“Watch your words.”

Manager Bang Jin-ho growled. He spoke for the players.

Those who make a living off fan support knew all too well how painful it was to be branded as players with no presence. People who hadn’t experienced it would never understand.

In other words, Lee Shin would never understand. He had never gone through it.

“Enough. If introductions are over, get back to practice.”

At Manager Bang Jin-ho’s words, the players grumbled as they returned to their seats.

Bang Jin-ho gestured to Lee Shin with a flick of his fingers before heading into the strategy meeting room.

Once Lee Shin followed him inside, Manager Bang Jin-ho spoke.

“For the first week, just practice and get yourself back in shape.”

“Yes.”

“Who do you want as your practice opponents? The coaches?”

“I’ll practice with the players.”

“Hey, if you get beaten up badly by the players, even if it’s just practice, they might not take you seriously.”

“If it’s not against the players, it’s not real practice. Whether they look down on me or not, I don’t care.”

Manager Bang Jin-ho stared at Lee Shin.

A mindset that didn’t care about being underestimated. Perhaps that unshakable mental fortitude was Lee Shin’s greatest strength.

“Fine, do whatever you want. I’ll set up a spot for you, so grab anyone from the training room and practice.”

“Yes.”

“Also—”

“……?”

Manager Bang Jin-ho’s voice took on a more serious tone.

“Earlier, you said you were going to cultivate a star, right?”

“I did. That’s why you brought me here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s actually the real reason we recruited you as a coach.”

“The disciple of the god.”

At Lee Shin’s words, Manager Bang Jin-ho nodded in affirmation.

“That’s right.”

Lee Shin had accurately grasped what MBS expected from him.

The disciple of the god.

The players under Lee Shin’s coaching would be granted that title!

Lee Shin spoke.

“I don’t want just anyone using my name. I’ll personally select my disciple. Do you agree?”

“Can’t you choose from the first-team players?”

MBS currently had seven first-team players, three of whom, like Lee Shin, were human race users.

The rest were second-team members or trainees.

“I’ll decide after observing their play styles.”

“Suit yourself.”

Lee Shin was soon assigned his own station.

He loosened his tie and draped his jacket over the chair.

From his leather backpack, he took out his personal keyboard and mouse.

The players and trainees in the practice room stared at him blankly.

The god of gaming.

The god of Space Craft.

The god of world eSports.

All those extravagant titles seemed perfectly fitting for this extraordinary star, who was now preparing to play in the same training room as them!

It was impossible not to stare.

“Look, he’s logging into the game.”

“He’s really going to practice.”

“Are his hands okay?”

“An online article said they’ve gotten a bit better.”

As the players whispered among themselves, Lee Shin suddenly turned toward them and pointed at someone at random.

“Fake Shin.”

“Huh?”

The person he pointed at was none other than MBS’s starting player, Park Shin.

Because his name, race, and even height were similar to Lee Shin’s, he had been given the unfortunate nickname "Fake Shin."

Still, thanks to that, he was one of the few MBS Dark Priest Army members with some level of recognition.

“Let’s practice.”

“Ah, yes.”

Lee Shin was about to test a new human vs. human strategy he had studied since his match against Shin Ji-ho.

The players eagerly watched the practice game between the two. They were curious about Lee Shin’s current skill level.

- Kaiser has entered the game.

“Ohhh!”

“It’s Kaiser!”

The legendary ID of eSports had appeared.

- Good_jjab: GG.

- Kaiser: Yeah.

After a brief exchange of greetings, the game began.

However, Lee Shin did not show his true skills. He played lightly, focusing only on verifying the build while minimizing his control.

As there was nothing particularly special in his play, the players lost interest and returned to their own stations.

“Hey, you bastard, are you going easy on purpose?”

Manager Bang Jin-ho suddenly asked, having watched unnoticed for some time.

Lee Shin shrugged.

“What now?”

“What’s with your control? Even if you forget your builds, you don’t forget your mechanics.”

“My wrist hurts, so I can’t play well.”

“You suspicious little punk. Are you really not Player Shin?”

“Why do you keep bringing that up? Are you still exchanging messages with that guy?”

“Yeah. Yesterday, he told me to send a verification photo, so I did. Then he compared it to a picture of me from ten years ago and started saying I looked different... Damn it, if I ever catch that punk!”

Manager Bang Jin-ho clenched his fists and trembled in frustration.

Lee Shin shamelessly kept a blank expression.

“You’re really not him?”

“I’m not. If my skills were back to that level, I’d be returning as a player, not coaching.”

“……That’s true.”

“I want to play again more than anything, so stop teasing me.”

“Tsk, still suspicious. That bastard’s attitude is just... no matter how you look at it...”

Despite everything, Manager Bang Jin-ho couldn’t shake off his doubts, wearing a troubled expression as he turned away. His intuition was razor-sharp.

‘I won’t return until I can stand at the top again.’

Lee Shin’s resolve was firm.

As of 2020, new champions had risen in the Korean eSports scene in Lee Shin’s absence.

First, the only competitor who had ever stood against Lee Shin—Hwang Byeong-cheol, the ‘Heretic.’

The only one who had ever challenged the god, Hwang Byeong-cheol, had finally broken free from his status as an eternal second-place finisher by winning the individual league title in the latter half of last year, after Lee Shin had forfeited.

However, his reign was short-lived.

Second, Choi Young-jun, the ‘Mad God Tribe.’

A rookie, Choi Young-jun had stormed through the 2020 individual league qualifiers without a single loss, drawing attention. Then, in the semifinals, he caused an upset by completely dismantling Hwang Byeong-cheol with a 3-0 victory.

This sparked speculation that he might achieve an undefeated championship run, just like Lee Shin had in the past. That was how terrifying Choi Young-jun’s presence was.

However...

Third, Park Young-ho, the ‘Iron Wall Monster.’

Against the seemingly unstoppable Choi Young-jun, Park Young-ho fought a fierce battle in the finals.

Relentless defense. An almost monstrous regenerative ability that made him seem unkillable.

Park Young-ho tenaciously endured Choi Young-jun’s overwhelming, frenzied onslaught of troops.

Best-of-five series: three wins, two losses.

Win, loss, win, loss, win.

It was a perfectly even match, with neither player clearly superior. In the end, the championship trophy belonged to Park Young-ho.

Because of this legendary battle, Park Young-ho and Choi Young-jun were now considered eternal rivals, known as the ‘Twin Dragons.’

Thus, the Korean eSports scene had entered a new era—a three-way battle for the throne between Hwang Byeong-cheol, Choi Young-jun, and Park Young-ho.

Since there were no human race players among these three, some fans included Shin Ji-ho in the mix, calling it a four-way rivalry.

Regardless, Lee Shin wasn’t yet confident that he could return and defeat these new titans.

‘Not yet.’

He needed time to prepare. Coaching was the perfect role to do just that.