Chapter 135

When Kato dropped a bombshell on the media, I felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns.

Of course, I couldn’t tell if she had mentioned it with that intention from the start or if it was a coincidence, but in any case, the moment the three syllables of the name ‘Han Youngin’ left her lips, I could easily imagine what kind of chaotic mess would unfold.

-Youngin. What the hell are you?

-Wasn’t Dami and Yunseuli enough for you? You seduced Kato too?

-Should we just kill this bastard?

-I agree.

Ever since the scandal article with Dami came out.

I had actually been suffering from a considerable number of attacks.

Who the hell do you think you are to be dating Seo Dami.

If you’ve recovered from your accident, you should just focus on playing games.

Why are you messing with successful players.

If Super Sylph’s performance drops, we won’t let you off the hook, and so on.

The truth was, I had met the girls before I woke up, so I felt it was unfair, but I was in a situation where I had no choice but to stay quiet.

But if Kato were to mention me now.

I would be completely buried by UA fans from both Korea and Japan.

‘Please, I hope nothing happens…’

Just as I was spending my days with my heart in my throat.

I got a call from Kato.

A phone call.

-Hello? Why aren’t you answering your phone? You weren’t helping Super Sylph with their practice, were you?

“Huh? No, I wasn’t. I’m at the team house right now.”

-Good. The reason I called today is this.

Since her shocking confession last winter, Kato Mikane hadn’t contacted me often.

Just a New Year’s greeting, a congratulatory text for winning, and a somewhat teasing message right after I woke up when the article with Seo Dami came out, saying, “You seem ex-tremely busy these days, don’t you?”

The reason that same Kato contacted me today was because of the World Championship.

-Don’t help Super Sylph.

“What?”

-Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me. I said don’t help Super Sylph.

This Season, Super Sylph and Kamui both had the same goal.

To win.

One side was challenging for a second consecutive championship, and the other had to reclaim the championship that was taken from them.

Kato didn’t want me to unilaterally take Super Sylph’s side in this showdown.

-I’m telling you not to help them with strategies or watch over their training. It’s not like you’re going to help our team anyway.

“Um…”

To be honest, Dami and Yunseuli had already asked me to help them with the World Championship when I had time, so it was a bit awkward.

But Kato Mikane repeatedly demanded my confirmation, saying that if I interfered in a fair match, the Balance would be ruined.

-Are they your only girlfriends? I’m the mother of your daughter.

“No… Hey. If you mention a child I’ve never even seen, how am I supposed to react…”

-You don’t seem to believe me. What, should we go see her right now? It’ll take about 10 months if we leave now to meet her.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do as you say.”

-You should have just done that from the start.

To be honest, I felt sorry for Dami and Yunseuli, but it was true that I also felt a bit burdened about helping them practice.

Because this Season.

Magnus had earned a direct ticket to the World Championship by winning.

Of course, if you asked whether our chances of winning were as high as Super Sylph’s or Kamui’s, the answer was no.

On the premise that I could utilize the Power of the Ley Line.

I had enough Carry potential, but my other teammates were still lacking in many areas to be considered World Class.

In the end, UA is a team game.

If the difference in team level was stark, it was very difficult to turn a game around no matter how much one person rampaged.

Considering this…

One might think that since it would be difficult to get good results in the Main Round anyway, it would be right to just help other teams practice.

But still, thinking of my duty to the fans who cheer for our team, it was a player’s duty to do their best regardless of the outcome.

-I’ll come see you after the tournament. No, wait. Maybe I’ll be able to see your face at the World Championship?

With that, Kato finished what she had to say and ended the call.

This year’s World Championship was scheduled to be held in North America.

I imagined it for a moment.

The image of Kato greeting me cheerfully at the Arena.

And the sight of reporters’ eyes twinkling as they captured that scene with their cameras.

‘Please, let that not happen…’

I prayed as I began preparing for the World Championship with my teammates.

The ’77 UA New York World Championship.

Magnus proudly broke through the Preliminary Round and secured their spot in the Group Stage.

It was a miracle, the first of its kind for a Korean men’s team.

「UA Men’s National Team, Magnus. First Korean Team to Advance to UA Group Stage.」

「Han Youngin, the Man Writing a Miracle. Part 1 of His Pro Gamer Story.」

The first Korean men’s team to advance to the Group Stage.

And my story, leading Magnus’s whirlwind run, drew interest from many media outlets both at home and abroad.

My existence, as someone who had been in a vegetative state after an accident and then woke up to dominate the League, was bound to attract attention in many ways.

Thanks to this, I received many interview requests both inside and outside the team house, and I did my best to accommodate their requests.

Usually, players who gain fame are busy with training.

They often refuse interviews to focus on the matches, but I didn’t.

The main reason I agreed to their requests was for the development of the Korean UA market.

In an era where you could easily watch overseas Leagues from anywhere in the world as long as you had internet.

The reason foreign reporters wanted to interview me was all for the sake of writing good stories, so I thought that the more time I invested in them, the more opportunities I would have to introduce our team to global fans who didn’t know me.

“Wasn’t it difficult when you returned? There’s a common saying that pro players’ in-game senses drop significantly if they rest from practice for just three days.”

“It’s true that I had some trouble adapting right after being discharged from the hospital. But with effort, I was able to quickly regain my old senses.”

Of course, it was a lie.

I had been with Dami and Yunseuli ever since the accident, so I had never lost my feel for the game in the first place.

But I couldn’t honestly tell people that story, so I had fabricated my own version.

Some reporters even asked me if I had seen heaven or hell when I was unconscious in the hospital.

Instead of heaven, I’d had my fill of coaching players to the bone.

“Then, next question. Han Youngin. Are you aware of your popularity overseas?”

“I’m not quite sure yet.”

“Is that so? You’re probably the most watched male player participating in this year’s World Championship. Just like Seo Dami or Jung Yunseul were at last year’s World Championship.”

Dami and Yunseuli were reborn as global players through last year’s tournament.

Their recognition had increased so much that even among overseas fans, they were known by name.

It was said that their outstanding looks, in addition to their skills, played a part in this, and I was apparently following the same course.

“A video of a New York citizen publicly proposing to you, saying she wants to marry you, has become a hot topic. Have you seen it by any chance?”

“No, I haven’t.”

This was true.

Although Magnus’s chances of advancing to the Tournament were low, I was so focused on practice that I had no time to check the Community.

“According to our investigation, she is the daughter of the Deputy Mayor of New York. Not only that, but Bessie Taylor also posted that she enjoys watching Magnus’s games the most, which became a hot topic.”

I didn’t know who she was, but I was told that Bessie Taylor was one of the hottest female actors in her 20s in Hollywood recently.

The fact that such celebrities were interested in our team, and in me, was something I was very grateful for.

“There’s a lot more I’d like to ask, but since you said you’re not taking questions about your personal life, I’ll move on.”

“Haha. Thank you…”

If reporters tried to ask about my personal life, nine times out of ten it was about Dami and Yunseuli.

If an article like that came out, the attention that had just barely died down would explode again and cause a huge fuss, so I had no choice but to avoid mentioning that topic as much as possible.

In fact, this was also the reason why Dami and Yunseuli didn’t try to meet me near the Arena and quietly kept in touch only through phone calls.

“Thank you so much for the interview today. I heard you’re doing interviews with numerous other media outlets besides us. It’s extremely rare to see players like you these days. Especially players who have come to Worlds.”

It was true that it was extremely rare for a player to devote so much time to interviews not during the Off-Season, but during the Season, and at a world tournament at that.

Thanks to that, the reporters said they got good interview material and asked to shake my hand.

“Ah, this is just a personal question. Magnus is causing a stir in this tournament, but isn’t the biggest topic of interest Kato Mikane?”

“Ah, yes…”

“About who ‘that man’ she mentioned could be. Aren’t you curious, Han Youngin?”

“Um. I’m busy with my team right now… I haven’t had the chance to pay attention to that.”

“Oh, my apologies. I hope you win and advance to the Main Round Tournament.”

“Thank you.”

As I took the reporter’s question, I could feel my heart pounding.

The man Kato loves.

There probably wasn’t a single UA fan who didn’t know about this rumor.

There were even people who, despite being fans of other teams, were hoping for Kamui’s victory because they wanted to know the truth behind the rumor.

What on earth would happen if it was revealed to be me?

And that’s on top of the fact that I was already receiving so much scrutiny for my love life.

I quietly cheered for Dami and Yunseuli in my heart.

It seemed the only way to get through this crisis was for Super Sylph to beat Kamui and win the tournament for the second consecutive time.

After a hard-fought battle, Magnus finished the Group Stage with 1 win and 3 losses.

It was unlucky that we ended up in the group of death, but it was also true that we still needed more time to catch up with the world’s top teams.

I thought that perhaps the results might change in the future if we reinforced the player roster a bit more or if I taught the kids patiently, but it was questionable whether I would still be playing on the field as a player by then.

I was twenty-eight this year.

I wouldn’t be able to play as a player forever.

No matter how much I supplemented my lacking Physical with the Power of the Ley Line, there would be a limit.

After Magnus’s elimination.

I cheered for Super Sylph even more fervently.

Fearing the aftermath, I didn’t even think about secretly helping Dami and Yunseuli.

If I did that and got caught, I couldn’t predict how the other side would react.

If Kato Mikane went on TV and said just a few words like, “The person I love is Han Youngin,” I would be torn to shreds and disappear that very day.

And so, the Final was set.

As everyone expected, the women’s World Championship Final was a showdown between Super Sylph and Kamui.

From the moment Super Sylph and Kamui were placed in different blocks, the Final was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

This year’s Super Sylph had definitely gotten stronger.

This was mainly because Kim Dain, who had given up her spot to Park Chaerin last year and watched from the Bench, had improved her skills significantly (the reason she could grow so quickly was likely due to Coach Park Chaerin’s dedicated efforts), and her shots had become very sharp.

Her level was clearly enough to land a brilliant shot even against World Class players.

In addition, Hwang Jua’s skills had also grown, and now there was no player on Super Sylph who could be called a liability.

If you asked if every player was World Class, the answer was no, but at least they were at a level where no one was just holding the team back.

With the situation like this, Super Sylph was able to add one more tactic to their arsenal.

The Double Sniper Operation.

They had never used it in a real match, but I already knew about it from my calls with the girls.

The combination of the much-improved Kim Dain and Coach Park Chaerin.

I thought that with that much, they could show a highly polished game like the Sniper tactics that Russia used to be proud of in the past.

‘Seo Dami! Jung Yunseul! Super Sylph! Fighting!’

And so, with a prayer in my heart, I eagerly watched the Final between the two teams.

It was a very important match that my future depended on.

-You’re not even going to say congratulations?

“Congratulations… on your win.”

-Geez. Do you really have to say it like that? It’s like you’re not interested in me at all.

“No, that’s not it…”

-Whatever. Anyway, I won, and I have some free time, so let’s see each other.

I really wanted Super Sylph to win.

But unfortunately, the winner of this year’s World Championship was Kamui.

Despite Kim Dain and Park Chaerin’s valiant efforts.

Kato Mikane ultimately won, even blocking Dami and Yunseuli’s amazing Chain Attack.

Right after Kamui’s victory, I was so worried about what shocking things would happen next that I forgot to send her a congratulatory message.

That’s why I got an earful from Kato, who contacted me first.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask what we would talk about when we met.

The internet was already in an uproar, saying that since Kato won, the identity of that man would be revealed.

「After I win, I’m going to go see the person I love. I might even take a break from my career as a player for a while.」

-Lover-girl Kato is coming!!!

-Who on earth is the man who receives Kato’s love?

-I’m so curious!

-Ah, but her skills are too good. She’s still young to retire.

-Can’t she just do both? It’s too sad to think we won’t be able to see such a great player at the World Championship anymore!

I prepared my heart for the coming storm.

There was nothing else I could do…