Chapter 14: New Face (Part 1)

As soon as I made up my mind, I tapped on my smartphone.

-Tap tap! Tap!

Slender fingers press the keyboard on the screen.

Soon, consonants and vowels combine to create the word ‘swordsman’ in the search bar.

I lightly pressed the search button.

Then, instantly, countless results filled the smartphone screen.

“There are more results than I thought.”

But there’s no need to look at all the search results.

That would be a waste of time.

The traditional and deeply rooted method to choose in this situation is.

‘I should check the wiki first, right?’

I tapped on the wiki at the top of the search results.

Then, the entry immediately popped up.

[Swordsman (Arfellium)]

[A swordsman is an Arfellium player who specializes in and uses Western swordsmanship, and it also refers to

instructors who teach Western swordsmanship and the organizations they have created.]

[Originally, ‘swordsman’ referred to members of small groups who practiced medieval Renaissance swordsmanship.

Since Western swordsmanship was not a very popular hobby (of course, it is not now), the early swordsmen’s groups

were small in scale and had the character of a loose club.]

[In the meantime, the virtual reality game Arfellium became popular, and as players in the game mainly used

‘swords’ as their main weapon, the swordsmen’s groups underwent a major transformation……]

[……Currently, swordsmen’s groups have transformed from past club-level organizations into swordsmanship

academies with professional curriculums. As the nature of the groups has completely changed, more than half of the

existing members have left the swordsmen’s clubs.]

[The members who remain in the current swordsmen’s groups are either dispatched as swordsmanship coaches to

various Arfellium professional teams while practicing individually, or work as instructors at swordsmanship

academies.]

After examining the contents, I roughly understood what swordsmen do.

‘They’re like… knights.’

In ‘that world’, there were people who practiced swordsmanship all day and made money by teaching swordsmanship

to others.

They were usually called knights.

Of course, the main source of income for knights was taxes collected from ordinary villagers, and since modern times

are not a class society, it is difficult to say that they correspond exactly.

But it was enough to get a rough idea.

‘I should visit this group later.’

The important thing is that this group practices swordsmanship, and if I register here, I can use real swords.

‘I’ll be able to hold a real sword again after a long time.’

Of course, it’s not that I’m tired of the kitchen knife.

How could I forget the grace it gave me in stabilizing my mind?

It’s just that, since I came back, I’ve only been holding my trusty kitchen knife, so I had a great desire to hold a

different, new sword.

‘Besides…….’

People who seriously practice swordsmanship.

Isn’t that the kind of person you’d want to meet at least once?

‘Because there are no bad people among those who practice swordsmanship.’

I muttered that to myself and straightened my stiff body.

A satisfying crackling sound came from my back, which felt really good.

I was briefly immersed in that refreshing sensation, but soon I shook my head and came to my senses.

“Oops, this is not the time to be doing this.”

I had to do what I had decided to do while playing the game earlier.

If I procrastinated like this, I might fall asleep soon.

That would be a big problem.

‘I have to do it today.’

It was something I had been thinking about doing for days.

No, it was something I had been thinking about doing ever since I returned to the modern world, but I had been

putting it off with the excuse of being busy and lazy (of course, I wasn’t actually busy).

I clenched my fists to strengthen my resolve.

And then, after closing the capsule of the VR device, I picked up my smartphone and threw myself onto the bed.

The bouncy mattress is strangely unsettling.

Tsk, I should buy a new one.

Thinking that, I pressed one of the few apps on my smartphone.

Then, a screen full of various products appeared on the display.

It was an online shopping mall.

‘There’s only one goal.’

To buy a new everyday knife.

‘It’s time to let go of my trusty kitchen knife.’

I muttered, stroking the kitchen knife in my hand.

“Yes, now I need something new.”

I needed a new sword, a new face.

I needed a new face.

******

Kang Seunghyun, the head coach of the Arfellium e-sports team ‘ML Masterpiece’, muttered that to himself as he

watched his team’s players train.

The reason he muttered that was simple.

‘The team’s performance is too poor. Ever since Hyunjun retired, we’ve been constantly at the bottom……. The

teamwork is not as good as before, there are no players with star quality, so we’re being ignored by the fans. Because

of that, the attitude of the parent company has also changed subtly…….’

At this rate, the team might really be sold off.

Kang Seunghyun thought so, and then he was startled by the fact that he had that thought.

He hurriedly looked around, but fortunately, there was no one around.

Kang Seunghyun breathed a sigh of relief.

“I should be careful what I say.”

Actually, since he was thinking it in his head, there was no way for others to hear it.

However, Kang Seunghyun was feeling a sense of crisis to the point that he didn’t even notice that fact.

ML Masterpiece was in that much of a crisis.

Kang Seunghyun watched the training for a while after that, then shook his head and came out of the training room.

Then, an employee waiting outside handed Kang Seunghyun a thick document.

“This is a list of promising players and trainee candidates provided by the headhunting team.”

“I’ll check it in the break room.”

“I understand.”

When the employee left, Kang Seunghyun tucked the documents under his arm and headed to the break room.

On the way, he happened to run into the swordsmanship coach.

He was a swordsman from USG, a large swordsmanship academy.

Kang Seunghyun suddenly wondered if there might be someone useful among the swordsmen.

However, he immediately shook his head.

‘No, swordsmen are not suitable as professionals.’

And then he burst out laughing.

To think of using a swordsman, of all people, as a professional gamer.

Kang Seunghyun thought that he must be really desperate.

Because it was a choice he would never have made in his usual state.

Actually, this was natural.

A swordsman refers to ‘a person who has honed their swordsmanship well’, not a person who is good at fighting.

‘Real professionals are people with a talent for combat.’

The talent for combat.

That is truly the realm of geniuses.

Reaction speed, combat sense, and dynamic visual acuity are innate.

No one can teach you, and there is a limit to how much you can hone them through training.

The fact that the average tier of renowned swordsmen is between Platinum and Diamond proves that.

It means that it’s hard to even set foot in that realm with ordinary physical abilities.

The position of a true professional cannot be reached just by learning some sword skills.

‘But, other than that, there are no talented people to use as new faces.’

Kang Seunghyun leaned back on the recliner in the team’s break room and examined the documents he had brought.

The documents contained information on Arfellium players who had been performing well recently.

It was data collected by the headhunting team that only exists in a few teams.

Since it consists of talented people who used to work for the parent company, the reliability of the information

provided would be certain.

‘……Actually, ML Masterpiece is being scorned by everyone because they have such high-quality manpower and still

have this kind of performance.’

Kang Seunghyun muttered that to himself and flipped through the documents, checking the faces of the newly rising

promising players.

He checked for a long time.

Throwing the documents on the table, Kang Seunghyun leaned back on the recliner.

And then he sighed deeply.

“Damn it.”

There is no talent.

No, there were talented people.

Just, they were talents that couldn’t be brought in.

They were either snatched up by other teams first, had personality problems, had a history of causing trouble, or had

overlapping positions, etc.

There was not a single person who could be used as a trainee or an immediate asset in ML Masterpiece.

The only people who could be brought in were those with B-grade skills.

‘To use these guys, we need to cultivate a long-term prospect farm and create what is commonly called a fountain of talent…….’

How can ML Masterpiece, which is on the verge of collapse and being kicked out by the parent company, come up

with such a long-term plan?

It’s a pipe dream.

ML Masterpiece needed an immediate asset that could be used right away.

“Ha.”

Kang Seunghyun sighed deeply, took out his smartphone, and entered the Arfellium gallery of a certain community site.

This was a place he had enjoyed since before he became a coach, so it was a place Kang Seunghyun was deeply attached to.

Of course, recently, he hadn’t been going in often because of the criticism about ML Masterpiece’s
performance.

Because of that, Kang Seunghyun was ignorant of the latest hot topics in the gallery.

Should I check the featured posts first?

Thinking that, Kang Seunghyun pressed the featured posts section and was surprised.

The featured posts were completely occupied.

After briefly examining the titles of the featured posts, Kang Seunghyun’s eyes widened and he muttered.

“What? What, what kind of hot topic is this?”

Beauty Sword Master? Two-handed sword?

Who the h*ll is Euning?