Episode 19
After finishing his 30-minute run, Lee Dong-soo headed toward the gym owner.
"Dong-soo."
"Yes."
"Let me tell you what to watch out for during sparring. Sparring is only for checking your technique and improving your skills, not for knocking down your opponent."
Dong-soo looked up at the gym owner and thought:
If he'd been born in the old days, he'd have definitely become a mountain bandit leader.
"...So mind your manners, stay calm, and don't go all out. Understood?"
"Huh? Yeah, of course."
He hadn't actually heard a word.
'Well, I'll just treat it like a practice match.'
Though still young, Dong-soo possessed the sportsmanship expected of a pro athlete.
Even if he occasionally had childish thoughts.
"Alright, we'll start once they finish over there. Until then, think about which techniques you want to practice during sparring. Not that you've learned much yet."
"Yes, understood!"
"Good! That's the spirit!"
The gym owner ruffled Dong-soo's hair as he spoke.
"By the way, have you chosen your sparring partner?"
The fighters training here all loved games.
When virtual reality games first emerged, combat sports were predicted to be the first industry to die out. But ironically, as VR's popularity grew, so did interest in real combat sports.
The flashy skill-based battles in games and the raw, bloody fights in reality weren't replacements - they complemented each other.
And above all, VR games were simply fun for fighters too.
This was why Dong-soo couldn't help being popular at the gym.
Among men, someone who's great at games might as well be a god.
An 18-year-old pro gamer ranked second worldwide in the hottest game, with excellent social skills too?
Not befriending him would've been harder.
So the gym owner wasn't particularly concerned.
"Choose freely. Everyone will go easy on you."
Your sparring partner matters more than anything.
If they can't match your rhythm properly, you might gain nothing from the session - or worse, get injured.
And if they're more skilled with a nasty personality?
Pang! Pang!
Where they looked, a sparring match was already in full swing.
The gym owner watched with a resigned smile.
Jin Seo-jun.
That madman came back after so long just to crush rookies.
'Here to relieve stress again. I told everyone to avoid him.'
Watching the soon-to-debut rookie being toyed with by Seo-jun brought back memories.
He should've realized something was off when that handsome high schooler - the spitting image of his father - came whining with that absurd request about "learning modern martial arts" that didn't match his face at all.
That the kid was crazy.
If Dong-soo was the cute younger brother everyone wanted to play with,
Then that guy?
A stinging nettle.
Pleased with his apt metaphor, the gym owner nodded to himself.
Touch it and get stung. With innate talent of unknown origin.
No - even left alone, he'd come sting you himself.
Just today - returning after so long only to ignore training, loiter around giving unsolicited advice, until inevitably provoking a fight with some clueless rookie.
'The veterans will stop him. Seo-jun doesn't know restraint.'
He glared at the other fighters not intervening.
They watched the ring with excited eyes, like spectators observing a fire across the river.
'Need to console this one later.'
He sighed and looked away - then tensed upon seeing Dong-soo's gaze fixed on Seo-jun.
Not him...
'You'll gain nothing from being beaten by him.'
The sole reason Seo-jun remained despite tormenting fighters with his "advice" and superior skills?
Bizarrely, those who accepted his tutelage saw improved records.
'Not because his dad enrolled their whole family as paying members, nor hopes of recruiting him someday.'
Exactly.
Consider this - stinging nettles have poisonous spines on stems and leaves, but remove those and they become nutritious, versatile plants.
To the fighters, Seo-jun was useful.
But to current Dong-soo? Pure raw nettle with all spines intact.
While Seo-jun knew better than to harass civilians outside fighters, that only applied if unprovoked first.
"Can't I ask that guy over there?"
The forbidden words finally escaped Dong-soo's lips.
The gym owner deliberately looked away, pointing elsewhere.
"Oh, him?"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"No. Where are you pointing? They're completely different people!"
Dong-soo scratched his head awkwardly.
"I mean that guy sparring over there. First time seeing him. Would asking be rude?"
"What?! Yes! That's incredibly rude and improper! Ask someone you know, or I'll do it myself!"
It's been a while since we last sparred, and now we're going at it again.
The gym manager sighed in relief, thinking it was fortunate after all.
Meanwhile, Lee Dong-soo felt deep regret.
Because even Shin Ha-yeon had been impressed after watching that streamer Jin Seo-jun's videos.
'Is Min-hyeon hyung making such a big fuss and Ha-yeon noona really that impressed?'
Dong-soo couldn't accept this.
He'd actually planned to recreate Seo-jun's gameplay in Assassin's Creed: Dawn this afternoon.
Park Min-hyeon was a teammate he respected, and Shin Ha-yeon was someone he admired.
The fact that they acknowledged someone else didn’t sit right with him.
And now he’d missed this chance to overpower his rival in real life without even needing the game.
“Well, nothing we can do about it.”
Not that he cared about manners.
“Then you do it, Manager.”
Dong-soo quickly shook it off and prepared for sparring, extending the moves he’d learned over two weeks.
The manager smiled warmly, brought protective gear, and corrected his stance.
The warm atmosphere continued.
Until that guy showed up.
Someone approached them.
The manager identified who it was, sighed, and looked at the ring.
A newbie staring blankly into space as if in shock.
And a terrifying guy taking off his headgear with a calm, indifferent face—not even sweating.
“Hey. Heard you were talking about me earlier. Wanna spar?”
The manager could hear his plan to attract pro-gamer clients through Dong-soo crumbling away.
“Oh? I’m down. You’re Seo-jun hyung, right?”
“How’d you know my name?”
“Saw your stream. Ah, can I call you hyung?”
Seo-jun hadn’t realized his collab stream had this much impact. To be recognized just like that...
“Whatever.”
“Need to rest first?”
“Let’s go now.”
They stepped into the ring.
“Hyung, you’re pretty good at games though? Not as good as me, but still.”
“Yeah. But… who are you?”
Dong-soo had tried to provoke Seo-jun.
But it had zero effect. Seo-jun didn’t even know who Dong-soo was in the first place.
Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared much anyway.
Dong-soo was momentarily shocked—wondering if Seo-jun had just counter-provocated—but remembering this guy had only been gaming for three days fired up his competitive spirit.
“I’ll tell you after I win. You’ll consider it an honor later?”
“Sure. Let’s go then?”
Seo-jun finished speaking and threw a jab simultaneously. As the fist connected with his face, Dong-soo thought:
‘They said sparring requires proper etiquette…’
Wham!
That day,
Assassin’s Creed: Dawn was added to Dong-soo’s game library—his realization that reality was too much to handle.
Seo-jun and his father Jin Ha-joon were walking home from the gym together.
The two lived next door—more accurately, in Ha-joon’s building complex.
The reason was Ha-joon’s wife, who wanted to keep their son from moving out right after adulthood.
They’d compromised when Ha-joon offered the adjacent unit at half price.
Naturally, the landlord Ha-joon’s opinion hadn’t been reflected in this decision.
“Seo-jun, should’ve gone easier earlier. That kid looked like a regular civilian from his physique.”
How many athletes has my son made quit by now?
Ruthless kid either way.
“It’s fine. His footwork showed talent comparable to decent fighters—probably still building his physique.”
Dong-soo ultimately never revealed he was a pro gamer to Seo-jun.
“That so? How’s streaming going?”
“Good.”
“Well, your mom isn’t strongly against it anymore since they say it’s safe now… but isn’t streaming hard to succeed at?”
Ha-joon had heard from Tae-woo—how new streamers struggle to get even one viewer.
“Let me give you a pro tip—try StarCraft once. PC games are trending again recently. You could dominate that blue ocean. What d’ya think?”
For reference, Ha-joon was a hardcore PC gamer.
Not that he recommended it out of worry that capsule gaming might be dangerous for his son…
And PC games definitely weren’t trending again either.
“Is that really trending?”
“Whatever. So how many viewers you getting?”
“Hmm… Last time was 440. If I go live today, probably…”
Ha-joon was shocked at 440 viewers already.
“With 3,000 followers, I’d expect at least 1,500 viewers.”
Cough!
The unexpectedly high number made Ha-joon spit out his coffee.
“Why so high?”
“Got lucky, I guess.”
After the collab stream, Seo-jun’s followers had jumped to 1,000 initially—double his original 400s count.
Then Lee Su-han edited key moments into YouTube Shorts, which hit #15 on Gaming Trending videos, adding another 2,000 followers overnight—clear proof of YouTube’s influence.
“How lucky do you have to be… You didn’t do anything weird for attention, right?”
"Mom's going to take the capsule away from me right away."
Ha-jun's body trembled violently.
"Do you think I'd do that?"
"Well, not exactly..."
Still, 3,000 people seemed like an unreasonable number so soon after starting.
1,000 had actually been the minimum threshold Seo-jun and Tae-woo anticipated.
Seo-jun briefly opened the community page before starting his stream.
The forum had been flooded all day with posts about him and Alpaca following yesterday's collab.
He scrolled to the timestamp matching their collab's opening and began reading.
[About Seo-jun currently streaming]
[About Gyeol appearing on Alpaca's stream rn]
[250k points on 1% odds – biggest clown in history LMAOOOO]
-Someone really wasted years' worth of memories like a dumbassㅋㅋ
-Fr a predator's heart
-It's Joah though LOLOL
(best) If this hits, I'm grilling meat in Myeongdong's main square on Christmas Eve
└Isn't this that viral comment promise? Where's the backup singer and tambourine guy?
└I'll handle vocals
└Tambourine duty acquired
Seo-jun scrolled down to check newer replies.
└??????????????? It actually triggered? WHY????
└Don't you dare delete this comment
└Guys we're so fucked
└Some made 25M points while others get to be Myeongdong's Christmas clownsㅋㅋ
[Richard Neville Solo Guide]
(best) Oh? lol Watch the analysis vid and spam attacks to break armor fast?
└ + Tried it – barely broke armor after 10 tries before getting decapitated. Abort mission
└So Seo-jun one-shot everything first try?
└Nah that's bullshit fr – wait why am I top comment?
└You're meme material now
[Why does Gyeol get exclusive skills?]
[Who's catching The Dominator instead to verify?]
[How tf did Seo-jun even find Gyeol? Makes zero sense]
[TW) Owner of 25M real-time points (me btwㅋㅋ)]
[Weakness trigger conditions analysis]
[Holy shit Seo-jun's too handsome. Instant unfollow.]
Every post boasted 30+ upvotes.
No more reputation-bashing threads about Seo-jun appeared.
At least here, most community members now recognized him.
Then:
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seo-jun you gotta see this
Tae-woo's link led to a downvote-bombed, blurred post.
Seo-jun clicked [View Content].
[Why Streamer Seo-jun Cheats]
The lengthy rant boiled down to: His Gyeol sightings lacked consistency, and no others could replicate it.
Conclusion – either a dev insider or hacker.
Though rightfully hidden for absurdity, Tae-woo's link revealed several similar conspiracy threads.
Seo-jun snorted.
He recalled Tae-woo's prophecy: 'Get famous and they'll just find new shit to hate~.'
Ironically, the dev connection theory held superficial plausibility.
Chuckling, Seo-jun reported the post on Assassin's Dawn's site before entering his capsule.
He titled his stream and went live:
[I. Confess.]
'An apology stream on day three? Pathetic.'
Not that this was any real apology.
'How many will bite?'
His lips quirked upward.
[Viewers: 400]
400 viewers flooded in within seconds.
[Viewers: 700]
[Viewers: 1,300]
[Viewers: 1,500]
One minute later.
They'd already blown past Tae-woo's minimum estimate. As chat exploded, Seo-jun grinned.
"Tch. Hey everyone."
