"The petition already has more than 300k signatures, so I hope management will provide the public with a sincere answer… Ahh…"
Oh Gyu-seung, the new general manager of the Battle Net Administration Office, sighed as he read the document in his hand.
"He'll definitely be picked for the national team if they just wait a bit more. Why the sense of urgency?"
Sung JiHan was the most promising player in the world and was receiving a lot of attention. Due to his outstanding performance, management already planned to select him for the national team as soon as he reached Diamond.
"Judging by his growth, it seems like he'll reach Diamond soon anyway," he said.
Manager Park Yoon-sik carefully said, "I think yesterday's defeat made people feel like we're in a huge crisis. We overwhelmingly lost to Taiwan, after all."
"The core of our national strategy, the Sword King, went to Japan, so that was inevitable," Gyu-seung replied.
The Korean team's basic strategy was to fend off opponents with elite Warriors, buy time, and pick off the opponent's forces with powerful Archers. It was focused almost entirely on a handful of Warriors.
The strategy might've seemed reckless at first glance, but it was a nearly unbeatable tactic when they had the Sword King. He was so strong that he only needed a few assisting Warriors to cover the front and also destroy the enemy's lines.
While he mowed down the enemy's front line, the Archers could launch even more effective attacks from the rear, but that strategy fell apart at the foundation in the Sword King's absence.
"Yes… Our national team's front line is too weak right now. Out of all of the countries competing in the East Asian League, our Warrior line-up is the weakest by far," Gyu-seung said.
"Right. Just yesterday, they were defeated easily by Taiwan's Warriors."
There was a joke that said Korea's entire Warrior talent was concentrated in the Sword King, but it was kind of true. Korea's other Warriors were, on average, less competent than those from other countries.
That difference was even more visible in the East Asian League, which was considered to be one of the most fierce Leagues in the world.
"Isn't selecting a Gold for the national team impossible in the first place?"
"It isn't impossible… Gold and Platinum players participated in national matches after Battle Net first appeared," Yoon-sik said.
"That was because there were almost no players who'd reached Diamond at the time. It's been 10 years now."
"That's true. Our country's regulations forbid it, but the World Battle Net Association doesn't. That's what the petition is emphasizing."
"Well, that makes sense. Who would oppose it if another country picked a Gold as a national representative? How troublesome." Gyu-seung grabbed his head with both hands.
Choosing someone from Gold as a national representative? Did that even make sense? He honestly just wanted to stall for time.
'JiHan will soon move up to the higher Leagues if I just wait a bit.'
The season was already doomed for them after their defeat to Taiwan. Rather than caving to public opinion and hastily selecting JiHan, he wanted to wait for him to naturally climb the League rankings.
Then, he had a thought…
'My predecessor was fired because of something like this…'
Despite being a powerful figure in the political sphere, the man had lost his position due to public criticism.
"I honestly think that it's premature to choose a Gold player. Maybe if he was in Platinum I could… but not Gold. Won't he rank up soon anyway?" he asked.
"I think the same. Choosing a Gold as a national representative would make things difficult for the Battle Net Administration Office. There might be around 300,000 signatures, but I'm sure we would face some backlash if we selected him as well.
"Right, but what bothers me is that I just managed to mend the relationship between him and us, so I don't want it to get ruined because of this…" Gyu-seung said.
Yoon-sik recalled how Gyu-seung had gone to the Bloom Guild and pleaded with HaYeon. He'd struggled a lot, so he probably didn't want the relationship to deteriorate.
"Do you think Mr. Sung wants to become a national representative?" he asked.
"Isn't that obvious? Isn't being a national representative an honor?"
"Maybe he would prefer to wait and join later rather than face criticism for joining as a Gold now."
"Hmm…" Gyu-seung nodded as if it made sense. "Could you find out what his thoughts are on the matter for me?"
"Y-you want me to ask him?"
"Yes. Aren't you closer to him than any of our other staff?"
Close? It was true he had more interactions with JiHan than anyone else, but directly meeting him was always overwhelming. In the end, he couldn't refuse his superior's request.
"Understood…"
"If he says he wants to join the national team… Ask him what he thinks about joining once he reaches a higher League. Platinum, for example."
Yoon-sik regretted bringing up JiHan's story and bowed his head.
"Yes… I'll go and check it out," he said.
That same day, JiHan finished up his daily game and logged out.
'Did I level up once today?'
He'd cleared an 'invade' map. His level had increased significantly on 'One Bridge' the other day because he'd done things that only Diamonds were usually able to do. Since the 'invade' map wasn't as challenging, he didn't get as much experience.
He allocated the point into Martial Power and tried to estimate how quickly he would level in the future.
'I might be able to participate in October's promotion match at this rate.'
He had to be level one hundred to participate, and a normal player wouldn't even be able to think of such a thing after just moving from Silver. Since the system was pouring experience onto him as if begging him to advance, he thought he could make it to the October promotions.
'The survival and dungeon maps should have changed now that I've moved up to Gold. Hopefully I get one soon. I can earn more experience on a new map, after all.'
Knock, knock-
Sae-ah's voice echoed through the other side of his door.
"Uncle, I have something to say…"
"Come in," he said
She had a serious look on her face when she entered.
"What's going on?"
"I was thinking during today's game…" She cautiously said, "And I think I should stop letting you carry me…"
"Why…? Is your level not going up?" He asked.
"No. That's not the problem. I leveled twice today."
"Hmm. Is there something else bothering you?"
"Yes. I feel like I'm not doing anything… and my skills aren't improving. It's only my level that's rising."
JiHan nodded. He could understand why she felt that way. It could be said that she hadn't participated at all during 'One Bridge', after all.
"You can play two games with Late Bloomer. Isn't it enough to play one game with your own skills?"
"A little bit…? I don't feel I could win the 'Top 100' match in my current state."
"Are you seriously aiming for that…?"
"Of course. I want to upgrade Late Bloomer to rank C. Isn't winning a 'Top 100' faster than doing 500 matches with a win rate of 60%?"
JiHan chuckled at her confidence. "Well, we already met the condition to upgrade it to rank D, so go ahead."
"Okay!"
"I'll have to contact Sofia and disband the party."
"Ah… R-really?" she asked.
"Yes. There's no need to keep the party if we aren't helping you."
Sae-ah scratched her cheek. She knew how much Sofia liked partying with JiHan and didn't want to be the cause of their separation.
"Uncle… How about we party twice a week?"
"Why?"
"It feels like a waste to disband the party! Hehe."
He had a rough idea of what she was thinking, but he nodded in agreement.
'She might not reach a 60% win rate if she's unlucky, so I should at least give her two wins a week.'
Given that she had two rare stats already, a 60% win rate wasn't that unreasonable, but he still thought she was lacking in many areas.
"Okay. I'll contact Sofia!" She said before leaving the room.
Not much later, he got a call from HaYeon.
[Mr. Sung! A guest came from the Administration to meet you.]
"From the Administration?"
[Yes. It's Yoon-sik… He says he has something to discuss regarding becoming a national representative.]
"What?"
[Yes… Didn't you know about the public petition with over 300k signatures for you to join the national team?]
"Seriously?"
He couldn't believe it. Why would someone make a public petition about that? And why did over 300K people sign it?
'Do I have that many fans?'
"I'll be down in a moment," he said.
* * *
In the Bloom Guild's office…
"So… The Administration needs to answer the public petition," Yoon-sik explained.
"Did we lose that badly to Taiwan?" JiHan asked.
"Uhm… Didn't you watch yesterday's game?"
"No, I didn't. I was busy training."
He was focused on trying to fuse the three elixir fields since he was already so close, and he hadn't cared to watch anyway since he knew they would lose.
"We lost quite badly. Taiwan's Warriors are weaker compared to those from other countries, so we thought we would get at least one win, but they just steamrolled us."
"How can Gold become a national representative?" JiHan asked. "Isn't level 225 the required minimum?"
Diamond League started at level 200, but even those players felt a barrier at around level 225. That's when experience significantly decreased and you lost even more from defeat.
Unless they were truly skilled, most Diamond players stagnated between 200 and 225. Only those who overcame that barrier were qualified to become national representatives.
"Yes, that's right. Although some Warriors are below that level…"
"You have people below level 225 on the national team?"
"Yes. We have a shortage of Warrior players…"
"That's a bit extreme…"
He expected them to have a somewhat lower level than other regions, but he didn't think it would be that bad.
"Mr. Sung… What do you think? Do you want to become a national representative?"
"But I'm still in Gold, so…" He was thinking of rejecting the idea when a sudden thought crossed his mind. 'Wait. If I become a national representative while in Gold… Won't I earn a lot of achievement points?'
He had recently spent over 600K achievement points, so joining the national team might provide an opportunity to replenish them.
'I don't want to hinder the national team due to my lacking stats…'
He was only level 70, which meant there was a massive gap in stats with the national team. Accepting just to earn some achievement points would be disgraceful.
Still…
"I'll watch yesterday's game and see how Korea's Warriors are first."
"Yes, here it is!" HaYeon said.
He watched some highlights she had prepared of the game.
= Ah! Korea's team is crumbling…!
= They just had to block! Couldn't they even do that?
= Ah! Another death!
"Why are they so bad…?"
When he saw the video of Taiwan's Warriors easily trampling over Korea's, he realized that joining the national team wouldn't be disgraceful at all.