Shin Sera (3)
While Sera took a seat across the conference room table from me, I closed the door behind us.
Sera remained utterly expressionless, her thoughts completely unreadable. It was hard to believe this was a girl who had only just started high school—she seemed devoid of any emotion.
Knowing that her stoic face and demeanor stemmed from the wounds she'd suffered as a child made my heart ache.
"Do you know why I called you here?"
"No."
"The scrim last time."
"......"
Sera said nothing. There wasn't even a hint of regret on her face.
"Don't you think your play was a bit over the top?"
"No."
Sera accepted it so matter-of-factly. If I didn't know her background, it would've looked like nothing more than stubborn camping and stalling.
"Do you know what I did yesterday?"
"No."
"I went to see your aunt."
"!"
Only then did a flicker of shock ripple through Sera's previously impassive eyes.
"...What did my aunt say?"
"She told me a lot. About how you grew up."
"......"
"So I wanted to talk to you about it... and figure out where we go from here?"
I had to cut myself off mid-sentence. Sera had abruptly stood up and was heading for the door.
"I'll pack my bags."
"What?"
Her sudden declaration caught me off guard. Pack her bags? Why?
"I said I'll pack."
"What are you talking about? Come back and sit down."
"I don't want to."
"Sit."
"I said no."
"Shin Sera. Last warning. Come sit down."
"......"
I raised my voice just a touch, and Sera flinched, her shoulders hunching slightly in fear. She shuffled back hesitantly and pulled out the chair again, sitting down.
Damn it. That wasn't what I wanted.
I scratched my head and continued.
"Sera, how can you talk about packing when you don't even know what I have to say?"
"You're going to kick me out anyway."
"You?"
"Yeah."
"Why would I?"
"...Because everyone has so far."
"Who?"
"Classmates, bullies, teachers... Once they heard about what happened to me, they all did it. Called me dirty, told me to get lost, threw erasers and trash at me, hit me from behind. Some teachers said to move me to a special class, others told me to transfer schools entirely."
Her voice was calm, but she kept her head bowed as she spoke. Listening to her story made my anger surge once more.
She hadn't done a single thing wrong.
Fine, kids are immature, and bullies are thugs by nature—but what about the teachers? Were they worried about the school's reputation?
"That's why I never told anyone. They all called me dirty and told me to leave once they knew... But now you know too. So I'll pack. If rumors spread and hurt the team's image, you'll kick me out anyway. And the unnies will all avoid me and curse me out."
"Shin Sera. Say 'pack my bags' one more time, and I'll tell the team to sue you for breach of contract penalties. Your aunt would have to pay it all. So no more nonsense. Got it?"
"...Why not?"
"Because I have no intention of kicking you out."
"...?"
Sera's eyes widened round. She tilted her head slightly, her expression a mix of doubt and curiosity.
"You're not kicking me out?"
"No."
"Liar."
"You don't believe me?"
"No one's ever said that except my aunt."
"Then excluding her, I'll be your first."
"Why wouldn't you kick me out?"
Doubt filled Sera's eyes.
"First, none of what you went through was your fault. Second, it doesn't disqualify you as a pro gamer. Third, I like you."
"...?"
"I mean as a player."
I quickly corrected my potentially misleading words.
"Still, what you did in that last scrim was definitely too much. You might not think so, but that's how it looks to everyone else. If you keep playing like you're solo queuing every time, how are we supposed to play around you? It's a five-player game. Even if the other team pissed you off, you should've held back."
"But they started it."
"What if we were the ones challenging a weaker team to a public scrim first? Would that mean we're picking a fight, so you should troll on purpose and throw the game for us?"
"That's..."
"Think differently. Back in school, when bullies picked on you, you couldn't do much about it. That's why you had to go hard to get any reaction."
Sera nodded.
"But scrims between teams? That's not one-sided bullying. It's about establishing hierarchy."
"Hierarchy...?"
"Yeah. Check the communities. It wasn't big news since it's just academy league, but after we beat Brilliant, people are saying we're above them now. Think of it like school—if you beat the bullies who tormented you in a fair match, they'd all be beneath your feet, unable to say a word."
"......"
"In the pro gamer world, results are everything. You don't need to go out of your way to kill them over and over. Just winning the game puts you above them, and everyone acknowledges it."
"...Me... above them? Without beating them down and showing it directly...? And everyone would accept it? For real?"
"Yes, for real. That's the pro gamer world. Win in the game, and you're naturally superior—no need for us to do anything extra. They can't argue. So there's no point in you 1v1ing them to crush or kill them. You've already won the hierarchy."
Sera's shoulders trembled faintly. I couldn't tell if she was holding back tears or laughter.
Whatever it was, when she lifted her head again, her expression was much brighter than before.
"Thank you, Coach. I feel energized now."
"Good. But promise me one thing. No more rampaging in scrims or official matches just because the other team seems to be trash-talking. We win anyway—why make it harder than it needs to be?"
"I'll... try my best."
It was a deflating answer, but hey, progress.
We hooked pinkies to seal the promise.
I wasn't a professional therapist—just a gamer turned coach—but even I had to admit I'd handled this pretty well.
"You can go now."
"Okay. But Coach..."
"Something else?"
"Please don't tell the unnies about my story."
Sera mumbled, fidgeting. Knowing her worry, I nodded.
"It'll stay between us. Don't worry."
"Thank you. Please keep it secret."
After Sera left, closing the door behind her...
Right from that afternoon's scrim, Sera's form recovered noticeably, snapping back to normal at a visible pace.
Her plummeted stats shot back up rapidly, and above all, her synergy with the teammates improved dramatically.
Even her relationship with Yuna—which had nearly sparked a spat during scrims a week ago—was mended.
"Yuna-unnie, can we talk for a sec?"
"You're the one hanging back and not calling shots. What's up—can't adjust?"
"About that scrim last time... Sorry."
"Oh, that? Didn't expect an apology. Water under the bridge—it's been a week. Don't sweat it. Yeah, it pissed me off a bit."
With Yuna on good terms again, Sera blended into the team even better.
She used to go entire games without saying a word in the worst cases, but now she chimed in a few times per match.
A monumental leap forward.
As the academy league summer season opener approached, I ramped up the team's practice volume and intensity.
Beyond just making them play, I got gym memberships for all five players plus myself—six in total—to build the stamina they'd need in-game.
Types like Eunjae, with her slippery personality, griped about why gamers had to work out too, but since Eternal Combat's real-world physicals affected gameplay, her rebellion didn't last.
Yuna, who already worked out regularly, and Eunjae—who had solid stamina from her dancer trainee days—griped the most but adapted exceptionally well.
With the boosted stamina from workouts fueling repeated hellish in-game training, the players' skill specializations climbed steadily.
They'd all mastered at least one key skill on their mains, and now they were stacking expertise on their second essential skills.
Analyzing academy league matches, aside from Brilliant-level teams, it was rare to find even one player with a mastered skill. For our team to have every member max out at least one specialization put us in an unbeatable advantage.
About two weeks before the summer season kicked off. One ordinary weekday at 1 a.m.
"Huff, huff... Good work, everyone."
"Ughhh, my legs are killing me... I just wanna shower and crash."
"If I hit the bed now, I'll be out in a minute flat."
"Same."
Under my guidance, the players finished their grueling session, drenched in sweat as they climbed out of the capsules and headed back to the dorm.
Time for me to wrap up too...Eh?
As I tidied up materials in the now-empty practice room and prepared to leave, one person lingered.
It was Ha-young.
"Ha-young? Not heading out? Forget something?"
"I have a favor to ask you, Coach."
"Me? What is it?"
"Coach. After regular practice... could you give me some special training?"