Chapter 28: I Bit the Bait

There is a gym for the players in the dormitory next to the ST building.

“One more!”
“If I do more, I won’t be able to move my arms!”

I screamed, but Ox—Oh Changhyun—who decided to watch over my workout, was merciless.

“You can talk, so two more!”
“Argh…!”
“And anyway, even if you can’t move your arms, it doesn’t matter for playing games.”
“Argh…”

I repeated lifting and lowering the 8kg dumbbells over my chest until I lost sensation.

“Okay. You’ve followed along well this far. Take a break.”
“……Die. People die.”
“What are you talking about, it’s not even that intense of a workout.”
“It’s a very intense workout for me.”

I mean it.

I started working out right after I started streaming, but due to my body’s disastrously low muscle mass, I had difficulty even with basic strength training.

But now, I’ve done two sets with two 8kg dumbbells in each hand, so it’s a huge improvement.

I’m completely satisfied.

But the person who wasn’t the owner of the body was looking at me with an expression that said he wasn’t satisfied at all.

“How many years did you say you’ve been working out?”
“Four months? Three months? Anyway, it’s not in years.”
“…You can’t have that body shape after eating that much.”

I did eat a lot at the meat restaurant, but that was because of the atmosphere.

It was unfair to be slandered like this.

“But I’ve improved a lot. In the past, I even had muscle pain when I wore a VR device.”
“I heard about it from Jihwan. I’ve only heard that there are people like that, but it’s the first time I’ve actually seen it.”

That day, which became the fundamental reason why I was stuck here doing weight training instead of solo queue.

‘Wow, it was a bit intense, even for a scrim.’
‘I know.’
‘We’re going to take a break and then go to the next scrim, so get some drinks from outside, guys.’

In the peaceful and wholesome schedule of scrims, a groan filled the practice room.

‘Haa…uh…ugh…no…why is this happening again…?’

I’ve been working out, so I was dumbfounded.

I couldn’t even think of taking off the VR device on my head.

Maybe even if I could have thought of that at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to move physically because I couldn’t even lift my arms.

Just thinking about giving strength to my body made all the muscles in my body scream.

‘What’s wrong!’
‘Coach, I can’t move my body…’

Of course, even if I said that, there were many difficulties for the coach or my colleagues to lift my body and move it as they pleased, so soon a doctor who resides in the dormitory came.

‘It’s a side effect of the VR device.’
‘There are side effects like this?’
‘I’ve heard that this sometimes happens if you’re very lacking in muscle strength, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it while working here.’

Recently, I had been intentionally using the first-person perspective a lot to try out the techniques that the first-person experts had taught me in the scrims.

But that effort led to a sad result.

‘Eunseol, no solo queue for the time being.’

So the coach took away my free time and forced me to create an additional schedule.

Of course, I couldn’t say anything because I felt guilty.

‘Go to the basement of the dormitory with Changhyun and learn how to work out.’
‘Doesn’t Ox have a schedule?’
‘That’s his schedule.’

Come to think of it, Ox’s solo queue game pattern is usually to pick a champion that can carry, and go into the opponent’s Twisted Treeline with physicality and explode the game.

Since this simple formula worked, there was no point in practicing except to maintain the sharpness of the mechanics or to check things that had changed because of a new patch version.

‘Until Changhyun tells me that you’ve reached a certain level, Eunseol, work hard on exercising.’
‘It’s not that bad.’
‘I’m saying this because I’m worried about you. What about your stamina when you go to international competitions later?’
‘…Yes.’

The more I think about it, the sadder I become.

“Okay, now that you’ve rested, go over there.”
“…Wasn’t it over?”
“What are you talking about? You have to do lower body.”

No, I thought if you do one part, you don’t do other parts that day, saying it’s three-way split or something.

“That’s for experienced people who are trying to build muscle in earnest, and you, Eunseol, don’t have any muscle at all.”
“I have some here.”
“That’s not considered muscle in this industry.”

Excuse me?

Wasn’t your industry the LOC professional gamer scene?

Only a hollow cry resounded through the gym.

“Haa…haaa…!”

My scream was a bonus.

Two weeks like that.

While playing games, continuing to scrim, and living the daily life of a pro.

“I’m True, back with a solo queue stream after a long time.”

I was finally allowed to play solo queue.

[—Finally]
[—Damn]
[—Skill stream is back]
[—Just chatting streams are boring]
[—lololol]
[—True is solo queue]
[—But did your muscles already grow?]
[—Would they]
[—If they did, she should have been on the national team]
[—sigh She missed the entertainment world and the national team, and a talent is playing LOCK in a corner of her room?]
[—A bit arousing]
[—lololol]
[—[This comment has been blocked]]
[—So how did you get permission]
[—It can’t be because of your game performance, you’re undefeated now, right?]

Of course, it wasn’t because my muscles grew instantly like I had been injected with serum.

There was no change in my face and body that could be seen on the webcam screen.

“It’s not that. Because there were a lot of complaints.”

[—????]
[—The building is ST’s, so what kind of complaints are coming in]
[—lololol]
[—If it’s a really absurd reason, give me a like]
[—You didn’t clean up after using the dumbbells?]
[—Ah]
[—That was it]
[—lololol This is punishable even for True]
[—lololol]

“There’s no way that would happen. And Ox cleans up for me.”

[—Bad girl…]
[—Fox girl……]
[—It’s balanced because he’s getting his brain delegated, so it’s fair]
[—lololol]
[—So Ox watches True work out every day?]
[—Shit]
[—From now on, you are the worst hunter on earth]
[—I suddenly want to write a 5700-character criticism about Ox’s brain power… ]
[—How to legally criticize him, oh no]
[—I’m envious!]
[—Anyway, why did the complaints come in]
[—So curious]

“They said there were too many complaints that I was too loud when I was working out.”

I didn’t know I was making that much noise, but since it wasn’t just one or two people who complained, but most of the people who were there at that time, I had to accept it.

“So the workout schedule was changed to the morning, and in return, I got some solo queue time back.”

[—?lololol]
[—??? : That’s not it]
[—No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem to be ‘because it’s noisy’, give me a like]
[—lololol]
[—Putting middle school, high school, and college-aged boys together and letting her loose, what the]
[—It’s right to stop that]
[—It’s the way for everyone…]

Looking at the chat, I suddenly remembered the sounds I made whenever I worked out.

“……Ah.”

I couldn’t stop my face from turning red.

[—You realized it now]
[—That’s enough]
[—lololol]
[—Her face turning red is so cute]
[—How is she a fox]
[—She’s just a 100% pure LOCK maniac]
[—Just a LOCK fiend…]
[—No, but how bad was it for Jaehoon to allow solo queue?]
[—I want to hear what they heard too]
[—Me too! I want to be an ST trainee too!]
[—[This comment has been blocked]]
[—I think I know why Challengers try so hard to reach Challenger]
[—For the first time, I’m envious of Challengers]
[—Me too]

So, as I fell into the crucible of confusion along with the chat.

[donated 50,000 won ]
“Ho, horror games aren’t solo queue.”

Even so, it’s the middle of the season, and I feel guilty about playing other games.

[—It’s okay]
[—There’s someone next door who plays otaku games when he’s done with work during the season]
[—lololol]
[—For fairness, give us True playing horror games]
[—The determination to hear screams even if you can’t hear moans]
[—Um lol]
[—If you’re worried, just play for 30 minutes]

“…Are there games that short?”

[—Yes]
[—There are many short horror games for VR these days]
[—GoGoGoGoGo]

“But I don’t have any other games or game download platforms besides LOCK on my computer.”

[—Um]
[—Jun]
[—Sik]
[—A true, true LOCK maniac…]
[—Still, you received a donation, so just do it once…]

“Then only this once? I’ll play for 30 minutes even if I can’t clear it, and then I’ll go play solo queue?”

[—YesYesYesYesYesYesYes]
[—It’s done]
[—Damn]
[—Bliss]
[—Bliss]
[—This is it]
[—Bliss]

So I opened an internet window, downloaded the game platform, and created an account.

“What game is good…”

Before I could even finish speaking, all kinds of horror games were dumped in the gift box.

It was because I made the ID public when I created it.

I looked at various things and chose the one with the highest rating and moderate reviews.

—“Kyaaaaaa!”

I was completely fooled.

“You said it wasn’t scary! You said the rating was high!”

[—Not scary, but few reviews = Standard for hardcore gamers]
[—High rating = There’s a high probability that it’s really not scary, but you’re just unlucky lol]
[—She doesn’t know anything but LOCK~]
[—lololol]
[—You should have chosen well]
[—It’s your skill]
[—Whatever]
[—Just a laughing stock]

“Haa…haaa…?”

No, don’t jump out off-beat.

It’s not even on screen, it’s a realistic background and sound like when playing LOCK in first-person, and monsters that are more bizarre than the monsters that pop out of the Twisted Treeline, I couldn’t keep my composure.

“Haaaaaa!?”

This is not it.

Save me.