Missing him was... || Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen

Chapter 3: The last hope

June 6, 2 PM
Origen Gaming House, Gaming room

In two days Week 2 will start and the boys will face Team Vitality and Schalke 04, formerly known as Elements. Normally the team would scrim at this time, but I saw nobody coming. It was so strange. Were they all still sleeping? But this wouldn't make any sense, it was just a normal day and they always woke up about noon.
I usually was the person who gets up first. After eating breakfast I play SoloQ the whole morning or make something different in my room till the others are awake. Then I practice with the team or continue to play SoloQ.
Suddenly I felt someone's hands on my shoulders. I looked up and identified Glenn. When he saw that I was playing AD Carry again, he couldn't help but tease me.
"Are you busy feeding the enemy team again?"
"Shut up and let me go, I almost died because of you." I groaned a bit pissed, but then laughed too.
This only lead to him holding my shoulders tighter and he even tried to tickle me.
"Since when did you get so rude?" Laughingly I tried to get out of his grab, but it was simply to strong.
"Nice try. This won't stop me, little imp."
"Can you just stop calling me like that?!" I rolled with my eyes.
It was unbelievable that he already found a way to annoy me. This name was so ironic, because on the one hand it describes my height perfectly while on the other hand it's a reference to the AD Carry of LGD Gaming, one of the best AD Carrys in the world back in Season 4.
But for me it also shows me how good we understand us.
In this short time period I really found a good friend in him. Since our morning talk we even got closer and he kinda became the friend I once saw in Jesper. I wouldn't talk about my problems with him, but I definitely enjoy his environment.
Eventually I gave up and signaled him that he won.
"Can you tell me why you're here and bother me so much?" I asked.
"Well, actually it's very important. I need you to come with me. Peke wants to talk with you." Glenn explained to me.
I gave him a questioning look, but his expression remained unchanged. He just brought me to the living room where Enrique and the management sat. Now the situation got weirder. Why do they want to speak with me? Did something bad happen or...? Suddenly a worrying thought came in my mind. What if Enrique wants to kick me out of the team?
One could think that it wasn't even bad for me. I mean, I planned to leave the team next season anyways, but for now I don't have a future plan or the money for an own flat. The money I got from sing lessons barely covers the costs living here, which was already cheap compared to other rents. I don't want to go back to my parents too. Even though they would welcome me happily, I don't want to be a problem for them.
Enrique, Nico and Ana gave me a warm smile, but I was still unsure about the situation.
"Sit down please." Nico told us and Glenn and me followed the order.
"You might wonder why we want to speak with you." Enrique began the conversation. Then he took a deep breath and my fear of getting kicked got bigger. I already expected the worst, but what I heard, was unbelievable.
"The coaching staff and I decided that we want you on the starting roster."
And then it was quiet. Nobody said something. There was no reaction by me and the others were straight-faced.
Me? On the starting roster? In a LCS team? On Origen? This must be a joke!
"Sorry, what? You mean on the LCS roster? On the starting position?" I stil sat open-mouthed there and looked from the one to the other. There was no way for them being serious. I already waited for their denying answer and hoped that I just got it wrong.
But Enrique nodded in agreement. "Yes, you got it right. We want you as a player."
I was speechless. As I looked at Glenn, I suddenly got scared. Did that mean...? Was that the reason why he sat here with me?
"Hybrid will still play." Nico said, like he could read my mind. "Well, here comes the point. This might be shocking for you, but we wanna say that this was a team decision and everybody agreed to it. We want you to play AD Carry."
Silence. Again. But this time not because of surprise, but because I couldn't believe it. First they want me on the starting roster and now they also want me not to play my main role?! And what about Forgiven? Was he benched? But he streamed with Glenn just a few days ago!
"Wait a second." I stammered because of shock. "Why do you want to replace Forgiven, one of the best AD Carries in Europe? And why do you want me replacing him, a rookie who don't even has this as a main role and barely any experience, when you currently have 0 points? I mean, yes I played ADC the last few weeks, but I still have my issues with this role. I'm not even sure, if I could play as support."
"It's simple. Because it doesn't work. The whole week we had scrims and they all went terrible, even after hours of analyzing. Today we had a long talk and came to the conclusion that they weren't clicking as a team, especially because the botlane had no synergy. Forgiven and Hybrid both said that they were making improvements, but way too slow. Forgiven also told us that he lost the motivation after losing so much and we all agreed that it is better for all, when he steps down. He can play as good as he wants, but when he isn't motivated, then he'll play significantly worse." Nico explained to me.
Enrique continued to talk. "Then we were facing a new problem. We needed a replacement for him. Since the EU LCS just began, and we already took the best we could when Zven and mithy left, there weren't really much opportunities. Taking a SoloQ talent would be too risky, because of the lack of experience in team play and calls. From our substitute players, we only have Lauri, me and you. Lauri doesn't play League active anymore and I main Mid. You were the only one remaining. You know the botlane better than me and know what you have to do. You're basically a SoloQ talent, only better, because you have a bit experience from the Challenger Series, played with the team before and even trained with them, you have a basic synergy with Hybrid because you played DuoQ a lot and you're already under contract with us. Yes, the lack of experience in mechanics isn't advantageous, but the other factors balance this."
I was still not convinced. But I couldn't think of another reason to say no. I was a substitute which means I have to replace someone, if someone's missing. And this was clearly the case even though it wasn't my main role.
"Well, then I have no other choice, right?" I smiled halfhearted. "Then so be it. I'll play this split as ADC. I'll do my best, I definitely wanna go to Worlds!" I said as motivated as possible.
I still felt uncomfortable with this decision. I was a no one in LCS and suddenly had all the pressure on my shoulders. Fans and others expect me to perform at least as good as Jesper, which was almost impossible. I always looked up to him and was impressed by his skill. Now I have to be better than him. Better than a top ADC in Europe as someone who played this role casually in SoloQ.
Glenn seems to notice my worrying face and encouragingly put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, everything will be fine. As Nico said, we all thought that it's the best decision for now. When someone can do it, then it's you. We'll help you in every way we can."
Appreciating the gesture, I gave him a small smile. His words definetely gave me strength.
"Of course the management will help you with everything as well." Ana agreed. "The analysts, Nico and Enrique will help you to improve your mechanics while I'll do with you the other stuff like social media. We all want to make sure that your first year in eSports will be a good one. From now on, you'll play all scrims and not only a few games. You don't have to pay rent anymore and you'll get paid from now on."
Luckily they already made the paper version of my contract, because these were way too many informations for me at once. Then everyone except me left the room, so that I could read it alone.