Gamer's Self
Another game.
After narrowly defeating the young fan who called himself my rival in a one-on-one duel, shaking his hand with a firm grip, and rubbing my eyes, Jinseok let out a weary sigh.
A. No strange people had appeared, but honestly, these kinds of spots were exhausting for me.
I just wanted to play games, yet why did the team keep dumping every one of these events onto me?
With that irritated feeling bubbling up inside, Jinseok replayed the conversation he had had with the coach just before sitting down at the event area.
“Coach, you’re not doing scrims today and instead running the event the entire day?”
“You do scrims a lot anyway. There was no scrim schedule set for today to begin with. Jinseok, you have both good looks and showmanship, so you’re perfectly suited for these kinds of appearances.”
“But I didn’t become a pro gamer to become the face of the team…”
“Even so, the tournament is still far away. What’s the problem? Besides, when something like this happens, you get new fans. Don’t act like you don’t know that esports isn’t just for pros showing off. Why did Champions of the Storm fail?”
“Ah, that was just because the game company canceled the tournament, right?”
“That’s exactly why they canceled it—to avoid losing money. If people had played games and watched tournaments more, the game company would have had a steady revenue stream and kept holding them. Without fans, there are no pros. So stop worrying and just suffer through today and tomorrow. The contract even says you’ll get bonuses for doing these appearances.”
“…Understood.”
It wasn’t that I hated the work.
It was nice to be greeted kindly by gamers who recognized me.
The participants who lost but still showed good sportsmanship by saying, “Even though I lost, it was a fair match,” were great too.
The girls who didn’t know much about games sneaking peeks at my face and whispering behind their hands wasn’t the worst either.
After all, I knew I was good-looking.
Still, I had become a pro gamer purely to earn respect through my skills in the game.
The fact that people kept focusing only on my face and running events that used looks as weapons left a slight dissatisfaction gnawing at me.
Of course, I knew that sounded spoiled.
Even the ranger on my team wanted to stand in for me, but the coach discreetly pulled him aside and sent him off with the rest of the team to film a travel vlog instead.
No one said it was because of my looks, but Jinseok knew exactly why that decision had been made.
It was the same as his excessive ambition—looks were inevitable.
Ordinary male gamers might find the familiar face of a ranger appealing as a charm point.
But in these department-store events where ordinary people gather, it was better to have someone with looks to draw crowds.
That way new fanbases could form.
For the game, for the team.
So he had been quietly running the event.
The only annoyance was that a tiny bit of resentment kept accumulating.
I wanted to be like Joker too.
I wanted to reach the top solely through my gaming skill.
But reality had dropped me from the Challenger tier into the second division, where I only got to hear the king of the second league talking.
I couldn’t blame my teammates because everyone was working hard.
So I just wanted to practice a little more.
The coaching staff, despite the sponsors, kept turning the players like this because they had to contribute to earning money.
Jinseok wasn’t ignorant of capitalism’s harshness, so he had no choice but to obey…
For three hours straight, he had been mechanically winning one-on-one matches.
The staff member had secretly come over and worried whether his wrist was okay, asking if he needed a break, but Jinseok, who took responsibility seriously, had grabbed a drink and kept going.
After all, he played twelve hours of games a day; this was nothing.
Rest was only possible when the participants sat down and prepared for the next game.
He had no problem with focus.
If he had, he wouldn’t have become a pro gamer.
Even if the opponent was a Bronze-to-Silver tier elementary school student, Jinseok would deliberately give them an early lead.
But the lion always hunts the rabbit with full power.
He had already set up the advantage he needed to win.
When he was in the middle of a long winning streak, a girl in a wheelchair became his next opponent.
Jinseok would still give his best.
No, rather, people like her with bodies that couldn’t move easily were the ones who needed to be more careful.
After all, it was only natural that they were socially weak.
But if both hands were fine, the game didn’t have any disadvantage from the disability.
Instead, in an environment where walking around was difficult, the probability of playing well was higher.
Of course, League of Champions wasn’t the kind of game where skill rose in proportion to the time you invested.
Still, in general, it was.
“Welcome. Just log in, search for the pop store in the user settings, and enter. The password is 6012.”
“Understood.”
That line he had spoken hundreds of times before, he said politely again this time, waiting for the opponent to log in.
After a few quick keystrokes, the opponent’s nickname that appeared was one Jinseok knew well.
Noel.
He remembered how she had been a famous streamer who had cleared up the rumor of being a hacker.
His teammates sometimes joked that she had made the game company “no longer exist” and couldn’t even catch hackers, so it was hard to forget her.
Especially since she had become the top laner who was famous for spreading nonsense, and then the coach had been ranting about people making baseless claims on SNS.
Naturally, strength filled his hand gripping the mouse.
Even if it hadn’t been for her fame, just looking at the tier next to her nickname made him unable to let his guard down.
Master.
Even among the Grandmaster ranks, compared to the Challenger tier he was in the top 300, it was still lower.
But Master tier meant people had already graduated from basic techniques and were forging their own paths.
At the same time, a competitive fire ignited in him.
So far, the opponents he had faced were mostly under Diamond tier.
This was the first Master tier user he had met here.
Even so, Jinseok had chosen a champion with a favorable matchup as a product and had found it boring.
Still, as a pro, he had smiled and said, “As expected of a Master, you understand the favorable matchup perfectly,” and moved on.
But before that, as a gamer, he had wanted to play an interesting game.
“I will play Irelia. Victory conditions are the standard ones—CS 100, first turret, or first blood. No rune spells or recall limitations.”
“Understood.”
So he had brought out his signature pick.
A champion that was comfortably aggressive in the mid lane.
Of course, it wasn’t a champion with absolutely no counters.
There were a few that pressed hard all lane with no skill needed.
But Jinseok kept a slight hope in his heart and waited for the opponent’s pick.
If he had picked a hard-counter champion just to win, he would have had no choice but to lose boringly.
He hoped the opponent would pick one who enjoyed a fierce fight for fun.
And Noel, without betraying that hope, brought out the hat-wearing fighter.
Jax.
The classic rival matchup against Irelia that had existed since the early days of League of Champions.
Of course, in lane phase, Jax had a slight edge over Irelia.
But that was a top-lane story.
The one-on-one duel happened on the straight lane.
Considering their tier difference, it wasn’t a perfect balance, but Jinseok was waiting for the countdown with that thought.
While waiting for the game to load, Jinseok glanced sideways at the opponent.
Two computers were placed side by side, so her face wasn’t visible.
But seeing the petite figure sitting in the wheelchair, sympathy welled up in him instinctively.
She played so violently from that body.
He hadn’t seen her in solo queue, but he remembered his teammate muttering, “This guy’s either a hacker or a real madman.”
Jinseok waited with a racing heart for the loading bar to fill.
Eventually, the game began.
His turn came faster than he expected.
While he had been analyzing the pro gamer’s playstyle, he had given leeway to beginners.
But he crushed anyone with decent skill without mercy.
Then, if the opponent seemed young, he gave them the product.
Ah, he always gave it to girls, apparently.
He thought for a moment that he could just hand over the Porolong doll to Gabi without asking, but…
“I will play Irelia.”
When it was his turn and he heard the voice call his champion, that casual thought vanished.
Irelia was a pretty aggressive champion, and it was said that if you caught her, she was terrifying.
But it wasn’t a champion with absolutely no counters.
Even Malphite who just spammed his skill could harass Irelia all day.
Or Teemo who just auto-attacked and won by rough fighting.
Of course, that meant Irelia could win if it came to that.
There was such a clear counter.
So maybe this confidence in handling even that kind of champion was manifesting.
Or perhaps it was a challenge to see who was stronger.
That wasn’t it.
He felt like he was being tested.
Objectively, as a pro gamer, the Challenger tier next to HLG Truerock was clearly a big gap from his own tier.
That person was stronger than him.
So even if he picked Malphite or Teemo and ate the product without complaint, no one would say anything.
But the gamer in him twitched.
Even if you knew you would lose, there were times when you had to fight.
So instead of a sturdy stone or a boastful fighter, he chose the laid-back angler.
[Come on, let’s try it once!]
Jax.
My sturdy warrior who shone with outstanding basic skills.
The champion positioned in the opposite role to the genius Irelia.
In lane phase, Jax had a very slight edge over Irelia.
But there was a tier difference.
This was something you had to forgive as a small favor.
That pro gamer should be grateful I hadn’t picked Malphite.
The game began.
The top and bottom lanes, and even the jungle camps, were completely empty.
It was a battlefield of proof with only the center attack lane existing.
[The bravest hero I’ve ever seen was a little kid. This is for you, champion.]
While listening to Jax’s calm and quiet voice, I bought items to face Irelia and moved to the center of the map.