Chapter 17 : Don’t Be Arrogant. Always Be Humble (1)

“Dammit…”

Park Taeyoung roughly pulled at his hair.

It had been a week since he joined the pro team ‘Glitch Core’ in Raid and Master.

The confident attitude he had when first joining the pro team was nowhere to be found.

“How the hell have I not won even once, you idiot…”

“Taeyoung, calm down.”

To the frustrated Park Taeyoung, Glitch Core’s coach, Choi Younghoon, approached.

Coach Choi handed him a can of cola.

The cola can, freshly taken out from the fridge, had beads of condensation on it.

“If you get shaken up over losing just a practice match, how are you going to handle it in the real matches? You’re doing fine, so there’s no need to rush.”

“But…”

Despite the coach’s comforting words, Park Taeyoung only fiddled with the can.

He looked disheartened.

Coach Choi Younghoon understood where Taeyoung was coming from.

If someone was still confident after five consecutive losses, that would be strange.

And these weren’t just team matches.

He had lost miserably in a one-on-one match.

“If it’s any consolation, Arin’s form has been really good lately. Especially in one-on-one matches, that’s her specialty, so it’s understandable that you lost.”

Coach Choi believed that Park Taeyoung was a good trainee.

It was just that the opponent wasn’t favorable.

“It wouldn’t make much of a difference in a team match, would it?”

A voice was heard from the side.

Coach Choi and Park Taeyoung both turned their heads.

A girl in a school uniform stood there, looking confident.

‘Chloe’ Kang Arin.

A recent trainee who had joined Glitch Core.

She was also the one who had handed Park Taeyoung his five consecutive losses.

“If you’re getting outplayed in lane, how are you going to do anything in a team match? At the very least, you need to be able to win as a support.”

Hearing that, Park Taeyoung clenched his fist tightly.

Just a moment ago, during the one-on-one duel between Kang Arin and Park Taeyoung.

Out of the five games, Park Taeyoung had been completely beaten in four of them.

The final game.

‘If it’s one-on-one, this is my only chance.’

Determined to win, Park Taeyoung picked an assassin champion.

Kang Arin, however, picked a champion in the support and mage role.

In a one-on-one, there was no weaker pick than a support.

Though Arin’s pick wasn’t a pure support, the matchup was overwhelmingly in Park Taeyoung’s favor.

In short, it was practically a pick that mocked him.

‘What the hell is she trying to do?’

As soon as he saw that, Park Taeyoung’s blood rushed to his head, but he still thought he could win.

However, it was Park Taeyoung who ended up getting a lesson.

With precise calculations, the magic attacks Arin launched slowly chipped away at his health.

When it came time for the ultimate ability, he managed to reduce Arin’s health to a dangerously low level, but even that was part of Arin’s calculations.

She allowed other attacks, but dodged every critical blow.

It was clearly a kill opportunity, but Arin mocked him by surviving.

Park Taeyoung, out of skills, was trapped and hit by Arin’s ultimate, instantly bursting into defeat.

Five consecutive losses.

And to make matters worse, the last one ended with him getting wrecked by a support, while he was using an assassin.

It wasn’t just that he lost, but his last shred of pride was completely shattered.

“Just showing a little opening and then rushing in. If you take every skill she throws at you like that… tch, I don’t think your pro debut is going to be easy.”

“Hey, Kang Arin.”

In place of the silent Park Taeyoung, Coach Choi raised his voice.

“I told you not to speak carelessly.”

For a pro gamer, skill is the most important thing.

However, just having skill wasn’t enough.

It was also about personality.

You didn’t need to have an angelic personality, but at least a personality that allows for smooth social interactions was necessary.

The issue with Kang Arin now was her personality problem.

‘Still… everyone at the organization is expecting a lot.’

Coach Choi couldn’t speak any more harshly.

Right now, the Glitch Core team was in the lower mid-tier.

They weren’t at risk of relegation, but they couldn’t push past the middle tier either.

The players weren’t significantly lacking in skill, but their bland and colorless play couldn’t compete against teams ranked above mid-tier, even though they could beat lower-ranked teams.

In this situation, they had difficulty acquiring Kang Arin.

Kang Arin’s strength was her physicality.

In a colorless team, she was expected to be the spark that could break through.

Additionally, Kang Arin’s appearance was quite exceptional.

Being young, there were no concerns about aging curves.

Compared to the more subtle neural aspects of the game that average players wouldn’t notice, Kang Arin, with her flashy playstyle that crushed enemies, couldn’t help but stand out.

She was truly a prepared superstar.

From the club’s perspective, they couldn’t help but like her.

However, because she was so young and constantly being supported from all sides,The problem was that she had developed quite an immature personality.

“I told you that as a pro trainee, you should respect your teammates. Do you always have to bring others down like that?”

At Coach Choi’s textbook-like words, Kang Arin slightly furrowed her brows.

No matter how much the club adored her, due to the large age difference, she still didn’t dare to argue with Coach Choi.

That didn’t mean she listened obediently either.

“I’ll go now.”

With a somewhat sulky expression and mouthing something as if about to say more, Kang Arin said that and swiftly turned away to leave.

“Don’t worry too much. She’s still just a kid.”

Kang Arin was in her second year of middle school.

It was the perfect age for her to be going through a “second-year middle schooler” phase.

‘Sometimes losing can be the best medicine.’

Generally, losing isn’t considered a good thing.

Especially in the world of professional gaming, where confidence is crucial, it was even more so.

But like the two sides of a coin, there are always upsides.

Losses can teach humility.

That’s something you can’t learn from victory.

‘The problem is, she’s too talented.’

Kang Arin’s talent was so great that it made it hard for her to understand the bitterness of defeat.

In solo rank games, no matter how high the tier, she always performed more than adequately.

Her greatest strength was her incredible lane phase, based on her superior physical skills.

Even in losing games, she often managed to produce a highlight-worthy “mad movie.”

Because she showed such flashy plays, even when a game tilted due to poor judgment, she wasn’t often singled out as the “culprit.”

And the one-on-one duels.

Not just trainees, but even current pro players found it difficult to face her in a one-on-one.

A newly arrived trainee who didn’t lose to active pros, and in fact, often beat them significantly, caused her arrogance to rise even further.

And it was the coach’s responsibility to manage someone like Kang Arin.

‘I hope she doesn’t do anything weird just because she got a scolding.’

Seeing the downcast expression of Park Taeyoung, Coach Choi sighed.

He missed the cigarette he had stopped smoking.

***

“Danda-dan~”

Humming a tune, she opened the package with a cutter knife.

The VR machine she received from Rydel.

After clearing out the packing bubbles inside the box, the contents were revealed.

‘It looks like some kind of headgear.’

It was a VR machine that you wear on your head, along with various devices that need to be connected.

It was a lightweight machine, designed as a basic model.

For high-end VR machines, there are capsule models that allow you to lie down completely, but those are much more expensive, and the price increases exponentially.

‘This one’s actually better.’

Expensive is one thing, but…

In her small studio apartment, there wouldn’t even be room for something that big.

If a large capsule took up the middle of the room, it would be extremely cumbersome and uncomfortable.

“It’s brand new. Totally brand new.”

The VR machine was in such good condition that it was hard to believe it was second-hand.

“Is this how it’s supposed to be…?”

Since it was described as the pinnacle of cutting-edge technology, she expected the instructions to be complicated, but surprisingly, it was quite simple.

After connecting it to the computer, she launched the game.

Once she put the VR machine on her head, that was it.

It wasn’t much different from connecting a monitor.

She quickly connected the cables and sat down in front of the computer.

‘Download Raid and Master.’

It’s an AOS game, currently the most popular game out there.

As a mega-hit title, it’s a game that’s practically essential for streaming if you’re doing game broadcasts.

‘I’m curious what kind of game it is.’

Before the broadcast, this would be her first time experiencing a VR game.

She was also curious about what VR games were really like.

‘I wonder if Rydel is streaming right now.’

While the game was downloading, she accessed the Soopjijik site.

[Rydel, a Master Tier player’s educational stream (with Silver Hair)]

As soon as she opened the page, Rydel’s stream appeared.

Thanks to the increase in viewers, it was immediately noticeable.

5,000 viewers.

Considering the stream hadn’t been going on for long, it was a pretty significant number.

Up until then, the average number of viewers was around 2,000, so it had increased by 3,000.

‘It’s a good thing if it’s doing well.’

Since it was her first time playing the game, she thought it would be a good idea to learn from an experienced player.

She sent a message to Rydel via chat.

How about doing an educational stream together?

Like a collab.

“She wasn’t sure if Rydel would respond to her sudden message, but…”

“Oh, of course, it’s possible! Are you going to start the broadcast right now?”

“No, I’m not quite ready for that yet…”

“Ah, then, how about just doing it on my stream… I’ll make sure the revenue split is generous!”

“Huh? The revenue is fine, though.”

“What do you mean? I’ll split the donation money from that day 50:50. If you need more, I think I can do 60:40…”

Rydel responded with an “OK” in less than a minute.

〈Last time, Silver Hair did a legendary broadcast during Chain Roller! Today, she’s going to debut in a VR game.〉

Rydel excitedly spoke on the broadcast.

〈Since it’s Silver Hair’s first time playing Raid and Master, we’ve prepared content where she’ll learn from me.〉

“Rydel… giving a lecture…?”

“Isn’t this some kind of scam lecture?”

“The host’s skill level might not be enough to learn from…”

“Teacher, can I get a refund for this lecture?”

〈Hey, I’m a Master tier player too! I’ve matched up with pros, you know? Everyone who knows knows this, so stop with the criticism!〉

Rydel made an indignant face.

I also searched it up, and Rydel was definitely not a bad player.

She had maintained a fairly high rank in the Master tier for quite a while.

But she had dropped down to the tier just below it, Diamond, a few months ago.

She had tried multiple times to rank back up to Master tier but kept failing by a small margin.

She still couldn’t break free from Diamond tier.

‘That’s not to say she’s bad.’

In fact, Diamond tier itself is a respectable rank, both among general players and streamers.

Especially since Rydel was currently in the top tier of Diamond, Diamond 1.

Though the viewers teased her, they didn’t actually think she was bad at the game.

〈There’s a saying, “A hundred times hearing is worth less than one time seeing,” right? Once Silver Hair comes in…〉

“‘A hundred times hearing’ what, lol?”

“Really, this is so embarrassing, Delbung…”

“Did your tongue get twisted? Just say that and leave it at that. Please.”

At first, it seemed like just a joke, but…

Whether she didn’t know it or not, Rydel continued with a flushed face.

〈Ahem! Anyway, it’s better to see once than hear a hundred times. Once Silver Hair joins, I’ll show you a one-on-one right away!〉