JiHan wasn't sure if he'd heard right. 'Entertainers and newscasters? What kind of welcoming party is that? Isn't it closer to a drinking party?'
Were they seriously planning to do something like that only days before their big game against Russia?
'Their self-discipline is just too different from the American team's.'
Of course, several countries were collapsing back when he was on the American team, which wasn't an issue yet.
That still didn't change the fact that the American team's schedule was fundamentally more difficult.
'The Americans practiced at least 12 hours every time, not three or four hours like the Korean team is doing.'
In addition to that, the secondary team's Supports would step in and revitalize anyone who got too tired during practice. They also took time to analyze the team they'd be facing and create specific strategies to counter them, among other things.
The Americans treated each game as if they were going to war. Meanwhile, the South Korean team's Warriors were pretty much the main reason the country had been unable to win a single match after the Sword King left.
He couldn't believe they were going to host a drinking party on the first day of training.
'Their mindset is rotten.' Calling it a 'welcoming party' was just an excuse.
"It's okay," JiHan said. "I have to take care of my niece and keep an eye on Akari."
"Ah, but still…" Dong-woo tried to argue.
"Don't be like that…" said YunGi. "I heard Ha Yuri's also coming!"
"Who's she?"
"What? How could someone in Korea not know of her…?"
"I have no clue who she is."
"Look! Her!" YunGi hurriedly pulled up a picture of her on his smartphone.
The woman in the picture was a major celebrity JiHan recognized from TV ads. "Ah, I've seen her on TV."
"Yes! She has very high standards… but she said she'd come because she wants to see you!"
"Tell her not to bother. I don't have the time."
"JiHan… Please. Just for today."
How could he reject the invitation when Ha Yuri was coming? Could he even call himself a man? It was just too hard for Dong-woo to believe.
Just in case, he showed JiHan pictures of other women stars and said, "It isn't just Ha Yuri. All of these beautiful celebrities are coming to see you…"
"No." JiHan refused immediately and turned away. "Yesterday's incident makes it impossible for me to attend. I hope you understand."
"Ah… O-okay," Dong-woo said, not daring to argue any further.
"Ahh. Fuck…" he grumbled after JiHan left. "Is he a eunuch or something?"
"Come on, yesterday's incident was probably pretty rough on him."
"Tsk… Yes, I know. Ahh~ That bastard… I felt chills run down my spine when his attitude turned cold."
"Uh… To be honest, I was also a bit scared. As expected, he's on a whole different level."
They'd never been intimidated before, but JiHan was just too fearsome to argue with when he got serious. They'd instinctively felt that any sort of camaraderie they'd built with him would vanish if they pushed the issue.
"Ah… Damn. Are we going to take an L here? I invited a bunch of people who are usually difficult to meet, and they were looking forward to his appearance."
"Hmm…" YunGi fell into thought and came up with an idea.
"What if we tell them that JiHan will join us later? I'm sure they'll forget about it after a few drinks."
"Then, should we do that?"
"Yes. We have other things to talk about besides JiHan, so once they start drinking some alcohol, everything should go smoothly."
"Well, that's true~"
In the end, they decided to hold the party without JiHan.
* * *
Meanwhile, JiHan took Sae-ah to the Battle Net Center's personal practice room. JiHan could've connected from anywhere, but his niece needed a connector. Soon, Sofia joined their party from the United States.
[The mission is 'invade'.]
[You are on the demons' side.]
"JiHan! I saw the interview. Did you really clear round 14?" Sofia asked.
"Yes. It's a pity because I could have cleared round 15 as well."
"Wow… I want to see the footage… Ah, it won't be available to the public, right?"
"Maybe after the match against Russia, but not before that."
Sofia soon turned her attention to Sea-ah. "Sae-ah, what are you going to do about the class options?"
"Ah, about that—"
"Right," JiHan interrupted, "I was talking with Sofia about whether or not you'd choose the Void Archer class."
Sae-ah hesitated for a bit before saying, "Yes… I'm going to choose it."
"Despite Ariel's warning?"
"I want to become stronger."
"Okay." JiHan nodded. He was worried about the possibility of her vanishing into the void if she got too involved with it, but it was her choice.
'It seems like the last incident was quite a shock for her.'
There was a firm determination burning in her eyes. It seemed that, despite the danger, she was willing to take the risk if it meant she could get stronger.
In the end, he accepted her decision. "Ok. If you're sure about it, then go ahead."
"Yes! Just you wait! I'm going to take your position as 1st."
"You should be satisfied with 2nd place."
"You're no fun."
"It's better to not cling to a vain hope."
Void Archer would never be able to catch up to Martial Soul. As JiHan and his niece were talking, they saw the other team's chat pop up.
[Ah… We're against JiHan…]
[What bad luck ㅜㅜ]
[I'm going to stay in the spawn~~ ^^7]
The players on the other side gave up the moment they saw JiHan's name. It was a common occurrence since he'd reached Gold.
"Defeat minions and level up," he said.
"Got it."
"Sofia, please cover her."
"Yess~ Miss, let's go~!"
"M-miss?"
"Aren't you supposed to call your husband's younger sister 'Miss' in Korean?"
"Excuse me, I'm his niece…"
"Same thing~"
JiHan gave Sofia a disbelieving look. It seemed like she was even worse than in their previous life. He started to wonder if forming a party with the three of them was worth it.
The players on the opposing team sat in their spawn and started chatting with him.
[Mr. Sung! How was the national team?]
[They were all nice people.]
[Is it okay for you to play a game today? I heard there's a welcoming party going on.]
[There were some incidents yesterday and I have the lowest level there, so I need to level up.]
[Ah… leveling up…]
[That's why you're playing at such an odd hour…]
[I even tried to avoid playing during your usual times…]
They thought he'd take the day off since he was with the national team. Why was he gaming instead of going to the welcoming party?
'I'll have to make the game last a while today.'
Since his niece had just changed her class to Void Archer, he wanted to drag the game out and help her properly adapt to her new class. Therefore, instead of going through the jungle and claiming buffs for his team like he usually did…
He sat in his team's spawn and watched the game play out. After three hours passed like that…
[Please… just end the game already.]
[For real, what are you doing? ㅠㅠ]
The opposing team players started complaining.
[Huh…? Mr. Sung, I think you should hurry… I just got a donation. It seems like something happened in the Battle Net Center.]
[What?]
Something major was going down at the welcoming party he'd decided not to attend.
"Is this true…?" Coach YeongJun asked, trembling in anger. "One of our players assaulted and seriously injured Ha Yuri?"
"Yes… Fortunately, a Support received the emergency call and came running to treat her, but she still hasn't regained consciousness."
"Th-those crazy bastards! Who the hell is responsible?"
"Y-Yoon JeongHyun…"
JeongHyun had been the most powerful Warrior after Dong-woo until JiHan showed up. Unfortunately, he was known for his terrible, hot-tempered personality and for liking women a bit too much.
Still, nobody expected he'd be crazy enough to hit a woman. To make things worse, the woman in question was Ha Yuri, one of Korea's top celebrities.
"Why would he do that?! That bastard Dong-woo told me they were just going to drink together as a team…!"
"It seems like they invited a bunch of celebrities over for a drinking party that was supposed to be a welcoming party for JiHan."
"Was JiHan also involved…?"
"No. He was playing a Battle Net game at the time. In fact, the assault occurred after Ha Yuri said she was going home since JiHan wasn't there."
"That fucking idiot!" The coach yelled.
A Warrior was basically a human weapon, especially if they were on a national team. It was a miracle that an ordinary person could even survive getting hit by one.
"Ha… Just when I thought we'd get some good press. Is it possible to reach an agreement?"
"The big problem is that Yuri is player YeonJu's younger sister. She's sworn to kill JeongHyun, and people are barely holding her back from doing it."
YeonJu was the leader and core of the national team's Archers, and she had the highest level of anyone in Korea. On top of that, she was one of the few players on the team to be considered 'good' by the global community. She and JeongHyun couldn't be compared.
"Did that crazy bastard know he was beating up YeonJu's younger sister…?"
"He said he feels wronged because she ended up going flying when he was just trying to stop her from leaving."
"Fuck! Can't he see that using force on a civilian was a problem?! Damn it!"
Slam-!
Unable to contain his anger, he slammed his desk in anger. He'd turned a blind eye to their drinking, so they should've just stayed under the radar.
They'd dared to assault a civilian as famous as Ha Yuri?
'I just want to resign…'
He thought about the alcohol. His prestige had fallen from consecutive losses after the Sword King left, then Dong-woo swore he wouldn't bring outsiders and, as if to mock him, turned around to invite dozens of celebrities.
Now he had yet another problem to deal with.
"C-coach… What should we do…?" the analyst nervously asked, but the coach was out of ideas.
The team was already out of his control, and he was starting to consider taking responsibility and retiring when…
"Coach."
YeonJu, the Archer leader, arrived at his office. She was just as beautiful as Ha Yuri, and the two were even known as the 'Beautiful Sisters'. Her face, though, was full of murderous intent. She was there to deliver an ultimatum.
"Cut everyone who was at that party from the team. If you don't, the Archers will refuse to participate in future matches."
"What…? E-everyone? But isn't JeongHyun the problem? To cut them all—"
"No. I can't tolerate anyone who just stood by and watched my sister get beaten."
"But the match against Russia will be in a few days. Cutting all of the Warrior team is…"
"Not everyone. Just the 12 who were at the celebrity party. Please, remove them."
The coach felt like the walls were closing in around him. They'd just gotten a chance to win with JiHan joining. Did it even make sense for such chaos to happen at a party dedicated to someone who wasn't in attendance?
"What's going on?" JiHan asked as he arrived at the coach's office.
"Sung JiHan…" YeonJu crossed her arms and glared at him.
He might not have attended the party, but her sister had gone to see him and ended up getting hurt, so she couldn't help but think negatively of him.
'Why's she looking at me like that?' JiHan wondered.
"Ahh… Here's what happened…" The coach roughly explained the situation.
When he was done, YeonJu gritted her teeth and said, "That's why we can't be on the same team as those bastards. All of the other Archers think so as well."
"…"
It wasn't surprising that the people who were so eager to drink before a match had royally screwed everything up. They were nice to have, but JiHan didn't think they'd make much of a difference in a game.
"That aside, are you all okay with being on the same team as me?"
"Well, you didn't participate in the party, so…"
"Okay, coach…" JiHan said in a relaxed manner. "Cut all 12 of them. No, go ahead and cut anyone who participated in the team drinking session as well."
"What? I understand the issue with JeongHyun, but we'll only have the Warriors from the standby group if we cut anyone who drank!"
"I soloed the 11th wave onward without them anyway."
Coach YeongJun was lost for words. JiHan wasn't wrong.
"I don't want to play with those who used my name to cause trouble."
"Hmm…"
"I'll also leave if you don't," JiHan said.
YeonJu looked at him in shock. She'd also wanted to cut anyone who participated in the team drinking session, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to say it.
It was hard to believe he'd share a similar opinion. She started to feel sorry for her earlier, negative thoughts, and the killing intent in her eyes died down a bit.
"Okay…" The coach said as he gave in. It was clear to him who the most valuable people on the team were.
'Even if we lose the Russia match, at least the team will be more disciplined…'
* * *
Days passed, and their match against Russia finally arrived.
= There was an unfortunate incident with Korea's team, right?
= Yes… It should've never happened in the first place. Coach YeongJun decided to make an example of them and attracted some public criticism after he expelled every Warrior from the primary lineup.
= Right. Many wondered who would play if all of the Warriors were absent, but the coach looks more confident than usual.
= During yesterday's interview, he even said they could definitely win!
= I hope that happens!
All of the coach's confidence was due to one person…
'He's crazy.'
Of course, he'd put JiHan's name as the top Warrior in the national lineup.