[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 45
CompetitivenessRyu Jin-hyuk spent the night with his eyes open.
He kept staring at his friend list, wondering if Prisoner might log in.
“…….”
And from some point on, Ryu Jin-hyuk found himself closing his eyes.
It was a period when the season didn't have much time left.
Naturally, the practice schedule was as tight as during the tournament, and Ryu Jin-hyuk, known for his dedication to practice, couldn't resist the overwhelming sleepiness.
It would have been different if he had been playing a game, but he wasn't even in the mood for that, so he was just staring blankly at the monitor.
“Ugh……”
At first, he desperately tried to stay awake.
His old friend might be in a difficult situation right now, and he didn't want to be carefree, not even knowing the news.
However, the body doesn't always follow the will of the owner.
‘…I shouldn't sleep.’
How many times did he doze off and wake up?
Ryu Jin-hyuk ultimately couldn't resist the hand of sleep, which kept tempting him.
.
.
.
“…Hyung!”
It was a familiar voice that woke Ryu Jin-hyuk.
“Jin-hyuk hyung!”
The owner of the voice was GuineaPig, Yu Sang-hyun, who was the support in the team.
As usual, Yu Sang-hyun, who takes good care of the other team members, seemed unable to pass by Ryu Jin-hyuk, who was lying on the desk.
“Oh, yeah.”
Ryu Jin-hyuk wiped the saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth and opened his eyes.
He had tried so hard not to fall asleep, but his mind couldn't overcome his body in the end.
“Why are you doing this here? Practice is about to start.”
“What?”
Today's practice schedule is from 11 a.m.
In other words, he had been asleep on the desk for at least 9 hours.
“……”
Ryu Jin-hyuk blamed himself.
He thought he was more familiar with staying up all night than anyone else, but he couldn't even overcome boredom.
“Pr, Prisoner?”
Still not fully awake, Ryu Jin-hyuk was incoherent and searched for Prisoner.
Yu Sang-hyun gave a strange look at that.
“Why are you suddenly looking for Prisoner? Oh, did you see that too, hyung?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well……”
Before Yu Sang-hyun could answer, Ryu Jin-hyuk's gaze turned to the Legend of League client.
And…….
“Huh?”
Ryu Jin-hyuk doubted his eyes.
+
[Prisoner]
In game.
+
It’s Prisoner.
Prisoner is playing a game right now.
“Ha……”
Only then did Ryu Jin-hyuk let out a deep sigh of relief.
He was alive…….
He was worried that something might have happened to Prisoner, but fortunately, Prisoner seemed to be safe.
If something had happened, he wouldn't have been able to play games like this.
‘He must have had a situation.’
Looking at the words "In game," Ryu Jin-hyuk solidified a long-held determination.
Today, he would finally say it.
He was sorry for speaking carelessly before. And he congratulated him on both the 1st place and the 1800 points.
While Ryu Jin-hyuk was lost in thought, Yu Sang-hyun opened his mouth.
“I should've seen this from the beginning… Did you see it from the beginning, hyung?”
“What are you talking about from the beginning?”
Ryu Jin-hyuk couldn't understand what Yu Sang-hyun had been saying from the beginning.
“Prisoner is about to reach 1900 points. There's a commotion everywhere right now. Didn't you doze off here while watching that too, hyung?”
“What?”
1900 points out of the blue?
Prisoner's score was surely 1800 points, wasn't it?
No, and, in the first place, 1900 points…… It's absurd, it doesn't make sense.
“Huh? You didn't know?”
At Yu Sang-hyun's reaction, Ryu Jin-hyuk hurriedly accessed the match history search site.
And searched for Prisoner.
+
[Prisoner]
Rank 1
Solo Rank
- Challenger
- 1890 LP / 259 Wins 172 Losses
- Win Rate 60%
+
“……”
Ryu Jin-hyuk felt his mind go blank for a moment.
The time Ryu Jin-hyuk had been asleep was no more than 9 hours.
Of course, 9 hours wasn't a short time, but it's definitely not enough time for a score of 1800 points to reach 1900 points.
Moreover, isn't the top solo rank bracket, where Prisoner is currently, already difficult to get a queue?
The average waiting time, including bans and picks, easily exceeds ten to twenty minutes.
And what if a dodge happens?
That waiting time is instantly wiped out.
The story isn't a joke that you spend an hour just queuing to play a game and eventually give up.
No matter how outstanding Prisoner's skills are, he can't ignore the physical time… What happened now was so strange.
‘What on earth happened…….’
In a bizarre sensation as if he were dreaming, Ryu Jin-hyuk slowly read Prisoner's match history.
+
────────
[Win] 13 minutes 41 seconds
[Win] 19 minutes 12 seconds
[Win] 15 minutes 06 seconds
[Win] 15 minutes 14 seconds
[Win] 34 minutes 33 seconds
[Win] 29 minutes 54 seconds
────────
+
6 consecutive wins.
Prisoner had won 6 consecutive games during the 9 hours Ryu Jin-hyuk had been asleep.
‘…Moreover, almost all of them are one-sided games.’
Out of the total game time, there are only 2 games that exceed 20 minutes.
In other words, the pros and amateurs of Korean solo rank, who are known for their skills, couldn't hold out for 20 minutes against Prisoner.
‘So, did he get 6 consecutive wins while I was asleep?’
Of course, the questions didn't end there.
Until now, Prisoner had played at most around 3 games a day.
But he played as many as 6 games in this early morning.
It was a sight that couldn't be seen from Prisoner until now.
‘Why?’
Prisoner's pattern has changed.
Of course, playing 6 games in a row is definitely difficult, but it's not impossible.
On average, professionals can easily play more than 12 games a day, including scrims and solo ranks, even if it's not during the tournament period.
Well… For a side note, in the case of lower-tier users who don't concentrate much on the game, there are often cases where they play more than 20 games in a row.
Of course, all of these cases are just general cases, and in the case of Prisoner, the situation is quite different.
‘Prisoner isn't in good physical condition. If he hasn't played more than 3 games until now, there must be a reason….’
Of course, his condition might have improved recently, but for some reason, Ryu Jin-hyuk's thoughts kept leaning towards the negative side.
There is a saying, “Burning the candle at both ends.”
Ryu Jin-hyuk felt as if Prisoner was now like a final burning flame.
‘…I have to check it myself.’
Even though it was time for the schedule to start soon, Ryu Jin-hyuk felt a sense of duty.
He wanted to see it with his own eyes.
What condition Prisoner was in.
It was when Ryu Jin-hyuk was about to press the "Spectate" button for Prisoner in his friend list.
“Hyung, there's a delay if you watch it like that. It's better to watch it on broadcast, right?”
“Broadcast?”
“Yeah.”
“Prisoner won't be broadcasting, will he?”
“Streamers are going crazy, targeting Prisoner right now. You really didn't know anything, hyung?”
“Where can I watch?”
“RedTV is likely to have more of them, right?”
At those words, Ryu Jin-hyuk hurriedly accessed RedTV, an internet broadcasting platform.
And he couldn't hide his shock at the list of broadcasts that appeared immediately.
────────────────
[C1 1300) I'm targeting Prisoner. Prisoner Target Waiting Room]
[Spectator Room) Prisoner's 1900-point Decisive Battle, What Will the Result Be?]
[C1 1244) I have to break through me to reach 1900 points, Prisoner]
[Challenger, non-stop broadcast. Until the day I meet Prisoner]
────────────────
BJ, streamer, there are various names for them, but one thing is certain: they are people who are obsessed with viewers and views.
Naturally, they couldn't help but pay attention to Prisoner's current actions.
‘…Indeed, so that's why Prisoner was able to keep getting queues.’
Countless internet broadcasters turn queues to target Prisoner.
Naturally, Prisoner's game intervals had to be relatively shorter than usual, unless a dodge occurred.
“Hyung, that one, that one.”
“Which one?”
At the end of Yu Sang-hyun's pointing finger was Jjushim, a famous BJ and a top-tier jungler.
[C1 1244) I have to break through me to reach 1900 points, Prisoner]
“It looks like the opposing side of Jjushim is Prisoner right now?”
Jjushim.
As his name suggests, he's a top-tier BJ famous for his Lee Sin mastery.
He was also a user with quite excellent skills, to the point where even Yoon Gi-jo acknowledged his understanding of Lee Sin.
In fact, Ryu Jin-hyuk himself had often met him in solo rank, either as an enemy or an ally.
Ryu Jin-hyuk entered Jjushim's broadcast.
The first thing that came in was the overwhelming game score.
[0:9]
The game time was only about 11 minutes.
However, the game had already exploded.
‘Well.’
Prisoner, whom even Yoon Gi, the Red Cup winner, and Ryu Jin-hyuk himself couldn't stop.
No matter how skilled a top-tier Lee Sin master he was, he couldn't possibly stop Prisoner, who was running wild right now.
With that being the case, the chat and electronic girls were busy making fun of Jjushim.
-Is this… a four-digit jungler?
-Info) The difference in points between Jjushim and Prisoner is the difference between Gold and Diamond.
-Ah kk, I can't do anything if I'm gold.
-This is.. gold-shim?
『“Jungle gap jungle gap ya ya ya ya ya”』
Normally, Jjushim, who is a professional broadcaster, never stops talking, but in this situation, he had no choice but to shut up without saying a word.
[“…Ah, this isn't supposed to happen like this……”]
-Me
-Lock
-Me
-Lock
『“Jju-ha chu-shim-a”』
[“……”]
The result was Prisoner's overwhelming victory.
Before 15 minutes had even passed, the herald rushed towards the inhibitor turret, and naturally, an open appeared.
[Defeat]
-Please come out and give applause
-👏👏👏
-Me
-👏👏
-Lock
-👏👏👏👏
『“Not very good for gold”』
『“Gold-shim! Gold-shim! Gold-shim! Gold-shim!』
Since it was inappropriate to watch the BJ being ridiculed like this, Ryu Jin-hyuk immediately turned off the broadcast.
“Ah, why did you turn it off? It was fun.”
Yu Sang-hyun, who usually enjoys watching internet broadcasts, seemed quite familiar with this culture.
“…Go watch it at your own four digits.”
“I don't have time. Hyung, get ready quickly too. Are you going to just go without eating breakfast? You'll get scolded by the coach if you skip meals.”
“I don't have any thoughts today.”
“Really? Okay.”
As Yu Sang-hyun went away, Ryu Jin-hyuk stared blankly at Prisoner's match history.
+
[Prisoner]
Rank 1
Solo Rank
- Challenger
- 1904 LP / 260 Wins 172 Losses
- Win Rate 60%
+
1900 points.
Prisoner, who had just written a legend by reaching 1800 points, wrote another legend in a day.
Impossible.
But it clearly happened.
“……”
It wasn't this feeling when Prisoner first hit 1800 points.
Although he had broken his own record, there wasn't much difference in points, and Ryu Jin-hyuk himself thought he could reach 1800 points if he put his mind to it.
But the moment Prisoner reached 1900 points, Ryu Jin-hyuk felt a very strange feeling that he couldn't explain.
A strange feeling.
Until now, the feelings Ryu Jin-hyuk had for Prisoner were affection, regret, and sympathy.
However, it's different now.
A strange feeling that he couldn't even recognize himself was making Ryu Jin-hyuk's heart race now.
‘What is it?’
Jealousy? No. It's a little different.
Then is it the same as before, the sympathy and regret that come from the fact that he can't become a pro with those skills?
No, that's not it either.
“…Ah.”
Ryu Jin-hyuk finally realized the true nature of this feeling.
Rivalrous spirit.
Ryu Jin-hyuk now genuinely wanted to beat Prisoner.
If the feelings Ryu Jin-hyuk had for Prisoner until now were just close to regret, this time, he had recognized him as a true rival.
That's why he wanted to personally break Prisoner, who is trying to write a living legend right now, with his own hands.
‘Prisoner.’
But it's not possible alone.
Ryu Jin-hyuk wanted to beat Prisoner with all his strength, and furthermore, if he solo-queued alone, there was a 50/50 chance of meeting Prisoner as an ally.
That wasn't what Ryu Jin-hyuk wanted.
After thinking, Ryu Jin-hyuk approached Park Yoon-gi, who was sitting in his seat.
“Yoon-gi.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Shall we duo in a little while?”
“Bot duo?”
“No.”
Prisoner.
I don't know how far you'll go…….
“Mid-jungle.”
Let's see, I will block you.