| Dohyun |

Life wasn't easy for Lee Dohyun. But for half an hour intervals life faded away to the back of his mind, as he became immersed into a game called League of Legends.

Instead, he was placed into a fantasy realm called the Summoners Rift, where he could control a character, launch spells into his enemies, and leverage his quick reflexes to outplay his opponents.

Unlike other video games, there was no story, no interacting, no communication, just mindless fighting to achieve a similar goal every game.

And just like that, a large crystal known as the nexus shattered into smithereens as the crumbled pieces flew into the screen to form a gold and red title screen with one large word spelled in gold.

Just like that, just like that plus 15 LP, or 'League points' as the acronym stood for.

'Congratulations you have qualified for your promotional series to Masters'

Now this account was 3 wins away from ascending to the next tier.

"Dohyun!" It was feint, a voice that was completely unheard in his focus.

"Hey Lee Dohyun! Get the counter!" A loud voice called with more clarity.

Sliding off the headset onto his neck, Dohyun perked his head up from the gaming cubicle, his eyes met with an annoyed expression.

"Coming ahjussi (middle-aged man)!" He called with a regretful smile.

Perhaps ahjussi was pushing it a little. The man he was referring to was barely in his late 20s, a young man who was kind enough to have extended him a job even when he was still a minor, purely out of compassion.

"Ya! Call me ahjussi again and I'll really fire you. It's HYUNG, how many times do I have to repeat myself? If the age difference is less then 10 years its hyung."

"Whatever you say." Dohyun brushed him off with a smirk. "—Ahjussi."

At the front desk area by the entrance stood two teenagers around Dohyun's age, maybe slightly younger. Both your standard customers: bowl cuts, nerdy glasses, and expressed weariness.

Like him, they were clearly here because they needed to escape.

"Pass me your school IDs. We have a student discount as long as you're before 10pm."

"Ya! I told you to stop advertising that. We're going to go out of business if you give everyone who comes in a discount." Yoochan complained.

Though as usual, his capitalists remarks never matched his actions. As it was the same whining man who set up the student discount, despite Dohyun's calculations on the loss in profit for the store.

"Thank you." The two teens bowed their heads before entering and heading to their assigned seats.

"Ya! How many times did I tell you to check the schedule. We're supposed to be alternating, instead you're over there playing instead of helping." Yoochan chided him.

"Then fire me... although, I won't be able to boost you anymore. I seem to remember getting hired on the account that I'd take you to diamond." Dohyun teased back, knowing full well the leverage his gaming skills held.

"Please, continue as you were." His hyung sarcastically lowered his head politely, his tone completely morphing.

Dohyun chuckled as he took a seat at the entrance counter. "Also Hyung remember you promised, once I became of working age, you'd raise my salary to above minimum wage?"

Yoochan stuck out his tongue as he patted him on the shoulder. "Just be thankful, I don't stop your obviously illegal boosting business that you run here."

Dohyun rolled his eyes.

Boosting—for those unaware of the term—was the process of playing on another person's game account to help them win games.

You see, like real-life, status was important to gamers. Things like social credit which was supposed to be earned by hard work and ability, in real-life money could change your appearance, alter your image and get you expensive clothes or cars was which basically manufactured your social credit.

However in video games, there was your 'rank', a system which couldn't be altered through purchases. Instead it was designed as a fair battle ground in which only the best and most skilled could push through.

The ranking system included ranks from Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Masters, and finally Challenger. The final rank allowing only a capped amount of players inside at a time making it all the more selective.

However, like every system, there was ways to get around, such was boosting. The act of hiring a skilled player to play on your account to 'boost' your rank. This was why while Dohyun could've easily climbed ranks to the very top, he instead elected to get paid by others to boost their rank.

In his last transaction he had been paid almost 2 million won to take someone from Silver to Diamond. Even now, he was currently playing on an account to take the person to Masters, a tier where those with some talent and those who simply played their way to the top often intermixed.

For him, this tier too he had no trouble defeating his opponents and carrying his team to victories, the skill gap between him and others too wide.

Of course, besides boosting there were other options to monetize his skill. On multiple occasions those watching him questioned why he didn't pursue the path of the pro-gamer.

However gaming was not stable, as good as he was, it wasn't like it was guaranteed success. Because League of Legends had become so established in Korea, there were barriers to entry similar to that of professional sports. Opportunity, financial stability, and drive were musts for anyone even considering this type of career.

The path of pro-players also often included dropping out of high school, forsaking any opportunity for college, and not to mention most pro-players never played past the age of 23. Meaning the rest of their life was pretty much ruined.

If he calculated the average annual salary of a pro-gamer it was generally barely above 60-70 million won, over the course of an average of 4 years, it meant that by the time they retired they barely had accumulated 280 million won minus living expenses, taxes and other expenses. Then what, a life of live-streaming? Without a college degree, most were left ruined with 0 opportunity for a future.

Sure there was a 1-2% chance you could become one of the best players, make a high salary and live comfortably for the rest of your life. However, this required immense talent and luck, he didn't have those kind of odds.

Instead, the use of boosting could mean he could help pay his own allowance while at the same time start saving up for a college fund.

He wasn't a genius by any means, however his grades in math and science always ranked in the top 10%. His advisor had recommended with a good CSAT score he could look into top tier research schools like Kyunghee or even Hanyang U. in Seoul.

Unfortunately, he'd also have to pay his own way. And his family didn't have that kind of money, all the money that was earned by his blue-collar father was spent in his alcoholic tendencies or to their family debt.

This was why Dohyun had originally gone into gaming, as a kid the only way to stay away from home longer was either to attend an academy or have some kind of extracurricular activity like sports.

Unfortunately without the physique for sports or the money to afford attending an academy, Dohyun would spend his time at the nearby PC Bang, where the hours flew by at a cheap price.

"I'm going to unpack the shipment of food in the back, can you watch the front desk?"

He nodded, as he watched his hyung disappear into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, he unpacked his backpack, opening textbooks and starting on homework he had already glanced over after school.

This was how life had gone for his past 2 years of high school. He would be at the PC bang almost every opportunity he had, either working or playing. Then doing his homework while he worked at the counter.

Now it was his senior year, high school had flown by with zero to no lasting memories. Only a week had gone by in his 3rd year, but he could already see this year was likely going to be no different.

Glancing around the PC Bang he noticed just how many students were in groups. He couldn't lie, seeing guys together laughing and teasing each other, there was times where he envied them.

Recently, with the rise of League of legends popularity and names like Faker or Smeb becoming well known around the world of gaming. Even outside of pure gamers, Rank within League of Legends became a sort of normalized social currency at least among men. Arguments dissolved through League duels, and popularity at least among guys being based on your mechanical talent.

However, unlike others Dohyun didn't talk much about his gaming sk