Hype Meets Harsh Reality
A few days before the season opener.
The Kaiserst board on a major community site buzzed like a festival was in full swing.
It was because the rebuild had been a resounding success.
Aside from Park Chan-seong, the former streamer, the current lineup was beyond anything Kaiserst fans could have dreamed of.
And for good reason.
Kim Ho-jong? Sure, he's called washed-up now, but his glory days dominating one of the world's top leagues, the Chinese Premier League, weren't going anywhere. And his mechanics were still alive and kicking.
Lee Soo-hyuk? He was hitting his prime, just finishing up his growth phase. His flashes of brilliance last season alone were enough to build serious hype.
Kim Yong-taek? The team's prized prospect, showing guts beyond his years, clutch super plays when it mattered most.
Lee Siwoo? The hottest commodity in Overlant E-sports right now—who wouldn't be excited? His Series Cup performance was insane, and his ranked ladder was climbing daily.
And Coach Shin Seung-hyun? He'd coached in North America's second division, but every player he'd developed had landed on top-tier championship contenders. His talent nurturing was legit.
Yeah.
Kaiserst fans had every reason to fire up their "happiness circuits" with cries of "They're finally doing something right!"
Plus they've got Coach Shin Seung-hyun, the development ghost.
This season they're gonna cause some real chaos, right??????
└But there's a 27-year-old vet in the mix?
└Don't diss Kim Ho-jong's last dance......
└Ho-jong needs to revive and snag that Asian Games gold T_T T_T T_T
The fans were going all out, even dragging scrim win rates into the hype train, beating every drum they could.
Kaiserst, which had been a nobody since Overlant teams launched, was finally showing signs of life!
They had promising youngsters to nurture, veterans to steady the mental game.
How could fans not get excited?
Of course, anti-fans from rival teams had infiltrated, trying to sour the mood.
(Kaiserst had tons of haters from its glory days as the emperor of PC esports.)
But they got shut down quick. The Kaiserst board was generating posts at an all-time high, so mods were basically living there.
Anyway.
Fans were betting on some killer scrim win rates for Kaiserst... but
"Ah, shit. We're screwed."
"This game's a GG already, right?"
"Let's just queue the next one."
Reality was a different story.
Individual mechanics were top-notch, but they'd only just started syncing up, so teamwork was a mess.
With such strong personal styles, clashing judgments turned every skirmish into chaos.
The result? A brutal 0-5 scrim sweep.
"Hmmm..."
Shin Seung-hyun let out a low groan.
It was clear this team would need a ton of work to run smoothly.
Especially Park Chan-seong.
The ex-streamer, barely Master tier, couldn't keep up with the pro tempo at all.
Which made sense—he'd only played casual streamer scrims until a few months ago. Shin Seung-hyun saw potential in him, but blooming wouldn't happen overnight.
The standout was Lee Siwoo, though...
For his pro debut, his skill was impressive. No nerves, no folding, just steady carries for the team.
But his genius hadn't fully ignited yet. Shin Seung-hyun knew it wasn't Siwoo's fault—the teamwork was trash.
A little polish, and he'd be unstoppable. Among attackers Shin had seen, Siwoo was the sharpest.
"Not bad at all, guys. Let's do feedback."
Once the game ended, Shin Seung-hyun called over the players disconnecting from their capsules.
"Orders aren't sorted yet. Soo-hyuk, Ho-jong, Yong-taek—you three are clashing too much. One wants to fight, another wants to pull back."
Shin Seung-hyun continued.
"And Siwoo, Chan-seong—you guys need to speak up more. Defender and attacker perspectives differ from supp and healer. Keep sharing your takes."
Siwoo nodded.
He agreed completely.
'Pro games have a way faster tempo.'He ran into pros in ranked sometimes, but not everyone was pro-level. Even if they were, they weren't on the same team. Tempo stayed manageable.
Series Cup was the same—trainees at best. No match for first-string pros.
'Gonna take some adjusting.'Siwoo clenched his fist.
But it wouldn't take long.
"Alright, Siwoo? Stand up and come here. Let's do skirmish feedback."
"Me?"
Shin Seung-hyun beckoned Siwoo.
Siwoo tilted his head and stepped beside him.
"See, you and I are back-to-back. We're the team now. Attacks coming from both sides. What does the team do?"
Park Chan-seong answered.
"Each covers a direction and fights...?"
"Exactly."
Snap! Shin Seung-hyun flicked his fingers.
"But what are you guys doing?"
He whipped his arm toward Siwoo's side. Siwoo blinked wide-eyed in surprise.
"See? I'm covering your direction now. So what do you do? Your job's gone, so you cover mine, right?"
Not sure what this feedback was about, but Siwoo played along, swinging his arm toward Shin's side.
"How's that feel? Efficient? We're covering each other, but nobody's doing their actual job. Is that a team? Nah, it's a mob."
"Feels right."
Kim Ho-jong nodded.
"Right? That's how you're fighting now. Orders don't match, so you fight and bail, but everything falls apart in the process!"
Shin Seung-hyun's feedback was pure fire—blazing with passion. But his over-the-top enthusiasm was kinda goofy, making Siwoo chuckle.
"See! Even Siwoo's laughing. You get how ridiculous it is, right?"
"Uh? Yeah."
Well, technically Shin was just funny, but yeah, he nodded.
"Listen up. You all need to share the same vision. Even without comms, move like you're mind-linked. Know Protoss? That Korean folktale Starcraft thing. How do they roll? They're all Zerg-linked, thinking as one!"
Kim Ho-jong raised his hand.
"They all get Zerg corruption and get pruned later."
"Dude, that's not the point!"
"It's a key plot point, though..."
"Anyway!"
Shin Seung-hyun barked.
The players stifled giggles. Not mocking him—just his analogies and gestures were hilarious.
But somehow...
His words sank in crystal clear. Like you got exactly what he wanted.
"Point is, unify your perspectives. Then our mechanic edge maxes out. We dive in synced, who beats us in raw power? Like that teamwork demo—trust the team, do your job!"
Shin Seung-hyun whooshed his arms through the air.
"How's that? Boom. Season over, Kaiserst champs."
"Got it, I think I see what you mean."
Kim Ho-jong nodded. Siwoo glanced at him—face hooked, mesmerized.
Makes sense. Shin's rants were infectious. Hell, even Siwoo felt a spark.
"Okay, keep that in mind, next game. Three more, then scrims done. Tough schedule, but cool?"
"Yep."
"All good."
Tough grind, but with the opener looming, no one complained.
"Okay, let's go!"
And the hellish scrims resumed.
"Hm."
Meanwhile, Kaiserst's scrim opponent—GZ attacker Shin Jin-woo—frowned.
National team ace.
GZ's top-option attacker, top-of-the-league pro, one of Korea's best gamers, period.
"Tch..."
Shin Jin-woo swallowed dryly, something clearly bugging him.
That last scrim.
Coldly put, it did zilch for his growth. Facing a team with trash ops and zero synergy? What was there to gain?
Still, it had value. Stringing early wins boosted morale, crucial for the season. Kaiserst made a perfect punching bag.
But...
'We almost lost to them.'Their potential was no joke.
Monstrous mechanics across the board—1v1s were brutal. They only won as a team; individual duels would've crushed them.
Especially their sniper.
'LowRankSiwoo, Lee Siwoo.'Tough.
No—overwhelming.
Eye contact meant death, mechanics so dominant it'd end you. First time facing anything like it, even against Chinese or NA squads at internationals.
But that wasn't all.
Map reads, positioning—pro-level. Cocky high-risk, high-reward style, but backed by mechanics you couldn't punish.
Truth was, he'd dominated the domestic league lately. Capital gaps made top-bottom divides stark.
But Siwoo? Felt like he'd crash the top group soon. If Kaiserst polished up and synced...
'Dangerous.'The higher your skill, the clearer rivals' levels shone. So Shin rated Kaiserst's upside sky-high.
Then a line popped into his head.
The fans' perennial joke meme might actually go real.
"Hey, what'd you think of Kaiserst's sniper?"
Shin Jin-woo asked GZ's other attacker for commiseration.
"Kinda heavy. Not easy. Reaction speed and avatar control are insane. Community hype's legit."
Same page.
"Right? Skirmishing him was an auto-loss. Force control's ghostly too."
GZ's supp chuckled.
"Just you guys sucking?"
"You blind or something? Guess tools like you wouldn't see."
"Yeah, tools got no clue."
"What?!"
"Shut it, tool. Royals are talking."
Brushing off the clueless gamer, Shin Jin-woo burst out laughing.
"Haha."
LowRankSiwoo, Lee Siwoo.
Famous ranked amateur.
If he adapted to pro life and grew... monster potential.
'This'll be fun.'In a league kneeling to NA and Chinese cash, now dubbed "washed-up" and fading...
He'd found a worthy new rival.