[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 24
Yoo Ihyun, along with Kang Ho-yun, naturally advanced through the qualification round with ease.
In the final race, she met Steven, the former Mercedes Benz driver ranked 12th in F1, and finished in second place, but aside from that race, she achieved first place in all others.
Now, out of the over 50 million participants, only 1024 remained.
Yoo Seon-jin glanced around at the people listening to the announcement.
Most of them were likely people she had encountered at least once during ranking matches.
Current F1 drivers, former F1 drivers, drivers belonging to national teams, famous streamers, and regular rankers, among others.
The people present were true contenders who had devoted their lives to the game For One.
And starting tomorrow, a bloodbath one-on-one tournament would unfold among these 1024 players, with no room for error.
However, Yoo Seon-jin maintained her composure rather than succumbing to the tension.
Being an actual F1 driver, the pressure of this platform competition was nothing to her.
Her focus was entirely on KING.
Instead of concentrating on the announcement, she was looking around for KING and soon spotted a user in a black outfit alongside Kang Ho-yun.
“I found you…!”
The nickname KING hovering above their head confirmed it.
Since there could only be one person with the nickname KING in this place, Yoo Seon-jin approached the user without hesitation and called out their name.
Not their nickname, but their real name.
“Yoo Ihyun.”
The other person didn’t react at all.
In fact, it was Kang Ho-yun who flinched.
Concluding that KING was indeed Yoo Ihyun, Yoo Seon-jin extended her hand for introductions before continuing to the conversation.
“King. You’re Yoo Ihyun, right?”
However, her outstretched hand aimed at the nineteen-year-old girl hung awkwardly in the air.
“That’s right, but let’s skip the formalities, okay?”
What? Is that the same girl from back then? Yoo Seon-jin thought.
***
“I’m sorry. Let me introduce myself formally. I’m Yoo Seon-jin, representative team player and director.”
After a moment of silence, Yoo Seon-jin adjusted her posture and spoke.
There was no need to be rude in response to someone being polite.
“It seems you already know who I am, so I won’t bother with my introduction.”
The other person gave a small nod.
“I’d like to have a conversation. Is that okay?”
“What kind of conversation?”
“I don’t think it’s a topic to discuss here…”
As his gaze scanned the surroundings, Yoo Seon-jin followed his line of sight and noticed many people who had yet to exit, watching them.
Whatever the conversation might be, knowing that Yoo Seon-jin was aware of her identity made discussing it in a public place too risky.
“I’ll create a private room, so let’s talk there.”
“That works.”
As Yoo Seon-jin vanished, an invitation soon arrived.
[Legend has invited you to room ‘123’. YES / NO]
“Yes.”
Pop!
The place I was summoned to was her pit.
A heavy deep blue race car and Yoo Seon-jin, standing next to it, welcomed me.
“To cut to the chase, I’d like to offer you a spot on the representative team, Yoo Ihyun.”
As expected, it was indeed a proposal to join the representative team.
Scouting.
Seeing the serious look in his eyes, I could feel his desire and yearning to recruit me.
To Yoo Seon-jin, the coach of the South Korean representative team, each skilled Korean player was a valuable asset.
As far as I knew, the number of users who had entered F2 was a mere handful of fingers, let alone the top-ranked players.
Kang Ho-yun, Han Joo-hyuk, Yoo Seon-jin, along with two other team members and Jeong Jae-gyeong from the F1 team Red Bull.
Including three regular users who maintained the lowest ranks in F2 and speed racer Kim Woo-hyuk, who oscillated between F2 and F3, barely made it to ten.
It could be said that all usable players had been discovered, making Korea a base that no longer had minerals to mine.
Thus, the emergence of the newly strong KING would be like a ray of hope for him.
However, no matter how I thought about it, I had no reason to belong to the representative team.
“I’ll decline.”
It was a simple answer that was firm to the point of being blunt, leaving no room for argument, yet Yoo Seon-jin’s eyes showed no sign of surprise.
It was as if she had known I would reject her.
“May I ask what the reason is?”
The reason…
Honestly, it wasn’t much.
From my perspective, there was no need to join a representative team to have my life controlled while racing.
Even if I joined the team, there would be players better than me; I would gain nothing.
Consequently, the representative team felt like a larger version of the Formula One Academy to me.
The only reasonable and practical reason to consider would be money, but once I debuted as a streamer, judging by Kang Ho-yun’s streaming income, it seemed I would have more than enough.
In summary,
“I don’t think joining the representative team holds enough value. Whether it’s skill or money, I don’t meet either standard.”
“What does that mean?”
Yoo Seon-jin raised her eyebrows, her voice thick with irritation.
It was understandable since I had directly touched on her pride regarding skill.
I could have expressed it more politely, but that wasn’t my style.
“It means just that. Joining your team won’t improve my skills. What’s the point of practicing against someone worse than me?”
“On what basis do you say that? That’s a very rude statement.”
“Aside from you, aren’t the other players all in F2? If you watched the event match between Han Joo-hyuk and me, it should be self-explanatory.”
“That’s…!”
Right. I had completely toyed with the representative team’s player ranked 2nd, allowing openings on purpose, changing positions on the fly, while leading the entire race.
“Though you’re still young and may not realize, excessive confidence can be toxic, Yoo Ihyun.”
Yoo Seon-jin stepped forward, looking down at me.
A typical nineteen-year-old girl with a gentle heart would have shed tears immediately, but regrettably, I was not that kind of person.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m in a position to take advice from you. If there’s nothing else to say, I’ll take my leave.”
“….”
Yoo Seon-jin didn’t stop me as I left, and without any hesitation, I exited the private room.
***
F2.
I thought it was close, but it was truly a distant rank.
I completed the 114th race in first place and saw the message that I had finally achieved F2.
[Congratulations, KING! You’ve been promoted to F2. Your current rank is 1000.]
“Sigh… Finally made it to F2. Information Window.”
[KING#16007 – F2 / Rank 1000]
Name: Confidential.
Age: Confidential.
Appearance: Confidential.
Race records.
General races: 0 – 1st: 0, 2nd: 0, 3rd: 0.
Ranking races: 114 – 1st: 107, 2nd: 7, 3rd: 0.
The information window I hadn’t checked for a while now displayed that my rank had changed to F2, and ranks which hadn’t appeared before were now shown.
How long had I raced for this moment?
I reached out to Kang Ho-yun to pour out my overflowing emotions.
KING: Hyung! I finally got promoted to F2.
One Man Show: Wow, that’s fast. You just started and you’re already in F2? Anyway, congratulations.
KING: Fast? I just started, and it was so hard for me.
One Man Show: I know that’s not what I meant!
Feeling good, I ended up joking around.
Such a joyful day should not be passed over without a celebration.
KING: What are you doing today? If you have nothing to do, want to come over for an F2 celebration party? I’ll cook for you.
One Man Show: You’ll cook? You?
KING: It’s five now… so how about coming over by seven? It would be great if you could bring Ji-hyun and Ha-jin with you.
One Man Show: Got it. I’ll ask and get back to you.
I ended the conversation quickly and exited For One.
In my office, where I felt no sense of human life, the refrigerator had only water, so I needed to go grocery shopping to prepare a meal.
Though I could easily order using my tablet, there was no better way to choose fresh vegetables and good meat than going shopping myself.
I received a text from Kang Ho-yun saying that Jihyun and Ha-jin would also join us.
I quickly threw on some Adidas training pants and a jersey and headed out to the underground food court of the department store in front of my office.
“Hmm, nice.”
The warm breeze of the early evening that swept by after a long time tickled my nose.
Is this what it’s like to see everything beautifully when you’re in a good mood?
As I began shopping, I felt proud of achieving F2 and the happiness that comes from my freedom amidst the bustling crowd.
Today’s menu is Korean food.
Stone pot rice, savory soybean paste stew, sweet bulgogi, grilled deodeok with bright red seasoning, and various vegetable side dishes including kimchi.
Grilled fish and the soothing sinang for finishing the meal.
There were various cooking utensils and dishware in ample variety, so I planned to set a proper table.
Not only was this day a celebration of my F2 achievement, but I also wanted to express my gratitude to the people who had kept me from feeling lonely in this world, like Jihyun and Kang Ho-yun.
I invited Park Ha-jin because it seemed like Jihyun liked him…
After carefully selecting the ingredients, I finished shopping and headed to the checkout.
Beep!
“167,500 won, please. How would you like to pay?”
“I’ll use a card.”
The card I presented was Kang Ho-yun’s.
Having not received my own card yet, I had to borrow it from his room, which was left on his desk.
Sorry, Ho-yun… I’ll pay you back later!
“Please sign here.”
After finishing my signature, as I packed the ingredients into the shopping bag to leave…
I overheard some subtle murmurs directed at me.
“Hey? Isn’t that the person?”
“Who?”
“You know, the girl who won against Han Joo-hyuk in the event match.”
“Oh, you’re right…! Was her name Jin Hyun-woo?”
“No, that’s a fake name. Her real name is Yoo Ihyun.”
“Whatever the name, she’s incredibly pretty…”
What started as comments from a few people quickly turned into a wave, spreading through the entire food court, like water flowing in the same lane.
This was a mistake of underestimating the influence of For One.
It’s not just a national game, but a game with hundreds of millions of users, and with the viewers combined, it includes billions.
I had come out wearing a hat in hopes of avoiding being recognized from the event match, but it seemed it wasn’t enough.
“Excuse me, are you that girl from the event match?”
“I’m a fan!”
“You’re so pretty!”
“I was really moved by watching the race. I’ll be cheering for you from now on!”
I hurriedly pulled my hat down and ran home, trying to avoid the flood of attention.
Receiving attention as a girl is quite overwhelming.
I decided that next time, I would go out wearing a mask as well.