READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 28
Yoon-ki slowly lifted his head.
At the end of his gaze was someone he particularly didn’t want to see at this moment.
SY Rainbow.
Ryu Jin-hyuk.
For Park Yoon-ki, he was both the most dependable partner and an incredibly intimidating older brother.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? No, nothing.”
Park Yoon-ki almost reflexively closed the game results window.
After all, in solo queue, teammates often search results for fun, so even if he couldn’t hide it, he didn’t want anyone to find out he was looking at it right now.
To Yoon-ki, Ryu Jin-hyuk had always been a tough person to face.
Not because Jin-hyuk was the typical young old-timer who rubbed in his age and authority, but because he consistently tried to make Yoon-ki and the teammates feel at ease, and actually got along well with everyone.
That said, it didn’t mean their personalities clashed or that they weren’t close.
Despite the two-year age gap, Jin-hyuk and Yoon-ki usually just spoke casually to each other.
Objectively and subjectively speaking, Jin-hyuk was a respected, incredible professional gamer and a reliable teammate, as well as a good older brother.
However, regardless of all that, Yoon-ki found himself instinctively intimidated by Jin-hyuk, hunching his body like a puppy in front of a lion.
“Want to duo if you have nothing else to do?”
“…Duo?”
Ironically, the first thought that came to Yoon-ki’s mind was, ‘What if we run into each other as opponents?’
Not out of fear of losing, but because he was afraid of showing a disgraceful side in front of Jin-hyuk.
‘Prisoner had his first game today.’
Yoon-ki knew that Prisoner had a limited number of games he played in a day.
In that situation, having it be the first game meant a high probability of getting matched again.
In other words, with the nature of celestial-tier games, if he duoed with Jin-hyuk, the chances of facing Prisoner as opponents would be exceptionally high.
“…”
Yoon-ki couldn’t respond.
Jin-hyuk already held Prisoner in high regard.
If he were to show any weakness against Prisoner in front of Jin-hyuk… he didn’t even want to imagine it.
“Ah.”
Noticing Yoon-ki’s somewhat awkward demeanor, or perhaps having initially thought so, Jin-hyuk added,
“I’m not saying we should take it seriously; just a light bot duo. Today’s scrim was tough.”
And indeed, today’s scrim had been anything but light.
While they ultimately recorded a perfect win, there were some lengthy matches exceeding 50 minutes.
“Bot duo?”
It wasn’t the first time Jin-hyuk and Yoon-ki were playing a bot duo together.
In fact, it could be said they had done it several times.
“Yeah.”
Playing in a non-primary role lightened the mood significantly.
Moreover, playing mid-jungle while switching to bot lane wasn’t a drastically different duo setup.
Although they might have a slight lack of understanding of the bottom lane matchups, they surely possessed strengths that exceeded those of a regular bot duo.
However…
Normally, Yoon-ki would have welcomed Jin-hyuk’s duo suggestion, but today he didn’t want to.
“…Nah. I’m a bit tired today. I’m heading in.”
“Oh? Okay.”
Without any further questions, Jin-hyuk nodded in understanding.
This refreshing personality was one of the reasons the teammates liked him.
“Hmm.”
Returning to his seat, Jin-hyuk subtly searched for Yoon-ki’s recent match history.
Based on the previous reaction, it seemed there was something from the last solo queue that affected him.
[Match History Search]
-SY YunGi.
“Huh?”
-Defeat.
While Jin-hyuk was accustomed to checking Yoon-ki’s history, he couldn’t help but be a bit surprised.
He recognized the name of the opposing jungler who just handed Yoon-ki a defeat.
‘…Prisoner.’
He never expected to see that username here…
Actually, it wasn’t odd.
Who was Yoon-ki?
He was the jungler who performed superbly in the recent Red Cup, earning the title of a top-tier player.
Even in solo queue, a jungler who could push Yoon-ki to his limits could easily be counted on one’s fingers worldwide.
In Jin-hyuk’s view, it was only natural that Prisoner was among them.
While others might write him off as just an amateur, Jin-hyuk had always held a high opinion of Prisoner.
‘As expected…’
Jin-hyuk logged into his main account for the first time in a while and checked his friend list.
+
[Prisoner]
Searching for games…
+
Indeed, he was online.
Lately, Jin-hyuk hadn’t chatted separately with Prisoner.
In the past, they would at least exchange greetings, but ever since that last meeting, things had felt awkward for some reason.
‘What should I do?’
Jin-hyuk contemplated.
He had various thoughts swirling in his mind.
‘Should I message him?’
But what would he say?
Just a simple greeting?
An apology he intended to make last time?
Or perhaps…
‘…Yeah, let’s do that.’
His thoughts didn’t linger too long.
*
While waiting for his queue, he casually browsed the community.
It was such a natural routine for him.
– Breaking News) Red Cup Winner Yoon-ki’s Latest Update.jpg
Could it be that I’ve finally gained psychic powers?
Just from the title, he could see the contents.
+
[SY YunGi]
───────
Solo Queue
2 minutes ago
───────
Defeat
15 minutes 14 seconds
───────
Karthus
1 / 8 / 2
0.38:1 Rating
───────
‘Fundies’ learned a harsh lesson from Teacher Prisoner haha
+
Clicking on the post, he found a screenshot of Yoon-ki’s match stats and a mocking statement.
The comments were even more ridiculous.
– Post ahead of the upcoming Gal Cup
– Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!
– Is this… the Red Cup winner?
– Ah haha, there’s no escaping from Teacher Prisoner.
– Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!
– This spamming fool is definitely a Chobo player.
– See? Yoon-ki got carried by Rainbow, right?
– What the heck are you talking about, you fool? You think being carried means being 1st for MVP points among Red Cup junglers?
– You’re next, you whiny loser.
– No, I’m not ^^.
– You can see me typing with my teeth clenched, right? Yoon-ki, who was all about the whining, just got exposed for struggling against an amateur!
– Fact: Yoon-ki is 1st in MVP points among Red Cup junglers.
– Fact: All junglers in the Red Cup declared that they felt like hitting a wall when opposing Yoon-ki.
– Fact: Yoon-ki is a carry player.
The community posts are fine, but it’s the occasional people crossing the line that’s the problem.
Although, that’s also part of the fun…
Of course, not every comment was a fighting comment; there were definitely a few positive comments scattered around.
– Setting aside the fans and haters, it’s a shame we can’t see Teacher Prisoner compete for 1st place every season; doesn’t he have the fundamentals to do it?
– Honestly, I would love to see him play in a tournament someday.
– Teacher Prisoner! King Prisoner! God Prisoner!
– But you can learn a lot just by watching Prisoner play. Unlike other pros who just rely on mechanics, he plays a different game.
– Nuh-uh, these days, that’s not the case! His performance is absolutely insane lately.
– That’s true.
– Prisoner regularly ranks 1st despite having a rare illness… and yet here we are…
– Are you.. a newbie?
– Bronze 3.
As he blankly scrolled through the comments, he realized he had a match.
[Game Found!]
[Accept / Decline]
Naturally, he accepted.
+
───────────────
3 Min Top School Honorary Member joined the lobby.
SY Longbow joined the lobby.
MAX WooChan joined the lobby.
IlIIIIlllll joined the lobby.
Prisoner joined the lobby.
───────────────
“Hmm.”
Well, the start wasn’t great.
The lanes were all tangled up.
‘Two bot laners and two top laners.’
He surveyed his teammates.
First, SY Longbow.
As his ID suggested, he was a bot laner.
A Red Cup champion bot laner, no less.
Seeing so many SY players today suggested that the scheduled games had just wrapped up.
Barcode was also a bot laner, at least judging by his ID.
Currently, he was playing support.
It was a relief that two AD carries made their way to the bot.
‘I’ve seen that guy quite often.’
Barcode’s ID was indistinguishable, but based on his stats, it was someone Jin-hyuk had met frequently.
After all, it was common for people in this matchmaking range to be up against familiar faces.
‘And the last one is…’
MAX WooChan.
It felt like this guy was someone he had seen pretty often lately too. Sure enough, he was playing top lane.
[MAX WooChan: Can I go top?]
It was a familiar scene.
Well, he didn’t need to worry too much.
He knew well how to assert lane dominance as a top lane believer.
‘Of course, he’d reject that—’
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member: Yes.]
…Huh?
What in the world was that sudden thunderbolt?
Jin-hyuk immediately shot a 1:1 message to the 3 Min Top School Honorary Member.
[Me: You?]
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member: I’ll show you mid jungle duo, let’s go!]
[Me: Are you serious??]
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member: Hey, what do you take me for? I’ll show you mid Kamal!]
Uh-oh… feeling a little uneasy about this.