Season 3: Chapter 248. Trust Us (1)
"Yes... It was meant for me."
"I see."
Sang-Hyeon nodded after handing over the note and led the way.
[Legends Never Die.]
Sang-Hyeon had seen this phrase before. It was part of the description for LIL's story mode.
[As long as the sanctuary exists, the champions are immortal. This is because they are legendary beings. Though their bodies may perish, the legends they leave behind do not. Experience their living legends and become one with them.]
Even though it was just a line from a game description, Sang-Hyeon believed it held true. Tigers left behind their skins when they died while humans left behind their names. Unlike animals, humans recorded and remembered stories, passing them on to others. In this way, the legend of a person lived on, never truly dying.
Even now, the retired JeonJaPa was often mentioned online. Those who didn't know would think she was still active in the industry. In a way, her presence still lived on in that space. Although she had retired, her unforgettable legacy remained and became a goal for new challengers. This was what the industry called a legend. And legends never died.
Football's Messi, basketball's Jordan, and countless other sports legends lived on in people's words and memories. They were forever alive within those stories. It had also been Sang-Hyeon's dream to become such a figure in archery.
Although his path was derailed long ago, he still stood here. In a way, his situation was the opposite of LIL's avatars. They left only their legends behind while Sang-Hyeon couldn't leave a legend, but was left with an incomplete body.
‘...’
Before entering the building, he looked down at his right hand. It trembled slightly. Not occasionally, but constantly due to straining it so much.
"Ha."
He sighed with a heavy heart and stepped inside, disappearing from the audience's view.
***
After expressing his opinion with the toy gun, Han Woo-Joo felt satisfied with his aim and prepared to return to his seat.
Crash!
"Whoa, whoa!"
Suddenly, men in black suits tackled him to the ground.
"Ugh! What, what is this!? Why are you doing this?"
Talking was useless because they were Japanese. They grabbed his hands behind his back and shouted something that sounded like the Miranda Rights often heard in dramas. And he heard the word terrorist.
"No, no! I’m not a terrorist! Do you speak English? Dude!?"
Han Woo-Joo realized what they had mistaken him for, but it was too late as they dragged him away.
Click! Click...!
Nearby, people took photos and videos out of curiosity.
"Dammit! Don’t take pictures! Dammit! Don’t take pictures!"
Han Woo-Joo already had a bad image and desperately tried to avoid being photographed, but those scenes were naturally uploaded online.
***
The community buzzed with Joseon's defeat.
[Joseon lost again...]
[What was up with Almond’s aim just now?]
[Did the Joseon commander bug out???]
[The start of the 4th game was better than the 3rd, but the end was the worst.]
The latter part of the fourth game was indeed the worst.
[Ringo's comeback scenario in progress LOL]
In one post, fans fiercely argued in the comments.
— It's so true that it's not even funny anymore.
— Change the scenario, dammit. Call in Type B.
— Seriously, they were terrible.
— This is Joseon's actual skill. The ones who talked about winning were blind.
└ We all know Joseon's skill isn’t great. But can’t we talk?
└ Joseon haters only show up now that things are bad. Hilarious.
└ Shut up LOL
└ Right~ Joseon fans are a religion~
Public opinion was very different from what it had been during the national competition.
[It's a miracle they got to the quarterfinals despite it being a Korea-Japan match. The people expected too much.]
— For real
— It's because it's a Korea-Japan match.
— If they lose here, they should still be applauded.
└ Not in a Korea-Japan match.
— It’s actually a miracle it’s 2-2. The order of how the games went is why they're getting criticized.
└ For real. If the order were different, the community would be in chaos
└ It's already in chaos though?
└ LOL True
Even though making it to the quarterfinals was a significant success, the prior wins had set high expectations. Moreover, the backlash was intense since it was a Korea-Japan match.
Amid this, an incident briefly diverted the community's attention.
[Breaking: Japanese arrested for attempting to terrorize Joseon’s commander]
Photos of the person being dragged away by security appeared in an article.
The article described him as a Japanese spectator, but it actually meant that he was a spectator of the game in Japan.
— ??
— Huh?
— Crazy people
— Wow, what the hell
— Reverse Ahn Jung-Geun, what's going on?
└ LOL
└ For real hahaha
— ??? I'll kill the Joseon commander who invaded Japan...
— Why are they doing this when they're winning?
└ It's 2-2, so they can’t be sure.
— This is disgusting, cowardly bastards
Initially, few recognized who the culprit was with his face pixelated. Without any audio, just hearing it was a Japanese spectator made people mistakenly think he was Japanese.
Ironically, this misunderstanding temporarily shifted public opinion to sympathize with Joseon’s commander.
— Damn, playing in such conditions, let’s not criticize them for losing.
— For real, it’s like a war...
— Why would you want to terrorize someone in a wheelchair???
— Joseon, fighting! Endure the unfair attacks and win~!
This misunderstanding continued until the terrorist’s identity was revealed.
For a while, talks about the terrorist and messages of encouragement for Joseon filled the entire bulletin board.
And then...
[Isn’t that Cosmic?]
The situation calmed down once it was revealed to be Cosmic.
[Video proof: Not a Japanese but Cosmic.]
Ironically, the misunderstanding that he tried to commit a terrorist act persisted. All the criticism directed at Joseon shifted toward Cosmic.
[What’s wrong with him? An attention-seeker?]
[Cosmic is crazy, LOL]
[Why is he trying to commit terrorism?? Is he a traitor?]
[Cosmic, you piece of shit!]
[Wow, he’s insane. Even here, he seeks attention.]
His already poor image and the absurd misunderstanding resulted in such backlash.
Of course, the truth of his intentions was eventually revealed.
[Breaking: Cosmic wasn’t committing terrorism but shot a support note with a toy gun LOL Crazy]
— Cosmic had good intentions but got criticized hahaha
└ He’s always a target for criticism LOL
└ Because of his usual behavior
└ For real, it’s a bit pitiful
Some felt sorry for him, but it was karma from his past behavior. Nevertheless, it seemed like Cosmic achieved his intention to support the commander. Thanks to him taking all the criticism, noticeably fewer posts criticized Joseon.
***
Sang-Hyeon sat in a corner of the waiting room, looking down at his trembling right hand.
‘Stop... please stop....’
The trembling hadn’t ceased since earlier.
“Sang-Hyeon, it’s best to stop now. At least step back and play as the second string.”
The doctor’s words echoed in his mind.
“Why are you all so serious about this? It’s not even a real national team match.”
She had said this out of frustration after seeing her patients pushing their bodies so hard. Surprisingly, those words struck Sang-Hyeon deeply.
‘That’s... true.’
He had dreamed of being on the national team. He always envisioned standing on stage with the Korean flag and winning a gold medal. However, he was under the name of Joseon here and his uniform lacked the national symbol with the Korean flag. It only had the sponsor's logo, Monster.
His right hand also trembled more than ever.
‘Should I use a sword instead of a bow?’
He managed better with a sword in the last game. It didn't require precise aim like a bow, but could he really beat the Japanese swordsmen as a swordsman too? Not ambushing them with a sword, but fighting sword-to-sword against them. Could he dominate as he did with a bow?
Definitely not. Joseon’s strength lay in its archers leading the initial battles.
‘But at this rate, I’ll only be a hindrance.’
His mind flashed to the other members: Pang, Carrot, Spam, Latte. They were excellent archers. There wouldn’t be a place for someone with a handicapped arm.
“A national competition? That’s fine, but don’t push yourself. You’re a streamer, not a pro gamer.”
Ju-Hyeok's words also came to mind. Alongside him were the faces of Ji-Ah, Director Oh from Punk, Born2B helping Ju-Hyeok, and many representatives who had given him advertisements. Yes, he had responsibilities as a streamer too.
"Ha—" Sang-Hyeon sighed and lowered his head.
Sweat had dried in his hair, which blocked his vision. Time slipped away as he pondered.
"Players, please get ready for entrance!"
Murmurs filled the waiting room.
"What? No feedback?"
"What’s going on? We’re just going out like this?"
"... Wow."
It was strange to head into the crucial fifth game without any feedback from the previous game.
At that moment, Barum burst into the room while shouting.
Bang!
"Just go in! We’ll brief shortly! Okay!? The meeting got delayed!"
The meeting with the commander and the think tank took longer than expected.
"O-Okay~"
The soldiers felt surprised but didn’t show it much. Saying more would only lower everyone’s morale. It felt like invisible gunpowder floated in the air of Joseon’s waiting room.
"Alright! Let’s gooo!"
The players lined up and headed back to the stadium.
Sang-Hyeon shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
‘Let’s go in and think about what to do.’
Thump—
He felt a certain sensation as he walked into the stadium without any clear thoughts.
"!"
It felt like his whole body floated in the air and flew back.
"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"
The cheers that erupted were unlike anything he ever heard before. It felt like thunder roaring right in front of him.
"Dae-Han Min-Guk!!!"
Boom! Bang! Boom!
The chants rang clearer and louder than before, echoing to the point of making his ears ring. His heart pounded in rhythm with the cheers.
‘Coach...’
A warm feeling rose deep within him as the scene before him filled his eyes.
“Coach, if I win the national championship, isn’t that practically being on the national team?”
He had asked his coach about this once while preparing for the national championship.
“What are you talking about? Haha. Well, yeah. Your skill would be on the national team level.”
“... Skill-wise? If my skill is at the national team level, then I’m on the national team.”
“No, it’s different. Being on the national team means the people recognize you as the person who will determine our country’s victory.”
“Do I need a cheering squad?”
“Ha, haha! Yeah, you need that. Then, you’ll get to wear the Korean flag.”
Tap, tap.
The coach patted his right arm.
“So... if I have the skills and a cheering squad, do I get the flag without the national team test?”
“Huh? That won’t happen. No one watches archery unless it’s the national competition. How would you get a cheering squad? Just take the national team test, you rascal.”
“Ah... tsk.”
Yeah, he was right. Back then, the coach was right.
Sang-Hyeon murmured, "Damn... Coach."
Maybe the coach had lied to motivate him.
Now, he could see it clearly. The blue and red spectators. Everyone, regardless of country, stood and shouted passionately.
He could see it clearly. His eyes grew hot and the boundary between the two colors blurred. What he had dreamed of appeared larger than anything.
"They’re giving me the flag."
As if responding to his words, the crowd shouted once more.
"Dae-Han! Min-Guk!"
The Republic of Korea, the Korean flag, and countless spectators. No one could deny it now.
Sang-Hyeon could no longer run away. He was truly a national representative here.