Chapter 97: Drawing Cards! But It Seems I Drew the Wrong One? (1122)
Jiang Shu's appetite was moderate; he wasn't a big eater, but he wasn't a small eater either.
Kim Minju, on the other hand, didn't eat much to begin with, and with Jiang Shu in front of her, she ate even less.
If it were Hyewon, she would have been devouring everything by now.
After eating their fill, Jiang Shu drove Kim Minju back to her company, then rushed home without stopping to wait for Liu Zhimin to return.
Lying on the sofa, he saw the message from Qu Fan saying he had received the camera, but he didn't reply.
When he dropped off Kim Minju, he asked her to take the camera back with her, saving Jiang Shu another trip upstairs.
He checked the time; it was only a little past seven.
Liu Zhimin's schedule was packed today; with their comeback approaching, IVE's schedule was gradually becoming full, booked solid, and she probably wouldn't be done until after eleven tonight.
Looking at the empty house, Jiang Shu couldn't find anything to pass the time.
Clap!
Jiang Shu clapped his hands.
How could he forget to assemble a computer?
Jiang Shu took out his phone and dialed Choi Ji-yeon's number.
"President."
"Assemble a computer for my house. I'll send you the specifications later."
"Yes!"
After hanging up, Jiang Shu casually found a maxed-out configuration on Bilibili, took a screenshot, and sent it to Choi Ji-yeon.
Then he stood up.
Time to play games!
There was an e-sports internet cafe right next to Jiang Shu's residential complex, about a ten-minute walk away.
Jiang Shu hadn't been to an internet cafe in many years. Upon entering, he didn't smell the headache-inducing smoke; instead, there was a faint scent of incense.
He got a membership card, recharged 20,000 korean won, and went inside to find a computer.
League of Legends Zone.
Seeing this sign, Jiang Shu paused, stretched his neck, and peered inside. There were individual booths, each with five seats, and many were full.
Jiang Shu happily walked into one of the booths where only one man in his thirties was sitting.
He found a seat, started the computer.
He took a sip of his drink, opened League of Legends, entered his account, and then...
Incorrect account or password.
A question mark appeared on Jiang Shu's forehead, but the next second, he slapped himself.
He had entered his account from his real world; how could that possibly log in?
Moreover, the server he was currently logging into was defaulted to the Korean server. It would be a ghost if he could log in with an account from the Chinese server in the real world.
But Jiang Shu was now facing a new problem.
If he registered a new account, he could only play those crappy bot matches!
He made a decisive decision: buy an account!
As the most popular e-sports game at the time, and with the e-sports industry at its peak in 2018, level 30 League of Legends game accounts were arguably the main promoted product of many game account stores.
After placing the order and following the store's instructions, he quickly obtained a max-level Korean server account with all champions.
He logged into the game, looked at the gibberish ID, bought a rename card, and changed the name.
Subconsciously, he typed "IZONE's First Love Kim Minju," but looking at the ID, Jiang Shu hesitated and then deleted it.
If IZONE already existed, he wouldn't change it, but since IZONE hadn't even been announced yet, such an ID wouldn't be good.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Shu entered his own ID.
DM, Faker.
This nickname is already taken.
Jiang Shu: "?"
Can this even be taken, buddy?
DM, Chovy.
Okay, this one isn't taken.
Jiang Shu's lips curved into a smirk. From now on, I am the number one K-pop mid-laner!
He opened the store and looked at the skins.
"Hiss!" Jiang Shu gasped, looking at the prices of these skins in the store.
Are these prices real?
Why are skins that cost dozens or hundreds on the Chinese server only twenty or thirty korean won?
Even T1-level skins are only forty or fifty.
Is this the generosity of the world's number one region?
No problem, Korean server!
Chinese server?
Not familiar at all!
I'm going to buy, buy, buy!
Jiang Shu mainly played mid and jungle, more often mid. His real-world level had always been Diamond; he couldn't go up or down. But now it was different; he felt incredibly strong!
He bought a dozen commonly used skins in one go before clicking on the queue.
Game on!
Placement matches for a fresh account usually pit you against opponents one major tier above per game. Without previous season records, the system needs to determine your skill level. The first game is usually Bronze/Silver tier. If your performance is average, you'll continue to be matched against opponents of that tier. However, if you dominate, you'll be promoted to Gold tier, and so on, up to Platinum and Diamond gatekeepers; you won't be matched against higher-tier opponents.
Jiang Shu's first three games were easy massacres. The difference was that his teammates started feeding. By the fourth placement match, his teammates were already not on the same level as the opponents; they shattered with a touch.
But currently, it was only Gold-tier gameplay. For a mid-laner who could influence the entire game, in this top-mid-jungle meta, winning was still not difficult.
The game ended, and the victory message appeared. Just as Jiang Shu was about to queue for the next game, a tender young voice came from beside him.
"Ajusshi, why are you smurfing?"
Jiang Shu was stunned. He took off his headphones and turned to look.
A short boy, who looked about thirteen or fourteen, stood beside Jiang Shu, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Jiang Shu's pupils gradually widened after seeing the boy's face.
No way, buddy, can I even draw an S-card just by playing games at an internet cafe?
But the problem is, this S-card is in the wrong place, isn't it? You should go to the e-sports manager next door.
"Mianhae! Guest-nim!" At this moment, a woman who looked to be in her thirties quickly walked in and bowed to Jiang Shu, apologizing.
"I apologize to you on behalf of Youqi. I'm truly sorry for disturbing your gaming experience!" The woman pulled the boy and apologized to Jiang Shu.
The child couldn't tell, but as an adult, she could immediately see that something was off about Jiang Shu; his aura was wrong!
"It's fine," Jiang Shu waved his hand. "I'm playing placement matches on a new account, not intentionally smurfing. But from your appearance, you also play this game?"
"Yes," the boy didn't know why his mother was so nervous, but he nodded confidently after hearing Jiang Shu's words. "I'm already Challenger 700 LP."
If it were anyone else, they definitely wouldn't believe a little kid could reach Korean server Challenger 700 LP, but Jiang Shu felt that this kid's LP was a bit low.
After all, this was Zeus, who had two championships and one runner-up in three years since his debut.
But then Jiang Shu's expression became strange.
The card he drew was completely off.
Jiang Shu was no longer in a hurry to play games. He logged out of his account and then looked at Choi Woo-je.
"Little friend, do you want to become a professional player?"
Young Zeus's eyes instantly lit up. His mother wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't.
"Then, prove your strength to me."