Chapter 13

The story that a Third Division League player had criticized the national team’s Game Performance spread to every UA-related Community in a single day.

-Seo Dami. You again?

-She has so many ways of drawing Aggro.

-Alright. I’ve memorized your name, so stop it now!

Of course, it was never my intention.

In the first place, I had no plans to build recognition by negatively impacting Seo Dami’s image.

-It’s true the national team’s Game Performance was shit.

-Still, how dare some Third Division nobody talk about whether the national team is a joke or not.

-Dami. Even I can’t provide Cover Fire for this one.

-Let’s just bow our heads and apologize cleanly.

It was my clear mistake to criticize the national team players in a place where people could see.

Of course, if I were a fan, it would have been a passing comment.

After all, when people criticize politicians, it’s not because they’re all experts in politics.

But I was a Pro Gamer who played the same game as the national team I was criticizing.

It was a situation that could only be seen as a mistake born from a lack of respect for my Sunbaes.

Director Hong, his face dark, said we should first quell the controversy by issuing a public apology.

I am sorry for making such a big mistake.

I also apologize to the national team players who must have been hurt.

From now on, I will not cause any more trouble and will focus only on the game, etc.

I uploaded a video to the Community of me bowing my head and apologizing with sincerity.

Fortunately, the flames died down to some extent after the apology video.

-Sigh, Dami. Why make such a big mistake when you were doing so well?

-Still, I’ll let it slide since you didn’t make excuses and just apologized.

-But the national team’s Game Performance really was fucking awful.

-If you’re so salty, you be on the national team next time.

-How can a Third Division nobody be on the national team…

-Can I look forward to the next Asian Games?

-If you can, it’d be great if you made it to the Olympics.

-Sigh. This country has no Talent. No Talent.

Watching the message board reactions, Director Hong, with a look of having aged ten years, issued a ban on me attending games in person.

“Dami, you watch on TV.”

“Yes…”

The incident was settled for the time being, but there was still someone I needed to apologize to.

In fact, this person was more of a problem than the people chattering away on the internet.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

<······.>

Seo Dami seemed furious that I had let my emotions explode despite her attempts to stop me.

“Please forgive me just this once. I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.”

To Dami, who still maintained her silence, I confessed my honest feelings.

They were words I hadn’t been able to say when filming the apology video earlier.

“No, I know that players at the national representative level all work hard. But those guys today… They just threw the game. It’s the Taeguk mark that some people can’t wear even if they want to. They played like they’d just given up, so I got really angry. I’m sorry.”

The Game Performance the national team showed against Japan today was just that terrible.

Of course, I knew the chances of winning were slim since it was a game with a large skill gap.

But even so, was there any need to throw the game as if the result was decided from the start?

But today, the national team played a listless game, as if they didn’t want to break a sweat in a losing match.

They shouldn’t have done that.

As players representing the country, wasn’t it their duty to the fans to at least show they were doing their best?

Of course, even so, it was a huge mistake for me to act that way in Seo Dami’s body, ignoring her pleas.

As I knelt in apology, Dami told me to sit with my legs uncrossed.

<You know if your legs fall asleep, mine do too, so why are you doing this?>

“Ah, no. Sorry.”

<I understand what you mean. But please, listen to me next time. I tried so hard to stop you at the Arena earlier, Oppa.>

“I’ll definitely listen to you next time! Definitely!”

Sighing and asking me to do better next time, Dami asked if I wasn’t going to watch the rest of the match.

I waved my hand, saying I didn’t need to, but Dami insisted we finish watching.

She said there might be something to learn from watching.

<You can be a casual Commentator when you watch with me. I’ll let you complain about whatever you want. As long as it’s not in a public place, it should be fine, right?>

To Seo Dami, who said that, I replied that I was grateful.

I meant it.

Although we were bound together by an accident, meeting such an understanding person was a great stroke of luck for me too.

August.

As the Asian Games ended, the Break Period was also drawing to a close.

This Asian Games became an opportunity to make the name Universe Cat known to the world.

At first, I had gained notoriety as a rather arrogant player in the Third Division, but now, I was being re-evaluated and was receiving public attention.

「This Asian Games, Full of Disappointment.」

「Universe Arena National Team, Both Men and Women Fail to Win Medals.」

「A National Team Official: No Fighting Spirit Could Be Found in the National Representative Players.」

Although it was expected from the beginning that winning a medal would not be easy, the national team in this tournament presented the public with a spectacle more disastrous than that.

Even when losing, there was no sign of them doing their best, and their consistently listless appearance was caught on camera, sparking public outrage from the fans.

With the situation being what it was, a picture with my words subtitled on it frequently circulated on the internet.

-And you call yourselves the national team? Is the national team a joke to you?

-She says it’s a joke.

-Look at Seo Dami’s foresight.

-Her eye for things is excellent, that bastard…

-They have nothing to lose since they’re just raking in huge Annual Salaries in a garbage League with zero international competitiveness.

-The Gaia kids at least run like crazy because it hurts when they get hit, but what is this?

-Seriously, I hate looking at them.

-fr;

-Next time they select the national team, let’s pick guys overflowing with fighting spirit instead of skill. Then at least it would be fun to watch.

-Dami. You just be the national team player.

-Talk after you make it to the First Division lol

Thanks to the national team’s Game Performance being completely shattered, the public opinion criticizing me had improved considerably.

Kim Harim, seeing these reactions, even stopped training to ask if I had said all that on purpose.

That foolish Kim Harim…

Looking at her, she had a bit of a dumb side.

She was good at what she was told to do, but it seemed she lacked the brains to think for herself.

A month after she started sticking by my side and training with me, I noticed that Kim Harim’s grit was quite useful.

‘Her grit isn’t bad.’

Conversely, it meant that many other things besides her grit were lacking, but she was a decent player in the Third Division.

“Haa- Haa.”

The girl was panting heavily, practically collapsed on the floor.

Kim Harim, who tried to keep up with my training, spent every day sprawled on the floor like a corpse.

Watching her, I thought.

This girl, although I don’t know if she can make it to the upper leagues, she’ll be able to make a place for herself wherever she goes.

My training intensity during the Break Period was incomparably stricter than during the Season.

It was only natural.

During the Season, I couldn’t push the training too hard, considering we had to play matches.

If I overdid it and got muscle soreness, it would affect my In-Game performance.

But during the Break Period?

I didn’t have to worry about that.

On the contrary, it was a time to enhance Endurance and Muscular Strength by putting a load on the body.

Thinking this was the time, I diligently resumed the grueling training that only First Division League, Upper Bracket players could endure.

Seo Dami screamed for me to save her every day, but the effects of the training were clearly showing.

As I saw her growing Stamina and power, I realized it.

Seo Dami’s Talent was the real deal.

If I had felt her body being overloaded beyond its recovery capacity during training, I would have felt regret and lowered the training intensity.

And that would have meant she might never be able to catch up to the hardware of the top-tier players.

It was the same in other fields.

There were things in this world that couldn’t be solved by effort alone.

My belief was that to reach the very top, one had to be born with Talent along with effort.

But Seo Dami’s body diligently carried out this high-intensity training.

A body sturdy enough to withstand the training was a very reliable asset for a player.

And this also meant that Seo Dami could become stronger faster than others.

“Unni. Has your Stamina improved a lot?”

“······.”

After finishing my training routine, I approached Kim Harim, who was lying on the floor as if dead, and asked.

She was still trying her best to follow my training volume.

It seemed she wanted to become as strong as me.

Of course, it was a difficult task.

Kim Harim wasn’t born with superior muscles like Seo Dami, nor did she have a partner like me.

But she was still the only teammate who hadn’t given up and stuck by my side.

Although she couldn’t handle the same amount of training, she was a girl who always challenged her own limits.

During this Break Period.

There was a time when Lee Seyeon had hesitated and hovered around us.

Watching me and Kim Harim diligently moving forward seemed to have given her many thoughts.

‘Looks like she wants to train with us.’

I knew what she was thinking but pretended not to.

If she had apologized to Dami and bowed her head, I would have even considered helping her with coaching like I did for Harim.

However, Lee Seyeon couldn’t even last a day before she freaked out and ran away.

She hadn’t even participated in the training.

It seemed she was completely fed up just by ‘watching’ me and Kim Harim train.

After that, Lee Seyeon didn’t come anywhere near us until the Break Period was over.

It looked like this Season would end with just me and Kim Harim.

“Ah! It hurts!”

“It has to be like this to loosen up properly.”

<Your touch is lewd.>

‘Why would you misunderstand like that…’

I massaged Kim Harim’s body firmly to help with her recovery.

A continuous “Ughhh-” sound flowed from her mouth.

I was proud of her, in a way.

I knew well that it couldn’t have been easy to follow me this far with her unremarkable Talent.

As I was loosening Kim Harim’s knotted muscles, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

With this much grit, couldn’t she take on a better position? That was the thought.

“Unni.”

“Yeah?”

“Is being an Attacker fun?”

“It’s fun.”

Of course, it would be fun.

Until the Break Period began.

Kim Harim’s stock had been rising day by day.

Moving as I taught her, she scored a decent number of points, and she was evaluated as the next most human-like player on this hopeless team after me.

And that was the most generous evaluation Kim Harim had ever received in her Pro Gamer life.

The fact that someone liked and praised her play was a very joyful thing, which was why Kim Harim was able to endure the tough training again today.

“It feels good when fans praise you for playing well, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then do you want to try something else?”

“Something else? What is it?”

When I said there was something that could help improve her skills, Kim Harim’s eyes sparkled and she sat up.

It seemed she had forgotten the pain for a moment.

“Don’t get me wrong, but Unni, you lack Agility.”

“Ugh…”

A lack of Agility.

This was a very fatal weakness for a player in the Attacker position.

An Attacker, who had to hit the enemy to deal Damage, needed faster speed and accuracy than other positions.

It meant that a certain level of Physical was required, but unfortunately, Kim Harim lacked this Talent.

I could tell because no matter how much Agility Enhancement training she did, she couldn’t rise above the League average.

‘Her greatest strength is the grit to endure hard training. If so, a Defender might be better than an Attacker.’

It wasn’t like I knew all the answers.

This was the first time I had ever taken on the role of teaching and nurturing someone.

But no matter how I thought about it, I felt that Kim Harim’s qualities were more suited for a Defender than an Attacker.

‘If she builds more Muscular Strength like this, it’ll be easier to increase the Shield’s weight too.’

The Defender, the only position in UA that wields a Shield.

A Shield sturdy enough not to break even under the enemy’s concentrated fire was terribly heavy.

Seo Dami was still using an 8kg Shield, but in the First Division League, there were players who used equipment over 10kg, and in the case of men, there were players who literally carried a wall around.

If Agility was important for an Attacker, then for a Defender, stronger Stamina and Muscular Strength than others were important.

And Kim Harim had the grit to handle the rough training that could build Stamina and Muscular Strength.

“Right now, among Muscular Strength, Stamina, and Agility training, the proportion of Agility training is high, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s change this proportion a bit.”

“How?”

I suggested to Kim Harim that she increase the proportion of Muscular Strength and Stamina Training.

“Then wouldn’t it be the same as your training?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re telling me… to be a Defender?”

“Are you interested?”

Kim Harim thought for a moment with a serious expression, then asked.

“Do you think I’d be better as a Defender?”

“Well. I can’t guarantee it since you haven’t tried, but it won’t be a loss.”

“Alright. Then I’ll give it a try.”

Kim Harim said.

She said she’d try it since she had grown this much thanks to me.

I grinned at her resolve and held out my fist.

“Good thinking.”

“I’m just trusting and following you, Seo Dami. You know that, right?”

Kim Harim placed one hand under her fist and bumped it against mine, as if receiving a drink from an elder.

The start of the Second-Half Season.

Universe Cat’s game plan hadn’t changed much compared to the First Half.

The same went for their popularity.

Although I had caused a bit of a stir during the Asian Games, the number of Spectators had actually increased.

To show that I wasn’t a player who was all talk, I did my best in every game.

Of course, I had always approached matches that way even before meeting Seo Dami.

My fans were increasing, and training was going well.

While everything was good, the one thing that was disappointing was our ranking.

The gap with the Upper Bracket teams just wasn’t closing.

The cause was a lack of scoring ability.

No matter how hard I and Kim Harim tried, it was difficult to play a proper game when the other three were holes.

And in this situation, Kim Harim was more anxious than I was.

“Dami. Let’s just switch roles. I think I’ve got a feel for how to be a Defender now.”

Kim Harim wanted to get the team promoted within this Season, no matter what.

But we kept getting tripped up in important games.

She seemed frustrated that we were repeatedly held back in Big Games against higher-ranked teams.

Thus, what Kim Harim proposed was a Position Change.

Kim Harim as the Defender, and me as the Attacker.

Kim Harim’s explanation was that with my Talent, our scoring ability would increase compared to now.

Of course, if we did that, the team’s scoring ability would surely increase significantly.

It was me, who had national representative-level Talent, personally taking on the Attacker role, not someone else.

If we changed positions right now, we would literally crush any Third Division League team.

But there was just one concern.

The problem was whether that would be helpful to Dami.

The advice I gave Kim Harim to practice the Defender position was purely for her future.

It wasn’t a suggestion made with the idea of us switching positions because our scoring ability was lacking.

Sensing my hesitation, Dami asked cautiously.

<What’s making you hesitate?>

‘Dami, have you ever tried another position?’

<Yes.>

She said she had attended a debut-specializing academy to become a Pro Gamer.

Usually, when you go to an academy, the teachers first check which position the student has an aptitude for.

<At first, I learned all the positions. The teacher said it seemed like I would be a good fit as a Defender.>

A rational judgment.

Seo Dami had superior muscles and good recovery.

There was no reason not to make her a Defender with this sturdy body.

But an Attacker?

An Attacker who could hold their own in the League needed the Physical to back it up.

It required both the boldness and Agility to Aim faster than others and attack while avoiding the enemy’s Line of fire.

That was also why I had recommended a Position Change to Kim Harim.

Watching her train, I felt she would hit a limit at some point.

But Seo Dami was different.

Having been with her for a while, I was confident that if Dami just pushed forward as a Defender, she would be a player who could hold her own in the First Division.

Didn’t she start her pro career as a Defender in the first place?

There was really no need to question whether changing her position to Attacker would be helpful to Dami.

‘This is a very important issue. You’ve never thought about how long I’ll be here, have you?’

<…That’s true.>

‘I don’t know how long I’ll be with you either. But let’s imagine we switch positions as Harim suggested. What would happen then?’

There probably wouldn’t be any problems at first.

Even if Seo Dami lacked the necessary Talent for an Attacker, as long as I was the one playing, I could more than make up for that lack.

But what if I disappeared?

What if Dami was left alone to continue her pro career?

If something like that happened, leaving behind the guaranteed future of a Defender to switch to an Attacker could be a bad move.

Besides the confusion, the training routines were different, so a considerable amount of time would be wasted.

‘We don’t need to go back. Sorry to Kim Harim, but Universe Cat? I couldn’t care less if they get promoted or not.’

What did it matter whether a team full of trash got promoted or not?

My greatest interest was solely Seo Dami’s Development, and her success.

In fact, I was pouring my knowledge and passion into her so that she could continue a smooth career as a player, no matter when I disappeared.

Even without me, ‘Defender’ Seo Dami would surely succeed.

As long as she didn’t cast aside the senses and training methods I had shown her, it would definitely turn out that way.

‘A Position Change would certainly be more helpful in raising our Win Rate right away. But if you ask me whether there’s enough merit to take that Risk, my judgment is that there isn’t.’

<Umm….>

As if she understood my concerns, Dami also showed a cautious attitude.

<What do you think, Oppa? About my Talent as an Attacker.>

‘To be frank, it’s hard to judge in your current state.’

<Why?>

‘Because I’m the one controlling your body right now. I have no way of knowing how much of my senses you’re actually absorbing.’

This was the problem.

Seo Dami said she gained an epiphany every time through my teachings, but she never had the chance to use it herself.

Since I couldn’t confirm if she truly understood, I was in a situation where I had to trust her word and continue with the lessons.

Of course, this was the same for the Defender position, but considering the difficulty of the training, it was true that this side was easier.

And I had also confirmed her Talent for having a sturdy body.

<What if we make an assumption, then? If it’s true that I’m following along really well. What are the chances of me succeeding as an Attacker?>

‘You want me to assume you’re absorbing all of my teachings completely?’

<Yes.>

‘What an obvious question. Then success is a hundred percent guaranteed.’

My position had been an Attacker in the first place.

That’s how I had lived ever since I started UA.

If I were to share my Experience Points regarding the Attacker position with Dami, they would inevitably be much deeper and of higher quality than those for a Defender.

<Then I want to try.>

‘You want to try?’

<Yes. I think I can do it.>

I didn’t know what her basis was, but Seo Dami said she was confident she could receive my teachings well.

Since her own will was so firm, it made me think, should I give it a try?

If things went well, it would be a considerable gain for the team.

‘Alright, let’s give it a try.’

Having organized my thoughts through the conversation with Dami, I called out to Kim Harim.

“Unni. That offer, let’s give it a try.”

“Great! Then can we start crushing everyone tomorrow?”

“We can’t start tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“It’s fine for me, but you might get flamed for being below standard, Unni.”

“Eh….”

If we switched positions, Kim Harim would have to take on the Defender role I had been playing, and this was a bit of a problem.

Because I had personally taught the Third Division League teams how to block a skilled Defender.

If Kim Harim made a Position Change with mediocre skills against enemies whose countermeasures had just improved, she would receive a lifetime’s worth of insults all within this year, and then some.

So I made a suggestion.

Let’s put in a little more effort.

“Unni. Let’s just grind it out for one more month. I think we’ll get a pretty good picture then.”