Shin Sera (2)
A week had passed, and it was Sunday.
I was seated at a café near Sera's house, where I'd arranged to meet her aunt.
It wasn't long before Sera's aunt pushed open the café door, spotted me, and greeted me with a smile.
"Auntie, good to see you. How have you been?"
"Hello. It's been a while since that day you came by the office to sign the papers."
We exchanged brief pleasantries—how have you been, that sort of thing.
Then her aunt was the first to broach the subject.
"Coach, has Sera caused any trouble?"
"She hasn't had any issues in the dorms. But last week during the scrim... practice match, she acted really strangely. You remember what I mentioned before, right?"
"What exactly did she do?"
I explained Sera's bizarre behavior during the second scrim set.
To an outsider, it might have looked like the typical antics of a kill-obsessed maniac. But since I could see her status window, I knew the warning signs—the unnatural fixation on tormenting and clashing with the enemy, ignoring her teammates' calls entirely, making every judgment call on her own whims, and playing recklessly to the bitter end.
Back then, I couldn't pinpoint what "personal player issue" was plaguing her, so I'd decided to ask her guardian—her aunt—what might have happened.
Her aunt's expression darkened with every word, and by the time I finished, she was dabbing at her tears with a tissue.
"I've been managing Sera and the other players for nearly two months now, but I've never seen anything like that. Once I put a stop to the fighting and harassment, she went completely listless, like all her drive had vanished, and she started throwing games easily. As her coach, I need to understand why she's acting this way. Auntie, do you know anything about it?"
"Sniff... Poor Sera. Still like that after all this time..."
Still?
That meant this wasn't the first time Sera had snapped like that.
I waited quietly for her aunt to compose herself.
Eventually, she sighed deeply, steadying her breathing.
"Coach, can you promise that your attitude toward Sera won't change after hearing what I have to say?"
"...As long as it's not some unforgivable crime."
She let out another heavy sigh and began.
"Do you know why I came to the office to sign instead of Sera's parents?"
There was only one reason a minor's legal guardian would be a relative instead of parents.
"I can guess."
"Sera's mom—my sister—and her foreign father died when Sera was eight. Car accident. They were such a happy family, and then it all shattered in an instant. No relatives wanted to take in the suddenly orphaned girl, so I stepped up and brought her home to look after her."
"......"
"I couldn't replace her mom perfectly, but I did everything to shield that little girl from more heartbreak. At first, she cried endlessly for her parents, but bit by bit, she started smiling again. But then, something happened at school that I never knew about."
"She was bullied, wasn't she."
Her aunt nodded at my words.
"I had no idea. She was suffering horrific bullying at school... She always came home smiling, treating me normally, so I thought everything was fine. I worked even harder, pulling overtime and going on every business trip, thinking it was the best way to make sure she lacked for nothing materially. But..."
Tears poured from her aunt's eyes like a waterfall, drawing glances from the other café patrons.
I handed her more tissues. She wiped her face, blew her nose lightly, and spoke in a trembling voice.
"My... my ex-husband... that monster... that filthy beast did something unforgivable. To a child like her..."
"No way..."
"While I was away on a business trip, that animal tried to rape Sera. She was only twelve!"
I fought back the nausea and curses rising in my throat. Just hearing it made steam feel like it was pouring from my head. And the perpetrator was her own uncle—god, I couldn't even imagine her aunt's anguish.
"Was... was Sera okay?"
"The neighbors heard her screams and called the police, so it stopped at attempted assault. By the time I rushed home after the call, her whole body was covered in bruises. She'd fought back and gotten beaten for it... I wasn't there for her, the aunt who promised to care for her in her mother's place... Seeing those bruises on her face and stomach... Sniff..."
Her aunt broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Only after a mountain of tissues piled up beside her did she finally calm down.
"After that, Sera shut down completely. She was a little better with me, but even that wasn't the same. Then, when she was fourteen, the school called. She'd taken a box cutter and slashed up her classmates' faces."
"She did what?"
The shock hit me like a punch to the head. That quiet, timid girl?
"That's when I finally understood her school life. She'd been tormented and isolated since elementary school just for not having parents. She pretended everything was fine at home to spare me worry, but after what that scum—my ex-husband—did..."
"......"
"Word got around somehow, and the story of her near-miss spread among the students. The delinquents used it as an excuse, calling her a slut and a whore, harassing her daily. She already stood out as a mixed-race kid, so imagine the hell she went through.
She endured it until she exploded. They were going to send her to juvie. But during the police investigation, one of the delinquents—who dreamed of becoming an idol—begged for a settlement to keep it off his record. Somehow, she avoided juvie.
From then on, whenever Sera felt anyone picking a fight with her, she'd turn into a different person—ferociously aggressive. The bright, innocent girl I knew was gone, replaced by someone else entirely."
"...Did she ever get psychological therapy?"
"Of course she did. That's what got her to this point. After that bastard's assault, she wouldn't speak a word or leave her room.
She'd have panic attacks around men and couldn't even go outside. The counselor recommended a game as an emotional escape—specifically, trauma recovery therapy through VR capsules.
That's what improved her enough to get here."
"Did Sera really love Eternal Combat?"
Her aunt nodded.
"After the near-rape and the school incident, Sera lost all emotion. The only time she ever looked even somewhat content was playing that game.
After two years of therapy and gaming, she improved so much she didn't freak out at men anymore. I thought she was recovering well. But... I still don't know her at all. To think she was hiding all that pain deep inside..."
"The enemy team basically declared war on us with their antics. Sera must've interpreted it as them targeting her."
"Coach... Will this cause any trouble for Sera?"
Her aunt looked anxious, her eyes pleading like she was begging for mercy.
"Coach, Sera's such a pitiful girl. She's been through things no child should endure, way too young. She used to smile so much, talk a mile a minute, full of energy. Please, just give her one chance. I'm begging you.
This is the first time she's ever stepped up on her own after all that hell. I'm a lousy aunt who wasn't there when she needed me, but this time, I want to support her path. Coach, please. Don't break the contract..."
"Calm down, Auntie. I'm not here to cancel the contract."
Only then did her aunt regain her composure.
"Sure, it's caused some headaches, but pro teams deal with way worse than this all the time. The guys on the men's team even throw punches occasionally—what's that compared to? As long as it doesn't ruin the game, it's nothing. No punishment for Sera, so don't worry."
"Thank you...! Thank you so much, Coach...!"
"No, thank you. It must've been hard to share all that, but now I can see Sera more clearly. I couldn't figure out what was going on during scrims, but now I get what she was thinking. This will help me coach her much better going forward."
I exchanged a few more words with her tearful thanks, finished our drinks, and parted ways.
Sera's behavior made sense now. The issue was the solution.
I'd reassured her aunt that I knew how to handle it, but I'm no therapist.
I had no clue how to properly stabilize Sera or heal her heart.
But I couldn't just leave her be. Pro play involves trash talk, provocative interviews—plenty of triggers. I couldn't let her go berserk every time and tank the games.
Sitting in the meeting room, deep in thought, I reached a decision. For someone whose whole life has been Eternal Combat, there's only one way.
"Shin Sera!"
I called out to her during break.
"Yeah?"
"Come to the meeting room for a sec."
I'm a gamer and a coach. Sera's a gamer and a player.
Gamers have their own ways to fix things.