[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 1

My body was weak since I was born.

According to the doctor, it's a rare disease that hasn't been reported in academia yet, where all the muscles in the body contract. It’s said that there's no cure.

Because of that, from a young age, I couldn't even walk properly, let alone play outside like other kids.

-Giggle!

-Hey, stop it!

The sight of my peers playing outside the window was always something I could only yearn for.

"Yujin, do you want to go outside?"

Fortunately, our family was relatively wealthy, and my parents were devoted to me.

When I stared blankly out the window, my mother would quietly bring a wheelchair and we would take a walk outside together.

"The air is nice, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh."

Maybe that's why.

I don't know when it was that I stopped looking out the window.

"Yujin, shall we go for a walk?"

"I want to stay home today."

"Really?"

There was no particular reason.

It's just that, every time I looked out the window, I didn't like seeing my mother's teary eyes reflected in the window,

and I felt sorry for my mother, who tried to act okay whenever we walked outside together and saw the other kids playing.

"Mom."

"Yes?"

"I'm okay."

"...Yujin."

After I stopped looking out the window, all I could do was sit still in a chair and move the keyboard and mouse.

Click, click-

Well... from that perspective, it's fortunate that I was born in this era.

At least, in the world inside the monitor, the prison of the body could no longer hold me.

[Rainbow: Wow... Prisoner-nim is always amazing. How do you even make those decisions there?]

I was good at games.

No, I had no choice but to be.

Games were my everything.

I didn't need to go to school or cram schools like other kids, so I invested most of my time playing games, except for the tutoring sessions with a home teacher who came three times a week.

My parents didn't really stop me either.

No, they seemed satisfied just by the fact that I had something I wanted to do.

And... time passed.

[Current Ranking: 1st]

Legend of League.

The game I enjoyed the most, and the most successful game in the world right now.

For eight years since Legend of League launched in Korea, I never lost the solo rank 1st place.

Of course, I didn't maintain the top spot all the time.

I was sometimes overtaken, and I sometimes overtook others.

Nevertheless, the clear thing is that I hit number one every season.

In other words, I could be considered one of the best amateurs in Legend of League.

There were also countless offers to go pro.

"Hello. I'm SCV coach Kim Moon-sik. Do you have a team you belong to? If not, are you interested in going pro?"

At first, of course, I refused.

With my body condition, which could barely handle six hours of activity a day, going pro was a pipe dream.

"Ah... I see. If you change your mind, please contact me. My contact information is..."

Since that was the situation, the topic about me in the community was a long-standing controversy.

-Why doesn't Prisoner go pro? If you look at an old user still hitting number one, they would've dominated if they debuted long ago, right? Agree?

-ㅋㅋㅋ You're talking nonsense about dominating. You're just a solo queue warrior. Do you think pro is a joke? And Prisoner's style is operating-oriented, so it won't work in the tough pro scene. Know something before you start blabbing

-So, what's your tier?

-Diamond? A bronze/silver/gold player criticizing that, lol

But as time passed, I felt a certain desire as I watched people who had played games with me at one time, and who are still playing now, debut as pros.

Could I do it too?

The exact turning point was the two consecutive wins of 'Rainbow', who often played duo with me, at the Legend of League World Championship.

The international tournament of Legend of League, also known as the Red Cup.

Total prize money of 10 billion won.

Separate skin revenue.

He, the winner of that glorious place, mentioned me during his Red Cup two-time winning interview.

["I think it was all luck that I won this year. I think we wouldn't know the result if Prisoner-nim had debuted as a pro."]

The winner of the Red Cup that year receives the title of "the best in the world."

The best mid-laner in the world.

Such a person acknowledged me, who was just a solo queue warrior.

Naturally, there was a commotion in all kinds of communities.

-See ㅋㅋ What did I say. Prisoner is different in the 'fundamentals' from other solo queue warriors, right? If you object, you don't know League

-It's just a lip service because they're close, lol. If Prisoner really debuts as a pro, the bubble will burst and they'll retire, I'll bet my entire fortune

-ㄴ Capture complete

The person who had been playing games with me for a long time recognized me.

As if inviting me to the world of pros.

"……"

Perhaps because of that.

I mustered my courage for the first time.

"Mom."

"Yes?"

"I'll go pro."

My parents supported my courage.

"This is Prisoner, who contacted you before. Can I take the test?"

The scouts who had been trying to get me somehow, showed a negative reaction when they found out about my physical condition.

"Ah... I understand Yujin's will, but as you know, it's not just about skill to become a pro. You also need to have basic physical strength to participate in team scrim schedules, and there are also tournament schedules..."

It was a natural thing to say.

I couldn't even walk properly, and my arms were so thin that it was amazing that I could move the keyboard and mouse.

Above all, I couldn't even play a multi-game match, let alone perform the team schedule.

Because the time I could be active in a day was only about five hours.

Of course, despite that, there were occasional offers from overseas teams, where the league level was lower than Korea, but it was impossible for me to live as a player overseas with my physical condition.

"Yujin..."

"It's okay, I knew it wouldn't work anyway."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Mom..."

"I said it's okay."

My parents comforted me, but I couldn't hold back my tears.

And...

Perhaps because the rumors about me spread among the pro teams, the offers for pro also stopped suddenly.

"I'm sorry. We've already signed a contract with a new player."

"I hope we can meet if fate allows next time."

In the end, I had no choice but to remain a solo queue warrior, as I had always been.

-My older brother's friend is Team Max's coach, and Prisoner has a rare disease? That's why he can't debut as a pro.

-You're talking nonsense. How can a rare disease patient play games like that?

-Come to think of it, Prisoner's physicals are average for someone who hits number one every season. It's his operations and judgment that are amazing. It's not a baseless rumor at all, right?

-ㄴ Next person is lower than the rare disease patient

-Next bronze/silver/gold/platinum/diamond ^^

-Master? ㅋㅋㅋ

-ㄴ Certify and start blabbing, bronze/silver/gold

It seemed that the rumors had indeed spread.

So I had to give up on my dream of going pro, but I couldn't give up my passion for games.

To be precise, that was all I had.

'Streamer, let's become a streamer.'

The dream that can be achieved through games is not only that of a pro gamer.

What era is this?

It's an era where the influence of internet broadcasters is no less than that of entertainers. Moreover, Prisoner's reputation, built over the past eight years, was not small, so I was confident of success in broadcasting as well.

[Prisoner's First Live Broadcast]

After several days of preparation, as I was about to announce the start of my first live broadcast with a trembling heart.

"Huh?"

Along with the throbbing pain felt in my chest, I rolled right off the chair.

It was a seizure.

"Ugh..."

For me, who suffers from a rare disease whose name I don't even know, a sudden full-body seizure was like an annual event.

But this time, it was a little different.

"Ugh!"

The seizures that had happened until now subsided in a few minutes.

But this time, even though it had been over ten minutes since it started, there was no sign of it subsiding.

I instinctively felt it.

This seizure is different.

As if to prove that fact, not even a fingertip could move, and I was gasping more and more, and I was suffocating.

["It's dangerous if you have another seizure. You should be hospitalized..."]

The warning from my doctor last month flashed through my mind like a panorama.

The doctor strongly recommended hospitalization, but I didn't want to live in the hospital, as I was already trapped in the prison of the body.

["It's okay."]

Even if I die, I don't want to die alone in a hospital bed.

That was my last wish, and my parents granted it.

However...

Ironically, my first and last stubbornness was the reason I was dying now.

"Cough, cough..."

If it were normal, someone would have come to help me by now.

Yes, if it wasn't for today.

My mother, who usually took care of me, had gone to a class reunion after several years, and the housekeeper had gone to buy groceries for a moment.

It was still far from my father and younger sibling returning from work and school.

Soon, no one would be there to help me, who was dying now.

"Cough, cough..."

Death is approaching.

My vision is blurred, and I hear tinnitus in my ears.

Beep─────

"Hah, haah, haah..."

I couldn't even live a life like others because of this damn body.

I couldn't even dream the dreams that others dream because of this rotten body.

I couldn't give up everything and start again because of this dying body.

"Hah..."

Why, why, why!

Of all things... me?

Everything was resentful.

If there is a god, he shouldn't take anything more from me.

At least to me...

"...Cough."

My breathing slows down.

My consciousness is swallowed by darkness, and death looked at me.