Chapter 316 – 316. Inferiority and Respect (2)

“Now, wait a minute… Who is watching… “

As the Psychic approaches, Hwangbo Jiyeon is startled and she steps away from the man.

“Ah… It’s a psychic… “

After she finds him, she brushes her hair back shyly and looks at her.

His expression hardened at the unfamiliar appearance of her, which he had never seen before.

She was always strict with herself.
The girlish expression she made was enough to get on her psychic nerves.

“You… Have you decided to date at all?”
“…”

Hwangbo Jiyeon couldn’t answer the Psychick’s question and only rolled her eyes.
At that, the man standing behind her came forward and looked at the psychic.

She glares at him without losing Psychic either.

Since when did you become like this?

Psychic rolled his head and thought of his first meeting with director Kim Jeong-soo.
After becoming a pro gamer by Hwangbo Jiyeon, she has been receiving instruction on the game from him.

‘At that time, it felt like the sky.’

Looking back now, those were pretty happy days.
Hwang Ji-yeon was like a strict older sister, and Kim Jung-soo was like a playful older brother.

After practicing in the early morning, I would go to a convenience store to pick up some nonsense, or secretly research an interesting item tree.
Even thinking about it now, I have accumulated a lot of nostalgic memories.

“The old Jung Soo-hyung was like an older brother to me.”

Seeing his eyes as if he had been betrayed, Kim Jeong-soo’s steps also stop in place.
His words continued.

“That is why I… I wanted to jump over you even more.”

For Psychic, who was a high school student at the time, the existence of an older brother who was like the sky.
So, one day, the sudden announcement through Hwang Ji-yeon’s mouth was both shocking and thrilling.

It was about changing the position of Kim Jeong-soo to a supporter, and the vacancy was filled by Psychic.

‘I thought I surpassed my older brother after being recognized by my older sister.’

Afterwards, after working as a psychic and battle duo for a while, Kim Jung-soo became a complete bench member due to Kidd’s joining.
It was unfortunate that Kim Jeong-soo, who was like his older brother, actually retired, but on the other hand, I felt that a golden opportunity had come.

The reason is that he had a crush on Hwang Bo Ji-yeon, who was like the mother of Mad Tiger Gaming.
Jung Soo-hyung, who is like a childhood friend to her, is a thorn in the eye, so the fact that he has fewer opportunities to play an active role is something to welcome with open arms.

“But no matter how hard I tried, you never showed me any emotion beyond being a player and a coach.”

The psychic’s furious gaze is directed at Hwang Ji-yeon this time.
Her face is stained with regret.

A love that will never come true.

Psychic never imagined that his crush would be like that.
So, even when Kim Jung-soo eventually leaves the team, there has been no fruit so far, but he firmly believes that another opportunity has come.

“I thought I would be able to surpass my brother only this time. Yes, because I was the best one-hander on the best team. I only knew that I would finally be recognized by my older brother and loved by my older sister.”

A heartfelt psychic confession.
He seemed to think that everything was over, and in a voice that seemed like he was going to cry at any moment, he began to openly confess his embarrassing inner feelings.

“I thought I finally caught up… Suddenly what? Battle Angels? The first female game team to be promoted to the 1st division? How can things like this happen that can’t even be written in a drama script?”

A voice that sounds like it’s frustrating.
The trembling tone at the end of his words made it clear how much he was feeling unfair.

The confession of the psychic continues, leaving the two men and women frozen without any reaction.

“But now it’s done. After losing so badly, there’s no way I’ll ever get another chance.”
“I lost the championship once, so much… “
“My sister said it like a habit every day. It is a sin for pro gamers not to play games.”
“…”
“As of today, I will be retiring.”

Hwang Ji-yeon approached him with a surprised expression at his sudden shocking remark.

“Uh, don’t do that… What if you, a legendary player in Korea, just retire with something like this… “
“It has already been decided. It’s better to retire if you can’t be the best and you’re going downhill. Even so, I will continue to cheer on the path hyung and noona go. Well, even if it wasn’t for my support, I’d probably win the World Championship anyway… “
“…”

Psychic was unshakable, as if nothing could be undone no matter what he said.

“No matter how many times I try, I can’t break it, so there’s no need to cling to it. Thank you so much for teaching me so far. I really wanted to tell you this. Then I’ll leave.”

Leaving behind Hwang Ji-yeon’s worried gaze, Psychic turned around.

“Psychic.”

And at that moment, director Kim Jeong-soo, who had been still, called him.
Psychic, who was about to leave quickly, stopped in place at his call.

I wonder if he is thinking of telling me not to retire because he has sympathy now.
Or is it that he doesn’t care if he retires or not?

Psychic kept his expressionless face and turned around to look at Kim Jeong-soo.

###

To be honest, it was a dumb story.
How could the Psychic have worked so hard to outrun me?

In addition, a sincere confession showed even a sense of inferiority at first glance.
It was quite shocking to me, who was just a comfortable little brother.

‘Still, I can’t let him retire like this.’

I’m not sure what feelings he had for me, but it didn’t seem to matter too much.
Because in the end, the malice was so weak that it had no effect on me.

Besides, there is also the point that I didn’t want to be harsh with my younger brother, who admired and followed me for my past self.

I said sternly as I crossed my arms.

“So you’re only doing this much?”
“Yes?”

Psychic put on a dazed expression as if he had heard an answer he never thought of.

I gradually raised my voice and started scolding him.

“Are you not good enough for that? If you’re going to jump on it, you’ll have to bite hard even if it falls all the way to the floor while listening to the sound of sediment!”
“Under. Yes… ?”

Psychic, who stuttered at my shouting, immediately raised his voice as if something had risen.

“What do you know?! I worked hard too! I thought something would change if I won ACK… I knew it would be different if I won the World Championship! But nothing has changed!”
“Ah, good job. So are you going to stop now? Then, why not become a monk somewhere in the mountains? You should have done better than tried! The World Championship was only runner-up!”

How many times have we screamed at each other?
Hwang Ji-yeon, who was making a ridiculous expression, came to her senses and smiled subtlely, and our quarrel ended.

“…”
“…”

An awkward silence prevailed.
Besides, I feel like my head is clear after shouting to the fullest in the middle of it.

As the psychic excitement subsided, he glanced at me to see if his thoughts had changed.
I nodded my head as if to do as I thought.

“There are still many opportunities left. If you want to jump over me, keep running forward. It’s too good to stop here.”
“…”

Psychic put his hand in his pocket as if he didn’t like it.
But the atmosphere was definitely different from before.

“Come to think of it, you’re right.”
“…”
“It’s a national loss if a genius like me quits as a professional gamer because of adversity like this.”

However, instead of getting rid of his inferiority complex, he seemed to have suffered from a more serious illness.
He looked at me with a confident smile.

“I’m sure you’re telling me to keep going. I won’t really look at you next time, so don’t regret it.”
“Okay, do the best you can. I’ll break it down next time without any more whining.”
“So does my sister.”

Next, the gaze of the psychic turned to Hwang Ji-yeon.
She was looking at him with an uncharacteristically faint smile.

“There will come a day when you will regret abandoning me.”
“Yes, try your best to do so.”
“…Sheesh.”

Seeing her easily accepting the word that she had abandoned him, he turned her head away as if he was hurt as well, but this time he didn’t seem discouraged.

Burrrr…

Sometimes the cell phone rings.
When I answered the phone, I was told by Steph that the interview would start soon and to come back quickly.

“Then see you next time.”
“Yes or no.”

Unlike the first time we met, the psychic spoke in a much softer tone, tickling.
Seeing that, it seemed like he had returned to the same person he used to call him hyung and followed him around.
I waved my hand at him, grabbed Hwang Ji-yeon’s wrist, and left.

Thanks to that, I heard a psychic voice from the back shouting that this time I trusted my brother, but I was betrayed again, but I didn’t care.