READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 448
Defeat isn’t exactly unfamiliar.
Not just for me, but all of us on the team deal with losses daily.
But even so, the atmosphere in the team has grown heavy like this because we’ve done so well up until now.
In a way, perhaps even beyond our abilities.
“……”
I guess it started from that point.
Baek Seong-an became excessively devoted to practice.
“Aren’t you going to sleep? It’s late.”
“……Just a few more games.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Whether it was because he was in the middle of a game or just found everything outside it annoying, Baek Seong-an threw himself into practice.
As a result, I naturally took over the coordination of the scrim schedule that he had originally handled.
Even if the real authority might be far away, I was still the team owner.
“Scrim? Uh… Just a moment. Let me check the schedule. Ah, I think we could make it.”
“I’m sorry. I have another schedule then… Didn’t it get canceled? Uh… Hold on. Oh, right.”
Of course, for someone like me who had a severe case of claustrophobia, receiving calls from everywhere to set scrim schedules or coordinate other plans was no easy task.
It’s almost impressive how well Baek Seong-an managed these things while focusing on the game.
Still, I somehow pulled through.
I was the team owner, so I couldn’t put more pressure on Baek Seong-an right now.
However,
“……Ah.”
In conclusion, as time passed, Baek Seong-an’s solo rank score continued to drop.
Just for a moment, it had even fallen to Dia 1.
In a way, it was to be expected.
Getting a higher solo rank score is tough with each game, and since Baek Seong-an kept grinding solo queue without properly resting after scrims, it was no surprise his score didn’t improve.
Yet, Baek Seong-an didn’t stop practicing.
As if the score didn’t matter at all.
“Sister, you should stop Seong-an. What if he collapses like this?”
“……How do I stop him?”
I’m the one who knows best how Baek Seong-an feels about his rigorous practice.
I understood the despair of wanting to achieve something yet being unable to reach it more than anyone else.
That’s why I couldn’t stop him.
No, I had no intention of stopping him.
“For now, let’s just observe.”
“If you won’t, I will.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Why not!”
“What’s wrong with a pro practicing?”
“It’s not just practice!”
“There are times when we need to do this. Ji-hoon, take him and make him exercise. He’s got too much heat in his head.”
“Yes.”
Kim Ji-hoon, who had appeared alongside, grabbed Kim Jae-min’s shoulder.
“No, that’s a different matter─”
“Come here.”
“…… Hyung?”
“Today is leg day.”
“Oh no! Just wait a second!”
“Let’s go.”
“Wait a minnnnnn───!”
Kim Jae-min’s slight resistance ended as he was taken to the gym with Kim Ji-hoon.
I managed to stop him, but that didn’t mean I was at ease.
If Baek Seong-an were to collapse like this, our team would really be in chaos.
‘But this was something we’d have to face eventually.’
Objectively speaking, the biggest problem with OLZ was mid.
Top and Support had always been doing well, and the once insecure Bot Lane was gradually improving with the Support’s help.
Although Baek Seong-an had performed well up until now, there were definitely parts that depended on the other lanes giving him some breathing room.
Legends of League is an extremely dynamic game, and when the other lanes are under pressure, it becomes difficult for the mid to apply pressure on the opposing mid.
However, it was proved that during the recent scrim with SY, Baek Seong-an couldn’t hold up against a top-tier Mid Laner like Rainbow.
If the mid falls, the game collapses.
No matter how much they complain about losing the Bot Lane or King tumbling, mid is still the center of the game in Legends of League.
In the worst-case scenario, we might have to find a new mid, but given our team’s current situation, that was not an easy task.
In a way, the team OLZ itself was like a conglomerate of the team members’ passion.
To put it simply, the salary and conditions offered to Baek Seong-an wouldn’t entice a better mid.
This was the result of trying to run the team with minimal external interference, excluding other investments.
‘There are ways to seek investment still…’
No, that’s not it.
Now is not the time to bring out the drastic card of replacing the mid.
What I need to do as the team owner is to have faith that Baek Seong-an will overcome this and to wait for him.
Replacement is something to consider when Baek Seong-an himself says he doesn’t want to be our team’s Mid Laner anymore; it’s not something I should initiate.
“Sister.”
“Yeah.”
“……Will it be okay?”
Seo Yeon-woo also couldn’t hide her worry as she said that.
“It has to be. I mean, it definitely will be.”
And finally…
The day of the match against SCV approached.
*
My steps toward the arena felt overwhelmingly tense.
It wasn’t that we had done poorly in scrims against other teams after the loss to SY, but the impact of that loss was still heavy, weighing down the atmosphere in the team.
“Ah… Why am I so jittery today? I wasn’t like this before.”
“Me too.”
Kim Jae-min and Seo Yeon-woo showed signs of nervousness.
That sudden shift from a consistently pleasant atmosphere felt like someone doused it with cold water.
‘Well… perhaps in the long run, this could actually be good.’
You can’t win all the time.
Similarly, you can’t always maintain good results.
This reality is proven by the history of Legends of League, and no matter how great a team may be, periods of decline are inevitable.
From that perspective, this scrim disaster might serve as a good vaccination for us.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah… let’s go together!”
To be honest, I felt jitters too, but it was especially during moments like this that I needed to steady the team.
With that thought, I took the lead.
-Wooaahhh!!!
-Sis, look over here!
-OLZ! OLZ! OLZ!
The loud cheers resounded.
As soon as we entered the stadium, the first thing that caught my eye was the overwhelming crowd that could hardly be described as a full house.
It was somewhat expected.
Currently, our team was on a winning streak, riding the high of being in the spotlight, while SCV was a traditional powerhouse of LCKR.
This was what you’d call a big match.
“Huuh…”
Baek Seong-an’s condition appeared similar to usual, or maybe a bit worse.
The dark circles under his eyes were still there, yet there was a strangely sharp atmosphere about him.
“Let’s all do our best.”
“Fighting!”
“Do well.”
As the team members shared their thoughts, Baek Seong-an, who had been tightly shut, finally spoke up.
“Let’s win.”
There was something powerful in that statement, making me feel like it could really happen.
“Huh? Were you thinking of losing? Not me.”
Kim Jae-min joked in agreement.
“Today, I’m carrying us.”
“Oh, should I believe in you then?”
“Yeah.”
Baek Seong-an said that lightly while smiling.
It sounded just like him, yet there was a peculiar confidence in his voice that couldn’t just be my imagination.
“Players, please get ready for the match!”
With the staff’s words, we began preparing for the match in earnest.
*
The ban/pick phase officially began.
Our team’s side was blue.
In other words, we had the first pick.
[OLZ / SCV]
Rumble / Orianna
Nikon / Viego
Rakan / Wukong
The first bans were generally unremarkable.
It felt like each side was cutting out picks they didn’t want to give to the other.
[“What should we grab first?”]
In the blue side, the first pick is crucial.
What you take in the first pick can completely change the dynamic and circumstances of the ban/pick.
Thus, commonly, blue first pick goes to an OP champion first, and if not, it’s reserved for champions that they don’t want to give to the opponent or must take.
Our team was of the former.
“I think it’d be better to take Kalista. How about the Bot Lane?”
Kalista is one of the best picks currently and has made it onto the must-ban list.
Her unique strengths are amplified especially when the opposing team has no Orianna.
There was no reason for us not to take her right now.
[“Let’s go.”]
[“I’ll pick Kalista.”]
[Kalista]
And then it was the opponent’s 1 and 2 picks.
[Jarvan III]
The opponent’s first pick was Jarvan III.
Since Jarvan is currently a high-tier champion and was available, it seems they felt there was no reason not to grab him.
Then came the second pick.
[Sandra]
Lately, Sandra had been a champion teams looked to pick up after the opposing team picked Orianna, but it’s also common to take her first if they plan to maintain a strong laning phase.
This could be seen as a sort of declaration of war from AllDay to Baek Seong-an.
Can you handle Sandra?
Baek Seong-an’s weakness has always been his weak laning phase, which is why picking Sandra—who excels in laning phase—was a direct pressure move.
It was now our 2 and 3 picks.
“Now that the enemy mid is out, should we prioritize our mid?”
[“Sure.”]
“Are there any decent picks? Nikon and Orianna are both locked out now.”
A moment of silence struck before Baek Seong-an finished his short contemplation and spoke up.
[“Give me Pizhu.”]
Baek Seong-an had revealed the card he had been preparing all this time.