Chapter 87

“I’m not that cruel of a person.”

Kato Mikane said as she returned to her room and sat in her chair.

“To be honest, just a few days ago, I was thinking of just throwing out the promise and everything…”

“……”

“But I’ve decided to take your earnest attitude into consideration.”

“…Th-thank you?”

I’ll let you live.

After making that declaration, Kato told him not to come outside so carelessly from now on.

“I’ll replenish your depleted energy now.”

With that, Kato said she would also share what she saw and heard from now on.

Of course, she added the condition that she would be selective about the time and place.

Afterward, she blocked a portion of the Sensory Sharing with unfamiliar words that an ordinary person would have never heard in their lifetime.

It seemed she had applied a special incantation.

The effect was immediate.

Han Youngin exclaimed, “Oh!” as he immediately realized what had changed about him.

Seeing and hearing were fine, but various other senses, like touch, had partially vanished.

For instance, the feeling of clothes brushing against his skin or the sensation of breathing in through his nose.

With only the essential senses remaining, Han Youngin felt a little frustrated, but he had to admit that this was a huge concession on Kato’s part.

After all, wasn’t it strange to share all your senses with another person?

This would reduce the number of embarrassing situations, so it seemed better for living together in the future.

“And what was that with the Gun Kata?”

<What about my Gun Kata?>

“What about it? What about it~?”

Frowning as if to ask how he could even say that, Kato Mikane showed a truly confident attitude, saying she would show him what a real game was.

“At the very least, if you’re going to use Gun Kata in my body, you should do it properly.”

That’s not how you use Gun Kata.

It’s a Skill where you predict the enemy’s movements and execute a Counter along the optimal Movement Path.

Kato Mikane’s explanation of Gun Kata, which started then, went on for quite a while.

He felt the explanation was a bit excessive, but he also thought it would be helpful to learn it well for the future.

“We have some time to spare, so I’ll show you in the Training Room before the match. You should be honored. Do you know how many people want to learn Gun Kata from me?”

<…Yes.>

Isn’t she just trying to show off?

Han Youngin had that thought but wasn’t tactless enough to ruin the mood with a needless comment.

He figured it was best to just listen to the other person’s boasting at times like these.

With that, Kato went down to the first floor.

The Kamui team’s Team House, a renovated residence, was only two stories high, but it boasted a very large lot with a huge yard.

With a pond where carp swam and enough space to play ball, the Team House had the distinct feel of a grand mansion.

On her way to the Training Room in a separate building, Kato ran into the Supporter, Takahashi Haruna, and said, “Haruna, could you bring a cup of tea to the Training Room?”

“Yes, Unni,” she replied, quickly heading to the dining area to prepare green tea.

Though it was just a simple errand, Haruna’s lips twitched as if something was amusing.

“Did something fun happen?”

When Kato asked indirectly why she was smiling, Haruna replied, “No, it’s not that~.”

“It just feels like the old Unni is back.”

Hearing that, Kato felt a little guilty but pretended to be unfazed.

“I haven’t been anywhere.”

“It’s not that, but you seemed like a different person for the past few days… Ah! I don’t mean that in a weird way at all!”

Haruna said, flailing her hands as if to say not to misunderstand.

The “past few days” was when Han Youngin had been moving her body, so it was natural that a perceptive person might have felt something was off.

At that thought, something occurred to Kato Mikane, and she slyly asked a question.

“Was I that strange?”

“No!”

“I think I had a bit of a cold.”

“Ah. Are you okay now?”

“I’m fine now.”

“That’s a relief.”

Haruna said, “Unni, you can’t get sick,” and told her to let her know anytime if she needed anything.

To her, Kato casually tossed an unexpected piece of bait.

“For the past few days, I kind of wanted to change my daily Pattern. I thought it would be okay to bring about some change in myself.”

“Ah, yes.”

“What did you think? Comparing me from the past few days to the me before that? Which one did you like better?”

“Huh? I… I like any version of you, Unni.”

“But if you had to pick just one?”

Should I really say this? Seeing the youngest member’s expression, Han Youngin had an uneasy feeling, but the cat was already out of the bag.

“The recent Unni was kind, so I liked that…”

“Really?”

“Yes. The message boards were full of praise, saying your image had completely changed!”

She was well aware that the fans liked the cutesy version of herself that Han Youngin had acted out.

But hearing her teammate of many years say it too, Kato felt strangely.

It was like she had lost to a man in her own body.

The thought made Kato want to pout.

“Haruna, you like Korea, don’t you?”

“Huh? So suddenly?”

At the random question, she thought.

Is she asking if I like it as a travel destination?

Watching Unni do the Jeju Island Challenge did make me want to visit.

Thinking that, Haruna replied, “Yes, I like it!”

Then, with a somewhat chilly smile, Kato Mikane said, “Then you should just go to Korea.”

Naturally, dozens of question marks popped up above Haruna’s head.

Before she could even understand what was happening, Kato Mikane returned the half-empty teacup to the tray and headed for the Access Device.

Only then did Haruna realize.

Having been by Kato’s side for years, she knew very well.

For some reason, Unni was upset right now.

Haruna chased after the striding Kato and clung to her.

“Unni, I hate Korea! I really do!”

“No. I think Korea would suit you well, Haruna. How about you Transfer while you’re at it?”

“I’m sorry! I’ll never say I like Korea again!”

<……>

What in the world is happening?

There’s a Leader who bullies her teammates over something like this?

Han Youngin, who had watched the whole scene, felt a little dizzy, as if from culture shock.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

He wanted to ask what she was doing, she wasn’t a child, but he could feel Kato’s displeasure himself.

He was already well aware that emotions weren’t shared unless they were considerably intense.

In other words, Kato Mikane was genuinely and greatly displeased right now.

A person who defied common sense.

Trying to talk to such a person would only get him caught in the crossfire, so for now, he had no choice but to quietly wait for the storm to pass.

The match in the 3rd week of June.

Kato Mikane, armed with the dual-pistol Gun Kata, was back.

Opening her senses to Han Youngin, declaring she would show him what Gun Kata truly was, she went on a proper rampage.

In truth, she never went this all-out during regular League matches.

Not only could she win without using her full power, but frequently showing her full strength would just give the opponent material to analyze, so she controlled her Tempo.

But today was an exception.

Taking to the Battlefield to teach Han Youngin what Gun Kata was, Kato Mikane used her full power.

Watching her, Han Youngin realized what it meant to draw out one’s power to its limits.

There was no wasted movement in Kato Mikane’s actions, her body wreathed in the Power of the Ley Line.

The judgment time that should exist between a human’s actions was completely absent.

What did this mean?

It meant she moved on to the next action almost instinctively, without a shred of hesitation.

How can she play the game like this?

Han Youngin got goosebumps watching her movements.

No matter how good a Pro Gamer was, it took time to process the information coming through their eyes, figure out how to achieve the optimal effect, and decide how to move and attack the enemy.

Whether one could do that within one second.

Or within 0.5 seconds, determined a Pro Gamer’s rank, but even the most outstanding player needed that “little bit” of time.

But for Kato Mikane, that little bit of time didn’t exist.

She literally finished all her calculations in a split second, then activated Gun Kata, dodging the enemy’s attack by a paper-thin margin while simultaneously landing a Counter.

And the surprising thing was that this wasn’t some superpower generated by the Power of the Ley Line, but a super play based purely on her own thought and cognitive abilities.

Of course, there was a Risk.

While making such plays, her brain had to maintain a state of high Concentration, so it was bound to tire out much faster.

If she tried to maintain this state for all three Sets, she would surely get a nosebleed or, at some point, cross a threshold and her Concentration would hit rock bottom.

But this was where the overpowered ability of the Earth Vein came into play.

Kato Mikane was using the Power of the Ley Line to shake off the fatigue in her brain, which would otherwise tire easily.

It wasn’t a complete recovery, but the fact that her mind, which should have been exhausted from the high Concentration, could hold up throughout the game was due to this ability.

<What kind of ability is this…>

Witnessing it from a front-row seat in her mind, he could feel the power Kato Mikane possessed even more keenly.

Han Youngin thought.

Can our kids win against this person?

No matter how he thought about it, he could only picture them getting beaten up.

On Jeju Island, the Korean team had the advantage in average team stats, so they could exploit that opening, but Kato Mikane as the Leader of the Kamui team was different.

From the Defender to the Supporter.

The players on the Kamui team had all honed their play to support Kato Mikane to the extreme.

And what about their skills?

The capabilities of the Kamui team members, whom Kato had painstakingly nurtured, were indeed worthy of being called talents befitting the world’s strongest team.

<If I were to pit Dami against Kato…>

It would be an absolute disadvantage.

The current Kato was an out-of-spec player who couldn’t be handled one-on-one.

Then he had to find a solution elsewhere, but the other positions were just as hopeless.

Han Youngin compared the other Attacker positions.

Super Sylph’s sub-Attacker was Jung Yunseul.

Kamui’s sub-Attacker was Shimizu Misaki.

Jung Yunseul was outmatched here too.

It was the same for the Defender, Sniper, and Supporter.

There had to be some area where they could hold their own for tactics to have any meaning, but with such a disparity in capabilities, there were almost no options to choose from.

<Isn’t this a lost cause…?>

The deadline Kato Mikane had promised Seo Dami was until the end of this year.

That effectively meant they had to defeat the Kamui team at this year’s World Championship, but no matter how he looked at it, it seemed hopeless.

Wouldn’t it be faster to just bow down to Kato and beg her to spare him?

Han Youngin sighed inwardly and focused on the game for now.

This was a rare opportunity.

For now, he was determined to absorb everything he could learn from Kato.

While the League matches were in full swing.

At the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee headquarters over the weekend, Korean UA officials were gathered for a meeting.

It was to create the roster for the upcoming Summer Olympics, which would be held during the Break Period.

The Director for the Korean women’s National Representative team was Park Jonghun, the Director of last year’s League champion, the Galaxy team.

There were no objections to him, the champion team’s Director, taking the National Representative Director position.

However, opinions were somewhat divided on which players to send to Los Angeles.

The Ace-level players from each team all had a brilliant talent of their own, making it difficult to just say, “This player would be good!” and decide.

With things as they were, the opinions of Director Park Jonghun, who had taken the role, and the first member to be selected for the national team became important.

That was Kim Seunga, a veteran and Ace of the national team.

“How about we take Seo Dami?”

“Let’s do that.”

Kim Seunga was the first to recommend Seo Dami, and Director Park Jonghun immediately accepted.

Seo Dami had already shown good synergy with Kim Seunga on Jeju Island, so there was no reason to refuse.

Her Form in the recent League had been a bit up and down, but her peak capabilities were unquestionable.

Although Director Park Jonghun was in charge of the Galaxy team, he surprisingly didn’t try to build the team with only Galaxy players.

That meant Director Park Jonghun was also greedy for a medal.

To win a medal, you had to pick the best players for each position to increase your chances.

Thus, Director Park Jonghun finalized a list of six players in total, including five Starters and a Sixth Man in case a Substitution was needed.

Attacker Kim Seunga (26), Artemis.

Attacker Seo Dami (20), Super Sylph.

Attacker Park Yubin (25), Star Force.

Sniper Lee Arin (24), Blaze.

Defender Kim Seohyun (25), Galaxy.

Supporter Oh Yeonseo (24), Galaxy.

Once the roster was confirmed, most fans reacted by saying the players they expected had been chosen.

-The next-gen national Ace enters!

-The Great Dami!

Super Sylph fans also clapped and cheered.

It was because while mostly veteran players were chosen, Seo Dami was the only young player to secure a spot.

And Seo Dami, upon confirming her name was on the National Representative roster, wore an expression that said the inevitable had come.

Los Angeles, where the Olympics would be held.

The Japanese representative, Kato Mikane, would surely be there too.

Seo Dami recalled the conversation she had with her on that rainy day.

Kato Mikane, who had promised to spare her Oppa if she defeated her.

Recalling what she said then, she guessed Kato Mikane had probably made that promise with the World Championship in mind.

But Seo Dami had no intention of waiting meekly until the end of the year.

If possible, this summer.

She planned to save Han Youngin as early as possible.

‘Just wait a little longer. Oppa. I’m coming to save you…!’

Taking out the photo of her Oppa that she had gotten from Jung Yunseul, Seo Dami steeled her resolve.

The summer’s grand festival for the people of the world was just around the corner.