"Hah!"

With a feeling as though his body was being sucked into somewhere, Lee Shin suddenly woke up.

He looked around.

Despite it being daytime, the curtains were drawn, making the room dark.

There was a bed, a PC, and clothes scattered around the floor...

'I’m back.'

Lee Shin momentarily doubted himself. Could it have been a dream?

He twisted his injured right wrist, moving it around. It moved smoothly without any pain.

Lee Shin felt a light shiver.

It didn’t hurt.

His wrist was back to normal.

Moreover, his body, which had been aching in every corner, felt refreshed.

This was thanks to the healing powers of the Demon Lord, Gremory.

At that moment.

Knock knock knock.

"Shin, are you awake?"

It was his mother’s voice.

"Yes."

"I’ll leave your meal here, so eat it."

Since Lee Shin had been holed up in his room, his mother had taken to leaving his meals outside his door.

'What kind of recluse am I turning into?'

After waking from the long and deep despair, Lee Shin felt pathetic about himself.

Lee Shin opened the door.

"Sh, Shin?"

His mother looked surprised. It had been a long time since they had met like this.

Lee Shin picked up the meal tray his mother had left.

"I’ll eat with you."

"Y-yes. It’s better to eat together."

His mother’s face was filled with emotion.

'Why did I even play games like that?'

The words that had closed Lee Shin’s heart. After that, his mother had felt like a sinner.

When Lee Shin came out of his room, his mother was so happy she took him to the kitchen.

At the table, his father was reading the newspaper.

His father looked up from his reading and was startled when he saw Lee Shin.

"Y-you’re out."

"Yes."

Lee Shin placed the meal tray on the table.

It had been a long time since the three of them sat at the same table.

His father spooned some soup, and Lee Shin began eating as well.

"Here, eat more of this."

His mother, already placing a mountain of meat on the rice, added more.

"Thank you."

Lee Shin ate quietly.

While eating, he glanced at his father.

His father seemed to have a lot to say but couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Lee Shin knew what his father wanted to ask.

'What are you going to do now?'

'You can’t keep living like this forever.'

'Maybe you should go back to college and study again…'

Lee Shin spoke up.

"I’ll be returning."

"Huh?"

"What?"

Both his mother and father were shocked at the same time.

"H-how can you return after getting so injured?"

His mother asked.

Lee Shin suddenly looked at the fork in his right hand.

This was given to him instead of chopsticks for his injured hand.

He had been using a fork for almost half a year, so even now that he was healed, it felt natural to use it.

He placed the fork down.

He took chopsticks out of the utensil drawer. Like any Korean, he began using the chopsticks skillfully.

"Is your hand okay?"

His mother asked, surprised.

"I didn’t just stay in my room doing nothing."

Lee Shin casually lied without changing his expression.

In an instant, Lee Shin became the kind of person who overcame the impossible injury with sheer determination.

"You’re not fully healed, and you’ve also rested for a long time. Do you think you can really return?"

His father continued to oppose.

"And now you’re twenty-five. Isn’t it time to stop playing games?"

"Is that something only kids do?"

“......”

“H-honey!”

There was a cold silence.

Lee Shin spoke with a cold expression.

"So, you’ve never come to cheer me on. How embarrassed you must have been that your son is playing games."

Choosing to play games in a family with a long history of educators, Lee Shin had been the source of long-standing family discord.

No matter how much fame or wealth Lee Shin accumulated, the wealthy and prestigious family still refused to acknowledge him.

"Shin, that's not what I meant. Your father, well, in that world, it’s difficult when you get older..."

"Then, will mother support me if I continue playing games?"

With that, Lee Shin quickly grabbed his mother’s hand.

"If you really want to, yes..."

[Lie.]

Lee Shin’s expression turned as cold as ice.

"That’s enough."

Lee Shin cut him off.

"I don’t mind if just one or two of you ignore me. The entire world of fans already recognizes me."

His father’s face turned red.

His mother was caught in the middle, unsure of what to do.

"I’ll be independent soon. You won’t have to see me playing games anymore."

After finishing his meal, Lee Shin placed his tray into the dishwashing bin and went to his room.

Bang!

The door slammed shut roughly.

He knew he was being rude to his parents, but it was hard to hold back when the thing he loved and dedicated everything to was being disregarded.

'I still have a long way to go.'

He had decided that he wouldn’t care about the dismissive views of the older generation toward games, but he still couldn’t overcome it.

He was still just a child wanting praise from his parents.

Still, there was one thing that comforted him again.

The fact that he could play games once more.

'What should I do now?'

Should he declare his return to the eSports reporters and look for a team that would accept him?

'No.'

Lee Shin shook his head.

Pro teams that had stopped contacting him after it became known that a player’s career was no longer possible.

Even the team he had been part of before enlisting hadn’t visited him in the past six months.

'Ungrateful bastards.'

Not one of them came to check on him or suggest becoming a coach.

Given that the current Korean eSports market had grown thanks to Lee Shin, their ingratitude was exceptional.

Originally, Korean eSports had operated in a poor environment, forcing young players to work for passion and little pay.

Then, when Lee Shin won the gold medal at the World SC Grand Prix, it was the first time the public began to take notice.

Thanks to this, the market grew, and advanced infrastructure was built, reaching where it was today.

Everyone involved in eSports today should be grateful to Lee Shin.

'Yet, those two still look down on me.'

Lee Shin was fed up with his parents' conservative mindset and the traditions of their prestigious family.

He made a decision.

'Let’s wait one more month.'

If a pro team came to find him within that time, he decided he would join them.

It didn’t take long to wait.

Just as the first half of the pro league season was coming to an end, the transfer season was approaching.

About two weeks after making his decision, a team came looking for Lee Shin.

"Welcome."

"Hello, ma'am. I’m Bang Jin-ho, the manager of the MBS team. Is Lee Shin here...?"

"He’s in his room."

From outside, the conversation between a middle-aged man and his mother could be heard.

'Manager Bang Jin-ho?'