APGD 09

Chapter 9

99th Year Debut
Pro Gamer

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The scrim match, which had begun with high spirits, progressed quickly.
Before long, they were already midway through the third game.

The WhaleDriver’sLicense team executed their prepared strategy to absolute perfection—every step went just as they had planned.

But—

[Double Kill!]
[Triple Kill!]
[‘TacticMaker’ is legendary!]

The result unfolded in the exact opposite direction of their expectations.

Even though they had attempted a position swap, the ones thrown into disarray were none other than themselves.

---

“Hey, no!! We had to break through before their mid rotated bot! Now their mid is rampaging again—!”
“Then you should’ve come to gank faster, damn it!! What do you expect me to do when the opponent isn’t giving us an angle?!”
“He’s right! Those guys are playing way too safe! Honestly, this was the best we could do! The only way out is to tie down TacticMaker in mid. If we can’t, bot keeps collapsing.”

They had relentlessly targeted the enemy bot lane, but instead the results were catastrophic—for them.

To make matters worse—

Even the top lane, which had been quiet until yesterday, erupted into bloody skirmishes.

[Finish!]
[‘KangSkyBlue’ is dominating!]

A game that was already hectic was spiraling completely out of control.

---

“What, that was a kill angle?! Damn, that was lucky as hell.”
“Lucky, my ass! Why is top a disaster too? You got a solo kill first game, then from the second game you’re the one being killed over and over!”
“Look, that guy’s way better than I thought! Even if I just play safe, I keep bleeding CS. What do you want me to do?!”
“You’re a former ‘Do-Gu’ player* and you can’t even play safe?”
(*slang: a dismissive term for support players)
“He’s diving me nonstop like it’s a death match! How the hell am I supposed to play safe? If you don’t like it, why don’t you play top instead?!”

As defeat loomed larger, the voices grew louder.
Everyone was blaming each other, arguing nonstop.
It was inevitable that the atmosphere in the team grew toxic.

Finally, Kim Suchan couldn’t take it anymore and exploded.

“Shut the hell up, all of you! Not a single lane is doing better than theirs! We’re all the same level of trash!”

He clenched his mouse so hard his knuckles turned white. His teeth ground audibly.

He had been so sure that today they’d finally break the losing streak, that they’d turn the team’s atmosphere around.

But that hope circuit had burned to ashes.

---

‘Why does this game feel even harder than yesterday?’

The enemy mid was always a monster—that was expected.

But now the formerly unremarkable top laner had swapped to support and was playing defense like a fortress.

And the erratic support from before had gone top, showing ridiculous raw power every game.
Even when his growth was slow, he would monopolize jungle resources, bulk up, and then dominate mid-to-late game with crushing impact.

‘Shit…! How is this team even supposed to be “Do-Gu tier” players?!’

On paper, their ranks were higher. Their team should’ve been much stronger.

But honestly? He couldn’t imagine beating them, no matter how many games they played.

Worse, after every single match, the enemy visibly improved.
Their growth rate, their refinement—it was on a whole different level.

If they kept evolving like this… where would their ceiling be?
Suchan couldn’t even begin to guess.

Gulp.

His frustration and anger slowly gave way to resignation.
And strangely, Kim Suchan even felt a twinge of relief.

‘Thank god we’re not facing them in the same regional qualifiers.’

---

The position swap was a resounding success.

“Wow, the first game was rough, but we still won in the end!”
“No, guys!! Playing top is insanely fun!”
“You saw bot too, right? No longer a weak spot! I really sync well with Jehyup!”
“Yeah, honestly I feel much more comfortable being bot now too.”

We exchanged light high-fives to celebrate our victory.

“Good work, everyone. It finally feels like we’ve found the style that fits our team.”

With top and bot revived, Park Yongwon’s influence naturally grew as well.

No longer just a cover-focused player, he now pierced through the enemy like a sharpened blade.

Of course, this synergy was only possible thanks to Park Yongwon’s tremendous personal growth.

‘The synergy is better than I expected. We can stick with this.’

Of course, that didn’t mean I was satisfied yet.
This team still had room to climb much higher.

Honestly, I was secretly amazed at how much better the position swap had worked than I’d predicted.

---

“But don’t get cocky. We still have a lot of gaps. Even as we move to the next step, we’ll need more adaptation training.”

At that, Park Yongwon let out a short laugh.

“Let’s be real. Besides you, who here even has the right to be cocky?”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, with a monster like you playing right beside us… all I can think is how far we still have to go.”

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

That line made the rest of the team burst into laughter.
The mood lightened immediately.

Then Kang Haneul grinned and asked,

“But Ham, what’s this next step? There’s more?”

I nodded casually.

“Of course. In fact, that’s where real team play begins.”

We were now moving beyond just normalization.
It was time to make full use of my past life’s knowledge and information.

“Hm? The beginning of real team play?”
“Everyone, gather at my seat for a sec.”

I opened the notepad I had prepared the night before and continued.

“In official 5v5 matches, the most important thing is how well you adapt to the ‘meta.’ That’s what we’re going to prepare for.”
“Ooooh!”
“Let’s see… Tidalie, Kalista, Renekton, Alistar, Fizz… huh? Some of these are kind of low-tier picks?”
“Wait—is this like… meta predictions for the future?”

Everyone looked puzzled.
Naturally so.

After dozens of regressions, I could predict the meta just from patch notes.
But they couldn’t.

“That’s right. By the time the main tournament starts, the meta will look like this. And…”

I quickly continued explaining.

“I want us to start preparing in advance, tailored to this new meta.”

Park Yongwon, speaking as team captain, replied without hesitation.

“You’re our real captain, Dosu. Of course we’ll follow. Let’s all prepare together.”
“Thanks.”

The others nodded in agreement.
I smiled broadly and began my explanation.

“The next meta will be…”

This was the first moment the team truly began moving in one direction.

---

The Presidential Cup National Amateur Esports Tournament regional qualifiers followed the same single-elimination format as the main event.
Every round was best-of-three.

It was split across two days—December 13th online, and December 19th offline.

First, the online stage would cut down to the top 8 teams.
Then, offline, those 8 would battle until only 1 team remained—the regional representative.

For the Seoul qualifiers, a total of 122 teams had signed up.
That meant nearly 610 players in Seoul alone were competing.

Naturally, participation numbers varied by region and schedule.
But Seoul, being the most populous city in Korea, always had the largest turnout.

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‘122 teams, huh.’

And out of all those teams, only one could reach the main stage.

‘The competition is fiercer than I thought.’

I studied the online bracket on the screen, running mental calculations.

Round of 128, round of 64, round of 32, round of 16.
Win just 4 matches, and you’d make the top 8—earning a ticket to the offline stage.

And now—

“Let’s just play like we practiced!”
“Let’s go undefeated all the way to the main stage!”
“Fighting!”
“Yeah! Let’s go, let’s go!”

The Seoul qualifiers’ very first match—round of 128—was about to begin.

---

Han Moonsang.

He was what you’d call a “named” user in the BOL community, highly active across forums.
His tier was lower Challenger.

In the community, he was often called “Amateur Challenger.”
Technically still an amateur, but one burning with the dream of going pro.

‘This year, I will make my pro debut!’

Han Moonsang was more determined than ever for this tournament.

His current team: 1 Challenger, 4 Grandmasters.

‘I formed this team half a year ago just for this event.’

They had trained together for 7 months.
Their individual skill was high, but more importantly, their team synergy was leagues above most others.

He believed they were top-tier even among all entrants.

‘Hehehe. At this rate, we could even make it all the way to finals on the main stage.’

With that rosy thought, he logged into BOL.

Inside their private lobby, his teammates immediately scolded him.

“Damn it, Han Moonsang! Why are you always late?”
“Don’t even ask. He was probably busy shitposting on the forums again.”
“Three more minutes and we would’ve been disqualified!”

Their first qualifier match was just about to start.

Adjusting his mic, he apologized.

“Sorry, sorry. Just had to hit the bathroom. Anyway, you guys can hear me fine, right?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Turn off mic boost though, your voice is echoing.”

Then the one teammate who’d been silent spoke up, voice brimming with excitement.

“Hey, guys! I checked the other team’s match history. Except for their jungler, they’re all just Master-tier locals. This is basically a free win!”
“For real? Even their jungler’s only mid-to-low Grandmaster. These guys are total scrubs.”
“Pffft! Jackpot! Then can I play Ryosuo ADC this game?”
“Don’t you dare! If you pick Ryosuo, I’m locking Ezreal support instantly.”
“Okay, okay, sorry. That’s too much…”

Han Moonsang quickly started looking up their opponents’ stats himself.

Top, ADC, support—hundreds of games played, win rate hovering just 50–52%.
Yup, his teammate was right.

Complete Master-tier locals.
With that skill level, they had no business even thinking about going pro.
No threat at all.

The jungler: Grandmaster, 56% win rate.
Not bad.
That was at least pro-hopeful caliber.

‘And finally, the mid… 64% win rate?’

Han Moonsang’s eyes widened.
But not just because of the high number.

‘Wait, what? Is this guy even really a mid laner?’

Looking closer, he snorted.

Almost 99% of TacticMaker’s ranked history was as support.
The only mid-capable champ he’d ever touched was Ahri.
Everything else was basically zero experience.

No matter how generous you were, you couldn’t even call him a mid laner.

‘They must’ve just shoved a support player into mid to fill a spot for the tournament.’

And checking the others’ histories, TacticMaker’s past wasn’t even there.
Which meant he’d joined only a few days ago.

Altogether, the verdict was simple:
They were a rushed, thrown-together team with no real synergy.

‘First round’s a freebie. Easy win.’

A grin spread across Han Moonsang’s face.

---

“Guys, their mid is literally a former support. A ‘Do-Gu.’”
“Hah? He really is. Pffft! What a joke.”
“Damn, stop calling supports ‘tools,’ it’s insulting.”
“But it’s true, supports are tools.”
“You’re dead, man. I’m seriously insta-locking Ezreal support this game.”
“Sorry! Please no Ezreal support, I beg you!!”

As the banter continued—

Doo-doong-tak! Doong-doong-tak~!

The dramatic BGM began, and the game launched.
The monitor displayed the champion select screen.

Their teammate with ban-pick authority spoke up loudly.

“Alright, what do we ban? Quick, time’s running out!”

BOL had two pre-game phases: banning and picking.
First, each side banned 3 champions each.
That made 6 champions total unavailable for the match.

After bans, picking began, alternating between teams.

Right now, the ban phase had just started.

Usually, this was where teams banned the most OP champs of the patch.

---

“Ahri!!”
“The only champ their mid can play is Ahri, we have to ban it!”
“Pfft! Once his one-trick’s gone, what’s a ‘Do-Gu’ like him gonna do?!”

Of course they all shouted Ahri in unison.
They had finished analyzing the opponent’s stats long before.

Han Moonsang added fuel.

“Let’s use the other two ban slots on LeBlanc and Orianna. Based on TacticMaker’s old seasons, those are literally the only other champs he’s ever touched.”
“Damn, Moonsang, that’s savage! Then their mid has zero playable champs left!”
“If it were me, I’d just alt-F4 right now.”
“Pfft! I’m all for it. Seriously, why’d a support even dare to try mid? He brought this on himself. Rank win rate means nothing if you can’t play a broad champ pool.”
“Okay then, all three bans on their mid?”

Han Moonsang stretched with a crack of his joints.

“Buckle up, boys. I’m about to pave the mid lane highway.”

The mid lane matchup was already decided.