Season 3: Chapter 22: The Good Old Days of Star League (2)
Left alone at the food truck, Choi Sa-Rang found herself in a tough spot.
"I don’t know how to do this..."
All she knew was the timing for flipping meat. Popcorn hadn’t let her touch anything else, fearing she’d ruin the taste.
The reason she was brought along wasn’t really to help with work but rather to get some healing by being outside.
However...
"Wow! Oppa! That's the one!"
A tall woman with pink hair was pointing energetically at their location.
"The manager said it’s delicious there!"
It was a slender woman resembling a model, a chubby man, and a well-built bald man. They made for a strange trio.
"Is that Baek Jong-Won? Why trust him so much?"
"No, he said he lived in the USA."
"So living in the USA makes someone Baek Jong-Won?"
"Shi…! The Cuban sandwich is from the USA!"
"What? It’s Cuban? How can it be from the USA?"
"Oh? That… That's true."
"RuneStar addicts. Sigh."
"Why are you concluding with that?!"
Above all, the trio was incredibly loud and boisterous, a complete mismatch for someone like Choi Sa-Rang.
'Is that even important... Are they going to order?'
They were clearly making their way toward the truck.
'That guy should come back quickly if he ran off as a joke.'
There was no sign of Popcorn coming back. Did he go to the bathroom as well?
[Sa-Rang: Hey. Where are you? Customers are here.]
[Popcorn: LOL]
[Sa-Rang: It's for real this time]
[Popcorn: LOL]
[Sa-Rang: Are you using a macro?]
[Fried Corn: LOL]
‘Crazy…’
Popcorn wouldn't believe her because he had played a prank when he went to the bathroom before.
"Hello~!" the pink-haired woman approached with a friendly greeting. "We’ll have three Cuban sandwiches and three non-alcoholic mojitos…"
An order came in.
"…"
Sa-Rang couldn't hear anything from the back anymore.
"... Three sandwiches and mojitos… what else was it?"
"Guacamole nachos."
"Ah…"
Ding!
Eventually, she finished receiving the payment and handed out a ticket number...
"Please wait a moment…"
Asking them to wait probably didn't mean waiting for the owner to return. Sa-Rang glanced momentarily at the customers who had taken their seats at the table.
'Maybe I should just do it.'
Hadn't she been watching Popcorn do it all this time?
'I can probably do it too.'
Although she was the only team member excused from cooking duties at workshops, everyone had called her cooking skills a devilish talent!
The ingredients had all been prepared. All she had to do was grill them and stack them up.
She confidently took out the prepared pork shoulder to slice.
'I'll start with this.'
The pork shoulder, roasted whole like a ham, was still raw inside once sliced. After slicing, the interior needed to be cooked to induce the Maillard reaction.
Chiieeeeek.
'And this green mojo...? Sauce.'
The mojo sauce needed to be mixed with the roasted pork shoulder ham. She should have prepared the bread, cheese, pickles, and other ingredients beforehand.
Sa-Rang’s hands busily moved around.
"Shi…"
Where was everything supposed to be? She frowned for a moment.
"Wow. This is going to be delicious~."
The woman with pink hair, who was supposed to be seated at the table, approached the truck to watch instead.
"May I watch?"
"Ah... haha. Yes."
Sa-Rang felt sweat trickling down her back.
"Wow. The smell is amazing."
It wasn't exactly that the customer was being a nuisance, but those bright, eager eyes on her made it hard to function properly. It wasn't an excuse. It was true.
"Amazing! Hey! Didn't you used to play Civil Empire?!"
Thump!
Suddenly, someone hopped onto the truck.
Sa-Rang welcomed the voice more than she could have expected.
"That's the one Almond played, right? They're having a challenge right now. Only commanders can participate. It's done using a keyboard. I signed up for it. That's why I was late. You’d go crazy if it’s that game…"
"… Hey."
Only then did Popcorn realize there were customers in front of him.
"… Wow! Such a beautiful customer in such a humble but hip place!?"
Popcorn clasped his hands together as he took the order.
"How may I help you with your order?"
"Ah… I already ordered from that person."
"Ah~ that. You did!?"
"Three sandwiches. Guacamole nachos. Three non-alcoholic mojitos. I’ll handle the mojitos."
Sweat trickled down Popcorn's temples.
"Right. Let's do that… Haha!"
From that moment on, he focused solely on cooking.
Shortly afterward, Miho took all the food.
Sa-Rang casually asked, "Civil Empire? What about that."
"Ah… Didn’t you used to play?"
"I did. Briefly."
It was a game that could be played without straining her legs because it used a keyboard and mouse. It hadn't received much attention in Korea, but Sa-Rang had played it quite earnestly. She even ranked quite high in the commander rankings.
"Almond plays that too. Did you know? He’s going to be a national representative."
"National…? I don't watch much besides LIL."
She knew he played Civil Empire, but she had no idea he was preparing to represent the nation in Civil Empire. She hadn’t really followed any streams other than those related to LIL.
"Civil Empire has a national team?"
According to her memory, Civil Empire wasn't popular enough to have a national team.
"Ah. It’s an abbreviation. Not really a national representative, but there’s a national competition. It’s content provided by the game itself, you know?"
"Ah. I remember. There was something like that."
When Sa-Rang's commander ranking was quite high, she received an offer too. Of course, she refused. She couldn’t command in person and be directly on-site. That was too much for Sa-Rang.
Back then, she was already in a condition where she couldn’t use her legs. More precisely, she played that game because she couldn’t use her legs. It had soothed her silent heart after an involuntary retirement.
"You found that quite fun, didn’t you?"
"…"
Did she? It was so long ago that she didn't remember. Back then, she just needed to immerse herself in something. Otherwise, it felt like her mind would break.
But...
'Why am I like this?'
Sa-Rang's lips curled slightly. Her heartbeat quickened, her cheeks flushed, and she felt alive.
There had never been a tournament for playing Civil Empire solely with a keyboard and mouse.
"Do you want to go? Huh?"
"What… what number are you?"
Popcorn had already registered for the challenge.
"Me. Number 23."
Sa-Rang tried to look away, but Popcorn could see the anticipation in her eyes.
'Yes. That's who you are.'
Choi Sa-Rang. Had she been born in ancient times, she would have been a mercenary wandering around countless battlefields.
After winning one battle, she would head to the next battlefield as if enchanted...
In suffocating duels, that was where she found her breath. To confine such a person to home and hospital visits… That was akin to dying.
She was slowly killing herself, intentionally inhaling strong alcohol and smoke, continuously deteriorating.
‘I haven’t smoked anymore today.’
She hadn’t smoked since the fighting game. Nor had she sought out alcohol even though beer was readily available. She, who had been close to alcohol dependency, had not touched it even once today. It seemed as though she had completely forgotten its existence.
Wasn't she currently looking not toward the fridge, but toward the Civil Empire booth?
***
Jessie, Sang-Hyeon, and Ju-Hyeok arrived at the Civil Empire booth.
A somewhat rustic-looking giant banner greeted them.
[Memories of Star League]
"Ah. This is it."
Ding.
A message popped up in one corner of their goggles.
Objective: Use only a keyboard and mouse as the commander and annihilate the enemy!
Method: Play as a typical commander. The system provides soldiers. Continue defeating the matched opponents.
Rewards: 50 BBQ chicken gift coupons or various gift vouchers
Jessie spoke up.
"Jessie's asking if you’re participating too?"
Ju-Hyeok interpreted at her side.
"Ah..."
A keyboard and mouse game. That was poison to Sang-Hyeon since there was an issue with his hand that held the mouse.
Jessie probably didn’t know that.
"No. I can’t do it. Tell her commanding isn’t really my thing."
Ju-Hyeok explained, and Jessie nodded as if she fully understood.
— Almond as a commander LOL
— Just thinking about it makes me dizzy
— LOL, isn't he just Bubblegum without his physical strength? LOL
"Everyone. Being physically bad doesn’t make you Bubblegum," Sang-Hyeon responded to the chat calling him Bubblegum.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 Won!]
[Almond, Almond. Where are you off to today?]
"Ah. Thank you for the donation. Jessie came from far away. We’ll just look around a few places and part ways."
— Yeah, she did come from far away
— Denmark is quite far LOL
— She didn’t come just for you?!
Sang-Hyeon briefly chatted with Jessie through Ju-Hyeok. They discussed why she was here, how long she was staying, and more.
In the meantime, Sang-Hyeon's eyes suddenly widened.
'Huh?'
The challenge match had started with a familiar silhouette among them.
The audience murmured.
"A person in a wheelchair applied too."
"Oh…"
"A woman?"
It was uncommon for a wheelchair user and a woman to participate in the duel. She was bound to stand out.
— Huh?
— Isn't that the person who dominated the fighting game??
— LOL, looks like she plays Civil Empire too
— The martial arts bully girl?
Many among the viewers recognized her. Didn’t she hate being publicly recognized?
‘So she plays Civil Empire too.’
Apparently, everything was fine as long as she didn’t use her legs.
Sang-Hyeon, amazed, unconsciously took a step forward. Their eyes couldn’t meet directly since the setup had them quite far apart.
She was focusing on the monitor more than anyone else.
"Wow. The male audience is quite excited, right? Contestant number 23, I wonder if her skills are as exceptional?"
"Yes. According to the data from her submitted ID, she used to have a very high ranking?"
"Oh… but she requested not to disclose it?"
"Yes. Moreover, she hasn't played for a very long time. It’s almost like a dormant account now! With the game having changed so much in the meantime… how will it go!?"
"Meanwhile, contestant number 2 is currently ranked within the top 300!"
“Ooooooh.”
People were surprised at the mention of being in the top 300.
Sang-Hyeon thought Choi Sa-Rang was probably even higher, but she chose not to disclose it.
"Is the rule Civilization War?"
"Yes, that's right."
Civilization War was a mode where one could choose a civilization to play. It was a good concept.
However the player pool dwindled because the popularity decreased. The matchmaking system also had issues.
Soldiers had to pick their civilizations and wait. Unlike the basic battles where every soldier could be matched with any commander, the high specialization resulted in painfully long wait times.
"Let me inform you. This is a new test server introduced by Civil Empire. With this matchmaking system, Civilization War can now be played smoothly."
It was a test server. Indeed, if it weren’t something new, there would have been no need to showcase it at G-Star.
"All soldier players are matched without knowing which civilization they will drop into, and they receive their assignments from the commander after joining."
"Yes. Ah... indeed. This change should have happened long ago!"
"Let’s start then."
Cheers and applause erupted as the Civilization War matchmaking began.
"Contestant number 2. His ID is Moon Ik-Jeom, right? He’s currently on a three win streak! Moon Ik-Jeom has chosen the England civilization!"
"Yes. The longbowmen rush is a troublesome civilization."
"Contestant number 23's ID is GreatYiSunShin! They say she lives up to her nickname! She chooses the Korean civilization!"
“Oooooooh!”
Cheers erupted from various places.
The Korean civilization was difficult to pick if one wanted to win.
Cookie, who was watching the game, also showed great interest. Not just because she picked the Korean civilization.
"… That ID looks familiar."
It was because of her ID, which had left a strong impression in the past.