Chapter 53

The next day.

The Korean team continued to train quietly.

There were no more Practice Matches.

Russia’s defeat.

And Japan’s defeat.

As the upsets continued, each team became wary of any further incidents, especially concerned about losing to Korea.

Korea.

The undisputed weakest team of the four nations.

Getting caught off guard by a team like this would inevitably cause a huge drop in team morale.

Was that all?

If they carelessly provided clues on how to counter them in a Practice Match, an incident could occur in the actual, important main game.

For these reasons, the Practice Matches were canceled, and the Third Division League players were furious.

“How can they do this?”

“That’s right! They should keep their promises!”

“My mom was so looking forward to seeing me on TV!”

The preview had aired yesterday.

It seemed that all of our team members, without exception, had received a lot of calls.

“But the part where we beat Russia will still be aired, right?”

The players asked PD Kim Seungha, who had come to the Practice Room, and he nodded his head.

“Of course. We’d be in big trouble if we didn’t air that.”

The reaction to the preview was also explosive.

According to the news we received, the ticket sales for the first official match tomorrow were at an all-time high.

“Is the reaction really that good?”

“There are rumors that the Grand Stadium is already on the verge of selling out.”

For international matches, a special Arena was used, which could accommodate nearly 100,000 people.

It was the largest Arena, aside from the World Championship Finals stage.

“Oh my gosh… sold out?”

“Well, most of them are probably Chinese fans. Still, they say our purchasing power isn’t bad either.”

Korea’s international match record had been scraping the bottom for the past several years.

Despite that, the high ticket sales meant that the fans’ expectations for this Event Match were that much greater.

“PD-nim. Can’t we reveal that we won?”

“Please be patient just a little longer. It’ll be revealed tonight anyway, won’t it? You said you already told your families.”

PD Kim Seungha asked the players not to reveal the results of the Russia match on the internet before the main Broadcast began.

Since some players had already told their families, it wouldn’t be a perfectly kept secret, but he meant for them to refrain from actions like openly promoting it on social media.

“But I feel like it’ll be impossible to get tickets after the Broadcast airs.”

“That’s right.”

At Kim Seunga’s words, the other players also nodded their heads.

They meant that it would be better if more Korean fans could fill the seats.

“Would it be okay to just subtly write on the message board that it’s a good idea to book tickets for the China match tomorrow? Just something like that?”

“Hmm.”

PD Kim Seungha thought for a moment, then said it seemed fine.

He added that although it was an indirect way of saying it, something like that might actually increase anticipation for the Broadcast even more.

Once permission was granted, the players all took out their phones, went to the team Community, and promoted the purchase of tickets for the Korea-China match tomorrow.

‘What should I write?’

<You can write that much on your own now, can’t you?>

‘Hmm.’

Seo Dami, who was pondering what to write on the board, wrote: The fans who come to watch in person tomorrow might be getting a great deal?

Just one second.

That was the time it took for the fans to take the bait.

-What’s this?

-DamiDami!

-Isn’t it time for General Seo to be practicing?

-The gallery owner has entered lol

-Is this for real?

-You’re telling us to buy tickets? I’m booking them right now!

-You beat Russia, right? Right?

-Give us a spoiler on the results;;

Dami smiled as she saw fans popping up from all over, and left a comment saying, Please look forward to today’s Broadcast too~

A photo taken with her arm linked with Kim Seunga’s was a bonus.

With all the players coming out and writing posts telling people to watch the Broadcast, it was like holding a gun to the heads of UA fans, telling them they’d die if they didn’t watch.

Wasn’t it a situation that, to anyone, implied that Korea had won?

-If you don’t watch this, why even watch the UA League?

-Did they really win?

-We really beat Russia?

-General Seo is telling us to trust and watch.

-She told us to book tickets too. She said it’s different this time.

-Haa. I’ll fall for it just one more time…

Was it thanks to this atmosphere?

Even before the main Broadcast began, the first game of the Event Match, the Korea-China match, boasted a sellout.

-If they lose on today’s Broadcast, just you wait.

-If this was all a scam, someone’s really going to die.

Fans who had paid several times the usual ticket price to reserve seats for the Korea-China match expressed their anxiety.

When the international match Season came around, hadn’t there been more than one or two Directors and players who had made empty promises?

It’s different this time.

We will definitely win and come back, and so on.

They were all talk, but the results had been nothing short of terrible. That was the repertoire of the Korean national team for the past several years.

So, they couldn’t help but feel anxious inside.

However, that anxiety was blown away the moment the main Broadcast began.

Russia’s national treasure, Svetlana, DOWN!

Russia’s next-generation rising star, Yekaterina, DOWN!

Russia crumbled before the Slope Operation showcased on the Space Battleship.

And the fans watching that moment screamed with joy.

Starring Seo Dami and Kim Seunga.

As the perfect synergy of these two tore Russia apart, the Community was in a truly festive mood.

-This is a Korean game!!!

-What was meant to come has come…

-Wow. How did they pull off a scene like this?

-But why did it end after only the first Set?

-They explained it earlier.

-The Russian kids ran away, saying we cheated.

-What kind of cheating?

-They were asking if Korea hadn’t trained together in advance?

-For real, it doesn’t make sense.

-I’m a pro team trainee, and it’s true this doesn’t make sense ㅇㅇ;;

-The plays Seo Dami and Kim Seunga are making right now are plays that might or might not be possible even if they practiced together on the same team for a long time.

Among those who watched the Broadcast were many former and current industry insiders, and they praised the Korean team’s surprising level of polish.

-Hearing the stories, it really seems like they might pull something off this time?

-Are there any tickets left for tomorrow by any chance?

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-There’s no way that’s still available~.

-There aren’t any suckers who didn’t book tickets for the China match, right?

-Ah, I should’ve bought a ticket;;

-They said it’s already sold out. What do I do?

-What do you mean what do you do ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Just watch it from afar on TV~.

Thanks to the players’ promotion, the tickets for the China match had long been sold out.

While many fans swallowed their disappointment, the Broadcast was gradually nearing its end.

Because Russia had run away after only one Set, the actual game time was far too short, and the PD had frantically inserted side content like training processes and scenes of them leaving Jeju Airport to fill the broadcast time.

Thus, the final Highlight that PD Kim Seungha chose was a one-on-one interview he had specially requested from Seo Dami.

“Player Seo Dami.”

“Yes.”

“The match against China finally begins tomorrow. Although it’s an Event Match, it’s your first international match, so you must have some special feelings about it. Please share a word with the fans about your thoughts.”

“Uh, um. Well…”

-What’s this?

-Is General Seo broken?

-Looks like she’s super nervous.

For some reason, she was different from her usual self.

It was natural since this was the real Seo Dami, not Han Youngin, but the fans, who had no way of knowing this fact, cheered her on enthusiastically, shouting, “Dami! Don’t be nervous!”

“I’ll work hard! And win!”

“…Is that it?”

“Huh? Yes!”

This kid wasn’t someone with such bad Mic Work… right?

Even PD Kim Seungha, who was conducting the interview, looked flustered, which was visible on screen.

While the Viewers chuckled, Seo Dami, her cheeks slightly flushed, nodded her head earnestly.

At the same time fans were watching Seo Dami’s interview with anticipation, the Korean team was spurring on their final practice.

The Artemis Team provided Support with a Scouting Report, and based on that data, they analyzed the Chinese team, albeit for a short time.

Time flew by so quickly as they contemplated how they should play.

The Third Division League players and Han Chaei couldn’t fight off the overwhelming sleepiness and were dozing off, but the two players who would be the core of tomorrow’s match were passionately conversing, as if their energy was endlessly welling up from somewhere.

No, it was more like they were fighting than having a conversation.

“You. Do you think this game is a joke?”

“No. Can you please listen instead of just getting angry?”

An angry Kim Seunga.

And Seo Dami, confronting her.

The two players had such great synergy during the Practice Match against Russia, so what on earth had happened?

The cause was Seo Dami’s unconventional proposal for the China match.

“I was thinking of playing Defender tomorrow.”

“Wha-what…!”

Hearing Seo Dami’s words, Kim Seunga couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

Why were there so many surprising things whenever she was with this girl?

Last time, she said she could master the Slope Operation in a day, and this time it was a Position Change.

“A Defender. What kind of nonsense is that!”

“Why is it nonsense?”

It wasn’t that it was nonsense.

After all, Seo Dami had originally debuted as a Defender.

But to play Defender when she was such a good Attacker was something she couldn’t understand no matter how she thought about it.

“Why do you suddenly want to change positions out of the blue?”

“We watched the video together, didn’t we?”

“……?”

Seo Dami looked at Kim Seunga with a tone that said, We watched the video together and you still don’t get it? I’m disappointed~.

At that moment, Kim Seunga found Seo Dami extremely grating.

She had briefly wondered if she was mistaken, but looking at her like this, she started to think that she really did seem like Youngin Oppa.

“Stop beating around the bush and tell me straight. Why do you want to change?”

“Haa. To think I have to explain something like this…”

“You wanna die?”

“Now, look here, okay?”

Seo Dami, with a face that seemed to ask if this was really okay, continued to relay the words Han Youngin was feeding her.

“We saw the China video, right? They’re the type to push through with individual Physical.”

Extremely aggressive play.

A tactic of using the Battlefield widely and not shying away from combat was one of the Chinese team’s characteristics.

“If we get into a Deathmatch, our kids will be completely trampled. Then you and I will have to clean up all that crap, right, Unni?”

“So? That was the same with Russia.”

“The amount of movement is different.”

The Sniper was clearly a position with little movement.

So against double Snipers, our side could also have a smaller range of action, but the Chinese team was different.

It was highly probable that these guys would be running all over the place tomorrow, inducing a Chaotic Battle.

“If that happens, I won’t last until the Late Game. My Stamina isn’t at that level yet.”

“So a Defender can last?”

“Yes.”

“Hey. That doesn’t make any sense, logically!”

It was a well-known fact that among UA’s positions, the Defender consumed the most Stamina.

In the case of male players, they use a heavy Shield weighing over 10kg, so much so that they drip with sweat just from walking around.

But to say she would play Defender instead of Attacker because the Stamina consumption was a burden was a story that didn’t add up.

However, Seo Dami wagged her index finger at Kim Seunga’s rebuttal and shook her head.

“It’s true the Shield is heavy, but if I reduce my movement, I can actually save Stamina.”

“What?”

“It’s true, isn’t it? A Defender just needs to defend well. Is there really a need to run?”

“What kind of bullshit is that!”

The current trend was a Meta where even Defenders run around a lot to control space.

But at the suggestion of going against the global trend, Kim Seunga’s lid blew.

“If you’re going to joke around with that pathetic talk, I’m going to bed!”

“No, don’t get excited and listen. Let’s assume I’m an Attacker. You and I went out onto the Battlefield. But the Chinese kids? They pop out from all directions and start shooting at us, right? Then attacks will come from all sides, so of course it’ll be chaotic, right? And our kids will drop like flies at their level, right?”

On the other hand, China would not be like that.

Their Leader, the Ace who played in the First Division League, was a Defender.

“Liu Xuan. This kid’s defense skills are no joke. To the point where you wonder how a player like this came out of China.”

“I know that too. So tomorrow, the two of us can use a Pincer Attack and take down Liu Xuan, right?”

“Do you think we can take her down easily?”

“If it’s you and me, it’ll be easy!”

“Without wasting Mana?”

Kim Seunga, who had thought they could easily take her down with a Pincer Attack, paused for a moment at Seo Dami’s additional question.

Come to think of it, she realized it would be impossible to take down a player of that caliber without investing Mana.

“See? It won’t work, right? No matter how I rack my brain, the exchange rate is absolute crap, you know?”

Our Defender was Kim Soyoung from the Third Division League.

Our Shield would be easily pierced by the enemy’s attacks tomorrow, while their Front wall was sturdy. It wasn’t hard to guess that as time went on, the kill exchange would become disadvantageous.

“Unni. When the wall is sturdy, we can at least hide the kids behind it and hold on. And even in a situation where the two of us have to solve it, a Shield and Attacker combination is more stable than two Attackers, isn’t it?”

After hearing Seo Dami’s explanation, Kim Seunga fell into thought for a moment.

She was trying to gauge if there were any flaws in this logic, if it was a truly feasible story.

“I’m not saying I’ll carry a Shield for all the Sets tomorrow. I could save some Stamina and then switch to Attacker at a crucial moment.”

“Shh. Quiet.”

As if she needed time to judge, Kim Seunga requested silence for a moment.

‘Against Russia, we couldn’t catch them without closing the distance, so we were forced to rely on Mobility… but in a normal power struggle, it’s true that the side with the sturdier Shield has the advantage. But can she play Defender that well?’

Needing more information, Kim Seunga spoke again.

“For this plan to work, you have to play Defender as well as you play Attacker… Are you confident?”

“I was just about to find out now. It seemed possible in my head, you know?”

“You’re going to find out now?”

“Yes. So… shall we have a match?”

“Ha.”

Seo Dami’s challenge.

With a face that seemed to say, What kind of person is this?, Kim Seunga sighed and gripped her Rifle.

“You’d better be ready to die if you can’t do it!”

The start of the long-awaited Academy Challenge main games.

A grand total of 100,000 fans from both countries entered the Arena to watch the first match between China and Korea.

The Grand Stadium, built in a virtual space.

However, even in Virtual Reality, its majesty and grandeur had aspects that surpassed reality.

It was still before the game began.

But the war of nerves through cheering battles was already heating up the Momentum between the two countries.

The Chinese fans, who filled more than half the Arena waving red flags, had no doubt about their country’s victory.

The news that Korea had caught Russia had reached China, but it felt like nothing more than an accident.

-What’s the big deal about beating that pathetic Russia.

-We can beat Russia too.

-Korea is the protagonist of an upset?

-If we’re talking upsets, us catching Japan is more amazing!

The news that they had defeated the Japanese allied team led by Kato Mikane had heated up China for the past day.

Thanks to that, China was able to face the match in an atmosphere as if they had won the World Championship.

A situation where their Momentum seemed to pierce the sky.

Compared to this, the Korean fans were unable to hold their own due to their numerical inferiority.

-Phew. Look at the number of Chinese fans.

-I don’t think we even have ten thousand?

-Well, we’ve sucked so bad at international matches until now.

-Ten thousand coming is actually a hell of a lot.

-When I saw General Seo’s interview yesterday, she seemed really nervous.

-I hope she does well.

-Let’s not curse her out too much even if she does poorly.

-Right, right. It’s a tradition for Kimchi to get wrecked in international matches.

While Seo Dami’s fans were laying the groundwork.

The match began.

The first Set was the Deathmatch Battlefield, Boundary.

As the ruined city rose in the middle of the Arena, the cheering from both countries’ fans reached its peak.

But a moment later, the Broadcast Team, who had noticed something was different, grabbed their microphones and shouted.

“What is going on here!”

“Player Seo Dami! Player Seo Dami has come out as a Defender, not an Attacker!”

-?????

-General Seo is a Defender?

-She abandoned that a long time ago after the Third Division League;;

-A sudden Position Change here is too radical…

Not only the Broadcast Team and the numerous fans.

Even her teammates showed signs of anxiety, but just one person.

The Leader of the Korean allied team, Kim Seunga, was facing the game with a very calm attitude.

Seo Dami, running in front of her holding a Shield.

Looking at that back, Kim Seunga thought.

‘Why would I be anxious when there’s a Defender who plays the game with eyes on the back of her head?’

This game, we’ve got it.

With that resolve, the first Engagement between the two teams began.