Chapter 38

Before the season began.

From the First to the Third Division Leagues.

Articles about the opening matches poured out, regardless of the league level.

The team that drew the most attention in the Second Division League was, of course, Super Sylph.

They had recruited the biggest free agent, Seo Dami, and because of her, an incredible amount of attention had been focused on them during the off-season.

「What will Super Sylph’s record be this year, led by Seo Dami?」

「Industry insiders rate Super Sylph’s chances of promotion highly.」

According to the articles, Super Sylph’s chances of promotion this year seemed quite high.

It was an unbelievable level of expectation for a team that had placed 8th the previous year.

Wasn’t it just one player that had changed?

But it was also true that this one player had drawn an immense amount of interest from the league’s fans.

“Do you really think Super Sylph can get promoted this year?”

“I believe they have more than enough potential.”

“The weight on Seo Dami’s shoulders must be heavy.”

“Seo Dami is a player who can bear that weight.”

The weekly UA corner.

It was a segment where the Second Division League commentary team shared their overall thoughts on the week’s league results, but this year, predictions were fierce even before the season began.

Here, too, the topic was naturally Seo Dami, and Second Division League Commentator Kim Junwoo evaluated her as follows.

“Seo Dami is special. She has the skill and charm to capture people’s attention. I believe the Legendary Challenge in December proved that.”

“Hahaha. It seems Commentator Kim Junwoo has already become a fan of Seo Dami.”

“If I weren’t a commentator, I might have been.”

Due to the nature of commentators broadcasting many games for various teams, they couldn’t openly support one team.

If they didn’t provide neutral commentary, they would be flooded with complaint calls.

Commentator Kim Junwoo denied being a personal fan of Seo Dami’s to the end.

However, he couldn’t hide the fact that he became much more talkative whenever the topic of Super Sylph or Seo Dami came up.

“Well, now that the opening match schedule is out, what is your prediction for Super Sylph’s game?”

“I believe the opening match is an important game that can predict the results of this season.”

Commentator Kim Junwoo chose the opening match as the one to watch.

His explanation was that while it was significant for being the first game of the season, more meaning should be placed on the opposing team.

“Super Sylph’s opponent for the opening match is, coincidentally, Star Prism. You could say the two teams already had a preliminary skirmish during the transfer market.”

Commentator Kim Junwoo, who claimed not to be a personal fan, went on to explain in detail how Seo Dami had turned down Star Prism’s offer.

And the process of why Park Chaerin ended up joining Super Sylph as a coach.

“Star Prism’s rank last season was 3rd. Although they lost the Promotion-Relegation Match, it was a game that showed the team’s potential. On the other hand, Super Sylph finished the season in 8th place. Objectively speaking, the outcome of this game is clear.”

At his words, all the participants in the weekly corner nodded.

Although it was true that Super Sylph had recruited an outstanding player in Seo Dami, they agreed that it would be difficult for one person to turn the tide of battle because the existing difference in strength was too severe.

“Then, Commentator Kim Junwoo, what do you think Sylph’s win rate is for the opening match?”

“I believe they have the upper hand.”

“You seem to rate Sylph’s potential very highly?”

“If Super Sylph is to be promoted this year, Star Prism is an opponent they must overcome.”

The only teams that could go straight to the First Division League were 1st and 2nd place.

Only the two teams that play in the finals.

If a team placed lower, at 3rd, they would be given the qualification to play a Promotion-Relegation Match against the 10th-place team from the First Division League, but winning that was no easy task either.

In fact, hadn’t Star Prism lost their Promotion-Relegation Match?

Whether it was a direct promotion or through the Promotion-Relegation Match.

It was clear that to get on the train to the First Division, they had to overcome Star Prism.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what the result will be.”

And so, with everyone’s attention focused on them, the league began.

The main arena for the Second Division League.

Unlike the Third Division, it was a large arena with a capacity of fifteen thousand ticketed spectators.

The Second Division League’s stadium wasn’t just different from the Third Division’s in scale.

The Second Division League also differed in the number of main arenas; unlike the Third Division, which ran its games in a single arena, the Second Division operated two stadiums simultaneously once the league season started.

What did this mean?

It meant that the six games scheduled for today could be split in half and run concurrently.

Compared to the Third Division, where the league started at five o’clock and everyone just craned their necks waiting for the previous game to end, the progression was twice as fast.

Stadium Sparkle, and Glory.

Today, Super Sylph’s game was assigned to Stadium Sparkle, and they were given the first slot out of the three games.

On this day, the main arena’s fifteen thousand seats were completely filled.

At the news of the sold-out opening match, Director Lee Gangseon beamed.

It was true that the opening match drew a lot of attention, but not every team could sell out.

In fact, half of the teams today had tickets that went unsold, and even Super Sylph had a fair number of empty seats last year.

“Alright, don’t be nervous. Just show them exactly what you’ve prepared. Got it?”

The players waited in the waiting room for the game to start.

Director Lee Gangseon told them not to be nervous.

“You hear that? Today, you are the stars!”

Just as he said, the cheers of fans shouting Super Sylph’s name echoed clearly from outside the waiting room.

“The other side is no joke either, you know?”

Hwang Jua giggled.

If you listened closely, the cheers for Star Prism were just as formidable as those for Super Sylph.

The ticket-booking competition.

Because both Seo Dami and Park Chaerin had turned down their offers, Star Prism had a really hard time filling the vacancy left by their retired player.

They eventually managed to complete their entry by recruiting a replacement player, but from the Star Prism fans’ perspective, they couldn’t hate Super Sylph more.

-Isn’t it because of those fucking bastards that our team’s lineup got so screwed this season?

-Kill them, no matter what!

-Park Chaerin is the same kind of bitch. If you’re not going to be a pro, then don’t. Why crawl back in as a coach?

-Didn’t the two of them plan this from the start to ruin our team?

All sorts of stories were flying around, claiming it was a deliberate plan or that they were targeting Star Prism.

Even though anyone could tell it made no sense with just a little thought.

Whatever they said.

The atmosphere in the Super Sylph team’s waiting room was just very peaceful.

“Let’s get some fighting spirit going and head out~.”

30 seconds before the game started.

When the signal appeared, Park Chaerin had the players stand up and massaged their shoulders.

“What’s this. Dain, why are your shoulders so stiff! Are you nervous?”

“N-No?”

“Hey, hey. If you just do as we practiced, our win rate is 200 percent!”

At Park Chaerin’s bold declaration, Kim Dain’s expression loosened into a grin.

From January to March.

The past three months had been a grueling time for everyone on the Sylph team.

There wasn’t a single person who hadn’t thrown up while training, and everyone’s body would tremble as if struck by lightning after the day’s work was done.

With Park Chaerin and even Han Youngin.

When two people who had a taste of the national team level ramped up the training, it became an extremely hard regimen.

At one point, Hwang Jua whined that this was no way for a person to live and that she couldn’t do it, begging to be transferred instead, but she quieted down before Park Chaerin’s iron fist.

For reference, Park Chaerin was 175cm tall and exuded an incredible aura when she was angry.

She may not have had a career as a UA pro, but she was someone who had already reached the pinnacle in another sport, so her very attitude toward the game was different.

“You guys! Stop your whining. Do you think it’s common for a team in the lower leagues, not even a First Division team, to get this much backing and support?”

Always be grateful to the team and to the fans.

And work hard.

You have to pave the way well before you turn twenty to reach the top as a player.

Park Chaerin repeated the attitudes and postures a player should have until their ears were ringing.

Was it thanks to her insane pressure?

Hwang Jua was able to level up significantly during the off-season.

If before she was just a playful and mischievous friend, now she had enough skill to put on a show.

“You guys over there are good too, right~?”

Park Chaerin, who had been massaging her favorite pupil Kim Dain’s shoulders, looked at Seo Dami.

With a limp expression, Seo Dami was receiving a massage from Shin Aram.

Shin Aram. Twenty-three this year.

Seo Dami. Nineteen this year.

Considering the age difference, it was a little strange, but Shin Aram had come to trust and rely on Seo Dami greatly during the off-season.

She couldn’t help it.

While conducting lessons on how to become a better Defender, Seo Dami had shown Shin Aram an incomprehensible level of skill.

She knew better than anyone that her skills improved by leaps and bounds when she trained according to the teachings.

Moreover, when playing the game, Seo Dami’s mental fortitude was so solid that you could believe she was a player on the verge of retirement, not a nineteen-year-old.

So what did age matter?

Shin Aram now considered Seo Dami a dependable pillar in her heart.

She even sometimes felt like she could call her Unni.

“Yep. We’re good over here too~.”

It was when Seo Dami gave Park Chaerin an OK sign.

Shin Aram suddenly gave Seo Dami a tight hug.

“Huh? Unni?”

“Dami. Thank you.”

“……?”

The training was definitely not easy.

It was at a level where it was hard just to take care of oneself.

And yet, Seo Dami had taken care of her teammates and achieved a level-up for the entire team.

Shin Aram was so grateful for that.

So much so that she felt she had to hug her right now.

As her leader hugged her tightly, Seo Dami looked around with a flustered expression.

She was a little embarrassed by the situation, but the people around her seemed to find it heartwarming.

Perhaps any spectator watching the waiting room right now would have the same thought.

Ah, this team has a really good atmosphere.

At the very least, they won’t screw up a game because of discord.

As Shin Aram hugged Seo Dami in such a warm atmosphere, Jung Yunseul, not to be outdone, clung to the two of them.

While Shin Aram, being the older one, controlled her affection for Seo Dami, Jung Yunseul was the type to cling to her openly.

Watching Seo Dami’s face turn red from being sandwiched in front and back, Park Chaerin pushed Hwang Jua and Kim Dain forward, telling them to go hug Seo Dami too.

“Sometimes, starting like this doesn’t seem so bad.”

And so, a truly bizarre scene unfolded, with everyone shouting their fighting spirit with their arms spread wide, centered around Seo Dami.

“One. Two. Three!”

“Super Sylph!”

“Fighting!”

It was only natural that the fans watching Seo Dami, stuck in the middle with a red face, would giggle.

Set 1 began.

The battlefield was One-on-One, Nicaea Research Station.

A menacing aura flowed from the eyes of the Star Prism players, who started first in the Red Team’s Attacker position.

‘We’ll show you what’s what!’

Star Prism.

The team that had tried to fill the void left by a veteran player’s retirement with either Park Chaerin or Seo Dami.

However, trouble erupted, and both turned down the offers. Having missed the recruitment timing, Star Prism was barely able to maintain their strength, let alone enhance it.

The decent players had already transferred to other teams, and the only ones left were players whose contracts were delayed for a reason.

Still, they were lucky enough to recruit Kim Jiyun, an Attacker in her third year in the league, to fill the gap, but the ridicule from the community continued.

-Star Prism?

-Aren’t they that dumbass team that lost two all-time great players while testing the waters?

-Hey now. What did Star Prism do wrong!

-It’s Park Chaerin’s fault for changing her mind like flipping her palm!

-Anyway, in the end, they lost both Seo Dami and Park Chaerin, right? They were incompetent, right?

-A legendary player just flew away, right~?

-LOLOLOL

-Stop teasing them. They’re already hurting a lot.

Just when they thought they could forget, one team or another would take a jab at them about the recruitment issue, so the Star Prism fans couldn’t possibly be in a good mood.

And in the midst of that, their opening match opponent had to be Super Sylph.

It was perhaps natural that the players and fans became one and immersed themselves in the game.

From the moment the league schedule was announced.

The Star Prism players had cut back on sleep to prepare only for the opening match.

Being a Second Division League team, they didn’t have a proper analyst, but the players worked together to analyze Super Sylph’s games and even watched Seo Dami’s personal broadcasts.

‘It’s true that Seo Dami is good.’

‘But UA is a team game.’

‘It’s definitely winnable!’

Super Sylph was a team that had barely managed 8th place the previous year.

Through analysis of their season videos, they could confirm that their teamwork was completely broken.

Of course, they would have fixed the problems during the off-season, but there would be a limit to that—that was the common opinion among the Star Prism players.

‘If a team could change completely just by recruiting one player, who would bother trying so hard to create balance? They’d just throw money at S-class players and start with them.’

Thus, Star Prism intensively practiced run-and-gun tactics.

What was run-and-gun?

It was a strategy that involved aggressive, speed-attack-focused play based on the individual skills of the players.

Speed attack.

It literally meant a high-tempo game where the tempo was very fast and stamina melted away.

It was a tactic that most teams couldn’t even attempt.

In a speed attack situation, it was difficult to leisurely exchange orders, and moments requiring individual judgment frequently arose.

Because it was about overwhelming the enemy with speed and individual skill, making variations within a predetermined framework, it could break instantly if the enemy’s capabilities were misjudged.

However, Star Prism was confident.

‘Super Sylph is a Seo Dami one-tool team anyway, right?’

Based on their analysis, that was the case.

Excluding Seo Dami, the skills of the other players were, on average, below their own.

So, they would induce a chaotic battle with run-and-gun.

The calculation was that they could sufficiently break Super Sylph by attacking them from multiple angles without giving Seo Dami a chance to coordinate her team or carry.

Unfortunately, the Set 1 battlefield was decided as Nicaea Research Lab, which meant it wasn’t the best environment to execute run-and-gun.

“Go!”

As soon as the waiting room door opened and they rushed onto the battlefield, Star Prism used Acceleration and ran toward the center.

Pouring their mana out unstintingly, the players who reached the center came to a halt.

Since they had run without stopping, the enemy wouldn’t have had time to set up traps.

But Star Prism did not let their guard down.

“Scan complete. Confirmed no traps.”

Just in case, Star Prism ran a scan before entering the center.

They knew, too.

They knew what kind of move Seo Dami had used in the Rank Match that included the National Representative Kim Seunga.

Having prevented a situation where they would be wiped out helplessly by traps, Star Prism warily watched the passage beyond.

“It’s quiet.”

“Should we strike first?”

“No. They’ll definitely come from that side.”

It was then.

Star Prism’s leader, Park Iseo, who had a bad feeling, requested another scan.

A scan was fired toward the passage without hesitation.

And then, there was a reaction.

“Invisibility!”

“Respond!”

Startled by the news that an invisible enemy had approached nearby, Star Prism unleashed a shower of bullets.

Then, they could see the bullets hit the empty air, creating sparks, and then ricocheting.

Invisibility released.

Standing there was Super Sylph’s Defender, Shin Aram, approaching with her shield raised.

It was a heart-stopping moment.

If they had been just a little later, they would have been ambushed one-sidedly without being able to prepare.

With the center between them, the two teams, hidden behind titanium boxes, fiercely exchanged suppressive fire.

Neither side seemed to have any intention of making a reckless move like using Blink or deploying a Shield to charge in.

Just maintaining their posture against the unannounced gravity shifts required a lot of concentration.

Just as 2 minutes and 30 seconds had passed since the round began, an intruder warning broadcast echoed through the station, and the location of the Data Vault changed.

“It’s below!”

The new location of the capture point was the lower part of the spire.

They had to throw themselves into the open vertical passage in the center.

“We’re going as planned!”

At Leader Park Iseo’s shout, the Star Prism players’ eyes gleamed as they poured all their mana into suppressive fire.

As their burst firepower exploded, the Super Sylph players who were peeking their heads out from behind cover yelped and ducked back down.

At that moment, Park Iseo used Blink and threw herself down the passage.

A Blink that occurred during a chaotic battle.

It was a chain attack play to avoid the enemy’s vision.

Only 20 seconds had passed since the gravity shift was implemented.

The probability of suddenly being lifted by reverse gravity while going down the passage was almost nil.

‘Good. If I can just secure the data like this…!’

It was when Park Iseo was rapidly descending to the lower part of the spire in a free fall.

She had an experience that made the hair on her head stand on end.

She was supposed to be falling alone.

She realized that another player besides herself was also falling.

‘Seo Dami…!!!’

The moment Park Iseo identified her opponent and her eyes widened.

Her opponent grinned and mouthed a greeting.

‘Hi?’

Simultaneously, blue flames hammered into Park Iseo’s body.

Needless to say, the Shield was torn and the Health Bar burst from the completely unexpected attack.

“Park Iseo is down! Player Seo Dami! She scores the first point with an Acceleration Chain Attack that didn’t even give her opponent time to blink!”

-Waaaaah!!!

-The Great Dami!

-What is with that skill-!

-She blew her head off while lying down, damn.

-The demon of the 3rd division has evolved into the demon of the 2nd division;;

The fans’ roars erupted, shaking the Arena.

The Star Prism wavered greatly from Seo Dami’s strike.