The Emperor's Private Lesson
Rake had gone and talked about it in interviews a couple of times like that, and before long, articles about my workshop started popping up one after another.
Until then, it had been the kind of place only people in the know had ever heard of. Rake's interview, though, packed a serious punch.
Jeong Jae-hak may have won a championship, but he was still a rising star just starting to make a name for himself. Rake was a household name — practically a symbol of esports that the entire country recognized.
Thanks to that, the flood of incoming calls made even ordinary conversations impossible, and I eventually had to change my number.
Well, anyone who's really desperate will just show up in person.
"Anyway..."
It was getting to the point where holding down a second job was no longer feasible. School was about to start, and juggling the workshop with a part-time gig was just too much, time-wise.
I should let them know in advance.
The next day, the moment I clocked in, I went straight to the president's office and told him I was quitting.
"Boss, I'm sorry, but I think I'll only be able to work through the end of this month."
"Wh-what...? Through the end of this month...? Is it because the pay isn't enough? If that's the case..."
Boss Han, flustered, started talking about raising my wages. But this time, money wasn't the issue.
"I'm sorry. The work at my workshop has piled up so much that I don't think I can keep doing the part-time job anymore."
At the mention of the workshop, Boss Han let out a deep sigh.
"Haa... Yeah... Can't be helped. Honestly, after I saw them talking about you on the golf channel last time, I'd already steeled myself for this, more or less..."
"I'm sorry. I'd love to keep working together, but I physically just don't have the time."
"Sorry, nothing. Do you have any idea how much money you've brought this company? Just the contracts we landed because of you — I've already lost count."
He glanced at me a little awkwardly, then asked carefully.
"Cheolwoo. Then, could I ask you for one favor?"
"A favor?"
"Yeah. Even after you quit, could you come by about once a month and give our people some welding training? Of course, I'll make sure you're paid well for it."
Once a month, huh...
That much, I could make time for.
And he's offering to pay...
"Alright. I'll do that."
Boss Han clasped both of my hands tightly and thanked me.
"Thank you, Cheolwoo!"
"It's nothing. Well then, I'll get back to work."
I bowed once more, said my goodbye, and stepped outside.
I'd grown a bit attached to the company over these past few months.
While I was working after that, Taeseok cautiously asked me.
"Cheolwoo... are you really quitting at the end of this month?"
"Yes, I'm sorry. That's how it turned out."
"Sorry? You've got nothing to apologize to me for. I'm just disappointed, that's all. There's still a mountain of stuff I want to learn from you."
Lately, Taeseok had been even more proactive about learning welding from me. Since he already knew how to weld to begin with, I could see his skills climbing at a pretty decent clip.
At this rate, if he spent about five hundred years grinding on Mount Olympus, his skills might just about catch up to mine. Or so I thought.
Then, when it was time to clock out, Taeseok asked me again.
"Hey, Cheolwoo. Mind if I ask you for one favor?"
"A favor?"
"If it's alright with you, could I come by your workshop on weekends and learn some of the work? I'll pay, of course."
"Hmm... work, huh..."
What I did at the workshop wasn't just simple welding. I did everything involved in the act of making things.
Kind of like taking on a disciple...
I thought it over for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. Sounds good. But I won't take your money. In exchange, I might teach you pretty strictly. Is that okay with you?"
"It's fine! Work me to tears if you have to!"
"Don't regret it later."
In a hundred years on Mount Olympus, I had never once had a disciple. And now, barely a few months after returning to Korea, I had one.
"I'm so tired..."
"I'm dying. For real..."
"Don't tell me they're going to lecture for three hours straight on day one..."
Everyone looked pretty worn out, back at school after so long.
Se-hyun, sitting next to me, was groaning too.
"Fourth year already. I seriously want to die. How am I supposed to get a job..."
He looked over at me and asked.
"Did you pick up any certifications over break?"
"Certifications? No. Nothing in particular."
I was planning to get the ones I'd need to handle certain materials going forward, but I had no intention of collecting certifications just for the sake of getting hired.
"What!? Then what are you going to do? Even if our department's on the easier side for employment, these days you need a few certifications and at least a TOEIC score as a baseline."
I answered calmly.
"I'm not planning on getting a job."
"What? Why wouldn't you get a job when you're in a department that's easy to get hired from?"
"Well, that's..."
I was a little at a loss as to where to even begin explaining, when a KakaoTalk message came in.
Oh...
Perfect timing. It was the first day of the semester, so I had some breathing room. Couldn't have been better.
The Samjeong team house? Nice. Not that far, either.
From school to the Samjeong Esports team house was about a ten-minute subway ride. Not bad at all.
When I sent a confirmation, Se-hyun, curious about the conversation, asked.
"What? Why are you texting so furiously? Did you get a girlfriend or something?"
"No, I'm getting a tutoring session today."
"Tutoring? What kind of tutoring?"
"That kind of thing."
"Come on, what is it?"
While Se-hyun was pestering me, another message arrived from Rake.
...Friends, too?
I hadn't planned on bringing anyone, but if he was offering first, that changed things.
"Hey, you busy after class today?"
Se-hyun gave me a look like the question had come out of nowhere.
"No, not really. I should study for certifications and TOEIC, but I don't want to start studying on the first day of the semester."
"Then want to hit a PC bang?"
"A PC bang? What's gotten into you?"
"You coming or not?"
When I pressed him, Se-hyun hurriedly agreed.
"Why the rush? PC bang's fine. Been a while since I warmed up my hands. Oh, wait — should I call Hee-yeon too?"
"Hee-yeon? She's a grad student. Think she can make it?"
Se-hyun spoke in a voice that said just leave it to him.
"Come on, what's one day going to hurt. I'll message her."
I carefully sent another message to Rake.
The reply came in less than a minute. The moment I got it, I turned to Se-hyun.
"Okay. Then let's meet at the station after class."
"The station? I thought we were going to a PC bang."
"There's more to it."
"What the..."
Fortunately, class wrapped up early, as befitting the first day of the semester, and we met up before lunch even rolled around.
Hee-yeon, her hair tied back, looking half like a sleep-deprived wreck, looked at me and said,
"Kang. What's going on? You, of all people, suggesting a PC bang."
"Just something that came up."
Se-hyun chimed in from the side.
"But why are we taking the subway to go to a PC bang? The school's surrounded by them."
"There's a reason. Ah, we're here."
After ten minutes on the subway and a five-minute walk, we finally arrived at the Samjeong Esports team house building.
Then Se-hyun seemed to realize where we were and startled.
"Huh? Isn't this the Samjeong team house?"
Hee-yeon clapped her hands in recognition, chiming in.
"You're right. I've seen this place on the Samjeong channel all the time!"
Se-hyun scanned the building, a look of recollection crossing his face.
"Oh, right. Come to think of it, there's a PC bang in the basement. Wait, hold on — you can't just walk into this PC bang, can you? You have to book ahead."
True to being a Samjeong fan, Se-hyun knew his stuff inside and out.
"Don't worry. I already made a reservation."
A moment later, someone opened the door from inside the building.
And the instant they saw who it was, both Se-hyun and Hee-yeon froze solid.
Rake spotted me, his face lighting up, and bowed in greeting.
"Mr. Kang! You made it? Ah, are these the friends you brought along?"
"Yes, that's right. Though I was the one who asked the favor — I hope I'm not imposing when you're so busy."
He shook his head firmly.
"Imposing? Not in the slightest. Thanks to you, I feel like I've gone back to my prime lately. This much is the least I can do."
Rake smiled and offered handshakes to Se-hyun and Hee-yeon.
"Hello. You're Mr. Kang Cheolwoo's friends, yes? Looking forward to today."
Se-hyun, completely frozen, answered in a trembling voice.
"Ah... y-yes! I, um... I'm Baek Se-hyun! Rake, I've been a huge fan of yours for years! I've watched every single match since Samjeong Esports was founded!"
"Haha. Is that so? Thank you so much."
Hee-yeon was a fan of a different team, but to her as a Legend of Valhalla fan, Rake was still a superstar. She took the handshake as well, greeting him in a shaky voice.
"Ah, a... n-nice to meet you. I'm Jung Hee-yeon... I'm a huge fan too...! Rake!"
"Ahaha. Thank you so much. Well, there are a lot of people around here, so shall we head inside to talk?"
Rake opened the door and led us into the building.
Se-hyun asked me in a small voice.
"Dude... how the hell do you even know Rake!?"
Hee-yeon, equally stunned, asked me in a trembling voice.
"Kang... what on earth have you been up to that a superstar like that is calling you 'teacher'?"
I answered like it was no big deal.
"I just made something he needed, that's all."
"What...?"
"What does that even..."
Following him down to the basement, a rather lavish PC bang came into view. The one I'd been to last time hadn't been bad, but this one was far more high-end.
Rake powered on a computer himself and said,
"Then, as promised last time, I'll teach you properly."
"Yes, I'll be in your care."
Se-hyun, standing beside me, asked in a voice overflowing with anticipation.
"Cheolwoo... when you say Rake's going to teach you, you don't mean..."
"Yeah. He agreed to tutor me in Legend of Valhalla."
"Wh-what, is that for real!?"
"If it weren't Legend of Valhalla, what else would Rake be teaching at a PC bang?"
Se-hyun and Hee-yeon looked so overjoyed they might actually faint.
Getting tutored by a retired pro gamer was already expensive enough, and this was a current player — the biggest superstar in esports. Getting a lesson from Rake was something that wouldn't have been possible even if you offered hundreds of dollars an hour.
So their reaction wasn't exactly strange.
Both Se-hyun and Hee-yeon were standing there not knowing what to do with themselves, but Rake was already connecting the mouse I'd replicated for him and warming up his hands.
He smiled and said,
Of course, a few hours later...
The fact that our pathetic skills nearly made some choice words slip out of Rake's mouth was a secret.