Let's Imagine This
Let's imagine this for a moment.
You are a fan of the league. You catch every match without fail each year. When the team you root for wins, the whole week feels bright. If they lose, your mood is completely fucked. A perfectly 'normal' fan.
Then one day, the World Raid arrives—a global festival for all humanity.
Not watching it would make you less than normal. By your standards, less than human.
Of course you’ll watch your own country’s games. If you have time, you’ll tune into neighboring countries. And while you’re at it, you’ll check out the strong rivals too.
That’s when the unbelievable news hits.
[The youngest-ever national team hunter, just 19 years old. And there are two of them!]
[It’s Korea again. Truly the Land of Hunters!]
Two 19-year-old hunters, plus one who’s 21.
Three rookies in total joining the national team. Real fresh-faced newcomers with zero international experience and no rankings to speak of.
There is not a single ‘normal’ fan who could resist this. Your finger is already on the button.
And without question, you will gasp in awe.
At the sight of a monstrous rookie utterly dominating Vietnamese rankers who are all over ten years older than him.
“Ooh——!!”
English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, French, and more.
The languages differ, but the reaction is the same: pure shock. Just what kind of country keeps churning out world-class talents like this?!
What you do next is obvious.
You search it up.
That’s how you discover these kids are the creations of a man named Lee Shin. And that same man is about to explain everything on a public broadcast.
Perfect. It might be pure curiosity, or it might be stomach-twisting jealousy. But one thing is certain—no league fan on Earth could possibly resist.
So you cram your ID into the streaming queue.
And finally, you—and thousands like you—get to see it.
The Korean-made Dorn.
“Greetings are unnecessary. We will begin the lesson immediately.”
A white lab coat, the kind of tacky taped-up glasses even your grandfather wouldn’t wear, and why the hell is one of the arms broken? And how can a man look that handsome while wearing them?!
That ridiculous outdated eyewear can’t even contain his beauty.
Regardless of gender, age, or even race and nationality!
An absolute beauty that transcends all preferences.
If the first shock was the absurd costume, the second was the impossible handsomeness. The third—and perhaps the real point—was the knowledge itself.
“For the first lesson, let’s discuss how I raised my children. But before the story, we should first understand what nurturing truly means.”
“You’ve probably heard it before. The best nurturing isn’t about erasing weaknesses but maximizing strengths. That’s not wrong. I think so too. However, this statement contains a critical trap.”
“How many people truly know their own strengths? Anyone who knows their strengths, raise your hand.”
Experts’ words are often boring because they’re hard to understand.
Lee Shin, on the other hand, had a talent for explaining core concepts simply.
Why finding your strengths is difficult. Cases where people mistake their strengths, or make them too broad and vague, or too narrow and limit their own growth.
That’s why so many people settle for the easier path of fixing visible weaknesses.
Using easy, fun expressions even ‘Little Miss Monster Lord Kim Soyeon’ could understand, Lee Shin pursued lectures that were both accessible and entertaining.
Especially when he talked about the nurturing methods for the hot-topic ‘Lee Shin’s Children,’ everyone thought they would faint.
“Some of you probably already know about Yeon-woo. He was an MDS patient—Magic Dysfunction Syndrome, yes. If you’re curious, check Gale Potter’s ‘Lee Shin System Theory.’ In any case, Yeon-woo actually spent more time being treated than nurtured…”
“In Ri-ra’s case, environment cannot be overlooked. There are people like this. Depending on their surroundings, they can become S-rank or stay at B-rank. Ri-ra was exactly like that. She only showed what was pretty and well-formed…”
“The one you all want to know about most—Park Su-bin, the kid we privately call ‘Bokchi’—had a weak mentality. Many experts overlook this, but mentality is also a talent. In that sense, Park Su-bin started with almost none. Su-bin overcame it through training…”
Using the three children’s information and growth stories, he demonstrated the correct nurturing process.
He’s really revealing all this? Is he joking?
The training methods he casually dropped throughout the lecture were absolute treasure troves for public hunters.
People simply couldn’t believe it. Was he really allowed to teach this? Some even suspected the Nutube subtitles were wrong.
Of course, the subtitles were flawless. A-rank interpreters hired by Nutube Korea and the Ido Group were hammering them out in real time.
Once people realized the subtitles were accurate, they were genuinely shocked.
While Europe and America envied Lee Shin…
China and Japan viewed Lee Shin’s existence with wariness.
Different reactions. Yet everyone felt the same thing.
Foreigners were experiencing one massive cultural shock.
“That covers the nurturing of my three children. Two hours have passed, so we’ll end the first period here. Take a ten-minute break. After that we’ll analyze match highlights, so please use the restroom if you need to.”
A guild representative wearing a ridiculous costume was giving an incredibly useful, easy-to-understand, and entertaining lecture on Awakener information?
With an insanely sexy face?
And this thoroughly? This long?
At last, Lee Shin’s Charm (101) was capturing the entire world.
In the waiting room, the flood of questions kept rising, but Lee Shin handled the makeup and the work with practiced ease.
“Forty million? That’s all?”
“For the Nutube matter, contact Nutube Korea first. Ask if they’ve already talked. It won’t look good if we bypass them and go straight to headquarters.”
“Ignore the advertising requests. If we do it for one, we’ll have to do it for everyone.”
He never repeated himself. Concise, decisive, and smooth.
How could he stay so calm? Some employees watched in awe as Lee Shin remained unflappable even in this unprecedented situation.
From Lee Shin’s perspective, this was only natural.
‘If anything, it’s a bit late to explode.’
Considering his Charm stat of 101 that broke all conventional standards.
He would slowly nibble away at the global market like this, and eventually the whole world would be beneath his feet…!!
“Heh heh heh……!!”
Lee Shin covered his face with both hands, about to let out a wicked laugh.
Just as the ‘dark mastermind male lead’ who had been quiet lately was about to resurrect as the ‘great demon king’—
Once again, the one who saved the world was Chae Dong-ha.
“Representative… what exactly are you doing?”
“Aigoo, it was almost time for the revival to finish.”
“Sigh… stop doing weird things and let’s go. It’s time.”
“What a shame.”
He could have dyed the world in terror…
Lee Shin suppressed the great demon king trying to resurrect with his taped-up glasses and stood up. The short break ended, and the second period began amid thunderous cheers.
Meanwhile, at the Ido Hotel in Vietnam where the national team was staying, Lee Shin’s broadcast was also being shown.
The break ended and Lee Shin returned to the stage.
Two women watching the large TV in the restaurant showed very different expressions.
“Ha, I knew it, but he’s still doing that ridiculous thing.”
“I told you. ‘No matter what happens, the concept must be maintained.’ It’s our representative oppa’s creed.”
“Why does he have to maintain the concept?!”
“Because it’s the concept…?!”
“I can’t live like this.”
“It’s cute though.”
Yeo Eun-seo looked genuinely embarrassed on his behalf while Yu Ri-ra giggled as if it were the funniest thing ever.
Yeo Eun-seo truly could not understand that man. Why did he have to look like that while releasing such useful information?!
While they bickered, the lecture began.
“As I said, the second period will examine the regional qualifier against Vietnam. First, this professor has selected two particularly impressive scenes. I’ll keep it simple, so please pay attention!”
“What scenes do you think, unnie?”
“Set 1—the scene where Su-bin put on a one-man show in front of the object. That’s where the game was decided.”
“Ooh, you’re right! Bokchi’s 3-vs-1 ‘Hup-cha-cha’ endurance show!”
“Then you’re the Guardian, unnie.”
The world-class commander once called the successor of the Mountain King was none other than Yeo Eun-seo herself.
It was only a difference in direction. There was no way she would get a question with a clear answer wrong.
“It might seem early to call it the turning point of the match. However, that’s precisely why it was so important. It was the scene that clearly seized the momentum for the entire game.”
“Ah, that’s exactly what you said, unnie!”
“Our level is about the same when it comes to reading the game.”
“It’s amazing. Keep going, keep going.”
The match footage changed.
The river between mid and bottom lanes.
The object was the Black Tortoise, which raised the entire team’s defense.
From Vietnam’s perspective, it was the one object they absolutely could not give up.
The situation at the time played out, and Lee Shin spoke.
“Many people mistakenly believe that being aggressive means you’re good at teamfights. That’s wrong. Teamfights and aggression are completely separate issues. When I explain this, I always use Vietnam as an example. They are bad at teamfights. Because they don’t know how to ‘take hits properly.’”
“Whoa? He’s even revealing that? That’s pretty surprising.”
“What? What do you mean by ‘take hits properly’?”
“Remember the ‘damage ping-pong’ I taught you the day before yesterday?”
“Yeah, the thing where all five players spread out the damage like ping-pong so everyone survives until the end.”
“That’s part of ‘taking hits properly.’”
“Aha!”
It was an essential element any team good at teamfights had to possess.
Conversely, it was the part Vietnam’s current roster lacked most, and Lee Shin was pointing it out publicly.
“Vietnam does not know how to take hits properly. They are incredibly bad at teamfights, and the Black Tortoise’s defense buff is the most fatal buff possible against such a team.”
“Why do you think that is, Ri-ra?”
“Because the fight drags on…?”
“Good. We call that combat sustain.”
In this way, Lee Shin lightly explained why Vietnam absolutely had to contest the Black Tortoise buff, why they obsessed over river vision, and why Park Su-bin had no choice but to force a 3-vs-1 in front of the object.
And after hearing it all, the words that unconsciously slipped from Yeo Eun-seo’s mouth.
“…He really is dangerously competent.”
“What?”
“Shh. Keep watching the video.”
In the footage, Vietnam’s top, jungle, and mid could be seen attacking the Black Tortoise. Then Park Su-bin came running. He seemed to call something, then summoned a milky-white giant and charged straight in.
A wide-area stun roared toward the sky. The Vietnamese rankers staggered. By the time the startled few turned their heads, the giant’s two fists had already slammed into the ground.
“He scatters the three with a wide-area skill. Meanwhile, the Black Tortoise that lost aggro recovers its health. You can see the broken shell reattaching. Su-bin blocked their combined attack to buy that time.”
Park Su-bin’s giant dismantled, and hundreds of light orbs painted the sky.
The light orbs that shone like the Milky Way began to spin. They swirled so violently around the central Park Su-bin that he became invisible, forming a domain.
But the opponents were rankers of a nation. They fearlessly stepped into the domain and erased the orbs with their own abilities. Then they sharpened their blades to deal with the central Park Su-bin.
At that moment the swirling orbs fused, and a giant arm stretched out from a blind angle.
“He has two hands, but the opponents are three. He realized a simple summon wouldn’t be enough to stop them. So he created his own domain and repeatedly generated and dismantled the giant’s arms, using them like projectiles.”
“What you must pay attention to in this process is this part.”
He focused attacks on the tricky Sword Breaker and Gale Strike, while deliberately opening a path for Inferno. Then he avoided fatal blows and allowed hits. Sulfur-colored flames gnawed at and burned Park Su-bin’s body, but he clenched his teeth and endured in silence.
Why on earth?
“Taking hits properly…”
“Unnie?”
“That is the ‘taking hits properly’ I mentioned.”
In truth, the part that impressed Yeo Eun-seo most about Park Su-bin was exactly that.
Park Su-bin’s defensive power was certainly excellent, but calling it invincible would be an overstatement.
There were many monsters at the world level. Even Mir Guild’s Kang Mal-suk could tank more solidly than Park Su-bin.
However, when it came to ‘taking hits properly,’ Park Su-bin was among the top three people she had ever seen.
Even Lee Shin was currently emphasizing that part.
“While taking hits from Inferno, Park Su-bin used her as a shield to block the other two’s entry paths. At the same time, he erased their attack trajectories. What does this mean?”
“I’ll show you.”
Lee Shin snapped his fingers.
The screen duplicated, the colors were stripped from the copy, and it transformed into 3D modeling. Then the angles between the three opponents and Park Su-bin were expressed with dotted lines.
“Wow? It’s the latest ‘Arcane Matrix’?”
Equipment that measured magic power and created 3D models based on the data.
It wasn’t something you could buy with money. Even the Royal Sword Guild was waiting their turn.
He even had that?
“Is that thing amazing? I sometimes play with it when I’m bored.”
“……”
“Why, unnie? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s not wrong except for the fact that it’s annoyingly lucky.”
“That means I did something wrong!”
Yu Ri-ra threw a tantrum while Yeo Eun-seo stared at her quietly.
Come to think of it, for someone who had climbed so high with such ability, Yu Ri-ra was excessively pure.
‘She hasn’t been tainted.’
A happy virus that made everyone around her smile.
But was that even possible? To reach that position in this industry, you inevitably saw every kind of filth.
Being crushed by money or crushed by people.
Park Gwang-seob had built a wall of selfishness to protect himself in that process. Yang Kang-cheol had let everything go. Yeo Eun-seo herself had become stubbornly hardened.
Yet Yu Ri-ra showed none of that wear. It was as if someone had protected her…
‘It must have been that man.’
A genius who found other geniuses, protected them from all storms, cherished and polished them. The result was Yu Ri-ra and the rest of Lee Shin’s children.
Yeo Eun-seo’s gaze toward Lee Shin on the screen grew complicated.
“I’m jealous of you.”
“Huh??”
“Come here.”
“What are you doing! Stop iiiit……”
While Yeo Eun-seo tickled Yu Ri-ra, the restaurant door opened and another pair walked in.
“Hyung said he’d introduce a girl to me.”
“Ah, go away!”