Wasted Potential (NewJeans x Producer/FPS Pro M!Reader)

Ch.0: Going Back Home

It was a cold winter night, in a random park somewhere in America. Snow could be seen coated around, illuminated only by the occasional street light. There was no soul in sight with the exception of one, you.

You were seated at one of the benches in the park. "ETA" by NewJeans was playing through your headphones. The last few months for you were a blur, a mix of the highest moments in your life as well as your lowest. You chuckle to yourself.

'Not that it matters now...'

You get up from the bench and brush off the snow on your shoulders. You start to walk out of the park and into the busy city. Despite the late hours, many buildings were still relatively busy.

Crowds of people plastered the streets as you walked through the streets. The majority of the people were all bunched up around a big disco ball. Everyone started to cheer and countdown as the ball started to lower itself. You watched from afar as it got lower and lower, until it finally hit the bottom.

'Happy New Year to me...'

Only a year had passed, everything had changed so suddenly for you. You went from being one of the biggest gaming superstar's that North America has, to suddenly collapsing because of one scandal. At least you had music to try and keep your mind off of things, with some of your songs becoming international hits. It helped you a lot that you had developed an early passion for learning languages. You were fluent in a lot of languages, including Korean and Japanese. This aided you in creating a lot of the newer K-pop songs that had hit it mainstream.

As you walked back home, numerous people had walked past you, uncaring of your presence. You were very thankful to your past self, choosing to remain faceless had helped you live your daily life normally. On your walk back home, you started to contemplate your life. In both the gaming world and the music world, the general public had no clue about your real identity. When you played in pro tournaments, you were under the alias, "Yona." As a producer, you simply signed yourself off as "Y".

Many theories have arisen about your identity. Some speculated that Yona was actually a girl, and that you had always worn a hat and cap to hide that face. Others have guessed that you were a previously banned player trying to get back into the scene without backlash. Honestly, the truth of it is a lot more boring than people would expect. You hid your identity because you were really young. Your team, "Rainy", had picked you up the moment you were legally allowed to compete.

Though you were seen as a natural FPS prodigy, the game that you had been signed for was Counter-Strike. It had recently made a resurgence when the game took a major rehaul. This had boosted viewerships heavily and took many eyes away, temporarily, from Valorant. The very first major that Counter-Strike 2 had featured was also the very first tournament you have played LAN for. You were known as an "Online" player, meaning that you never played at an in-person tournament, sticking to only ranked and online brackets. A lot of haters had questioned your skill, saying you could never do it at a LAN.

At the major, you had proved everyone wrong instantly. You and your four other teammates had easily gone through all of your opponents. The first phase of the tournament was the Group Stages. This is similar to soccer, where groups of four teams all play each other once. Then the best two records advance to the bracket stage. Here Rainy had performed way beyond expectations, beating all three teams, including one of the teams projected to win the entire thing.

In brackets, you and your team had slowly overcome each team. In the Quarter-Finals, you beat NaVi, beating one of the major contenders of the tournament. This turned the audience into your favor. When you played on the big stage for Semi-Finals, the crowd could be heard chanting, "Yona is NA's Last Hope!". You had passed through G2 quite easily, not losing a map at all. Your opponent for the Grand Finals was none other than FaZe clan, one of Counter-Strike's powerhouse teams.