Chapter 62

〈 Chapter 62 〉 Nightmare

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In Korea, at the GRS office building.

"Hey, how long are you going to keep this up? We need to head back to the home country soon."

Coach Jang Seok-hwan felt his frustration mounting.

The new season was just a few days away.

It was already a stretch to have returned earlier, and yet he had been in Korea for weeks...

"...Not yet. Not yet. We haven't found Prisoner yet."

GRS mid-laner Nightmare, Lee Joo-shian, shook his head despite Coach Jang Seok-hwan's urging.

Anyway, his stubbornness...

'I'm going to go crazy.'

For weeks, Coach Jang Seok-hwan had been thoroughly harassed by everyone from the GRS manager, the front office, the PR team, the development team, and even the CEO.

"‘Do you even know how long it's been since he last participated in team practice? Bring him back quickly!’"

"‘Coach Jang Seok-hwan? We'd like you to bring Lee Joo-shian back to the home country soon. We can't get in touch with the player.’"

"‘Coach Jang Seok-hwan, do you not have a calendar at home, hehe. It's time to come back.’"

Due to the influence Lee Joo-shian held within the organization, the team couldn't directly order him to return.

As a result, Coach Jang Seok-hwan was the only one caught in the middle, being grilled from all sides.

He was a middle manager caught between the upper and lower echelons.

'Nigimi.'

Stressed to the point of going bald.

In fact, over the past few days, he had noticed more hair in the drain.

Of course, Coach Jang Seok-hwan wasn't idle.

Before the countless calls from the team, he had already made great efforts to persuade Lee Joo-shian.

Finding Prisoner's whereabouts was one of those efforts.

He thought that if he could find and resolve the reason why Lee Joo-shian was holding out in Korea, it would be easy.

"Sigh."

Unfortunately, finding any trace of Prisoner was a distant hope.

He had contacted the teams that had previously tested Prisoner, but they, like Coach Jang Seok-hwan, had grown tired of the matter and avoided his calls.

"‘Prisoner? Stop looking for that guy. Do you know how many times I've received such calls this month?’"

The reason teams that had previously dismissed Prisoner due to his rare disease were now targeting him was obvious.

Prisoner had become valuable.

The first solo queue jungler to reach 2000 points.

If that were the only reason, many teams might not have felt the need to take on the risk of Prisoner's condition.

But the issue was what Prisoner had shown.

'Prisoner reached 2000 points in solo queue, not duo queue. And he did it with a perfect record.'

Thirty-five consecutive wins in the highest tier of solo queue.

While it's rare to achieve such a win rate in lower tiers, it's not impossible.

In fact, some pros had managed to enter the Master tier with nearly 100% win rates using duo queues to boost their alt accounts.

However, Prisoner's 35 consecutive wins were not in Silver, Gold, or even the Diamond Master tier.

They were in the Challenger top tier.

Prisoner had proven himself there.

If Prisoner hadn't disappeared, how far could he have gone?

2100 points? 2200 points? Or even higher?

Or perhaps he had already reached his peak.

We'll never know.

Now that Prisoner was gone.

Given the situation, even Coach Jang Seok-hwan, who had previously not understood Lee Joo-shian, now understood why he was so obsessed with finding Prisoner.

'Sigh.'

One of Coach Jang Seok-hwan's daily routines was to check the community forums.

Just in case, even though it was unlikely, he hoped to find some information about Prisoner.

Prisoner will return. Prisoner will return. Prisoner will return. Prisoner will return. Prisoner will return.

Why isn't Galaxy returning? Why isn't Galaxy returning? Why isn't Galaxy returning? Why isn't Galaxy returning? Why isn't Galaxy returning? Why isn't Galaxy returning?

Galaxy, you're really a star. If you're going to do this, come back, Prisoner...

Fools, lol. Why are you looking for Prisoner here? Just look up and you'll see him.

'As expected.'

As expected, the community was a mess.

After Prisoner achieved the impossible and then disappeared, almost all League of Legends communities were in a semi-paralyzed state.

All topics revolved around Prisoner or stories related to him.

Coach Jang Seok-hwan sighed deeply and spoke to Lee Joo-shian, who was in a semi-derelict state.

"I've checked all the funeral homes in the country. In the past month, seven people named Joo-shin Yi have died, but none of them were Prisoner. You've checked too, right?"

"Then he must not be dead! We need to check the hospitals!"

"Hey, do you even know how many hospitals there are in the country...!"

Coach Jang Seok-hwan, who was about to raise his voice, soon shook his head.

What good would it do to raise his voice and argue with Lee Joo-shian, whom he needed to lead?

"Alright, and anyway, you must have already checked all the hospitals, right?"

"...You knew?"

The fact that Lee Joo-shian was using his personal secretary to search for Prisoner, legally and illegally, was a secret to Coach Jang Seok-hwan.

If this were to become known, it would have a significant negative impact on both Lee Joo-shian and the team.

However, Coach Jang Seok-hwan was not an easy opponent to fool.

"I couldn't not know."

Coach Jang Seok-hwan had tolerated this because he understood Lee Joo-shian's obsession with Prisoner all too well.

An obsession that bordered on madness.

And that madness reached its peak when Prisoner disappeared after hitting 2000 points.

"I understand why you're so obsessed with Prisoner. You think that with Prisoner, you can defeat Rainbow in the next Red Cup, right?"

"...Yes, that's right."

"I understand. It's natural for a pro to have such a competitive spirit. But it can't go on any longer. The team and I have done everything we can. Let's go back."

Lee Joo-shian, who had been staring blankly at the monitor, finally spoke after a long pause.

"...Alright, I'll go back."

"Good decision."

"However, please stay here, Coach."

"What?"

"I'll triple your salary. Please stay in Korea and look for any clues about Prisoner until then."

In other words, he was asking Coach Jang Seok-hwan to abandon his coaching duties and become a private investigator focused solely on finding Prisoner.

"Ha."

Coach Jang Seok-hwan felt something that had been supporting him snap.

"Hey."

He couldn't take it anymore.

"Get lost."

Lee Joo-shian, who seemed genuinely surprised by Coach Jang Seok-hwan's reaction, opened his eyes wide.

"…What?"

"I'm a coach for GRS, not your personal secretary. Are you kidding me?"

Coach Jang Seok-hwan showed his anger.

"Money, yeah, money is good. But this is too much. If you're going to do this, I'll quit. Whether you go back to China or not is none of my business. You're a grown adult, figure it out yourself."

Then, Coach Jang Seok-hwan immediately made a call.

"Ah, Manager? I can't do this anymore. I'm quitting."

"Wait, just a moment!"

"You stay there."

"I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'll go back to the home country."

Seeing the usually proud Lee Joo-shian beg, Coach Jang Seok-hwan finally lowered his phone.

"Really?"

"...Yes."

In fact, Lee Joo-shian also knew.

How unreasonable he was being.

Prisoner was dead.

He had been trying to ignore this truth, but now he had to accept it.

"..."

If he was going to quit his pro career, it would be different, but if he wanted to continue, he needed to return to the home country immediately.

No, he should have gone back long ago.

"Once you're back, focus on getting back into practice and adjusting your lifestyle. You haven't been sleeping well here, have you?"

"...Yes."

Coach Jang Seok-hwan fiddled with his smartphone.

"I've booked a flight. It's... tomorrow morning at 9 AM. Make sure everything is in order by then."

"Yes."

"Then take today off. And... do whatever you want today. Whether you look for Prisoner or do something else."

"...Thank you."

This was the maximum consideration Coach Jang Seok-hwan could offer.

At least for today, Lee Joo-shian should be allowed to do as he pleased to minimize the impact on the upcoming season.

'...Whether he can return to the starting lineup right away is another matter.'

No matter how much influence Lee Joo-shian had within GRS, his starting position would depend on his performance.

And Lee Joo-shian had not participated in team practice for a long time.

'He'll figure it out.'

Coach Jang Seok-hwan shook his head and left the room.

And...

"..."

Left alone in the room, Lee Joo-shian stared blankly for a while before opening the League of Legends client.

It was the Korean server.

[Game Start]

Lee Joo-shian queued up.

Knowing it was futile, but still believing in the faint, slender thread of a miracle.

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