Chapter 11

July 10th.

The First-Half Season ended, and Universe Cat rounded the halfway point in 5th place in the League Standings.

Compared to our good Win Rate, our climb in the rankings felt slow.

This was because the Upper Bracket teams had such incredible win rates.

The top teams in the League almost never lost to the middle or Lower Bracket teams.

This wasn’t just true for the Third Division League, but for the entire UA League.

It was common for the championship-contending teams in each League to be stacked with monstrous players boasting win rates of over 90%, while the lower-ranked teams could barely be seen winning, creating a huge disparity.

In particular, the level difference between each League was so severe that it was an unwritten rule for a team promoted to a higher League through the automatic promotion system to get beaten down right from the start.

So, even if we won consistently, the rankings didn’t close up as quickly as we’d like.

In any case, the atmosphere at Universe Cat, having climbed up from the brink of a cliff, was extremely good.

Although our rank was only 5th, our Momentum alone was said to be worthy of a team on track for Promotion.

In reality, our current strength was at a level where we could compete with any team except for the 1st and 2nd place teams.

It was great if we got Domination Battle or One-on-One, and even if we got Deathmatch, it felt like we had at least the minimum Route to squeeze out a Score somehow.

“Everyone, you’ve all worked so hard!”

On the day of the last match of the First Half.

An ecstatic Director Hong ordered a ton of delivery food like chicken, pizza, sushi, and tteokbokki to the dining hall and encouraged the players.

He told us to just keep doing what we were doing.

That if we did, even better things would happen in the Second Half.

Director Hong was laying on the compliments, but the players’ expressions weren’t very good.

There was no reason for me and Kim Harim to be in a bad mood.

A quick look at the Universe Cat message board showed that the reviews for the two of us were nothing but praise.

Things like, if it weren’t for you two, what joy would there be in watching this shitty team.

But it was different for the others.

Kim Yujeong, Lee Seyeon, Song Yuri.

These three were busy getting flamed every day, even as the team was on an upward trend.

The ones holding the Ace back.

Leeching their Annual Salary without doing anything.

Opinions like, anyone would do better than them, so let’s just try our luck on a Prospect lottery ticket after this Season ends.

With negative opinions flooding the message boards every day, they couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

They probably knew it all too well.

That if this Season ended as it was, there might no longer be a place for them on this team.

In fact, Director Hong had called me in several times to actively express his wish for me to stay, saying the team was planning a Rebuilding after the Season.

If the Parent Company spent some money, they could bring in a good player whose Re-signing period lined up, or they could improve the team’s constitution by bringing in a promising Prospect as the fans suggested.

In other words, the trio, led by Kim Yujeong, was now in a position where they had to show that they had something noteworthy left in them during the remaining Second Half.

Just like how Kim Harim had grown into a player who could pull her own weight with my help and secured her spot.

‘Surely they won’t come bowing their heads to me, right?’

<…I wonder.>

The pressure of their pro careers possibly ending at any moment.

If they felt they couldn’t go on like this, they might just bow their heads.

‘What will you do if they do?’

When people are cornered, they can do anything.

Even if they weren’t sorry, they might at least ‘pretend’ to ask for forgiveness.

Of course, whether they bowed their heads or begged on their hands and knees, I had no intention of forgiving them.

Don’t they say you can’t fix a person?

But the one to make that decision wasn’t me, but Seo Dami.

If she forgave them, I intended to give them the bare minimum of teaching, just as I had for Kim Harim, though not as warmly.

<I…>

After some thought.

If they apologize first, if they say they repent for their past wrongdoings.

Seo Dami said she would forgive them.

Even if she did, the apology would most likely not be sincere, but I said I understood.

If that was Seo Dami’s decision, I would just go along with it.

The next day.

The players left the Team House to enjoy their short vacation.

Most of them were going to see their families.

The Season Break Period was one month.

About a week of this was usually given as free time for the players to recover their Condition.

“Haa. It’s that time of year again.”

<Is something wrong?>

I sighed, looking at the date.

To explain why I sighed, one first had to understand why the Season Break Period existed.

The Season Break.

A month-long Rest Period that began after the First-Half Season, which ran from April to early July.

The reason the Break Period was first introduced was in consideration of the major events held every two years: the Asian Games and the Olympics.

In an era where Virtual Reality games had become a pillar of sports.

Universe Arena, now in its 10th year of operation, had already been adopted as an Asian Games event four years ago.

At that time, I had ‘almost’ worn the national flag as a National Representative.

I made it into the Athletes’ Village, but unfortunately, I fell just short of making the official Entry.

But this year was different.

Back then, I was still unrefined in terms of skill, but at twenty-five, my abilities had fully blossomed.

There were usually four Attacker spots available out of the six total National Representative positions.

There were about 40 Attacker players in the First Division League.

Making it into the top four among them was certainly not an easy task.

But I was confident.

Although I didn’t have a championship trophy yet, I believed I was competitive enough when compared to individual players.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

I looked down at my white arm, which now looked more beautiful than muscular.

Thinking about all the time I had spent practicing diligently just to wear the national flag once made me feel a little gloomy.

<I’m sorry.>

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make the mood weird.”

Seo Dami apologized for my lament.

Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.

When I said I was sorry for making her worry, Seo Dami replied.

<Let’s be National Representatives together!>

“Huh?”

<The competition will be held in four years, too. I’ll still be twenty-two then. Don’t you think I can be a National Representative?>

Saying so, Seo Dami trailed off, adding, if Oppa keeps teaching me…

I was quite touched by her thoughtfulness.

She was probably just trying to comfort me, but if what she said was true, didn’t it mean she was willing to endure this uncomfortable life for several more years?

Doing this for another four years.

It was a terrible thing to do to Dami, and to me.

“I have no intention of holding onto you for that long. People who have to go, should go.”

No one knew how much longer I, lying unconscious in a hospital, would live, but I didn’t think this situation would last for that long.

Since I couldn’t move my body, my muscles would gradually waste away.

The only silver lining was that I had brought a considerable amount of money to my family.

If we didn’t have money, the hospital bills would have been a burden by now.

It was then.

Seo Dami’s tone of voice rose slightly.

She seemed a little angry at my self-deprecating tone.

<Why do you always talk like you’re going to die? I’m used to it now. Eating, sleeping, and training! All of it! Anyway, so… don’t say bad things. I’d be happy if you recovered and went back to normal, but you can’t leave by dying. It’ll give me bad dreams.>

“Right. Thanks for saying so.”

<I’m serious.>

When the next competition is held…

If I lived with Seo Dami for another four years, it was certainly plausible that she could become a National Representative.

Of course, she would be a female national player, not a male one.

Putting the depressing talk aside.

I asked her what she wanted to do.

She’d finally gotten a vacation, she wasn’t going to stay in the Team House the whole time, was she?

I was already the only player left in the Team House.

Director Hong and the Coach said they would be leaving soon, too.

“Do you want to go see your family?”

<No.>

Dami said she wasn’t on good terms with her family.

She had started her pro career against her parents’ wishes, so it made sense that they weren’t on good terms.

“Why were they against it?”

<Because it’s the Third Division League.>

She said her parents weren’t against it from the very beginning.

Since their daughter loved games so much and wanted to become a pro player, they had even let her attend an academy for her debut.

But the academy instructors’ evaluations were harsh.

She trained hard for years at the academy, but the cold evaluation was that she was, at best, a Third Division League-level talent.

Her parents gave up around that time.

<Honestly, everyone knows. The only pro players who grasp both fame and fortune are the top-tier ones. And you suffer all the same.>

Moreover, Universe Arena had a relatively short history, so the market size wasn’t that big yet.

Although it was growing rapidly, the scale of player salaries was lacking compared to other popular sports.

In the case of Seo Dami, who was active in the Third Division League.

Her current Annual Salary was only 35 million Won.

It was originally 30 million Won last year, but they raised it by five million because she had played for a Season.

“That is a bit stingy. Do other teams pay that little too?”

<The Upper Bracket teams probably get paid twice as much.>

Even twice as much was only around 60 million.

Just as I was thinking it was still low, Seo Dami asked about my Annual Salary.

<Oppa… is it okay if I ask how much you received?>

“You already asked. I got paid exactly what I was worth. 1.5 billion.”

<Heok! Really?>

“What are you so surprised about? I debuted at seventeen. This is my 9th year as a player.”

Of course, a long career didn’t automatically mean a higher salary.

But I was a player who showed that much skill and Performance.

I had worked hard as a player and had led my teammates well as a model Leader.

I had built a good career, so I was thinking of becoming a coach after I retired.

Though it all became meaningless after the accident.

<I’ll definitely become a First Division League player.>

“Do you like money that much?”

<Who doesn’t like money? But it’s not just because of that. I think my parents will see me differently then.>

“That’s true.”

Today’s successful Pro Gamers are basically popular stars.

My parents, too, were able to boast about their son to their heart’s content thanks to me.

If Dami became a First Division League player.

I thought her parents, who had opposed her out of concern for her future, might change their minds.

“So you’re really not going home?”

<It would be super awkward if I went now. You’ve seen it. I’m not the affectionate type…>

It seemed Dami didn’t want to keep this wall between her and her parents either.

<I do think it would have been nice if I had acted cute sometimes and talked to them more often.>

“Hmm. They’re small things, but they can be difficult if you’ve never done them.”

<What about you, Oppa? What were you like with your parents?>

“My family was always harmonious.”

If only I hadn’t been hit by a truck out of the blue.

<Forget home… Just watch the Asian Games with me.>

“Ugh. What’s the point of getting jealous watching others play!”

<If you don’t want to watch the men’s games, we can watch the women’s matches. To study the higher leagues in advance?>

“Hmm. Should we?”

The Asian Games, whose opening day had been gradually moved up to start in July like the Summer Olympics.

I was just thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out the games and assess the skills of the female national team in advance.

A phone vibrated and rang.

“Wow. This is the first time I’ve seen you get a call. You have friends?”

<That’s rude…>

Then, wondering who it was, I was surprised to see it was labeled ‘Mom’.

<Huh. What’s this…?>

Leaving the flustered Dami, I answered the phone.

“Yes. I’ve received the call.”

The moment I said it, I thought, oops.

It was a far cry from how a daughter would answer her mother’s call.

A brief silence.

It was Dami’s mother who spoke first.

-Have you forgotten my number already? Or are you pretending not to know.

Uh, well.

I can’t just say, ‘Mom~ I missed you~’ to someone I’m meeting for the first time.*

I was sweating bullets internally when she spoke again.

-Never mind. It’s not the first or second time you’ve been like this. I heard your vacation starts today. Is that right?

“…Yes.”

-Are you not coming home this time either?

<Tell her I’m not going. I’m not going!>

Seo Dami was vehemently protesting beside me.

But her mother’s punch was heavier.

-Come home this time. Your father said he has something to tell you too. Your Team House is still in the same place, right? I’ll send Mr. Jang, so take the car.

“Yes. Huh?”

Before I could say anything more, her mother hung up.

What’s this about a driver?

The only ways to get home during vacation were public transportation or a taxi.

As my mind reeled, Seo Dami lightly thumped my brain with her fist, asking why I said I would go.

That wasn’t what was important.

I demanded an explanation from Dami.

Unless a family was quite well-off, they wouldn’t send a chauffeur to pick up their child during vacation.

“Ms. Seo Dami. Is your family well-off?”

<……>

“By any chance, is being a Pro Gamer just a hobby…?”

<……>

“Hello? Can I get an answer?”

A moment later, a black sedan pulled up smoothly in front of the Team House.

It was a car that anyone could tell was very large and expensive.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

The reason Seo Dami’s parents opposed her debut might be for a very different reason than I had thought.