Chapter 159

‘He’s not that busy.’

Of course Seo-jun didn’t really think that.

But when he looked into it, current pro gamers were in their rest period, and although their schedules including training were still supposedly packed.

‘Since I taught him, he should be able to skip that level of training.’

Actually, Lee Dong-soo had said exactly that.

‘Or maybe I should just have him train together with the team members? Since he’s helping us out and all?’

Seo-jun nodded while thinking of conditions that Lee Dong-soo would absolutely refuse to coach under if he heard them.

And after a brief silence.

The team members’ reactions exploded.

“Lee Dong-soo? You mean FreeFall’s Lee Dong-soo?”

“Wow, crazy. We’re going to meet an active pro gamer? That’s a first.”

“Um, Seo-jun-nim. You’re not talking about just some ordinary college student surnamed Lee with the name Dong-soo who lives next door, are you?”

“It’s the Lee Dong-soo you’re all thinking of.”

-Whoa…

-Is he really just gaming as a hobby?

-No way lol this doesn’t make sense. How did they become friends?

Streaming had grown since moving to virtual reality.

And pro gaming had grown much bigger than that.

Of course, pro gamers weren’t unfamiliar figures.

They didn’t communicate much and rarely had schedules, but they did turn on streams sometimes, and there were quite a lot of players who retired and chose to become streamers.

But an active pro, especially one from a team that had aimed for world first place, was different.

These people were stars.

They filtered through a tiny minority of talented people and filtered again.

The people gathered that way competed among themselves, and only a few teams could look toward the top.

No matter how much people talked about pro-level play, if you seriously asked them, you’d be able to confirm the deeply ingrained perception that active pros were an insurmountable wall.

-No way lmao was the streamer actually a pro?

-There’s no way that body and that face could exist together. You’re seriously telling me that’s a plastic surgery face? Lol

-Please recommend a plastic surgery clinic

-That’s right. I will definitely expose your true identity!

What nonsense are they spouting.

And.

Seo-jun turned his gaze away from the chat window.

At some point, the team members had approached and were looking at Seo-jun with sparkling eyes, pushing their heads forward.

“Please! Please! We’re begging you to have him coach us! Please!”

“Instead of 4 days from now, let’s just start lessons from tomorrow?”

They look like they want autographs more than lessons.

“Kekeke. Our team won! Did you see that, viewers? Was I wrong to pick Seo-jun-nim?”

Ha Yoon-ho was still going on about the auction.

-LOL

-Meeting Lee Dong-soo alone paid back the auction price

-No, it paid back the price of participating in LOS

-Practically it’s okay to get eliminated now lol

The atmosphere that had been like a funeral became like a celebration.

Should he had mentioned this from the beginning?

Anyway.

“Well then, let me try contacting him once.”

“Ah! It’s not confirmed yet?”

“Here’s the thing. He told me first that he’d help me out, but I said I’d look at the situation first.”

-Crazy lmao he offered to help first?

-Are you perhaps the son of Ohsung Electronics conglomerate?

-Why on earth?

-Lee Dong-soo… could he be into guys?

-Gasp….

As far as Seo-jun knew, Lee Dong-soo had an undisclosed girlfriend he’d been with since middle school.

It was a secret, so he didn’t bother correcting them.

“I guess seeing today, I’ll have to ask him.”

“Alpaca-nim, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Rumi rapidly spat out words.

“Thanks to Alpaca-hyung getting completely destroyed today, we can have Lee Dong-soo as our coach…!”

Windstorm Sword also purely thanked Alpaca.

Of course, Alpaca seemed fine with it too.

“It feels bad but somehow I feel good!”

Hmm.

Is that how it is?

Not sure.

“Got it. I’ll contact him for now.”

* * *

After the game ended and they finished streaming, Seo-jun contacted Lee Dong-soo to express his intention to recruit him.

[…That’s how it happened.]

[Wow! The day has come when I can help hyung! Could you let me hit you just once?]

[No.]

[Yes. But actually, I already knew the situation from watching the stream.]

See.

He told everyone he wasn’t busy.

[Ah, and like I mentioned before, the team management has guaranteed me complete free time.]

[They really gave permission?]

[Of course. Actually, they told me if there’s anything else I can extract from hyung, I should extract it… They’re really looking at you strangely. Why does my skill keep improving noticeably? They said. I’m definitely just getting beaten up.]

[That worked out well. I was planning to train you as payback anyway.]

[Hyung. I have my dignity as a player…]

[Your team management said to do it too.]

[As long as you don’t make me train with your team members…]

[……]

[Yes. Anyway. So our management asked again.]

Lee Dong-soo gave up quickly.

He knew Seo-jun well.

[What.]

[Whether you’re interested in becoming a player, or interested in becoming a coach.]

He didn’t know how many times this was now.

[Tell them I’m not interested.]

[This time they offered 3 times the profit. They probably exceeded industry standards.]

[It’s fine.]

[Yes. I’ll relay that.]

The offer itself felt like they really valued Seo-jun.

Many offers had come to Seo-jun from pro teams so far.

Because to anyone’s eyes, he looked promising and had a high probability of success.

But top-tier teams usually asked if he could come in for tests.

That meant they weren’t in a rush.

But FreeFall had just started with contract conditions right away.

Even though their starting team was already full.

You could feel how much they wanted to recruit Seo-jun, but.

‘Yeah, not doing it.’

Too bothersome.

If he’d wanted to make money, he could have earned it in plenty of other ways. His past life’s talent had carried over to his current body.

To be precise, he’d had memories of his past life since childhood, and since he was reborn, his brain’s motor functions seemed to have developed quite a bit.

[So we’ll meet in 4 days? Where should we meet? What should I teach?]

[We’ll talk about it later. And thanks.]

[Yes.]

Seo-jun ended the voice chat and looked back.

The team members were looking at Seo-jun with desperate eyes.

“He said yes.”

“Wow!”

“And would anyone like to do morning workouts with Lee Dong-soo?”

Seo-jun grinned.

“Me!”

“Of course we have to!”

“As expected of a great player, diligent from the morning.”

“Really? I’m definitely going to bed early starting today.”

He said it was okay. He said it was fine to use his name.

Seo-jun told them the gym location, and surprisingly everyone was within reasonable distance.

Alpaca said he’d drive his own car, and Rumi and Ha Yoon-ho said they were nearby so they could come together.

‘Didn’t even need a car.’

The last one, Windstorm Sword.

Was fidgeting around.

You could see the anguish reflected in his eyes.

Windstorm Sword knew well that morning workouts were a trap.

But he couldn’t not go when it meant being with Lee Dong-soo.

However, if he said he’d go, his lie about living in the countryside would be exposed.

Seo-jun chuckled and said.

“Windstorm Sword-nim. Just come. We all know you live in Seoul.”

Windstorm Sword made a startled expression. Soon he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly and answered with a laugh.

“Haha… Yes. Well, exercise won’t kill me. Can’t pass up meeting Lee Dong-soo.”

Thus, Seo-jun’s fishing ended easily thanks to the premium bait called Lee Dong-soo.

* * *

Meanwhile.

Today’s scrim results created many discussion topics, but the biggest two were these.

One was Seo-jun’s karma payback.

[Lol and they’re talking about winning the championship?]

[Getting completely torn apart by one jungler?]

[Really doesn’t make mistakes though, impressive guy]

But this didn’t have that strong of traction.

Because.

[So why didn’t Goblin <– this bastard go for mid ganks?]

It was because of Goblin’s mid gank boycott.

Everyone knew Goblin hadn’t gone to jungle just because he was hungry.

And the center of controversy was, in the end.

[Is it really at the level where A and B-tiers avoid 2v1s?]

[Maybe he was just testing?]

Seo-jun.

[Still, he didn’t lose, so he didn’t break his word, guys]

[Anyway, it was just a scrim!]

[What are you saying lol if you lost, you should leave the room!]

[Wealth Gap won’t even win one game lol]

[What confidence made him talk about winning?]

However.

When Seo-jun mentioned a coach, the situation reversed.

[What confidence? It’s Lee Dong-soo, that’s what!]

[Suddenly Wealth Gap might actually win the championship, anyone stupid enough to bet against it~?]

[Wait, why is Dong-soo appearing here???]

[What kind of connection is this! Is it real!]

[No way lmao]

[You actually believed this?]

[What’s wrong with having connections?! Hey!]

“This situation is strange and entertaining at the same time. But seriously, why is he appearing here?”

Baek Do-yul rested his chin in his hand and scrolled through his phone. He’d generally grasped the situation.

The coach sitting across the table said.

“It’s probably just a player thing? Not a team organization move.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. What would the organization gain by having him coach a streamer tournament? It’s not even an official position.”

“That’s probably true. But doesn’t it look interesting?”

“What does. Coaching? Hey. Do you know how hard it is to help other people, even if it’s an amateur competition?”

“True. But you can pass on know-how. Like strategies and stuff. Ban-pick too.”

“That’s true.”

“Should I do it too?”

“What.”

“LOS coaching.”

“Why?”

“Just looks fun.”

Baek Do-yul, who had become a rich patron after donating big money, felt his competitive spirit ignite.

Meeting through MovieSoft would probably take a while.

Should I try sniping first?

* * *

The day after the scrim against Goblin.

Seo-jun’s team worked on strategies, studied jungle, and played practice games with streamers that Ha Yoon-ho had brought.

It was the same as before.

Actually, this was how LOS was supposed to proceed.

If you added a coach here, it would just be a bit more systematic and give necessary advice from an external perspective.

Of course, if that target was a pro, people expected there would be something different.

Lee Dong-soo hadn’t appeared yet.

Because of the implicit rule that coaching should happen after scrims ended.

The next day.

Ha Yoon-ho’s team was matched up against Mental’s team.

-Lol they’re not going to lose again, are they?

-Still, the enemy mid is decent this time

-The problem is Alpaca still hasn’t awakened to jungle lmao

-Windstorm Sword really shows he’s just a Kael one-trick, can barely use other heroes LOL

-Another defeat is practically confirmed lol

After losing the previous scrim, the chat had been in this state continuously.

It was like they were trying to vent some grudge.

Seriously, what did he not do normally that makes them act like this.

“You probably won’t get another chance to tease me like this, right? Everyone.”

There could only be one reason.

-Lol sure sure

-Yes, loser’s delusion~

-Let’s talk after you win, after you win

-How are you going to win when two teammates are doing 0.5 person’s work?

“Ah, I’ll just do 2 people’s work then.”

To be precise, Seo-jun was planning to play a hero that literally became 2 bodies today.

Shadow Mage Zen.

-Still, it’s 5 people vs 5 people, right?

-Can’t do math

-Math is wrong

“Why 5 people? The enemy mid won’t be able to do 1 person’s work because of me.”

It was so obvious he hadn’t mentioned it, but they didn’t get it.

-LOL the opponent is Challenger too!

-Wave might be able to hold out?

-Real pride battle, let’s go!

-Mid A-tier pride battle…