24) Coach (3)
“Stop hiding.”
Director Bang Jin-ho growled out. A single word was spoken to express the feelings of the players.
No player wanted to be branded as someone with no presence of fans. In other words, Lee Shin would never know that feeling. He never once experienced it.
“The greeting has finished so return to practice.”
The players returned to their places after Bang Jin-ho’s words.
Director Bang Jin-ho and Lee Shin entered a conference room.
Director Bang Jin-ho said to Lee Shin.
“In the first week, just get a sense of their practice.”
“Yes.”
“How about getting a sparring partner? Who does coach want to play with?”
“The players.”
“Well, it would be ridiculous if you break the players even in practice.”
“It doesn’t matter if it is a practice. You can even poke fun at me if you want.”
Director Bang Jin-ho stared at Lee Shin.
It wasn’t a shallow mindset. Perhaps Lee Shin’s biggest strength was that mental awareness.
“Yes, then go ahead. I’ll set aside a practice space for you to take the kids into.”
“Yes.”
“And.”
“……?”
Director Bang Jin-ho spoke in a more prudent tone.
“You said that you would raise a star.
“That’s right. That’s why you called me.”
“Yes, it is the real reason that I signed you as a coach.”
“Shin’s disciples.”
Director Bang Jin-ho nodded at Lee Shin’s words.
“Yes.”
Lee Shin had identified exactly what the MBS Team wanted.
Lee Shin’s disciples.
The players who received Lee Shin’s coaching would have such titles attached!
Lee Shin said.
“I don’t want to sell me name so I will pick my disciples directly. Do you agree?”
“Are you going to pick one from Group 1?”
Currently MBS’s Group 1 had 7 people. Among them were 3 people who played humans like Lee Shin.
The remaining Group 2 were trainees.
“I will decide after seeing the play style.”
“Sure.”
* * *
Lee Shin was soon assigned his place.
He loosened his tie and hung his jacket on the chair. He pulled out his own mouse and keyboard from his leather backpack.
The players and trainees in the practice room were gaping at Lee Shin.
God of the Game.
God of Space Craft.
God of e-sports.
A brilliant star was in their practice room!
They couldn’t help staring.
“Look, he is connecting to the game.”
“Practice.”
“Is his hand fine?”
“I read on an internet article that it is a little better.”
While the players were talking.
Lee Shin randomly pointed at one player.
“Inferior Shin.”
“Huh?”
The person he pointed at was MBS’s Park Shin.
He had the name Shin and used humans like Lee Shin so he was called that unfortunate nickname.
He was one of the dark priests of MBS with no recognition.
“Practice.”
“Ah, yes.”
Lee Shin had studied the new human vs human build from Shin Ji-ho.
The players were excited and stopped their practice game to watch. They wondered what Lee Shin’s current skills were.
-Kaiser-nim has connected.
“Ohh!”
“Kaiser!”
The ID of the legend of e-sports appeared.
-Good_jjab: GG.
-Kaiser: Yes.
They started the game by greeting lightly.
But Lee Shin didn’t demonstrate his skills. He played lightly and only checked the build. Nothing special came from Lee Shin so the players lost interest.
“This brat, are you deliberately losing?”
Direction Bang Jin-ho who was watching asked.
Lee Shin shrugged.
“What?”
“Why are your controls like that? Usually you can control your builds better.”
“My wrist hurts so I can’t do as well.”
“This brat is really questionable. Are you really not player Sin?”
“Why did you keep saying that? Has he still not replied to your messages?”
“Yes, yesterday I sent an authentication photo and he told me I looked different from my photo 10 years ago……ah, if only I can catch that guy!”
Director Bang Jin-ho formed a trembling fist.
Lee Shin shamelessly stayed expressionless.
“It really isn’t you?”
“It isn’t. Why would I become a coach if I had my skills as a player back?”
“……Yes.”
“I am just going to raise the players.”
“Tsk, it is questionable. It is that brat no matter how I look at it……”
Director Bang Jin-ho’s face was filled with doubt as he walked away. It was a really sharp tip.
‘I will recover and return to the top again.’
Lee Shin confirmed his determination again.
It was the year 2020 and there were no powerhouses in Korea’s e-sports arena that had Lee Shin’s status.
First of all, Lee Shin’s only rival was Hwang Byeong-cheol’s.
Hwang Byeong-cheol was the only person who won a trophy from Lee Shin before always getting 2nd place in the pro league.
But Hwang Byeong-cheol wouldn’t last long.
There was also the ‘Madness God Clan’ Choi Young-joon.
A rookie who received attention in 2020’s pro league who made it through the preliminaries undefeated before losing 3-0 to Hwang Byeong-cheol in the quarter-finals.
Lee Shin had high expectations for the rookie. Choi Young-joon’s force was terrifying.
But…..
Third, there was the ‘Iron Wall Monster’ Park Young-ho.
The unbeaten Choi Young-joon and Park Young-ho had come head to head.
A tenacious defense. Any monster that were killed were just revived again and again.
Choi Young-joon poured out an intense offensive and Park Young-ho persisted.
5 rounds, 3 wins and 2 losses.
Win, lose, win, lose, win.
It was a tense match but eventually Park Young-ho won.
A rivalry between Park Young-ho and Choi Young-joon was formed on that day.
So in the Korean e-sports world, Hwang Byeong-cheol, Choi Young-joon and Park Young-ho were all competing for the top 3 spots.
Apart from those 3, some fans also considered Shin Ji-ho as the 4 place.
Either way, he needed to recapture his power to defeat them.
‘Not yet.’
A sufficient warm up period was required. A job as a head coach was good preparation.