New Star (4)
The casters had already been sketching the letter “P” for pentakill inside their heads.
But right before Pippo died, Caitlyn’s bullet streaked in faster than Yohone’s blade.
“Uh-uh-uh, yes—but the Nexus!”
What mattered was that Maehwa’s twin turrets had crumbled in moments, leaving the Nexus bare and exposed.
“The Nexus goes down and it’s GG!”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
The instant Set 3 ended, the roar of the crowd swelled as if everyone had rehearsed it. A few P1 fans had to hide their tears behind their cheer sticks.
“Hahahaha, look at Jimin just smiling.”
The P1 players walked out after the win. Jimin—who had drawn the most eyes, and whose feelings about having the pentakill snatched away so quickly everyone wanted to know—was simply grinning from ear to ear.
“Through Set 1 it looked like Maehwa Life was going to crush P1 the same way they always had and cement that predator-prey relationship once and for all. Then Set 2’s surprise Fiora, and Set 3’s absolute pressure across every lane… P1 is just that strong!”
“This is a team whose future looks even brighter.”
“Huh?”
Jimin noticed the camera locking onto him. He never quite knew what to do in these moments, so he simply gave a polite bow. Whether the fans were in the arena or watching from home, they were all the same people watching him.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Even that simple greeting earned him applause and delighted cheers.
Just before the Nexus finally exploded, the players’ voice chat spilled out.
Luca: I’ve got Flash and ult.
Rapid: I think we can just walk in while hitting them.
Durandal: Rakan! Rakan!
Oz: Nice!
Luca: Ha… we won.
Durandal: Whoa whoa, Jimin’s penta! Penta! Give him the penta!
Jimin: Huh?
Rapid: Wait what? Why’d he die?
Oz: What do you mean why? He charged the headshot and popped it.
Rapid: I thought he was walking to fountain so I was trying to leave him on a sliver…
Durandal: Bro that is not it.
Luca: Man, pentas from top lane are so rare.
Rapid: Should we grab Elder?
Durandal: What are you talking about, end it already—aaaaah we won, damn. I played like trash.
Oz: Ah, this feels good.
Jimin: We won.
Luca: Jimin, everyone played insanely well this game. But what the hell was that in top? You just ripped Aatrox apart.
Oz: Every time I path top Aatrox is just screaming.
Jimin: Hahahaha… ah, we won.
The tension finally drained out of him and Jimin laughed freely.
“Ah, yeah—how nervous must he have been?”
“He says it wasn’t intentional. Yes. Defendant’s statement.”
Winners and losers had been decided, and the fans cheering for the winners were simply happy.
Then the next graphic appeared on screen.
“Yes, exactly! On point differential, P1 climbs to first place in the league!”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
Everyone already knew it, but seeing the confirmation right there on the big screen still tore another roar from the crowd.
“2031 SCK Summer Split, today’s big match—the one every SCK fan had their eyes on—goes to P1. And now we’ll speak with Player Jimin, who took POG for both Set 2 and Set 3. Congratulations on the win.”
“Thank you.”
“Whooooooooo!”
Our top laner Park Jimin
Jimin-ah, keep that up and you’ll only ever be the third-best top in the world
Mr. Park Jimin, this court hereby sentences you to a lifetime contract with P1
“·····”
Jimin looked out at the stands. A few fans were fighting back tears and still refused to leave their seats.
“We have to ask about the Fiora pick in Set 2. That moment you locked it in—was it prepared, or a surprise pick?”
“Uh····· honestly, while we were preparing for today both I and the whole team felt really confident, so losing Set 1 was pretty shocking. I still thought we could keep going the same way and make it work, but as a team strategy we decided we needed a champion who could shake the side lanes, so I locked Fiora.”
“Your performance in Set 2 was really impressive. Then Set 3 you went Yohone. Both Fiora and Yohone are champions you first picked after getting called up to the first team. What let you make those bold choices so confidently?”
“They just hadn’t shown up in official matches yet. Personally I’ve practiced those champions a ton on my own, so I didn’t really care how many times they’d appeared in tournaments. But Set 3 everyone else played so well that I could just relax and play the lane, and I think that’s why the result came out nice.”
“Well said.”
“·····”
Jimin quickly wet his drying mouth with a swallow of saliva. It was only answering questions, but it was still hard work.
“You put on an incredible performance today. A lot of P1 fans came in with high expectations—any words for them?”
“Um····· hahaha.”
Jimin didn’t answer right away; he let the silence hang. Laughter erupted from the stands as if on cue.
How could he casually spit out words for people who had come all this way to watch his team, who wrote careful messages and cried and laughed for them?
“Thank you all for the support. We took first place this time, and I want to keep holding it and show you the championship as well.”
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
A textbook answer. Yet the careful, almost timid way he said it struck something deeper.
“I’m sure the fans will keep cheering hard until the day you win it all. Once again, congratulations on the victory!”
“Thank you.”
The interview ended. Jimin kept bowing to the fans until the very last second.
“And with that, P1 has climbed to first place in the SCK Summer Split.”
“The sheer force, the weight class P1 showed today… truly impressive.”
“The power to punch straight through Maehwa’s famous macro and defense. Now we understand exactly why so many fans have been rating them so highly lately.”
“And Player Jimin, whose form in Sets 2 and 3 was absolutely destructive… every single one of the nine SCK teams—and every team around the world aiming for a Worlds title—is going to have to prepare a counter for this guy.”
“We’ll close today’s broadcast with the news that P1 has defeated Maehwa Life Esports and taken first place.”
“Yeah, I just stepped out for a second.”
—It’s a team dinner though. You sure it’s okay to leave?
“It’s only for a minute.”
Jimin smiled as he spoke. He had simply called his mom. The dinner was nice, but today had been a happy day in so many ways.
“It’s hot so she ordered grilled eel for us to recover. It’s really good.”
—Make sure you thank her properly.
“Yeah.”
He let out a small laugh. Mom never changed. And that unchanging nature of hers always felt comforting and good.
Huh?
A notification popped up on his phone.
“·····”
It was Yu Dahye.
“Mom, I’ll call you again later.”
—Okay, okay.
He ended the call with a smile.
He replied in less than a minute.
“·····”
He really should hurry back to the table like Mom said. If he sat there glued to his phone even at dinner he’d get chewed out, right?
To Jimin a pentakill was less a thrilling, glorious moment and more something that made the viewers go completely insane.
“Huh?”
He knew that, by her standards, she really had been streaming hard. The moment he read Dahye’s last message Jimin headed straight back to the table.
“What took you so long?”
“Nothing, just…”
Support player Sangjin asked. Jimin only smiled and sat down. On the grill, eel was still sizzling away.
“Jun, let’s talk now. Why did you take the last hit on Pippo?”
“Ahem.”
Sangjin, who had been running the mood of the table, turned on Kang Jun.
“From Set 1 today he kept surviving on a sliver of HP and it pissed me off.”
“See? This guy’s a real psycho.”
“If he were normal he wouldn’t play games until Challenger while everyone else is studying.”
“What?”
Jimin snorted at the bot duo’s banter.
“But damn, this feels good.”
Huh?
Jungler Minhyeok suddenly spoke as if he were about to make a speech.
“Last year every single game in Summer felt like walking on thin ice just to make Worlds once. Now it honestly feels like we can win everything from here on, and losing even once would be ridiculous. Anyway… it just feels really good.”
He laughed and popped a piece of eel into his mouth. One of the best junglers in the league, the man who had desperately held the team together—this year he had met strong teammates and was finally playing a completely different game.
“Same. If we keep going like this I feel like we can beat any team in the world.”
Mid laner Junyeong next to him added.
“·····”
Jimin nodded. He hadn’t tasted the world stage yet, but today they had just beaten a team that held one of the best players on the planet and the MSC champions.
“But even if we win the title, people are still gonna say Dexter’s better.”
“Huh?”
“They’ll just say the ADC changed but the result would’ve been the same anyway.”
Kang Jun muttered. He was underage and couldn’t even drink, yet he sounded half-drunk.
“That’s not how it works.”
“Yeah, today in Set 3 Dexter couldn’t even move.”
The teammates jumped in to encourage him.
“·····”
Jimin looked at Kang Jun.
“Jun.”
“What?”
The words that had floated up in his head came out.
“We couldn’t even sign Dexter anyway because of his salary.”
“·····What?”
Kang Jun stared at him like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You open your mouth once and it’s about salaries?”
“He’s not wrong though.”
The rest of the team piled on one after another.
“Is this your revenge for the stolen penta?”
“Ah, no.”
Jimin waved both hands. Look at the salary—no matter how good Dexter is, I’m way more cost-effective. He had simply returned something similar to what Kang Jun himself had said not long ago.
“Hey, players, you’re being too loud.”
“Ah, sorry!”
“What do you mean ‘sorry,’ dude.”
“Ah shit hahaha.”
“·····”
From the next table, the slightly intimidating manager Lee Jiwoo was eating. Because it was her who spoke, Jimin had answered carefully—and the older members immediately burst out laughing.
“And you two are nineteen. Can’t you have cuter conversations? Why is it still game talk even here?”
“Come on…”
“Haha·····”
The noona who always talked to Jimin and Kang Jun the most. Jimin gave an awkward smile.
“·····”
This is fun.
Jimin flipped a piece of grilling eel with his chopsticks and thought. The game was going well, and the time spent with such good people… Knowing how precious these moments were, he hoped this finite time could stay full of laughter for as long as possible.
“CK Savings Bank Orion! This is their all-in!”
“You guys think you can fight that well? Come on then!”
Summer first-place P1 versus ninth-place CK Savings Bank. Under unfavorable conditions, CK Savings Bank tried Baron first.
“No, no, no—wait a second.”
“They’re getting hit way too hard!”
P1’s mid Jayce and ADC lethality Varus poking. Every time CK Savings Bank got hit it felt like their guts were spilling out.
“He’s coming!”
A teleport that looked like the grim reaper himself. Akeli, who had been staring down K’Sante in bot, appeared on the battlefield.
KDA 5/0/1. Two levels ahead of the enemy top.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
The moment the message appeared at the top of the screen, P1 fans erupted. Their jungler Rek’Sai had stolen the Baron—an utterly ecstatic announcement.
“Uh-uh-uh, Ezreal’s caught!”
Ezreal hit by Akeli’s shuriken. He flashed away with Arcane Shift, but Akeli chased.
“Sha-sha-shak!”
“Waaaaah, Jimin!”
“He just vanished.”
Akeli was already massacring a game that had been losing.
“Triple kill!”
Allied poking had already drained their HP, and after the gut-punch of the Baron steal, a well-fed Akeli butchering those champions was almost too easy.
“Player Jimin is ridiculous again today!”
In Set 1 Jimin had demolished the enemy top Shen with Jayce; in Set 2 he put on another flashy, cruel acrobatic show with Akeli from lane onward.
“The Nexus explodes!”
“GG!”
“Set 2 finished in 23 minutes 45 seconds—even shorter than Set 1’s 25 minutes 58 seconds.”
“Forget the standings—how is P1 showing this kind of destructive form?!”
The highlight reel could be filled entirely with P1 champions beating people up: Varus’s Piercing Arrow skewering multiple champions, Akeli snowballing hard from lane, Jayce smashing Sandra’s head in with his hammer, and more.
“Yesterday Maehwa Life dropped a game to ST All-Stars, so the gap widened.”
“P1 is solidifying first place even further.”
Summer season. A slightly shaky Maehwa and an ever-more-rampaging P1—two opposite pictures that made fans expect the regular-season king to be crowned even earlier than they had imagined.