Considering Te Byung’s character, Ming Yu definitely held clouds of doubt in his heart against Johnson. No matter how open-minded he was, one can only be so trusting towards a stranger. It wasn’t until Ming Yu saw the young man get instantly knocked out did he start to believe in Johnson’s credibility as a guard.

Giving the unfortunate young man one last look, Ming Yu quickly followed Johnson. Despite Johnson being his bodyguard, Ming Yu definitely didn’t want to get onto his bad side. After all, who among us wants a giant black cluster of muscle as your enemy?

Fortunately for Ming Yu, it was at this moment he decided to stop talking because Johnson had truly arrived at the end of his patience. Any more annoyance probably would’ve resulted in a black eye on Ming Yu’s part.

After a quiet walk that felt like eternity for Ming Yu, he finally arrived in front of a set of familiar doors. Johnson quickly opened these doors without delay and walked in. Following Johnson in, a sudden burst of realization hit Ming Yu. The hassle earlier had made him forget why they were at this company to begin with, however, faced with the familiar room with the desk and lonely chair, Ming Yu remembered why they were here.

Sitting on this lonely chair, of course, was Te Byong himself. Seeing this scoundrel that dared make him wait 2 weeks, Ming Yu couldn’t help but let out a string of curses. “Deal? How dare you try to swindle me! If the guards weren’t here I, your daddy, would definitely teach you a thing or two about making others wait. Is your name Te Byong or Byong Te?” It seemed that whenever Ming Yu met Te Byong he can’t help but cuss. (Your daddy is a Chinese way of insulting people and Byong Te means pervert in Korean.)

Obviously, with Te Byong being the head of this company, he was naturally surrounded with an abundance of bodyguards. These guards looked at Ming Yu with eyes full of killing intent. Their stares were so strong that it could stop a cow’s heart just by looking at it. If it weren’t for Te Byong waving at the guards signaling them to stand down, they would’ve already jumped Ming Yu.

Ming Yu is a fairly cowardly guy. Unless he’s hiding behind the safety of the net he would never dare say something like this, however, today he’s got Johnson by his side so what’s he got to worry about? This was what let Ming Yu act as if he never saw these sharp gazes made by the guards, after all, it’s likely that Johnson can singlehandedly knock out all the bodyguards in this company by himself. This, of course, was completely untrue but due to Ming Yu’s ignorance, he truly believed Johnson to be the strongest guard out there. Another thing Ming Yu seemed to have forgotten is that at the end of the day, Johnson still works for Te Byong meaning that if it were to come down to if he would be the one getting the beating.

Even though they may act rough towards each other, there was still a weak bond between Te Byong and Ming Yu as player and creator. This was the only thing keeping Te Byong from killing Ming Yu in cold blood, of course that and the fact that he’s yet to publically announce his retirement.

“Look, if you’re done making enemies Ming Yu, Jeffrey here will show you to the room where the reporters are waiting to hear about your retirement.” As Te Byong said this, a small framed young man walked into the room. Two distinguishing features made Ming Yu recognize this man immediately. The first feature was the bright blonde hair that wasn’t common to Korea. The other feature being the huge black eye that swoll to the point where one can fit his whole fist into his eye socket.

Ming Yu recognized this man as the guy Johnson had knocked out earlier. Jeffrey seems to have recognized to duo too. He let out an uncomfortable chuckle as he quickly said, “Due to certain circumstances, I had to block you earlier. Now that I’ve been taught a lesson let’s put our animosities behind us eh?” Seeing Johnson’s strength first hand, it’s no wonder Jeff would like to curry favor with him.

If there were two features that made Johnson, Johnson, would be his indifference and monotone voice that he always talks in. The only time Ming Yu has seen Johnson talk with emotion is when he says his own name, though to be fair he hasn’t known him that long. With his monotone voice, Johnson simple said, “Whatever greenhorn just lead us to the room already.”

Given no face, Jeff had no choice but to lead the duo towards the room with a atmosphere of suffocating awkwardness. Although the layout of this building wasn’t the most complex, to Ming Yu if felt like a maze as he quickly lost count of how many times they turned left and right, which by the way wasn’t too many times. Finally, they reached the room that Te Byong wanted them in. Jeff lead them quietly to the front where he walked up onto the stage and quickly announced their arrival.

For privacy reasons, Jeff announced Ming Yu by his IGN (In Game Name): Nem. “Sorry for the wait folks but the moment has finally arrived. Nem, League of Legos superstar, has something to announce for you folks. Without further adieu, here’s the man himself.”

Although Jeff announced Ming Yu in and gave him a perfect cue to enter, it took a while for him to actually get onto the stage. This was because Johnson had to practically pick Ming Yu up and plop him onto the stage to make him stand in front of the audience. If one remembers well, Ming Yu doesn’t do well under big crowds.

Finally, Ming Yu was the only one left onto the stage. A few seconds passed and Ming Yu continued to remain silent as he was petrified by fright. The audience, who have been waiting patiently for enough time for 3 incense sticks to burn, finally could no longer hold their chatter and a roar of voices assaulted Ming Yu.

Within these voices, there was one common question. “Is the rumor about you retiring true?”

These sea of voices finally awoke Ming Yu from his petrified state. He looked into the audience where he saw all sorts of people. He saw reporters, former competitors, his teammates, and a sea of fans that came to see him. To send him off on his journey after retirement. This sight made Ming Yu fill up with an emotion that he can not describe with words. Although he may act indifferent towards this game and it’s community, it’s an undeniable fact that he spent 6 years on this game. During these 6 years, there’s bound to be an emotional connection that has slowly been forged into Ming Yu’s heart. This feeling almost made him want to not retire, however the temptation of a possibly limited edition OP character was too much for Ming Yu to pass by.

With this feeling giving him a boost of confidence, Ming Yu finally spoke. “Who asked me to spend 6 years on this game?” As soon as he started speaking, the audience quieted down, not wanting to miss the moment Ming Yu finally confirmed the rumour. “6 whole years and I’ve won 6 tournaments with Dignitoss. This was a fun and amazing journey. It was thanks to you fans that I’ve come this far and unfortunately this journey finally over. I want to thank you all for your support and dedication. Although I will no longer be in the competitive LoL scene, I will still take part in Esports and I ask for your support there.”

After giving his heartfelt speech, Ming Yu looked into the audience. He was expecting to see people saddened a little by the news of his retirement, however, the audience was making a different face. This face can only be described as… odd. Although Ming Yu’s lack of social skills made him unable to identify the look, to others it was clear what their faces meant. “Is this guy f*cking dumb?”

A random person broke the silence that followed the speech. He said, “So you’re retiring right? No more Lol?” Ming Yu wasn’t aware of why this man was asking this question but regardless he felt a duty to reply. “Yes that is indeed correct.”

A sea of cheering came from the audience. “Yes, LoL is saved! We’re finally going to have fun competitive games now.”

“Hell yeah! There’s finally a chance for us to win the tournament.”

The reaction was completely different from what Ming Yu expected. He thought people would grieve at his retirement but instead they’re… cheering? Ming Yu currently had a mortified face as he looked to Johnson for help. Johnson, however, was too busy trying to suppress his laughter. For those of you that don’t know, Johnsons don’t show emotions nor do they laugh. They definitely don’t laugh. The situation, however, was too comedical not to.

To Ming Yu, who lacks social skills, he thought the crowd’s enthusiasm towards his retirement was hope that he would debunk the rumour of his retirement. To Johnson who has numerous years of social interactions, it was clear the audience was looking forwards to Ming Yu’s retirement. Seeing Ming Yu’s mortified face, Johnson couldn’t help but laugh at Ming Yu’s retirement.

Jeff, being the nice guy that he is, decided that enough was enough. He threw Ming Yu an apologetic face and announced the ending of the announcement. “Alright folks, that’s all for today. Take care on your way homes and may you have a good time on the totally not copyrighted rift! Also, for Ming Yu fans, since you couldn’t have a meet up at the previous tournament, feel free to come behind the stage afterwards for your last fan meet.

------------------------------------

After enough time for half an incense stick to burn, the room was pretty much vacant with the exception of Ming Yu, Jeff and Johnson. Ming Yu still hadn’t recovered from the shock that he received earlier. He knew he was unpopular but who knew that he was this unpopular? He couldn’t help but say a few words of encouragement to himself. In his heart he said, “Who told me to be born with these skills? It’s not my fault they’re jealous of my mad skills.”

Jeff could see Ming Yu’s struggle, after all, pride was one of the key factors of manhood and Ming Yu’s just got totally smashed. The audience spared him absolutely no face at all. He was just about to send Ming Yu home when, unexpectedly, a timid voice rang in the almost empty room.

“Umm, I was told that I get a fan meet with Nem here?”

The voice belonged to a little boy who looked too young to have come without his parents. This little boy had strange blue hair and his little round face made Ming Yu think this boy was an animated Chibi. He wore a T-shirt that read “If I am lost dial XXX-XXX-XXXX” With obviously nothing wrong nor suspicious, Nem welcomed the boy over.

Even if just a little, having at least one fan, regardless of age, was encouraging for Ming Yu. He treated the young boy like he would treat his ancestors. “What’s your name boy?” Ming Yu asked whilst signing an autograph card the kid practically shoved onto his hands.(You treat the elderly like they’re gods in asian culture so treating him like an ancestor just means he was really nice to him.)

“Fo Shen.”

“Fo Shen ey? Tell me how old are you?” All jokes aside, this was a question Ming Yu had to ask. After all, if the boy was younger than 16, then it probably meant he was a lost child.

“I’m 14 Mr. Nem.” Fo Shen seemed to be proud of this as his chest perked up a little as he announced his age.

“Please, just call me Nem. Did you come here with your parents?” Ming Yu asked while massaging his temples. He seemed to have a sense foreshadowing the answer to his question.

The young boy started uncomfortably shuffling in place. “Ya, I came here with my mom but she’s doing something else right now. They’ll come get me later.” Hearing this, Ming Yu and made eye contact as Jeff mouthed the words “I’ll call her.”

Ming Yu gave Fo Shen his autograph card back and took a picture with him. After shuffling in place a little bit more, Fo Shen worked up his courage to ask Ming Yu a question. “Umm Nem? Why are you retiring?”

Ming Yu was surprised. He thought the young boy wasn’t that great of a fan but apparently he held a higher place in his heart than he thought. He gave Fo Shen a friendly smile and said, “A better opportunity came up with a different game so I took it.”

Blushing a little, Fo Shen suddenly bursted out another question. “Are you going to play this new game competitively?” Nem raised an eyebrow at the young boy. Honestly, he didn’t think he cared that much. He nonchalantly answered the boy. “Yep.”

Fo Shen was on a roll. After getting two questions out, it seemed like a dam had burst in his head and he let out a constant stream of questions so fast that Ming Yu couldn’t keep up. “What’s the new game you’re going to play? Will you keep your IGN in that game? Have you already played the game before? Are you any good at it?...” The boy wouldn’t stop asking questions to the point where Ming Yu’s head started to swim. Luckily, around this time Fo Shen’s mother came by. “Honey, where were you I was looking all over for you!” The mother seemed to be fuming but after looking at Fo Shen’s cute little face, she couldn’t help but let out her anger after she affectionately yanked at his nose.

“Next time, don’t leave mama behind ok?” As she said this, the mother started to slowly drag Fo Shen away from the room. The meeting had ended a while ago and Fo Shen’s mother was anxious about getting home later. As Fo Shen was dragged away, he let out futile wimps of protest. “But mommy, Nem hasn’t answered my questions yet!”

Hearing this, Ming Yu couldn’t help but smile. Even though he only have one, he was truly lucky to have a fan this dedicated. “I’m going to be playing MobRingler from now on and I’ll keep my current IGN. It’s free to play so try it sometimes. I’ll let you join my party if we happen to meet.” And with that, the boy was completely dragged out of the room by his mother. (Party refers to groups made in games where players play together. Party is usually more short term depending on the game and guilds are long term groups.)