GJOW 16

When Han Yongho, who was watching, shouted, the staff members laughed.

“So I will do my best.”

“Yes, as the head coach, I’m sorry and grateful. Alright, next question. How is this year’s roster?”

“Personally, I am very satisfied.”

“You’re satisfied?”

“Yes, I was the one who told you, head coach, that it would be great if Yoon Chorong joined the team.”

Really? Chorong’s eyes sparkled.

“You did. You said it would be fun to play together.”

“Yes, that’s why.”

“You also said he had good skills.”

“Yes, so I’m looking forward to it.”

“Alright, then… what is your resolution for the coming year?”

“The championship. There is nothing else in my head besides the championship. Our team’s goal is always the championship. I will lead the team with my best efforts and will definitely win.”

Watching this, Seo Jiho said.

“When Jeonghyeon hyung talks like that… I just want to become a dog.”

“Me too.”

“Woof woof. I must listen well to my master.”

“Seo Jiho, fetch the championship trophy.”

At Lee Youngjun’s words, Seo Jiho ran to Choi Jeonghyeon.

“What is it?”

Regardless of Choi Jeonghyeon’s reaction, Moon Sejun and Lee Youngjun were the ones who pulled away Seo Jiho, who was trying to grab his clothes and drag him. Fortunately, the filming had all finished.

“You crazy bastard!”

“What? Filming is over! You told me to fetch the championship trophy!”

The players burst into laughter at Seo Jiho’s bizarre behavior. The shoot that followed was the group photo. With Choi Jeonghyeon firmly holding the center of the team, the other players spread their wings on either side of him. The players gathered around Choi Jeonghyeon for the sake of the championship. That was HS.

🎮

After the video shoot was over, the players took the bus and moved to the practice room. Yoon Chorong, who ate dinner and was doing personal practice, returned home that night and lay down on his bed. After sending an email to JjamongJuice, Yoon Chorong, after some deliberation, searched for the video of the quarterfinals match.

[HS VS GATE / 20** World Championship Quarterfinals]

It was the quarterfinals match between HS and Gate, a North American team that had risen with frightening momentum. This match had received a lot of attention even before it began. It was a team to which players who had previously belonged to HS had transferred. The current starting top laner and ADC for team Gate had been on HS until last year.

Yoon Chorong also remembered last year’s stove league of shock and horror. Everyone was paying attention because it was a match where they would face off in an international tournament, and the biggest one at that, after the stove league which had produced countless rumors at the time had ended.

HS lost the first two sets of the match, which commentators had predicted to be a close one, and barely managed to take the third set. Contrary to the wishes of the commentators and fans who were hoping for the myth of a reverse sweep, HS lost in the fourth set and was ultimately defeated.

After the match ended, Choi Jeonghyeon, who was biting his lip with a very stiff expression, stood up for a greeting when the opposing player approached. After shaking hands, the HS players packed up their equipment and left, while the Gate players moved to the center of the stage and bowed to the audience. Yoon Chorong, who had watched the video, checked the comment section.

Korean league is doomed

Korean league is becoming a 4th-rate league

Upvote if you agree that GX is the only hope for the Korean league

Upvote for jungle difference, downvote for mid difference

└ Let’s stop playing the blame game

└ People only say this when Master is the one to blame lol

└ Master is the one to blame

└ Contribution to the loss: Together 60, Master 30, the rest 10

I almost died of a rage-induced stroke while watching

Came here to watch Choi Jeonghyeon get his karma for his shitty personality lolololol. He should have toned down the arrogance lololololololololol

└ People like you are called malicious commenters

└ Is Choi Jeonghyeon’s big mouth not malicious commenting?

└ Calling a quarterfinalist a quarterfinalist, you’re about to call that malicious commenting too lol

It’s a talent to lose a game that was already won

└ When was it ever won? They were losing from the very beginning lol

└ They lost from the pick and ban phase

└ Don’t make excuses about the pick and ban. They were just disgustingly bad

They really lost because of Together. I don’t know how many times I cursed while watching

At this point, Deadspace really came out with a vengeance lolololol. Look at Choi Jeonghyeon shitting the bed lolol

Wow, but fuck, this feels so damn shitty lol

They were our teammates until last year lolololol

Toxy and Deadspace who escaped Hanseong win!!

Master’s form is a real problem. When was he ever the best mid in the world, fuck

It’s the coaching staff’s problem. Why Together instead of Number One? Even with a wrist injury, Number One is a thousand times better than Together

└ Blaming the jungle for this? They lost because your precious Choi was bad

This is really lol, the failed stove league was a huge factor lolololol

This is proof that we are no longer a 1st-tier league

└ Look at them saying the league is doomed because they are quarterfinalists lololol

lolol Master totally bombed lolololol

A game that proved Master was just carried by his team

How can a jungler’s pathing be read so easily lol, dumbass lol

That guy Together is just a sub-level player

└ For internal scrims

└ He’s definitely not a player to be used in an international tournament

Together is not a jungler that works overseas. He was read everywhere he went, so he did nothing the entire game

How easy must it have been for Together lolol, from facing Kang Jaewoo to Ma Dojun lolol

└ lolol he must have looked like a baby lolol

The best mid in the world is no longer Master lolololololololol, so satisfying

└ Why are you exploding with rage here?

└ Your Master will be eliminated from the competition for the starting spot next season

└ The team you cheer for probably won’t even make it to the playoffs

Is it possible for Master to recover his form next season?

This is a jungle difference

I’m getting a reality check….

So freaking frustrating, fuck

Of all teams, how could they lose to Gate

They should have beaten Gate even if they died

Did you see Gate’s tweet after this loss? My blood pressure is going to make me die

Hooray for Gate’s championship lolololol

└ lolololololol Gate for a three-peat let’s gooo!!

└ Yeah, Gate got swept in the semifinals lolololol

WKC why aren’t you managing the comments?

└ If they managed them, would they even be human lol

If Master’s condition is bad, they should have swapped him out, the coaching staff is garbage

They lost due to skill

Fact: Together is the culprit for giving away set 1

└ Fact 2: Master is the culprit for set 2

└ Fact 3: In set 4, everyone was truly garbage

Master even pulled out Serise in the final game and still got wrecked, the best mid in the world is Gate’s Bear, isn’t it?

God Bear, the best mid in the world Bear!!! Bear!!

The jungle difference is insane, for real

Fuck Together

Together is a brainless jungler

But the new jungler they brought in is Yoon Chorong lolololol

└ Came back after seeing that lol, they probably won’t even make it to the semifinals next season

Did Hanseong declare they’re giving up on the World Championship? Yoon Chorong? lololol

└ Together will probably laugh seeing Yoon Chorong lol, a guaranteed starting spot?

And they get Yoon Chorong for this lolol

Yoon Chorong, who had read up to that point, put his phone down, then clicked on one of the related videos.

[Only Moving Forward]

The video with that title was one uploaded to the HS official channel. It was a video uploaded a few days after the quarterfinals ended. He looked at the thumbnail, which was a photo of the players who had lost the quarterfinals, and clicked on it with a heavy heart.

The voices of the players giving briefings during the quarterfinals game could be heard.

『No, no, look at me, look at me!』

『They’re hitting the inhibitor, where’s the jungle?』

『Ah, wait! Ah, I got picked off!』

『Ah… Ah…….』

After the game ended, the screen showed the waiting room. Park Juwon and Ma Dojun were crying their hearts out, and the other teammates were comforting them. Kang Jaewoo shouted to Dojun that it was okay, but it seemed hard to bear for Ma Dojun, for whom it was his first World Championship appearance.

『I’m sorry, sob. Because I couldn’t catch him then…….』

『No, it’s because I couldn’t lock him down in the top lane. It’s my fault.』

『It’s because I got caught while going to get vision.』

『Why are you all being like this. We all just didn’t do well.』

『I wanted to win, I wanted to win so badly… I really didn’t want to lose like this…….』

Choi Jeonghyeon, who was watching those players from a little distance away, rubbed his dry face. When Ryu Sunghyun came over and patted Choi Jeonghyeon’s shoulder, Choi Jeonghyeon nodded, stood up, and then walked down the hallway. Choi Jeonghyeon, who had sat down in a deserted place, was looking up at the ceiling with his hands clasped. After that, a short video of interview preparations was shown, followed by the players’ thoughts.

『Seo Jiho: There are always winners and losers. Who would want to be a loser? We, of course, wanted to win too, but it’s not like we didn’t think it would be hard to win. Because you can’t win all the time. That anxiety… I think it was particularly severe. I just debuted, but the expectation is always to win… what if I can’t live up to that expectation…….』

『Ma Dojun: I… um… wanted to do well… but since I couldn’t in the end… uh… I’m a bit competitive. I get really frustrated when I lose even in practice… and since I came out this time instead of Jaewoo hyung, I wanted to win even more, I really wanted to win… uh… I feel very sorry to the team… If I get a chance… I want to do better next year…….』

『Han Yongho: You can win or lose in a game, right. But what should I say… now that I’m a player for HS, if I lose a game… it’s true that it becomes more burdensome. So maybe… my performance didn’t come up to par? Did I think too much?』

『Staff: About the fans’ reactions?』

『Han Yongho: That’s right. It’s not that I’m not worried. Well, I try not to be conscious of that kind of thing, but… um… I hope everyone doesn’t get too hurt. We are the ones who lost, not you…….』

『Seo Jiho: You can’t win every game… but we lost an important one. This is also a precious experience, but…….』

『Choi Jeonghyeon: I am not saying I didn’t think that if I had done better.』

At those words, Yoon Chorong held his breath. The voice echoed over the video of Choi Jeonghyeon staring at the ceiling after the defeat.

『Choi Jeonghyeon: There are regrets, but it is already in the past. I will not dwell on reality and will work harder. Because I cannot remain seated in defeat. I must move forward. Because that is what the world’s strongest team must do. And leading that team is what I must do.』

The video ended there. His heart pounded. He couldn’t sleep at all. Chorong eventually came out to the living room and paced around the empty space. HS. The weight that only the world’s best team can feel. He felt like he understood that weight now.

🎮

The next morning. Yoon Chorong, who was on his way to work, ran into Ma Dojun in the apartment hallway. After giving a slight nod to Ma Dojun, Yoon Chorong got on the elevator, pressed the first-floor button, then hesitated before speaking.

“Dojun… I’m going to work hard.”

At those words, Ma Dojun turned to look at him.

“So that I don’t become a burden to the team… I will do my best and work hard.”

“……”

“Because I’ve changed positions, I might not be a threat to you right now… and I might be far from adequate as your scrim practice partner, but……”

“……”

“I will do my best.”

Ma Dojun was looking at Yoon Chorong without saying anything.

“So that I don’t become a burden to the team.”

“I am the starter.”

“Yes, I know.”

“I will not have it taken away.”

“I will also strive to be chosen. Let’s work hard together.”

Chorong took a breath.

“I am definitely not a player to be taken lightly in terms of skill.”

“……”

“I will prove it.”

Yoon Chorong smiled at Ma Dojun. Yoon Chorong thought of the attitude Ma Dojun had shown as being on guard. Even if Ma Dojun himself would deny it, his attitude showed it, and that was something to be thankful for. If he was a player not even worth being on guard against, there would be no reason for him to belong to a team like HS. For that reason, he could understand the attitude Ma Dojun showed him.

Even though he might not be a jungler skilled enough to compete for the starting position yet, he would work himself to death to become such a player. Of course, he didn’t know whose hand the coaching staff would raise, but he had to put in all the effort he could.

When the elevator doors opened, Yoon Chorong, who had walked out, took out his earphones from his pocket, connected them to his ears, and then played the so-called pick and ban music that is played during WOH league game broadcasts. Boom. Boom. His heart trembled at the sound of the music.