Chapter 29

The first broadcast, which had over fifteen thousand peak viewers.

It was a surefire way to get publicity.

“Dami. Are you streaming today too?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. We’ve got a real popular star on our team!”

The team’s reaction to the broadcast was very positive.

What player would hate it if their team’s recognition went up?

It was all a measure of popularity and a foundation for a salary increase.

Besides, hadn’t the atmosphere been incredibly warm by the end of yesterday’s stream?

The general mood was that as long as the recognition wasn’t gained by creating a ton of anti-fans, it was all good.

“For now, I’m focusing the streams on the Legendary Challenge, but after a while, I’m thinking of filming our training sessions too.”

“For real?”

Hwang Jua dropped the spoon she was using to scoop her soup into the bowl.

“You’re going to show that horrible disgrace to people?”

“Dami. Let’s reconsider showing our training sessions…”

It was so bad that even the quiet Shin Aram advised me to rethink it.

To be fair, it was something the female players would be concerned about.

The time when players looked their most disheveled and strange was when they were writhing in the pain of training.

But I absolutely wanted to show it.

That was the only way the fans would know just how hard we were working.

Of course, I didn’t plan on revealing all the training details.

Just something like a quick, passing cut?

It might even end up being just an interview in the training room.

And so, after the meal, it was training time.

I was fiddling with my phone camera, thinking I’d casually get some interviews with the players.

Bae Yungi, who had been watching my movements closely, asked, “Dami, what are you doing right now?”

I told him the truth.

That I was planning to interview the players for the stream.

Then, Bae Yungi said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Not… a good idea?”

“This isn’t just anywhere, it’s the training room. Almost no teams reveal their training details, and I’d like you to be a bit more careful.”

It’s not like I was going to film the actual training.

I was just going to sit down my sweaty teammates and interview them, so what did that have to do with keeping training details private?

I tried explaining that it was just an interview, filled with that question, but it was no use.

Even when I said the Coach had given me permission.

“I’ll speak to the Coach again, so you go and focus on your training.”

Training management was entirely the Director’s responsibility, and in the Director’s absence, the Coach’s.

And right now, the Coach was absent.

If Bae Yungi opposed it to the end, I wouldn’t be able to do the interviews.

<He’s just picking a fight.>

Dami also muttered complainingly.

Anyone could see that Bae Yungi was tackling the issue without reason.

No, it wasn’t without reason.

I was currently on Bae Yungi’s bad side.

For the reason that I had encouraged my teammates, saying let’s give it our all.

How nonsensical was this?

A coach who should be working for the team’s development was instead holding it back.

‘No, but you have to say something that makes sense for me to listen. How can I listen to you when you’re spouting nonsense like it’s not possible because they’re female players.’

Frankly, I didn’t think my coaching skills were inferior to Bae Yungi’s.

Bae Yungi had said our girls couldn’t handle the current training load, but reality was different.

From Shin Aram to Jung Yunseul.

Not a single person was falling behind; they were all handling the training well.

If we were to fact-check, the appropriate training load Bae Yungi had set for a female team was set far too low below their limits.

This was something I had figured out for sure while living with Dami and teaching Kim Harim, who had been at a third-division level.

‘And why is there so little lower body training?’

I could understand adjusting the intensity of upper body training.

The difference in upper body muscular strength between men and women was well over double.

But the lower body was different.

Even women’s lower body strength wasn’t that far behind men’s.

If one had to measure the difference, would it be about 20 percent?

Besides, hadn’t I been called up to the national team a few times already?

The data I had seen and confirmed with my own eyes about what kind of training the female players who wore the national representative mark did was inside my head.

This meant that I could lead our girls based on much more accurate figures than Bae Yungi, who was stubbornly insisting it was impossible based on his personal standards or simply because they were women.

Of course, the job of a coach and the job of a player are different, so there’s a need for mutual respect.

I am just a player on this team, not a coach.

The person who should prioritize and make decisions about teaching the girls is Bae Yungi, not me.

But if Bae Yungi was stunting our girls’ growth with flawed reasoning and mindset, shouldn’t I, of all people, make a move?

This was something only I, who knew Bae Yungi’s training methods were wrong, could do.

‘For now, let’s back down here.’

Opposing the coach right here and now was a poor move.

I decided to retreat and wait for the next opportunity.

A better chance would come if I waited.

Only Hwang Jua, who had been preparing for the interview to show the fans, showed a hint of disappointment.

Evening in-game training time.

Today, too, we were focused on the game, playing team rank matches.

As we established a certain framework and our win rate improved, the level of the teams we faced was also gradually rising.

Now, it was more common to face a pro team when we queued for a match.

Although it was an off-season game, the atmosphere was no less intense than a real match.

Everyone was motivated and engaged in training, and I, too, was pouring out my abilities for the sake of victory.

Whether it was team rank or solo rank, I had to win to succeed in the mission to reach the Legendary Tier.

Of course, since this was strictly training, I didn’t resort to risky tactics aimed solely at winning, nor did I try to solve everything by myself.

What was important in training was the growth of all team members.

“Yunseul! Now!”

“Roger!”

As soon as I gave the signal, Jung Yunseul shot forward with Acceleration, and I ran to the opposite side, beginning our planned play.

With two fast Attackers, the variety of attack patterns we could execute was much greater than with just one.

Because Yunseuli had rushed out first, I could see the enemy’s attention shifting slightly in her direction.

Thanks to that, my side had an easier attack on the control point.

I popped a smoke grenade and entered the dogfight.

‘The top priority target is the Supporter!’

When multiple people were mixed in an engagement, there was a priority list of who to hit first, and the very first was the Supporter.

Based on the skill level of the First Division League.

When an Attacker pulled the trigger, taking down an opponent in one go was not as easy as one might think.

Once you reach the First Division League, everyone knows how to use Advanced Mode to some extent, and once they start pushing their Acceleration to the limit, there are often cases where it’s difficult to even hit their body, let alone get a headshot.

What happens then?

The enemy Attacker doesn’t die in one hit and is left with some health on their gauge, and this ambiguous health bar can be restored to new by a Supporter’s healing.

In other words, the Supporter’s survival was the key to the team’s combat sustainability.

I activated Red Sight, my vision skill, and aimed for the head of the Supporter hiding behind the enemy Defender.

If the opponents were upper-bracket pros from the First Division, the probability of this attack succeeding would be less than half.

The probability of a lone Attacker breaking through an enemy Defender’s blind spot to cleanly take out a Supporter was lower than one might think.

So what should be done?

The best method was to get help from a Sniper who had taken a firing stance from another position.

“Kim Dain!”

In an engagement where every second counted, giving a detailed request was impossible.

I shouted Kim Dain’s name, and she sent the promised support fire into the smoke screen.

The bullet fired from the anti-materiel sniper rifle broke the sound barrier and penetrated the smoke.

It struck the Defender’s shield faster than the sound.

The power of the sniper rifle, with a double enhancement skill, was truly overwhelming.

For a moment, the enemy Defender’s shield wavered, and at the same time, my Arc-Life Rifle emitted a flash of light.

Bang, bang!

The two-round burst fire attack brilliantly struck the Defender’s leg and simultaneously pierced the enemy Supporter’s torso.

It was thanks to the attack-specialized rifle having an enhancement skill on it.

This was the turning point of the match.

As the Supporter fell, the enemy’s momentum began to break significantly.

“High-five!”

Set over.

I high-fived Kim Dain, sharing the joy of victory.

“You! You punk! Are you going to keep calling your Unni’s name so casually!”

“It was an urgent situation.”

Kim Dain was just joking.

Just calling out a name when a call was urgent was a very common thing in UA.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Hwang Jua, who returned to the waiting room a step later, scratched her head and apologized.

It was because she hadn’t been able to provide cover fire for Yunseul during Jung Yunseul’s earlier attack.

“It’s okay. You’ll get better with practice.”

“That can happen during a game.”

Jung Yunseul, who had collapsed because the heal didn’t come in time, also said it was no big deal.

Hwang Jua was currently on the verge of a major change.

She was attempting the process of switching from Spray Heal to Long-Range Heal.

Typically, there are two main patterns for a Supporter to heal allies.

The first is using a spray skill that heals allies in an area of effect.

The Spray Heal skill pours a healing beam over a wide area, making it easy to heal allies.

That’s because even if you just spray it roughly, your allies will usually be within the healing range.

There is a targeted healing skill that’s even easier to land than this, but it’s a skill that’s unusable in the pro scene, so no one uses it.

The reason was simple.

A skill with too low a difficulty level would have its power lowered accordingly.

All skills in UA were designed to achieve a proper balance, considering all factors like power and difficulty of use.

If there was a skill that was both easy to use and powerful, wouldn’t all users just use that one skill?

To prevent that from happening, the developers gave difficult skills enough of a return to make them feel worth using.

So, what healing method was more difficult than Spray Heal?

It was the non-targeted long-range healing skill that Hwang Jua was currently practicing, Heal Shot.

Heal Shot was a skill where the healing effect would only activate if you hit an ally with a shot.

What if you miss? You just waste mana and get no effect.

So, properly handling this skill was no ordinary feat.

Hitting a stationary ally was still easy, but hitting an Attacker who was using Acceleration and rampaging among enemies was a truly difficult task.

Everyone knows Heal Shot is difficult.

If you’re unlucky, you might even hit an opponent and end up helping the enemy.

The problem was that to become a Supporter who could hold their own in the First Division League, you absolutely had to master Heal Shot.

Jung Yunseul’s use of Advanced Mode.

Hwang Jua’s handling of Heal Shot.

Kim Dain’s judgment to read the game and shoot first.

Shin Aram’s Strength Training.

For when we got promoted to the First Division League.

I coordinated our opinions to cultivate the necessary skills so that we wouldn’t struggle too much with adapting.

If we didn’t go through this process now because it was difficult, Super Sylph would just become a match point vending machine even if we managed to get promoted to the First Division League.

Of course, it might look like we were struggling a bit right now.

Even though we were working harder than before, our training game win rate showed no signs of increasing.

But as I watched the training, I was certain.

This was the right direction for the team’s development.

It should have been…

‘Why does this bastard keep throwing a fit.’

After the game, it was time for the coach’s feedback.

In that spot, Bae Yungi said this.

“Why are you all suddenly playing in ways you haven’t before?”

Bae Yungi’s first target was Hwang Jua.

“Jua, why are you suddenly using Heal Shot?”

“Uh… well. That’s what everyone does, right?”

“Who does.”

“…In the First Division.”

“Jua. Are we a First Division League team right now?”

Bae Yungi’s tone of voice didn’t rise, nor was he angry.

Just smiling, but with certainty.

He was pressuring Hwang Jua.

“You remember how Yunseul died earlier because she couldn’t get support because you suddenly used Heal Shot, right?”

“…Yes.”

“If you had used Acceleration and followed behind Yunseul, healing her like you usually do. Would she still have died?”

“…No.”

“Jua, you need to know this. The things you tried to do for the team can actually end up harming the team.”

Bae Yungi’s gaslighting began.

He was saying that trying to get better was good, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to good results as a pro.

“Can you tell me why you suddenly decided to change your skill setup?”

“……”

Hwang Jua clamped her mouth shut.

The reason she had started practicing new skills and tactics was, of course, because of me.

It was something we had discussed in a meeting I had gathered with the team, saying let’s try this and that to become a better team.

And Bae Yungi must have guessed that fact as well.

He was asking even though he knew.

To pressure me, and the players who were practicing a new build without the coach’s permission.

“Let’s put the other girls aside. Aram, I’m very disappointed in you. As the Leader, you should at least know the proper order of things.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“If you’re going to consult among yourselves and create your own training methods, what need is there for a coach on the team?”

“……”

“I’m not scolding you for your passion. I’m saying the order was wrong.”

Sophistry.

If we had asked for permission first, would the situation have been different?

Probably not.

If he had truly thought it was a good idea, he would have told us to continue with the current changes, even while scolding us.

But Bae Yungi, who had pointed out the changes in the players starting with Hwang Jua, ultimately ordered them to revert everything back to the way it was.

“Starting tomorrow, we’re going back to the way we’ve been training for the past year. Got it? It’s because Coach thinks you’re not ready yet.”

My insides began to boil at Bae Yungi’s tone, as if he were reasoning with a child.

What the hell is with this bastard?

Does he have no conscience?

No matter how many problems the team had, if you ruined a season with good players, you should start by reflecting.

Or change the training methods.

Or suggest some kind of solution.

But he was doing none of those, and instead saying let’s do it again for another year just like we did this year?

Is he trying to say ‘we can’t be wrong, so we’ll just do it again’ or what?

If we trust you and train, our girls will just get older and their prime will be over.

You son of a bitch!!!

<Oh, Oppa, calm down!>

Dami, feeling my blazing anger, hastily stopped me.

It was a desperate effort to prevent the catastrophe of ‘son of a bitch’ flying out of her mouth.

As I clenched my fists, suppressing my anger.

Bae Yungi looked at me.

The guy who had criticized all the team members but hadn’t said a single word to me until the end.

The bastard said nothing.

Instead, he spoke only with his eyes.

How dare a mere player challenge a coach?

Making kids like you listen to me is a piece of cake—is what they said.

In that moment, a cannon-firing sound went off in my head. Bang, bang!

Either I die, or that bastard dies.

It was the signal for an all-out war that would only end when one of us was dead.