Among all the Korean communities related to the game, the biggest by far was the Teamfight Arena Gallery.
No login or signup required to guarantee anonymity; packed to the brim with young men, many of whom turned into online-only Zhang Fei types—friendly gamers who synergized into a ferocious level of aggression that was incomparable to other communities.
The hot topic currently setting the place ablaze? The mysterious whisper that flew in during Victory's stream.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say TeamA Gal was obsessed with Victory.
The posts that usually popped up in these game galleries were predictable.
Our team's parents lived/died, only I have bad team luck; the champion I play sucks, give it a buff; the one the enemy plays is total bullshit, nerf it.
Amid the tens of thousands of diary-like posts uploaded daily, what ultimately caught people's attention were the ones about the pro scene.
Hero worship.
Pro gamers who crushed millions of gamers underfoot, ascended to the top, and claimed both wealth and fame.
Idols of men!
They aspired to be pros!
Of course, only a tiny fraction who were filtered and filtered again could actually become pros.
And among those, only a tiny fraction were actually succeeding.
Victory. Jeon Woo-seung.
Won every tournament they entered; effectively the current world champion; the living embodiment of Teamfight Arena.
Posts about him naturally commanded unrivaled popularity and attention.
It wasn't just a joke anymore when people said, "How would you even Gal without Victory?"
📰 Breaking NewsAuthor: Anonymous Title: Who is this Jeon Jeonseol who whispered to Victory? Stats site shows a 30-win streak. Is this legit? Pros all get super accounts starting at 30, so who the hell is this? Views: 1,340 Comments (46)💬 Comments— AnonymousLowbie massacre 30-win streak that impressive? Lol— Anonymous↳ ReplyYeah, super impressive.— AnonymousNot if you're decent like me. Everyone who mains does it.— Anonymous↳ ReplyWho are these "decent" players?? Give examples.— Anonymous↳ ReplyWhy no answer??? Examples plz.— AnonymousNot even Challenger section, lowbie streak hype lol— Anonymous↳ ReplySo can you do it?— AnonymousIf luck's on your side lol— AnonymousThat low level's full of XP sacks worse than AI, talking shit without trying; enemies aren't the problem, teammates are— Anonymous↳ ReplyTeammates are enemies? That's just normal TeamA.— AnonymousDelusion that it's different for you. Fantasy that you're special.— AnonymousSo who actually has a 30-win streak?— AnonymousWhy can't anyone speak up!!! Examples!!!!!— Anonymous5-man queue maybe?— AnonymousTeammate nicknames different every game, some overlaps 2-3 games with 2 people, probably coincidence— AnonymousDamn real smurf then;— AnonymousSmurf? Lol stop hyping lowbie farmers— AnonymousLeveling an alt is smurfing too?— AnonymousFrom what they said, doesn't seem like an alt— AnonymousNon-alt 30-win streak? Bullshit lol— AnonymousIf your head's not full of udon noodles, think logically: newbie or alt?— AnonymousAnswer's right in the post: expert who's not a pro— AnonymousSo who is this non-pro expert?— AnonymousHow would I know?— AnonymousFuck...— AnonymousWhy even post this bait? Got nothing better to do?— AnonymousJust cuz they're Victory's friend? At this point rename TeamA Gal to Victory Fan Gal— AnonymousAgreed— AnonymousBro again?— AnonymousThese guys really can't Gal without Victory— AnonymousWelcome to the Domestic Victory Gallery📰 Breaking NewsAuthor: Anonymous Title: Victory's expression when he got the whisper GIF (Attached image: Video file of Victory smiling after receiving the whisper.) This has to be his girlfriend, right? Can a guy smile like that from another dude whispering? Quality Post Views: 38,519 Comments (522)💬 Comments— AnonymousSweet smile what lololol⭐ Top Comment— AnonymousThis is definitely his gf no cap— Anonymous↳ ReplyHow does a girl get 30 wins?— AnonymousDownplaying girls?— Anonymous↳ ReplyWorth downplaying. Any girls in Challenger? Pros?— AnonymousAre there even girls playing this game?— AnonymousThere are, they're just stuck in bronze lol— Anonymous↳ ReplySeen those gender-shitting chat behaviors, couldn't say they don't exist— AnonymousYour fault for being in girl-tier— AnonymousAnyway Victory's friend is a guy? Obvious— AnonymousWha... what?— Anonymous↳ ReplySo Victory got all fluttery from a guy's whisper?— AnonymousGaygay...— AnonymousWoo-seung too big what to do ㅠㅠㅠㅠ— Anonymous↳ ReplyGet that gender out of the Gal!— AnonymousWhy mad? Could be gay not girl— AnonymousFor real lol
For a moment, girlfriend suspicions arose, but everyone dismissed it as a joke—no one took it seriously.
Girls can't play Teamfight Arena—that was common sense inside TeamA Gal.
Besides, no one could imagine the person behind a monumental 30-win streak being a girl.
Even opinions like "Chat looks like a newbie?" got buried under "Can't do that without an alt" as if it were obvious.
📰 Breaking NewsAuthor: Anonymous Title: Breaking) Jeon Jeonseol hits 31-win streak Wonder how far they'll go now Views: 946 Comments (35)💬 Comments— AnonymousWhy the fuss over lowbie massacre lol 31 or 100 wins idc stop spamming updates— Anonymous↳ ReplyWhy so mad gay...?— AnonymousAlways angry types trait: life ruined— AnonymousLolololololol— AnonymousTrait 2: no job— AnonymousOff-season no tournaments so no bait— AnonymousThis— AnonymousYeah him life's ruined no job mad fits— AnonymousAh... ahhh....
The first month of the new year, January.
All tournament schedules were over, major player signings and renewals done—now just waiting for the next event.
A time of anticipation for how new rosters would perform.
But not everyone could indulge in fantasies about teams that hadn't played a single match yet.
That's why side stories like this—tales from the non-pro world—were getting attention.
In short, the Gal users were bored.
Bored enough to chew over nothingburgers.
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"Too much newbie slaughter?"
[Friend Add Requests (99+)]
Seol-ah glanced at the over 99 piled-up friend requests.
She hadn't bonded with anyone while playing, yet friend requests kept coming?
"They wanna flame me or something?"
Probably planning to vent game rage via chat.
Thinking that, Seol-ah ignored them all.
Teamfight Arena's system didn't allow whispers without friending first.
It'd take her a while to realize she was at the center of tons of people's chatter.
Seol-ah's misconceptions didn't stop there.
"How long do I have to play with newbies?"
As she thought, newbies under level 30 should match with other sub-30s.
If they had a normal winrate—around 50%, that is.
Teamfight Arena's infamous matching system.
Designed to force every player's winrate toward 50%.
The more you lose in a row, the better teammates you get, worse enemies.
The more you win, worse teammates, better enemies.
Forcing 50% winrate felt massively unfair when you were on the losing end.
Win with this team? Against that? Rage-inducing as hell.
Lots of Gal users insisted lowbie 30-win streaks were easy, but when pressed for examples, none could deliver.
Because it was actually insanely hard.
They didn't even know who achieved it.
Just salty no one else was getting praise.
Still, undeniable this system boosted the game's popularity.
Who'd stick around if you only lost?
Newbies didn't quit after 30 losses thanks in large part to this matching.
The more you play, winrate converges to 50% anyway.
From above or below.
Back to Seol-ah.
Her devastating win streak raised enemy levels until no more newbie matches.
No same-level users with equal or higher winrate.
Result: Started matching with level 30+ ranked players.
The enemy team she just massacred? All 30+, three Diamonds, one Platinum.
But she felt no difference from newbie zone newbies...
"Ah, when the hell do I hit max level! Shitty game!"
She still thought she was in the newbie zone.
📰 Breaking NewsAuthor: BananaHalfEaten Title: Recruiting Master+ to end Jeon Jeonseol's streak 60%+ normal winrate only. Cert and join up
At that moment, someone in Teamfight Arena Gallery was rallying a team to snipe her.
'Lowbie zone farming, big deal.'
Someone salty that Jeon Jeonseol, top 0.1% themselves couldn't match, was getting all the attention.
'Stream breaking her streak? Viewers explode.'
A streamer desperate for viewers.
'Why's she buddies with Woo-seung hyung! He doesn't even know I exist!'
A gaygay fuming at feeling robbed of their idol Victory.
...Anyway, five Masters gathered, each with their motives.
Five ultra-elites in the top 0.1%+.
Assembled to crush Jeon Jeonseol!