Chapter 41: Sponsor

Hansan.

A large conglomerate whose main industries are high-tech IT and various electronic products.

It was a global corporation that everyone in Korea, no, the world, knew just by hearing the name.

“They want to sponsor us?”

“To be exact, it’s Hansan Food.”

“Food?”

Kim Hanseong had heard of Hansan, but he was puzzled because he had never heard of Hansan Food.

“If you look here…it seems to be a subsidiary, and it seems to be a company that produces special foods.”

“Special foods, what do they sell?”

“There’s something called phenylketonuria, where people can’t properly digest protein. They make low-protein foods, it says.”

“Is it like a welfare thing?”

“I think so. They also make food for patients with other rare diseases.”

Kim Hanseong received the materials Seo Yeeun handed him and examined them.

Hansan Food, it was only a food company in name; it felt more like a welfare foundation.

“That’s strange. It’s a business that doesn’t seem like it would make much money.”

“Hansan has several foundations in the first place. Isn’t it one of them?”

“So, why are they sponsoring us?”

“Still, the amount is quite significant.”

“Certainly…they’re giving us an amount similar to the big corporation teams.”

But a nagging feeling of doubt wouldn’t go away.

If Hansan itself had come in, he could have understood it as the chairman’s hobby.

It was strange for a food business to suddenly sponsor e-sports.

“What’s so strange about it?”

“It’s too out of the blue.”

“Other teams have sponsors like insurance companies, oriental medicine hospitals, and ophthalmologists. Is food that strange? It’s an affiliate of an IT company.”

Listening to Seo Yeeun, it seemed to make sense again.

Other LCK teams had sponsors like oriental medicine hospitals, ophthalmologists, insurance companies, and even karaoke places.

There was no reason a food company couldn’t do it.

‘In the first place.’

When he thought about it, there were other food companies among the other teams.

Given that there were even teams that gave out cans of tuna at LoL Park as game event giveaways, a company closer to a charitable business wasn’t bad.

‘Do I have a suit at the dorm?’

Kim Hanseong was a coach who wore a uniform instead of a suit on game days, unlike other coaches.

For that reason, he was trying to remember where the suit he had fitted in the past was.

“Set up a meeting. It would be right for us to go, wouldn’t it?”

“No?”

“Huh?”

“They’re coming here.”

“Who?”

“The CEO of Hansan Food.”

Choi Eunhyuk.

The chairman of the Hansan Life Foundation and also serving as the director of Hansan Hospital.

What was unique was that he was also the CEO of Hansan Food.

‘How long has it been since we went out together?’

Inside a luxury sedan driving down the road.

Choi Eunhyuk, going out with his younger sister for the first time in a while, looked to his side.

There was his younger sister, Choi Eunseo, sleeping with a regular breathing pattern.

‘I want to sponsor E-sports.’

He knew that his younger sister enjoyed watching e-sports.

After all, Choi Eunhyuk himself had recommended it.

‘It was a vicarious satisfaction.’

Unlike himself, who was receiving training as a successor, his sister seemed to have an overflowing amount of time.

For that reason, he thought she should play games instead.

E-sports had become a part of life for his sister, who had to stay in the hospital.

“Ugh…are we there?”

Perhaps she hadn’t fallen into a deep sleep, Choi Eunseo rubbed her sleepy eyes and stretched.

“No, there’s a little bit left.”

“…Oppa, thank you.”

“For what?”

•He wanted to answer as kindly as possible, but whether it was a family trait, an answer that others might find cold came out.

“I was a little pushy, but you persuaded Dad.”

But even with that answer, Choi Eunseo smiled and looked at Choi Eunhyuk.

‘It’s WWE anyway.’

His father, Chairman Choi Gwangjin’s anger, was just a show.

Even if Hansan Food was close to a social enterprise, it was still one of Hansan’s affiliates.

Some people might think that a place like that suddenly entering the gaming market as a sponsor was Hansan’s idea.

That’s why he refused as a show in a situation where there were many eyes watching.

“But, is there a reason you want to be a sponsor?”

“Huh?”

“I thought you should have done it sooner if you were going to do it.”

Choi Eunseo had been interested in e-sports since she was an elementary school student in the hospital.

If she had set her mind to it, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to become a sponsor or even acquire a team a long time ago.

But his sister, who had been satisfied with just watching, suddenly said she would do this, so he was a little curious.

“I suddenly have someone I want to support.”

“Someone?”

“You know that most e-sports fans are player fans, not team fans, right?”

Choi Eunseo added that she didn’t like such player fans and thought she should be a team fan.

“But, there’s someone who looks very interesting.”

“Not good?”

“Of course, she’s good too. But she’s not the best right now.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to sponsor a good team? Sports are fun when you see them win, aren’t they?”

“Hey, then just run an AI and have them play the game.”

In fact, Choi Eunhyuk, who had little interest in most sports, including e-sports, found it difficult to understand what she was saying.

But it made him happy that his sister, who had been sickly since childhood, was talking with such sparkling eyes.

“We’re almost there.”

Kim Minseo, who had been driving silently in the front, spoke to the back seat.

“It’s right there!”

Choi Eunseo, who had opened the window in the back seat, couldn’t hide her excitement at the sight of the ARK logo in front of her.

“Don’t stick your head out.”

“I’ll park.”

In practice, he was Choi Eunseo’s dedicated bodyguard, but Kim Minseo, who was working as a driver for the time being, showed off his top-notch parking skills.

“Then I’ll contact you when it’s over, eat something nearby.”

“No. I’ll be waiting.”

“There’s a gym nearby, go there.”

“Would that really be okay?”

“It’ll take about 2 hours, so exercise, wash up, and come out.”

After all, Kim Minseo, like himself, had no interest in games.

Choi Eunhyuk sent him to do what he liked because he felt sorry to have such a person next to him throughout the negotiations.

After talking like that and getting out of the car.

“I’ve been waiting.”

A man waiting in front of the building approached and asked for a handshake.

‘A suit in a place like this…isn’t it?’

Choi Eunhyuk wears a gown in the hospital, and if not, he usually wears a suit.

The sight of Kim Hanseong wearing a tracksuit in a place like this was shocking to him.

‘We didn’t make an appointment, though.’

Due to his hospital schedule, he had no time to move with his younger sister today if not today, so he came a little forcefully.

He received the handshake, thinking that the other party had no time to prepare.

“I’m Choi Eunhyuk, here as the CEO of Hansan Food.”

“I’m Kim Hanseong, CEO of ARK.”

“By the way, is it okay to park the car here in front?”

“Yes, this front is our site.”

After a brief greeting, Choi Eunhyuk and Choi Eunseo followed Kim Hanseong into the building.

They went into the reception room on the first floor and waited for a while.

“It took me a while to find the necessary documents.”

“No. We came without an appointment.”

Kim Hanseong and a woman who seemed to be in charge of office work, Seo Yeeun, entered the room.

“This is our team’s record.”

“Did you win 1st place in the 2nd division and get promoted?”

“That’s right.”

It was data that even he, who didn’t know the game league well, could easily understand after looking it up.

There were a few strange parts because it was made in a hurry, but it wasn’t that disturbing.

“What do you think?”

After all, he didn’t know if it was that great even if he looked at it, so he handed the documents to his younger sister.

“It’s amazing! No team has been promoted from CK in the last 3 years!”

“Haha…is she your wife? She knows a lot about it.”

“She’s my younger sister!”

“Ah…I’m sorry. You look so good together.”

“Are you really giving us a contract at this level?”

“In addition, just advertise our food company once during the season.”

“It’s too much money to receive just by doing that…”

Kim Hanseong was in a state of confusion looking at the contract in front of him.

It was an amount that even most large corporate sponsors couldn’t give.

He knew Hansan’s name value well, but this was a little too much.

Let’s ask one more time.

“Instead, I have one suggestion.”

“Yes…?”

“Para, I mean, Yoon Seoha.”

The girl in front of her spoke with a pure smile like when she first saw her.

“Even if you get promoted, aren’t there age restrictions?”

“Ah…that’s right.”

That was what Kim Hanseong was most worried about.

Yoon Seoha couldn’t participate in the upcoming LCK Spring season due to the age limit, and then it wouldn’t be strange to be relegated back to CK.

“I’ll solve it for you.”

“Yes?”

“We’re not just thinking of sponsoring ARK anyway.”

“How are you going to solve it…”

“That’s a secret! So, if it’s resolved well, please make sure Seoha doesn’t worry about other things and can just play the game well.”

After finishing the sponsor agreement, some time later.

Kim Hanseong could hear the story that Hansan Food and Hansan Hospital were the official sponsors of the LCK league, and that the LCK age limit was partially lifted.