APGD 08

Chapter 8

99th Year Debut
Pro Gamer

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Except for Park Yong-won, the rest of the team members also arrived one by one at the PC café.

Once I confirmed everyone was present, I called for a short meeting.

It was to make a particular suggestion to Kim Je-hyup and Kang Ha-neul.

“A position swap between top and support.”

Specifically—
I wanted to shift Kang Ha-neul, who excelled at skirmishes with sharp kill instincts and great mechanics, into the top lane.
And Kim Je-hyup, who had outstanding vision control and a wealth of bottom lane experience, would move to support.

As expected, the two of them reacted with surprise as if they’d never imagined such a proposal.

“Huh?! You want me to play support?”
“Wait, wait, Do-su! I’ve barely played anything outside of support, let alone top lane!”

Of course, their reaction was natural.

It was like suddenly asking a fullback defender in soccer to become a striker, and the striker to become a defender.

No wonder it sounded absurd—especially since our scrim results had been excellent lately.

So, I began my first attempt at persuasion.

“I get that this sudden suggestion must be confusing. But please hear me out first—let me explain why I’m suggesting this, then think it over.”

I carefully laid out my reasoning, based on the scrim results from the past four days.

Not long after, Kim Je-hyup nodded and replied.

“Yeah… actually, I did feel something similar yesterday during scrims. So I get it. To really use Ha-neul’s strengths, top lane does seem like a much better fit.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“Hey, no need for thanks! As long as I get to play in the tournament with everyone, I don’t care what position I play. I’ll happily move to support.”

Thankfully, the versatile Je-hyup was persuaded quickly.

The problem was—

“Hold up, Je-hyup! I haven’t agreed to anything yet. No, seriously, Do-su! This is nuts! The prelims are starting next week, and you want me to suddenly role swap?!”

Ha-neul was still hesitant about this sudden change in position—this “role swap.”

Maybe he was scared.

Well, I expected this kind of pushback anyway.

That’s why I’d prepared another piece of evidence to prove he could swap positions.

“Ha-neul.”

I pulled up his match history on the monitor.

“Looking at your match history… your champion pool is actually really wide, isn’t it?”
“My champ pool…? But that’s all as support! I mean, the only ones that might work top are…”

Ha-neul started counting on his fingers, listing them one by one.

“Support Poppy, support Renekton, support Shyvana, support Olaf, support Kayle… Huh?! Wait a sec! Maybe I do know more top champions than I thought?”

…Really? He only just realized that?

Even from the match history, it was hard to tell if he was a support or a top laner.

I couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

Still, at least he was starting to realize what I wanted him to.

Now it was time for the final push.

And in moments like this, flattery works best.

“Ha-neul, honestly… your mechanics are wasted on support. And your sense for fights is sharp—I want to use that in full-scale team fights.”

At my praise, Ha-neul flared his nostrils and even twitched his dimples.

Then he shrugged with mock arrogance.

“Well, I mean… yeah, I am insanely good! With my mechanics, I definitely don’t belong stuck in Master tier!!”
“Exactly. Even when it’s a 2v1, you never back down. You always bite into your opponent like a real man.”
“Damn right! A real man never! Ever! Turns his back on the enemy!”

I was convinced.

Ha-neul’s blood ran with the spirit of a true top laner.

Every word out of his mouth already sounded like that of a sweaty, die-hard toplaner.

Sure, I’d need to drill some strict fundamentals into him, but he’d adapt.

If my instincts were right, it was just about finding the position that fit him best.

“Almost there.”

He was nearly convinced.

I smirked like the protagonist of a certain death-note-themed manga.

“That’s it, Ha-neul! That’s why the stage where your talent will shine brightest is top lane! Trust me!!”

My reaction startled Park Yong-won and Byun Sang-jun, who exchanged glances.

Then, as if agreeing with me, they chimed in to support my idea.

“I think Do-su’s right! With your playstyle, Ha-neul, I can totally see you thriving in top lane.”
“Absolutely! I’m all for it. Honestly, if Je-hyup comes bot with me, I’ll be super thankful. He never does anything reckless!”

It was nice that they backed me up, though Sang-jun was clearly speaking with bias.

Ha-neul immediately shot back.

“Hey! Reckless?! Sang-jun, after all the time we’ve spent bot lane together, that’s harsh!”
“My point exactly! Do you know how much suffering I endured bot with you? Just get lost to top already.”
“What?! Are you seriously saying that?!”

They started bickering playfully.

Then, with a more serious expression, Ha-neul began scrolling through his match history again.

After a moment of thought—though not for long—he finally said:

“Okay! If everyone thinks so, I’ll give it a shot! But if we lose, don’t blame me, alright?”

Nice!

I clenched my fist behind my back.

“Good choice. Don’t worry, I’ll give you feedback and help you all the way. Just focus on adapting.”

Starting with Yong-won, the others also chimed in.

“Nobody’s blaming you, dumbass! And like Do-su said, I’ll give you feedback too. Just do your best.”
“Then I’m officially moving to support. Heh… guess I won’t have to watch you two bicker bot lane anymore.”
“YES!! Je-hyup, welcome to bot lane! Finally, I can play lane like a human instead of an animal!”

Ha-neul pouted at Sang-jun.

“Pfft! You think I didn’t suffer playing with you? Do you know how much Do-su studied and worked to fix bot lane these past few days? I’m doing this as a favor!”
“Oh~ don’t care.”
“God, you’re such a child. Hard to believe you even finished your military service.”
“Whatever. I’m never laning with you again. Die in top for all I care.”

Yong-won burst out laughing and stopped them.

“Cut it out! It’s embarrassing fighting in front of Do-su all the time.”

I raised a hand to calm things down.

“Anyway, since we swapped positions, let’s practice from scratch and rebuild synergy. If it doesn’t work, we can always revert later.”

Everyone nodded brightly.

“Yeah, sounds good!”
“Okay, Do-su! I’m counting on you!”
“Guess I’ll need to redo my rune setups for support.”
“Let’s go! From now on, I’ll really carry from ADC!”

Looking at them, a thought crossed my mind.

‘I’m glad we’re entering the tournament with this exact roster.’

On day one, I’d been shocked at the team’s condition.

Honestly, I’d even considered replacing everyone except Yong-won.

I had even thought about recruiting one specific person I had in mind for my future “dream team.”

But since we weren’t close yet, forcing him into this tournament wasn’t realistic.

Besides—

‘I didn’t want to break the bond these four already had.’

Over the past few days, I’d realized just how strong their camaraderie was.

‘Yeah… this lineup is the best option for now.’

If I’d tried to change the roster, I might not have grown this close to Yong-won either.

Forcing out an old member for a newcomer would’ve unsettled the team atmosphere.

And right now, my goal was to win over Yong-won’s trust. Without that, nothing else mattered.

‘Now that we’ve set our direction, it’s time to prepare for the tournament in earnest.’

It took a little detour, but the team had finally stabilized.

Now, all we had to do was set sail and head straight for our destination.

I addressed the team.

“Since we’ve swapped positions, I want us to play much tighter in-game. Once scrims start, I’ll explain during draft and loading time.”

First, we’d test the changes in scrims and feel the difference for ourselves.

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Meanwhile

The Whale Driver’s License team from Ulsan, who had registered for the national amateur presidential cup, had been scrimming against our team for four straight days.

“Guys, no matter what, we’re winning today! Damn it, we’ve got pride. We’ve got to at least take one game.”

At their leader Kim Soo-chan’s words, the members responded quickly.

“Hell yeah! Yesterday we almost broke their Nexus—we’ve got this today.”
“Their bot vision control is trash, full of holes.”
“Exactly, all we need is to shut down mid and hammer bot. Free win as long as mid doesn’t snowball.”
“Don’t worry. Today I’ll just breathe and farm mid, no kill angles at all.”

Thirsty for a win against Yong-won’s team, Whale Driver’s License was fired up before the match even began.

But then—before the draft even started—they were all confused.

The opponent’s top and support had suddenly swapped positions.

“Huh? Their top and support swapped roles?”
“What the hell? Are they trolling now?”
“Maybe their support was too much of a pain, so they exiled him to top?”

Soo-chan cut in, settling their doubts.

“Even better. We were gonna focus bot anyway. Just stick to our plan and ignore top.”

Their strategy today was designed to directly target Yong-won’s team.

Even if the other side complained, it was a perfectly legitimate “counter strategy.”

But honestly—

‘Who cares?’

Soo-chan smirked.

Breaking their losing streak was more important than anything.

If the enemy got upset, that was their problem.

“Right, right! Nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah, it’s not like they subbed in some Challenger players.”
“They’re just Masters at best~! They’ll probably be even more confused swapping roles.”
“We studied them thoroughly yesterday anyway. Just stick to the plan.”

For now, all that mattered was winning.