#018. Thinking of Entering the Tournament?
Ren, who had slept like a log, finally woke up as evening fell. Maybe embarrassed by her actions from before, she flushed red and burrowed under the covers.
"Ugh... sorry. Sis, let me at least make dinner, so eat before you go."
"Haha, I won't say no. You were pretty cute, anyway."
"Eek... Neru sis!"
Seeing Ren like this—and her opening up to me like that—made me feel like the distance between us had shrunk even more.
Anyway, in a flash, Ren whipped up a spread on the table, showing off her cooking skills. And damn, it tasted great. Super satisfying.
"Ren, you're really good at cooking."
"Yeah... I had to make my own meals a lot from a young age."
I'd already heard all about Ren's past straight from her. Since it was all in the rearview now, I didn't offer any clumsy comfort or advice. She seemed pretty happy these days, after all.
Looking at her like this, maybe that inner closeness I'd felt back then wasn't wrong after all.
"How about now?"
"Now? Hmm... good. The president, the members, streaming—everything."
"Glad to hear it."
We ate together in that relaxed vibe, and as late night rolled around, I figured it was time to head home.
"Sis, you leaving?"
"Yeah, gotta go."
"I'm worried sending you alone... what if someone kidnaps you?"
I'm not some kid—what kidnapping? Do I look that weak? Ren sure worried a lot.
"Want me to walk you? Or just crash here?"
"...Sigh, nah. Be good and rest up. I'll text when I get home."
"Mhm..."
I said goodbye to Ren and made it home safely. Thankfully, no kidnapping drama like she'd feared.
The next day was my long-overdue League of Champions stream. Well, "long-overdue" was a stretch—only about four days.
As I fired up the stream, my phone rang. It was Yuseol.
"Hello? President?"
"Neru, got a sec before you go live?"
"Ah, sure. Should I hop on Discord?"
"Yeah, meet in the team channel."
I joined the Universe Discord, and Yuseol's voice came through.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Neru. Sorry to drag you in suddenly. Just wondering—thinking of entering a streamer tournament?"
"Me??"
Debut was almost two months ago, and my popularity was on the rise lately. But a tournament? I'd barely started the game.
"Zzzk's officially hosting a streamer League of Champions tourney. They scouted you for it."
"Ah... but my skills aren't that great..."
"Plenty of not-so-great players. From Bronze to Diamond—tiers all over the place."
I checked the detailed invite email. Five teams, five players each—25 streamers total. The event: Zzzk Cup. Junglers were all ex-pro Zzzk streamers. Top, mid, ADC, support filled by regular streamers. Tiers per role: 1-tier for the best in that position, down to 5-tier for the worst.
They figured I'd slot into 4-tier support.
"Hmm..."
"You can turn it down, no pressure. But the total prize pool..."
"Whoa."
If I bombed, I'd be a burden to my teammates and eat a ton of flak. But that prize money? Too juicy to pass up.
"Any other Universe members scouted?"
"Yeah. Ritsu got a mid invite. She's Gold, so that tracks."
Kurose Ritsu. Universe 1st gen's big sis figure—I knew that much. She'd known the president pre-agency, basically 0th gen. Ren got an offer too, but her Master tier made balancing tricky, so she passed.
"What about you, President? You're good at RioCham."
"I got one, but too busy."
Anyway, I decided to join. Strike while the iron's hot, right?
I went live and dove into League of Champions again. With the tournament looming, I needed to level up my skills. Plus, I only knew two supports—Lena and Thalia—so champ pool expansion was a must.
"Don't we need some new weapons soon?"
Tournament meant safe picks? Nah, I didn't wanna ditch my playstyle's flair. Grab champs with good roams first—like Park. I'd practice that, scout others.
Survival tools, ops smarts, solid CC.
"What do you think of this one, guys?"
Mid mage who wields cards as weapons. Aka "Sfe."
Screwed Fate—Sfe for short—a card-wielding mid mage. Key traits: W hurls one of three cards. Red: bonus damage + slow. Blue: bonus damage + mana restore. Gold: bonus damage + 1.5-sec hard stun.
Ult: Instant 10-sec enemy reveal + massive-range teleport.
Why eye it for support? That gold card—Golden Card. Undodgeable target stun pisses enemies off baseline. Ult vision + fast TP helps lane too.
Viewers? Hard pass. Thalia had merit, but Sfe? No hope.
"Whoa, chill. Just watch how I play it."
If I'd listen, why bring it up? Mind made up.
Runes: Thunderclap for weak early lane. Demolish for tower push, Bone Armor for early skirmishes. Spells: TP, Flash.
Norms first—build experiments. Five games in: Sfe support viable, but situational pick.
Conditions:
1. Pre-6 (ult level), if other lanes pop off, Sfe's useless.
2. Needs strong jungler carry.
3. Bot 2v2 turns super unfavorable post-6.
Beefy early build gets lv1 past, then even or ahead. But ult sucks for laning vs other supp ults—if bot doesn't snowball pre-6, fights go south after.
First core: Optical Scope—auto range on move distance. Mana tight even with blue cards, but ops-maxing demands it.
Core Item
Increases auto-attack range after moving a set distance.
"Okay, research done—soloq time."
Soloq pick screen. I chill, no picks. Sfe unbanned—my turn, I snag it. Five secs later...
One player has left during champion select.
"Huh."
Yeah, this journey's gonna be rougher than expected.