Chapter 106

A single ghost wandering through Super Sylph.

He was honing a secret weapon for the World Championship at the end of the year.

That weapon was none other than the Position Swap.

Just as Kim Seunga had shown at the Olympics, in the current UA Meta, plays where players talented in two or more positions flexibly swapped positions to execute strategies were coming to the forefront.

Of course, it wasn’t an easy task.

While all positions used the same weapon, a gun, the weapons themselves were slightly different, and more importantly, the feel of using Skills was different.

Because of this, players who could handle two positions at a high level were treated as extremely valuable in the league.

It had even gotten to the point where people were saying that if Kim Seunga, who was twenty-six this year and should be considering retirement next year, continued her league activities, she would break the domestic Annual Salary record once again.

Kim Seunga had already proven her position-switching ability at the Olympics.

So, what about Super Sylph?

In Super Sylph, Seo Dami and Hwang Jua were currently bombarding the domestic league, diligently alternating between the Attacker and Supporter positions.

It was a huge headache for the opposing teams.

Having two Supporters.

Naturally, with fewer Attackers, their Attack Power dropped, but their Burst Firepower—the single moment of Build-up where two Supporters focused their Buff Skills on one Attacker to break through—was incredibly fierce and sharp.

Seeing this, Super Sylph fans would happily share their opinions, wondering if all the luck in the world had been funneled into this team.

-A player who started in the Third Division came to the First Division and started to Carry, then even got picked for the national team, which is already absurd, but now she can handle two positions?

-It’s not just that she can handle them. The point is she’s good at both.

-And it’s not even just General Seo. What about Hwang Jua?

-Jua’s Attacker isn’t bad either.

-She’s not top-tier, but I think she’s at least above average in the First Division. ㅇㅇ

-Didn’t they say handling a double position is a pretty rare Talent?

-That’s right. That’s why players who can handle multiple positions are so precious worldwide right now.

-Jung Yunseul hasn’t changed positions, but she’s also on a crazy rampage.

-Isn’t Yunseuli already at a top-tier skill level?

-She’s the next prospect for the national team.

-This team is really amazing.

-If you told Super Sylph two years ago that they would get promoted to the First Division and even win the championship, you would’ve been called a lunatic for real.

-Two years ago, this team was talking about Relegation lol

-Hey. Kim Hyeona. Are you watching?

-Kim Hyeona lololol

-Phew, it’s a good thing she left.

-If we didn’t have an open spot, we wouldn’t have been able to get General Seo.

-That’s true;;

-Sorry for teasing you, Hyeona. And thank you for leaving;;

Everyone was full of praise for Super Sylph’s recent Game Performance.

However, the secret weapon the ghost had prepared was not limited to what the fans were currently chattering about.

The real purpose Han Youngin was preparing for was Jung Yunseul’s position change.

‘To catch Kamui, Yunseuli’s Position Swap is absolutely necessary.’

Last winter, when the Meta changed and a host of new strategies began to emerge, Super Sylph had taken the time to see which of the new Skills were best suited for each player.

For example, Seo Dami’s Acceleration.

Of course, Han Youngin was the one who had taught her Acceleration, but like this, each player had a Skill that fit them well.

Jung Yunseul also had such a Skill, and it was called Purifying Lightning Strike.

A Skill that increased Damage by imbuing bullets with lightning.

Another characteristic was its additional effect of causing paralysis.

‘Purifying Lightning Strike also falls into the Debuff Skill category because of its paralysis effect.’

A Debuff Skill.

It was a type of Skill that had higher Mana Efficiency when used by a Supporter.

‘If Yunseuli uses Purifying Lightning Strike for backup fire and simultaneously supports Dami’s speed-up with Shards of Favorable Wind, we’ll be able to perfectly catch Kamui off guard.’

To make it seem like Seo Dami and Hwang Jua’s position changes were the main strategy, while hiding Jung Yunseul’s position change.

This was the gambit Han Youngin had prepared to take down Kamui.

Of course, this was a rather extreme plan.

Wasn’t it an operation that involved changing the positions of a whopping three players?

The reason Han Youngin could devise such a radical strategy was Seo Dami’s bizarre learning ability and his own special situation of being able to switch bodies to share senses and experiences with the players.

In truth, Han Youngin had never played as a Supporter.

He was a Pro Gamer who had honed his skills primarily as an Attacker his entire life.

So, even if he were to order Jung Yunseul to change positions, he had no confidence that he could teach her properly.

He had played as a Defender in place of Seo Dami during their Third Division League days, but the situation was different now.

The Third Division League was clearly a lower league, and with Han Youngin’s skills, he could Carry even if he played with his feet.

But this was the First Division League.

And the team they had to face in the end was the World Championship winning team.

How could he effectively, and quickly, acquire the skills a Supporter should have?

To solve this problem, Han Youngin first sought help from Seo Dami.

He thought that if it was Seo Dami, who could rapidly increase her Skill proficiency just by watching, wouldn’t she be able to learn Supporter skills easily?

And that prediction was spot on.

Seo Dami, who had been practicing Supporter skills with Hwang Jua, soon began to rapidly absorb Hwang Jua’s Experience Points.

And Seo Dami, in turn, shared this sense with Han Youngin.

Han Youngin went back and forth between Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul daily, absorbing Experience Points.

Once he felt, ‘Ah, so this is the feeling,’ learning the skills was not that difficult.

And by Han Youngin sharing that sense back with Jung Yunseul, Jung Yunseul was able to secretly acquire Supporter Experience Points without ever playing in a real match.

One day, while they were in the middle of such training.

Jung Yunseul suddenly asked Han Youngin.

<Oppa.>

“Hm?”

<When the World Championship starts. You’ll be the one playing, right, Oppa?>

Youngin couldn’t answer her question right away.

It was, in fact, an incredibly important question for a player.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that too…”

Should he just pass on the Experience Points and give the spot to Yunseuli?

Or, since it was a life-or-death match, should he play until the end?

In terms of Game Performance alone, it was better for him to play.

It wasn’t that Jung Yunseul’s learning ability was bad, but Han Youngin could use the Power of the Ley Line.

He might not be as proficient as Kato, but using this power, it was possible to apply a Boost greater than Acceleration temporarily.

Then he would have the strength to fight back without being pushed around in the ultra-high-speed Engagements that had been Kato’s exclusive domain.

But was that really the right thing to do?

This wasn’t just any other match; it was the World Championship.

It was a stage that any player would want to stand on at least once in their lifetime.

So he couldn’t help but be conflicted.

Could it be that, out of greed, I’m stealing the spot that Yunseuli should have?

Having come this far, shouldn’t I trust Yunseuli?

When Han Youngin cautiously confessed these worries to her, she gave him an unexpected answer.

<Oppa. What are you talking about? Your life is on the line!>

She was the type to just nod along to whatever Han Youngin said, but this time, she rarely raised her voice so strongly.

<Even Unni would agree with this. Our team wouldn’t have come this far without you, Oppa. And if we hadn’t come this far, we obviously wouldn’t have even dared to dream of the World Championship.>

So don’t think like that.

Oppa, you have every right to show off your skills on that stage.

Youngin received great strength from Yunseul’s words.

Hearing her say that, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.

“Thanks, Yunseul.”

<Don’t mention it. It’s only natural. From now on, if you have any worries, just tell me anytime. I’ll listen to everything.>

“Excuse me. Can’t you let me in on what you two are talking about?”

Seo Dami, who had been quietly perking up her ears, expressed a small complaint as the two of them conversed only in their minds.

Han Youngin once again conveyed his thoughts to the pouting Dami, and Dami also shared the same opinion as Yunseul.

“If Yunseuli says she really wants to play in the World Championship, please tell me anytime. I can just play with you, Oppa.”

Dami said she had no complaints at all even if Youngin took the lead and played in the World Championship in her place.

At that, Yunseuli also raised her voice, saying what was she talking about, that it was the same for her, and that she would be the one playing with Oppa.

Of course, even if she raised her voice, only Youngin could hear it, so it wasn’t conveyed to Dami.

October.

About a month before the World Championship.

Super Sylph’s upward momentum continued unabated.

They had already retaken first place in the League long ago.

Neither last year’s champion, Galaxy, nor Kim Seunga’s Artemis could stop Super Sylph’s sprint.

It was only natural.

With every match, Dami was siphoning off their Experience Points, so how could they win?

Gradually, officials and fans alike, the number of people who took our victory for granted, increased.

Only two more wins remained for the magic number to clinch first place.

“Super Sylph has become a completely different team from the First Half.”

“I can dare to guarantee that Super Sylph is a team that would be competitive on the world stage.”

“This is a team that would be difficult to see emerge in Korea for the next few years. What’s even more amazing is that this team’s average age is the youngest among all First Division League teams.”

“If they can just keep the roster as it is, the domestic First Division League will be dominated by Super Sylph for the time being.”

In UA talk shows featuring experts, Super Sylph was always at the center of the conversation.

Because of this, we spent our weekdays playing in the League and our weekends busy with Scrim practices.

Artemis and Galaxy, who had already conceded the league championship to us, would constantly contact us, begging us to help them with Scrims.

-Hey. Are we strangers? Help us out a bit!

“No, Unni… I want to help, but what can I do when the Coach tells me to take care of Galaxy too.”

-Hey, hey! We’re a better international team than them! Galaxy is really terrible in international matches!

Kim Seunga, the Leader of the Artemis Team, frequently called Seo Dami to request Scrims.

It was the same for Galaxy.

They argued that since they were the second-place team in the league, they were probably better than Artemis in terms of skill, appealing that they were a more suitable Scrim partner.

Since we only had one body, we couldn’t Scrim with two teams at the same time.

Therefore, we were in a situation where we were making as much time as possible to help both teams practice.

One would think they’d hate the sight of us after we snatched the championship, so why were they so desperate for us to be their practice partners?

The reason lay in the two World Championship Qualification Spots available to Korea.

Currently, the probability of Super Sylph securing a direct spot in the World Championship by finishing first in the Regular Season was over 99 percent.

That meant the top teams in the First Division League had to compete fiercely again for the one remaining spot, and to do that, it was advantageous for a team to continue practicing with a strong team.

-You guys take the championship. Just help us so we can play a decent game at the World Championship!

“Alright. Then I’ll see you on Sunday, Unni.”

-You can’t flake on us again like last time, okay?

They were busy days.

On weekends, besides Galaxy and Artemis, we would also Scrim with Chinese teams when our schedules occasionally lined up.

As practice partners, the Chinese teams were a much higher Class than the other teams in Korea.

In particular, Shanghai Cheonhwa and Beijing Cheonryong were strong teams with worldwide recognition.

Considering the prestige of the Korean league, scrimming with top-tier Asian teams from China was originally something we couldn’t even dream of.

But now, it was different.

Not only had the rumor that Super Sylph’s skills were considerable spread across the sea, but those teams also had a particularly favorable view of ‘Seo Dami’.

Shanghai Cheonhwa had been setting up Scrims through the connection with Chen Sui, whom we met during the Legendary Challenge.

At that time, Cheonhwa had offered Dami an Annual Salary of 1.5 billion Won, promising to treat her the same as Chen Sui.

That’s how highly they valued Seo Dami.

And Beijing Cheonryong.

The connection with Cheonryong began during the Jeju Island event, when Cheonryong’s Captain, Liu Xuan, made a recruitment offer to Dami.

Cheonhwa and Cheonryong, who vied for first place in China, were Rivals, and upon hearing the news that Cheonhwa had its eyes on Seo Dami, Liu Xuan had offered Dami a Transfer, saying she could make an even better offer.

Of course, Dami chose to stay with Super Sylph until the end.

But it seemed those two teams still hadn’t given up their interest in recruiting Seo Dami.

Twenty years old this year.

If there were no problems, Dami was at an age where she could continue her career as a player for several more years, so they probably wanted to maintain a good relationship.

Of course, even without a contract in mind, Super Sylph was a good enough Scrim partner.

We continued to Scrim while hiding our trump card, Jung Yunseul’s Supporter switch.

Even with our secret weapon hidden, our Win Rate wasn’t bad.

We were good enough to have decent matches against the Chinese teams even without me using the Power of the Ley Line.

Of course, the Chinese side had a higher Win Rate.

It was only natural, given the vast difference in the players’ individual market values.

No matter how well we planned our strategies, as the number of games increased, some parts would inevitably be predicted, and it was not easy to make up for the innate Physical difference.

<Shouldn’t we just use the Power of the Ley Line?>

‘No.’

<Why not? Is it okay not to practice with it?>

‘I’ve practiced with it more than enough.’

In truth, it probably wouldn’t have mattered if I used it.

However, I was concerned about a one-in-a-million possibility.

If Kamui were to obtain the video of our Scrim with the Chinese team through any route, they would analyze it in detail.

Not letting the opponent know the limits of our gears.

I believed this would be the most crucial point for us to defeat Kamui.

One weekend, while we were immersed in practice.

The players, chewing on energy bars after Stamina Training, were gathered in the lounge watching TV.

Various news stories were being reported, but one incident in particular caught the players’ attention.

“Wow. Kim Yuchan? I didn’t see him like that…”

“This is the problem with handsome guys. They live up to their faces, I tell you.”

The reason the players were murmuring and focusing their attention on the TV.

It was a scandal that the current male UA National Representative, Kim Yuchan, had been dating multiple women simultaneously.

The problem was that the women didn’t know he was seeing several women at the same time.

“He lied because he knew he wasn’t in the right.”

“If you’re going to keep it a secret, you shouldn’t have been two-timing in the first place.”

“What do you mean two-timing? That’s octopus-timing.”

“If someone said, ‘I’m dating several people, but I want to date you too,’ honestly, that’s a bit much, right?”

“Right, right.”

“Even if it’s Kim Yuchan, a no is a no.”

“Hmm. I might be okay with it…?”

“Hwang Jua. Are you crazy!?”

“What! I was just thinking about it!”

The players giggled and laughed.

The Republic of Korea in the year 2076.

Korea, which was now barely maintaining a population in the 20 million range, had amended its polygamy law more than 10 years ago to prevent population extinction.

It was a system that permitted polygamy for men and women who had the will to have multiple children.

When the bill was enacted at the time, the public’s reaction was nothing short of shocking.

Some said things like this were happening because the world was coming to an end.

There were also reactions that what was bound to happen had finally happened to a country that had already lost its growth engine due to its super-aged population.

After the bill was enacted, there were celebrities who publicly stated they were considering polygamy, and there were political figures whose private lives were unintentionally exposed, revealing their shameful secrets, but now, 10 years later.

In the Republic of Korea, polygamy had risen to a phenomenon that citizens could accept to some extent.

Of course, the perception of it was still not on the positive side.

Dami, who had been staring blankly at the TV, slowly turned her head and asked Yunseul.

“Yunseul. What do you think?”

“About what? Polygamy?”

Since they had just finished Stamina Training, Yunseul was in Control of the body.

There was no need for me to do the Stamina Training for her.

Wiping away her sweat, Yunseul replied.

“Well… if the man is capable, isn’t it fine?”

“Up to how many?”

Seo Dami, who had asked “up to how many,” pointed to the TV with her chin.

According to the report, Kim Yuchan had apparently enjoyed secret relationships with at least five women.

“Hey. That’s not okay,” replied Jung Yunseul, slowly holding up two fingers.

“Two should be fine, don’t you think?”

“Two might be okay…”

“Right. In this day and age, two isn’t really a flaw.”

“I agree…”

Dami and Yunseul exchanged glances.

But for some reason, I had a strange feeling.

These guys.

They’re not saying this for someone in particular to hear, are they…?