Chapter 23

‘Wasn’t this bastard really trying to get me flamed?’

<Looking closely, she did do as she was told.>

‘······.’

Because of Park Chaerin’s stream, my name was all over the community all day.

With even the Gaia viewers, who wouldn’t have had a speck of interest in me, joining in, the number of mentions was truly explosive.

If anything, the reaction from UA fans who had at least heard my name before was on the calmer side.

-Seo Dami. You again?

-I’m starting to get attached. Really.

-How does a player from the third division boonies get her name out so much?

-Ahem. She’s not in the third division anymore~. Call her a Second Division League player.

-I never dreamed she’d use even Gaia to sell her name recognition.

-If this is viral marketing, I think she chose the wrong profession.

-FR. She should’ve just been a reporter.

On her stream that day, Park Chaerin explained what she had gone through in considerable detail.

Why she ended up dueling me, and how she lost the game.

Naturally, the viewers didn’t want to believe it at first.

It was because they couldn’t imagine that Park Chaerin, even if she had retired, would lose a one-on-one FPS match to a fresh-faced young player.

-It’s because Chaerin hasn’t fully adapted yet.

-If she buckled down and practiced a bit, she’s a kid who’d do much better ㅇㅇ;;

At first, the dominant opinion was that Park Chaerin had been caught off guard because she hadn’t yet adapted to the game.

But after she released the apology and personally set out to verify her skills, that opinion vanished in an instant.

-What is this···?

-I don’t know this game well, but isn’t this pretty good?

-I’ve played UA for 5 years. This isn’t just pretty good, it’s fucking good.

-So you have to be this good to try and go pro;

-Look at how clean her shots are ㄷㄷ;

Park Chaerin played Rank Games, showing off her skills to her heart’s content for the viewers.

And those skills were at a level that one could never say was bad, not even as an empty compliment.

Top-tier players dropped like flies from her sniping.

Having shown her fans the unfiltered skill that had earned her Grandmaster in just a fortnight, Park Chaerin looked thoroughly refreshed.

“Anyway, that’s what happened, so I’ll see you on stream from now on. Bye~!”

A fiery dump of firewood.

Thanks to her, I had to suffer through countless calls until late at night.

They were mostly from UA teams that had quickly caught on to the topic.

-Seo Dami? By any chance, have you not signed a contract yet?

-This is the Red Phoenix team, we contacted you before. We’re contacting you again as we believe we can increase the contract terms.

Park Chaerin’s first Universe Arena stream, where she showed off enough skill for a UA pro debut.

And me, who had crushed her in a one-on-one.

It must have been a very mouth-watering topic for pro team officials.

However, I had already more or less made up my mind.

Just as I was thinking I should hurry up and finish the contract, if only because it was a hassle, a call came from Super Sylph as well.

It was Coach Lee Gangseon.

“Yes. I’ve got the call.”

-Hello. Seo Dami. This is Coach Lee Gangseon from Super Sylph. I hope all is well.

Coach Lee Gangseon’s voice, calling late at night, sounded anxious for some reason.

It was understandable.

Wasn’t this a huge topic?

For the Off-Season fans who needed something to sink their teeth into, and with firewood that could be used for both Gaia and Universe Arena, the reaction was bound to be hot.

The coach was probably worried I would go to another team.

There was also a mood of re-evaluation regarding the value of a player named Seo Dami because of this incident.

There were even teams on the Gaia community forums asking who Seo Dami was and showing interest in recruiting her, so it was natural for the coach to be on edge.

Realistically, it was also impossible to recruit a player more outstanding than me in the current Second Division League Free Agent market.

Coach Lee Gangseon came in with a completely deferential attitude, saying that besides the Order role, he could meet any conditions I wanted as much as possible and asked for a positive review.

“I understand. Then let’s talk again tomorrow morning about the contract, Coach. Yes.”

After hanging up, a wave of exhaustion washed over me.

When I was with Magnus, I had always been in one place, so I didn’t know, but having meetings with each team about contracts was more tiring than I thought.

<Are you going to change the contract terms?>

‘Yeah.’

<How?>

Didn’t they offer to adjust the terms first anyway?

There seemed to be no need to insist on the original terms when they were offering to give more.

‘At first, I thought about just asking them to match it at exactly 400 million Won.’

<Yes.>

‘That seemed less fun than I thought, so I’m thinking of adding an option.’

An option.

A system where certain achievable goals are set, and if the player achieves them, an additional bonus is paid on top of the contracted base salary.

Usually in the sports market, options were commonly attached by the team as a risk-aversion measure in case the player underperformed, but in this case, I held the reins.

Just as Dami was about to ask what kind of option I was planning to add, my father, who was watching TV in the living room, called for me.

“Dami.”

“Did you call?”

“You were talking loudly, have you pretty much decided on a team?”

I had been on the phone while eating fruit in the kitchen, and my voice must have been a little loud.

When I said yes, my father’s eyes sparkled a little.

“Which team is it?”

“Are you curious?”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to know.”

“You are curious.”

“Ahem.”

“Super Sylph.”

“I see. If you sign the contract, will you be moving into the team house right away?”

“I think so. I spent a lot of time looking for a new team, too.”

Unable to use a proper training room, I had been frequenting a nearby gym or running in the park, but it was hard to consider that sufficient training.

The only time of the year when you could train so hard that you couldn’t even play the game properly was right now, during the Off-Season.

Now that I had decided on a team, I was planning to go hard on the workouts I hadn’t been able to do.

“If you make new friends, bring them home sometime.”

“My teammates?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be nice to treat them to a meal?”

<Think carefully before you answer. Father doesn’t make empty promises. If you say you will, you absolutely have to bring them.>

‘Really? Then I’ll just bring them.’

What’s so hard about that?

I replied that I would.

My father, seeming pleased, nodded his head and told me to go to bed early since I must be tired.

“Then, good night.”

“Ahem-hem. You’re a grown girl.”

Before going up to my room, I gave my father, who was sitting on the sofa, a light hug from behind and then headed to my bedroom.

He might have been embarrassed, but it was clear he was very pleased.

It was only natural, really.

What father in the world would hate it when his adorable daughter acts cute?

It’s difficult if you think of him as someone else’s father.

But if you think of it as providing Fan Service to the world’s closest fan, it was a surprisingly easy task.

<I’m going crazy…! Stop raising the hurdles!>

‘Dami. Is a hug difficult?’

<It is!>

‘Tsk, tsk. You have a long way to go.’

To think there was someone grumbling when the family atmosphere had become so harmonious.

I thought I needed to set aside a day and lecture her once more on the spirit of Fan Service.

“I want an option equivalent to 100 percent of my annual salary if we win the League.”

The next morning.

I said this in a meeting with Coach Lee Gangseon and the team’s Front Office officials.

“A 100 percent option… for winning?”

“I don’t think it’s an excessive condition, is it?”

Since the team was founded, Super Sylph’s best-ever result was 4th place.

The rest were mid-table finishes of 5th and 7th.

To lead such a team to victory and receive a bonus of a few hundred million.

I didn’t think it was an excessive condition at all.

“Then, upon winning, the amount Seo Dami will receive becomes 700 million Won…”

“Yes. I saw that the Sylph team’s best result so far is 4th place. In other words, you’d be spending 700 million Won for one year to win, but considering the popularity, market size, and economic effects you can enjoy by moving up to the First Division, I believe it’s a reasonable proposal.”

Super Sylph.

A bonus of 350 million as a reward for leading a team that had never even set foot in a Promotion-Relegation Match to victory seemed like just the right motivation.

Of course, the Front Office on the other side seemed a bit flustered, as if this was something they hadn’t expected.

They don’t have to pay it if we don’t win anyway, so stingy.

When I asked if I should step out if they needed time to think, Coach Lee Gangseon, who had been whispering with a Front Office employee, looked at me and opened his mouth.

“We accept. Let’s sign the contract.”

“Good! You’ve made a really good choice.”

When I was with Magnus, my annual salary was 1.5 billion Won.

Of course, Seo Dami wasn’t a multi-year veteran of the First Division League, and her physical abilities were still developing, so her performance wouldn’t match that.

But what was certain was that the plays I could show with this body would definitely be worth that price.

‘Maybe in terms of name recognition alone, she might have already surpassed me.’

While living as Seo Dami, her name recognition, at least, was maintaining an overwhelming growth trend.

By now, most UA fans clearly remembered my name.

I was a rather bizarre player who, despite being just a Second Division League player, surpassed First Division League players in terms of mentions.

‘And this kind of recognition is a definite help in growing the team.’

The size of a Second Division League arena was at most 15,000 seats.

I was confident that if I just threw out a few more big pieces of bait during the remaining Off-Season, I could fill the arena with fans this time as well.

“Then, I look forward to working with you, Seo Dami.”

“We agreed to speak comfortably, didn’t we?”

“Ah, right.”

“I look forward to working with you too, Coach.”

“Alright, everyone, a round of applause for Seo Dami, who has become part of our family starting today!”

“Woooah-!”

“I told you, right? I had a strong feeling from the moment I first saw her!”

Coach Lee Gangseon, who had brought me to the players who were in the middle of training, had them pause their workout for a moment and announced my joining.

The players responded with applause, and I stated my name and my resolve to work hard in the future.

“I’m Seo Dami. I will do my best for Super Sylph’s ‘championship’ from now on.”

“Championship-!”

“Championship!!!”

When Kim Dain and Hwang Jua raised their hands and led the mood, the other two also showed a little bit of happiness.

What was certain was that the atmosphere was 100 times better than at fucking Universe Cat.

“Coach! Then since Dami is here today, are we taking a break from training!”

“No. That won’t be happening.”

“Aww.”

Hwang Jua’s attempt to use me as an excuse to skip training ended in failure.

“Dain! Today, keep an eye on Dami so she can adapt well.”

“Okay.”

“This is our Coach Bae Yungi. He has a knack for looking after the players, so feel free to ask him anything.”

“Hello. I’m Bae Yungi.”

“Hello, Coach. Please speak comfortably with me too, Coach.”

“Yes. I will once we get more comfortable.”

Coach Bae Yungi with an awkward smile.

If it were my original body, I would have acted friendly and said, “It’s nice to see you here!”

But now that I was Seo Dami, doing something like that would confirm I was a crazy bitch, so I regretfully decided to wait for the next opportunity.

“Alright, let’s get back to training! We haven’t finished the morning routine yet. Let’s go, let’s go!”

“That was short-lived.”

Hwang Jua grumbled.

The intensity of Off-Season workouts was incomparable to training during the season.

During the season, training is adjusted to a moderate level to prevent muscle soreness from affecting game condition, but during this period, if you didn’t have muscle soreness, it was as if you hadn’t worked out at all.

“It’s no problem for Dami to start working out right away, right? If you think you might get hurt, stretch first.”

“Yes. I went for a run this morning, so it’s fine to start right away.”

At Coach Lee Gangseon’s words, I immediately jumped into the training the players were doing.

It felt like the player’s clock that had been stopped was finally ticking again, and my heart even pounded a little.

“Alright, grab the ropes again.”

At the coach’s instruction, the players approached the wall.

On the wall, a large, thick rope was draped over a post, folded in half.

This was an exercise called the battle rope, where you hold the two ends of the rope, one in each hand, and shake them.

At a glance, you might think, “What’s so hard about just waving a rope around?” but if you try it yourself, you’ll realize it’s a surprisingly grueling exercise.

“Don’t bend your chest! Bend your knees!”

A full-body workout that develops upper and lower body muscular strength and endurance, and stimulates the entire core musculature.

Universe Cat didn’t have ropes, so I skipped it, but it felt good to do the battle ropes after a long time.

‘This is it!’

<You like training that much…?>

‘Can’t you feel it? This tingling sensation of the load.’

Huhu. To think this much load is applied just by shaking it this much.

Dami. You still have a long way to go.

I will make you a top-class player.

As I giggled at the breathlessness and the tingling pain in my arms, Dami gradually fell silent.

‘Hehehe.’

<Please stop laughing like an idiot. You didn’t even notice Dain Unni staring just now, did you.>

‘Ah, really?’

The information was that Kim Dain had flinched at the sight of me smiling foolishly while shaking the ropes.

It was then.

I heard Hwang Jua whispering with Kim Dain.

“I felt this after watching yesterday’s stream clip, but I think Dami is even more of a psycho than I thought…!”

<N-No, I’m not!>

Hwang Jua’s assessment was that I was a fresh talent befitting our team.

And so, my pleasant start at Super Sylph began.

“Ah, for fuck’s sake-. My arms are gonna fall off.”

After training, during the break before mealtime.

Hwang Jua muttered as she massaged her trembling arms.

“Unni! Can’t we just eat without showering for today?”

“No.”

Hwang Jua asked the Leader, Shin Aram.

The unwritten rule was to shower after training, but she was proposing they just eat because she was lazy.

Of course, she was rejected flatly.

“Sigh. Then let’s just wash up quick and eat.”

The players trudged up to go shower.

At this moment, I habitually kept my distance from them.

At Universe Cat, I was used to showering late by myself and doing my own autonomous training.

But it was when I realized that I couldn’t do that today that the thought that I was in big trouble crossed my mind.

Kim Dain looked back and asked, “What are you doing over there~.”

“Dami. Let’s go wash up together.”

“I-I can do it later…”

“What nonsense is that. The shower room is huge. C’mon.”

Hwang Jua, with a vigorous stride, went behind me, hooked her arms under my armpits, and grabbed me.

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’

A heavy weight pressed against my back as Kim Dain pulled from the front and Hwang Jua pushed from behind, and I was dragged to the shower room.

The thought that this might be the biggest crisis of my career as a player flashed through my mind.