The match ended, and a victory interview followed.

It was an interview for the viewers watching online.

From MBS, Judy and Lee Shin participated, while CT had four players join in.

Indeed, the match ended with CT’s victory at 2 to 4.

When Lee Shin defeated Lee Cheol-han at the Corrupted Constellation, MBS’s momentum had surged dramatically.

They faced the next, fourth set enveloped in the crowd's excitement.

But that was as far as it went.

Loss after loss!

Starting with Park Shin in the fourth set, followed by Choi Chan-young and Kim Young-pyo—each of them clearly demonstrated why MBS was a lower-ranked team.

The heat that Lee Shin had built up began to cool from the fourth set, and by the end of the sixth, it had turned into disappointment.

If even one person had won, it would have been 3 to 3.

They could’ve seen one more match from Lee Shin in the ace decider.

But they couldn’t even manage that, and fans all agreed that MBS’s first team was truly the Dark Priest Legion.

One audience member holding a placard reading “Can’t even win one?” was even shown on the big screen.

-Wow, contrary to the prophecy, your team lost today. How do you feel?

“How do you think I feel?”

-Haha, probably not great. But you personally took down CT’s ace, Lee Cheol-han, in style. You even won the Match of the Day award. Isn’t it nice to make such a grand return?

“No, not very nice.”

-Whew, they say the hardest thing in the world is interviewing Lee Shin when he's in a bad mood. I can confirm it’s true—this is tough.

The other five players in the interview burst into laughter.

Commentator Lee Byeong-cheol kept speaking to Lee Shin with a sly grin.

-So, you're happy with your win, right?

“Yes.”

-How would you score your own performance?

“Perfect.”

-Oh wow, quite generous with yourself, unlike your image?

“I completed all my objectives without any mistakes. Not a single Bomber Bug was allowed to self-destruct; I shot them all down.”

-So even objectively speaking, you’re just that amazing?

“...I'm just saying it was a good performance.”

-Which means you’re saying you're amazing, right?

The other players chuckled.

Lee Byeong-cheol had enough skill as a caster to leave Lee Shin momentarily speechless.

Meanwhile, viewers watching the interview online were flooding the chat with live comments.

Since it was Lee Shin’s return match, the number of viewers hit an all-time high.

-Yeah, he’s just that good…

-I got hyped after watching Lee Shin’s play and tried piloting a stealth unit myself. Not even close. How does he do that?

-Lee Cheol-han had no answer. Should’ve spawned some Venom Bugs or something—what was that?

-Going pure air units against Lee Shin without a single ground unit, LOL. Lee Cheol-han seriously overestimated himself, LOL.

-Did you see the ending? He surrounded the Bomber Bugs and pulled off five turning shots in a zigzag. Absolutely insane.

-One slip and it would've been a disaster, but he didn’t make a single mistake, LOL.

-Oh God! ㅠㅠ

-At this point, someone better run a doping test.

-Is it true Lee Shin came today in a Rolls-Royce Phantom instead of the team car?

-Damn, I had quit following him, but now I feel like checking the Lee Shin Church café again.

-LOL even the Lee Shin sect leader was caught on camera.

-Cheering for her future husband, lol.

-Judy’s surprise hug was hilarious too, LOL.

-Still, Lee Shin saved face for MBS. At least he and his disciple managed two wins. Almost ended up with 0–4. Shivers.

-He’s carrying the team’s revenue too, LOL.

-Bang Jin-ho needs to be fired. Fans have been too forgiving because of his manly image.

-No no no, it's the upper management at the station that are the idiots. Don’t blame Manager Bang. Grrr.

The next interview was with Judy.

-Player Judy, congratulations on your first debut win.

“Thank you.”

Judy bowed politely.

-You shut down Park Jin-soo’s Center Confession Room beautifully today. What was your secret?

“Coach told me to do it that way.”

-Ah, Lee Shin told you to respond like that if he comes to the Center Confession Room?

“Yes.”

-So while Coach Lee Shin’s guidance was clearly great, if there’s one thing you think you did especially well?

Judy didn’t quite understand and needed the question repeated once more.

She nodded and answered.

“I did what Coach told me very well.”

-LOL

-Too cute, LOL

-Such an obedient kid, LOL

-The birth of a faithful believer.

-Of course she did well. She followed God’s word.

-Between the hug earlier and now, Judy totally gives off Lee Shin Sect vibes.

-You had a successful debut match—what are your aspirations going forward as a player?

“He told me to become a player who maintains at least a 50% win rate every year.”

-Ah, your coach?

“Yes.”

-LOL every answer ends with ‘Coach’, LOL

-Why is she so cute, LOL

-Judy ♡

-She’s totally a fan of her master, haha

Judy’s quirky charm won over the online audience, and the comments flooded in with warm responses.

-Alright, then let’s also hear from Lee Shin, who returned as a player today. What are your goals?

Receiving the mic, Lee Shin spoke calmly.

“The contract states I receive 10 million won per win, and 20 million won per win during the ace decider, playoffs, or postseason. I will win a lot and earn a lot of money.”

-Phew, you already have so much—why show such ambition? Was the Rolls-Royce Phantom too much of a stretch after all?

“I have something I want to do.”

-Yes, yes, I have tons of things I’d like to do if I had money too. One of them being marriage… Anyway, that was Lee Shin’s goal! The playoffs and postseason use a win-streak format, so it’s scary to even put him in as lead-off. If he sweeps the match, that’s a hundred million won! Wow!

-Shocking!

-10 million per win?

-If he hits over 90% win rate like in his prime… gasp!

-MBS management: Oh crap, damn…

-The rich really are worse, sheesh.

-Isn’t he actually going to make over a billion won this year?

-Even if he says that, the way MBS is performing, they won’t even make it to the postseason.

-Forget postseason—at this rate they won’t even reach Round 4 playoffs. Tsk tsk.

Lee Shin's return match and Judy's debut match were successful, but MBS, where all the other players lost miserably, was in a bad mood.

“It’s understandable that Da-ul was nervous since it was his first time, but what about the rest of you? Were you nervous too? Was it your first time on stage?!”

Manager Bang Jin-ho's loud scolding echoed throughout the practice room.

Not only the culprits of the loss—Jung Da-ul, Park Shin, Choi Chan-young, and Kim Young-pyo—but also the other players bowed their heads.

“At least show half the skill you do during practice!”

Manager Bang Jin-ho was clearly frustrated.

Even Judy, who was usually shy, surprisingly adapted well to the stage and demonstrated her abilities. But when even the first-team players, including Jung Da-ul, performed terribly, it was no wonder Bang Jin-ho was at his wits' end.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Manager Bang Jin-ho returned to the seat next to Lee Shin.

“This is driving me crazy. We already have a match against JKT next week, but with everyone like this, I have no idea who to send out.”

“It seems the kids are weak on stage,” said Lee Shin.

“Exactly! They're supposed to be the ones with the most guts…”

“Then let’s just make the practice room feel like a real stage.”

“What?”

Lee Shin explained his idea to Manager Bang Jin-ho.

After listening, Manager Bang Jin-ho nodded.

“Not bad. Let’s try it.”

The next day.

Players who arrived at the practice room early in the morning were startled by the completely transformed space.

A huge projector screen, about 100 inches wide, was installed on one wall.

Two computers were set up facing each other in the center of the room, and the tables and chairs normally used for breaks and snacks were now arranged like an audience area.

Though there was no soundproof booth, the two PC seats facing each other were surrounded by glass partitions, and noise-canceling headsets were provided.

It looked just like a makeshift competition stage.

“Starting today, those who are called will practice here as if it's a real match.”

Manager Bang Jin-ho continued.

“Practice matches will be shown to everyone through the projector. And spectators will write one-line evaluations anonymously, which will be delivered to the player. In short, this makeshift arena is a place for public evaluation.”

The purpose was to simulate the pressure of an official match as much as possible so the players could get used to performing live.

The first-team players felt the pressure.

Their play would be exposed for all to see through the projector.

That alone wasn’t too bad, but even the second-team players and trainees would evaluate them anonymously.

If they played poorly, they might receive evaluation sheets filled with harsh criticism—a humiliating prospect.

“Let’s begin right away. Jung Da-ul and Park Shin, step forward.”

The two players called out stepped into the makeshift booth with glass partitions. They set up their gear on the PCs and put on the noise-canceling headsets.

Jung Da-ul, who had displayed extreme nervousness and poor performance in his debut match, had a stiff expression on his face.

If he performed poorly again, the first-team spot he barely earned might be in jeopardy—that was the sense of crisis he felt.

‘This time for sure…!’

Jung Da-ul earnestly wished he’d be given one more chance. And to get that, he had to prove his skill to Manager Bang Jin-ho here.

Thus, this unusual training began under the gaze of everyone.

The newly introduced training received a fairly good response.

The anonymous evaluations allowed for objective and blunt feedback, which was helpful.

Also, the glass partitions and noise-canceling headsets gave a similar feeling to an actual arena.

In any case, MBS steadily continued their preparations for the next match.

Then, MBS received an unexpected official document from the Korean eSports Association.

An English document along with its Korean translation was sent via email.

To summarize its contents:

[The U.S. SC Pro League Association would like to invite your team’s player, Lee Shin, to Las Vegas for the opening event of the second half of the Pro League.]

The U.S. SC Pro League!

They were inviting Lee Shin to the biggest eSports stage in the world.

They even offered a large payment, not only to Lee Shin himself but to MBS as well.

What they wanted from Lee Shin was an exhibition match.

A match against Michael Joseph, who had narrowly lost to Choi Young-jun at the recent World SC Grand Prix and placed 4th.

They wanted to show American fans a match between Michael Joseph—who had been raised as the next Lee Shin—and Lee Shin, his role model.

“They want me to go all the way to the U.S. to fight Michael Joseph?”

Lee Shin frowned. It seemed he disliked the idea of traveling to the U.S.

Manager Bang Jin-ho explained.

“It’s a best-of-three match. Just one series, and you’ll be paid one million dollars. No win bonus—just a guaranteed million! That’s about 1.1 billion won in Korean money.”

Following him, director Park Sang-hyuk also explained enthusiastically.

“For reference, they’re offering our team 500,000 dollars as well. You said in your last interview you wanted to earn a lot of money.”

Lee Shin thought it over carefully.

‘Michael Joseph, huh…’

Michael Joseph was a young Black player who mirrored his playstyle almost identically.

Personally, he was the most fearsome prospect Lee Shin had seen at the World SC Grand Prix.

Lee Shin said,

“There’s no reason to refuse.”

And just like that, Lee Shin’s trip to Las Vegas was suddenly decided.