“You don’t have a concept, so you’re vague.”

“A concept?”

“Choi Yeong-jun has quantity, Park Yeong-ho has ironclad defense and expansion, Shin Ji-ho is defense and one-shot armies. Even Judy has a style concept of safe long-term play. What about you?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“You don’t know what you’re good at?”

“No……”

“That’s why you’re in the second team.”

At Lee Shin’s scathing criticism, Jung Da-ul’s expression soured.

The trainees wore puzzled looks at the sudden conversation that had started between the two from early morning.

Lee Shin continued.

“Since you don’t think, I’ll just decide for you. You’re defense and counter.”

“Defense and counter?”

“Focus strictly on defense and safe play. When the opponent attacks, you retaliate with drops or Avatar summoning spells. Your control sucks, so that’s better than a head-on battle.”

“Okay……”

“And when you succeed in defending and the opponent loses a lot of units, you immediately counterattack. Got it now?”

“Yes.”

“Then remember that concept and start practicing right away.”

Lee Shin called up a God Race player from the second team to be a practice partner.

Everyone was puzzled as Lee Shin suddenly began paying attention to Jung Da-ul. Soon, a rumor spread that Jung Da-ul had pleaded three times to take Lee Shin as a mentor.

“What’s the angle here?”

“Trying to raise one more useful player.”

“Is Da-ul useful?”

“Even if everything else fails, I can get him to have over a 60% win rate against God Race.”

“So you’re saying he’s a sniper……”

“Yes.”

Director Bang Jin-ho’s face showed interest.

If there’s one clear strength, it becomes easier for a director to strategize.

‘Weak against humans and God Race, so he might not be useful in the winner-stays-on format playoffs, but in the total-win format, he’s definitely usable.’

The winner-stays-on format meant the winner of a match kept playing the next opponent.

On the other hand, the total-win format had six players each play once against assigned opponents, and if the score tied at 3-3, each team’s representative would face off in an ace match to determine the winner.

Usually, round-robin league rounds used the total-win format, and playoffs and finals that determined the championship used the winner-stays-on format.

‘If Lee Shin’s plan works out, this could be good.’

If they could send Jung Da-ul into a map where the enemy team was likely to deploy a God Race player and guarantee a win!

If they had three players who could reliably deliver wins, and one ace who could win the ace match, the team could take the championship.

‘If Lee Shin returns as a player and becomes our ace……!’

If Lee Shin could return to even 70–80% of his former form!

Then this year’s MBS, previously considered in a slump, could surge back and earn enough points to qualify for the postseason.

This year, which they’d almost given up on, was once again becoming something to hope for.

Lee Shin became busy enough to need multiple bodies.

He had to practice himself, analyze other pro teams’ God Race and God Race players, and on top of that, oversee Judy and Jung Da-ul’s training.

Everything else was going well, but Judy and Jung Da-ul’s skills weren’t yet at the level for pro matches.

Judy lacked experience.

Jung Da-ul lacked game sense.

Because of those two reasons, their ability to respond to unexpected events during matches was terribly poor.

In situations they’d never experienced, they couldn’t rely on learned patterns—it all came down to instinct and game sense.

If one managed to turn a crisis around with brilliant improvisation, it became a legendary moment that fans would remember—but that was what both of them were most lacking.

‘I need to raise them to be ready for the second half of the season.’

He was pouring his own precious time—time that wasn’t even enough for himself—into these two.

So, he wanted to see the fruits of that effort as soon as possible.

Lee Shin made a drastic decision.

“Both of you, come here.”

Judy and Jung Da-ul were called before Lee Shin.

Lee Shin spoke.

“From now on, during free time after training, we’re doing special training.”

“Special training?”

“What, you don’t want to?”

“N-no.”

Jung Da-ul quickly shook his head. If he said no, Lee Shin would absolutely reply, “Then get lost.”

“Judy, you focus on humans. Jung Da-ul, on God Race. Watch matches from past first-team players. If there are any clever plays, tactics, or good improvisations, write them down in a notebook. At least ten matches a day.”

“Write them down in a notebook?”

“Yeah. Then memorize them. I’ll check every morning.”

Jung Da-ul looked stunned. He’d never heard of such an absurd training method.

“Judy, you’re not good at writing Korean, right?”

“No, not really……”

“Then just scribble however you want, as long as I can read it.”

“Okay.”

Thus, a new kind of training was added for the two of them.

‘If they don’t have experience or game sense, I’ll just force it into their skulls.’

Lee Shin, born into a distinguished family of educators, was a firm believer in rote forced memorization.

‘If they hadn’t force-fed stuff into their heads back in the Joseon era, they wouldn’t have learned the Thousand Character Classic.’

Whether it was the Four Books and Three Classics or anything else, you had to memorize them by force first. Only then would they become part of you and help cultivate a proper worldview.

…At least, that’s what his father, a university professor, always said.

‘I don’t like my father, but I agree with that part.’

So this strange memorization training began—but at first, it didn’t show much effect.

Lee Shin would randomly quiz them, and Judy and Jung Da-ul had to answer on the spot.

Watch ten games a day, and whenever a high-level play came up, write it down in your notebook and memorize it!

But when a week had passed, the effects finally began to show.

It was only natural—during practice, countless moments arose where they could put to use the content they had written down in their notebooks.

In each and every moment, knowing what to do meant fewer wasted movements and quicker reactions!

Lee Shin’s dogma finally began to shine.

Calmness in a crisis is what makes a top-class pro gamer.

If you’re faced with a crisis you already know, you can remain much calmer than when you’re faced with one you’ve never experienced.

Watching ten matches a day and learning how elite 1st team players dealt with crises, the two of them improved at lightning speed.

After work, Lee Shin would log in at home and play practice matches with the two of them online.

To give them a variety of experiences, Lee Shin used every method at his disposal.

You can only truly improve by experiencing things yourself.

Lee Shin placed the two in all sorts of situations.

Though it was manageable with humans, when it came to trying different attacks as the God Race, even Lee Shin had to do his own studying.

As a result, Lee Shin’s God Race skills suddenly began improving day by day. As he tried various attacks, the experience piled up and became his own know-how.

He didn’t realize it himself, but the rule that “you can only truly improve by experiencing things” was also applying to him.

The opening match of Round 4 of the 2020 Pro League was approaching.

Once this 4th round ended, the top 4 teams in the overall standings would advance to the postseason to compete for the final championship.

Teams that didn’t make it to the postseason would have no matches to play and would just have to sit out—so making it into the top 4 was essential.

For MBS, currently ranked 7th out of 8 teams, the 4th round was the last chance and had to be thoroughly prepared for.

Since most of MBS’s 1st team members were going through a serious slump, manager Bang Jin-ho decided to quickly test out the new faces, Judy and Jung Da-ul.

In the end, Judy and Jung Da-ul were to take the 1st team test together.

“Alright, listen up!”

Manager Bang Jin-ho gathered the players.

This wasn’t a 2nd team test for trainees—it was a selection test for the 1st team, and the atmosphere was far more solemn.

“All 10 first-team members will participate in this test. Obviously, don’t slack off—do your best. Depending on the results, you might lose your spot to them and be benched.”

Tension filled the room.

For 1st team players, appearing in official matches was of utmost importance.

They were already called “Dark Priests” for how little popularity they had.

If they didn’t even get to show their faces in matches, they’d be completely forgotten.

The names of all 10 first-team players were written on the whiteboard.

“Alright, we go in order. Judy, you’re up first!”

The test would rotate through the five most commonly used official maps.

“You’ll do great.”

Lee Shin lightly patted Judy’s shoulder to encourage her as she was visibly nervous.

Judy nodded with a wide smile, as if she’d never been nervous at all.

And so, the test began.

Judy’s playstyle reflected the latest trends of the human race.

Lee Shin’s fast-paced style of harassment and finishing moves wasn’t something she could pick up.

She lacked the fierce aggression, exceptional control, and creativity required.

So Lee Shin had Judy play strictly by the textbook—and the model for that was none other than Shin Ji-ho.

In fact, Lee Shin had a certain respect for Shin Ji-ho.

Of course, during his own pro days, Shin Ji-ho hadn’t been much of a threat.

But even when top Western leagues and pro teams were copying Lee Shin’s style, Shin Ji-ho had created entirely new builds and trends on his own, and that was something to be acknowledged.

Securing abundant resources through early expansion.

Defending to protect that expansion.

And finally, launching a full-scale attack with a full 200-population army.

Judy reproduced this three-beat formula for human race victory exactly.

Under Lee Shin’s guidance, there were no clumsy gaps in her play.

Win, loss, loss, win, win...

By her fifth match, Judy had already reached the passing threshold of 30% win rate.

But she continued piling up wins and losses after that.

True to the human race’s traits, she was strong against monsters and weak against the God Race.

But even in human vs. human matches, Judy showed her strengths. When both players use similar strategies, the more precise and meticulous one wins.

Judy had not a single idle unit, didn’t miss a beat, and executed her build orders without a single error.

And her final result: a 60% win rate.

She had defeated 3 monsters, 2 humans, and 1 God Race opponent.

“Wow!”

“That’s impressive!”

The veterans clapped.

The first-team players, sensing the appearance of a formidable rival, looked slightly uneasy.

Like a puppy, Judy ran straight to Lee Shin.

“I did well.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

“Then since I did well… the photo, okay?”

Lee Shin flinched.

His expression stiffened for a moment, but a promise was a promise.

“Do as you like.”

“Hehe.”

Judy took out her smartphone and snuggled up next to Lee Shin, snapping selfies together.

With Judy beaming brightly and Lee Shin looking annoyed, the photo turned out like a painting.

The players and trainees in the practice room giggled or stared in envy.

“Alright, next is Jung Da-ul!”

At manager Bang Jin-ho’s call, Jung Da-ul jumped up.

“Yes, sir!”

“Get ready. Same map rotation.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best!”

Jung Da-ul shouted energetically as he headed to his station.

His stiff expression carried both tension and determination.

The classic case of an egg trying to crack a rock.

This was the opportunity his life depended on.