Tournament Practice Period (1)
(Render): Ah, so close.
(Yapang): I'm sorry.
(Render): No, they just ganked that perfectly.
Day two of free rank for Render's team, meant for bonding and building chemistry.
Render and Yapang had just given up a duo kill to a fairly high-tier enemy bot lane.
(Park Solmi): Oh, nice!
(Chongmyeong): Wait, he already soloed Jayce on Aatrox?
"Their flash is down," said Park Jimin, who had just solo-killed Jayce on Aatrox.
It was still only a casual game, but ever since yesterday they had been taking things fairly seriously.
"Ah…"
He had tried to set the wave the way Hwata taught him and recall, but it went a little sideways.
"Ah, that didn't work out. Sorry."
(Hwata): It's fine, it's fine.
As long as he was conscious of it, that was enough.
Hwata wasn't the type to demand perfect problem-solving from a student who had only just finished the theory lecture.
(Chongmyeong): Hyung-nim, I'm pathing top right now.
"Huh? Oh—yes, yes."
Jimin still had trouble taking the older guy's shameless teasing in stride.
(Chongmyeong): Ah, that was clean.
Jimin's Aatrox and Chongmyeong's Nidalee teamed up to gift the enemy Jayce a thrall-death combo.
(Park Solmi): Hey, come mid sometime too.
(Chongmyeong): I only go to winning lanes, I told you.
(Park Solmi): Ugh, seriously.
Park Solmi, who had been suffering under the enemy Zed's brutal trades, grumbled.
(Chongmyeong): Ah, that was so fun.
(Park Solmi): I wasn't having fun.
(Render): I played poorly that game.
(Yapang): Good work, everyone.
A jungler who had enjoyed growing through counter-jungling on Nidalee.
A mid laner who never got to feel that sweet AP mage damage high because she spent the whole game surviving the enemy assassin.
An ADC whose carry turn never arrived.
A support who had just gone along for the ride.
It wasn't a real match yet, so they were still getting something close to the usual solo queue feel.
"Good work, everyone."
8/0/5.
Lane phase or teamfight, Aatrox had dominated the game—and Jimin was completely unfazed.
I should review this one.
Ordinarily Jimin never bothered looking back at finished games.
But ever since receiving feedback from Hwata, he had been trying to build the habit of reviewing. It wasn't just out of obligation anymore—he had actually started taking an interest in his own past games.
(Render): Whoa, we won.
(Park Solmi): Ugh, I'm completely drained.
(Chongmyeong): Enemy Twitch throwing was huge.
(Yapang): You guys are all so good…
"Good work, everyone."
A massive comeback win in a game where they had already given up inhibitors early.
As always, a reverse victory bound the team together tighter than any easy stomp.
Even if it was only free rank, a game like that left a lingering aftertaste. That was only natural.
(Render): Alright everyone, great work today. Starting tomorrow it's going to get real, so rest up well tonight.
(Chongmyeong): Yes, hyung-nim.
(Park Solmi): Oki.
(Yapang): Thank you, everyone.
"Good work, everyone."
(Render): Mm.
(Hwata): Jimin, stick around a bit longer with me.
"Ah! Yes!"
As expected, Hwata and Jimin stayed after the others left.
"TopReallyIsAMenace-nim, thank you for the 10,000 won! Please come by often."
Donations kept rolling in after the collab ended.
Jimin read each one out with a smile.
(Hwata): Against Jayce, doing it like this is better.
"Yes."
Feedback time.
Not just wave management—trade patterns, too. He was being coached on every last detail.
Amazing.
Jimin found himself freshly astonished.
It wasn't just standing opposite someone, farming minions, dodging and landing skills, then grouping to fight as the game went on. There were so many fine-grained layers beyond that.
He almost wondered just how deep the world of SOL really went.
(Hwata): Jimin, have you not played much Camille or Jax?
"I haven't played them a ton, but…"
(Hwata): They seem like they'd suit you, and they're good for the team too, so practice them a lot.
"Got it."
(Hwata): Play a lot of other champions too. You have to try them yourself if you want to play well against them.
"Yes, understood."
(Hwata): Heh. Yeah, good, good.
Despite having such absurd skill, Jimin always came across so humbly.
Hwata couldn't help smiling at that reaction.
(Hwata): Do you not play King much?
"I've never really tried him."
(Hwata): Seems like he'd suit you.
Among the marksman champions that showed up in top lane, King was one of the more beloved picks.
He even appeared in the pro scene every now and then.
(Hwata): Your mechanics are so good that pulling out a ranged champ once in a while would make a solid hidden card. And it looks like you can hold your own on the ADC line too.
"Ranged…"
Jimin thought Jayce and Gnar were ranged too, but figured Hwata meant proper ADC champions.
"I've played a fair amount of Kalista."
(Hwata): Kalista? Then what about top Vayne?
"I don't play Vayne…"
(Hwata): You don't play top Vayne but you play top Kalista? That's unique.
"Haha…"
These days, if Kalista showed up in top, she was the poster child of troll picks.
As a top ranged champ, she was even more extreme than Vayne.
Looking at Jimin's champion pool, Hwata couldn't quite tell whether the kid was a true menace or not.
"Ah…"
A donation message that had come from Jimin's room.
(Hwata): What is it?
Hwata, who had his own stream running while giving feedback, asked.
"Someone said they're worried about learning too many champions this close to the tournament."
Jimin tried to rephrase it as politely as he could.
(Hwata): Uh… that's a fair point, yeah. Yeah, they're right. Hahaha.
"…"
To Jimin, Hwata seemed like a serious person, but every so often he would just sit there snickering to himself.
"Yes, thank you for the 5,000 won. Render's team is solid too—we're pulling for them now. Instant ban on any chat trash-talking either team."
On Jijik, there might be people who disliked him, but there was almost no one who didn't know him—streamer Park Donghyun was preparing for his first scrim of the tournament.
Barring anything unusual, whenever he went live he was practically locked in as the number-one stream on all of Jijik.
"Render's a little brother I really care about, but as you all know, our team's being called a strong favorite to win, right? We'll take this one easy."
Top: Emerald Park Donghyun.
Jungle: Gold Soohyeoni.
Mid: Master Gray.
ADC: Master Kuma.
Support: Bronze Karen.
The damage lineup had high-Master players, and while Park Donghyun took endless snipes in his usual streams, he had once been a permanent fixture in Diamond—and he was the one walking into top.
In the Jijik viewer community, Park Donghyun's team, thanks to that solid roster, was picked as a strong championship contender alongside Park Gyeoul's team. Plenty of people were already predicting those two would meet in the finals.
"What, you think I'm going to fold just because the enemy is Master? You all know my tier doesn't make any sense. Honestly, showing up as Emerald kind of stings my conscience."
Park Donghyun said it with a confident look.
"Safe Aatrox."
First game of the scrim between Park Donghyun's team and Render's team.
Park Donghyun first-picked Aatrox, currently a tier-one pick in the meta.
"Wait, Yone?"
And the card the enemy top locked in was Yone.
Since the enemy mid, Han Solmi, would never pick Yone, his teammates could be sure of it.
(Soohyeoni): Oppa, do we need to path top a lot?
"What are you talking about? I'll hold strong in top, so just play your rhythm, play your rhythm."
Park Donghyun made the bold claim.
Even if the enemy was Master, he considered himself pretty proficient on Aatrox.
Yone wasn't an easy matchup, but it was by no means a pick that just ate Aatrox alive.
If he held against a Master top, the rest of the team would win the game for him.
"Uh—uh—uh."
Early trade.
He stepped up confidently, but the Darpion's Blade he needed to land early whiffed completely, and he ate every single one of the enemy Yone's attacks.
"…"
He could feel the lane starting to unravel from that trade. But he couldn't show it this early.
"Enemy's good."
And he quickly gave the opponent his due.
"Hoo…"
The wave was locked under the enemy tower and staying there.
Even farming CS was getting harder by the second.
Just this one!
He used a skill on the enemy minions.
"Uh—uh!"
Yone, Soul Unbound active, closed the gap and started swinging wildly.
"Ah, sorry."
He had just handed Yone a clean kill.
(Karen): Ah, close.
(Gray): Hey hyung! Just hold—mid's fine right now.
(Soohyeoni): Oppa, top right now is uh…
The words "I'm ganking" wouldn't come out.
No matter how you looked at the top-side state, it was not a situation a Maokai jungler could fix by showing up.
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll focus."
It wasn't the main stage—just practice. But countless viewers and his teammates were watching.
Why is this happening.
Aatrox was a really strong champion right now. He had been sure he could hold against a Master-tier player.
"Ah!"
The moment the enemy Yone hit level six, he fired his ultimate—Fate Seal.
Aatrox went flying into the air.
"…"
From day one of the tournament scrims, something already felt off.