“Drink this while you work.”
At the takeaway coffee that had been lightly set down in front of him, Gye Jinseong’s lips curled upward a little.
“Thank you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Then he leisurely got up from his seat.
“I’m going to step out for a smoke.”
“Uh, sure, sure!”
The one who not only got him coffee, but even patted him on the back and told him to take his time was his longtime superior, and the chief editor in charge of the entertainment desk.
‘Nice.’
This was the very same person who always used to give him looks and tell him that if he was only going to make trouble, he should at least go run coffee errands.
And now he had gone and bought him coffee personally.
Before, even when he brought in an exclusive, the best he ever got was vending-machine canned coffee.
Clink, clink.
But now he had bought him coffee from that famous expensive franchise.
Didn’t this mean he had jumped at least ten whole levels?
Sluuurp.
Once he got up to the rooftop, Gye Jinseong took a long drink of the coffee the chief editor had bought him and muttered,
“This feels amazing.”
The sunlight was just right, and the breeze was gentle.
No humidity, either.
And on top of that, envious looks pouring in from every direction.
Everything was perfect.
“They say once he latches on, he never lets go…”
“He’ll hear you.”
“Well, whatever. I’m just jealous, that’s all.”
Even the whispers of the reporters standing nearby sounded like pleasant music to his ears.
Yes.
Because all of their whispering and all of their looks came from envy directed at him.
“Let’s have a look, then…”
Savoring those envious looks with his whole body, Gye Jinseong sat down on the bench right in the middle of the rooftop.
[ [Exclusive] Composer HS to participate in this season’s Worlds theme song! Personally reveals it is “a tribute song for player Duel”… creating buzz! ]
He had done it in order to check the response to the article he had reported exclusively.
⤷ As a ten-year LoL player, my chest is swelling with grandeur,,
⤷ No but; HS is seriously touching even LoL now? Our god HS does everything♡
⤷ I’m hyped since HS is making it, but why Duel of all people? Face is right there;
⤷ He said he’s just personally a fan of Duel though
⤷ No but this is Worlds, is it okay to put your personal bias into it?
⤷ Then make it yourself if you’re mad lol
Scroll, scroll.
⤷ So when is it getting releasedㅠㅠㅠ Is HS really never going to work in Korea again?
⤷ Yep he’s already gone American, no way he comes back lol
⤷ Obviously lol if you were working with a singer like Daniel and making the theme song for a global game season, would you want to come back to Korea?
⤷ More than that, didn’t he literally build a label in America? I wouldn’t come back eitherㅋㅋ
No matter how far he scrolled, the comments did not end.
Across all kinds of social media and communities, everything was plastered with HS-related articles.
As expected, HS!
Only after checking the article’s live climbing view count one last time did Gye Jinseong slip a cigarette between his satisfied, parted teeth.
“Hoo…”
Today, even the cigarette smoke felt as sweet as cotton candy, and he kept drawing it deep into his lungs and exhaling it.
Then, before long, his body began to shake slightly. Not because he was cold, and not because the whispering had made him angry.
‘This is so damn good!’
Because he felt so good he could barely contain it.
It was a silent roar.
Gye Jinseong was trying to act calm on the outside, but inside, he was screaming in triumph.
After landing HS’s very first exclusive interview, and then, for a while, drawing plenty of envy from his fellow reporters by dropping HS-related exclusives every once in a blue moon, like beans sprouting from drought-stricken land,
HS had suddenly left for America, and Gye Jinseong had been treated like a kite with its string cut.
Was this the reward for enduring that humiliation?
Just when HS was about to fade from memory, he got in touch again.
— Did you properly hear what I just said?
“Yes, yes…”
— Good. Then organize it clearly and upload the article immediately.
“Yes, yes…”
— I’m giving you the chance first before handing it to an American press outlet, so you’d better hurry.
Just as always, he had asked… no, not asked, ordered him to upload the article in that brazen, overbearing tone of his.
Maybe he should have been annoyed.
But how could you hate someone who suddenly dropped a golden egg in your lap before walking off? Bowing to him wouldn’t even have been enough.
Thanks to that, his position in the company had changed once again.
And he was now the object of envy from all his fellow reporters.
Sluuurp, sluuurp.
He had even gotten café coffee from the chief editor.
[ Ask again next time too ]
More than anything, the moment he checked the text from HS, he could not hold back the smile leaking out.
“Heh, hehe… ahahaha!”
In the end, Gye Jinseong laughed his head off until the cigarette burned all the way down.
Inside the CEO’s office at the VINCIS building.
“Good grief.”
Sighs kept ringing out one after another.
“Korea’s going to get noisy all over again because of you.”
“Did you really have to leak an article like this ahead of time?”
That was because Hyunseung had gone and released an article announcing that the new Worlds theme song he had taken on was a tribute song for a specific player.
And all of it had happened overnight, without any discussion or even the slightest heads-up.
“Seriously, what do you think fans of the other players are going to think?”
“The LoL communities are already in an uproar as it is.”
“Why on earth did you put out an article like this when it’s so unlike you?”
Director Kim and Executive Director Park kept asking one question after another while holding onto Hyunseung, who sat in the seat of honor with a calm face.
But.
“Just like Director Kim stans women and Executive Director Park stans lifting iron, I’m just stanning someone too.”
With that one line, he brushed aside everything they said at once.
“So, is there a problem?”
At the question thrown back at them, the two men fell silent.
Yes.
In truth, it was not that big a problem. It was not a song being released with Billboard as the goal. It was just a song to be used during the season of a game tournament.
If there was one slight concern though was the backlash from fans of the opposing team’s players.
He still did not know how big that would be.
But among all the players, Face was called an absolute hero even among LoL users, so it was not something they could completely ignore.
Still.
The water had already been spilled. It was not as if they could scoop it back up now.
“Right, well done. But for our American press outlets…”
Kim Woohyun had just begun to continue calmly when,
“I already sent it over.”
“Huh?”
“It’ll probably be up any second now.”
Hyunseung pulled out his phone, saying he should check, and then, only moments later,
“Oh, look at that. It’s already up on the main page.”
He pointed to the article headline, displayed in huge letters on the front page of an American media outlet.
“Ah.”
In other words, it was now only a matter of time before the whole world found out that Hyunseung had made a tribute song for player Duel.
“Well done. Great job.”
In the end, Kim Woohyun forced the corners of his mouth upward and even raised a thumbs-up, saying, “Our CEO’s execution is the best!”
“You flatter me.”
Hyunseung gave Kim Woohyun a casual little wave, then got up from his seat.
“I’m going to Korea for a bit first.”
At that, the two men looked uneasy and asked why.
“Hm…”
Hyunseung suddenly closed his eyes slowly and let out a thoughtful hum.
“To rebut them?”
Leaving behind that meaningful answer, he was the first to walk out of the CEO’s office.
“Haa…”
“Whew…”
The two left alone in the office after Hyunseung’s departure let out deep sighs.
Soon after, they shook their heads with looks of deep concern.
“Director Kim, has that guy even been sleeping while he works these days?”
“No. When he gets back this time, I’ll have to feed him some nourishing food at least.”
“Yeah. It’s not like he’s the type to listen if you tell him to take it easy.”
“That’s true. Michelle and I will make sure to take good care of him.”
The two of them looked just like a married couple worrying over their son.
Gifted child, prodigy, genius.
Those words all meant me.
Maybe because I was born with a high IQ, I learned Korean without ever once touching one of those study workbooks.
And from the time I entered elementary school until the end of middle school, I never once lost first place in the entire school.
Of course, that did not mean studying was fun.
“Our son really is the best! First place again?”
I did it only because my mother, my only mother, was happy when I did.
Ever since my father died when I was very young, my mother depended on me a great deal, and placed her hopes in me.
Maybe that was why.
My mother lived looking only at me. Hoping only for my success, only for my happiness.
And I was the same.
I wanted to succeed and make my mother happy.
So I always had to be first.
Because my mother looked incredibly happy whenever I came in first.
And more than anything else…
coming in first was not all that difficult for me.
Because I was a child who had no weaknesses.
That was who I was.
But then.
There was a friend who was always chasing behind me.
A friend from birth, a friend whether I liked it or not.
Han Inhyeok.
He was always second, and in every field, he always seemed to be trying to beat me.
So I often said the same thing to him.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
I had to be first at all times for my mother’s happiness, and I didn’t want to fight with a friend, so I was only saying it indirectly, telling him not to waste his strength.
But the look in his eyes never changed. When he looked at me, after repeating his one-man battle over and over until he seemed almost consumed by spite, his eyes would shine fiercely.
Yes, they did.
But from the moment we entered high school, he stopped chasing me and stopped trying to beat me.
I wondered what had happened, and then I heard he had fallen into gaming.
League, was it?
I did like games, but I had always restrained myself. There was nowhere near enough time if I wanted to be first in every field.
But hearing that he was consumed by it made me want to try it too, somehow.
Should I just play one game?
That was how it began.
That single game completely changed my life.
The first match was difficult because I had to figure things out. The second was difficult because I had to adapt. The third left me disgusted, because I got a taste of defeat.
I lost…?
My competitive spirit caught fire, so I kept queueing games all through the night, and soon I was able to string together victory after victory.
The thrill I felt then was so intense it could not be put into words.
Yes.
I felt like I finally understood why Han Inhyeok had become so obsessed with it.
Because I, too, had fallen into the game called LoL.
And so, after my skill was recognized, I dropped out of school and began working in earnest as a pro gamer.
At first, my mother opposed it, but when I promised her that, just as always, I would only ever be first, and showed her my GED diploma, she allowed it.
And just like that, once again, the words attached to me changed.
Rank 1, champion, new record.
If someone heard my story, they might say I lived a very easy life.
But in truth, it was not easy.
A life where I always had to be first was quite exhausting.
“Haa…”
My mother’s expectations, my teammates’ expectations, the expectations of our sponsors, and on top of that, the expectations of fans all over the world pressed down on me like a great mountain.
And on top of that, I once again had to step on my friend in order to rise to first place.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
That was the only thing I could say to that friend, who was so obviously practicing desperately.
But he was always the same.
Dark shadows hung under his eyes, but the light in them had never gone out, and they burned fiercely.
Those eyes seemed to be telling me something. Yes, that this time, he would absolutely not lose.
“That, at least, can’t happen.”
I muttered it while gripping the phone in my hand tightly enough to crush it.
[ [Exclusive] Composer HS to participate in this season’s Worlds theme song! Personally reveals it is “a tribute song for player Duel”… creating buzz! ]
— HS, who made this season’s Worlds theme song, personally revealed that he made it while wishing for victory for team DRY, the team Duel belongs to…
‘That will never happen, Inhyeok.’
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