[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 232

Except for the fact that the opening ceremony of the Legend of League Challengers Korea was just around the corner, it was a normal day.

It was busy as usual,

and fiercely competitive as usual.

Except for one anomaly.

“Umm……”

A friend request came.

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[Friend Request] [Accept/Reject]

GRS Jang Seok-hwan

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It was an ID that felt familiar.

‘Ummm.’

The cause was obviously that game a while ago, right…?

The situation was so familiar that I could understand why Coach Jang Seok-hwan had sent a friend request.

‘Should I just ignore it?’

There was nothing particularly unusual about it.

Even usually, my friend request list is filled to the brim, overflowing with 50 requests.

In short, it's normal for me to be ignored if you send me a friend request.

However, I felt it was annoying for some reason today, and I was about to reject the request when, miraculously, GRS's Coach Jang Seok-hwan sent me a friend request.

‘This is….’

At this point, should I call it fate?

‘Come to think of it, he contacted me through my number last time.’

When I was with Prisoner, my number was circulating among the teams, but not anymore.

In other words, if I didn't accept the friend request, there was a high possibility that I would be contacted by Baek Seong-an, who could be considered the current OLZ contact network.

‘Let's just end it here.’

There was no need for the owner to create a disturbance in the team's atmosphere by letting such news reach Baek Seong-an's ears and hearing rumors of offers from other teams.

The owner didn't need to rock the boat in the team's atmosphere at such an important time.

[Accept]

Not even a few minutes after accepting the friend request, a 1:1 chat came.

Regardless of when the friend request came, it was proof that he was monitoring in real-time.

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: Hello. This is GRS coach Jang Seok-hwan. Are you free at the moment?]

[Me: Ah, yes.]

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: It's not much, but our team has been watching Outlaw-nim's performance with interest. So, we are contacting Outlaw-nim to offer a wider stage and better opportunities.]

It was the pattern I expected.

Even though the words were long, the conclusion was that they wanted to recruit me.

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: Our team believes that if it's Outlaw-nim, you will be able to secure the starting position and advance to the Red Cup this summer season.]

My shoulders flinched at the mention of the Red Cup.

I wasn't even thinking about accepting, but the other side knew exactly what I wanted.

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: Of course, we know that you are already affiliated with a team. You don't have to transfer immediately. Even if you can't participate in this year's Red Cup, you can finish this year well and join us from next year. Of course, if you transfer immediately, our team will support the transfer fee and other expenses. We promise the best conditions and treatment.]

[Me: If you say the best...?]

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: 4.5 billion won for a 1-year base salary. Of course, there are performance bonuses depending on streaming and performance. In addition, the team will handle the separate tax processing.]

……Yes?

How much?

‘Crazy.’

I’m crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.

If it were the old me, I wouldn't have reacted much no matter how much it was.

Because I didn't know the value of money.

But now that I look at it, no matter how much I try not to react to money, I can't help it.

‘If it's 4.5 billion won…….’

I can't quite grasp it.

The number 4.5 billion won was a large and enormous number.

‘And if there are performance bonuses based on streaming and performance…….’

I've heard many times that the Chinese streaming market is huge.

In other words, depending on what I do, an amount that I can't even imagine could be in my hands in just one year.

‘…Ugh.’

It's a waste.

It's so wasteful that I feel like I'm going crazy.

But I know what it feels like to be affiliated with a team.

The fact that GRS offered a large sum of 4.5 billion won and various conditions meant that they would create that much value for me.

‘And… I can’t abandon this team.’

It's a team I created.

To abandon that team and shamelessly transfer to another team and live comfortably?

I can't do that.

[Me: I’m sorry.]

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: No, we knew we were making an unreasonable offer. You don't have to worry at all. Rather, we are the ones who are sorry.]

[Me: Thank you for saying that.]

[GRS Jang Seok-hwan: Still, if you change your mind later, even next year, please contact me anytime. My contact information is….]

Thus, the second recruitment offer from GRS, who had suddenly come to me, ended.

I felt that they gave up more easily than I thought, but since I am currently affiliated with a team and in the special position of owner, it seemed that the other side didn't have high expectations.

‘…It's a shame.’

Just as I was about to take a breather.

“What are you doing?”

“Eek!”

Baek Seong-an glanced at my screen with a dubious expression.

Fortunately, I had the super-human reaction speed and closed all the chat windows beforehand.

“Why are you so surprised?”

Did he see it?

He couldn't have seen it, right?

“Oh, nothing.”

“It's not nothing.”

“It’s nothing, I tell you.”

“What, are you hiding a boyfriend?”

At those words, I felt Seo Yeon-woo's gaze suddenly turn towards me.

“Boyfriend?”

……Who are you?

“Does noona have a boyfriend?”

“No, I don't! Why did that suddenly come up?”

Then, Seo Yeon-woo's gaze naturally turned towards Baek Seong-an.

“Well, you looked like you were hiding something.”

Baek Seong-an spoke, and Seo Yeon-woo received it.

“Are you hiding something from us?”

“Definitely.”

“What is it?”

I feel the gazes of the two.

What… how did this situation turn out?

‘Should I just tell them?’

That I received a 4.5 billion won offer from GRS and that I rejected it coolly for your sake, so work hard as much as the 4.5 billion won?

‘…No.’

If it were others, maybe, but given the personalities of our team members, they would feel sorry if I gave up such a large offer because of them.

In the worst-case scenario, the team members might want to leave the team first.

How could I ruin a team that I created in such a way?

“Wait!”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

In the end, the method I chose was avoidance.

“I have an appointment for a while.”

“Appointment? What kind of appointment?”

“Uh, there is such a thing!”

I rushed out of the practice room as if running away.

* * *

Baek Seong-an, who was left in the practice room by chance, said in passing.

“What, did you really go to meet a boyfriend?”

“Maybe…?”

Seo Yeon-woo’s gaze was fixed blankly on the entrance of the practice room.

* * *

Even though there was an unexpected series of events, thankfully, no major incidents occurred.

‘…Well. What incident could occur because of that.’

I've been quite busy for the past few days.

It's because the entire team was busy with pre-interviews, video shoots, and whatnot, ahead of the upcoming Legend of League Challengers Korea Summer season.

Apart from the dozens of cameras, the attention from those around me was so burdensome…

During the interview, I felt like I had retaken it dozens of times because I was stumbling over my words.

‘It's over now though.’

And…….

Finally, today has come.

“Is everyone ready?”

I asked the team members who were each carrying their bags, and they answered in turn.

“Yes.”

“Ready to go.”

“Me too, all set!”

“Ready.”

Finally, the opening ceremony of the Legend of League Challengers Korea and our first match day has arrived.

* * *

SY practice room.

Even though the summer season was just around the corner, Ryu Jin-hyuk had turned on the Red TV broadcast window instead of solo queue.

“Huh? Hyung, what are you doing?”

Ryu Jin-hyuk never does anything else in the situation before the season.

The sight was so rare that the passing guinea pig, Yu Sang-hyun, stopped in front of Ryu Jin-hyuk's seat.

Only then did Yu Sang-hyun realize what kind of screen Ryu Jin-hyuk had turned on.

Legend of League Challengers Korea.

The second-division league opening ceremony.

Since it was a Legend of League tournament, it wasn't difficult to see it as something else.

“Oh, right. Today was the Challengers Korea opening ceremony. Today’s match is probably….”

“OLZ and BLH.”

The team that was most likely to win among the existing Challengers Korea teams and the new team that appeared like a storm.

It was a match that was chosen as the biggest match of the biggest match as the opening match that needed to attract viewers’ attention.

“Oh, that's right.”

Yu Sang-hyun stared blankly at the back of Ryu Jin-hyuk's head for a moment, his eyes widened, as he didn't expect Ryu Jin-hyuk to be so interested in the second-division league match.

“Who do you think will win?”

Ryu Jin-hyuk answered immediately without even a moment's hesitation.

“2:0 for OLZ.”