Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: New History
─"One myth comes to an end, and a new history is being written!"
─"There's no such thing as a team that wins forever! And no team that loses forever either!"
─"If they keep losing, they disband, you know."
ASC's lineup in the first game had been straight out of the textbook.
Confidence that they could win just by doing what they always did.
But they couldn't stop Wild's Sword Hero, who was riding high after a full month of battling Legend.
In the second game, Victory pulled out his counterpick.
They responded with a prince composition of their own, funneling all their growth and firepower into Victory.
But in the end, Wild still came out on top.
It was a difference in mastery.
Even in a prince-versus-prince battle, it wasn't a true one-on-one.
The gap showed in the other four 'retainers.'
Only Mist Air—who served as their practice partners—and Seol-a's group knew that Team Proud had been drilling such an extreme composition.
ASC simply hadn't had the time to prepare for a fight like that.
That was why Seol-a had kept her streaming hiatus reason—and its duration—a complete secret.
If she'd announced it as 'until the world championships end,' some armchair detective might have pieced it together.
That she was helping Team Proud with their secret training.
Of course, anyone sharp enough to figure that out would be better off as a shaman.
"This is the secret weapon."
Seol-a nodded as she watched Team Proud claim victory in the second game too.
But the third game...
In the renewed hyper-carry showdown, Victory finally took Wild down.
A clash of 'pure skill,' decided in a split-second moment by the difference of a single skill.
Victory was still Victory—the skilled player Seol-a herself had acknowledged as a worthy rival!
The matches kept viewers on the edge of their seats, palms sweating.
It was first to four wins out of seven.
The games were short, but for the players fighting them, it was practically a marathon.
A grueling battle where they had to go all-out from start to finish—something that would kill an ordinary person.
─"Win, win! Loss, loss! Win, win! Four wins out of six—Team Proud takes the championship!"
─"They did it! World champions!"
─"Lee Jun's the winner!"
─"Ascend's dynasty falls!"
"""WAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"""
Europe, Paris, France.
From a distant foreign land, Seol-a felt the heat of 'E-sports.'
Her heart pounded like crazy.
The cheers of tens of thousands filling the arena.
Winning a game could ignite passion in so many people.
Something you couldn't grasp from chat scrolling on a monitor or even TV broadcasts—the raw, real presence of the crowd, felt only on-site.
A shiver ran through her body.
And then the winners' interview.
"Thanks to Team Mist Air, who helped us with practice like they were our own brothers, and to streamer Jeon Jeonseol, who prepared our secret weapon!"
Oh no.
She'd been so caught up in the moment that she hadn't thought about what came after TP's victory.
And of course, the coach openly mentioned Jeon Jeonseol, who had contributed so much.
The camera director panned to the VIP seats at the coach's cue, capturing Jeon Jeonseol on feed.
Her striking looks had already caused a stir among the staff—'Who's that?'—but Seol-a, sitting quietly in the audience, had no idea.
Her image hit the broadcast and went live around the world in an instant.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ For better or worse, she drew massive attention.
Already somewhat famous in Korea and China, this opportunity catapulted her to worldwide recognition.
Of course, only among gamers—those deeply immersed in the scene.
And there were plenty of them.
The good side: she was pretty, skilled at the game, and a powerhouse who could hand a secret weapon to a world championship team.
The bad side: dating rumors with Lee Jun, and being the mastermind behind Ascend's defeat.
Why was beating Ascend a bad thing?
📰 Breaking News Author: ProtectVictoryBro [Saw Victory bro sobbing after finals loss, punched the wall (proof)] (Photo of a wall dented from a punch, poor construction?)
— ProtectVictoryBro Aren't the teammates due for a full roster shakeup? Even looking at pure skill in game 3, Victory bro did nothing wrong. But he's stuck carrying four deadweights, so they lose even to a team like that. Front office bastards—we saw it coming when they cut rising stars to save money. You stained Victory bro's career, you fucking dogs. Ascend was a team that won every tournament they entered—a living myth.
They'd sucked in every 'strong-team fan' with the mindset of 'if they win, they're my team,' building a massive global fandom.
But now, that myth had a massive ink blot.
Team Proud had snatched the championship cup—the most prestigious one, at the world championships, no less.
And the coach had openly acknowledged her huge contribution in the victory interview.
A spot where they rarely even mention civilians.
— Anon So her 'personal reasons' for the hiatus were flying abroad to cheer on her boyfriend? Lmao. — Anon Why not advertise how Yas you did it? Sell the vid on OnlyFans—I'll sub right away, you C bitch lololololololololololol Even the fans who'd turned pitch-black from her indefinite hiatus.
Seol-a grew terrified of turning her stream back on.
How much agro would flood her comeback broadcast!
And beyond that, something else weighed on her.
That Jeon Woo-seung had cried after the loss.
Taking one person's side...
Meant becoming the enemy of the other.
All she could think of was her debt to Lee Jun, narrowing her view—until she belatedly realized.
Going all-out to help Lee Jun meant going all-out to hinder Woo-seung.
Putting the trophy in one hand meant snatching it from the other.
"Why is life so damn hard..."
Even holding things others could never have, if her heart wasn't at peace, it meant nothing.
Seol-a hated this situation—unable to share her friend's joy, haunted by another's sorrow.
And with Woo-seung, hadn't things already gotten awkward?
She missed the old days when all three of them got along.
'Depressed.'
She wanted to hear only good things.
Even knowing it was impossible.
Didn't want criticism from anyone.
Not even if it was justified.
Hated growing distant from close friends.
Hated watching something perfect get twisted.
The world was full of that.
Rain fell outside the window.
Autumn rain would be pretty cold.
Luxury apartments didn't let in drafts, so no chill seeped through.
Thick glass panes separated her from the outside world.
Glass shielding her from everything.
So she didn't want to step out.
But she was lonely too, craving attention from someone.
A mess of contradictions, weak as hell.
She hated herself sometimes.
No, actually, pretty often.
─"Got time?"
A call from Lee Jun.
Worlds over, he was probably on a blissful vacation.
─"Wanna grab a drink?"
Seol-a hesitated.
Worried about another scandal.
Or more precisely, the dating rumors with Lee Jun were already rampant.
This would just pour on more fuel.
─"Woo-seung's here too."
Whoa, that was an offer she really wanted to dodge.
Face-to-face with the guy she'd personally buried.
He had to resent her.
"He super mad?"
─"Puhahat!"
Lee Jun burst out laughing.
The kind of laugh people call 'cracking up.'
Like he'd heard something unexpectedly hilarious.
Like it was genuinely the funniest story ever.
─"Hey, she asks if you're not that mad?"
─"That's kinda embarrassing."
Jeon Woo-seung's voice came faintly over the line.
The tone screamed, 'Thinking I'd get mad over that—how petty do you think I am?'
─"It's raining—perfect for seafood pancakes and makgeolli."
"Old-man taste."
Woo-seung seemed more okay than expected. It was over the phone so he could hear, but anyway—Seol-a decided to head out.
"Coward."
Woo-seung called out Seol-a.
"Don't puppeteer an avatar. Fight yourself."
For pros, matches were battlefields where everything was on the line.
Perform well, and your value skyrockets; slip up, and your rep tanks.
So when Seol-a heard he'd sobbed, she'd thought their bond was done for good.
"I wanna fight you for real in a tourney."
But games were still games, too.
A place to clash skills and have fun with it.
Countless pros crumbled under the pressure, but Woo-seung still treated it like a game.
Win, and it's a blast; lose, and it's a bummer.
The best thrill: beating a rival on your level.
That's why he'd been the happiest to see Seol-a show up.
Because he'd already imagined facing her in a tournament someday.
So even if his perfect record shattered, even if he was no longer a myth...
It was still fun.
As long as the opponent stood properly on the battlefield.
"Truth is, I wanna try going pro too."
Seol-a replied.