Chapter 42
A sunny weekend afternoon, with bright sunlight pouring down.
“Is this it?”
“Yeees….”
I slipped on my sunglasses with a flourish and looked at the stadium in front of me.
[Seoul vs Beijing]
The final of the Legend of Legends international tournament had been decided: Seoul vs Beijing.
Fortunately, after a fierce, closely fought semifinal, Seoul had once again beaten Suwon and advanced.
Because this stadium was the Seoul team's home turf.
What would the atmosphere have been like if Seoul had actually lost?
Glance, glance.
As I watched the stadium with relief, Seonyeong, who had come with me, kept sneaking glances at me from beside me.
She'd been like that ever since we got in the car.
Was she feeling awkward?
Well, the older sister of your boyfriend was practically a stranger.
“Why do you keep looking at me?”
“Ah, no….”
Just in case, I had come wearing a cap and sunglasses.
I was dressed casually, too.
Originally, since I'd come all this way, I planned to buy a jersey at the venue and put it on, but the line was too long.
“Phew, hehe….”
Unlike me, the vending-machine thief had arrived decked out in full gear,
From a jersey to a headband, light stick, and so on.
Judging by what she was wearing, she seemed far from a casual fan.
“Nervous?”
“Y-yes…. If they win this time, it'll be their first international title in three years.”
“Three years isn't so bad.”
They'd made the finals three years ago and now again, so I supposed that meant they were a strong team.
It was clear Seoul was a good team, even though I'd only watched a few matches.
“More importantly, unnie….”
“Hm?”
“Ah, nothing. Shall we go in?”
“Sure, let's go.”
For reference, the stadium itself was enormous.
So there were all sorts of things to see and booths outside the main stage where the match was being played.
As a result, the crowd was absolutely teeming.
Wow, how many people was this?
I'd heard the Rell tournament was popular, but I never imagined this many.
“There are so many people.”
“Right? This sold out in ten minutes.”
Seonyeong took the lead, shoulders straight with pride that her favorite team was so popular,
and I followed behind, looking around.
Glance, glance—
With so many people around, lots of people also looked our way as they passed.
Well, that was only natural.
Still, no one recognized me.
That made sense, since I was wearing sunglasses,
and how many people in this country were really interested in models, anyway?
A person's measure of mass popularity was determined by their media exposure.
In that sense, it would be stranger if anyone recognized me when it had been five or six years since I was last on TV.
Well, maybe someone would recognize me if they read fashion magazines or were intensely interested in fashion.
“Unnie, take a pi-picture of me, please.”
Anyway.
We wandered among the people, and I took Seonyeong's picture whenever we came across a photo zone.
“Want me to take one of you too, unnie?”
“Hm? I'm fine.”
It wasn't like I was going to post it on Insta, so why bother?
I'd come here solely to watch the match, and planned to enjoy it in person without a care before heading home.
That's why I was wearing sunglasses, too.
“Wow, this place is….”
Like a squirrel excitedly darting from place to place, Seonyeong explored here and there, and I followed at a leisurely pace.
The atmosphere's pretty nice.
Surprisingly, lots of people had come as couples, too.
So that's why she wanted to come with Aseong.
Though in the end, they couldn't come together.
Thinking of Aseong, off at an academic conference with Dad, greeting professors, I couldn't help but laugh.
If he were in the mathematics department, those would be connections that could truly nourish him.
But since he went into mechanical engineering, wouldn't they be somewhat ambiguous connections?
“Unnie, are you good at drawing?”
“Hm?”
Just as I was thinking about Aseong, who'd been dragged off that morning looking as if he'd swallowed a bug,
Seonyeong held out a large sheet of paper to me.
“What's this?”
“It's a cheer sign.”
“Ah.”
That thing fans always held up during broadcasts of the tournament?
Looking beside me, everyone was busily drawing pictures or writing something.
“I can't draw.”
“Writing is fine, too!”
Maybe because we were at the stadium, Seonyeong was fired up and drew diligently,
and after staring down at the cheer sign for a moment, I wrote something too.
[<<Bandwagoner]
“What's that?”
“Hm? Nothing.”
“No, the arrow….”
You can play a little prank on your little brother's girlfriend, can't you?
Seonyeong was rendered speechless by my cheer sign, then
“Um… but they are a strong team, so….”
Soon, apparently pleased that her team was a strong one, she nodded to herself.
…Should I have written ‘underdog fan’ instead?
Anyway.
After finishing the cheer sign too, we entered the stadium proper.
We crossed the not-yet-full stadium and sat in our ticketed seats.
“We're really close, huh?”
“Right? We might even be able to see the players' screens.”
Oh… now that was impressive.
Judging by the distance, it did seem like we'd be able to see their screens.
“When did they say it starts?”
“In about thirty minutes.”
“Hmm, I'm looking forward to it.”
Our viewers liked tournaments too, if I recalled.
Since this was the international final held once a year, everyone who planned to watch would be waiting right now, wouldn't they?
Maybe I might catch a glimpse of the red pill they'd been so curious about.
Of course, they'd never imagine it was me.
Anyway….
[The match is starting!!]
After idly tapping my phone and indulging in a few random thoughts, the match began.
“Fighting!”
“Fighting.”
I watched the match, echoing Seonyeong's cheers beside me.
“Go, Seoul!!”
But I watched the match with a different perspective from the person beside me, who was too busy cheering.
Who was I?
A ten-year Rell veteran, an Emerald I player from the upper echelon.
Though she'd watched many matches, my understanding of the game was on another level compared to the vending-machine thief beside me, who had barely played the game at all.
Based on my analysis… honestly, it seemed like the Chinese team was a little better.
From the laning phase onward, in coordination and everything else.
The longer they played, the more objectively Seoul fell behind.
And the others soon realized what I'd noticed a little earlier,
because the first set, which had seemed fairly even, was completely taken over.
As a result, everyone except the small group of Chinese-team fans who'd come all the way to Seoul to cheer for them grew quieter and quieter.
“Ah, ah, why?”
Seonyeong, sitting beside me, was getting annoyed too.
Of course, I wasn't happy about it either.
“Still, wasn't it winnable?”
“Yeah, top won.”
“Huh? Ah, right.”
If someone was going to win, surely it was better for it to be the Korean team—and the team whose match I had come to watch in person.
So, while Seonyeong and I were consoling ourselves over the disappointment during the break,
“Uh, unnie.”
“Why all of a sudden….”
Seonyeong, who had been chatting with me, suddenly made a fuss and pointed ahead.
Since she looked more flustered than at any point today, I turned toward where she was pointing.
The very center of the stadium.
On the screen that normally showed the broadcast feed of the tournament, I saw myself sitting there with a dour expression.
And the camera had zoomed in so far that only Seonyeong's arm was visible as she fussed beside me,
making it practically a solo shot.
“...?”
What were they planning to do with a sunglasses-wearing, dour-looking me on screen—
As I watched the camera, thinking that, the screen smoothly turned away.
“The ca-camera moved on?”
“Yeah, guess it did.”
"That's too bad. With so many people here today, it must've been hard to get on camera….”
“Really? But I wouldn't have known what to do.”
I had expected to get filmed, since we were seated in front.
I'd even changed my cheer sign to something ordinary after Seonyeong stopped me.
But now that I was actually on camera, I hadn't known what to do.
“Oh, it would've been nice if you'd done a ceremony.”
“A ceremony?”
When I gave her a look that clearly said I'd never heard of such a thing,
Seonyeong opened her mouth as if she'd just realized something.
“Ah, I never told you…!”
Chastising herself like that, Seonyeong hurriedly explained Seoul's signature ceremony to me,
[The match is starting!]
and while she was doing so, the preparations apparently finished and the next set began.
[One, two, three!!]
“Go, Seoul.”
I hoped they'd win this time.
**
Seoul and Beijing.
These two teams had more than demonstrated why they were facing each other in the finals of an international tournament.
As a result.
Loss, win, loss, win.
Trading wins back and forth, they were already playing the final set of the international final.
“Wow, wow.”
Why was the level so high?
Honestly, from the middle onward, I watched in awe.
I don't think I could ever play like that.
Was the level of the world-class players really on another level…?
I was so focused on watching
that I had even pushed my sunglasses up onto my head for the final set.
Even though they were lightly tinted, they made it hard to see.
“Please, please….”
Beside me, Seonyeong was praying.
With her eyes shut tight and her hands clasped together, she was in a posture Mom would have loved to see.
But wouldn't she miss the game like that? I peeked over now and then,
and she secretly opened her eyes to watch whenever the commentators started getting excited.
Well, anyway.
[Ah, ah, they've got to fight! They're going in! Seoul's gone in!]
Late in the game.
Both teams staked their souls on a team fight in front of the dragon pit,
“Please, please…! Please!”
[Oh, oh!! Seoul!! Is Seoul going to win!! They win! They win!! Seoul proves themselves on their home ground!!]
“Wow!! Wow!!”
Seoul literally snapped Beijing's back and scored a massive victory in the team fight.
“Wow!!”
[Seoul reclaims the trophy after three years!!]
And in Rell, a team wipe late in the game inevitably led to defeat,
so Beijing's nexus was destroyed immediately afterward.
“Waaah-!!”
The roar of the crowd shook the stadium,
and the people beside us were making all kinds of fuss too.
“Unnie, you saw that, right? Wow…!”
“Yeah, that was fun.”
I'm glad I came after all.
Wow, Aseong was missing this match because he had to attend a conference?
Though even if he'd come, I doubt he'd have understood it properly.
How could Aseong possibly understand the details of that late-game team fight?
He'd be lucky just to memorize the players' names while watching the match.
Anyway, after enjoying the match, we prepared to leave.
“You didn't forget anything, right?”
“Waaah….”
I hadn't bought any merchandise or brought anything along separately,
so I was looking around the area near our seats to see if anything had fallen.
“Oh, unnie, the camera!”
Seonyeong, still lost in the afterglow, suddenly cried out in surprise.
Huh?
They were filming me at this timing?
When I looked up, my face filled the screen.
Just like before, they'd zoomed in until it was practically a solo shot.
Why not film one of the fans bawling their eyes out with snot running down their face over there?
I was briefly flustered by the unexpected timing, but my mind was already working quickly.
It was strange to be flustered just because a camera was pointed at me in the first place.
‘What was that ceremony Seonyeong taught me earlier?’
And wasn't this the ceremony Seonyeong had just taught me?
The match had ended in a win, so this was the perfect time.
So….
I extended my hand, forming a V with my index and middle fingers,
and jabbed it downward like a pair of horns.
Then, whoosh.
I turned my head along with my hand, and the sunglasses perched on my head slid down.
I think I did it perfectly?
Staring into the camera, I left the corners of my mouth raised in satisfaction instead of forcing them down.
[Waaah-!!]
Soon, just like before, the stadium erupted in a deafening roar.