Chapter 38

〈 Chapter 38 〉 Maybe Tier?

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...It's damn cold.

Park Junsu shivered and tried to huddle his trembling body as he left his dorm room.

This was supposed to be the season to enjoy winter break leisurely.

Of course, even if that meant being cooped up in a PC room playing ranked games, it would still be better than coming to school in this cold weather.

Yet, the reason he was at school early in the morning now...

It was because of the damn winter semester.

Despite having sufficiently replenished his body with alcohol last night, he still felt so cold, making him think that there was a reason for having breaks.

‘...If I had known, I should have attended more classes. The seniors did say that the professor doesn’t check attendance much...’

The seniors weren’t wrong.

The professor was quite famous for not checking attendance, and indeed, he didn’t.

It was just bad luck.

Apparently, only three students showed up in the lecture room?

Naturally, the professor, unable to tolerate it, marked the absent students as unexcused, and Park Junsu’s already precarious attendance record plummeted to an F.

“Sigh.”

Who could he blame?

It was all his own fault.

‘I have a two-hour break after lunch. I should go to the PC room.’

While it’s common for students to take only one or two subjects during the winter semester, Park Junsu was different.

Perhaps because he had been so lackadaisical in his school life, the number of supplementary lectures he needed to take was overwhelming.

It almost felt like this was the real semester.

‘Sigh.’

Just as Park Junsu was about to leave the lecture room with a sigh,

“Hey, you have a break this time, right?”

Maybe because there were few familiar faces during the winter semester,

a classmate he usually just nodded to approached him.

His name was Kim Suhyun.

Thanks to his outgoing personality, he was involved in various activities both within and outside the department.

While it was a bit strange to see him taking the winter semester, Park Junsu didn’t pay much attention.

Maybe he was aiming for early graduation.

“Yeah.”

“That’s good. I have to do some homework, so how about we go to the PC room after lunch?”

“Sure.”

There was no reason or need to refuse, so Park Junsu readily agreed.

He had planned to return to his dorm and play a couple of ranked games, but the PC room wasn’t bad either.

Most importantly, his dorm was extremely cold because he had turned off all the heating, and it didn’t make sense to turn it on just for two hours.

There was another reason as well.

‘I don’t have to go to the convenience store today.’

While it’s the era of solo dining and drinking, eating alone in a university area isn’t easy.

“What do you want to eat?”

Park Junsu answered Kim Suhyun’s question casually.

“Anything.”

“I’ll take you to get tteokbokki if you say that one more time.”

That would be a disaster.

While Park Junsu didn’t hate tteokbokki, it just didn’t feel right as a lunch option.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but it just did.

“Want to have dakgalbi? It’s the lunch special.”

At a nearby franchise, a serving of dakgalbi fried rice was 8,000 won, and you could add noodles or udon for a hearty lunch. Park Junsu was drawn to this option.

“There it is.”

After having a hearty lunch, Park Junsu and Kim Suhyun headed to the PC room.

“...Huh? Wait a moment.”

“Why?”

Kim Suhyun, who had stopped in the middle, entered a cafe he had just passed.

He had mentioned that coffee from the PC room would be better, so he must have seen someone he knew.

Park Junsu hesitated for a moment about whether to follow Kim Suhyun but stopped when he saw his reflection in the window.

‘...Yuri?’

Had she been there all along after rushing out earlier?

Yuri was quite famous both within and outside the department.

Not only because of her outgoing personality, but also because of her striking appearance.

He had heard that her mother was a famous announcer.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that more than half of the male students in the department were interested in her.

A few had even attempted to confess, only to fail and flee to the military.

Even Park Junsu, who usually didn’t care much about school life, couldn’t help but pay attention to Yuri’s whereabouts.

‘Will it take long?’

In the end, Park Junsu entered the cafe.

He kept a distance to avoid looking too eager.

Yuri was with someone.

And...

‘Huh?’

The moment he saw the woman next to Yuri,

Park Junsu felt a sense of unreality.

“...”

What? What did I just see?

The thin silver hair poking out from under the cap.

The blush on her cheeks.

Her features, which were more mystical than exotic.

She was more than just pretty.

There was something beyond mere beauty, a mysterious aura that defied description.

What was even more surprising was that this girl, who looked like a high school student, was Yuri’s older sister.

“Sis.”

“...Why?”

“Should we go too?”

Before he knew it, he ended up going to the PC room with them.

They sat next to each other, but the distance made it awkward to call them a group.

Naturally, they didn’t play games together, so Park Junsu opened League of Legends as he had intended.

While he was engrossed in the game, a soft voice echoed in his ear.

“You shouldn’t go to the bottom lane now.”

...Huh?

What did I just hear?

“...Am I wrong?”

At first, he thought he had misheard.

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn’t just a hallucination.

‘What was that?’

He couldn’t focus on the game.

His brain seemed to be overloaded with too much information.

The game was already unfavorable, and with the mid laner, a key player, unable to concentrate, the outcome was almost certain.

[Defeat]

Park Junsu lost the game.

‘Huh?’

After the defeat, Park Junsu glanced to his left.

It wasn’t that he was intentionally staring; it was more like he caught a glimpse while stretching.

‘An esports article? League of Legends?’

Park Junsu’s confusion deepened.

Based on the information, it seemed that the person who gave the advice earlier was indeed Yuri’s sister.

Despite thinking it was impossible, Park Junsu couldn’t shake off his doubts.

“...Do you watch League of Legends tournaments?”

“Huh?”

Unable to hold back, Park Junsu blurted out the question.

His heart was pounding as if it would burst.

“Ah... Yes, sometimes.”

“Ah.”

Silence followed.

Gathering his courage, Park Junsu asked,

“Do you play games separately?”

“No, I used to, but not recently.”

“What games do you usually play?”

“Various ones.”

The conversation, intended to clear up his doubts, only made Park Junsu’s mind more confused.

‘What is she, really?’

Based on the information, the person who gave the advice was indeed Yuri’s sister.

But how could this person, who looked like a high school student, give advice on League of Legends to someone at Diamond 4?

The image just didn’t match.

‘I can’t let this go. I need to confirm.’

The method was simple.

He just needed to act clumsy and ask for help.

“Someone should tell me...”

It was a very embarrassing act.

As Park Junsu was building up self-loathing,

“Silas would be good.”

An unbelievable voice came from behind.

“Huh?”

“That... I’ve seen people use Silas in this situation in tournaments. Am I wrong?”

“...Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

The game started.

­Welcome to the Rift.

It was as if she had been holding back.

Yuri’s sister started giving advice, almost to herself.

“Now is the time to take the tower... Don’t save your ultimate.”

At first, Park Junsu wondered if he really needed to listen to her.

But as the game progressed and the situations became more complex, he decided to follow her advice.

“The allied top lane is returning. If we roam to the bottom lane now, we can get support from the top lane and win for sure...”

“The enemy jungler is at the base. We can take the dragon for free... Oh, the allied jungler is also at the base.”

He followed her advice to take the tower, roam, and engage in team fights.

“Steal Sett’s ultimate and pull the enemy’s focus to Junya. We can reverse the team fight.”

“The enemy Baron vision is gone. We can burst it down.”

He followed her advice to steal specific champions’ ultimates and burst the Baron.

[Victory]

And they won.

It was an incredibly easy victory.

‘What is this?’

Park Junsu was dumbfounded.

Was League of Legends this easy?

It wasn’t that the team luck was good.

The allied top laner had been solo-killed twice, and the bottom lane often suffered in 2v2 skirmishes.

But following the magical voice in his ear, the game was won before he knew it.

‘Can you do this just by watching tournaments a lot?’

She was at Diamond.

A high-tier player who dominated the ranks, statistically in the top 1%.

Yet, the judgment and insight of someone who looked like they had no interest in games were extraordinary.

Park Junsu couldn’t contain his curiosity.

“Um... What’s your tier?”

Park Junsu, who knew better than anyone how rude it was to ask someone’s tier on first meeting, couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s a secret.”

“...Huh?”

“It’s a secret.”

With a light smile, Park Junsu felt his heart skip a beat.

‘I could die happy.’

But a voice pulled him back from his heavenly thoughts.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not queuing up.”

“...”

That day, Park Junsu reached Diamond 3,

and he was late for his supplementary lecture.

* * *

“Ugh.”

Stretching, I left the PC room with my sister.

Her friend and the male classmate had left the PC room before us.

They said they were late for their supplementary lecture... I felt a bit guilty for keeping them so long.

While we didn’t get to play a game, we did other things, so I wasn’t disappointed.

‘I can play games later.’

Of course, whether there would be an opportunity was another matter.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t even get their names.’

Not even introducing ourselves properly and giving advice... I probably didn’t make a good impression.

On the way home, my sister looked at me and asked,

“Did you have fun?”

Despite the question being like asking a child, I answered innocently.

“Yeah.”

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