Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Those Who've Stood at the Peak
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I gave Eun-chae the ST uniform I had on hand and sent her into the stadium first.
"Go on in ahead of me. I'll catch up later."
Just looking at the growing crowd circling me, it was clear there was no upside to a civilian like Eun-chae having her face exposed.
Once her figure vanished into the distance, I pulled the action cam out of the small bag I'd brought.
It wasn't mine—I'd borrowed it from the ST filming team after asking nicely.
They said they would've helped film me if it weren't match day, but that would've made me even more self-conscious, so doing it myself like this was better.
Plus, it captured the on-site vibe perfectly.
I fiddled with the camera settings a bit, switched on the stream, and the chat window on my phone started flooding up.
The moment I went live, phone notifications and vibrations erupted from all around simultaneously. They must've shown up in droves.
Still, I wasn't too worried.
"Eun-seol, over here...!"
The manager in charge of ST3 had snuck up behind me at some point.
"All set!"
"Already?"
"Figured the crowd would build up, so we prepped early."
Our all-purpose manager—the one we always called whenever something went wrong at the dorm—had been watching my stream and even set up a temporary booth right after that day.
"Uh, is that it?"
I'd expected something simple like a chair and a basic desk, but this had a banner on the chair like the other booths—way more legit than I'd thought.
And the uniforms lined up beside it had my name on them, as a bonus.
"You didn't have to go this far..."
"Nah, think about it—this is your first direct meet-and-greet with fans. Gotta put in the effort!"
The manager said that, then announced my position to the camera.
"Oh, and these uniforms? Eun-seol's covering half the cost for the fans."
As time passed, more and more people gathered.
By the time I sat in the booth chair, a line had formed that completely blocked it off.
"No way you guys actually showed up after saying you would."
I figured maybe a dozen fans at most, signing autographs with some "fan lol~" chit-chat, but this long line meant it wasn't a guerrilla fanmeet anymore.
"Manager, way more people than I expected."
"Don't sweat it. I'll cut the line ten minutes before the match."
Manager knew best.
Anyway.
With that, the fanmeet kicked off.
"I've been watching your games—they're amazing!"
A female fan holding an ST uniform with True printed on the back.
"I'll frame it nicely."
A fan bowing and handing over a freshly bought uniform.
"Um, can you sign my keyboard?"
And even a member of the International Keyboard Association.
After signing over and over, the manager cut the line at some point.
Match start was closing in.
Plus, we'd run out of prepared uniforms.
Alternating between the chat and fans' faces, I did a few more signatures and chats.
"Huuuuh..."
Finally, the line reached its end.
Meeting fans was fun, sure, but I was careful with every word and move, worried about leaving a bad impression in these brief encounters—it was tiring in a whole different way from competing.
Still, with a "get it done" mindset, I stood up.
Time to clean up.
"I'll help tidy."
"No way! Eun-seol, go watch the match!"
"...You sure?"
"Totally. This is what they pay me for. Go on—I'll handle it."
Half-shoved along, I headed into the stadium.
By the time I got inside, ban/pick was already over.
My focus wasn't ban/pick anyway—it was the familiar faces. Whatever.
'...Hasn't changed a bit.'
I'd seen Proud recently, and Phillydog briefly on stream.
But seeing them here in the stadium, honed as pros? Totally different vibe.
Proud: ruler of the LOC World Cup six times—including a three-peat—and overflowing with other trophies, LOC incarnate.
And Phillydog: the one who'd toppled that Proud at least once and lifted the champion's cup, symbol of World Cup victory.
The two mids carrying their teams were exactly as I remembered.
Their presence still radiated dignity.
"ST fighting!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
As the hyped caster voices echoed through the stadium, Eun-chae—now properly in ST uniform—spoke up beside me.
"Ban/pick looks solid for ST, but what do you think, pro?"
"Hm... Looks like whoever executes well takes it."
If any one lane collapses first, it's over.
That's the kind of draft it was.
Unless a super play popped off, the lane that grabbed control first probably wouldn't let go till game end.
They knew that, yet when eyes met in the bush, neither backed off—they clashed.
The crowd's murmurs grew, and the stadium screen showed champs battling fiercely despite level 1.
Triple Kill!
Triple Kill!
Outcome: ST top Thor's triple kill, Milky Way mid Phillydog's triple kill.
The fight dragged on until each lane's minions lost a full wave. Post-skirmish laning was extreme outside bot.
Top got exp denied; mid would've ended multiple times without Proud's tightrope walk.
And sure enough, the next clash decided the set.
In that chaos, fully scaled Thor finally snagged their backline.
Phillydog flailed to snag Proud at least, but sadly, in LOC, number advantages were usually absolute.
Thunderous cheers erupted as ST headed to Twisted Forest for spoils.
In a mid gap scenario, Proud did his best; even isolated, Phillydog clutched the ADC.
That was it.
The place I aspired to.
The path littered with geniuses' corpses.