I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 237

The unexpected Irelia pick sent the commentators and chat into a frenzy.

『Irelia is out! Irelia! No—Lulu! What kind of confidence is this?! Picking Irelia in the first match?!』

『A truly unexpected choice! While Irelia is decently high-tier in solo queue, team games are a different beast. I can’t wait to see how she performs!』

• She’s insane LOLOLOLOL
• Bro, Irelia? LMAOOOOO
• As expected, when it comes to games, her confidence is unmatched. Axolotl OP lolol
• Irelia falls off so hard late-game, what’s with this confidence? HDD
• Kinda doesn’t suit Lulu-chan at all tho LOL

Choosing such a high-skill champion in the very first match of the tournament? And it was Lulu doing it no less—it was pure dopamine for the audience.

Anyone who’d seen their scrims knew: Da-jeong was a selfless player. She preferred mage-type champions, excelling in teamfights and scaling.

Mages had their strengths—strong teamfight presence and scaling—but their early damage was lackluster, their mobility poor, and they were vulnerable to ganks in sidelanes.

Irelia was the opposite. She could threaten solo kills in lane from the slightest mistake, spiked hard with Blade of the Ruined King, and dominated split-push scenarios.

『Wow… Lulu’s confidence is insane. Never expected Irelia.』

『Has Lulu even played Irelia in scrims?』

『Doubt it. Maybe a bit in solo queue data.』

『Thought they were weirdly okay with Orianna first pick, but if this backfires, they’re toast.』

『It’s fine, I’ll cover mid. Late-game Ori is way better anyway.』

Even the opposing team, Farming Strike, was stunned. Their midlaner, Han Du-chi, felt cold sweat dripping down his back.

Sure, Orianna had early lane priority due to range, but Irelia held the initiative. For a squishy mage like Ori, one misstep meant death.

Their jungler, Yusan-Gyeon, tried to reassure him. Viego wasn’t the strongest early jungler, but Irelia had no escape tools without minions to dash through—perfect for a gank.

“Pfft. An Irelia at this elo? Free food.”

Truthfully, Yusan-Gyeon underestimated Da-jeong. As a Diamond player, he had elo pride. To him, an Irelia piloted by a Gold midlaner was nothing more than a 300-gold minion.

『And so begins the first match of Lulu and the Auction Leftovers versus Farming Strike!』

『Just when we thought it’d be a standard game, that last-pick Irelia was a real kicker! Will her in-game performance live up to the hype?』

『Absolutely! Given Irelia’s notorious difficulty, Lulu’s proficiency will be key.』

『But that’s what makes it exciting. This is Lulu we’re talking about—the very player Empire himself praised!』

• The Grandmaster.
• Sudden worship lol
• But that’s legit rare praise tho LOL
• He praised her mage play, not Irelia… Hmm… Or did he?
• Lulu-chan fighting!

The game began, and all lanes settled into their positions.

Thud-thud—

“…!”

The moment minions arrived, the enemy midlaner used his Q Skill to poke. Da-jeong’s eyes widened briefly.

“It’s over.”

This was enough. Orianna could clear waves safely from range, but the lane was already tilting in her favor.

Yet, when the enemy stopped using skills and only last-hit, Da-jeong deliberately stepped forward, offering herself for auto-attacks.

Tap-tap—

『Oho, auto-attack harass! Han Du-chi is punishing Lulu hard!』

『True. Early-game ranged vs. melee hinges on plays like this.』

Naturally, the enemy attacked, drawing aggro from Da-jeong’s minions. As they focused the champion instead of enemy minions, the wave slowly pushed toward her.

『Jeongjin-nam, I’m going all-in at Level 3. Can you cover me?』

『Sure. I’ll path mid since I’m not full-clearing.』

Da-jeong waited for the enemy wave to crash under tower.

『No gank angles mid. Just focus on scaling.』

『Got it.』

『Yeah, Viego’s not great early anyway.』

Predictably, the enemy jungler abandoned mid and farmed instead. Meanwhile, Jeongjin-nam moved toward mid.

Then—

Ching—

“Now!”

With the enemy minions melting under tower, Da-jeong hit Level 3 first. Feigning a last-hit with Q Skill, she weaved through minions and hid her E Skill in the motion.

Irelia’s E stuns enemies in a line and marks them. The speed and subtlety of this execution separated the good from the great.

Swish—

『Huh…?!』

Han Du-chi, who’d been freely poking the tower-bound Irelia, froze as his character was suddenly locked in place. A glowing mark appeared on Orianna.

『Irelia’s engaging! She hit Level 3 first!』

『The E was too fast—Han Du-chi couldn’t react! His HP’s melting!』

By the time he realized, Da-jeong’s Irelia was already upon him like a beast. Each skill cast stacked her passive—

Once fully stacked, her attack speed skyrockets, dealing bonus damage—the core of Irelia’s DPS.

Since Da-jeong had been freely spamming skills while farming minions, she entered the trade at full stacks, making her damage obscene.

『Sigh… Had to do it.』

Han Du-chi, forced into a trade while pushing, had taken so much damage he was left at a sliver of HP. With no other option, he Flashed away—any later, and Irelia’s Flash chase would’ve secured the kill.

『He barely survived!』

『That Flash timing was clutch!』

• Damn.
• Lulu-chan’s Irelia mechanics are cracked LOL
• Am I blind? Where did her E even come from?
• Irelia mains love that E trick lol

Though she didn’t secure the solo kill, the outplay drew gasps from the crowd.

Then—whoosh!

『…Huh?』

– You have been slain.

A skill shot arced over Han Du-chi’s low-HP recall. Lee Sin lunged from fog, executed him, and vanished.

『Jeongjin-nam, THANK YOU! Cleanup GOD!』

『Nah, you did the heavy lifting. That trade was filthy.』

Warm banter flowed between Lulu and the Auction Leftovers’ mid-jungle duo.

Da-jeong had known from the start she couldn’t solo kill. Even with Irelia’s early strength and Orianna’s fragility, Flash disparities made it risky. So she’d prepped Jeongjin-nam for cleanup duty—everything had gone according to plan since the enemy mid carelessly poked minions.

『My bad… Didn’t expect that.』

『No worries. TP’ll mitigate the loss.』

『Yeah, with the assist gold, we’re ahead even if you just farm safe.』

Han Du-chi Teleported back to tower, resolved to farm from max range.

But the problem?

『…This lane’s hell.』

Da-jeong had also TP’d, matching his return. Worse, the wave still favored her tower—she’d deliberately left minions unbalanced before recalling, ensuring the slow push.

Now, mispositioning even slightly meant death. Han Du-chi could only last-hit with Q, and the CS gap widened by the second.

Then—

“Huu… Yahap!”

『What the— Lulu’s not letting the wave reset?!』

Da-jeong tanked minion aggro, forcing the wave to stay frozen. The situation grew dire.

Finally, Yusan-Gyeon intervened.

『Let’s bait her. She’ll have to commit—Lee Sin’s bot-side.』

『Do it.』

The plan: Lure Irelia into a trade, then gank. At worst, they’d burn her Flash, relieving pressure.

With no ultimate pre-6, it seemed foolproof. As Viego moved mid, Han Du-chi feigned vulnerability near minions.

Whoosh—!

『She’s in!』

『NOW!』

True to form, Da-jeong’s Irelia struck like a starving lion, E landing faster than eyes could track. Viego emerged, charging his W stun—but held it, waiting for Irelia to overcommit.

‘Dodge W post-6, and it’s over.’

Da-jeong knew this. Retreating here was the safe play… but she ached to push further.

So she danced.

Instead of dashing toward safety, she Q’d toward low-HP enemy minions—each kill resetting the cooldown, healing her.

Ching!

A minion’s death tipped her to Level 6.

“I’ll cut them all down!”

Her ultimate bladesurge hit both enemies. She Q’d through minions, closing the gap.

『Fuck, I’m dead!』

『No! Disengage—!』

Han Du-chi, Flashless, died instantly. Viego fired their W—

Fwap!

Da-jeong Flashed over it.

– You have slain an enemy!

She pivoted to Viego. Yusan-Gyeon fled, but—

Whoosh!

Her E snared him.

Slash! Slash!

– Double Kill!

『SHE’S DIVING?!』

Tower shots chunked her, but she Q’d to a minion, W reducing the final shot’s damage—surviving with 1 HP.

『IS THIS PLAYER INSANE?!』

『WHAT DID WE JUST WITNESS?! Han Du-chi and Yusan-Gyeon must be speechless! Lulu just starred in her own highlight reel!』

• HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT
• FUCKING GODLIKE LMAOOOOOO
• Commentators screaming lolol
• Bro’s filming a montage mid-tournament lolol
• How are her hands that fast?!
• No more “God Lulu”—call her an Irelia Queen ㅅㅂ
• THE GODDESS OF OVERWATCH HAS CONQUERED LEAGUE!!!!

Da-jeong had delivered a movie-worthy play in her debut match. The crowd erupted.

『What was that?!』

『You doubted Lulu? Tsk, rookie faith.』

『I was AFK farming wolves and missed it.』

『Gold my ass—this is smurfing!』

“Heehee… J-just luck!”

The beast-mode player herself? She blushed at her team’s praise, meekly returning to lane.