[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 81

“Ugh, this is really unbearable.”

The inside of the Y So Games Dormitory was as hot as ever.

If that heat was the result of practice like other teams, it would have been perfect, but unfortunately, the source of that heat was not so positive.

“Why the heck are you going for the blue there? If you came for backup, we could’ve taken them. You see those low-health champs?”

“That’s just hindsight talking. It was the right call to go for a gank there.”

Legends of League is a team game.

Of course, it’s not strange for players to blame each other in the heat of competition, but the problem was that YSG is not just some amateur team, but a pro team.

“And why on earth are you pushing top there? If you’ve got wave control, you should be thinking about joining with Teleport!”

“…The situation was already bad. It was better for me to at least gain something.”

Since YSG is a pro team, it should ideally be the coach or the manager leading the feedback.

Of course, it’s not inherently bad for players to take charge of feedback, but that only works when the feedback can lead to something constructive.

“When… when did I ever get caught out? Do you even know what’s going on in bot lane? That’s why you’re still playing like a silver.”

“You and your damned silver. Climbing the tier in top lane through solo queue is hard! Go try it yourself. It’s always the ones who do nothing that complain the most.”

The reason the coaching staff needs to lead feedback is simple.

Players are generally young and inexperienced.

If such players lead the feedback, it naturally leads to demands for explanations about what happened rather than constructive criticism.

When the team is doing well, there’s no problem. No matter what is said, everyone will brush it off positively. The issue is when the overall team atmosphere sinks as it is now.

Soon, this would naturally harm the atmosphere within the team.

“Ugh… maybe I should just keep quiet.”

“Just get lost. I don’t even want to talk.”

That was the reality unfolding in the YSG Practice Room.

“Haa.”

Coach Park Tae-Hyung was well aware of these team issues.

However, by the time Coach Park was brought on board, it was already too late.

“Alright, everyone. Calm down a bit.”

“You heard what that prick said too, right, Coach?”

“What’s this prick?”

“I said to stop it!”

As Coach Park, who usually doesn’t get angry, spoke in a low voice, the players’ voices finally subsided.

“…Got it.”

“Let’s wrap this up. Everyone take the day off. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Having barely calmed the players down, Coach Park knocked on the door of the manager’s office, which had not opened despite the situation.

Knock knock—

“Who is it?”

“Me.”

When Coach Park entered the office, the first thing he saw was the manager tinkering with his golf clubs.

He had been bragging about it since his last trip with the CEO…

“Manager, are you really just going to watch this?”

“Huh? Oh, what could I say… Kids like that are all the same, right? If anything, it’s good. I heard other teams don’t even fight. Isn’t being young a good thing in that regard? Hahaha.”

He wasn’t wrong.

According to reports from the bottom-tier teams, the members wouldn’t just fight; they wouldn’t even talk to each other.

But there are limits to everything.

“…It can’t go on like this. The mood in the team has gotten really bad. At this rate, some players are going to go astray. A few already are.”

“So what? What are you trying to say?”

“We need time for a reorganization. If we push through the schedule in this state, it won’t end well.”

“No way.”

“…What do you mean no way?”

“So you’re saying to completely halt scrims and focus on internal issues, right? Is that feasible given our team situation? There are more than a few teams that don’t want to scrim with us. Why? Because they feel it won’t help them. Do you know how I scheduled those scrims?”

“I know it’s hard for you, Manager…”

“And the season has just started! If our team is already wobbling, what do you think that does for my position?”

Ugh, I thought so.

That’s probably the real reason.

“Anyways, just do your best to encourage them. We have a match in two days, you know?”

“…Yes. Understood.”

“Get going.”

As Coach Park left the manager’s office, he let out a deep sigh.

At that moment, another coach watching him approached and patted Coach Park on the shoulder.

“Coach? Don’t tire yourself too much. The kids will get through this, right?”

“…Yeah, thanks.”

The current situation in YSG was, quite frankly, a complete mess.

A manager busy with politics and maintaining his position.

A demotivated and incompetent coaching staff.

Front office more interested in promotions than results.

Coach Park was too overwhelmed to face all these adverse conditions alone.

“If this season goes down the drain, it’ll all be blamed on me or someone else. It’s predictable.”

YSG finished the previous season in 7th place.

It was a result achieved through Coach Park’s struggles amidst a chaotic team atmosphere.

Optimistically, one might say there’s still room to improve, but Coach Park honestly felt it would be difficult this year.

“These days, my form isn’t great.”

Recently, the team’s captain and oldest player, YSG ManGi, Kim Man-Gi’s skills had dropped significantly.

To the point where he had to worry about dropping to diamond with a solo queue rank below 100 master points.

Professionals are judged by their results.

Given the state of the oldest and captain meant to stabilize the team, it was expected that the wobbling team wouldn’t run smoothly.

“This won’t do. We need a fresh wind. Something new…”

While YSG was nurturing their secondary team like other teams, the issue was that there were no players meeting Coach Park’s standards.

In a way, this was to be expected.

Coach Park’s standards were objectively quite strict, and any promising rookies that passed through it sought after good teams like SY or SCV, which had a structured academy system and good reputations, not YSG, which had a bad reputation and a chaotic environment.

“Ugh.”

At that moment, Coach Park’s smartphone rang.

[I’ve arrived. I’m on the first floor.]

“…Ah, right.”

Speaking of which, he had recently sent a test offer to a promising amateur player.

In the recent chaotic atmosphere, he had completely forgotten about it.

[Yes, please come directly to the 9th floor via the elevator.]

Normally, he wouldn’t go out to meet prospective trainees coming for testing, but to get some fresh air, Coach Park left the office.

Waiting in the practice room was too frustrating.

“Come on.”

Standing in front of the elevator, Coach Park blankly looked at the elevator numbers.

-1st floor.

-2nd floor.

-3rd floor.

…

…

…

-9th floor.

Slowly, the elevator doors opened, and Coach Park felt his breath catch for a moment.

Neatly braided silver hair.

An eye-catching reddish-brown gaze that, although not a common color, felt strangely natural due to a unique aura.

An exotic look—no, it almost felt like a different reality.

“Hello.”

As Coach Park absentmindedly stared, he was momentarily struck by the like-beaded voice that echoed.

Then he instinctively looked around.

Something feels off… there’s no one else here?

“…Me?”

“Yes, you’re Coach Park Tae-Hyung, right?”

You know me?

How?

“That’s correct, but uh, um. What brings you here…? Ah, are you a family member of one of our players? Please, come in.”

“Actually, um… I’m here for a test.”

“……What?”

Coach Park was momentarily stunned but nodded in understanding.

“Ah, you’ve come to the wrong office. The 9th floor is where the Y So Games office for Legends of League is. As far as I know, the 27th or 28th floor is the office for a shopping mall or something.”

Right after saying this, Coach Park felt a strange sense of dissonance.

The outlaw who was supposed to have arrived on the first floor still hadn’t appeared.

The elevator, too, showed no signs of movement.

“No wait… didn’t you just say you knew me? Did I mishear?”

Upon realizing this and turning to face the front again, he saw pale pink lips slowly parting.

“You’re in the right place. I’m the outlaw that contacted you.”

“……What?”

Coach Park could only let out a dull question again.

What have I just heard?

The outlaw?

The person who was supposed to come for the test today?

“…Are you the Outlaw?”

“Yes.”

“Ah…… just a moment. So, you’re here for the Legends of League YSG pro team tryouts, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

Desperately trying to cling to his fading sanity, Coach Park continued to speak.

Honestly, he was at the point where he wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore.

“Well… let’s get inside first.”

And so he suspended his thoughts.

Coach Park was experiencing enormous confusion.

“The outlaw… is a girl?”

To be precise, there are women who hold high ranks among others, but it’s still rare.

In fact, there were currently no female professional gamers in the domestic Legends of League scene.

“While I’ve heard there are some overseas… ”

Only at the level of a promotional purpose or a side member, no female professional gamers with real competition presence had yet emerged.

Given the situation, it was almost natural for Coach Park not to have questioned the gender of the outlaw during the testing process.

“…Still, the skill I saw was the real deal.”

Coach Park discovered the outlaw entirely by chance.

While checking the solo queue of his team’s captain, Kim Man-Gi, he ran into the outlaw as his opponent.

It was reminiscent of a Prisoner-like playstyle.

Of course, it was impossible for it to actually be a Prisoner, but that was how good it was.

Captivated by that performance, Coach Park immediately sent a test offer.

Although her tier might not be that high at the moment, the outlaw’s unusual win rate seemed to suggest that ranking was just a matter of time.

“……She wasn’t a prisoner. No, she couldn’t be a prisoner.”

A 100% win rate.

Thanks to that magical statistic, a Prisoner might have created a smurf account, but if the outlaw was a woman, that wouldn’t make sense.

“Did you have any trouble coming here?”

“No.”

A short reply.

The conversation ended there for both different reasons.

“First… I should conduct the test properly.”

It wouldn’t make sense to call her out just to let her go.

“And…”

Though unlikely, there was a slim possibility, just one in a million—

“If her skills are genuine…”

A superstar that the Legends of League had never seen could be born.