Brutally Realistic

"Heh." Tae-hyun smirked inwardly as he looked at the reporters. There was no longer a loophole named Cain. No matter how hard the reporters tried to dig, they wouldn't get a single thing out of him!

I trained him thoroughly, after all.

—"Cain. I've prepared an interview response guide just for you."

—"Ohhh... What is it? What is it? Vocal training? Something like practicing in front of a mirror?"

—"No. Just shout 'Thank you' and 'I will do my best' no matter what."

—"..."

—"You can memorize those two, right?"

—"But that's basically banning me from doing interviews..."

—"Should I ban meat side dishes, or ban interviews? Take your pick."

—"I'll just memorize them...!"

The reporters glared at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-hyun. There was only one possible reason why Cain was behaving so perfectly.

Ugh. He's already so popular, why is he doing this unnecessary gatekeeping...!

Honestly, shouldn't he let him slip up occasionally to make him seem more human and entertaining?

He needs to let us make a living too!

Reporters from all over the world stared with one mind and one heart, but Cain's tightly shut mouth did not budge. In the end, the reporters gave up and turned to Tae-hyun.

"Then, Player Kim Tae-hyun, how do you predict the team rankings will turn out?"

The reporters didn't expect much as they asked. Tae-hyun was famous for always giving textbook, politically correct answers. This time wouldn't be any diff—

"Hmm. Won't Beijing Fighters drop to the very bottom of the rankings?"

"!"

"!!!"

"!!!!!!"

They had expected something along the lines of, "Well, it's not over until it's over, haha," but an incredibly juicy answer had dropped instead! The reporters' eyes went wide. They hadn't expected Tae-hyun to be this cooperative.

"C-could you elaborate a bit more on what you just said?"

"Hmm. Come to think of it, aren't you the reporter who wrote that article calling Cain a 'bubble' last time?"

"...?!"

The reporter gasped. He had no idea Tae-hyun would actually remember his face. I should have used an item to change my appearance before coming here!

"I think I'm right."

"A-ah, no. Back then, the situation was just... I had no choice but to write that kind of article..."

"Suddenly, I don't feel like talking anymore."

"He told you to get out of the way! Player Kim Tae-hyun says he can't stand the sight of you!"

"Get lost! Don't ruin this for the rest of us just because of your own mess!"

At Tae-hyun's words, the other reporters swarmed forward and dragged the offending reporter away. This was exactly what the Strength stat was meant for!

"W-we're colleagues!"

"Colleagues, my foot! Are you going to take responsibility if we miss out on an exclusive because of you?!"

"Move aside!"

There was not a shred of professional solidarity among these reporters! Tae-hyun nodded in satisfaction and spoke.

"For now, they're barely holding on with the points they've accumulated, but if this continues, I believe they will struggle."

"B-but the Beijing Fighters' roster consists entirely of A-rank players and above. Once the current chaos is resolved, won't they climb back up?"

"I doubt they can do it within this season. From what I've seen, their teamwork has completely collapsed."

Tae-hyun knew exactly what the public wanted. Usually, he withheld the answers they craved, but occasionally throwing them a bone was a great tactic. It was a classic push-and-pull! Just imagining the skyrocketing view counts made the reporters practically drool. To think the elusive Kim Tae-hyun was giving them such fan service!

"If that happens, is there a chance they could be relegated to the 2nd Division?!"

"Hmm. Honestly, looking at the top teams in the 2nd Division, there isn't that much of a gap between them and the 1st Division. If they're unlucky, it could certainly happen."

Tae-hyun's interview was immediately compiled and published as articles. Naturally, a bit of sensationalized exaggeration was added in the process!

As if he wasn't already irritating enough, his blunt remarks made the fans clutch the backs of their necks in fury. What was the actual reason behind the Beijing Fighters' downfall? While corporate interference and friction with the head coach played a part, the direct catalyst was...

Their crushing defeat against Team KL! Ever since their first match against Team KL, the team had begun to unravel, and after the second match, rumors of the coach's resignation and internal discord exploded. For the fans, Team KL was nothing short of a cursed, persistent nightmare.

Never in their wildest dreams did they expect a global movement to cheer for Yuseong Gaming! Yet, a massive crowd was now dead serious about backing them. Please... Please, just bring down Team KL just this once!

Meanwhile, a certain coach was in the middle of an interview.

"...That is all."

"Hmm. I see. Mr. Sabet, I heard you had quite a bit of friction with the front office. They say you're rather stubborn with your opinions..."

"Ah, no. I get along great with the front office."

"Is that so? The articles circulating online seem to suggest otherwise."

This one's a bust too. Sabet sighed as he walked out. He had felt incredibly vindicated when he stood up to the Beijing Fighters' management, but the aftermath was proving far more difficult than he had anticipated. Most conglomerates running esports teams didn't care about the nuances of internal conflicts. To them, the only thing that mattered was whether a person had a history of causing trouble. To those corporate executives, Sabet was a highly volatile ticking time bomb.

If a team hired him as their new head coach and someone from the upper management asked, "Hey, isn't that the guy who got kicked out last time for causing friction? Why are we hiring someone like him?" the hiring manager would have to take the fall. Naturally, the teams had no choice but to avoid him.

"Maybe it's better to just take a break and relax for a while..."

Sabet sighed and checked his next schedule. His next interview was with Yuseong Gaming. Strangely, Yuseong Gaming had requested to conduct the interview inside Pan-On. Did that mean they took the game that seriously?

But this one's probably a long shot too. It might be better to find a team in the 2nd Division that wasn't backed by a massive conglomerate, produce some good results, and climb back up. He had heard that Yuseong Group, the parent company of Yuseong Gaming, wielded immense influence over the team...

It is quite fascinating, though. How did they manage to perform so well? Is it really because of Player Lee Se-yeon? Lee Se-yeon was an S-class player who could elevate any team just by joining. She was skilled, responsible, and highly intelligent... Was the resurrection of Yuseong Gaming—which had once collapsed miserably due to a complete lack of corporate support—solely thanks to Lee Se-yeon?

That must be it. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Of course, if Chairman Yoo had heard this, he would have exploded in fury.

—What do you mean, after all the money I poured into this...!

Sabet felt a wave of nervousness wash over him as he entered the interview venue. This interview was completely different from any he had experienced before! Instead of sitting in a solemn, high-rise corporate boardroom facing executives in tailored suits, he was on a luxury cruise ship floating on a scenic ocean, surrounded by players clad in magnificent armor!

Who is who here? It was utterly impossible to tell if the elf holding a staff in robes was the department head, or if the orc carrying a greatsword in heavy plate armor was the executive director!

Sabet cleared his throat. Perhaps this was all part of Yuseong Gaming's interview strategy. A revolutionary new method following the trend of stress interviews—the Pan-On interview!

...Though I have absolutely no idea what the point of it is!

"Mr. Sabet. Please, take a seat."

"Ah. Yes, thank you."

"You mentioned you have a strong interest in our Yuseong Gaming. Is that true?"

"Yes! There isn't a single person in the scene who wouldn't be interested in a top-tier league team like Yuseong Gaming."

"In that case, could you analyze Yuseong Gaming's current performance? Tell us the reasons behind it, our strengths, weaknesses, and our future outlook."

As the questions were thrown at him, Sabet began to answer without a single moment of hesitation.

"First and foremost, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I believe the reconstruction of the team around Player Lee Se-yeon as captain played the most critical role. It might not be obvious from the outside, but the Pan-On Arena features constantly changing maps and rules, making teamwork paramount. Even the slightest slip in coordination can lead to a total collapse. However, Player Lee Se-yeon..."

"Hmm. I see. What about factors other than Player Lee Se-yeon?"

"Player Ryu Tae-su's highly versatile and skillful play is also a massive strength. There aren't many players who can control themselves so exceptionally well while playing the Berserker class."

"And besides that?"

"Player Kim Hyeon-ah's..."

"...Are there no other external factors?"

The interviewer glanced sideways as he asked. He seemed strangely conscious of the person sitting next to him. Sabet asked back, thoroughly puzzled.

"Is there something else?"

"Ahem. Our Yuseong Gaming receives astronomical support from the Yuseong Group. We've newly established a state-of-the-art headquarters and built dedicated training facilities... If you fail to recognize how crucial these external factors are, we cannot help but feel a bit disappointed."

"Ah, my apologies. Since I tend to focus solely on the game itself, I must have been rather blind to those aspects."

Sabet spoke with complete honesty. Because his focus was always entirely consumed by the game, he had overlooked such corporate details. If he had been just a little better at playing politics, things wouldn't have ended the way they did with the Beijing Fighters!

"I'm glad you understand."

The interviewer smiled, seemingly pleased by Sabet's candid attitude.

"But does the Yuseong Group really provide that much support? In the past, Yuseong Gaming was disbanded precisely because it received zero support..."

Sabet was a former pro gamer turned coach from the pre-Pan-On era. He still vividly remembered the controversies surrounding the old Yuseong Gaming.

"Ahem! Cough! That was then, and this is now!"

"Back then, the fans practically wept and begged the company not to do it, but the group coldly—"

"Well, they didn't produce any results, so what did you expect?! They should have won some games!"

"?!"

Sabet was utterly taken aback when the man who had been sitting silently in the back—whose purpose for even being there was completely unknown—suddenly burst into a fit of rage.

"If they had produced even a shred of results, I wouldn't say a word! They were dead last for years, how can they be so shameless... I looked up everything from back then! Do you know what people were saying? 'Yuseong Gaming sucks at games,' 'Yuseong Gaming is absolute trash at games,' 'Yuseong Gaming has been absolute trash at games for years!' Do you think I run an esports team just to listen to that kind of garbage?!"

"A-ah, no... I wasn't the coach back then..."

Sabet was completely flustered. He had never experienced such an intense, emotionally charged interview in his life! Only after the atmosphere finally cooled down did the interview resume.

"Currently, the team leading in first place is Team KL. How do you believe we should strategize to defeat them?"

"I believe we must absolutely overwhelm them with equipment."

"!"

"In the current Arena, the scaling effect of a player leveling up is minimal. Furthermore, it's incredibly difficult for rankers to level up anyway. I believe the only deciding factor left is equipment."

"Could you be more specific?"

"Adamantium equipment, or at the very least, gear with a level requirement of 350—or at bare minimum 300—needs to be equipped if we want to withstand Player Kim Tae-hyun's onslaught."

"How many players do you think are even over level 300 right now? Isn't that completely unrealistic?"

"Even if they have to suffer penalties, we must train them to acquire skills that allow them to equip high-level gear."

Hearing Sabet's words, Chairman Yoo, who was listening from the side, looked incredibly intrigued. He was somehow being completely drawn in!

"And once we secure that equipment..."

"What next?"

"We must ignore Player Kim Tae-hyun and focus entirely on targeting the other members of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Team KL."

"..."

Brutally realistic all of a sudden!