A Date...?
The plan had been going so smoothly. With my sister’s support secured as the final piece, I’d felt a quiet satisfaction that everything was falling neatly into place. That feeling lasted about three seconds.
“Oh…”
“Wow…”
The commentators and casters, who had been desperately filling the audio with whatever they could, suddenly let out a collective gasp of admiration. While I scanned the stadium trying to figure out what was happening, my eyes landed on the broadcast screen.
“Huh…?”
There, in crystal-clear high definition, were my face and my sister’s face, captured perfectly for the entire world to see.
“Sis? Is this part of the plan?”
I turned to her, desperately hoping this was another one of her schemes. Anything would be better than the alternative.
“…Should we just leave?”
…It looked like my sister hadn’t expected this either.
“Wow, both of you are incredibly beautiful!”
“Our VA fanbase average just went up…”
From the caster and commentator’s perspective, they’d run out of things to talk about, so they seized on us like starving wolves. My sister immediately pretended she was going to get more drinks, using the excuse to slip out of the venue with me in tow.
“What the hell was that? Isn’t there something wrong with the illusion magic itself?”
“That’s… my bad. I was careless. I realized that broadcast screens are technically cameras too.”
Ah… right. Now that I thought about it, she had mentioned earlier that the illusion wouldn’t show up unless someone was deliberately filming. So of course a broadcast camera would pick it up. That made sense.
“I’ll be more careful from now on…”
I had been angry for a moment, but when I thought about it, getting upset at someone who had good intentions wasn’t fair. Besides, we’d already revealed our faces on stream before. This was just a slightly more widespread reveal. A minor incident, really.
“Well… we did reveal our faces not that long ago, so we can just think of this as another round of marketing.”
“Once I debut as a pro anyway, most people—including the ones who just saw us—will find out eventually.”
My sister had been staring into space with hollow eyes like she’d committed a grave sin. But when I gently reassured her, her expression softened and she spoke in a playful tone.
“As expected… Sera, you really have become much kinder and more morally upright than before.”
Well… if she could say that even after knowing how I usually treat the church and how I plan to train Han Seongkwang when he gets out of line, then I guess I should just let it slide.
“So where should we go now… huh? Wait a second.”
We had been walking and chatting for a while when my sister suddenly stopped on the promenade near the stadium. I followed her gaze and saw Han Seongkwang sitting on a bench with a look of belated regret on his face.
“But if we talk to him now, isn’t that tampering?”
“I have indirect ties to STD, so it might be risky for me. But you haven’t signed with anyone yet, so it should be fine, right?”
…She had a point.
“Then I’ll need the mask and sunglasses… wait, hold on.”
“What? Did something happen?”
My sister had been busily disguising me with a mask and sunglasses so we could meet him in private while also dispelling the illusion when she suddenly froze. When I asked what was wrong, she hesitated for a moment before speaking in a small voice.
“It’s just… now that I think about it, sending you alone to talk with a scoundrel like Han Seongkwang seems way too dangerous…”
“How about we talk to him together next time?”
Sure, it was understandable to be worried. But the expression on her face didn’t look like worry. It looked more like she simply didn’t want me to be alone with that guy even for a short while.
“…I’ll be back quickly.”
Ignoring her reluctant gaze as best I could, I headed toward where he was sitting.
During the second set against V4 today, I had overheard Coach Shin Jaejun’s suspicious phone call about match-fixing in the bathroom. Even after I refused, he still tried to put me in for the third set, which confirmed he saw me as a key piece in the scheme. I stormed out of VKC Stadium without thinking.
Now I was sitting pathetically on a nearby bench, organizing my thoughts about what to do next, when a suspicious woman approached. She was wrapped up tightly in sunglasses and a mask that clashed with her beautiful dress.
“Starlight, you’re Han Seongkwang, correct?”
“Yes… that’s me. What business do you have with me?”
She glanced around to confirm almost no one was nearby, then asked in an extremely quiet voice.
“Have you… watched the Saintess broadcast recently?”
…What?
Saintess broadcast? So the first question from this suspicious-looking woman with a grave voice was whether I’d watched the Saintess broadcast lately…? It was such an unexpected question that I could only stammer in response.
“Y-yeah… I have.”
She let out what sounded like a sigh of relief and took off her sunglasses.
“Huh??”
Her lower face was still covered by the mask, but those distinctive blue eyes that somehow looked lifeless were unmistakably the Saintess’s. Now that I thought about it, her voice earlier had sounded familiar too. My tone shot up without me realizing it.
“You’re really the Saint—”
“Shh.”
She put a finger to her lips in a quiet-down gesture and held out her hand.
“We should probably move somewhere else first.”
“Uh… sure.”
The unexpected events kept piling up, so I couldn’t think straight as I followed her. As I walked while unconsciously holding her cold hand, I could have sworn I felt a murderous glare coming from somewhere. But she didn’t seem to notice at all and walked straight to the fancy restaurant across the way. My mental state really must have been terrible if I was hallucinating other people’s gazes like that.
“We’ll cover all the costs, so order whatever you want from the menu… Do you have any other schedule you need to attend to?”
“Uh… no. Not today.”
“Then we have plenty of time. Let’s talk slowly while we eat.”
The moment I looked at the menu she handed me, my body froze.
“Wait… what are these prices…”
Every single item was over 200,000 won. My eyes widened involuntarily. For some reason, she also looked slightly flustered.
“…It should be fine. Don’t feel pressured and order whatever you like.”
Wasn’t the Saintess supposed to be cold and meticulous? Seeing the world-renowned Saintess’s pupils shaking just like mine made me wonder if everything I’d experienced today was actually a dream.
“Anyway… as you probably noticed, I am indeed the Saintess. I came today because there are some things I’d like to discuss with you, Mr. Seongkwang.”
Discuss…? Aside from the fact that we were both residents of the heavenly realm and friends in the system, I couldn’t think of any connection between us. I was curious what she wanted to talk about.
“What exactly would you like to discuss…”
The Saintess thought for a moment before saying she would start with the most important thing right now.
“You suddenly left in the middle of the match earlier, right? Of course your actions were meant to prevent match-fixing, but the public can’t see the bigger picture. They only see the surface.”
“So whether you like it or not, you’re going to be hounded by all kinds of issues, criticism, and controversy for a while… But if we play our cards right, we can help you.”
Help, huh… She already knew about the match-fixing without me saying anything, so she clearly had some connection to the VA industry.
Well… with that level of skill, having zero connection would actually be weirder.
But what mattered more than the fact that she had connections was which faction in the VA industry she belonged to and what exactly she wanted.
“Thank you for the offer, but where exactly is this help coming from?”
“And since there’s no such thing as a free lunch, I’d appreciate it if you could also tell me what I’d need to do in return.”
As soon as I finished asking, a plate of steak and a plate of pasta were served. The Saintess gestured for me to eat and began answering my questions one by one.
“I can’t tell you which organization I belong to yet. We’re still in the middle of the season, so it’s difficult to reveal that right now. For now, just know that our public goal is to clear your name and, while we’re at it, cut out the rotten parts of VA.”
“As for what you’d need to do… Assuming you become a pro gamer next season, it would be nice if you could repay us in a reasonably conscientious way.”
What…? So she was planning to go pro next year? And she wanted my help then??
“Wait, what do you—”
But she wasn’t finished. She beckoned to me like she was calling over a puppy and continued.
“Anyway, if you accept, I’ll immediately reveal the truth and expose all of Coach Shin Jaejun’s call records to handle this cleanly. I’m sure you know how important speed is in matters like this.”
The more I listened, the more it sounded incredibly favorable to me. At the same time, it felt like something I had no choice but to agree to. Yet the possibility that this could all be part of the Saintess’s scheme made me hesitate slightly.
“Then…”
After a moment of contemplation, just as I was about to agree—
BANG!
The door burst open with a violent sound. A woman who looked similar to the Saintess but gave off a somewhat hollow aura barged in.