Chapter 22 What Kind of Man Are You

Jean stared at the team chat as it lit up with messages, her face nk.

She’d seen it all before.

+8 Pearls

Anyone who had ever watched her y League of Legends always ended up blown away. It was practically routine at this point

Getting praised felt like breathing

“Boss, are you going mid again? You can take any role. We’ll flex around you.”

“Yeah, totally. Whatever you want.”

Jean tapped her keyboard and typed.

“I’ll take mid. You bguys /bpick whatever.”

She locked in her champion and entered the match lobby first.

Meanwhile, her stream was blowing up again.

“Finally! Wingre’s back!”

“I logged bin /bjust to watch her y today.”

“Please. You’re not gonna learn anything useful at bthis /blevel.”

“She already hit Gold? That was fast. She only yed once!”

The match kicked off

bJean /bwas steady bas /beverb, /bbwiping /bthe floor with her opponents and carrying the team with ease, Her performance was clean, confident, and sharp from start to finish

The stream was packed. Viewership numbers shot up and hovered just under the top pros.

Everyone was btalking /babout it–some no–name Bronze yer was climbing the ranks at breakneck speed with nothing but

raw talent.

By the end of the match, her bwin /bstreak maxed out her power meter, and she jumped from Gold bto /bJade.

Then a private message popped up from someone on the enemy bteam/b.

“I’m the coach for KG Club. You ever think about going pro? I’d love to get you into tryouts. If you don’t mind, could you also bshare /bbyour /bage? Even if you’re over 20, we’re bopen /bif the trial goes well

Jean nced at it and shot back a reply.

“I have school. No time for that.”

She closed the chat and queued bagain/bb. /b

She wasn’t here for social calls. She just wanted to rank up–fast.

way to Diamond.

After slicing through match after match like a buzzsaw, she climbed all the way

At this point, the League of Legends forums were stered with her name.

“Two bdays/b. From Bronze to Diamond. No losses. Who the hell beven /bdoes bthat/b?

Chapter 22 What Kind of Man Are You

“There’s no way she’s a smurt. Even top yers don’t win this hard?

“Let’s settle it: Wingre vs Deadmark. Who’s better?”

“Winre fans are getting cocky. She just started ying–don’t drag Deadmark into this”

+8 Pearls

“No real fan isparing her to Deadmark. She’s been ying for, like, two bdays/bb. /bAnyone stirring that up is just trolling

After hitting Diamond, Jean figured she’d log off and call it a day. But she identally clicked the wrong button–and queued up again.

She rolled her eyes and decided to just y it out.

Then she saw the enemy lineup–and paused.

Deadmart.

That name shed across her screen in all caps.

Jean blinked, then grinned.

bShe /bhadn’t expected to run into Deadmark this early.

Her luck today wasn’t bad at all.

The forums, of course, went wild.

“Breaking news: Wingre just matched with Deadmark!”

Holy crap. Weren’t their fans just arguing on the forums? Now the real deal is happening!”

“New blood vs. the legend. Let’s go!”

“bDeadmark /bk isn’t old. He’s forever. Put some respect on his name.”

“Wingre’s been ying for two days. Let’s see if she’s real or just another lucky streakb./b”

“Fun fact: Deadmark bis /bknown for wiping out overhyped noobs. Anyone who bthinks /bthey’re hot stuff usually gets bodied.” “Deadmark crushes egos for fun. Hope Wingre’s ready to cry.”

Winston sat in front of his monitor.

His cold, pale eyes locked on the name across from him: Wingre.

A slow, almost binvisible /bsmirk curved at the corner of his mouth.

For the past couple of days, he’d seen clips and highlights of Wingre’s games.

She was interesting Interesting enough to actually catch his attention.

And now he’d see for himself if she was legit–or just another overhyped rookie..

The live stream lobby was overflowing

Almost every yer online had stopped ying to watch this match go down.

Viewers poured into the stream like a flood. The match hadn’t even started, and it was already the top stream of the night.

The chat was exploding

“Taking lots Who’s winning–Wingre or Deadmark?”

7:41 PM

Chapter 22 What Kind of Man Are You

“She’s been dominating low–rank games. Let’s see what she does against someone real.”“

“People doubting bDeadmark /bare about to learn today. He’s wiped out way better than Wingre”

“Just one more match until she starts crying

Jean spawned in and headed straight to midne.

Deadmark–Winston–was a midner 100.

So it was a clean one–on–one from the start.

Jean leaned forward, cager to give him a shock right out of the gate-

But before the match even hit five minutes, Winston pinged his map and called his whole team mid.

What the hell?

Jean blinked at her screen.

Winston brought all four teammates and cornered her under tower

A full five–bman /bambush.

There was no escape. No way to outy it.

She bwas /bughtered right under turret. First blood, just like bthat/b,

And then it happened again.

And bagain/b.

Jean was swearing up a storm in her head by the third time,

Winston, what the hell is wrong bwith /byou? If you’ve got guts, fight me one–on–one! Stop hiding behind your whole damn team!

+ Pearls

Winston kept calling his teammates to mid over and over bagain/b, Jean tried pinging for backup, but her own teammates were stuck on their bnes/b, barely holding on.

Winston’s squad was too good. They cleared waves fast and rotated mid every time.

bJean’s /bteam bwas /bbusy just trying bnot /bto die.

Within ten minutes, Jean had already died five timesb. /b

In her past matches, she hadn’t died even once.

Now! Her score was a miserable, humiliating 0-5.