Chapter 131

At the very moment UA fans in Korea were united in cheering for Super Sylph in the Final.

There was someone heading to the hospital, genuinely happy about Han Youngin’s recovery.

It was Kim Seunga, a talented player who had held the title of female UA National Representative for quite some time.

‘Oppa has finally recovered!’

It was news she had waited for for a very long time.

On her way to the hospital, Kim Seunga recalled the Han Youngin from her memories of long ago.

It wasn’t so much a romantic attraction as it was a kind of camaraderie.

Ever since they met at the Athletes’ Village long ago.

Although they were of different genders, Kim Seunga had always thought that the player Han Youngin was quite similar to herself.

They were the kind of people who had positively influenced each other many times by talking together when they had worries.

Kim Seunga headed to the hospital with a happy heart, as if she were going to see an old friend.

But there was an unexpected visitor already there.

Kim Seunga, who knocked and entered the hospital room, was startled.

She had contacted Han Youngin beforehand to let him know she would be stopping by, but she hadn’t realized he would have a guest.

“Oh, uh?”

And when she recognized who that guest was, Kim Seunga couldn’t help but be even more surprised.

‘Why is that person here?’

The visitor who had come to see Han Youngin first was none other than Kato Mikane.

The most famous and skilled UA player in the world.

Kato Mikane glanced briefly at Kim Seunga, then turned her gaze back to Han Youngin as if nothing had happened.

Han Youngin, on the other hand, looked a little troubled by the situation.

This was the second consecutive day of hospital visits.

Han Youngin had said he would think about Kato’s offer for the Coach position, but Kato, asking what there was to think about, insisted they sign the contract immediately.

She had been visiting the hospital every day.

As if she had truly made up her mind, she had run into his parents yesterday and naturally greeted them in Korean with an “Annyeonghaseyo,” and then Kato Mikane had directly expressed her desire to recruit him to his parents as well.

Anyway, that was how one man and two women ended up sitting on opposite sides in the hospital room.

“Oppa. It’s been a while… or should I say, we’ve seen each other often because of Dami, right?”

“……”

Youngin, who had been about to ask Kato to step out for a bit since a new guest had arrived, was at a loss for words.

An unexpected attack had been launched.

Should he say Kim Seunga had good intuition?

Or maybe she had something special, but she was a friend who was particularly good at sensing Han Youngin’s presence.

Of course, Han Youngin denied it to the end, but Kim Seunga now seemed to take it as a given that Han Youngin had been with Super Sylph all this time.

“Hmm.”

It was a mentally taxing situation to be attacked from both sides.

Han Youngin decided to send Kato away first and talk with Kim Seunga.

For one, it was Kim Seunga’s first visit today, and Kato was just camping out to push her recruitment offer, so it made sense.

“I have a few things to talk about with a friend who’s come to visit after a long time. Could you give us some space…?”

“Hah.”

At the request to leave for a moment, Kato sighed and left the room, saying she would be back in the evening.

For a Superstar who garnered the world’s attention, Kato Mikane seemed to have a lot of personal time.

As soon as she was gone, Kim Seunga asked in surprise, what was all that about?

Kato was such a great player that every UA player dreamed of playing like her.

Kim Seunga had every right to be curious as to how such a player had gotten close to Han Youngin.

“She offered me a coaching position.”

“What?!”

Since it wasn’t a big secret, Han Youngin told her the reason for her visit.

And that story was also related to what Kim Seunga had wanted to discuss with Han Youngin.

It was a consultation about his future as a player.

“Oppa, so you’re not thinking of returning as a player…?”

“Well. I’m not sure yet.”

I haven’t been recovered for long, so I haven’t made a firm decision either way—is what he said.

Han Youngin equivocated.

Of course, in his heart, he was already yearning to return to active duty.

“I guess you have a lot on your mind too, Oppa, since you just recovered. I’ve been feeling that way lately, too. What I should do… The team wants to extend my contract, but…”

She was still the Leader of Artemis.

But next year, Kim Seunga would be twenty-seven.

It was an age where it wouldn’t be strange for an active Pro Gamer to announce their retirement.

UA’s history as a game was still short, so the precedents weren’t firmly established, but typically, players who left a significant mark in other disciplines would receive training as coaches or undergo further education if they wished to become a leader after retirement.

If Kim Seunga was aiming for the title of Korea’s first female UA Director.

Retiring now and looking for a coaching position was also a decent decision.

With the title of former National Representative Kim Seunga, she was a talent that any team would welcome, and she would surely be able to find a job.

“Well, it’s not like it’s hard for you to find a coaching position either, Oppa. You’ve already gotten an offer from a world-class team like Kamui.”

“Is that so…?”

Listening to Kim Seunga’s worries, Han Youngin advised her that if she had the will.

It might be okay to continue her active career a little longer.

“I think it’s an amazing thing to decide to perform to the best of your ability for the fans.”

“…Thank you. For saying that.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, really. Thanks to you, my head feels clearer.”

Kim Seunga said thank you.

Haven’t I done enough by coming this far?

It was true that she had thought, it’s not like another year will dramatically change my career.

But as of today, that thought had completely vanished.

While talking with Han Youngin, she decided to go as far as her strength would allow.

Even if she couldn’t achieve any more results, she resolved to show her fans her best effort.

“Enough about my problems, what are you going to do, Oppa? Are you going to accept the coaching offer?”

Kim Seunga, asking about Han Youngin’s future, asked if he had any thoughts of playing actively for a while longer, even though the coaching position was good.

“This might be a painful memory, so I’m being a bit careful, but… before the accident, you had great Momentum, Oppa.”

“I did.”

“I think it’s a shame for you to retire like this.”

If the accident hadn’t happened.

Han Youngin would have made the national team he had dreamed of and worn the Taegeuk mark.

“And you don’t look to be in such bad shape, surprisingly.”

“Hmm?”

“They say you look really sick when you’ve been bedridden for a long time, but you don’t, Oppa.”

Just as the doctor had called it a miracle.

Han Youngin’s physical condition now, on the outside, was not much different from that of an ordinary person.

Of course, to return as a Pro Gamer, he would have to go beyond the level of an ordinary person and build up his body with proper training.

“My body was lying in the hospital, but maybe it’s because I kept teaching the kids?”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but can you stop with all the probing questions?”

“Why do you keep pretending you don’t know when you know everything, Oppa? Then again, it is a story no one would believe.”

A Pro Gamer who became a ghost teaches young female players and helps them win a world tournament.

It was certainly a hard story to believe.

“Does Dami know? That you’re awake.”

“Dami? I don’t really know who that is…”

“Agh! Stop pretending you don’t kno-!!!”

“Ouch!”

Grabbing the nose of Han Youngin, who was acting like he knew nothing, Kim Seunga chided him, asking why he kept being so evasive.

“Only the Final is left. I hope the kids win.”

“Ah, you mean the Worlds Final, right? I hear that team, Super Sylph, is really good at the game these days.”

“There you go again.”

“What, what is it…”

“Sigh.”

And so, Han Youngin and Kim Seunga spent their time talking after a long while.

The owner of the World Championship trophy had been decided.

“Everyone, please give them a round of applause! The winner of the 2076 World Championship is! Congratulations! UKL’s Super Sylph!”

Super Sylph avenged their loss to the Crusaders in the group stage and proudly claimed the championship.

During the interview to share their thoughts on the victory, the one who cried the most sorrowfully was, surprisingly, Coach Park Chaerin.

Winning a world tournament.

It seemed to be a goal she had always wanted to achieve, albeit in a different discipline.

The team’s Ace, Seo Dami, offered her thanks to fans all over the world, promising to perform well again next year.

Korea’s victory at Worlds was something no one had expected at the beginning of the year.

While everyone celebrated the team’s victory and sent fervent roars toward the players, the actual protagonists of the victory, Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul, had their minds elsewhere.

‘I want to go back to Korea quickly…’

Usually, after winning overseas, it was common to take a break and tour the area.

After all, it was the Off-Season for the players, and most of them would get about a month of vacation in the winter to rest fully.

However, as if they had some urgent business, not only Seo Dami but also Jung Yunseul strongly insisted on going home even a day sooner, so the team staff had no choice but to board an early flight to Korea.

No one knew why they were in such a hurry to return, but the reason was clear to the two of them.

“He’ll be surprised when we get to the hospital, right? Like, you’re here already?”

“I want to see him soon.”

As soon as the players landed at the airport and dropped their luggage at the Team House, they immediately grabbed a taxi to the hospital where Han Youngin would be.

“Oppa!”

“Oppa!”

Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul opened the hospital room door together, neither one waiting for the other.

In their arms, they each held a large bouquet of flowers to give him as a gift.

But the owner of the room was not there.

He wouldn’t have been discharged without notice, so to find out what was going on, the two headed to the information desk.

“Excuse me, do you happen to know where Oppa Youngin went?”

“Ah, patient Han Youngin.”

Since the two had visited the hospital so often, the desk clerk kindly told them his whereabouts.

The patient was currently in rehabilitation training, so he was in the rehabilitation center wing.

Oppa was in rehab.

Feeling their hearts pound, they headed to the center wing.

The reunion with a healthy Han Youngin, which they had anticipated so much.

But that was only for a moment.

The moment they opened the door to the rehabilitation room, their expressions couldn’t help but harden.

“No, I said you don’t have to hold me…”

“Just shut up and focus.”

Han Youngin was slowly repeating squats.

The sight of him exercising on his own was truly moving, but the person stuck to his side was the problem.

The person holding Han Youngin’s waist with both hands to correct his posture as he squatted.

‘Why is that person here…?’

‘That’s Kato Mikane!’

Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul couldn’t help but be shocked by the appearance of a completely unexpected person.

Of all people, Kato Mikane was helping Han Youngin with his rehabilitation.

Seeing that scene, sparks flew from their eyes, and the two pushed aside their fluttering emotions and approached them.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Get away from our Oppa!”

Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul.

Neither of them could comprehend the reality of Kato being next to Han Youngin.

And why would they? Wasn’t this the woman who had tormented Oppa in matches, saying she would kill him?

She had ruined the moving moment they had been anticipating, at a time when they should have been cursing her out and chasing her away.

It was perhaps natural that the two’s hostility toward Kato soared in that moment.

“Hands off! Hands off!”

Jung Yunseul slapped the back of Kato’s hands, blocking any physical contact.

And in the meantime, Seo Dami pulled Han Youngin into her arms, guarding him as if looking at a dangerous person.

Watching Han Youngin, whose face was buried in Dami’s chest, unable to even speak and just going ooph ooph!, Kato had a dumbfounded reaction.

“What’s with all this, barging in all of a sudden? So uncultured.”

“Uncultured, my foot! You’re the one who shouldn’t be here!”

“That’s ridiculous. Why shouldn’t I?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know?! You tried to… kill our Oppa!”

As Jung Yunseul shrieked, Kato flinched and took a step back with a grunt.

But she quickly recomposed herself and immediately refuted Jung Yunseul’s claim.

“If I had tried to kill him, he’d already be dead. If anything, he should be grateful to me. I taught him techniques so he could recover, and he took all sorts of team secrets without permission. Do you think you guys could have won if it weren’t for the time he spent with me?”

“W-whatever! You’re forbidden from approaching our Oppa!”

“By what right? You kids are ridiculous.”

“Because he’s our Oppa!”

“Our Oppa? He’s not your Oppa anymore.”

“……?”

“He’s going to be working with me at Kamui now.”

“…What did you say?”

Jung Yunseul stared with eyes that begged for an explanation as to what this was all about.

While Kato and Jung Yunseul were bickering, Han Youngin, who had broken free with a phew!*, stepped in to mediate, telling them both to stop.

“That’s not true, Oppa, right? That’s a lie, right?”

“It’s not a lie~. I probably know his Talent better than you do. That man is better suited to be a Coach than a player.”

This statement was Kato’s true feeling.

She had been caught off guard this time, but Kato was confident she could beat Super Sylph if they faced off again.

Of course, even so, Han Youngin’s Analytical Ability was undoubtedly very tricky.

That was why Kato Mikane had actively pushed to recruit Han Youngin as a Coach.

So that no team could ever challenge Kamui’s position again.

By eliminating that risk factor and, at the same time, making the man named Han Youngin work for her.

“…Oppa. You’re going to stay with us, right?”

Seo Dami, who had been silent during Kato’s declaration, grabbed Youngin’s sleeve and looked at him with a pitiful gaze.

And watching this scene, Kato scoffed.

“Aren’t you the ones bothering him? It just looks like you’re trying to hold onto someone out of affection when you don’t even have the ability.”

Kato advised Han Youngin not to miss this golden opportunity to be with the best team in the world, saying there would be no better chance than this.

One side telling him not to go.

The other side telling him to come quickly.

A situation where he was being pulled from both sides.

Han Youngin, who felt dizzy for a moment, finally opened his mouth.

“Everyone, stop. And Ms. Kato.”

“Yeees~.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can accept that offer.”

“What did you say?”

As Kato raised her eyebrows and glared at Han Youngin, Seo Dami and Jung Yunseul, standing on his left and right, cheered and raised their arms in victory.

But that, too, was short-lived.

Han Youngin soon delivered the thunderous news that he couldn’t be with Super Sylph either.

“Oppa. What does that mean?”

“You just said you wouldn’t be with them!”

“I’m not going to Kamui. But that doesn’t mean I’m staying with Super Sylph.”

Toward the three women who had no idea what was going on, Han Youngin declared.

“I, Han Youngin, will be returning as a player.”

“Eh?”

“Whaat?!”

Han Youngin.

In his 11th year since his debut.

His goal, as always, was victory.

His Pro Gamer clock, which had all but stopped, began to move again.