[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 84

After the test officially began, Coach Park Tae-Hyung sneaked back into the practice room and couldn’t contain his amazement.

‘This is…’

It’s real.

It wasn’t some trick of the light, nor was it a ghost of past Challenger glory gone by.

Even though it was only one game, the skill that Outlaw displayed was undeniably genuine.

‘They’re pulling off plays like that here?’

Coach Park Tae-Hyung knew all too well that the environment in the secondary practice room was far from comparable to others.

While the mouse and keyboard were decent enough since they were shared with the main team, the basic computer specs and monitor quality were absolutely dreadful.

You could joke that players would probably perform better in a local PC bang than in this familiar practice room.

Actually, it might not even be a joke.

‘Even if I say that, they wouldn’t listen.’

As if it were nothing much…

A team that belongs to the highest league in the world should not be treating its players this way.

‘Damn money goblins.’

YS, the parent company of YSG, was a typical private equity firm.

A group that relentlessly pursued extreme profits.

Naturally, they wouldn’t lift a finger for anything that didn’t bring in cash, and professional gaming teams and their players were merely used as a means to earn money.

‘…To be honest, she’s too good a talent for this team.’

Outlaw.

Despite being in an unfamiliar environment and playing with strangers, she started giving orders confidently from the middle of the game. And there was even a certain charisma about her.

‘…I still can’t believe it. Those idiots followed her orders without question? And it was a Master’s order?!’

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

Coach Park Tae-Hyung was too patient to jump the gun and share such unconfirmed information with the players.

So, to the trainees, Outlaw was just another random amateur who came to audition.

Yet, they were following her so well?

Even Coach Park, who held the title of coach, had never managed to achieve such a thing.

‘Of course, her win rate isn’t that of a typical Master. But still, it’s fascinating. Is it because she’s older? …No, more than that…’

Coach Park Tae-Hyung suddenly speculated about what that peculiar charisma of Outlaw might be.

‘A siren.’

Could it be said that it was like the voice of a siren luring sailors from mythology, making it impossible to resist?

The absolute charisma that radiated from Outlaw felt very much that way.

Well… the metaphor wasn’t exactly satisfying, but Coach Park took that to be his assessment of Outlaw.

Moreover, it was definitely the kind of ability YSG had been searching for all along.

‘For now, I’ll have to keep watching…’

If her skills were as genuine as he thought…

‘No, there are plenty of talented players out there. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.’

There’s a reason why teams spend from a week to a month when testing trainees.

Coach Park shook his head and headed back to the main practice room.

Regrettably, he didn’t have much energy to spare for this.

‘If it’s real, she’ll prove it.’

Coach Park moved on.

*

Coach Park Tae-Hyung busily shuttled between the main and secondary practice rooms.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have time to visit a secondary practice room during the season, but Coach Park chose to ignore the curious stares and headed to the secondary room.

The results of the internal scrim held throughout the afternoon were straightforward.

Outlaw’s team went undefeated.

A total of 3 wins and 0 losses.

“Is it over?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s all gather up.”

As always, Coach Park carved out whatever little time he could for a quick and straightforward feedback session.

“Min-Soo, here you shouldn’t have gone for the blue; you should’ve gone bot with your team. Just because you went for blue doesn’t change the situation, but if you had gone three seconds earlier, the situation might have changed.”

“I didn’t think it’d be useful since my mana was low.”

“That makes sense. But look, you could have gone and used your skill just once. Right?”

“…True.”

The treatment of the secondary team and trainees within YSG was horrendous.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, the coaching staff wouldn’t bother with feedback during the season, but Coach Park was the only one who cared for the second team and trainees.

Of course, part of that was because he desperately needed a savior to rescue YSG from the crisis.

“And here, the calls were off. Why did everyone move separately?”

“That’s…”

Perhaps thanks to the process of reflecting back on the game during feedback, Coach Park gradually cemented his thoughts.

‘…She dominated the game on her own.’

He even wondered if the result would have changed had they played according to Coach Park’s feedback.

Unfortunately, while her physicality seemed a bit lacking compared to when he first saw her in solo rank, that could easily be explained given the dire environmental conditions.

Of course, being overly influenced by the game environment wasn’t ideal for a pro, but still, with this skill level…

“Let’s wrap it up for today and focus on individual practice.”

While he could continue the team scrim, unfortunately, he didn’t have any more energy to provide feedback to them.

Coach Park turned to Outlaw and asked.

“What do you want to do? The test ends here for today. Do you want to stay and practice more?”

Usually, it’d make sense to stay for a boot camp during the testing period, but given various circumstances, that wasn’t feasible.

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

“…Really?”

‘Not feeling well?’

Come to think of it, she looked a bit unwell for a while now.

Amazingly, Outlaw played like that despite the bad conditions and her poor state.

“Um, alright. Hurry home. You can come back here by 9 AM tomorrow.”

“Yes. Then goodbye.”

After a small bow, Outlaw glanced around before lightly waving at the many stares directed her way.

“Um… See you all tomorrow.”

Even though it was a brief greeting, the trainees let out an audible breath.

They froze up.

‘Sigh, those fools.’

Given that they were pro gamer trainees, it was quite expected that they’d be immune to such things, which made Coach Park chuckle softly.

Ironically, even Coach Park felt his heart flutter at Outlaw’s faint smile from earlier.

‘…Still, that face is something else.’

She was so stunning that it made him question if she was even human.

She should just become a celebrity instead of being a professional gamer?

…No, but given her gaming skills, that’d be too much of a waste.

‘What useless thoughts.’

Coach Park shook his head and headed again towards the main practice room.

The match was just around the corner.

*

I feel heavy.

But my steps felt lighter than ever.

As I stepped outside, darkness had already fallen.

I hadn’t noticed it while inside, but evening had arrived.

‘Oh right.’

Just as I hurriedly pulled out my smartphone to call my mother…

“Yujin!”

I saw my mother waving from a distance.

“Uh… I’m sorry for being late.”

I expected her to be angry, but surprisingly, my mother looked perfectly unfazed.

“You said it was an important test. How did it go?”

“Hmm, I think I did well.”

It would be a stretch to call it typical… but ultimately, we did win all our games.

“Really?”

“And apparently, the testing will last for a week, so could you ask Secretary Kim to drive me? I think I’ll get there early in the morning and finish around dinner time.”

“A week?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, got it. Since you’re out, let’s go out for dinner. It’s been a while since we’ve done a family meal.”

“Okay.”

The reason our family rarely eats out is simple; I find going out to eat quite bothersome.

But today was quite a special day, and since I was already out, I didn’t mind at all.

“Anything you want to eat?”

“Not really? And it’s probably going to be meat or seafood anyway, right?”

“That’s true.”

My mother chuckled.

That made sense because my father’s taste was stereotypically that of a middle-aged man; he acted picky without admitting it.

The place we chose for our dinner was a high-end Korean beef restaurant in Cheongdam-dong.

Considering there was a separate room available, it was perfect for a family meal after a long time.

Honestly, I wasn’t that hungry.

Feeling under the weather and on edge, my appetite had plummeted.

But still, putting that juicy beef into my mouth felt heavenly.

Beef is always a good idea.

“Is the name of the team you’re testing for YSG?”

“Uh, that’s right.”

My mother must have sensed something strange in my father’s voice and asked.

“Why? Do you know it?”

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

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

“I’ll do that.”

A strange place, huh…?

It’s a bit lacking in facilities but is that really it?

Lost in thought, I focused back on the beef.

Well, if it’s a strange place, they’ll let me know later.

*

The next day came.

Since I had to arrive by 9 AM, I woke up early, washed up, and changed from the previous day’s clothes into my usual hoodie and a cap.

I was worried that my mother might wake me up for a morning ‘rounds’ but thankfully, that didn’t happen.

It seemed like my mother had somewhat compromised since I said the tests would last a week.

‘Condition… is still not great.’

But from experience, I’d probably feel better by tomorrow, so that was a small blessing.

‘I need to get used to it.’

Pros are also human.

Of course, it would be ideal to maintain peak condition at all times, but that’s not always possible.

Being able to perform under less-than-ideal conditions is essential for a pro.

‘I can do this.’

It was the second day of the audition test.

I headed towards the YSG practice room.