The Genius Who Chose Family
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. I’m asking if your recent play has started to feel off lately. Oh, just to be clear so there’s no misunderstanding—your play is still perfect and excellent. This is purely about my personal impression of you, Yu-shin.”
“……Did you hear something?”
“Hear what?”
“About the contract……”
“Yu-shin, do you know my grandfather?”
“……??”
“Skipping straight to the point like that is exactly his style. Try explaining it so I can actually understand.”
Kim Yu-shin stared at Lee Shin’s innocent eyes for a moment, then scratched the back of his head.
Well, only two people knew about this information. The representative of the Baekgeom Guild and Han Jeong-do from Kirin, whom he had just met.
There was no connection between Baekgeom and Mir, and as for Kirin and Mir… even as a joke, their relationship was anything but friendly.
‘There’s no way they’d get along.’
Recalling the faces of the Ten Thousand King and the Mountain King, Kim Yu-shin shook his head.
“I’m sorry… it was so out of nowhere.”
“Not at all. It’s perfectly natural to feel uncomfortable. I was simply sharing my impression.”
“What exactly are you referring to?”
“Hmm… Is it okay if I speak frankly?”
“Actually, I’ve been feeling some discomfort myself. Go ahead and speak comfortably.”
In truth, this situation made no sense.
Lee Shin wasn’t even a member of the same guild. To tell another hunter—especially a ranker—that his play felt uncomfortable was beyond arrogant. It was the kind of remark that could earn him a slap across the face.
Yet Kim Yu-shin didn’t get angry. Instead, he listened with genuine interest.
Lee Shin looked into those sparkling eyes and instinctively knew.
This is going to work.
“Then I’ll continue.”
“Please do.”
Of course, Lee Shin knew Kim Yu-shin well.
Two hearts. A diligent, devoted man who served as a model for his teammates. Externally, he was the perfect family man, the ideal husband and father, a flawless human being without a single blemish.
He was someone Lee Shin personally liked. After all, Kim Yu-shin had the ideal family life that Lee Shin had once drawn in his dreams.
‘An unexpected meeting, but…’
It was actually perfect.
Because Lee Shin already knew the problem he carried inside.
Lee Shin glanced sideways. There was Kim So-yeon chattering away while eating meat, and his wife scolding her to eat some vegetables while holding the baby.
‘That’s why I need to take him now.’
If he let him bloom in some strange place like in the original timeline, it would be too late to recruit him even if he wanted to.
At Lee Shin’s signal, Yun Cho-a approached and set up the pad. The screen displayed a map of the Rift. Lee Shin pointed at various sections with a pen as he continued his explanation.
“Lately, we’ve started calling the lanes in the Rift by their positions.”
Top, mid, jungle, ADC, support.
Each position had a distinctly different role.
If the ADC had to carry the team to victory even if their allies died, then the mid laner located at the center of the Rift had to literally become the center.
The jungler was the most active position. They had to create variables and coordinate the battlefield.
And then—
“Top is the most independent position. It forces solo play and makes it difficult to receive care from the team. In that state, top laners branch off into several different types.”
The reliable tank type who holds the line solidly and looks for team fight opportunities.
The dominant type who seizes control through powerful laning.
And occasionally, the unique type who sets their mentality to ‘shut up and charge.’
“……These days they call people like that ‘top mental patients.’ What was it again? If top loses, it’s not top’s fault. It’s the jungler’s fault.”
“Pffft!”
“Excluding that ‘top mental patient’ playstyle, you, Yu-shin, are the most stable top laner currently in existence who can handle every type I just mentioned.”
You had the defensive power to hold like a rock, the offensive power to seize dominance, and even the brain to manage side lanes.
The ideal top who possessed everything a top laner should have.
Yet even this perfect Kim Yu-shin had one thing missing.
“How should I put this… aggression? Boldness? A gambler’s instinct?”
“……!”
“You lack that, Yu-shin.”
When he pressed the pad, footage of his recent matches appeared.
“In games where you had an 80.2% advantage, no one closes them out better than you. In tight matches at 69.3%, you know how to tilt the scales. However—”
The screen changed, and Kim Yu-shin’s brow twitched.
Because every single match shown was one where he had lost.
“Once the game starts going poorly, your power drops sharply. I won’t bother citing exact numbers.”
There was no need to look far.
The most recent finals, Round 50.
Kim Yu-shin had completely destroyed Mir Guild’s side lanes throughout all four games.
“Was there anything you did wrong in that match? No, there wasn’t. If I asked whether you played well, the answer is yes. It was a flawless performance.”
But the result?
3:1. Defeat.
“Shall I be honest? From set one to set four, both I and the Mountain King designed that entire match.”
Electro’s personality, the Savage’s personality, the unstable power structure that lacked proper mediation, the shaky teamwork…
“There was only one thing that made us anxious. The possibility that you, Yu-shin, would go insane, abandon the team, throw everything away, and just charge in.”
If that had happened, the match would have turned into complete chaos.
But it didn’t. Or more precisely, he knew it wouldn’t happen.
Because the opponent was Kim Yu-shin.
“You’re a devoted person, Yu-shin. You put the team before your personal stats, and you naturally accept your own sacrifice for that purpose. You’re a loyal hunter, the kind that’s rare in this era.”
“And that upright personality of yours created your current style.”
Running a little more. Doing a little more. Devoting and sacrificing yourself.
“This will be hard to fix. Because it’s your nature.”
“……”
Though he didn’t say it out loud, the message was clear.
You have a clear weakness, and that weakness stems from your very nature.
Therefore, you cannot fix it.
At some point while listening, Kim Yu-shin had closed his eyes.
It was a habit of his whenever he reviewed his own play. He didn’t agree 100%, but he couldn’t exactly deny it either—there had been many such moments.
“So… what exactly are you trying to say?”
At that moment, Lee Shin’s eyes gleamed.
This was the main point.
“Is there really any need to stubbornly stick to a position that doesn’t even suit your nature?”
“??!!”
Ordinary hunters shaped themselves to fit the frame of their position.
Tops had to play this way. ADCs had to play that way. They carved and trimmed themselves to fit the mold before debuting.
But—
“You are a genius, Yu-shin. Just like Su-bin. Just like Ri-ra. Just like the Mountain King. You are one of the few geniuses I’ve ever seen. And geniuses……”
“Don’t need to fit themselves into the world’s frame.”
There was no need to compensate for their weaknesses. They already had perfect strengths.
There was no need to change their nature. That was the very essence of Hwarang Kim Yu-shin’s genius.
So go as you are. That was what it meant to be a genius.
“A position that values devotion, sacrifice, and high activity. A position that doesn’t require aggression yet can care for teammates better than anyone else… we already know what that is, don’t we?”
“Support!!”
So-yeon’s shout came from the other side of the table.
That’s right. Lee Shin smiled and nodded.
“Support. The position that suits you best, Kim Yu-shin, is support.”
And then he said it.
“How about changing positions? Would you like to try it with me?”
“……”
Kim Yu-shin stared at Lee Shin in silence for a long time.
With a look of wonder in his eyes.
This was a story from the past.
A story from when So-yeon was too young to remember.
Back then, Kim Yu-shin had been as fierce as any top laner—perhaps even more so.
He fought as if his life depended on it. He fought like a mad dog.
He hurled insults he didn’t mean, mocked his opponents, and did whatever it took if he thought he could win.
After the match, he would feel so guilty he couldn’t even look his teammates in the eye, yet the moment the next game started, the harsh curses would fly again.
One day, a teammate asked him.
Why are you acting so out of character?
At that time, Kim Yu-shin had smiled kindly and answered.
“My daughter is four years old.”
To Kim Yu-shin, family was not an ordinary word.
The boy from the orphanage had fallen in love with a girl from the same orphanage. They dreamed of a future together. There had been hardships and cold stares along the way.
But the boy and girl endured, and eventually created the family they had longed for.
Their daughter was the fruit of that dream.
Kim Yu-shin could do anything for that child. Even if it meant acting against his own nature…
But—
“……So-yeon?”
“Waaaaaaaah!!”
“H-honey, what’s wrong with So-yeon?”
“……She saw you fighting. So-yeon, come here.”
“Honey! Why would you show her that……”
“Waaaaaaaaah! You’re scaaaary!”
“No, So-yeon. Daddy wasn’t yelling.”
“I didn’t know she could press the remote. Who did she get her smarts from? Are you okay, my baby?”
“Scaaaary……”
For a while, So-yeon became afraid of her father. It was so serious they even had to visit a counselor.
What he had thought was for his daughter’s sake had actually hurt her.
That day, after leaving the counseling center, Kim Yu-shin made a foolish decision.
He completely changed his playstyle overnight. He stripped away all his aggression and instead stayed up every night studying the Rift and increasing his activity.
Just like his original personality—simple, honest, and stubborn.
That was how the current ‘Hwarang’ style was born. The one who ran more than anyone, who devoted himself for the team.
In every interview, Kim Yu-shin would say, “My family is the reason Hwarang exists today.” The next day, the articles would call him a “devoted husband” or praise his “unchanging love for family.”
But the truth was this. The real Hwarang had been created for his daughter!
And then one day, his daughter started saying things like:
“Daddy’s alone again.”
“Hng, why is Daddy always by himself?”
“Why doesn’t anyone play with Daddy?”
It started after she entered kindergarten and made friends. She thought it was too pitiful that her dad was always alone.
Kim Yu-shin read trauma in his daughter’s words. Because to him, it was trauma of a different kind.
“Honey, I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
“Yeah?”
“What if… I try playing support……?”
“Why?”
“No, it’s just… never mind. Forget it.”
“Forget what? Sit up. Hmm… Support, huh? Not a bad idea.”
“……?!”
“You have competitive spirit but you’re not ruthless. You’re kind, and a little… pathetic sometimes.”
“Honey, pathetic is a bit……”
“Shh, quiet… Support, support. The more I think about it, the better it sounds.”
“You’re not worried?”
“Worried about what? Hey, we’re already rich. Stop overreacting. In the worst case, if the position change fails, do we lose our jobs? If you drop out of the rankings, do we go broke? We have savings, don’t we?”
“……”
“It won’t be worse than when we were young. And your wife is a nationally certified iron rice bowl. A level 9 civil servant! Even if everything falls apart, I can at least feed you. Do whatever you want, Hwarang.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re thankful, give me a hug. It’s cold these days.”
The moment he received his wife’s support, Kim Yu-shin realized once again.
Ah. This is why I became a hunter.
This is why I ran until my heart felt like it would burst to become a ranker.
The next day, Kim Yu-shin stood before the guild master and said:
“I will be changing my position to support.”
It was, of course, rejected. That single sentence ended his relationship with the guild.
Even Han Jeong-do—the Ten Thousand King—who had wanted Kim Yu-shin so badly he made ridiculous offers, turned cold and stern.
“Have you lost your mind? Support? Why would you do something so stupid?”
“I’m sorry, but what our guild wants is Top Hwarang. Support Hwarang is not under consideration. Tsk, no matter how much your daughter likes it, this is too much. Contact me if you change your mind.”
Someone might ask:
Is this really that important? Can’t you just do what you want? Shouldn’t you do what you’re good at? Are you really going to gamble your career over one word from your daughter?
They wouldn’t be wrong. He respected that view.
But—
What could he do? This was Kim Yu-shin.
His dream was family. It was his everything.
He ran for his daughter’s smile.
While he was struggling alone with these thoughts—
For the first time, someone appeared who truly understood his heart.
“The warm heart that loves family and sincerely cares for those within your boundaries—that is your true talent.”
“Let me say it again. A genius does not need to fit into the world’s frame. Go where your heart leads you.”
Lee Shin.
The representative of Mir Guild.
A few days later.
The two men met again at the same barbecue restaurant.
As Kim Yu-shin placed meat on the grill, he spoke.
“……Just as you said, Representative, I talked to many guilds. I asked if they would accept a position change to support.”
“Kkikik, I can roughly imagine their reactions.”
“Haha, I was treated like a madman. They asked if I was gambling my career for my family. One idiot even cursed my family. Said I was ruining myself.”
“You let them get away with that?”
“I flipped the table.”
Cheers.
Lee Shin silently raised his glass. Kim Yu-shin smiled faintly and clinked it against his.
“Only one foreign guild gave a half-decent response.”
“If I were to make a prediction, you will hit your career high there. The Korean guilds will be pounding the ground in regret.”
“Just hearing that feels refreshing.”
Their casual conversation continued as the glasses emptied.
Amidst it all, his true feelings came out.
“It really was strange. All I did was say I wanted to change positions, but everyone’s eyes changed. I’m the same person……”
“How could a sparrow understand the will of a phoenix? They’re all on that level. Don’t pay them any mind.”
“Seniors, juniors, old colleagues—they all called me crazy. Honestly, at this point even I’m not sure. Is this really the right choice? Am I doing the right thing?”
At that moment—
“Listen, Yu-shin. I’ll tell you from the bottom of my heart.”
Lee Shin erased the smile from his face and spoke.
“You should be grateful to So-yeon for the rest of your life.”
The genius that would never have shone if he had stubbornly remained a top laner.
—Kim So-yeon found her father’s genius.
“Kim Yu-shin, welcome to our family.”
「Two Hearts」, 「Super Synergy」, 「Devotion」, 「Stun Master」, 「Shield Mastery(S)」, 「Physical & Magic Resistance(S)」, 「Team Player」, 「Protective Instinct」, 「Execution Ability」