Chapter 84: Tryouts (5)

After the test officially began, Coach Park Taehyung, who had stealthily returned to the practice room, couldn’t hide his constant admiration.

‘This is…….’

Real.

It wasn’t that Coach Park Taehyung had seen incorrectly, nor was the story of a Challenger 1000 LP player a ghost of the past.

Even though it was just one game, the skill Outlaw displayed was genuinely real.

‘She’s pulling off plays like that here?’

Coach Park Taehyung was well aware that the environment of the 2nd team practice room was incomparably poor compared to others.

The mice and keyboards were passable since they used the same supplies as the 1st team players, but the problem was that the basic computer and monitor specs were abysmal.

It was so bad that players often joked – or perhaps stated a fact – that their scrim results would be better at a local PC bang than in their familiar practice room.

No, it probably wasn’t a joke; it was likely true.

‘They didn’t listen even when I told them.’

How much could it possibly cost…….

For a team belonging to the Korean league, supposedly the best league in the world, they were excessively harsh on their players.

‘F*cking money demons.’

YSG’s parent company, YS, is a typical private equity management firm.

A group pursuing extreme profits.

Naturally, they don’t engage in anything that doesn’t make money, and the pro gaming team and its players were merely used as tools for profit.

‘…Honestly, she’s too good for this team.’

Outlaw.

Despite it being an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people, she started giving orders without hesitation somewhere in the middle of the game. Her presence even carried a certain charisma.

‘…I still can’t believe it. Those idiots are following orders obediently? Especially from a Master player?’

The trainees didn’t know that Outlaw had a Challenger 1000 LP account.

Coach Park Taehyung wasn’t hasty enough to share unconfirmed information with the players.

Therefore, to the trainees, Outlaw was just another Master-tier amateur who came for a tryout.

Yet they followed her so well?

It was something even Coach Park Taehyung, with his title, hadn’t been able to achieve until now.

‘Of course, her win rate isn’t typical for a Master player. But still, it’s strange. Is it because she’s older? …No. It’s more like…….’

Coach Park Taehyung soon came up with a hypothesis about the peculiar charisma Outlaw displayed.

‘Siren.’

Was it like the voice of a Siren in mythology, tempting sailors, making it impossible not to follow?

The absolute charisma emanating from Outlaw evoked such a feeling.

Well… the analogy wasn’t entirely satisfactory, but Coach Park Taehyung evaluated Outlaw that way nonetheless.

Moreover, this was clearly the ability YSG had been searching for so desperately.

‘I’ll need to watch a bit longer to be sure, but…’

If her skills were genuinely as real as he had seen…….

‘No, there are many players who just happen to play well sometimes. Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch.’

There’s a reason why the club tests trainees for a minimum of one week to a month.

Coach Park Taehyung shook his head and turned back towards the 1st team practice room.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much capacity to focus here.

‘If she’s truly real, she’ll prove it.’

Coach Park Taehyung walked away.

---

Coach Park Taehyung busily shuttled back and forth between the 1st and 2nd team practice rooms.

Normally, during the season, he wouldn’t have the capacity to visit the 2nd team practice room, but Coach Park Taehyung deliberately ignored the surrounding gazes and headed there.

The results of the 2nd team internal scrims held during the afternoon were concise.

Outlaw’s team won all matches.

A total of 3 wins, 0 losses.

“Is it over?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, everyone gather around.”

As always, Coach Park Taehyung squeezed time out of his schedule to provide feedback as quickly and briefly as possible.

“Minsoo, here, you should have joined the bottom lane instead of taking the blue buff. It wouldn’t change the situation if you went with blue, but if you had arrived about 3 seconds earlier, the situation could have changed.”

“My mana was iffy, so I thought I wouldn’t be much use even if I went.”

“That’s understandable. But look here. You just needed to go and use your skills once. Right?”

“…You’re right.”

Within YSG, the treatment of the 2nd team and trainees is abysmal.

Therefore, normally, the coaching staff wouldn’t even provide such feedback during the season, but Coach Park Taehyung was the only one who cared about the 2nd team and trainees.

Of course, part of the reason was his desperate search for a relief pitcher to save YSG from its crisis.

“And here, the calls didn’t match. Why is everyone moving separately?”

“That’s…….”

Perhaps thanks to the process of reviewing the game together during feedback, Coach Park Taehyung couldn’t help but solidify his thoughts.

‘…She dominated the game single-handedly.’

It was to the point where he wondered if the outcome would have changed even if they had played according to his feedback.

Unfortunately, her mechanical skills seemed slightly lacking compared to what he first saw in solo queue, but that was understandable considering the nearly worst-case environmental conditions.

Of course, being too affected by the gaming environment wasn’t a good trait for a pro, but her performance was still at this level despite it.

“Let’s call it a day and do individual practice.”

They could run team scrims like this, but regrettably, he didn’t have the capacity to give them any more feedback.

Coach Park Taehyung asked Outlaw.

“What about you? Today’s test ends here. Do you want to stay and practice more?”

Normally, she would stay overnight during the tryout period, but various circumstances made that impossible.

“Then I’ll head out for today. I’m not feeling too well…….”

“…Really?”

‘She said she’s not feeling well?’

Come to think of it, her complexion had seemed a bit off since earlier.

Surprisingly, Outlaw had shown such gameplay despite the adverse conditions and not being in top shape.

“Oh, okay. Go get some rest. Tomorrow, be here by 9 AM.”

“Okay. Goodbye then.”

After bowing politely, Outlaw looked around at the others and gave a slight wave to the numerous gazes directed at her.

“Uh… see you all tomorrow.”

Despite the brief greeting, sounds of sharp inhales could be heard from the trainees.

They had frozen stiff.

‘Sigh, these kids.’

Given the nature of pro gamer trainees, lacking immunity was somewhat expected, so Coach Park Taehyung chuckled softly.

Though, frankly, Coach Park Taehyung himself felt his heart flutter at Outlaw’s faint smile just moments ago.

‘…Still, that face is a bit much.’

Beyond just being pretty, her overall aura made one doubt if she was even the same species of human.

Why be a pro gamer when she could just be a celebrity?

…No, perhaps her gaming skills were too good to waste.

‘Pointless thoughts.’

Coach Park Taehyung shook his head and headed back to the 1st team practice room again.

The match was drawing near.

---

My body feels heavy.

But my steps felt lighter than ever.

I hadn’t realized while inside, but evening had already fallen.

‘Ah, right.’

Just as I hurriedly took out my smartphone to call my mother.

“Yujin!”

I saw my mother waving from a distance.

“Um… sorry I’m late.”

I thought she would be angry, but unexpectedly, my mother’s expression was nonchalant.

“Hey… it was an important test, wasn’t it? How did it go?”

“Hmm, I think I did well.”

It might be a stretch to say it was my usual performance… but ultimately, I won all the games.

“Really?”

“And they said the test will last for a week, so could you ask Secretary Kim to give me rides for a while? It seems I’ll arrive early in the morning and finish around evening.”

“A week?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm, okay. I’ll tell him. Since we’re out anyway, let’s eat out tonight. Just the family, for a change.”

“Okay.”

The reason our family usually doesn’t eat out is simple: I find going out to eat extremely bothersome.

But today was a rather special day, and since I was already out, it wasn’t particularly troublesome.

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

“Not really? Besides, isn’t it going to be either meat or seafood anyway?”

“That’s true too.”

My mother chuckled.

It was because my father’s taste buds were typical of a middle-aged man; he acted like he wasn’t picky, but he subtly was.

The place chosen for dinner was a high-end Hanwoo (Korean beef) restaurant in Cheongdam-dong.

Since it had private rooms, it was perfect for a rare family meal.

Honestly, I didn’t have much of an appetite.

My condition wasn’t great to begin with, and being so tense had killed my desire to eat.

But still, once I put the beef in my mouth, it melted deliciously.

Meat is always right.

“The gaming team you’re trying out for is called YSG?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Sensing something unusual in my father’s voice, my mother asked.

“Why? Do you know the place?”

“Not exactly… the name just sounds familiar. I’ll look into it more later and let you know.”

“Okay. If it’s a strange place, tell me right away.”

“I will.”

A strange place…….

The facilities were a bit poor, but was it that bad?

Amidst these thoughts, I focused back on the meat.

Well, he’d tell me later if it was strange.

---

The next day arrived.

Since I had to arrive by 9 AM, I woke up early, washed up, and instead of yesterday’s outfit, I wore my usual hoodie and a ball cap.

I wondered if I’d be woken up at dawn for an early morning tour of beauty shops today, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Hearing that the test would last a week, my mother seemed to have compromised to some extent.

‘My condition… still not great.’

Still, from experience, I knew I’d probably feel better by tomorrow, so it was a small mercy.

‘I need to get used to this.’

Pros are human too.

Of course, it would be great to always maintain peak condition, but that’s not always possible.

One must be able to perform even in such situations to survive as a pro.

‘I can do this.’

Day two of the tryouts.

I headed towards the YSG practice room.