Chapter 64

Super Sylph’s Stamina Training is tough.

It was probably tougher than most First Division League teams.

I was the one who created this grueling training course.

I thought it was necessary so they wouldn’t struggle and could adapt quickly when they got to the First Division.

The only players on this team who could silently endure the tough Stamina Training to the very end were Seo Dami and the Leader, Shin Aram.

By the time training was over, the rest of the players were usually so drained they were practically crawling.

But today was different.

Jung Yunseul was now one of them.

<Uuuegh…>

A sharing of the senses.

Jung Yunseul groaned in agony as her limbs felt like they were about to fall off.

<Oppa… save me.>

‘Endure it. You have to endure it to improve.’

<Save Yunseuli…>

I was reminded of when I used to train with Dami last year.

How much Dami had suffered during every training session.

The girl who used to be busy whining that she was dying was now silently completing the training next to me, as if she had finally gotten used to it.

<Ughhh…>

Jung Yunseul was on the verge of collapsing.

But I stubbornly kept my legs moving with sheer willpower.

Sweat poured down like rain onto the treadmill.

For an Attacker, Endurance was an indispensable part of training.

That’s how important it was.

If you didn’t push yourself to the limit now, you wouldn’t be able to use your strength properly in a real match.

‘Should I stop here?’

As I slowly reduced the speed to avoid an Overpace, Park Chaerin came over and showered me with praise.

“Wow. Yunseuli, your willpower is insane today. Seeing Seo Dami in action must have really motivated you.”

Then, Park Chaerin laid me down on a mat and helped me stretch.

Park Chaerin, holding my legs and loosening them up this way and that.

I was panting, completely exhausted, when I suddenly felt a gaze fixed on me from above my head.

It was Seo Dami.

Her gaze was so peculiar that I almost asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?” as I usually would.

But when I just stared back without a word, as if asking if she had something to say, Seo Dami quickly turned her head and started stretching on her own.

Meanwhile, inside my head, Jung Yunseul was making a fuss, asking if all First Division teams trained like this and that she was going to die.

‘If you can endure this kind of training every day, you can become a top-tier player in the First Division.’

<Top-tier…>

At those words, Jung Yunseul’s eyes sparkled.

<Oppa. Can I really become such a great player?>

‘Of course. As long as you train hard.’

I wasn’t sure about other things, but now that I was here, it was a given that Jung Yunseul’s skills would grow immensely.

Hearing that, Jung Yunseul beamed happily, then feigned disappointment, asking why I wasn’t speaking to her casually.

<Please speak casually. It feels like there’s a distance between us.>

‘I understand. No, I got it…’

Speaking casually was easy for me.

The real problem was something else entirely: the shower.

Since we were drenched in sweat, we all had to go wash up, but the thought of repeating what I went through with Seo Dami, this time with Yunseul, made my head spin.

How on earth was I supposed to explain this?

If I just kept my eyes closed, would she let it slide?

Yunseuli’s reaction had been much gentler than Dami’s in the early days of the Possession, so I thought she might understand.

With that, I cleared my throat and headed for the shower room.

<Aah!>

It was a moment later that a cute scream escaped Jung Yunseul’s lips as she finally realized what we had to do.

To get straight to the point, I couldn’t keep my eyes closed.

By now, I was so familiar with the layout of the Super Sylph training facility’s shower room that I could navigate it with my eyes closed, but for some reason, that Dami girl kept staring at me.

Thanks to her, I had to repeatedly apologize to Yunseuli in my head.

Think about it.

Jung Yunseul suddenly closes her eyes in the shower room.

That would give Seo Dami way too many hints.

I wanted this situation to pass quietly, and for that to happen, Seo Dami couldn’t find out that I was with Yunseul.

So, I didn’t close my eyes, but I showered stiffly, trying to look only straight ahead.

“Yunseul-ah.”

It was then.

Dami suddenly called out to me.

Without even turning my head, I nonchalantly asked back, “What?”

Then, I felt Dami’s gaze.

A gaze that silently stared at my profile.

“I asked what’s wrong.”

“……”

“If you have nothing to say, I’m leaving first.”

I barely washed myself and was the first of the five to leave the shower room.

As I ran to the locker room and changed, Jung Yunseul belatedly clutched her stomach and laughed.

<Ahaha. Oppa, were you trying not to look at Dami Unni?>

‘I can’t look at her…’

<Well, that’s true, but it was just so funny.>

Yunseul remarked that living together had these kinds of problems, and then told me I could be comfortable when it was just the two of us.

<I don’t know how long we’ll be together, but if it’s like this every time, how can we live? It’d be too uncomfortable. Right?>

‘Uh… yeah.’

I thanked her for her consideration, but Yunseul emphasized again that she wasn’t joking and that I could really be comfortable.

<If you don’t believe me, should we go take a shower together again? We have a bathtub in our room, too.>

When I asked what she meant and said that wasn’t necessary, Jung Yunseul cackled.

This girl, it seemed she found teasing me to be fun.

The afternoon was for In-Game Training.

“We have a Scrim against Mirinae today.”

Before training began, Director Lee Gangseon announced that a Scrim had been scheduled.

A Scrim meant a practice match against another team.

“It’s been a while since we had a Scrim.”

“They requested it first.”

Kim Dain said.

Super Sylph usually didn’t do many Scrims.

The reason was probably to keep them in check.

A newly promoted team was running rampant in the Second Division League as if they owned the place, so other teams grew wary and rarely agreed to be their practice partners.

But the atmosphere had changed a bit after the international tournament.

Thanks to Seo Dami’s performance, Super Sylph was now the undisputed number one team in the Second Division League.

It was almost a foregone conclusion that they would be promoted this year, and teams were starting to think that if they were going to move up anyway, they might as well learn a thing or two instead of being needlessly prideful.

Mirinae was one of those teams.

Mirinae, a Gangwon-based municipal team, was run on taxes.

They had no top-tier players due to a set limit on Annual Salary expenditures, but they were a team with fairly strong Teamwork.

Their rank at the end of the First Half was 6th.

They were a suitable opponent for a warm-up before the start of the Second-Half Season.

“Want to try going in without a strategy?”

Park Chaerin said, looking at her teammates.

Usually, they would devise a plan against strong teams, but in Scrims, it was common for players to rely on their raw skills and play a basic game.

Then, if problems were found, they would repeat the training, correcting and supplementing them.

The players nodded in agreement.

And so, the players began their preparations.

I asked Yunseul if there was anything in particular she wanted to learn.

‘We share our senses, right? I think I can teach you how to play In-Game more efficiently. Is there anything you want to learn?’

<Hmm.>

Yunseul asked if anything was okay, and I said yes.

<There are so many things I want to learn from you, Oppa, that I’m having trouble choosing…>

‘We can just do them one by one.’

<Then, Acceleration.>

Acceleration.

The trademark of Magnus team’s Ace, Han Youngin.

Since I had made a living off of Acceleration alone, the level of perfection of my Acceleration was something to be proud of.

I glanced at Seo Dami for a moment before replying that I would.

She wasn’t looking this way now, but having lived with Dami, I knew for sure.

If I was caught using Acceleration properly in front of her, all hell would break loose today.

And so, the game against team Mirinae began.

The Battlefield was Boundary.

On the Deathmatch Battlefield fought over Mana Packs, I pushed through the right Route.

Super Sylph usually had Seo Dami move individually or with Hwang Jua, while Jung Yunseul tended to work alone or as a duo with Shin Aram.

“I’m advancing. Dami-ya. Break through the left corridor.”

Shin Aram commanded Seo Dami to make a Breakthrough as she deployed to the center.

The plan was for Seo Dami to pressure the enemies from the left and disrupt their balance, while our side concentrated Firepower to strike the enemy’s main force.

Soon, explosions and noise began to fill the Battlefield.

“Dami-ya. Easy now. Easy.”

Kim Dain, who had climbed up to a second-floor building to secure a clear line of Vision, communicated through the in-ear.

Seo Dami was on a rampage.

Seo Dami’s Attack, which even the aces of the international coalition team couldn’t stop.

It was impossible from the start for Mirinae, a Korean Second Division League team, to block it.

As Seo Dami broke through the corridor and shattered the enemy’s flank, we were able to easily penetrate the center.

The center of Boundary was where the Mana Pack spawned.

It was a tactically important spot, but the center was empty.

It was because after the left side was crushed, the enemy team had swarmed over to try and catch Seo Dami.

The building was completely empty.

Just as I was about to joke to Yunseul that there would be no need to show her Acceleration and that I’d show her next time.

Something flashing caught the edge of my Vision, and I instinctively used Acceleration and twisted my upper body.

With a bang-!, a single shot hit the floor diagonally.

It was a shot from the enemy Sniper.

Startled by the attack from behind, Shin Aram turned her head, identified the opponent’s position, and shared the information through her in-ear.

“Confirmed.”

Simultaneously, a Counterattack came from our side.

Kim Dain, who had taken a position on the roof, spotted the opponent and cleanly picked them off with a Headshot.

The accuracy of the shot was flawless.

Having trained under Park Chaerin, Kim Dain’s proficiency as a Sniper had improved significantly.

“Nice shot!”

While Hwang Jua was praising Kim Dain’s shot.

Shin Aram looked at me and, in a rare display of excitement, made a fuss, asking how I dodged it.

I told her I saw the attack at the edge of my Vision, but she said it still wasn’t an easy move and that it was like watching Seo Dami.

It was a relief that Shin Aram hadn’t said that through the in-ear.

If Dami had heard it, she would have definitely found it strange.

My reaction must have been really good.

Not only Shin Aram, but also Jung Yunseul, who was spectating from inside my head, was busy exclaiming, “Wow!” in admiration.

<So this is real Acceleration! The Acceleration I’ve been using until now was garbage!>

‘If you feel the difference and think about what’s different, you’ll improve quickly.’

<Yes!>

After scrimming with team Mirinae for about an hour, Jung Yunseul shouted, “Oppa, you’re the best!”

Isn’t this the very definition of ‘cramming’ education?

I had hammered the lesson directly into her body and mind, so Yunseul would probably remember this feeling for a long time.

<Oppa. But what if you and I have to live like this forever?>

Jung Yunseul said.

She wanted to try out what I taught her today as soon as possible, but when she thought about it, there was no telling how long we’d have to live like this.

It was a story about how we might have to live like this forever, and that worried her a little.

Since I already knew the answer, I told her that would never happen.

When I said I would return within a month at the longest, Jung Yunseul said that was too short and asked me to stay longer.

She didn’t want it to be forever, but a month was too short.

I had no idea what length of time the girl wanted.

‘Even if a month passes, it’s not like I’ll disappear or anything. It’s highly likely that you and I will switch places.’

<Then are you going to come into my head, Oppa?>

‘Probably?’

<That might be okay even if it’s forever? Ah, no. You have to wake up too, Oppa…>

Jung Yunseul said that there were many fans across the country waiting for Oppa’s return, and that he couldn’t stay lying in a hospital bed forever, so she sincerely hoped for his healthy recovery.

She was a really kind girl.

Just as Yunseul was asking if I had seen the paper cranes she folded when she came to visit me in the hospital.

It was time for everyone to go eat dinner and rest, so we went down to the cafeteria, but one person remained in the Log In room, not leaving.

It was Seo Dami.

“Unni, what are you doing? We have to go eat~.”

I asked, pretending to be normal, but Seo Dami didn’t even glance this way and just kept staring at the screen.

The moment I looked to see what she was watching so intently, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

This girl. Why was she suddenly watching my Replay?

To be precise, it was Jung Yunseul’s play from the Scrim just a moment ago.

After skimming through and observing my performance, Seo Dami turned off the device as if she had seen enough and stood in front of me.

The girl who was half a head taller than Yunseul.

Dami looked straight at me and carefully opened her mouth.

“Oppa, by any chance… are you in there?”

My Dami was never this quick-witted!

I was found out after all.

In just one day.

“……”

<……?>

I couldn’t say a word, and an untimely silence fell over the Log In room.