138. G1 + Rin Team Scrim
138. G1 + Rin Team Scrim
***
Day two of the scrim.
Unlike the first day, the second day's scrim proceeded in a slightly different format.
On the first day, they had played 1v1 individual matches, with each player competing twice.
Day two was a more complex scrim format.
A "team" style scrim.
......
A gentle breeze swept through the interior of the massive Colosseum, as if soothing it.
—Whoosh.
Inside the enormous Colosseum, the size of a domed stadium, the G1 pro team players had each taken their places, just as they had on the first day.
Unlike the first day, when the players had gathered half under Kang Hyeok's direction, today—the second day of the scrim—the players had all assembled early at the Colosseum with clear anticipation.
The overwhelming skill Rin had shown on the first day was itself a fresh shock and inspiration to the players, raising all sorts of expectations.
Which was why they were waiting in the Colosseum a full thirty minutes before the scheduled scrim time.
Rin's skill was one thing, but the fact that the players' losses hadn't been simple losses meant something too.
Each player had instinctively realized what they lacked while facing Rin.
And that aligned with the most essential thing Serin had been guiding them toward.
Because she had prepared different strategies and techniques for each individual player, used play styles that naturally highlighted what each opponent lacked, and then defeated them.
And now.
A woman with a massive black sniper rifle slung over her shoulder.
Minha interlaced her fingers and stretched her arms, loosening up, then spoke as if she had a complaint.
"A team scrim with Rin included—does this really mean anything?"
She voiced her doubts while looking at the other players. She had felt her shortcomings particularly keenly while facing Rin. So immediately after yesterday's scrim ended, she had spent her time studying bullet-speed control and distance measurement.
Right now, Minha wanted to face Rin 1v1 again far more than she cared about the team scrim format.
Minseong smiled as if he understood how Minha felt, and answered.
"Well, I don't really know if it means anything either. Isn't the point of today's scrim just to see whether it's team synergy or individual skill?"
The format for the second day was to take the five G1 players plus Rin—six people total—and split them into two teams of three for 3v3 matches.
They had agreed to play a total of four matches.
The intent of the scrim was as obvious as Minseong said.
Would the team synergy of three G1 players who had been building chemistry all along win?
Or would Rin—whose individual skill had been proven in the first day's scrim—and two G1 players win?
This team match was meaningful because it would reveal the difference in strength.
"With someone like Rin, individual skill might actually be enough to cover it, don't you think?"
"Hajun, team matches and individual matches are different, man. And Rin supposedly has no team-match experience either. If the side with Rin actually wins today... that'd be serious in a different way."
"Well, I know that, but Rin just looks like a monster to me, so I don't know."
Hajun and Jinhyeok exchanged words as they thought about the upcoming scrim, and Kang Hyeok, who had been silently listening, curled the corner of his mouth into a meaningful smile.
"Which is why today's scrim can essentially be considered the key test for facing Jeanne d'Arc."
Kang Hyeok had been the one to push for the scrim with Rin. His greatest goal and reason for arranging it.
Kang Hyeok had felt that Rin was "another wall," which was what made this scrim meaningful.
He had never felt anyone was a wall except Jeanne d'Arc, but he had felt Serin was another wall—which was why he had proposed this scrim format.
—Overthrowing Jeanne d'Arc.
Kang Hyeok was thinking only of that during this scrim with Rin.
The decisive reason they had never won, and the final puzzle piece for victory.
How to handle and counter Jeanne d'Arc.
Even though it was something they inevitably had to prepare for, no method had ever emerged.
No matter how good or sophisticated the strategy, it couldn't overcome a player's overwhelming individual skill. That was why they had repeatedly been forced to swallow bitter defeat against Jeanne d'Arc in every final.
And now Kang Hyeok thought he might be able to grasp a clue in this team scrim with Rin.
"Kang Hyeok, so you've basically been treating Rin as a stand-in for Jeanne d'Arc this whole time. Is that it?"
When Minha asked back with a dumbfounded expression, Kang Hyeok nodded seriously.
"Yeah. You all faced her yesterday, so you know—Rin can basically be considered on the same level as Jeanne d'Arc. And like Jeanne d'Arc, she's so exceptional that she's like a rock sticking out on her own. Even if you try to build team synergy, it's hard to match with her. Even if Rin works with us for the first time, I think she'll feel very similar to TSJ's Jeanne d'Arc."
A player with unrivaled skill, and a pro player with an overwhelming career that no one could currently touch.
Jeanne d'Arc, Yoo Eunha.
But ironically, because she had such unrivaled skill, she always felt strongly disconnected from the team, as if separated on her own.
If she tried to match the team's rhythm, Jeanne d'Arc's outstanding natural skill couldn't shine, and if other players tried to match her, it always went off-key like dissonance.
It was a weakness of TSJ that had been pointed out for years despite the team's overwhelming record, but TSJ silenced all of that criticism every time by winning championships.
But this year is different—that was what Kang Hyeok was thinking.
Jeanne d'Arc had vanished mid-league after declaring a break, and both the team players and he himself were in better form than ever. That was why today's scrim felt even more meaningful.
Team TSJ, whom they had faced in the finals every year.
They would surely clash again this year...
Minseong glanced at Kang Hyeok, lost in serious thought, then shook his head and spoke.
"...Kang Hyeok... sometimes he's kind of scary, isn't he? Is it just me?"
"Right? Minseong. Kang Hyeok's actually kind of gloomy, isn't he? I really didn't know he was thinking stuff like that."
Minha nodded at Minseong's words and looked at Kang Hyeok as if he were strange, and Jinhyeok and Hajun each chimed in.
"Well, Hyeok does have a bit of that side to him."
"How is Rin like Jeanne d'Arc? Their whole vibe is completely different."
Shing.
Kang Hyeok, who had been lost in thought, raised his red greatsword and glared fiercely from side to side.
"I can hear all of you. You bastards!"
***
"Ah, should I message you about the scrim after it's over?"
"Got it. Sua, you didn't forget anything, right? Get home safe."
"Come on, you don't need to worry so much. It's less than a twenty-minute walk from your place to my officetel."
It was about time to start preparing for the scrim, and Serin was seeing Sua off as she headed home.
Click.
Serin had walked Sua out of the house and to the elevator. Just as she was about to head back inside, Sua suddenly added something as if she'd just remembered, stopping Serin.
"Oh, and one more thing! I booked a cleaning service. Around 5 p.m.? You just need to know someone will be coming around then. You said yesterday your scrim would end around 4, so I booked them for around 5."
"A company? When did you even call them?"
Serin wondered if they'd even had time for that today or yesterday, but Sua smiled brightly and added that it was no big deal.
"We couldn't properly clean up after yesterday's drinking, right? We have to throw out all that food, and just cleaning that up takes quite a while. Plus, if you want to keep smells from lingering, calling a company once is really convenient... And you need to prepare for the scrim now, so when would you have time to clean all that?"
Sua spoke as if she was taking care of everything, and Serin gave a small nod.
She'd already made the reservation and was offering to handle it, so there was no reason to refuse. And honestly... dealing with delivery food leftovers was genuinely a pain.
......
Remembering that the players had been waiting in the Colosseum early yesterday, Serin logged in ten minutes before the scrim.
12:50.
There was a set time, but arriving twenty or thirty minutes early was, in Serin's mind, nothing but a waste of time.
When she entrusted her body to the capsule and connected to Another World, an invitation notification was already waiting, and Serin accepted it without hesitation.
......
The moment she entered the Colosseum, as vast as a domed stadium, she saw the players in their usual flashy appearances.
"Oh? Rin, you came even earlier today?"
Minseong, who had been habitually tossing a dagger into the air and catching it, looked at Serin as she appeared and smiled as he asked. Serin nodded awkwardly.
"Don't you all come way too early?"
"The losers should arrive first and wait. Making the winner wait feels wrong, doesn't it?"
When Minha said they had to come early because they'd lost yesterday, Serin let out a small laugh.
The idea that the losers should show respect to the winner felt oddly fascinating.
After exchanging greetings with the players more warmly than on the first day, Serin turned to Kang Hyeok before the scrim began and spoke.
"I really couldn't prepare properly for a team match. Is this okay?"
Serin was saying they could still change the scrim format. She wasn't sure whether a team match would actually help them.
Kang Hyeok was G1's captain. The decision naturally rested with him, so Serin looked at him quietly. Kang Hyeok nodded without a moment's hesitation.
"Yes, it's actually better that you didn't prepare for a team match. We didn't choose this format expecting team synergy anyway."
A team scrim where they weren't even expecting team synergy—what did that mean? Serin still felt she should say something before the scrim began.
"I really have no team-match experience... I'll probably be very awkward."
"Ah. Then that's even better."
'Even better...?'
At Kang Hyeok's strange answer, Serin asked again with a look of confusion.
"Is there something I should specifically focus on, or a particular play style you want from me?"
Even so, she wondered if they were really just going to do a team match with nothing at all. They had never built any synergy, and she didn't even have any team-match know-how.
On top of that, after spending yesterday together, she'd grown somewhat fond of the players and genuinely wanted to help them properly.
She wasn't sure whether blindly doing a team scrim would actually help them.
"Rather than trying to build team synergy... just individual skill? It'd be good if you played in a way that shows off your signature Rin style."
Kang Hyeok made an even more absurd request.
"...Okay."
Serin nodded without further comment and decided to just do as they asked.
He must have had his reasons for saying that.
After that, the scrim preparations proceeded quickly.
The G1 + Rin team match set 1 lineup was displayed in flashy holograms for each player.
*
————
Left. Red Side.
[Rin, Minha, Jinhyeok]
Right. Blue Side.
[Kang Hyeok, Minseong, Hajun]
————
*