Episode 196 Enlightenment
“Of course, we deal with the enemies caught in between first.”
Yoon Han-gyeol. A promising rookie applicant who participated in [The Hunter’s Generation].
His voice seemed to continue to echo.
And right after that. Even the sword being stuck in him while he was unable to resist due to being under the [Curse of Decline].
I was sick.
The tip of the sword stabbing him felt like his whole body was on fire.
It wasn’t because of the Hunter’s League’s pain system.
It was painful that the game fell apart on a stage where I was more confident than anyone else, with the tactics I was confident in.
I’m a judge, and my opponent is an applicant. I’m a senior, and my opponent is much younger than me.
It must have been an unbelievable story. I lost.
It’s not like there was no way to win. It’s not like we lost overwhelmingly, we could have clearly won.
One futile attempt.
One slash that missed the blue-haired guy’s neck ruined the game.
I was so angry and upset that tears streamed down my face.
When I was a judge. Yoon Han-gyeol looked at me with admiration. Was that guy laughing at me while stabbing me with his sword?
He is now a worthless guy. He is trying to hold on to his position, even though he cannot pass it on to the next generation.
Were they cursing at the new generation for not handing over their positions?
Thinking about it that way, I let out a hollow laugh.
What have I accumulated so far? The victories, strategies, tactics, and experiences that I have accumulated so far are meaningless.
What value does it have as a player?
Moreover, in a match like SSA where Joara herself has to carry, how on earth… how should she do it?
Every time SSA lost during the season, the comments on the game evaluation came to mind.
[Why do you keep running alone and dying? Did Joara get money from the opposing team?]
[If you have the money to recruit Jo Ara, you can get two aces from other teams. Why don’t you just release Jo Ara?]
[Ace who is stuck in nostalgia for the past and has a carry disease, and can’t carry]
That was right.
‘An ace who can’t carry.’
I thought that maybe it was because I had been so cruel to Lee Chang-hyun up until now. Maybe it was because I didn’t like him at first. Maybe I had been feeling inferior to Lee Chang-hyun without realizing it.
It couldn’t be this miserable.
“Ha ha ha ha ha.”
All I could do was laugh in vain.
It didn’t really matter that it was a practice match. The problem was that the guys who had applied for the audition program had died so badly while the SSA rookies were watching me.
There, the match would have been greatly disadvantageous to SSA due to Joara’s death.
Now, all that remains is for SSA to collapse miserably.
With those lifeless eyes, he just stared at the viewing screen.
‘… … .’
Joara has fallen, and a 6 vs. 7 team fight has just begun.
That fight was unexpected, and it was a fierce battle of wits.
‘That’s… … a weapon you never showed me during practice. Did Hojin ever use mana equipment like that? But it’s actually good on this map.’
‘That defensive position… … I don’t think they ever taught it or trained it separately?’
Usually, SSA’s team share was absolute with its ace, Jo Ara.
However, it was completely unexpected that the game was so evenly matched.
The reason why this was possible was because everyone used new skills and abilities that no one had asked them to or taught them.
He thought he was the absolute ace and that he had to do well in order to win.
And indeed, that was true in previous seasons.
But now that I look back, I can see that it was wrong.
Because Joara had been at the forefront of almost every game so far, the lost potential branches were right before our eyes.
They secretly let newbies off the hook and made them support them from behind the scenes.
But I made him watch Joara’s back.
… … Maybe she was not acknowledging it and was living only for herself.
Because I don’t want to be pushed out. Because I don’t want to admit that I’m out of form. Maybe because I feel inferior after seeing new talents growing up on audition programs.
Isn’t it that he came forward even more knowing that it was not possible due to the evil?
PER continued to come forward, emphasizing its superior numbers, but SSA responded more firmly.
Maybe Joara was there too, so I thought that if they had fought 7 on 7, they might have won easily.
And only then was Joara able to realize.
In the past, I wouldn’t know, but now, when my form is a bit lacking, at least that kind of fighting tactic is correct.
The fact that we should have fought together rather than relying on a single top ace.
Every Hunter’s League player’s form changes. Sometimes they have good seasons, sometimes bad seasons. Some people feel like they’re getting older as time goes by.
But that doesn’t mean the young, energetic guys always win.
If you’ve been in the Hunter’s League for a long time, you’ve made up for the physical loss with that experience.
He also acquired know-how on mana equipment and established his own domain.
If not, he also acquired extensive knowledge of maps and tactics and became the center of orders.
‘I was so foolish… … .’
There was no rule that said you had to be in front. You just had to find a suitable spot to fit the form you were going up and down.
There is no good or bad in it.
For victory. And according to the natural order, if there is a shortage, it can be filled with something else.
Watching that last SSA and PER team fight, which I think they would have won if they had been confident.
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Joara went back to the beginning and thought again.
So that we don’t get stuck in the glory and victory of the past. We have to forget the experience of winning there and continue to change and grow while engraving today’s game in our memory.
At that moment, I was making a new resolution.
SSA’s team members, who unfortunately lost the last team fight, poured into the waiting room.
Everyone looked regretful, perhaps because they had unfortunately lost.
“You worked hard. Even though it was just a practice match.”
All I could do was laugh awkwardly. As usual, I didn’t want to get angry about losing the game or be critical of the tactics.
“And I’m sorry. I got cut off early today. To be honest, it was just a difference of one point… … Am I getting old now? Maybe I should do something different, not a one-top strategy, starting next season.”
I don’t know if I’m ready to accept my own shortcomings.
As I said this, the SSA team members looked at me as if they were quite surprised.
There was even a guy who whispered.
“Senior Jo Ara… … Was this her original image? It seems like she used to give really scary feedback every time she lost a match, including a practice match… … .”
“Hey you! Can you hear everything?”
Despite the defeat, the atmosphere was not as heavy as usual. This was not only because the match was a practice match with the meaning of a demonstration run.
I had a feeling that maybe my heart had become lighter.
“Oh… … What is it? Joara. You’re different than usual? To be honest, aren’t they right? If you lose once, they’ll start harassing you from start to finish… … Really. Did you come to your senses after getting your nose broken by the guys who were applicants when you were a judge?”
“Hojin. Do you want to die?”
I tried to hit him with one punch, but he was pretty good at dodging by jumping around.
The waiting room felt lively in a way that wasn’t usually felt.
The waiting room of the defeated SSA, different from usual.
Yes, it must change.
The world changes, players, abilities, and tactical trends change.
The experience of victory, the glory of the past, they are all precious, but I too am changing, so I cannot continue living the same way forever.
***
“No. Senior, isn’t the sword too dangerous? No, when I try to match the attack from the front, the sword flies away without any reason and I can’t hit anything.”
“It’s not like there aren’t any cases. Originally, you had to hit an unexpected spot to have a big effect on the opponent.”
Is it because of Lee Yeon-joo’s gaslighting? Lee Seong-tae and Yoon Han-gyeol, who always call their teammates “senior”, were talking about the previous game.
They were playing together as the top two up front, but somehow their synergy didn’t work out at all when they fought.
The conversation kept getting bigger and bigger, as more and more trainers started participating in the game.
“What was that earlier? When you catch the judges without Sungtae, everyone just matches well. It’s you again? The youngest?”
Han Ji-soo who teases me by calling me the youngest
“But as a senior, I have to wait until my juniors can get along properly!”
Even Lee Yeon-ju, the mastermind behind the gaslighting of Lee Seong-tae’s junior.
‘This is a total mess, this is a total mess.’
Of course, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.
If you look at Ryu Jae-jun, who also took on the role of ordering in this game, shaking his head.
“By the way, Lee Chang-hyun. Why didn’t you give any orders after you killed the opponent’s ace? That wasn’t discussed separately.”
“Uh. So you thought I was going to feed you from start to finish?”
“What, from the middle part on, it wasn’t Changhyun but Jaejun who ordered it? Somehow~”
Kim Do-jun grumbled, thinking that he had caught the ball after just sitting still.
“It seemed a bit like that. They were meticulous until they defeated Ace, but then when they faced the enemy main force, they seemed a bit sloppy.”
“If you were so sloppy, why didn’t you give the order?”
Ryu Jae-jun asked back with a dumbfounded expression, but Kim Do-jun had already left the place.
‘By the way, Kim Do-jun has been strangely quiet lately. He’s not working on something with Mana Workshop like last time, is he?’
Well, you don’t have to worry about it too much since you’ll be talking to me before the game starts anyway…
“As I said last time, I can’t go over every little and immediate issue one by one. At least when practicing, I’ll reduce the number of orders I give to things that aren’t absolutely necessary like now.”
The more orders I have to give in-game, the less attention I inevitably have to give to my own play.
By the way… … I was wondering if the atmosphere at SSA was okay.
Jo Ara was also in the position of a judge, and losing the match must have felt like a real burden.
I thought he had a bit of a sharp image even in normal times, and he seemed to be very stressed when he was cornered in this match.
Well, the fear of being caught up to by a junior player is actually indescribable.
Because I’ve seen many players with less experience and younger age become players who are in the same position as me or better than me, and it was painful.
At that moment, I was thinking that maybe Joara would be in that much pain.
SSA team members came out of the waiting room.
“Today’s practice match. It seems like we were both quite helpful to our respective teams. Are you satisfied?”
His usual sharpness was absent, and instead he looked cheerful.
“… … That’s right. When I get back, there’s a mountain of things to give feedback on.”
“Our team is like that too. But next time, I hope you can come out, even if it’s just a practice match.
“I’m the ace on the SSA side, but if you don’t show up in PER, it’s a bit much. Please save some face for the judges. Ah. Anyway, the next game will be in the regular league.”
Joara paused for a moment and then continued speaking.
“Let’s have that bloody fight again. This time, I’ll be the challenger.”
I wonder if there was some kind of change of heart.
Well, I guess that’s fine.
Originally, being a team in the same league meant that they didn’t just play practice matches together.
If you look at the entire league, we are one family, and we grow by influencing each other.
fantasy,
