Master's Guest Seat (3)

It hadn't been a perfect game, but I figured I'd pulled my weight well enough.

I rolled my stiff wrist and glanced to the side.

"Whoa..."

There was Han Byeori, completely stunned—and beyond her, a chat window that had already started worshipping me.

Granted, they're a tough matchup if you've never faced them before.

I'd gone up against the Rave and k1ng duo more times than I could count in my previous life. From the domestic LCK league to international tournaments, exhibition matches, and solo queue—I'd clashed with them countless times already.

The classic mid gank at level two off a single buff. The mind games they ran the moment their mid started falling behind, looking to snowball the lead. I'd been on the receiving end of every one of those plays, and I'd cracked every one of those strategies.

"Have you ever run into Rave in solo queue?"

"This was my first time."

Han Byeori—who'd switched to casual speech with me at some point—asked like she couldn't believe it. Honestly, the casual register suited her better than the formal one ever had.

"But how did you know about the mid level-two gank?"

"I've seen it a few times on YouTube. Caught it in this year's Worlds group stage, too."

I was bantering with chat when a notification popped up on the client.

"No way... is that actually Rave?"

"Looks like it."

Something similar had happened in my previous life, so I remembered the pattern. Rave sent friend requests to anyone he personally rated as decent. Getting that kind of recognition from a pro for the first time since becoming a girl felt pretty good, honestly.

"Want to queue up another one, then?"

"Yeah. Strike while you're hot."

The moment we queued again, chat lit up. Viewers kept firing off the kind of useless questions you'd ask a new classmate at the start of the semester—the ones that make you think, and what exactly am I supposed to do with this information?

"My keyboard? I don't really have a preferred brand. Just using whatever came free with the PC."

"Don't say stuff ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like that. Gear is all about personal satisfaction."

"Right? Right? She's pretty and she talks so well."

Han Byeori said it like she was genuinely proud of me, pulling me into a hug. Whether in my previous life as a guy or now, she'd never been the type to get weird about physical affection.

"Hey... could you show me Zoe?"

The next game locked in, and as I was hovering my mouse over champions, Han Byeori carefully floated the request.

Zoe. In high-elo queues, she wasn't a bad pick. At this tier, people knew how to snowball, so a strong laning phase worked in her favor.

"If the jungle comp works, I'll pick her."

"Really?"

"I'm good at Zoe too."

After the wait, our jungler locked in Kindred—an aggressive, skirmish-heavy champion that paired quite well with Zoe. Top went Ornn, and bot locked in Xayah and Rakan.

No reason not to pick her now.

Not my favorite pick, but if Byeori wanted to see it, I'd show her.

The enemy team had three mid-to-late-game champions in Yasuo, Zac, and Vladimir. On our side, Kindred and Zoe weren't bad into the late game either—but this was a comp ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you wanted to snowball if you could.

I took Ignite to press the lane hard.

At a minute thirty—before laning had even started—our jungler suddenly started spamming danger pings on mid. Judging by the username, they looked Chinese. Drawing on past-life experience, I figured they wanted me to shove the mid wave so they could invade.

The moment minions arrived, I hard-pushed the mid lane.

A thumbs-up emoji, and then they disappeared into the enemy jungle.

From that point on, the game was a one-sided stomp. Always first to shove, I walked into the enemy jungle with Kindred, who farmed marks to their heart's content and started snowballing hard.

"Whoa, four stacks already?"

Four stacks—treated almost like the promised level sixteen—piled up in just eleven minutes. Absolute disaster growth from the enemy's perspective. Bot lane had been clearing waves and hanging on for dear life, only to survive a tower dive by burning their ultimates. Top, who'd been shoving to keep some kind of favorable setup, took two Kindred autos and one ability and simply vanished.

"Wait, Zoe's passive autos go through Wind Wall?"

"You didn't know?"

"No—I always waited for the wall to drop before using it."

"How do I put this... it's because the projectile travels in a straight line rather than as an arcing shot. That's the hitbox interaction."

The result: a clean win. By the time the enemy bot duo—who'd matched their usernames as a set—rage-quit, I was honestly questioning whether this still counted as a game. But a win was a win. Good enough.

Before I knew it, three hours had passed since the stream started. Whether it was playing three games back-to-back, or barely carrying that last one I probably should have lost—I was completely drained.

I really need to work out harder.

I'd recently started training with Dad to build up my stamina. Even in sports like go or shogi, where physical traits barely matter, the skill gap between men and women still came down to endurance. For a pro gamer who had to compete in international tournaments twice a year, stamina was something you simply had to develop.

Though it's weird how my mechanical skill actually got better.

At least there were no physical downsides. If anything, my wrists—once a weak point—felt sturdier than before. Stamina I could just train up.

"Alright then... feedback can wait. Want to grab some food first?"

Picking up on my condition, Han Byeori set aside the feedback content she'd prepared and suggested a meal instead. Most guests on the Master Guest Seat ended with a meal segment, so it wasn't a strange proposal.

I was currently wearing a mask. And you couldn't exactly eat with a mask on.

"Ah... right. So, is that a wrap for today's Master Guest Seat?"

Han Byeori hesitated for a moment before announcing the end of the stream.

"Come on, think about it—is this how you treat someone who's already doing us a favor just by showing up?"

What to do.

Honestly, the answer was already decided. I hadn't even planned on wearing a mask—they'd just handed me one. And watching her squirm like that, I felt a pretty strong wave of pity.

"I don't mind. Let's eat."