A Perfect Drama
It was a complete drama, packed from beginning to end.
The opening raised the mood with a video from the codename contest featuring the Children of God. The tension was cranked to the max in Lee Shin’s training camp segment, and the ranker announcement delivered the perfect final touch.
If the purpose of a trailer was to heighten anticipation… the Bureau had done an absolutely stellar job.
With a single phrase, they had sent tens of millions of league fans straight to the arena.
There was no doubt about it. There had never been a more perfect trailer than this.
It had made the fans on both sides build the storytelling themselves!
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the success of this drama had already been decided.
The viewer count proved it.
Ten million people.
A mere opening match had surpassed the viewership of an upper-league game.
Breaking the Guinness record was trivial. The entire world was paying attention to this match.
More precisely, they were looking forward to the new trend Lee Shin and the Mountain King would show, along with the performances the Hwarang and the Children of God would deliver.
Yet on this grand stage where the eyes of tens of millions of fans across the globe were focused, Lee Shin delivered a shock right from the first set.
When the players everyone had been waiting for didn’t appear, league fans were quite disappointed.
Of course, the questions followed immediately.
Star players receive that much love. Sometimes that love goes too far and overshadows the rest of the team or even the guild itself. That was why so many guilds suffered from obsessive individual fans.
But the Yongbung-i simply scoffed.
Only the guilds that were hastily thrown together would be noisy about individual fans. We are fundamentally different.
Mir has Lee Shin.
Lee Shin is both a religion and an emperor. He’s always the maknae who dances for his fans. So just believe in him.
And as always, Lee Shin did not disappoint the faith of the Yongbung-i.
He had raised Choi Soo-pil splendidly.
He had also raised the Princess splendidly(?).
He had moved them with the sweat of effort that Lee Hye-jung had shed.
And the reason Lee Shin received the Yongbung-i’s faith was because he showed all of this in the most ideal way possible.
Around this point, the longtime fans caught on.
They noticed Lee Shin’s mischievousness that broke through the strategy.
And just as everyone wished, the moment the match ended with Blitz’s super carry—
Lee Shin’s double squad that played with the tempo in the complete opposite direction. Many Yongbung-i cheered wildly at this hellish dilemma.
Of course, amid all that, some of the things the Royal Sword representative had guessed also came up.
However.
The veterans weren’t veterans for nothing.
Lee Shin made the bold choice to send out the second team’s trio—including Lee Hye-jung—for the second set as well. With that trick show, he essentially destroyed Royal Sword Guild’s plan.
And so the third set began.
Finally, they were complete.
The Asian champions.
Lee Shin’s dream team.
Mir’s main roster showed the clear difference in class in the third set.
The opponent crumbled helplessly before Hwarang’s bold silver dash. Naturally, the crowd-pleasing scene unfolded, and Blitz spread her wings.
If Baek Yeon-woo had shown why he was called a ‘Genius’ through the ever-changing transformations of Cheon-bong, then the Mountain King simply watched his young comrades grow with a pleased smile, one step removed.
And when it came to Giant God Park Su-bin, everyone lost their words at once.
The mechanical giant’s arm slamming into the ground like a whack-a-mole game, the Light Sword rolling across the floor, and the mid lane turned into a scorched wasteland in between. Then, in the final team fight, the mechanical giant finally rose and ended the game with a single strike that killed all five opponents. At that point, all the fans could do was press ‘ㄷ’ to express their condolences.
They had seen the blood, sweat, and tears of the strategy team. They had confirmed Lee Shin’s ingenious strategies. And they had witnessed the proof of the main roster who had become rankers.
That alone would have been enough to die without regrets, but then the MVP Mountain King even gave them an encore through his interview.
“I think I was mistaken. I believed my young comrades would need time to adapt. Just like when I became a ranker in my twenties. The power of the title ‘ranker’ is far greater than you can imagine.”
He had worried they might grow lazy from the dazzling honor or crumble under the heavy burden.
But that wasn’t the case.
“It was my own shortsightedness. Lira shone brighter than me. Yeon-woo was stronger than me. Yu-shin was more steadfast than me, and Su-bin was far greater than I ever was.”
Blitz, Genius, Hwarang, Giant God.
Another Level.
Just as the casters had said. They were currently watching the strongest squad in Korean history.
Therefore, as their captain, the Mountain King proudly declared in front of the camera.
“This year’s championship belongs to us as well. I will say it again. When the season ends, our Mir will be the sole victor.”
A championship declaration straight from the Mountain King’s mouth.
Introduction, development, turn, and conclusion. It was a perfect drama.
It was the most spectacular beginning to a season imaginable.
And finally.
It was an incomparably happy day for being a Yongbung-i.
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“Hello everyone! The first program to receive advertising from all four major groups and provided by NewTube TV! We take responsibility for your wise league life. It’s Game~day! I’m Park Ye-jin from Game Day, and beside me are Korea’s two leading analysts. Nice to see you, Zen and Im Cho-rong.”
“First-generation idol, second-generation hunter, and current analyst Zen. It’s been a while.”
“Analyst Im Cho-rong. Nice to meet you.”
“I’d love to chat about how everyone spent the off-season and catch up on recent news, but since this is the first broadcast of the season…”
“I completely understand. Even though only the first round has been played, I already have a strong feeling. This season is going to be legendary.”
The moment the word “legendary” left Zen’s mouth, Park Ye-jin immediately moved on with the show.
“Since we’re on the topic, shall we hear some brief impressions? What kind of feeling are you both getting from this season?”
“Right now?”
“Isn’t it a bit early?”
“It’s just an impression.”
It was only after the first round had ended.
Some might say they were drinking the kimchi soup too early, but Koreans didn’t love kimchi for nothing. There was nothing more fun or delicious than kimchi soup.
The two seemed to feel the same, as they didn’t hesitate to speak. In fact, strictly speaking, just watching the first round had already given them a clear picture.
As expected, Zen and Im Cho-rong exchanged glances as if they had planned it.
“It looks like Analyst Im Cho-rong and I have similar thoughts.”
“Our perspectives are similar, after all.”
“Then let’s do this.”
They would speak at the same time after counting to three.
At Park Ye-jin’s suggestion, both nodded.
She began counting.
Three.
Two.
One.
“The four major guilds that have formed a competitive structure.”
“The four major guilds that have established their own unique styles.”