Nirvana Top Laner, Reborn Tokyo Girl

Chapter 176, Section 173: A Conversation with the Hat King
Afterwards, Caps seemed to be emotionally devastated by being eliminated in the MSI group stage.

He started to cry, and while crying, he confided in Shimamura Yuna.

"I...I don't know how to say it."

"But you know what? Your current situation reminds me of myself. I remember, I remember... I've been through something like this before."

"I achieved good results, the audience cheered for me, and the whole world was watching me. But ultimately, all of that will decay. You..."

"I"

"I don't know how to put it, but things are just getting worse and worse. I feel like I'm becoming more and more powerless every day. That's how I feel now."

"I"

I hope you won't end up like me.

Rumors suggest that Riot Games is considering releasing a Hall of Fame skin for Caps next year.

Although he didn't achieve much and never won the S-series championship.

However, as a representative of Europe, if UZI can be inducted into the Hall of Fame, then there is no reason why he cannot be inducted into the Hall of Fame as well.

Provided that
It can't be too ugly, right?

If someone delivers a historically low performance this year and then gets inducted into the Hall of Fame next year, it will be very difficult to convince European audiences.

Perhaps knowing this, Caps is currently under a lot of psychological pressure.

He knew that his performance this year had plummeted.

He also knew that this year was much worse than in previous years.

He wants to get back into shape through hard training.

However, these efforts have largely been in vain.

His dismal performance in the group stage of this MSI, especially the many laughable moments he made during the match, completely shattered his mental defenses.

Then, he lost control of his emotions.

He cried as he poured out his heart to Shimamura Yuna.

To be honest, Shimamura Yuna couldn't quite understand what he was saying.

She understands English and is quite practical, able to communicate easily with most foreigners.

However, since it's not her native language and she doesn't use it often, the prerequisite for communication is that foreigners are considerate of her feelings, avoid using overly difficult expressions, and try to keep it simple and clear.

Caps did the same thing at first, which is why Shimamura Yuna was able to communicate with him.

But later on, Caps clearly got a little carried away.

She started speaking in heavily accented and unclear English, which Shimamura Yuna couldn't understand at all.

However, Shimamura Yuna did not interrupt him, but listened as much as possible and acted as someone who could confide in him.

And so she listened to Caps's incoherent ramblings for a long time.

The legendary player known as Caps, he and Yuna Shimamura were not actually that familiar with each other.

Both of them knew each other beforehand.

After Yuna Shimamura won the FS championship, Caps expressed his admiration for her during a live stream, saying, "It's not easy for her to get this far. Even if she hadn't won the MSI championship later, her achievements would still be more significant than those of most professional League of Legends players."

Before this trip, Yuna Shimamura was invited by G2 to record a separate message of blessing for Caps and the entire team.

Then, during this MSI, the two teams made a special appointment to meet and exchange team uniforms.

It can be said that the two teams have a good relationship on the surface.

It should be said that G2 has a good relationship with most other popular teams. It's like this team has a radar for popular teams, always accurately finding other popular teams and befriending them.

but.
That's what it says.

Although the two teams have a good relationship.

But in reality, it's just "that kind of relationship".

It is a superficial, shallow, and half-hearted friendship.

Yuna Shimamura never imagined she would have such a good relationship with CAPS.

I only talk to him now out of politeness.

He originally thought Caps was the same.

I ran into them backstage and greeted them politely.

But to his surprise, Caps poured out so much to her while emotionally distraught.

She was somewhat surprised, but she still obediently stopped and listened patiently.

I was a little confused at first.

I'm starting to wonder, "Is this guy being a little too overly friendly?"

"Are we that close? Why are you suddenly telling me these things?"

"I feel very lost and embarrassed in this situation."

Yes, at first I was confused and a little complaining.

But as Caps poured out his heart, and as she extracted information from his fragmented words, she slowly began to understand why Caps would break down emotionally when he saw her.

Why did he insist on making himself the one to confide in?

Shimamura Yuna understood.

'It's because of empathy.'

That's right, it's because of empathy.

Actually, if you think about it carefully, Caps' early experiences are so similar to his own now.

When the world was saying that European and American teams were all nobodies and had no hope of achieving anything, G2, with Caps at their core, shattered everyone's preconceived notions and won the MSI championship. This championship was insignificant to the LCK at the time, and even for the LPL, it was already a title they had won twice.

But for the entire Western world, especially European audiences, it was a shot in the arm.

As a prodigy, Caps quickly became a star player in Europe and even the world.

At that time, he must have felt that the future would be better.

We will win more championships, achieve more results, and receive more honors; everything is gradually moving in a positive direction.

But
Things don't always go the way people expect.

It's common for reality and hope to go against each other.

After that MSI championship, G2 never achieved anything significant again.

League of Legends in Europe continues to wither and die at a slow pace.

When G2 won the championship, they completely distanced themselves from North America and became the third most stable region after LPL and LCK.

However, as the years went by, the European region gradually became much closer to the North American region again.

Recently, there have even been events where North American teams outperform European teams.

Everything is proving that League of Legends in Europe is declining.
The saying goes, "When things reach their peak, they begin to decline."

What European audiences, G2 themselves, and Caps anticipated—the moment to make European history—never happened.

Looking back at Caps now, this Caps who has been relentlessly attacked and ridiculed in Europe, seemingly worthless...
Watching Caps writhe like a maggot on the field.

Who would have thought that in 2019, he was also a "hero" who brought excitement to European sports events and thrilled Western audiences?

Of course, Caps himself is the one who feels all of these changes the most and finds them the hardest to accept.

Therefore, when he sees Shimamura Yuna, who is now regarded as an "LCP hero," "Japanese hero," and "female hero," he feels as if he is seeing himself.

It was a kind of sadness born from empathy.

That's why he keeps repeating, "Don't be like me."

As a player who has already reached the future and is unlikely to have a future, Caps hopes that Shimamura Yuna will not repeat his mistakes.

His speech sounded unclear, and his emotional outburst severely impaired his ability to express himself.

But
Shimamura Yuna was still able to barely understand the emotions in his words.

Yuna Shimamura understood Caps and chose not to care how familiar his seemingly abrupt outpouring was.

Even so, she genuinely didn't know how to comfort him, or even how to start a conversation with him.

He simply acted as a listener.

About five minutes later, Caps seemed to realize that he had lost his composure.

He gradually stopped talking and fell silent.

After he seemed to calm down a bit, he also felt embarrassed about his emotional outburst.

I don't know what to say, so I just stand here awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

The atmosphere was finally broken when his teammate, Duanjian, came to take him away.

Before leaving, Duanjian apologized to Shimamura Yuna: "I'm sorry, this might have been a bit confusing for you, but..."

"I hope you can understand, he's in a bad mood today."

Shimamura Yuna didn't say much.

He simply smiled and shrugged, indicating that he didn't care.

"It's ok."

"I wish you happiness."

The rest of G2's teammates smiled at Shimamura Yuna.

Hanssama even added, "If you need anything later, feel free to contact us and we'll help you."

"We probably won't be in a rush to leave Canada, so we're open to playing practice matches if you want."

As he spoke, he chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Of course, that's on the premise that you don't mind how bad we are."

Shimamura Yuna shook her head repeatedly: "No, of course I don't mind."

Hanssama laughed heartily: "If you mind, just say so. After all, we're just noobs, aren't we?"

Although he was smiling, his expression conveyed a sense of bitterness and helplessness.

"Ugh, it's so ugly."

It's clear that the entire G2 team is feeling quite frustrated right now.

However, because of Shimamura Yuna, their team members still tried their best to be patient and communicate with her properly.

If Shimamura Yuna and G2 were indeed just superficial friends before, merely engaging in online hype among influencers...

So, let's start from that very moment.
Although it was somewhat sudden,
'We're probably true friends now?'

She doesn't know either.

She could only unilaterally feel that she had a certain friendship with the G2 team members, but she couldn't guess what they were thinking.

In short, Shimamura Yuna seemed lost in thought as she watched the G2 members leave.

'If I hadn't seized the opportunities during my peak years, would I have ended up like Caps?'

Past successes will haunt me like a shadow, and the inability to go any further will bind me like a nightmare.

Is opportunity fleeting?

(End of this chapter)