Academy League Summer Season (5)

Before the match began, the players made their entrance.

Cameras panned across them as they waved and greeted the lenses.

The casters rattled off player info and match histories.

At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the signal, they headed to their capsules.

Both teams moved to the prepared tournament channel amid cheers from the in-game crowd.

The game kicked off to roaring approval from the real-life audience gathered in the venue and the spectators inside the virtual arena.

It was a routine I'd gone through countless times—so familiar it was second nature. But today, I wasn't the one stepping into the spotlight as a player. I was the coach, watching it all unfold from the closest vantage point.

Sure, there were barely 50 people in the physical stands and maybe 500 in-game, nothing like the thousands in reality and tens of thousands online from my era.

The cheers filling the arena and echoing through the in-game channel were a far cry from those glory days. Still, this moment had to be electric for the girls—more thrilling than anything. I'd felt it myself.

The game launched, and both teams unveiled their prepared picks.

Blue Light's selections were predictable as ever—they'd run the same comp all last season.

Our side had exposed ours in that open scrim against Brilliant, so they knew what to expect too.

The only real change was Seona swapping back to her main Shadow Assassin instead of the Nightcrawler from before.

I logged in via the capsule in the waiting room, joining the in-game lobby as team staff.

I materialized in the observation room overlooking the battlefield—a premium vantage point where every detail was visible at a glance. Settling in, I scanned the early movements of our players just as the match got underway.

Our team was on blue side, opponents on red.

'Sera's farming CS clean... Hayoung's stacking jungle camps nicely. Eunjae... good. Solid leveling so far.'

Early laning looked steady enough.

All three carry laners were applying my feedback, showing marked improvement.

Sera had fixed her habit of leaking CS, Hayoung was dipping into jungle stacks during lulls instead of hugging lane, and Eunjae had stopped over-roaming at the expense of her levels.

We'd warded our jungler's vision to protect those stacks too.

'Yuna's... yeah, holding strong. Decent CS for an offlaner. Good ward on the back gank path. Seona... huh?'

Yuna was covering her vulnerability to ganks by warding the rear path, conserving mana only when waves piled under tower and snagging those rare CS openings with smart skill use.

Seona was the issue.

"Haha! Take that! This is Kim Seona's Shadow Assassin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in action!"

"Damn, you're being a total pain!"

She was playing even more aggressively than usual, blowing off CS she could've easily grabbed to smack the enemy champ instead.

'What the hell? You're not in solo kill range, and it's not a one-sided trade—why ditch CS for poke trades?!'

It'd make sense if she landed a solo kill or forced favorable damage, but not here.

Sure, Shadow Assassin had punchy early laning for a late-game scaler, but it was all about harassing—not winning outright. On raw stats, her laning phase ranked low.

Seona's skill edge let her trade evenly, but stock Shadow Assassin would've gotten shredded.

Yet she was hyper-focused on harassing, neglecting core CS takes.

'Is she nuts? Why's she doing this? If a gank hits now...'

"Seona, watch mid!"

"Don't sweat it, I'm winning... whoa!"

It happened moments after the thought crossed my mind—the enemy support dove mid. Seona, already overextended and trading hard past center line, was too deep to retreat.

"Screw it, let's both go down!"

Judging no escape, she flipped the script like in auditions, charging for mutual destruction.

But these weren't audition scrubs. They were pros—even academy-tier ones.

They saw the desperation play coming.

"Damn... just one hit... one hit... argh!"

The enemy mid kited back, support peeled, and they secured the kill to push the wave.

The crowd piled on, ripping into Seona's brainless play as she died spectacularly.

Respawning via mid portal, she kept lunging right back into fights, senseless grabs flying and doubling down aggressively the worse it got—like she was showing off.

'No way... with the crowd watching, is she chasing superplays?'

Nothing else explained it.

Outgoing and attention-hungry, Seona played smart in private scrims.

But in public ones like the Brilliant scrim—and now—she amped the aggression when eyes were on her.

Desperate to imprint her presence with impossible highlights.

'She's lost it. Skill's nowhere near yet, who’s she performing for? Hayoung! Reel her in!'

I glanced at Hayoung.

But she was too tensed up, laser-focused on her lane. She followed my jungle stack feedback, but stage fright had her tunnel-visioned—no map awareness.

Hayoung usually checked Seona's nonsense, but not today.

Without that brake, Seona ramped up the reckless idiocy.

Her already trash Judgment had cratered to rock bottom, good Teamwork stat plummeting too. Competitive Spirit up, but backfiring hard.

Obsessed with solo kills and spotlights, her decisions worsened, brainless plays stacking.

Deaths at three already.

Bronze kids know to chill at 0/3, but Seona gambled harder, spiraling worse.

Blue Light caught on, piling supports mid—Seona fed nonstop.

At five deaths, Hayoung tried intervening, but Seona couldn't face the streak, ignoring her for more blind charges.

Hayoung and Eunjae rushed to save her—and got wiped by the enemy offlaner Choi Jaeyeon's portal init.

Only Sera quietly farming and Yuna grinding offlane stayed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sane.

The game was bleeding us dry.

"This... damn... I won't back down! Come on, again!"

Seona hit six deaths, lunging once more.

"You fucking psycho Kim Seona! You solo queuing for real?! Use your damn head before playing!!!"

A thunderous roar blasted our team voice chat.

The raw, vicious tirade halted Seona mid-stride; the other three jumped too.

"Unnie...?"

"What the hell are you doing? Solo feeding six times and dragging supports to die—you gotta know when to chill! Got celebrity syndrome? Think you're First Division league 'cause you're hot shit?! Die and hug tower for CS or call ganks!!"

"No, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Unnie, I'm doing better. Just one kill and he's toast..."

"Shut your trap?! The 'better' one feeding 6/0? You're the worst of the ten here!!"

"...Unnie, that's harsh. Game's not over..."

"You're pissed too—shut it."

Yuna, convinced Seona was tanking the game, unloaded without mercy.

It echoed her audition brawl with randos.

'Sigh... not wrong, but that delivery...'

Yuna's stats: sky-high Competitive Spirit, shaky Mental and Teamwork. My early worry about her politicking teammates was manifesting.

'This is live matches for ya...'

Scrims don't capture the chaos. Our girls were learning that the hard way.

Having vented on Seona, Yuna's eyes blazed toward the enemy offlaner Choi Jaeyeon—the mid-kill MVP.

"Thinks he can init, huh? Let's see who's better."