Seems Like an Incomprehensible Team (1)

Coach Chae Hojin.

He was the sort of earnest man who, when sitting down with his players, recorded even the smallest scraps of conversation.

Yesterday he had watched the team play together from start to finish. Today, armed with the notes he had been jotting down about each of them, he meant to hold one-on-one meetings.

"Hello, Coach."

"Yeah. Hey. Have a seat. Grab whatever drink you want."

"Uh… I'll take this one, then."

First interviewee: Choi Do-yun.

IGN: Doyoon. Jungler. Grandmaster tier, currently sitting around rank 450 on the Korean server.

His ranking had climbed a fair bit from before, but he was an unlucky soul who kept failing to break into Challenger thanks to miserable solo queue luck. And yet, astonishingly, Choi Do-yun almost never lost when he was on a team with Jin Gyeo-wool.

In fact, looking at his win rate when duo-queued with her, he had posted a blistering figure north of seventy percent.

Had the two of them been rolling games with top-side-heavy play? Not particularly.

When Chae Hojin dug into the replays, Choi Do-yun barely ever went top. Trying to figure out how they could post a win rate like that while essentially playing separate games, he realized the cause lay with Jin Gyeo-wool.

A mad tiger was holding the top lane alone without dying — so Choi Do-yun's feet naturally found more room to roam. With no need to babysit top, his range of movement opened up, and he cycled ganks and farm along optimized paths. Before long, the game was won. No special super plays required.

"So, uh… what's your relationship with Gyeo-wool like? I heard she was the first person you met when the team was forming."

"Ah, Noona?"

Every time he talked about Jin Gyeo-wool, a happy smile spread across his face. He tried to kill the expression, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching — impossible to miss.

"My older brother goes to the same high school as her. Noona was looking for people to build a team with while she was gaming with my brother, and that's how she met me. It was a fated first meeting."

Fated? First meeting?

Chae Hojin tilted his head and asked again.

"Hmm… hmm. Yeah. Honestly… Gyeo-wool Noona likes me a lot."

"…Gyeo-wool does?"

"Yes. She wants to make me a pro gamer so badly that she's even decided to go pro herself. Isn't that the cutest dream?"

"…?"

It was a statement that simply refused to make sense. Chae Hojin studied the notes he had written about Choi Do-yun and worked his brain hard.

Even granting everything written about Choi Do-yun, nothing in Jin Gyeo-wool's behavior suggested she returned the feelings. Was it possible the kid was laboring under a massive misunderstanding?

But there's no real harm in it, so maybe I should just leave it alone?

If he forced the truth out into the open and Choi Do-yun took a serious hit, it could tank his performance. So Chae Hojin had no choice but to wrestle with it — whether or not to tell him how the two of them looked from the outside.

"She's been more forward lately, which is nice, but on the other hand it's a little overwhelming. I'm worried the other teammates might get jealous. She even gets me presents and sings me love songs…. Heh heh heh."

"……."

There was plenty he wanted to say, but it seemed wiser not to. Chae Hojin decided he would hear the truth from Jin Gyeo-wool herself and quietly sent Choi Do-yun on his way.

In-game coaching had its limits for the moment, so he had planned to stick to mental care and simple counseling — and already, right out of the gate, he felt like he had walked into a wall.

One thing was certain, though: just as he had roughly guessed, Jin Gyeo-wool really was the root and the pillar of this team.

Next up was the mid laner, Gong Je-hyeon.

IGN: Loki — that same troublemaker god from Norse mythology. Mid laner, currently clinging to Challenger by his fingernails at rank 287.

True to the name, he excelled at creating sudden variables and surprise plays — the kind of coin-flip player where success meant a super play and failure meant a full-on brain melt.

Strangely enough, Gong Je-hyeon also maintained a win rate in the fifties under normal circumstances, but whenever he duo-queued with Jin Gyeo-wool the rate rocketed past sixty percent. Looking at how the win condition formed, Jin Gyeo-wool held firm in the top lane, and if Gong Je-hyeon managed not to lose his coin flips mid and got ahead, they won the game.

Ordinarily other lanes could explode and leave things fifty-fifty — but with Jin Gyeo-wool there, it felt like he had insurance. Even when Gong Je-hyeon lost the coin flip and got blown up, she covered for him.

"How did you meet Gyeo-wool?"

"Ah. I went looking for her. Watched her on NewTube and figured she was pretty decent for a girl."

"That so?"

"Yeah. Went over, ran a mid one-v-one, lost. So I joined the team."

Kids these days decide team membership over a one-v-one, huh.

Chae Hojin scratched lightly under his chin with a fingertip.

"Shame, right? If I'd won that, I was gonna make Jin Gyeo-wool my girlfriend."

"……."

So his motives had been plenty impure.

Looking over the notes he had written, Chae Hojin decided it was a good thing Jin Gyeo-wool had won that wager. Otherwise that pure, lovely girl might have become the girlfriend of the rather delinquent Gong Je-hyeon — and ended up a gold-digger's wife.

Hot-blooded young man that he was, Chae Hojin's type was the pure pretty-girl archetype, and that outcome was absolutely unacceptable. Jin Gyeo-wool ditching her beautiful chocolate brown to dye it blonde? It wouldn't suit her one bit.

…Useless thoughts.

Clearing his throat repeatedly to scrub the improper notions from his mind, Chae Hojin pressed on.

"How are things with Gyeo-wool now?"

A question asked with every intention of shutting Gong Je-hyeon down if he was still gunning for her. What came back was an absurd answer.

"Uh… she's the Legion Commander, right? Noonim?"

You're the same age. What kind of nonsense relationship is that supposed to be.

Once again Chae Hojin had plenty to say, and once again he swallowed it all.

"Is there a particular reason you call her that? You could just use her name, like friends."

"Ah… well, about that."

Gong Je-hyeon squinted one eye in a look of mild distress and went on.

"You don't really need to take this seriously. But, uh… I think there's a devil living inside her."

"…."

Yeah. Definitely no need to take that seriously.

Chae Hojin let out a short sigh.

"I'm serious. I'm kind of sensitive to this stuff. I used to see ghosts when I was a kid. Next time you're standing face-to-face with Gyeo-wool, lock eyes with her and you'll know what I mean. There's a devil living in her pupils. Makes your whole body tingle."

"…R-right."

He had felt it starting with Choi Do-yun's session — something about this team was off.

They all got along. Drafts were harmonious. In-game was harmonious. And yet it was strange. As if the whole group had been possessed by a ghost.

Maybe Jin Gyeo-wool is some kind of nine-tailed fox? Maybe she's bound her friends with some wicked sorcery?

All of it was fantasy spun by Chae Hojin's weak inner self — and yet, somehow, it sent a chill down his spine.

What am I doing, letting myself think weird things too.

After sending Gong Je-hyeon out, Chae Hojin slapped his own cheeks a few times to snap himself awake.

Weird kids or not, as long as they played well, that was enough. Geniuses obsessed with something often looked like lunatics from the outside.

The third person through the door was Yu Min-jae.

IGN: MJLow. He had cooked it up in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fit of middle-school bravado in eighth grade, so there was no deeper origin story to the nickname, apparently.

Bot laner. Grandmaster, ranking in the 500s. A kid who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worked hard but seemed stuck against some kind of ceiling.

Chae Hojin was certain the bottom duo was where his coaching needed to focus, so he glanced at the notes he had jotted down and paid close attention to his questions.

"So… Min-jae, watching you, your play looks a little impatient."

"…Does it."

"Yeah. Sometimes you don't really need to go in first, but you pick the fight anyway and end up taking the loss."

Yu Min-jae thought it over carefully, then offered an answer of his own.

"There isn't much time. There's something on my mind."

"That so?"

Wondering if it might have something to do with Jin Gyeo-wool, Chae Hojin probed lightly.

"Is it because of Gyeo-wool, by any chance? Is she what's on your mind?"

Yu Min-jae startled as if someone had driven a knife into his back. Chae Hojin crowed inwardly — Yes! That's more like it. Do-yun and Je-hyeon are a little weird too, but they're just kids. Don't get spooked.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This was his first time coaching on his own, so getting a grip on the kids mattered. Even if he couldn't rein in Jin Gyeo-wool, he at least had to get a firm hold on the other four.

Lifting the corners of his mouth, Chae Hojin started trying to soothe Yu Min-jae.

"You don't need to be so impatient. You've got plenty of time. Your prime is only just beginning."

But Chae Hojin had underestimated him. He had only licked the surface of Yu Min-jae's thinking — he had not touched the desperate abyss beneath it at all.

"No. There isn't… much time. The impatience is something I have to fix somehow, but…. Hah…. I need to get better faster than I am now…. I need to be more useful to the team…."

"…Huh?"

Why on earth was there no time? Chae Hojin could not understand — which was only natural, since Yu Min-jae had given him zero prior explanation connected to Jin Gyeo-wool.

"Uh… can you tell me why you feel like there's no time?"

But Chae Hojin could not back down here either. Even with the guys, he needed a solid read if he was going to lead the team — and he had already been forced to pass on two of them. If he passed on Yu Min-jae too, all that would be left was Ha Jeong-uk.

"I'm sorry. I can't talk about this. This is something only I should know."

"……. Ah. Okay."

If the kid would not talk, there was nothing Chae Hojin could do. He had looked manly and seemed like the straightforward type — but it turned out he was hiding plenty, and a little brooding besides.

Chae Hojin had assumed Yu Min-jae was cut from the same cloth as himself, so the disappointment stung a bit.

Strange…. His usual personality is clearly manly and serious.

If a guy like that was keeping something hidden, what on earth could it be? The odds were high it was something serious, something measured in minutes — and how many things in life really fit that bill?

Death? Something tied directly to a life?

If that were the case, it was far too grave to go guessing at. Come on — no way something like that was actually happening.

In the end, once again, Chae Hojin had plenty to say and no way to say it.

"Alright… if you ever feel like talking something through, come find me anytime."

"Yes. Thank you. I'll do what I can about the impatience."

"Good. Hang in there."

If the kid said he would work on it himself, what more was there to add? After he left, Chae Hojin let out a long breath.

"Is this team going to be okay…."

If only the boy had not been so reserved — if he had been as manly as he looked. Then Chae Hojin would not have been fretting like this. Manly. Straightforward. Worries or no worries, he would have ignored the kids' personal circumstances, come down hard, and thrown himself into hard training.

But Chae Hojin was steel on the outside and soft within — a man whose surface and interior did not match — and he could not do that.

The last member before Jin Gyeo-wool's session. A few seconds later, Ha Jeong-uk stepped into the soundproof room.

"Hello."

"Yeah. Come on in."

"I, uh, have something I'd like to talk through."

"…Huh? Counseling? Sure. What is it?"

Ha Jeong-uk bringing up counseling the moment he walked in. Chae Hojin was caught off guard, but the thought that his chance had finally arrived sent him skimming back through Ha Jeong-uk's profile at speed.

IGN: Wook. Oldest on the roster at nineteen. Cautious, a little passive. Rank roughly on par with Yu Min-jae's, and still showing strong growth. Good at reading situations objectively.

Perfect timing. A kid like this would give him a straight answer. That last line put some life back into Chae Hojin.

But the coach who had been calmly preparing for the session was shot down cold by the question that followed.

"What do you think about the love triangle on the team, Coach?"

"……. Come again?"

"No — not a triangle… more like a square, actually, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you leave me out of it? Is that going to be okay?"

It happened so fast there was no time to fire a flare. A crash went off inside his skull, and Chae Hojin's train of thought — struck by a missile — shattered on the spot.