actually a good thing?

After the match earlier, I'd scrolled through the community and spotted a few posts going on about my cheek fat. From the pinching side, sure — soft and squishy probably felt nice. But from the looking side, wouldn't a sharp jawline with zero baby fat be better?

Well, everyone had different tastes. I let it go without thinking too hard about it.

I lifted off my headset, and the crowd's cheers exploded around us.

I glanced sideways — bot lane was hugging each other in celebration, while top and jungle just stared blankly at their monitors.

Twelve wins, zero losses. That was the report card ARK received after playing out the final match of the Summer split.

Maybe we should've just lost.

In CK, the regular-season first-place team and the playoff winner among the second-through-fifth-place teams advanced to the promotion tournament. The current second-place team sat at eleven wins and one loss — if we'd dropped today's match, we might have tied and been forced into a tiebreaker.

And if we'd lost that, we'd have had to grind through a multi-game gauntlet in the playoffs, running back-to-back elimination matches.

That might've actually been better.

Thinking about it now, climbing up through the playoffs might have been the better way to feed the team experience.

I packed up my gear with a faint, lingering regret.

.

.

.

"Congratulations on first place."

Back in the waiting room, the coach addressed the team with a completely flat expression.

Unlike the LCK, CK recorded the playoff winner as second place — so technically, we had already won the split. The reason he was so calm about it, though:

"Everyone confident about promotion?"

At the coach's words, the whole team radiated confidence.

Fair enough. Through Spring, we'd steamrolled every team that had beaten us before and stacked a perfect record. Right now, these guys probably couldn't see anything standing in their way.

Something feels off.

Early in the season, I'd been the one delivering them wins, trying to build their confidence. But looking at them now — brimming with it — I felt strangely sour.

Why...?