Chapter 993

The morning after the opening ceremony, at the Japanese team’s accommodation.

Hirano Seiji woke up later than expected.

The exchange competition had just begun, but his body already felt as if it had been several days since it started.

No matter how difficult things were, he had built the habit of sleeping well and waking up well, but today, for some reason, it was hard for him to fall asleep.

Since the coach was handling things like strategizing or forming teams for the first event, there was nothing for Hirano Seiji to do, but still, he felt off.

‘Anyway, I just need to follow instructions, get enough rest, and keep my condition up…’

Hirano Seiji tried to ignore the cause of his fatigue as he took longer than usual to get ready.

But before stepping out the door, he was confronted with the source of his discomfort.

He couldn't take his eyes off the player’s uniform, which resembled a lotus flower.

He needed to put it on and head out, but his hand just wouldn’t reach for it.

‘I can’t go out without it. It’ll stand out.’

While forcing himself to put on the outfit, yesterday’s events came to mind.

Arihara Tomoaki had looked at the children in their team uniforms with disdain.

Of course, Hirano Seiji was one of the targets of that gaze.

Following behind the young lady in an outfit symbolizing the lotus flower must have looked as ridiculous as watching a troupe of clowns, and Hirano Seiji could completely understand how Arihara Tomoaki must have felt while staring at them like that.

Suppressing his gloom, Hirano Seiji opened the door and stepped out, but his heart sank.

Arihara Tomoaki was standing right in front of him.

“You woke up later than usual. The debut today is for the young lady, but why are you the one nervous?”

Arihara Tomoaki seemed to have been waiting to pick a fight since morning.

It was understandable, considering how his childhood friend was dressed in such an outfit. Anyone would want to pick a fight with them.

Hirano Seiji decided to counter casually.

“It’s not even breakfast time yet. What are you doing here? Couldn’t sleep because you were nervous?”

“Not at all.”

Arihara Tomoaki scoffed and continued to look at Hirano Seiji.

“Is that guy you brought here, is his head alright?”

“…Are you talking about the nameless rookie?”

“Yeah. That Korean guy you threw to the foxes. I ‘happened’ to overhear the foxes talking, and his name came up.”

Hirano Seiji felt a sense of foreboding.

It was likely that Arihara Tomoaki was lying about overhearing the coaches' conversation, but it didn’t seem like it was just a random remark.

He knew that Arihara Tomoaki’s side, the anti-young lady faction, had been probing the coaches, and they had the means to do so.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that someone on the coaches' side, even if they were called the fox’s subordinates, would have loose lips. Gathering information from them wouldn’t be difficult.

For them to be talking about Jo Yi-shin wasn’t a good sign.

“Seiji, that guy leaked info about the Korean team, which led to a reshuffling of the offense and defense teams. Are you really pretending you don’t know?”

Instead of answering, Hirano Seiji quickly walked down the hallway.

Arihara Tomoaki watched him head toward the coaches' quarters.

He still seemed displeased with the team uniform, frowning, but he didn’t interfere with Hirano Seiji.

Meanwhile, Hirano Seiji was busy trying to make sense of the confusion in his mind.

‘Why is Yi-shin like this? Didn’t he say he was fine?’

Hirano Seiji knew that Kozuka Yashiro was using scents to manipulate people.

The fox’s scent left no trace, making it hard to condemn someone based on evidence, and because of the weaknesses exploited through the scent, it was difficult to resist.

Hirano Seiji was deeply worried that maybe Jo Yi-shin had been manipulated into revealing information about the Korean team during the incident at the hotel.

He hoped that Arihara Tomoaki had gotten it wrong, but that hope quickly crumbled.

“Hirano-kun, it looks like you’ve heard the news?”

Kozuka Yashiro greeted Hirano Seiji with a smile.@@novelbin@@

In front of her was a player list, but it was different from the one she had received the night before.

The offense and defense teams had both been altered.

Yesterday, the lineup was flexible enough to adapt to any scenario, but today it seemed to be tailored to account for specific situations.

“I’ve changed the offense and defense teams. The nameless rookie leaked information, so I reshuffled considering the Korean team’s lineup.”

Kozuka Yashiro displayed another hologram.

It showed the Korean team’s offense team lineup.

The sender was Jo Yi-shin, and the device code matched the one Hirano Seiji had received.

“I think I can build a good relationship with the nameless rookie moving forward.”

Hirano Seiji’s mind went blank.

Just as Arihara Tomoaki had said, he had clearly thrown Jo Yi-shin to the foxes.

The day had arrived to take on the first event, “Random Otherworld Invasion.”

The Korean team’s morning started leisurely, but that wasn’t true for everyone.

‘The Japanese team will probably reorganize their team after seeing our lineup. They’ll want to create a composition where that young lady stands out more than Ahn Da-in.’

Kozuka Yashiro and the fox’s introduction of someone needed to earn trust.

To avoid suspicion when Ahn Da-in and the young lady entered together, Jo Yi-shin had intentionally sent a message early in the morning with some trivial information, hinting that it would be fine to share it.

They must have finished organizing the teams by the evening, and likely had to act early in the morning to reorganize again after seeing this.

As for me, I had warned in advance that I’d send information.

— "I don’t mind being part of the offense team, and I’m fine with you organizing the offense team as you see fit. But there’s a condition."

— "Of course, what’s the condition?"

— "Junior, why are you making conditions?"

Yeom Junyeol responded, as if he didn’t care about what I proposed.

It seemed like the 2nd-year juniors thought I was being too demanding, but honestly, that wasn’t entirely wrong.

People who accepted proposals like this had big hearts, and I knew that.

Even knowing this, I made the suggestion.

— "I’d like the offense team members who don’t mind me sharing the lineup with other teams to raise their hands."

The eyes of the remaining volunteers who were still raising their hands grew sharper.

They seemed to think I had some ulterior motive and were treating it as a challenge.

I had teased Gwak Kyung-gu and Ma Jin-seung during our training camp, so they probably expected the same.

Part of me wanted to motivate them as well.

— "So, you’re saying only those confident should raise their hands. I’ll do it."

— "Mi-ro’s right. It won’t matter even if it gets out."

— "I agree."

After agreeing with Mi-ro’s words, the 2nd-year students kept their hands raised, and others followed suit.

They all seemed so confident that I figured it didn’t matter, so I considered the numbers I wanted and created the offense team, which I then sent to Kozuka Yashiro through an early morning message.

I also added a pointless apology for sending it so early, pretending to be indecisive.

They’d probably think it took them all night to decide whether to align with Japan, but I had actually slept soundly.

‘Since the White Tiger was on night watch, I’m sure there were no nightmares.’

The accommodation was a single room, but it was in the Eungwang High residential area, and since some students were excited about the camp, accidents might happen, so I decided to call upon the White Tiger to keep watch.

Baek Ho-gun had been given work during the day but was likely to patrol around the accommodation on his own, even if I told him not to.

He’d probably be walking around until I woke up today as well.

I hoped he’d eat well.

“Wow, the food is better than usual.”

“Thanks to the exchange event, the Jiikhoi received a special budget. Oh, by the way, the snack is Daltokki, and we got that sponsored.”

Breakfast was eaten at the Jiikhoi cafeteria, mixed in with the other dorm students.

The dorm students greeted us with words of encouragement, and some joked about how their meals were better thanks to us.

Some students asked for photos with us, probably fascinated by our uniforms.

‘It brings back memories. Back when I lived in the athletes’ village, we took lots of photos in the cafeteria.’

After taking a few photos with my juniors, I drifted into old memories.

Whenever you’re selected for a representative competition like an international chess tournament or a multi-sport event that includes chess, there are plenty of opportunities to take photos in team uniforms.

It’s always a bit of a hassle to take photos with foreign athletes or athletes from other events, but it’s also fascinating.

I didn’t think I’d have a chance to take photos here during this exchange event since we were staying in different accommodations, but I was proven wrong.

“...I’m not even an official coach, I wonder if I’m allowed to wear the team uniform.”

“Mr. Kim Shin-rok, we are staying at Jiikhoi during the exchange event, and you are the advisor. We’re so glad you’re supporting us. Let’s take a photo together.”

The students crowded around Kim Shin-rok, who was wearing the team uniform. Though he awkwardly tried to step away, he ended up staying there due to Ahn Da-in’s kind and logical words.

It was surprising that Kim Shin-rok voluntarily wore the team uniform to the Jiikhoi cafeteria.

The answer to this question was in the hands of Yong Je-geon.

“Mr. Kim Shin-rok didn’t think he’d wear the team uniform, so I hid other clothes for him. I did well, didn’t I?”

It seemed like he hadn’t voluntarily worn it.

Yong Je-geon, who appeared as one of the official coaches, proudly boasted about his achievement.

Coaches who usually commuted outside the school were supposed to stay in the faculty dorms during the exchange event, so Yong Je-geon had also decided to do so.

Yong Je-geon was enjoying the faculty dorm life, which led to Kim Shin-rok suffering a great deal.

Normally, Ahn Da-in would have been angry on his behalf, but right now, she was too busy taking photos with Kim Shin-rok.

“If it’s photos, I’ll take them! Oh, and the head chef is done eating. The personnel arrangement is like this... You should take a photo too, where are you going!”

I was caught by Moon Sae-ron, and so, I ended up taking photos as well.

After taking photos of all the team members, including individual shots and group combinations, we finally left Jiikhoi.

We quickly wrapped things up and headed straight for Eungwang Global Stadium.

Even though we arrived fairly early, there was a long line around the stadium.

It looked similar to the day before, but there was one noticeable difference.

‘The dome is closed.’

Eungwang Global Stadium was not just a venue for matches or performances but also a huge otherworld simulator.

Since the weather was so nice, the dome being closed must have been to increase the simulator’s output.

Once inside the stadium, preparations were underway for the simulator’s operation and broadcast.

“Warm up as you enter. The offense and defense teams are going as planned. The defense team can be substituted during the match, but the offense team can’t, you know?”

Cheon Dong-ha started the briefing.

‘The “Random Otherworld Invasion” event took reality into account.’

For the defense team, it was easier to have support from the outside, so there was a rule allowing substitutions. However, once the offense team entered the otherworld, that wouldn’t be possible.

Despite hearing this, none of the offense team members, including me, showed signs of nervousness.

“Now, let’s call out the offense team members. First, the offense team leader, Yeom Junyeol.”

“Yeah!”

“You’re full of energy. No need to answer.”

Yeom Junyeol naturally became the leader of the offense team.

There was a suggestion that I should take the position since I had selected the offense team, but I firmly refused.

After Yeom Junyeol took the position, he sent a message saying, “I won’t disappoint you, teacher!” but from the start, the offense leader spot had clearly been his, so it was hard to respond.

“Next, the offense team members.”

Cheon Dong-ha called out the names one by one.

Gwak Kyung-gu.

Dokgo Mi-ro.

Park Seung-hyun.

And me, Jo Yi-shin.

The offense team was five, the defense team was five, and the substitutes were three.

A perfect team was formed to conquer any otherworld that might appear.