Chapter 60
Team Brilliant's waiting room.
"Why... why did we lose?"
"Sujin unnie..."
"It doesn't make any sense, right? That bitch Cha Yuna—she doesn't play like that normally. Even in the Peacemaker match, she was the one who single-handedly shattered her team's morale. So why? Why is she acting like she doesn't give a damn even if she dies now? Why is she throwing herself into the fire like that?"
"Oh Sujin, enough!"
Director Lee Han reined in the agitated Oh Sujin. But even he couldn't think of a good explanation.
He hadn't anticipated Cha Yuna pulling something like that at all. Yuna had a notorious reputation among academy league teams for being sharp-tempered and sensitive during scrims. The moment anything inconvenienced her, she'd unleash a torrent of abuse on her teammates without a second thought, and she was famous for getting reported in solo queue after spewing thick curses at allies.
So no one could have imagined her making such selfless, sacrificial plays. According to his analysis, Yuna was the type to gleefully shove waves into an empty top lane after an early dive, not portal down to a risky bottom where she could lose a limb.
Yet she did.
He had no answer for Oh Sujin's fundamental question. All he felt was resentment toward Cha Yuna, who had flipped her playstyle in just two days, and toward Kang Yuseong, who had made it happen.
"For now... let's pull ourselves together and prepare for the next... next match."
The final match of the promotion series began right after. With their backs against the wall, Brilliant went even more berserk, funneling even more resources into Oh Sujin to get her items online faster. Their two supports stacked jungle camps to let her farm gold quicker, periodically vacating lanes, which naturally left their carry getting pushed in by Yuna's Big Shield Guarder, a bad matchup for them.
It was the obvious tradeoff for concentrating limited resources on Sujin.
Mid power balance tilted toward Sujin, but Seon-ah was walking a tightrope, surviving off Ha-young's shields without dying.
With both supports roaming for jungle stacks instead of ganks, offlane and carry lanes could pressure the enemy.
'Faster... I need to snowball harder!'
Sujin gritted her teeth, relentlessly managing mid and clearing stacked jungle camps without a break. Once she completed Core Buster, she eyed the mid lane.
'Gotta kill this bitch first, then deal with their carry...'
But Seon-ah was nowhere in sight. After a brief delay, Sujin clicked her tongue and dashed bottom to cut off the snowballing Sera.
Luckily, Sera was easy to spot—she and Ha-young were gleefully pressuring their offlaner.
"Let's target that bitch Shin Sera first—get ready!"
"Got it."
Sujin hid behind their offlane tower's tree, biding her time. The moment Sera and Ha-young appeared, she fired her homing heat-seeking missile from cover, then flashed ahead with her escape dagger.
"Aaaah!"
Core Buster unleashed a red beam at Sera. The scorching impact searing her body, followed by missile barrage, made Sera scream.
Before her cry even faded, blue light gathered in Sujin's mechanical arm. Ha-young hurriedly raised her hammer for a spell shield, but Sujin's laser activation was faster.
The instant Sujin's laser began charging, a team call rang out.
"Unnie, enemy offlaner's not coming to lane!"
Cha Yuna's MIA call. But even if Yuna headed bottom now, the fight would be over by then. No point dragging it out—Sujin planned to clean up quick and rotate mid for more farm.
"You first!"
As the laser lock neared completion.
"Who said you could?!"
"!!!"
A fifth voice echoed in a spot that should only have herself, her offlaner, Shin Sera, and Lee Ha-young.
Right by her ear.
Twisting her head—arm still aimed at Sera—she saw a massive Tower Shield blocking her view from the side. Who was behind it was obvious as day. Yuna peeked from beside it, her silver dagger gleaming at her waist.
The tall Tower Shield morphed, spreading wide left and right as energy flowed into Yuna's tower.
The charging blue laser's power scattered, Sujin's mechanical arm involuntarily swinging at the tower.
"No way!"
Caught by Big Shield Guarder's taunt, the champion could only auto-attack, locked onto the Guarder. A tinker's autos were a joke to it—barely a tickle.
Already taunted at point-blank? The tinker's defeat was sealed.
"You, you... how?! Since when have you been here...!"
Sujin gaped in disbelief, screaming in shock.
Impossible. Accounting for her carry's MIA call, even if they'd gone to base and straight to bottom, they'd barely be halfway there.
How the hell?
And there was Yuna, diligently bashing her shield at the taunted Sujin. Her body was covered in wounds, blood still oozing from fresh gashes. Only then did Sujin realize.
Yuna hadn't gone base. Her injuries and HP bar told the tale. So during all that time—lane to base, base to lane—had the enemy just been hiding in these nearby trees, waiting?
Did they read her play?
Even if they did, sacrificing all those waves, XP, gold? For a moment they might not even come?
How?
"This... can't be... all those waves... why..."
"It's a team game. I don't have to be the star. And if we just neutralize you, we win for sure."
Yuna's mighty ultimate Shield Smash exploded, shattering Sujin's mechanical body to pieces. With mid dead after roaming, her offlaner followed suit. This skirmish skyrocketed Sera's growth, and Brilliant snowballed behind massively.
A tinker's aggressive build meant poor waveclear, and soon Brilliant had lost two inhibitors, fully on the defensive.
"This can't happen... it can't! Why can't we win, why! WHY!!!"
Oh Sujin's bloodcurdling scream reached my ears in the stands.
"Simple. Yuna—whether by choice or force—accepted she doesn't always have to be the star, doesn't need to be. You just switched styles but still think you're the team's hero, growing off their sacrifices. It might work somewhat, your will or team strategy, but not against us. You might be amazing alone, but we're a team."
We pushed past Sujin's screams, past Brilliant's resistance. The third inhibitor fell, Sujin's arm shattered, the other four swept away, twin towers crumbled.
"Uh, unnie..."
"Guys..."
"We really..."
"Did it..."
"We... we actually..."
With a boom, Brilliant's nexus exploded, shockwaves scattering everywhere. The five who had poured every ounce into the fight got flung back, asses hitting the ground hard.
At the same instant, the ruined red team's base, dense trees, and minion waves vanished. The scenery shifted to a generic medieval European town square.
The in-game lobby.
It meant only one thing.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"We won! We won!"
"Aaaah! Unnie, guys, group hug!"
"Division 3! We're in Division 3!"
"We did it! We won! We did!"
The five hugged, jumping wildly. Even reserved Ha-young and stoic Sera squealed unfiltered joy.
Coins have two sides—winners mean losers. Across, Brilliant knelt, fists pounding the ground in sobs.
They'd hounded us relentlessly since scrims, but we crushed them perfectly. Using them as stepping stones, we'd entered Division 3.
I burst from my capsule, kicked open the waiting room door, and charged the stage. Players fresh from capsules spotted me and cheered.
"Aaah! Coach!"
"We won!!!"
"Division 3! We did it! We did!"
Sera screamed, sprinting into my arms. I stroked her head, hugging and high-fiving the incoming players, celebrating victory.
Super hyped, Yuna squeezed me tight before her legs gave out—she plopped down.
She scratched her nose sheepishly, face flushing.
"Thanks, Coach. For believing in me."
"You think your coach wouldn't trust his player?"
"Hehe, yeah, I am pretty reliable."
"...Good work. You did great."
I offered a hand to seated Yuna. She wiped teary eyes, grabbed it, and stood.
The modest crowd and flashing cameras erupted in cheers at our ceremony.
The scoreboard over the stage proclaimed unchangeable truth.
ECK 3rd Division Promotion Match Final Bracket
Shining Star Wins!