Chapter 376 – 376. Special Training (4)
We got back together for play the game and the last scrim of the day.
Among our players, there were players who had become close friends with the Play the Game players, and players who were still face to face.
Among them, the girl who was hanging out with them as if it was natural was Han Yuna.
In the dorm, she prefers to look into her phone and giggle rather than talk, but outside of her, she often shows a higher level of personality than anyone else.
On the other hand, there were girls like Lee Ji-ah and Lee Ji-hye who didn’t interact with players from other teams at all.
Even when Plathegem’s players spoke to them, they simply answered with short answers.
Ji-ah Lee hesitated and didn’t even open her mouth.
‘But this is a bit unexpected.’
In the meantime, what I hadn’t even thought of was the top laner side.
Kang Yul, Heo Sook-hee, and Becom, the top laner of PLD, were talking as if they were quite friendly.
‘Did we become a little closer after going out and coming back together?’
However, when I looked at them a little more closely, I could see that they weren’t just having fun talking.
It feels like pretending to be happy while forcibly dragging out the story.
‘Both of them are in a state where their social skills are broken, so why are they working so hard all of a sudden?’
I felt sorry for them, but it was true that neither of them could get along well with people in different directions.
Heo Sook-hee’s was because of her temperamental temperament, and Kang Yul’s was because of her quiet and introverted personality.
But the two of them are suddenly actively exchanging words with a man they don’t know?
‘What kind of plan is this?’
As I was looking at them absurdly, Kang Yul, who was glancing sideways, met my eyes.
Kang Yul looked at her in surprise, unlike her.
Aww.
From this, I could see that they were conscious of me and doing things they wouldn’t normally do.
I still don’t know exactly why, but it was clear that it was nothing to worry about.
‘Shall we watch a little more?’
Seeing Sook-hee Heo continue her conversation in English with BeCom player, she laughed for some reason, so she decided to leave it alone for the time being.
###
The third day of the group stage, when Group B matches are over and Group C matches begin, is approaching.
Like yesterday, the Battle Angels gathered in the Play the Game practice room and hurriedly prepared for practice.
It was the same today as playing the game and practicing together, but with one difference, Mad Tiger Gaming also participated in the practice.
“Oh… Director Jung Soo, long time no see.”
After waiting for a while, Park Seong-pil, general manager of Mad Tiger, opened the door and came in.
I was delighted and ran to him in a month.
“Long time no see. Director.”
Speaking of General Manager Park Seong-pil, he is like my teacher who has been in charge since I was at Mad Tiger Gaming.
It is needless to say that he was favored by Chairman Kim Yong-dae, who left his family due to business failure at the time, as he acted as a father on behalf of Chairman Kim Yong-dae.
He opened his mouth with a look of admiration.
“I never thought I would meet you at the World Championship as a coach like you… “
And it wasn’t just me and director Park Seong-pil that were quite moved.
Hwang Ji-yeon, who was on one side, is also looking at him with a nostalgic look.
Upon discovering Hwang Ji-yeon, director Park Seong-pil grinned.
“Hey, traitor. How are you?”
“Yes… Thanks.”
“I feel good because I think I met the best players I always talked about. Let’s do our best until the finals.”
Hearing his words, Hwang Ji-yeon nodded slowly.
General Manager Park Seong-pil said that we would meet in the finals, but to be honest, it was quite a difficult wish to come true.
Assuming that Crystal Snake and Tintin Chimera, the most likely candidates for the championship, will each rise to the top of the group, Mad Tiger Gaming must beat Tintin Chimera and we must beat Crystal Snake to advance to the finals.
“Let the players talk to each other, shall we talk to each other?”
Perhaps because of that, director Park Seong-pil opened his mouth with a serious face.
As I nodded and tried to enter the small room attached to the practice room, I saw the players from Mad Tiger Gaming just entering the room.
“Ah… “
Mad Tiger Gaming’s One Deal, Psychic, that caught my eye.
He checked Hwangbo Jiyeon next to me and turned her head away as if her mood was offended.
It seems that he still has no feelings for Hwang Bo Ji-yeon.
The rest of the players come in one by one and say hello to the Battle Angels players and the Play the Game players.
As I watched, I turned my attention to that side and turned my steps back into the room.
Me, Hwang Ji-yeon, coach Park Seong-pil and coach Mesa took their seats at the table.
“Thank you for joining us in our joint practice today! I hope we can stay in a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Coach Mesa spoke to her first with a bright smile.
Director Park Seong-pil held out his hand with a hearty smile.
“I am also honored to be able to scrim with Play the Game, the reigning American.”
“Ah… “
A smile that can’t be hidden spreads across Coach Mesa’s lips.
Director Park Seong-pil, who boiled her lightly, returned to her serious face again.
“Today’s scrims and practice are of course important, but I called them separately because I had something I really wanted to say to the people here.”
“…What is that?”
I was the same, and Hwang Ji-yeon seemed to have never seen such a serious director Park Seong-pil.
And soon, the reason why he had no choice but to speak seriously was revealed.
“Did you know that there is a strange drug going around at the World Championships?”
“…”
It’s finally here.
I nodded quietly.
###
It was in the match against WM Winners, who realized in earnest that someone was cheating on them in the league.
The WM Winners’ master coach tried to beat us to the point of drugging the players.
‘In fact, looking back, there were already several suspicious circumstances.’
A lot of suspicious things happened at critical moments.
The most recent event was the match between Mad Tiger Gaming and Tintin Gaming in the finals of last year’s World Championship in 2054.
According to Hwangbo Jiyeon’s testimony, whether she herself or her players, her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she could not even perform half of her usual skills, she said.
‘Let’s go back to the old days… ‘
2050.
My first world championship final stage was also an example.
At that time, for unknown reasons, I messed up my condition, and I lost the game just like that.
“There is a guess.”
I nodded at Director Park Seong-pil’s words and looked at him.
Hwangbo Jiyeon also had her face hardened.
“To?”
It was the first time coach Mesa had ever heard such a reaction.
Director Park Seong-pil continued to speak.
“And as you might have guessed… Perhaps the team doing the tweaks is on the Chinese side.”
This, too, was well known.
That’s also true, because both of the aforementioned cases happened in the match against the Chinese team, and thanks to the master coach’s confession, he even knew that there was a company supplying the medicine there.
“That is… What team is it?”
At this point, Coach Mesa guessed which team we were talking about and asked with a serious face.
Director Park Seong-pil looks at me.
Are you waiting for me to tell you?
There was nothing I couldn’t do, so I opened my mouth.
“Tin-Tin Chimera.”
“…”
“Do you think you can become physically strong that much in a short period of time?”
Coach Mesa guessed to some extent, but he was shocked and couldn’t say anything with his mouth open.
Next, director Park Seong-pil took out the papers of Juseom Juseom.
“If you look at their actions, you can see that it makes even more sense. Of the seven registered players on the roster, five are new freshmen this year.”
“…”
“Plus, one or two of them are so ignorant of the game that they only encountered Arena for the first time this year. Besides, they say they are from a minority in the outskirts of China.”
Suspicious, Suspicious
The more Park Seong-pil’s explanation continued, the more I could see how unrealistic their existence was.
I added a little more strength to his guess.
“I think I used something like a drug that increases my physical strength. There was a team in the Korean league that used a similar drug.”
“Well, then we formally file a complaint with the Association!
Coach Mesa, realizing the seriousness of the matter, exclaimed with excitement, but the rest of us only answered silently.
Then she, too, realizing that objection was hopeless, bit her lip.
“My personal guess is that Tintin Chimera is not just a gaming team. A larger group will surely be looking after you. I don’t think it will be easy to impose sanctions unless it is controversial.”
If the three clubs gathered here raise suspicions together, it will definitely have an effect, but in the end, if conclusive evidence is not captured, it will only prove that they are innocent.
If you weren’t sure, you shouldn’t bet on the match, so it was time to pretend you didn’t know even if you knew.
“Then what should I do now… ?”
Coach Mesa asked with a worried expression.
It was a question that no one could give a clear answer to, but director Park Seong-pil, the organizer of the meeting, spoke on behalf of the group.
“There is nothing we can do right now, so we will have no choice but to gather people and wait for the right time.”
It was exactly what I wanted to say, so I also nodded.
Coach Mesa didn’t seem to like the answer, but he didn’t have much of a point, so he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
“Then, let’s keep all the stories we just heard in our hearts, and let’s practice together, shall we?”
Then, following the words of director Park Seong-pil, we came out.
Then, for some reason, I realized that the atmosphere in the practice room was getting colder.
‘What happened again?’