Division 3 Promotion Match (9)
With the lanes swapped, both sides picked the same champions. As the red team, we sent our carry to the top lane while offlaner Yuna headed to the bottom.
Then, once everyone hit around level 3, Peacemaker's pressure resumed from all angles. They chipped away at our health with ranged skills, activating the passive on their Bloodbaser to target Yuna, whose mental game was fragile.
Even thinking back on it now, it was an impeccably brilliant strategy, making full use of both in-game and mental elements.
But this time, we didn't go down without a fight. Seon-ah started with a mana potion to keep her health topped up without letting the Bloodbaser's passive ramp too much. Ha-young didn't skimp on mana either, healing every time the enemy's Brutal Spearman shockwave hit. Eunjae roamed without wasting health on jungle creeps, staying topped off.
Everyone was clearly taking my feedback to heart.
And then there was Yuna.
Unlike the first set, she hadn't said a word the entire game, staying dead silent. Was it because no major crisis had hit yet?
I pulled up her screen next to mine. And I couldn't help but be shocked.
"What the—no way, is she crying?"
Yuna could only occasionally snag the rare CS that trickled in, staying at max range to grab whatever experience she could. There wasn't much else she could do.
But she wasn't just playing—she was sniffling nonstop, tears streaming down her face.
"You saying the others are deliberately trolling to screw you over?"
Of course not!
"Your teammates aren't your emotional punching bag."
I know that! But it's true they couldn't manage their health, so I died even easier...
"Out of those 9 deaths, you could've survived or at least traded kills in 5 if you'd used your skills more carefully."
...Over half of all those deaths were my fault?
"Get in here. You're playing Bloodbaser yourself. I switched the enemy to Challenger level. Now dive."
Why... why are they surviving? The team supports are Challenger level too. There's no way...
Was more than half really my mistakes?
Then what the hell have I been doing to the others? I...
"It's not just you, Yuna. Seon-ah. Ha-young. Eunjae. Sera."
No... I knew it deep down. They weren't screwing me over on purpose.
But I just couldn't admit that I was getting pushed and losing the game because of me!
Yeah, I was just lashing out.
But if Coach calls out the others too... if he breaks it down so objectively... what am I? What the hell am I even doing?
A trash player with crap mechanics who can't read the situation and just blames everyone else? No different from those idiots I see in solo queue every day?
Me? Cha Yuna?
Was I really that worthless?
"I can't accept it!"
No way I'm that kind of person.
I'm going to Division 1. I'm making TIC. I'm becoming the world's best offlaner.
And yet here I am, in a Division 3 promotion match, already crumbling because my skills and mentality suck?
No. I absolutely refuse to accept that!
I was so furious, so uncontrollably angry, tears just kept flowing. Not because we lost set 1, not because I hated Coach for exposing my mistakes in front of everyone, not even because I was pissed at the others for poor health management.
I was furious at myself. The belief that I was the best—shattered, crumbling, hitting the dirt in pieces.
I couldn't accept it. I knew I got sharp in games, but I'd always thought as long as I played well and showed results, it was fine.
But if I don't even have the skill? Then what am I?
The enemy was gearing up to kill me again with the same comp.
Yeah, Bloodbaser. Dark Priest. The two bitches who dragged me to the bottom.
Our other laners weren't as low on health as last set, but the enemy judged it enough for a dive and closed in.
"I won't accept it!!! You think I'm some idiot moron? I'll get revenge..."
No ult yet.
At that moment, Coach... kited around the tree.
I copied his movements exactly, circling the tree for vision denial.
Every bit of Coach's play—his positioning, voice, expression—was burned into my brain. That feeling of being stripped bare in front of everyone. I couldn't forget it.
With my silhouette flickering behind the tree, they couldn't smack me as freely as before.
The Dark Priest approached too, but this time I checked wards properly. No enemy ward here.
And the Bloodbaser didn't have that insane move speed from before. I could still shake her.
I ate a few hits whenever I peeked, but the tree kept it from being the merciless barrage like last time. Still some breathing room.
"Anchor Swing hits everything around you. It's a skill you can land even if they're not visible, as long as they're in range—but you waited to see them first. You think you'd survive that?"
Right. So use it now. I swung the anchor wide while the Bloodbaser was out of sight. The impact transmitted up the chain as she leaped from the tree—solid hit.
Nailed it.
The follow-up autos were way weaker. Proper Anchor Swing connect. But even with Torrent, it wasn't enough...
Kiting around the tree had limits—my health was nearly gone, one or two more hits and I'd drop.
Fuck. Damn it. Goddamn it.
Why can't I do it like Coach?! Why?!
That instant, a glowing magic circle appeared under our tower. Moments later, a figure in pristine white armor wielding a hammer materialized. Holy Knight Ha-young.
A warm beam enveloped my head, vitality surging back into my near-dead body.
"Ha-young...?"
"Not too late, sis?"
After fighting me like that earlier, she's here to save me? I...
I bit my lip and glared at the Bloodbaser. Jeong Yujin, was it? She'd toyed with me so well. Time for payback.
Ha-young's heal splashed damage on the nearby Bloodbaser, already hurting bad. Sensing no more dive was viable, she turned tail. She'd die to tower, but the Dark Priest's grave granted 5 seconds of immortality.
"Where you running!!!"
I roared and blasted a powerful water jet at her back. Torrent slowed her, and Ha-young slapped on Weakness Aura while flanking. The rampaging Bloodbaser slowed to a crawl—unbelievable.
"Damn, should've just bailed one turn earlier..."
Sensing doom, Jeong Yujin groaned. I swung my anchor with all my might, smashing her skull. Health already bottomed from the dive, the Bloodbaser dropped. The Dark Priest fled, and just like that, with Coach's teachings and Ha-young's help, I survived my first dive.
Ha-young, sweating from chasing ahead with the aura, turned back toward me.
"...Thanks."
"We're a team."
I had nothing to say to that.
We're a team. It meant more than just being on the same roster.
Was this what Coach wanted to get across?
I forced back another wave of tears. No more ugly crying.
"Shining Star looks way improved from set 1, right?"
"I figured they'd crumble mentally after that total wipe, but impressive. Rookie teams don't bounce back easy in the chaos!"
"Bloodbaser got huge value last set, but not this time. Shining Star's supports are on fire, just waiting for a dive!"
From a team whose synergy shattered so badly in set 1 that "team" barely fit, we'd regained our usual form, trading blows evenly with Peacemaker.
No—Sera's Racer had overwhelming late-game carry potential, so we actually held the edge.
Yuna ate a few more dives and died, but each was unavoidable, no way out. And this time, she didn't blow up over her deaths.
Eunjae and Ha-young always carried Town Portal Scrolls, wary of Bloodbaser dives. The second they sniffed one, they'd TP in for backup.
Portal gold slowed their item spikes a lot, but keeping allies alive against a snowballing Bloodbaser was their job done.
I doubted Yuna's fiery temper was totally tamed by this, but I hoped she'd learned something. She's incredibly talented and will only get better.
But in pro-level team games, even the best solo carry has limits. Yelling at teammates who don't meet your standards just breaks harmony and your own mentality—nothing changes.
Yuna's pattern since auditions: Fine when things go smooth, but that explosive side always emerged at the first snag. At least this game, it stayed buried—even when she was the snag.
"Game's entering late now."
"Shining Star's firmly ahead. Bloodbaser vs. Racer late-game carry gap is night and day."
"Yep! Even with Peacemaker's teamfight champs like Land Crusher and Brutal Spearman, Shining Star has Wave Sorcerer! Carries decide games, and the inherent late scaling's too wide."
Peacemaker kept trying dives, but nothing like set 1's ease. And with Yuna biting her tongue, our team stayed intact.
All that bottled-up frustration exploded in teamfights. With Yuna's bold initiates, we took set 2—far from smooth sailing, but a win nonetheless.
Just one step from promotion now.