‘Ah, fuck, what is this?!’

Jung Da-ul was flustered.

A game scenario he couldn’t believe was unfolding before him.

He thought the opponent had selected the God Race by mistake.

But he soon realized it wasn’t a mistake.

Early on, one fanatic was sent in, forcing Da-ul to pull back his worshippers from their work temporarily, causing him a minor loss.

Da-ul quickly produced a fanatic to defend, but he was annoyed that some of his worshippers had to scatter and couldn't work properly.

‘Is this guy really trying to go at it for real or what?’

Even if he had suffered three pathetic losses, going up against him with a sub-race instead of the main race?

‘You think I’m gonna lose to a sub-race?!’

It was a matter of pride.

Da-ul sharpened his focus and got serious.

The opponent was more skilled than expected.

He harassed with one fanatic while simultaneously securing a natural expansion base.

Then rapidly increased his penitent chambers to pump out units.

As a massive force poured out, Da-ul tensed up.

Of course, Da-ul responded with a comparable force.

But the opponent's momentum was no joke.

As a large-scale battle unfolded, the opponent secured yet another expansion base.

He replenished lost units swiftly and launched another attack.

With each battle, the opponent kept adding more expansion bases.

‘What the hell kind of monstrous expansion rate is this?’

The opponent’s monstrous rate of expansion threw Da-ul into confusion.

He couldn’t decide whether to expand himself or attack the opponent’s bases.

‘If I try to follow now, I’ll keep losing the initiative.’

Da-ul decided to go on the offensive.

But it was when he attacked the 9 o’clock expansion base. Player_SIN sprang a trap and encircled Da-ul’s forces from both sides, wiping them out.

The expansion base at 9 o’clock had been bait to lure him in.

Da-ul couldn’t believe he’d lost.

Losing to the opponent’s sub-race?

Even if the opponent was a top-tier player hiding his identity, Da-ul was a pro too.

The three years he’d spent training at MBS suddenly felt meaningless.

-daul02: GG.

-Player_SIN: Want to go again?

-daul02: Yes.

This time, Da-ul was determined to redeem himself.

Thus began the second match.

Da-ul gritted his teeth and played with everything he had.

But the opponent was, again, no pushover.

Like he had become Choi Yeong-jun, the Mad God Tribe himself, the opponent started flooding the map with an insane number of units.

This time, it seemed he’d committed to an all-in concept.

No additional expansion bases—just constant unit production and relentless attacks.

No matter how much Da-ul defended, the enemy’s reinforcements kept coming!

Feeling overwhelmed, Da-ul once again typed GG.

-daul02: How long have you been playing the God Race? You’re seriously good.

-Player_SIN: Practiced recently while watching a recorded broadcast of Choi Yeong-jun. I used to play it occasionally during my active days too.

It made sense that a pro gamer would try other races to better understand their opponents.

But usually, they weren’t this good at it.

And he’d said he only started seriously practicing recently!

‘He practiced just by mimicking Choi Yeong-jun’s POV video? If it were that easy, I’d have done it ages ago!’

Da-ul’s hands trembled with frustration.

This was another mental shock, following his defeat in Judy’s 2nd team test.

Three precious years of his life had been devoted to gaming. Yet he couldn’t even beat the sub-race of some so-called retired player from online.

Da-ul started questioning whether he should continue being a pro gamer.

Feeling emotional, he slammed his keyboard as he typed.

-daul02: Do you think I have no talent? Please be honest.

-Player_SIN: I don’t know. How would I know?

-daul02: Just please tell me honestly. It’s important to me.

-Player_SIN: I said I don’t know.

-Player_SIN: Hardly anyone thinks they have talent. Everyone seems the same to me. How am I supposed to tell? If you’re asking whether you have as much talent as Choi Yeong-jun, then no, you don’t.

-daul02: Huh…?

Da-ul was startled by Player_SIN’s words.

-daul02: Are you Coach Lee Shin?

-Player_SIN: No.

-daul02: Don’t lie. Two years ago, after you won the championship, you said those exact same words in an interview, not even one word off.

The opponent said nothing.

-daul02: I thought that interview was so damn cool… but now that I’m on the receiving end, you’re kind of an ass.

-daul02: Anyway, you really are Coach Lee Shin… There was a lot of debate in the community about whether it was you or not.

For a while, Player_SIN said nothing. Then, after a short pause…

-Player_SIN: If you tell the manager, I’ll get you kicked off the team.

-daul02: I won’t tell anyone. ;;;

-Player_SIN: Don’t tell anyone.

Knowing the opponent was Lee Shin lifted Da-ul’s crushed spirits just a bit.

If the opponent was a god, it made at least some sense.

-Player_SIN: Anyway, are you thinking about quitting?

-daul02: I’m still debating. I lost to Judy too, remember? How does a girl who’s only been learning for a month beat 9 out of 10 second-string players? Isn’t that pure talent?

-Player_SIN: She has the qualities to last as a first-string player. If that’s what you meant by “talent,” then you should’ve clarified your standards first.

-daul02: Then… do I have that kind of talent too?

-Player_SIN: If you're talking based on the 1st team entry standard, then yes, you’ve got that much.

-daul02: Really?

-Player_SIN: You’ve got a lot of weaknesses, but also some strengths.

-daul02: What are my weaknesses?

-Player_SIN: You’ve got no control. You need to be good at using magic units, and you’re not. With that, you can’t beat either the Humans or the God Race.

-daul02: Ah… I guess I’m just not good enough.

-Player_SIN: Yeah, if practice doesn’t help, then you really aren’t good enough.

At Lee Shin’s firm words, Jung Da-ul felt a lump in his throat for a moment.

But he quickly suppressed it and kept asking.

-daul02: Then what do I need to do to make the 1st team?

-Player_SIN: Leave what doesn’t work even with practice, and just develop your strengths.

-daul02: What are my strengths?

-Player_SIN: You’re surprisingly good against monsters. You faced Hwang Byeong-cheol in the qualifiers once, didn’t you?

-daul02: Yes.

-Player_SIN: Your defense wasn’t bad, so you went toe-to-toe with him.

-daul02: Yeah, I remember. That was the first time the coach complimented me.

-Player_SIN: Then hone your anti-monster matchups. If you can become the kind of card to pull out against a monster opponent, you can make the 1st team.

-daul02: But even if I’m only good against monsters, if I keep losing to other races, I can’t make the 1st team. ㅠㅠ

-Player_SIN: Why not?

-daul02: ?

-Player_SIN: When they do the 1st team test, at least 3 out of 10 are monsters. If you go in with the mindset of only beating monsters, it’s possible. Then even if you’re not a permanent starter, you could be a hidden card who gets picked occasionally.

-daul02: Ah, that’s actually true.

-Player_SIN: If that’s not enough to satisfy you, then quit being a player and quickly find another career path, or practice more instead of whining.

-daul02: I’ll practice.

-Player_SIN: Then do it. Practice.

-daul02: Coach.

-Player_SIN: What now?

He sounded irritable now, as if he was starting to get annoyed. Jung Da-ul, having made up his mind about something, typed firmly.

-daul02: Please help me become a 1st team player. ㅠㅠ

-Player_SIN: No.

-daul02: Wow, cold. Like a pumpkin knife ;;;

-daul02: But if you don’t help me, I’ll tell the director.

-daul02: You’re a coach, right? I heard you make 100 million won a year. ㅠㅠ Please raise me like you did Judy. I really want to be on the 1st team.

‘Please, please.’

He was the only one who had ever clearly pointed out Da-ul’s strengths and how to make the 1st team.

Jung Da-ul believed that Lee Shin was the only person who could save his life.

Perhaps his prayers were answered.

A moment later, Lee Shin’s reply appeared on the monitor.

-Player_SIN: Don’t tell anyone.

-daul02: Yes! I’ll never tell!

-Player_SIN: Then we start practicing tomorrow.

-daul02: Yes, Coach!!

Jung Da-ul jumped up in joy and shouted.

When he looked at the clock, it was already 1 a.m.

‘I’m the one who chose to become MBS’s coach. I need to fulfill my role as a coach.’

The only person who came to find him when he shut himself indoors after his wrist injury was Director Bang Jin-ho.

Back then, Lee Shin decided to coach for a mere 100 million won as a way of repaying that favor.

Aside from nurturing Judy into a long-running 1st team player, if he could also turn Jung Da-ul into a card that could counter the monster players of opposing teams, it would be a huge help to MBS.

That would make his salary as a coach well earned.

‘Still, this is really helpful.’

Lee Shin had practiced the God Race by watching and copying Choi Yeong-jun’s personal gameplay footage.

Because he tried to follow it without even the slightest deviation, he eventually reached a level where he could nearly match Choi Yeong-jun in terms of unit production.

By mimicking exactly when to take an expansion base and how many worker units to send from the newly completed expansion, he learned how to harvest and spend resources more efficiently.

Of course, what truly made Choi Yeong-jun great was maintaining that same level of resource optimization even when various external variables came into play.

Moreover, by watching the entire match from Choi Yeong-jun’s perspective, Lee Shin was able to develop a new way of seeing the game.

Even though they played different races, this exercise of stealing Choi Yeong-jun’s instincts was incredibly effective for Lee Shin.

It helped him absorb the latest trends in Korean esports—something he hadn’t yet grasped—into his very bones.

‘But the God Race is actually pretty playable, huh?’

Lee Shin’s genius in gaming hadn’t gone anywhere.

After immersing himself in copying Choi Yeong-jun for a week, he started to get a feel for what kind of race the God Race really was.

‘The God Race is fun.’

It was the same feeling of achievement and excitement he had when he first got hooked on Space Craft.

Even though it was just a sub-race he didn’t need, his unit control unnecessarily began to get more precise.

Like using a scouting believer to constantly harass and kill a single enemy worker, or pulling back a Colossus unit to micro it into focus-firing on a single target…

Truly needlessly, Lee Shin’s God Race skills improved dramatically.

Space Craft’s online scene began to buzz again.

Player_SIN, a famous online high-ranker rumored to possibly be Lee Shin himself, had suddenly started a winning streak using the God Race.

Rumors spread that Player_SIN had switched races, and netizens became even more unable to discern who he was.

No one could believe that Lee Shin, once hailed as the god of the Humans, would ever switch races.

Yet for something just meant to be "light practice for fun," Player_SIN’s God Race skills were anything but average.

In this way, Lee Shin was pioneering a new territory.

In more ways than one.