The Starter Competition (5)
[Aaaagh! Orianna too!]
[P1·····]
"Oh my god."
Yu Dahye couldn't sit still watching the game. Every time the observer switched between lanes, something spectacular unfolded.
"Whoa·····"
Setting every other reason aside, it was simply a very fun game to watch.
[Oh dear, oh dear.]
Top lane: Renekton shoved the wave in, dancing just inside and outside of tower range, continuously chipping away at the enemy Hudyr.
[Alright, let's go.]
Scanner, ultimate up, appeared in the top lane to bail out the suffering Hudyr.
[Renekton tries to peel off, but—]
"Hmm·····"
[Stun into pierce!]
[Oh, he pops the ultimate and holds on—]
Renekton kept running, siphoning life with his skills. Hudyr and Scanner threw every spell they had trying to finish him off.
[Alright, they get him.]
[But wait—]
"That wasn't a bad trade for Renekton at all."
A gank that came while a massive wave was crashing into the tower. Because Renekton dragged the fight out so long, Hudyr never got a single second to farm CS.
[And when he TPs back—]
[That's already a twenty-CS lead?]
"Right?" Dahye said smugly, agreeing with the casters.
[Yes, bot lane keeps mining the tower, and mid—Orianna doesn't really have priority anymore.]
[P1's laners are putting on a masterclass in lane phase.]
[Whoa, they shove him out again.]
With every lane pushed in, Scanner's jungle territory was shrinking by the second.
[Aren't they just taking the grubs for free?]
[From VVK's perspective, they must have judged that fighting for them is a guaranteed loss.]
When the screen showed all six grubs monopolized, P1 fans erupted in applause.
"They're not even fighting."
Dahye let out a hollow laugh.
This time, VVK simply handed over the second dragon as well.
[Oh—!]
"Oh?"
Nautilus caught by Reco's skill. His health was already low, and after Neko, Varus's arrow was locked on.
[Nautilus is down!]
[Nedali is coming.]
Nedali had been near bot. He was heading toward a bot lane that had already manufactured a kill without any help.
[Jinx has no choice but to fall back, and oh, if this keeps up—]
All Jinx could do was watch CS get taken and the portal get mined for free. In a spot where she could even lose a 1v1 to Nedali, she didn't so much as hover for a re-engage—she just kept peeling all the way out.
[Scanner needs to help before Nautilus is back or Jinx is in real danger. What do they do?]
"The gap is getting pretty big."
Dahye said it flat-out.
Bot tower crumbled. The growth gap between the ADCs was already substantial.
[Nedali's growth right now is absurd.]
[Heh heh heh.]
"This is just a free jungle game."
As someone who preferred Nedali when she jungled, Dahye said it with feeling. P1's Nedali had finished gorging himself on the priority his laners had handed him.
[Renekton is so far ahead that he'll be a monster on the side lanes for a while.]
[Orianna swapped matchups, so at least she won't get hit by a surprise Yohone ult—but still.]
Top lane: Renekton and Orianna met face to face. And Nedali was already vaulting the wall toward them.
[Ultimate up, Orianna tries the Shockwave, but—!]
Renekton charged in without a second thought. Nedali appeared right behind him, fangs out for Orianna.
[She's dead!]
[It's not like Orianna wasn't watching for it!]
[This game is getting really ugly for VVK's damage dealers.]
[Oh—!]
"Dead."
The second Orianna's portrait went grey, the camera cut to mid. Neko's ultimate had gone off, and Varus was charging a piercing arrow.
[Jinx too!]
The Jinx standing mid got deleted.
[Herald is free.]
[Every time VVK tries to lie down, P1 grabs them by the hair.]
[P1's offense—are they really digesting a draft this hard?]
P1 took Herald with zero resistance. Every single objective so far had been a P1 monopoly.
[Nedali's growth right now—]
[He's the highest level on the Rift.]
Every tower taken expanded P1's territory further. Nedali was devouring his own jungle and chunks of the enemy jungle alike, snowballing into something terrifying.
[If VVK keeps lying down, Baron's gone too—but they can't get up.]
[Up until now it's been a pounding. If they stand up, it's a high kick.]
Baron vision went dark. VVK's main force was clawing vision open with difficulty. Enemy Renekton was still shoving a side lane while Hudyr had rejoined the group—they had to do something.
[Bloom!]
In a 5v4 teamfight, VVK had to be the ones to initiate—but the fight started on P1's terms, with Neko's Bloom.
[Here he comes!]
The Renekton who had been crushing the side lane slammed his Teleport.
[Scanner pierce! Nedali, Nedali—ah, Zhonya's!]
Nedali lived through one full turn. Yohone's ultimate. And then Renekton exploding in from the flank.
[Renekton! Renekton!]
Not just the Yohone hanging in the air from his own ult—Jinx, who had leaned in and was trying to fall back, was butchered by Renekton's weapon as well.
[Teamfight over!]
[P1!]
[That was a perfect performance, wasn't it?]
"Wow, they're actually insane."
There was nothing left for Dahye to say this game but pure admiration.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Watching them take Baron, P1 fans were already certain of the win, roaring their approval.
Then the replay cut in.
(Luca): I'll look for ult angles.
(Oz): I'm not dying.
(Durandal): Front line first, slow.
(Rapid): Nautilus grab is down.
(Jimin): Ori—Ori!
(Luca): Hit it.
(Oz): Whoa, nice.
(Jimin): Jinx! Jinx!
(Durandal): Bro what is Renekton's damage.
(Luca): That engage was perfect.
(Rapid): Baron, right?
(Jimin): Ah—thank god.
[Yes, hahahahaha.]
[From the cast desk it looked like they took that pretty comfortably, but—]
"Why's he like that."
Dahye snorted a laugh.
The game was rolling along far too smoothly.
[A ten-thousand-gold lead and a thirteen-thousand-gold lead feel completely different.]
[P1 is just too strong.]
[When the gap is this wide, comps stop mattering.]
Levels, gold, items—every single lane had already blown open.
[GG!]
[P1!]
The Nexus shattered and the players walked out.
[When P1 called these players up from the start of Summer and recently announced the roster, fans were watching with equal parts hope and worry—but so far, the results have been the absolute best-case scenario.]
[P1 looks like they have both solidity and freshness.]
"Man, that was a great game."
Dahye didn't cast matches often. One-sided as it was, her eyes had still had a good time.
"Hmm·····"
POG announcement time.
[Game 2 POG—yes, it's Oz!]
"Huh?"
Dahye tilted her head.
"Didn't top play better?"
Yohone hadn't pressured Orianna from level one—P1's bot had played well, and some of it was just matchup. But Renekton had pinned the enemy top under his boot the entire game and even burned the enemy jungler's turns, making the whole map comfortable. And yet—
"Hmm·····"
Chin resting on her hand, Dahye broke into a grin.
"·····"
Jimin walked on, grinning to himself.
It just kind of happened that way.
He'd played with the simple thought that he only needed to do his own job well—and every time he came back to his senses, the game was already won.
Thank goodness.
Lately Dahye seemed happy. When he occasionally checked her YouTube videos she was bright, laughing easily—the Dahye he used to know.
"·····"
His fists tightened.
Right now he needed to focus as a member of P1. But someday, he wanted to show her this heart that kept growing bigger.
[WOW! Wonderful Play!]
Huh?
Heading toward the break room, Jimin heard a voice cranked loud.
"·····"
It was "Blur"—Shim Changmin.
"Uh—?"
"Ah!"
Changmin whipped around like he'd seen a ghost. Jimin jumped too.
"Ah, I'm sorry!"
"Ah—no, my bad."
Changmin was the one apologizing for spinning around so suddenly.
"·····"
"·····"
Whenever it was just the two of them, Jimin and Changmin still got awkward.
But—
What Changmin had been watching a second ago was definitely—
"Are you watching another team's game?"
"Uh, yeah, that's right."
Changmin turned his tablet toward him.
"Ah."
It was the English cast of a Chinese SPL match—AIG versus GGG.
"Hades is on that team!"
"You're a Hades fan too?"
"Not that hardcore, but he left a huge impression at the last Sol'd Cup. Coach says he's one of the best players in the world too."
"Right?"
Changmin's face lit up.
"His teammates aren't really carrying him right now, but—ah, and he was so much better back in the day. During his P1 years he was popping off every single game."
"Whoa."
Jimin hadn't properly dug into that era yet, but whenever he heard stories from P1's golden age, his eyes went bright.
"You really like Hades, huh."
Having finally found a reason to get closer to Changmin, Jimin was talking with more passion than usual.
"I was originally a mid laner, but I switched to top after watching Hades. Before that, thanks to my uncle, I'd been a Maker fan since elementary school."
"Ah·····"
As if he were a completely different person from before, Changmin launched into an enthusiastic retelling of P1's glory days.
"Did I talk too long?"
"No, that's amazing."
Why Hades had captivated him, how many P1 games he'd watched in school—Jimin could have kept listening, but there wasn't much time left.
"Does the coach tell you to do this or not do that in solo queue specifically?"
"Not really?"
"Oh, yeah?"
On the walk to the practice room together, Changmin nodded.
"·····"
Hearing that, it seemed Coach Jang Yaohwan involved himself quite a bit in the players' individual practice. Support Sangjin had recently been told to stop playing certain champions and focus on climbing his solo queue rank.
Jimin, by contrast, had a fair amount of freedom outside of feedback. From what he'd heard last time, Junyoung practiced pretty freely on his own too.
"Work hard."
"Yes."
They smiled and took their seats.
In this moment, at least, competition didn't even cross his mind.
Yeah.
Just do his best first. That was the iron rule he still hadn't broken.
[GG!]
[P1 takes their third straight win!]
[And that's three consecutive series without dropping a single game.]
"Ambessa felt good."
"Yeah."
"You really carry by yourself, huh."
Jimin was smiling—having completely locked down the enemy Gwen on the melee champion Ambessa.
[A telecom derby—but ST's All-Stars couldn't stop P1's red-hot momentum.]
[Flawless performance across all three matches. That's P1.]
P1 had steamrolled regardless of the game-one or game-two roster.
[A player you can't leave out of the POG race—let's meet P1's mid laner Luca, who led today's victory. Congratulations on the win.]
"Thank you."
"·····"
He watched his teammate's interview, greeted the fans, wrapped another match day—and Jimin left Jongno in high spirits.
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Ah·····"
Jimin scratched his head.
Back at the P1 building. He'd wondered why the coach was calling him in—only to be told to take three days off. Sure, there were six days until the next match, but by Jimin's standards it was a shockingly long break.
"Minhyeok rested last week, so this time it's Jimin's turn. If there's a day you'd rather take off for something specific, just say so."
"I·····"
Jimin hesitated. The urge to keep grinding hard collided with the urge to go home and see his mom.
"Jimin. I know what you're thinking."
Yaohwan looked at him.
"But rest is training too. People aren't machines. If you push just because you feel fine, you break."
"Yes."
"And you're still nineteen. Your parents worry, so go say hello properly. And don't sit there grinding Sol just because you're 'practicing.'"
"Understood."
Rest—that sweet word. And yet something made him hesitate, even as something else in him loosened. A strange feeling.
"Hmm·····"
Jimin just stood there after leaving the coach's office.
No point dragging the decision out. It was already done.
"Alright."
He'd go see his mom in person, say hello, and make some good memories. And while he was at it—Jimin found himself wanting to see his friends too.