Chapter 43 - Pain That Cannot Kill Me (4)
Today was an important day for Son Yena.
The semi-pro selection tournament.
Son Yena, who had been active as an amateur expert under the ID Killer Queen, had thoroughly provoked Han Yujin.
Han Yujin, who was at the pinnacle of amateurs.
To win against her, Son Yena practiced like crazy and honed her builds.
‘If I just do as I practiced, I’ll win. Han Yujin is nothing special. I’m better than Han Yujin.’
She comforted herself and eased her tension.
And just as she was about to go up to the second floor-
“Hey.”
An unfamiliar male voice stopped Son Yena.
“…Who are you?”
“You don’t need to know who I am.”
The man took out a paper from his pocket and read something.
“I’m going to tell you Han Yujin’s builds, so open your ears and listen carefully. One Gate Double and 4 Gate All-in. She prepared these.”
At those words, Son Yena coldly sneered.
“You’re being ridiculous. I’ll block your nonsense.”
As she tried to ignore him and go up the stairs.
The man roughly grabbed Son Yena’s thin wrist. And with a menacing expression, he swore.
“Hey, you fucking bitch. Are you looking down on me?”
Then he rolled up his sleeve and showed the tattoos covering both arms.
“You little bitch, it seems you can’t grasp the situation when I’m trying to be nice.”
“…What?”
Son Yena shrank back, overwhelmed by the intimidation.
The man smiled slyly and said,
“You fucking bitch. When I checked with the account tracker, it showed you were doing paid boosting?”
“…”
It was true.
To help with her poor family finances, Son Yena had been earning small amounts of money by raising people’s scores.
Boosting in ranked games.
It was a clear felony in the e-sports world that could lead to suspension of qualifications if it got big.
“Anyway, you’ve got Han Yujin’s builds in your head, right? You fucking bitch, just try to lose. I’ll spread your boosting activities all over the world so you can’t even get near becoming a pro.”
The man adjusted his hat and went up to the second floor.
Son Yena stood there frozen in fear, as if nailed to the spot.
Now it had become a habit to smile brightly when I see camera lenses. It was the same outside, and inside too, photo requests came in like a string of sausages.
I’m your fan, Yujin-nim. Ah, thank you. Please take a photo with me. Yes, of course. Please give me an autograph. Yes! …It was quite fascinating how a processed smile like canned food automatically appeared on my face.
The tension in the arena was thick like cigarette smoke. The expressions of the participants wearing the same name tags as me were all stiff.
I lowered my head to check the snow-white name tag attached to my chest. It had my assigned group, participant number, and name written on it.
Group A – Number 33 – Han Yujin.
…It’s finally here!
If my story were written as a novel,
Where would I be now?
“Wow, the atmosphere is really heavy.”
“Noona… you can do well, right?”
The sewer water duo, Han Sejun and Han Suho, had already lost strength in their voices, overwhelmed by the atmosphere emanating from the arena.
Cute things.
“Don’t worry. I’ll win no matter what.”
When I turned my head, I saw the reporters I had seen downstairs surrounding a middle-aged foreigner.
It was Michael Felix, the coach of Team Solid.
When our eyes met, he gave me an eye greeting, his eye wrinkles showing. I also bowed my head in response.
“Why is that man here?”
Hyun Junho had a dumbfounded expression.
“He said he came to see me.”
“What? You’re not going to America, are you?”
“Well, I haven’t thought about it that far.”
Hearing my uncertain answer, Hyun Junho said firmly.
“Don’t go. Whether we eat from the same pot or fight it out, let’s compete together in the domestic league.”
I smiled without giving a definite answer.
Then-
“N-Noona!”
“Jaehyun-ah, you came?”
My editor cum manager cum PD cum advisor cum… he has many titles. Anyway, Moon Jaehyun appeared holding a camera.
“I want to make a video capturing the vivid atmosphere of the tournament. Can you give a comment just once?”
At Moon Jaehyun’s request, my expression completely changed from Han Yujin to HaYoo. It was a kind of mode change.
The tone of my voice rose from ‘do’ to ‘sol’.
“Ha-ha! We’ve finally arrived at the semi-pro selection tournament venue! I’m so nervous and thrilled that I want to run away? But since you guys are being crazy, I can’t do that…”
When I confirmed Moon Jaehyun’s okay sign, my expression softened again.
Hyun Junho and the sewer water duo looked at me curiously as if I were a strange creature.
“Yujin-ssi. I really can’t get used to it no matter how many times I see it.”
“Noona, isn’t this multiple personality?”
“As expected, a first-class streamer is different.”
And,
“Hey! Han Yujin!”
A tall man strode towards me. It was Sung Dojun.
“Is your condition okay? How’s your body?”
“It’s fine.”
“How’s your wrist? No carpal tunnel syndrome or anything?”
“No.”
“You’ve really been through a lot. Are your fingers okay?”
“Ah, just get lost!”
Ignoring my outburst, Sung Dojun approached Hyun Junho and grabbed his hand.
“Hello. I’m Han Yujin’s friend. This incompetent kid is really indebted to you, right?”
“Ah, no. I’m the one who’s indebted to her.”
Then again-
A familiar man appeared from behind. When he saw me, he smiled his characteristic friendly smile and came running in slippers.
It was Kang Yohan.
“Oh my, Master!”
Then I glared at him and said,
“Shouldn’t you be practicing…”
“Haha. How could I? We’re practically one body now.”
And, again…
I smelled a perfume that tickled my nose. Just from the silhouette of the scent, I could immediately tell who was coming.
It was Rilme, a female BJ broadcasting on an Asian platform.
“Oh my, HaYoo!”
“…Don’t stick to me and go away.”
“Noooo, whyyy!”
Rilme hugged me tightly as soon as we met, engaging in excessive skinship.
“What are you doing after this is over? Hm?”
“What would I do. I have to turn on the broadcast and collect money.”
“Don’t do that, let’s do a drinking broadcast with unnie, okay?”
“I don’t want to.”
Suddenly, someone tapped my cheek. When I turned to the side, I saw tired, sunken eyes.
This time it was PD Kim Hwachang.
No, is this the Avengers assembling?
“Han Yujin. I’m going through hell because of you.”
“Why?”
“I’ve been editing all night, I don’t even know what time it is or what day it is.”
“So have you decided how to do the ending?”
Actually, Kim Hwachang had grumbled on the phone earlier that the ending might be bland.
He answered with a yawn.
“Yeah. I’m planning to fill it with you winning the selection tournament.”
And when Kim Hwachang saw Moon Jaehyun, his face brightened.
“Oh, Jaehyun-ah. You’re Mio, right?”
“Yes, hyung. Hello!”
Kim Hwachang said with a nostalgic expression.
“Wow, then three guild members have gathered.”
…Oh, come to think of it, that’s true.
Me, Kim Hwachang, and Moon Jaehyun were from the same guild.
“Han Yujin. Don’t you dare tarnish the reputation of the Ruin guild. You must win no matter what!”
“Mister. Stop nagging.”
And finally,
“Unnie.”
A quiet voice like a calm sea without waves.
Han Sieun was looking at me in her school uniform.
Then she said in a lifeless voice,
“…Good luck. Fighting, our unnie.”
Han Sieun’s complexion looked haggard as if she had just finished a night shift.
I asked worriedly.
“Why do you look like that these days? Your face is all dark and shadowy.”
“Ah. I’ve been playing games and thinking about builds all day…”
Hearing that, I patted Han Sieun’s fragile back hard.
“You! If you keep playing games without sleeping until dawn, I’ll really scold you!”
“Sorry…”
And.
My gaze turned to another direction.
Another familiar face. A girl with twin tails tied thickly on both sides in a semi-long style approached.
She was so short that it was hard to believe she was the same age as Han Sieun, with such a tiny frame.
I greeted her warmly as if talking to a child.
“Hello?”
“…You’re in Group A too, right?”
“What’s with ‘you’? You should politely call me unnie.”
“Unnie my ass.”
Curious about her name, I checked her name tag.
Group A – Number 4 – Son Yena…?
“Your name is Yena?”
“…So what?”
“Your number is 4? The character for death?”
“No. Not the character for death, but for memorial service. Because it’s your memorial day today.”
This girl, really!
I’m not one to lose in a war of words anywhere, but my ears were burning. She was certainly the epitome of a mesu-gaki (bratty girl).
“Since you’re number 4, we’ll have to meet in the finals to face each other.”
“Yes. That’s what I’m hoping for. I want to beat you… I mean, unnie, and win.”
But something seems strange. Son Yena’s expression looked incomparably more depressed than when I saw her last time.
I put my hand on Son Yena’s small forehead and said,
“Yena-ya. Are you not feeling well? You don’t seem to have a fever though.”
“…It’s not that, ah.”
Son Yena’s eyes turned red as if she was about to cry.
…What’s wrong with her?
Just then, a woman wearing a wireless intercom around her neck shouted loudly.
“Staff members, please move to the staff seats, and participants, please enter the arena! Turn off your phones and block whispers when you log into the game. If caught, you will be disqualified.”
I turned my back and said to the people,
“I’ll definitely win and come back.”
Everyone, without exception, smiled and cheered for me.
When I turned back again, I saw the arena. It was just an ordinary PC bang, but for a moment it looked like the Colosseum, a circular arena.
Well, now it’s time.
Was it 1020 registered Galaxy War pro gamers in Korea?
Of course, among them, there are probably people who haven’t debuted, and some who have retired.
But what’s certain now is…
That I will become the 1021st pro gamer.
Han Sejun accessed the DCInside Galaxy War gallery.
[Galaxy War Gallery]
[Author: Breaking News Man]
[Title: HaYoo entered the gallery wow]
(GIF of entering the arena)
Likes: 137 Dislikes: 58
-Finally wow
-Please win
-Why are you all making such a fuss over an amateur fck
└Hyun Junho, Kang Yohan, even Michael Felix came?
└Considering how she’s been beating pros so far, it’s definitely not an overreaction lol
-Ah this bastard should just fail for it to be fun
-Remember today, you HaHaters lololol The tectonic shift in the GalWar scene starts now
-Result prediction: Eliminated in the first round
[Title: Which team do you think HaYoo will go to?]
It’s 99.99% certain that she’ll win anyway
She’s beaten two top pro gamers lol
Let’s just forget everything else and have a deep discussion about which team she might go to
-She should go to SUC. It’s the team that suits HaYoo perfectly. 1st place, 1st place, 1st place
└That place has the best player welfare and salary, so it’s the first choice lol
└But Jung Suhyuk is there
-This bitch seems to be dating Hyun Junho, so she’ll probably go to ELF
└ELF might be difficult? Han Yujin and Ju Sehun don’t get along
└Who knows, it’s been a month so maybe they’ve made up now
└I’m an ELF fan but seriously this team has no hope, they can never win because their Humans are weak idiots…
-She should go to America
└If she goes to America, she’ll probably get **** by black guys
└There are strong rumors that HaYoo never calls guys oppa, but if she gets caught by black guys, she’ll naturally start saying oppa
└+ Ahegao?
└You fcking bastard, watch your mouth
└This bitch is really a money-grubber, you don’t know, in America the transfer fees and salaries are on a completely different scale
└Han Yujin isn’t an idiot, public opinion in Korea would be fcked, would she go seeing only the trees and not the forest?
└But those trees are extremely expensive mahogany trees…
-Ah I want to see her go to a Japanese team and do event matches in a maid outfit
└lol This is getting exciting
└I vote for this
└Let’s make her do magical girl cosplay too
└If she gets embarrassed while reciting lines, it would be really hot, right?
└This bitch is tsundere so she’d fit well with a Kyoto team
-Really if… she goes to the last place team Astro and makes them win, how far would HaYoo’s stock rise?
└Oh that really can’t happen lol
└What can’t happen? She could win in the Winners League which uses a winner-stays-on format
└Ah~~ So you’re saying because it’s a winner-stays-on format, even if her teammates are bad, if HaYoo gets all-kills they can win, is that what you mean?
└Yep you idiot
└lol Is HaYoo’s wrist made of titanium? She won’t even last one season due to carpal tunnel syndrome you crazy fcker, you psycho lol
“…Hey, Jaehyun-ah.”
“Yeah?”
Han Sejun showed his phone to Moon Jaehyun, whom he had become close to while learning editing work, and asked,
“The public opinion about our noona is okay, right?”
Then Moon Jaehyun said bluntly,
“It’s okay for now.”
“For now?”
“Yeah. Those people are just seeking pleasure and dopamine anyway. If noona stumbles even a little, they’ll rush in to bite her, happy about it.”
“Crazy bastards.”
Next to them, Rilme was peeking at Han Yujin’s match through opera glasses.
Rilme clenched her fist and shouted,
“Go! HaYoo! Go! Oh, she won!”
Han Yujin won the first round with a perfect victory and advanced to the second round.
Son Yena also advanced to the second round with a perfect victory, just like Han Yujin.
Usually, she would have let out a refreshing sigh, but now it was different.
Dry sighs kept escaping from her lips.
‘Ah, what should I really do…’
She bit her nails and was lost in thought.
Just then, Han Yujin approached Son Yena with a smile.
“Wow, Yena also advanced with a perfect victory?”
“…Yes.”
“You won, but why does your face look like kimchi? Cheer up a bit!”
“…”
Han Yujin, who was actually encouraging her competitor, looked like a fairy for a moment.
Son Yena smiled faintly at that beautiful sight, but her face hardened again.
Because she saw the man from earlier watching her from the staff seats.