“Lee Shin?!”

Hwang Byeong-cheol felt like his heart was going to stop the moment he saw Lee Shin.

He had come out to calm his nerves, but ended up running into the very person who made him the most uneasy.

Lee Shin was loitering in front of a drink vending machine, but oddly enough, he wasn’t actually getting a drink.

Upon seeing Hwang Byeong-cheol, Lee Shin waved his right hand.

“Long time no see.”

“...Yeah.”

Hwang Byeong-cheol was 23 years old.

He and Lee Shin, who was two years older, had met many times before and were on casual speaking terms, calling each other "hyung" and "younger brother." Of course, their relationship had grown awkward once they became rivals.

“I’ll take a Pocari.”

“......”

Lee Shin naturally expected Hwang Byeong-cheol to buy him a drink.

Though briefly taken aback, Hwang Byeong-cheol calmly bought two Pocari Sweat drinks.

‘Goddamn it, I ended up getting one too.’

Hwang Byeong-cheol could hardly stay calm.

Of all things, why did he have to wave his right hand? The sight of his right wrist was driving Hwang Byeong-cheol insane.

“Don’t vending machines take 50,000 won bills these days?”

Lee Shin mumbled as he received the drink.

‘Of course they don’t!’

Hwang Byeong-cheol found himself irrationally irritated at everything Lee Shin did.

It couldn’t be helped.

[Lee Shin on conspiracy theories involving Hwang Byeong-cheol: “He’s not that far gone.”]

[Lee Shin directly hits Hwang Byeong-cheol: “He’s lost it.”]

Because of Lee Shin’s blunt words in interviews, online communities had dubbed Hwang Byeong-cheol the nickname “Insane Monster.”

Just when he was already stressed out over Jang Min-jae, those articles pushed him over the edge.

‘He says whatever he wants just because he has a mouth! Must be nice not having time to get stressed!’

In an awkward silence, the two drank their beverages.

Lee Shin stared directly at Hwang Byeong-cheol.

Hwang Byeong-cheol felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze.

Lee Shin spoke.

“You tend to rush things when you get nervous.”

A sudden and contextless remark.

But Hwang Byeong-cheol’s heart sank.

He had planned to use a 5-Roach build against Shin Ji-ho in the fourth set.

Somehow, Lee Shin had seen right through his mindset—trying to force an early victory out of panic.

“Good luck.”

Lee Shin tossed the empty can and walked away.

Left alone, Hwang Byeong-cheol muttered blankly.

“He thinks I’m nervous?”

Wasn’t that the same as saying he looked scared right now in Lee Shin’s eyes?

The first match of Round 1 ended in a hard-fought win for Ssangseong Electronics.

Hwaseong Electronics seemed to regain momentum when Hwang Byeong-cheol, who had been in a slump, defeated Shin Ji-ho in the fourth set.

But with the score tied at 3-3, they had to go into an ace match. There, Hwaseong’s ace, Hwang Byeong-cheol, lost to Ssangseong’s Choi Young-joon.

He had failed to avenge his previous 0-3 humiliation against Choi Young-joon in the individual league semifinals.

Thus, the image that Hwang Byeong-cheol was inferior to Choi Young-joon became even more entrenched.

And then...

-Everyone, thank you for waiting! At last, the highly anticipated match between MBS and CT is about to begin!

The audience filling the stadium erupted into thunderous cheers.

-The players from both teams who will be competing today are entering now! Please come up to the stage!

As the announcement ended, the five players from each team lined up and began making their way onto the stage.

Following Judy and Jung Da-ul, Lee Shin entered and the cheers reached a deafening roar.

-Wow, there’s a familiar face! It’s Lee Shin! It’s been a while!

Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol approached Lee Shin. Lee Shin took the mic and nodded.

“Yes.”

A short answer.

The audience burst into laughter.

Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol also laughed and said:

-I mean, can’t you say something like, “Nice to see you again,” or “You look well”?

“Yes.”

The laughter grew louder.

-Yes, yes, I guess I shouldn’t expect too much. Anyway, you became quite famous for your prophetic commentary. Can you give us a prediction today? What will the score be?

Lee Shin thought for a moment before answering.

“I think it’ll either be 3-3 and go to an ace match, or we’ll win 4-2.”

“Ooooh!”

“Waaaah!”

Fans of Lee Shin and MBS cheered loudly.

-...Well then, what does CT think about that?

With that, Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol handed the mic to Lee Cheol-han.

Lee Cheol-han said:

“It seems like Lee Shin is targeting me by appearing in the third set today, but I’ll show him the result of such arrogance. We won back in the round 3 playoff finals too. We’ll beat MBS 5-1.”

“Ooooh!”

This time, CT’s fans cheered. Unlike Lee Shin’s fans, most of them were male.

-And Lee Shin, what are your thoughts on that?

Like he was trying to stir conflict, Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol bounced back and forth between the two sides.

Lee Shin said:

“Seems like he’s in the middle of puberty—he’s gotten a lot more reckless since I last saw him.”

“Wahahaha!”

The audience roared with laughter. Even Lee Cheol-han chuckled, his face slightly red.

The interviews continued down the line and reached Judy.

“player Levelin, it’s your first time appearing today. Could you introduce yourself?”

Judy took the mic and blinked her big eyes as she looked out at the audience.

“Hello, I’m Judy. I’m from Canada, and I’m a human.”

The men in the stadium applauded warmly at Judy’s cute expression, now filling the big screen.

-Yes, she says she’s a human from Canada.

Laughter broke out again at Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol’s words.

-Judy, it’s said that you’re a disciple of the god. Is that true?

“Yes...”

-Since you’ve spent time with Lee Shin as a master and disciple, I imagine the two of you have gotten pretty close, right? Isn’t that the case?

Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol asked playfully, with a teasing tone.

Misunderstanding the meaning, Judy blinked and then nodded.

“Yes, it’s the seat right next to me.”

-Ah, I see. You’ve really become close. Congratulations.

It was caster Lee Byeong-cheol once again wrapping up the player interviews with a smile.

The players returned to their respective team benches on both sides of the stage, and finally, the match began.

First up was Judy.

Her opponent was the God Race player Park Jin-soo.

He was the veteran who had scored three kills with a gambling strategy in the finals of the third round playoffs just recently.

A rookie making her debut versus a seasoned strategist.

It was not an ideal match-up.

“He might go for a Center Confessional. If that’s confirmed, don’t panic and follow my instructions.”

With that, Judy etched Lee Shin’s strategy explanation firmly into her mind.

Finally, it was just before the match began.

Judy was called by a staff member and entered the soundproof booth set up on the stage.

Lee Shin, along with manager Bang Jin-ho and other team members, watched the game from the team bench through the PC setup.

-This is the first player Lee Shin has trained as a coach! There’s been a lot of buzz lately calling her God’s disciple, right? Judith Levelin!

-To uphold her master’s honor, she’ll have to show a good performance today.

-Absolutely! Just standing on this stage, having come all the way from Canada, is pressure enough! And on top of that, she has to live up to the title of being God’s disciple, so she must be extremely nervous in many ways! But hard training never betrays. If she stays calm, she’ll be able to show the skill she’s honed in practice.

-Right. Players often say they just want to perform as well as they practiced. It’s that hard to fully bring out your abilities on stage. Especially for a rookie making her debut……!

After the commentator and caster’s introductions, the match finally began.

Judith Levelin vs. Park Jin-soo.

The map was Willpower.

Just as expected, Park Jin-soo went for the Center Confessional.

He built a Confessional at the center of the map and began summoning Fanatics.

Meanwhile, a scouting Acolyte built a Mineral Refinery (a God Race structure that gathers resources from mines) inside Judy’s main base mine.

-Ahhh, Park Jin-soo! He’s pulling off a mine terror strategy along with a Center Confessional! He’s once again deploying the early gambit that worked well against MBS last time!

Mine terror was a strategy of preemptively building a structure in the opponent’s mine, effectively blocking them from gathering minerals.

This was intended to delay the production of high-speed tanks, which were the natural counters to Fanatics.

-Because she’s a rookie, he calculated she’d be weak against these unexpected situations.

-But if it were Lee Shin as the opponent, this kind of move wouldn’t even make it off the ground. Yet he’s pulling this gamble against his disciple, Judy!

-Haha, Lee Shin is so good at control. I’m not sure if Judy has fully learned that yet. She’s a woman, so her hands might be slower and her control weaker.

The Fanatics began charging out from the Confessional.

Judy also began producing infantry from her Barracks.

But a single infantryman wasn’t enough to deal with the powerful Fanatics.

Judy even mobilized her construction robots.

-Here come the Fanatics! Along with an Acolyte, they’re running wild in the main base, but Judy is responding calmly! However—Ah! One, two! Construction robots keep getting taken out!

-As expected of Park Jin-soo. He’s excellent at control in these kinds of fights.

Judy was overwhelmed—trying to stop the Fanatics, destroy the Mineral Refinery built in the mine, it was a whirlwind.

But she remained calm.

Without panicking, she carefully executed the plays she needed to make.

And then……

-Oh!

-Double Barracks!

Judy secretly pulled one construction robot aside and built another Barracks in a corner outside her natural expansion.

This was a countermeasure Lee Shin had whispered to her in advance.

Park Jin-soo continued to harass her with wave after wave of Fanatics.

-Ah, Park Jin-soo is persistent! But he needs to realize that what he’s seeing might not be all of her infantry!

Judy successfully defended using the multiple infantry units produced from two Barracks.

Unaware of the second Barracks, Park Jin-soo lost his Fanatics to the infantry that suddenly appeared from behind.

Next came Judy’s counterattack.

She produced Mobile Turrets from the Armored Depot and completed the Turret Mode upgrade. Then she began her advance.

Twelve infantry, two construction robots, and four Mobile Turrets all advanced at once!

To avoid being detected, she carefully bypassed the Confessional at the center of the map with a flanking route, showing remarkable caution.

In a flash, she stormed Park Jin-soo’s base and raided his natural expansion.

Park Jin-soo counterattacked with four Colossi and three Fanatics.

But the Mobile Turrets, spaced in a crane-wing formation, simultaneously fired and melted his forces.

Park Jin-soo declared GG.

-Park Jin-soo GG!

-Her decision to calmly switch to a double-Barracks build was brilliant!

Judy jumped for joy as she came out of the booth and high-fived the MBS players.

Lee Shin also held out his hand for a polite high-five.

But Judy ignored his hand and instead threw herself into his arms.

With Judy hugging him and Lee Shin’s bewildered expression displayed on the giant screen, the crowd erupted with screams, cheers, and laughter, filling the stadium.

After that incident, the second set began with Jeong Da-ul stepping up.

However, unlike Judy, Jeong Da-ul couldn’t perform well due to nervousness.

His hands were shaking, and he kept making control mistakes, leading to a disappointing showing.

With Jeong Da-ul’s loss, the score became 1 to 1.

‘It’s my turn now.’

Lee Shin slung his gaming backpack over his shoulder and stood up from his seat.