A Legendary Korean Gamer Stuck in a Japanese Isekai – Chapter 1

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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[Author: JamGalaNim*]
[Title: What do you think the ranking of all-time pro gamers is?]
[Personally, I think Key, who recently retired, is number one.]
[Likes: 552] [Dislikes: 774]

[Rooney*: Only in Odd? Or including all games ever?]
ㄴ[JamGalaNim: Including all games.]
ㄴ[Rooney*: If it’s all games, then we have to start with Emperor as the base for number one.]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(118.235): Agreed. All those seniors just laid down the rails for him to walk on, and people are saying they’re number one lol.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(210.207): Starcraft geezers are always going on about how they paved the way. Did other pro gamers just play around?]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(121.128): These young punks have no respect for legends. Do you think esports would even exist without those who came before? These kids don’t know how gamers used to be treated.]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(210.207): Bullshit. I can smell your dentures from here. Starcraft geezers are the ones who always put down other games and pro gamers. Isn’t that why they almost destroyed the esports scene with match-fixing in the end and handed the whole pie over to League of Legends?]

[ㅇㅇ(14.53): It’s hard to rank them because the games are all different. For me, it’s Emperor (StarCraft), Shoulders (Diafist), Moon (World), Sunbae (League), and Kid (Odd).]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(124.60): Kid’s career might be comparable to the legends’.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(211.210): In terms of career, only Shoulders and Moon are definitively above Kid.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(223.33): Is Kid’s career better than Sunbae’s?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(211.210): League’s popularity declined, and Odd took over. You could say they’re almost the same game in terms of how the leagues and tournaments work. Kid debuted on an unpopular, perpetually mid-tier team and ended up with more overall awards.]

[ㅇㅇ(112.144): Kid did well, but it’s not to the point of being comparable to the legends above. The people mentioned above weren’t just good; they were iconic.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(106.101): Agreed. Honestly, Kid’s just a good pro gamer.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(123.214): “Just a good pro gamer” my ass lol. Do 5 World Championships, 5 MSIs, and 13 OCKs look like a joke to you?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(1.248): That’s pretty awesome when you put it that way.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(220.76): And when Kid first debuted, Mad Bull Monsters was, at best, 4th place in the domestic league. They were lucky to even make it to Worlds, where they either got to the quarterfinals or were eliminated early. It wasn’t a team where you could easily build a career. For two years, he had no significant achievements, and then after winning his first league championship, he achieved all those accolades in the latter half of his career.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(58.79): But 13 OCK titles? How long has Kid been a pro?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(123.214): He’s 28 now, and he debuted when he was 17, so 11 years?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(180.66): Damn, he’s ancient.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(183.107): What the fuck? A guy who’s not even 30 is being called ancient.]
ㄴ[ㄴㄴ*: Old man…]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(218.150): In an industry where the average career lifespan is 5.2 years, 11 years makes you a fossil, you idiot.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(1.251): Excluding the first two years, in the remaining nine years, he won 13 championships out of 18. That’s insane.]

[ㅇㅇ(223.62): Emperor.]

[ㅇㅇ(180.64): It’s Emperor, you little shits. What a bunch of kids.]

[ㅇㅇ(175.196): Even if Emperor isn’t number one, it’s not Kid.]

[ㅇㅇ(211.36): Honestly, considering the atmosphere at the time, it’s either Emperor or Sunbae. It’s hard to say just based on game skills and career.]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer*: Water knows the answer.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(1.218): Please, enlighten us JamGals.]

[ㅇㅇ(106.102): The little shits are at it again now that he’s retired.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(39.7): Of course, since the old farts won’t give him a fair assessment.]
ㄴ[VV*: Ask regular people who Kid is, and see if they even know.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(14.46): My mom knows.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ*: JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again? JamGal, is that you again?]

[PreventEmptyThreads*: Why is everyone on Kid’s case? I heard he’s in Japan now.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(112.148): Actually, I’m Kid, and I sold all of the Korean team strategies to Japan.]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(220.116): Trai-]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(210.90): -tor]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(125:188): Scum]

“…Fucking bastards.”

How many international championship trophies have I brought to Korea?

And they evaluate me like this?

Who else has a career like mine?

As I scrolled down, hoping for a glimmer of sense, the topic had already been derailed, and a flame war had erupted, with everyone arguing about who was right and cursing each other out.

The original topic, me and other legendary pro gamers, had been completely forgotten, and as I was reading the comments of people asking about each other’s parents’ well-being, Siu, my secretary who used to be a second-string player on my team, brought me an iced Americano with a chuckle.

“You know it’ll hurt you, yet you still insist on looking at that.”

“…It’s the most populated forum.”

“The most populated with trash, too. You always said it wasn’t a place to cheer for someone, but a garbage dump where people just trash-talk whoever’s having a bad season.”

“…But I’m retired now. Living a quiet life.”

“Hyung, it hasn’t even been two months since you retired. And what did you or Hyung Hyunsuk do to deserve getting shit on there?”

He’s got a point.

Even though it’s gotten a bit better now that the gamers have moved on from League on PC to VR Odd, back when PC League was the main thing, esports wasn’t taken seriously. People called it a pseudo-sport, said we were just clicking mice, and made fun of us for calling ourselves pros.

But since it was still sports, the culture was incredibly toxic.

Even so, it would probably be considered cute compared to, say, the fandom of that baseball team in Busan, or the Phillies or Cubs fans in MLB.

And don’t even get me started on soccer fandoms in South American countries or some European countries.

Sometimes, when I search my name online, I feel sorry for my parents for having such a disappointing son.

But then again, it’s not like I haven’t made any money, right?

I sighed and looked away from my smartphone.

If I tried to gauge my reputation now or stir up some hype, it would inevitably turn into another flame war since I was a player until recently.

At least when some time passes, when I’m no longer just a player but a part of esports history, I’ll finally get a fair assessment.

…That’s how it should have been from the start, damn it.

How many international championship trophies have I brought, for crying out loud?

“But hyung, honestly, did you have to retire? I know your skills aren’t what they used to be, but there’s still no one like you. You could’ve at least made bank in China for a while before retiring.”

My wounded heart, which had just been gazing into the abyss of the internet garbage dump forum, seemed to recover a bit, my ego boosted by Siu’s practical, objective, wise, and entirely factual assessment: “There’s no other player as talented as you.”

Suppressing the corners of my mouth that were threatening to curl into a smile and the urge to shrug my shoulders, I said.

“Honestly, I was getting tired of it. My reaction time has been steadily declining over the past four years compared to my prime. And while money is good, if money was all that mattered, I would’ve stayed with Mad Bull Monsters, who were always stuck in the middle of the pack. I wanted to be a franchise player, a legend. And to some extent, I achieved that.”

“True, but what about China?”

I struck a pose with my left hand as if holding a gun and rested my chin on it, adopting a tragic expression.

“I am the despair of China and the pride of Korea. If I, the last bastion, were to succumb to China’s money, what would become of our Korean pride?”

Siu looked at me with a sympathetic expression, then chuckled and said.

“I wonder if people know that behind the image you’ve built all this time, you’re actually an attention-seeker who would pass up hundreds of millions because of some pointless concept.”

“That’s what you call an adult’s coping mechanism and social skills. You’ll learn someday.”

“The real adults I know don’t miss out on making money for silly concepts like you do.”

“…Well, that’s why you’re here working.”

“Yes, yes. Now, let’s be adults and get to work.”

“I want to go to Akihabara after I’m done.”

“After work. It’s not too far from here.”

“I want to go to a maid cafe, too. I wonder if they really say “Moe moe kyun-♥”?”

“…You actually want to see that…?”

Just like athletes in other sports, esports players, or pro gamers have to find their own way after retirement.

Of course, I had a professional career that was almost twice as long as most pro gamers, and I had built a legendary career, going beyond just being at the top. I was instrumental in turning Mad Bull Monsters, a mid-tier team with average viewership, into the second most popular team in the early days of esports, right after the long-standing powerhouse, G1.

Naturally, since I had a huge impact on everything from skills to viewership, T-shirt sales, merchandise, and item sales, I had accumulated a considerable amount of wealth.

Honestly, it was enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life, even with a bit of extravagance by ordinary people’s standards.

But then again, with life expectancy increasing so much these days, it might not last forever.

Anyway, the point is, I had to find a new job at a young age after retiring from my original career as an Odd pro gamer.

The easiest option was to become the coach of Mad Bull Monsters.

Honestly, it was a no-brainer.

If they didn’t appoint a player who had been with the team for 11 years without ever transferring, a player who had been a part of practically every single championship the team had ever won, as the coach, who else would they appoint?

People even joked that they should just give me the owner’s seat.

If I were to become the coach of another team, Mad Bull Monsters fans would probably explode and lynch the entire front office.

Especially since, due to various circumstances I won’t go into detail about, our fandom wasn’t built organically over the past nine years like most. It consisted of a bunch of trolls from online communities who, for some reason, had become die-hard fans. And once they got riled up, their antics were no laughing matter.

“Antics” was putting it mildly. It was more like outright harassment.

Sigh… I guess this is what happens when your talent is so great that even trolls become your fans.

Who am I to complain?

However, the hipster in me refused to go down the conventional path.

The place I chose was a country that, along with the early United States, was a giant in game development, a country that still continues to release masterpiece games to the world.

However, it was a country where the skill level of pro gamers was surprisingly low and weak despite its large gamer population and excellent infrastructure.

Japan.

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