Chapter 1224. Organizing (4)

Chapter 1224. Organizing (4)

“Awwooo... Man, this tension is killing me,” said Choi Jeong-Wu.

He snatched up a water bottle and began gulping down the water within.

His teammate frowned slightly. “C’mon, man. That’s enough water, okay? You might end up going to the loo during the critical point in the game.”

“I don’t care anymore, dude. What can I do when I’m dying of thirst right now? Besides, with all this sweating, I’m pretty sure I ain’t going to a damn toilet anytime soon.”

“...Pass me the bottle, too.”

The tension in the changing room was always this unbearable before a big game. Since staff members were constantly coming in and leaving, it wasn’t eerily silent in the room. Even so, all esports athletes found these moments of waiting the hardest to endure.

At least being on the stage was better than this. Although they still shivered in nervousness, at least the athletes had something to do to distract themselves. All the tension would always peter out as the athletes’ eyes followed the action on the screen and their hands danced around the mouse and the keyboard to match it.

Such things didn’t exist in the changing room, however. The people stuck in these changing rooms could do nothing but wait while imagining the upcoming game in their heads.

Choi Jeong-Wu furrowed his brow. “Hey, how long till our game starts?”

“I think we still have another hour to go.”

“Dammit. This is what I don’t get. The game is at five, so why do we have to come here at twelve? And do nothing but wait until then?”

“So? Are you unhappy about this?”

“Well, rather than unhappy...”

Choi Jeong-Wu’s teammate sighed. “Dude. We’d still be in this state even if we were in the team residence.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Choi Jeong-Wu also sighed before gulping down more water. His legs continued to wobble. He just couldn’t calm down.

“...Dude. You’re making it harder for me, okay? Please, please sit still, will ya?”

Choi Jeong-Wu groaned loudly. “How can I sit still?! Urgh, I might throw up at this rate.”

“Oh, come on! Learn from Yu-Min hyung’s example, okay? Look at how cool and collected he is!”

“Wha? This is his tenth final, isn’t it? He’s someone who’s reached the finals several times by himself, you know? Knowing him, this whole thing probably doesn’t even feel like a proper final, what with so many people in the team and all.”

Park Yu-Min smiled awkwardly. “No, hang on. I’m also nervous.”

Choi Jeong-Wu cried out, “Stop lying, hyung! That’s not the face of a nervous man, you know!”

“I’m not lying, though.”

“

Eiii

...”

Choi Jeong-Wu grumbled slightly in irritation. Despite his grumbling, however, he was inwardly glad about having Park Yu-Min in the same changing room right now.

‘Without Yu-Min hyung, we’d have imploded already.’

Without Park Yu-Min’s calming presence, Choi Jeong-Wu might have ended up in a nearby hospital for hyperventilation right about now!

Choi Jeong-Wu learned for the first time in his life that a human being could get this nervous, so that outcome didn’t seem so outlandish to him.

He groaned again. “Man... Sure, it might be the finals, but we’re only gonna play a computer game, right? So why am I getting so jittery about something I’ve been doing my whole life?”

“Well, it’s not that simple,” said Park Yu-Min with a wry grin.

“Hyung! Do you know the secret to not being so nervous?”

“The secret, you say?”

“Yeah!”

“

Mm

...? There’s no such thing, though?”

“Sorry?”

Choi Jeong-Wu dazedly stared at Park Yu-Min. What was he supposed to do when a senior boasting the experience of competing in ten finals replied so casually like that?

“I told you, I always get nervous,” said Park Yu-Min.

“But, hyung? You don’t look nervous at all.”

Park Yu-Min chuckled softly. “I guess I don’t show it on the surface, then? The truth is, I am really nervous, Jeong-Wu. I couldn’t even sleep properly last night, you know?”

“...Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“But your state is kinda... You know?”

Park Yu-Min tilted his head. “Why? You think it’s weird?”

Choi Jeong-Wu furrowed his brow. “No, rather than weird...”

“Listen, Jeong-Wu.”

“Yes, Yu-Min hyung.”

Park Yu-Min grew a little more somber. “This might sound a little strange, but here is what I think about this matter. I think it’s impossible for someone competing in the finals to not get nervous. Being nervous is only natural. You’re about to find out what the result of your year-long efforts looks like, after all. So, the harder you’ve been working on something, the more nervous you’re bound to get.”

“...That,

uh

, sounds about right?”

Choi Jeong-Wu dazedly nodded. For sure, what Park Yu-Min said sounded logical.

Choi Jeong-Wu could confidently say the past year had been the busiest, hardest-working period in his life so far. He slept less than before and even devoted mealtimes to honing his craft.

The reward for all his hard work was his participation in today’s finals. Knowing all that, how could he not get nervous?

“So, yeah, getting nervous is nothing to worry about, Jeong-Wu. This whole thing about the less nervous side winning is a lie. The other team is just as nervous as we are. “When people lose, they blame their nervousness. But here’s the deal. When people are analyzing the past league matches, does anybody actually use extreme nervousness as the primary excuse for teams losing?”

“...No, I haven’t seen that happen.”

“Let’s say you lost because you got too nervous. Being nervous means you’re not at your best, right? But later on, when you take your time and look back at what happened, you’ll realize the reason for your loss is something else. The correct answer is your skills. What I’m trying to say is that... Don’t say you’ll lose because you got too nervous.”

Choi Jeong-Wu chuckled bitterly just then. Park Yu-Min’s advice might sound like words meant to comfort his junior, but when analyzed objectively, it was surprisingly cold-hearted. After all, he was basically saying the side with better skills would win regardless of how nervy you were, so it was fine to get nervous.

“Hyung, I think your advice almost helped me just now. Almost.”

Park Yu-Min grinned brightly. “Get nervous, Jeong-Wu. I think that’s for the best. Pros who take the finals for granted usually tumble down from the top sooner rather than later. So, I honestly think shivering like a scared cat is better. It means you are aware of the weight on your shoulders.”

“I got it, hyung. I’ll try to do as you say.”

Other pro gamers in the team listening in nodded silently.

‘For sure, his life experience is so much greater than ours.’

Saying Park Yu-Min was more experienced in life when he was still a young man might sound strange, but in this profession, he did qualify as an old veteran. Not just any veteran, either, but a grizzled old-timer veteran whose experience could easily overwhelm his surroundings!

Although Choi Jeong-Wu wasn’t sure if this kind of mindset would help or hinder the team, having Park Yu-Min in the same changing room had a calming effect on everybody.

‘Right. If it had been us alone, things would have descended into chaos by now.’

The team worked so hard for the past few years to reach this final.

Choi Jeong-Wu watched the team director rushing around along with the staff members like a man about to lose his mind and could only shake his head.

“Yu-Min hyung, I guess your condition’s top-notch today. That’s too bad, though. I was hoping to take your spot if you were too nervous today,” said Gwok Hyeun-Tae, the former ace of the team.

Park Yu-Min responded gravely. “Listen, Hyeun-Tae.”

“Yes, hyung?”

“It’s possible that you will take over my spot today.”

“...”

Park Yu-Min’s voice demonstrated how serious he was.

“In a final, you’ll run into all sorts of variables. Don’t let your guard down because you might be asked to join the team at any moment.”

“...But,

uh

, if that happens, you won’t get to compete, though?”

“Look. Rather than me competing and costing the team the victory, it’ll be a hundred times better for me to not compete and you guys win. I want you to watch the game and analyze what I did wrong and what you can do to make things better, okay?”

“Got it, hyung,” said Gwok Hyeun-Tae.

He forgot that Park Yu-Min was the type of person to take everything seriously, even mindless jokes. But that was what made him so dependable, wasn’t it?

Park Yu-Min got up. “I’m going to the loo for a bit.”

“Eh?” Choi Jeong-Wu tilted his head. “But the director told us to be on standby?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.”

“Got it, hyung.”

Choi Jeong-Wu sighed softly as Park Yu-Min left the changing room.

“Man... I wonder what would’ve happened in here if Yu-Min hyung wasn’t with us.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Since the team had come this far, the only thing left to do was win.

Choi Jeong-Wu tightly clenched his fists.

***

‘Argh, I think I’m gonna die!’

Even though his teammates thought of him as a dependable bulwark, the truth was that Park Yu-Min was nervous beyond description.

He already knew nothing would come out even if he went to the toilet right now. However, he still wanted to pee.

Even though he knew his bladders weren’t responsible for this false alarm! Knowing didn’t mean he could just sit still and do nothing, though.

He pressed his forehead against the cold wall above the urinal. A short while later, he stood up straight.

“

Whew-woo

...”

The tips of his hands were still trembling uncontrollably.

‘I’m too nervous.’

Which didn’t surprise him at all.

The significance of the upcoming final was on another scale compared to all the others he had competed in until now. After all, this was the first final since he had rejoined the world of esports. As such, the pressure heaped on his shoulders was incomparable to what he had experienced up until this point.

Worse still, he knew one mistake from him would not just ruin his game, but also crush his teammates’ dream of victory.

‘This is the worst.’

Park Yu-Min also grew tense in the previous finals. But none of those moments had been as nerve-racking as this one. He was certain about that.

‘...No, hang on. There was that one time, wasn’t there?’

Indeed, his first final was like this.

His first final as a pro-gamer had been so nerve-racking that Park Yu-Min actually entered the team’s car without his equipment. To this day, he still couldn’t recall how he entered his booth in the arena.

‘Right. So, uh, how did I win that game?’

Wasn’t he on the losing end, until...

“...!

Ah

!”

Park Yu-Min suddenly remembered Kang Jin-Ho’s face. A helpless chuckle leaked out of Park Yu-Min’s mouth.

‘That’s right. That happened.’

Park Yu-Min was trembling like a lone leaf against storm winds in his booth back then. But he got lucky by spotting Kang Jin-Ho’s face in the audience. Because, he got to see the familiar face of his best friend in this unfamiliar place filled with unfamiliar things.

‘Yeah, I owe him a lot, don’t I?’

Park Yu-Min wanted to repay some of the debt somehow, but how?

Park Yu-Min washed his hands and exited the toilet. While standing in the corridor, he sucked in a deep breath. Getting nervous didn’t matter. What did matter was winning despite being nervous.

As for his subtly wobbling knees, well...

“Argh, are you deaf?! I’m telling you, I’m an acquaintance, okay!”

A woman’s shrill voice of irritation sobered Park Yu-Min up, and he urgently turned around to look.

‘What was that?’

That loud voice came from somewhere behind him.

The woman shouted again. “One of the pros is our acquaintance!”

The staff member blocking the passage firmly replied, “Ma’am, you can’t go beyond this point unless you have the venue’s ID badge.”

“I told you, didn’t I? I can’t get in touch with him on his phone! If you don’t believe us, go and call the pro gamer named Park Yu-Min!”

“No can do, ma’am.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t allow suspicious people from beyond this point. Alternatively, you can take off your hat and sunglasses.”

“

Hah

? If I do, you think you can handle the situation?

Ah

?”

Park Yu-Min paled instantly after recognizing that thuggish manner of speech. Even before his brain could process the information, his feet moved first.

“E-excuse me! Hold on!”

Park Yu-Min wouldn’t have any female visitors coming to see him in this stadium. And he already told the Seongsim kids the changing rooms were out of bounds, too. In that case, who could that person be? It was plainly obvious, no?

Park Yu-Min rushed through the passageway and headed to the exit that led to the grandstands. That was where he spotted a pair of familiar silhouettes. A familiar figure of a man, and a... familiar figure of sleekness?

“Jin-Ho, is that you? A-and Miss Choi?”

Choi Yeon-Ha’s sunglasses-covered face quickly turned toward Park Yu-Min before a bright smile formed on her lips. “Mister Yu-Min!”

“Oh, it really is you...”

“Hurry and come over here! This guy just doesn’t want to listen!”

Park Yu-Min hurriedly walked over to the venue staff and bowed deeply. “I’m sorry about this. These are my acquaintances.”

“Mister Park? I see. Okay, please go through.”

Choi Yeon-Ha shot a glare at the staff through her sunglasses. “Gee, whiz! How can someone be so distrusting?”

Park Yu-Min asked in a fluster. “You could’ve called me first, you know?”

Choi Yeon-Ha replied testily. “We did! Lots, too! But who was it that didn’t answer once?

Mm

?”

“...

Ah

!”

Park Yu-Min abruptly remembered that his phone was inside his bag. He smiled apologetically. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think you two would come. If I knew, I might have prepared something ahead of time. What brings you here, though?”

Kang Jin-Ho nonchalantly replied, “Came to see your match, of course.”

“Really? And you came all the way to Busan for that?”[1]

“Yeah. I had business in the area.”

“Really?”

The corners of Park Yu-Min’s lips subtly curled up. He couldn’t tell if Kang Jin-Ho was telling the truth or not, but it was fine either way. He felt his mood improve instantly after seeing his friend’s face.

“Okay, let’s go in. There’s still a bit of time left, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No, that’s fine. I’ve said hello, after all. Besides all that...”

“

Ng

?”

Kang Jin-Ho strode toward Park Yu-Min before placing his hand on his friend’s head. That was when this ice-cold feeling invaded Park Yu-Min’s skull.

Park Yu-Min reflexively took a step back, confused.

“Looks like you’re in a good head space, then.” Kang Jin-Ho briefly nodded. “Do your best, Yu-Min.”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“See you later.”

When Kang Jin-Ho turned around to leave, Park Yu-Min hurriedly shouted after him. “Hold on, Jin-Ho! I’ll send someone over, so switch seats to the ones in the front row! There are spaces reserved for the team and the family members, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled and briefly waved his hand. “Nah, it’s fine.”

“It’s for me, though. That’s gonna put me more at ease.”

“...I see. Okay,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled, then nodded.

After he exited the passageway, Choi Yeon-Ha bowed at Park Yu-Min and said her goodbye, too.

“Mister Yu-Min! We’re rooting for you! You better win, okay!”

“I will! Don’t worry.”

Choi Yeon-Ha hurriedly chased after Kang Jin-Ho.

“Wait, Mister Jin-Ho! Let’s go together! What’s the matter with you? Isn’t this your friend’s final game?! Why aren’t you cheering him on even more? Are you even listening?

Ah

?”

Park Yu-Min chuckled helplessly while listening to the couple bicker away.

‘Yup, those two are made for each other.’

How strange was this, though? It felt like all the nervousness tormenting him until now had completely vanished. For some reason, his condition seemed to be at 100%, and then some.

“Right. It’s time to win.”

Jin-Ho was here, after all. Park Yu-Min couldn’t let his friend see his defeat today.

While clutching his fists tightly, Park Yu-Min headed back to his team’s changing room.

1. Busan is a South Korean port city on the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula. Basically, it’s on the other side of the country from Seoul. ☜