Season 3: Chapter 197: The Comeback (2)

Joseon had suffered their first defeat in the main tournament. Many people mocked them when things didn’t go well. However, the speed of posts generated on the boards dropped to a ridiculous extent now that they had truly lost.

[Suddenly, the board is clean. Legendary]

[What, were they all undercover nationalists? lol]

[It’s so funny how they have nothing to say when they actually lose lol]

Did those who mocked Joseon actually hope that they would win?

“Communities are always mysterious. Always.”

Ju-Hyeok clicked his tongue and closed the window.

“Hah.”

He sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair. In fact, Ju-Hyeok felt more worried than the community users.

“What to do? We need to reach the quarterfinals to break even.”

He was thinking about the cheering merchandise. He had never run a business selling merchandise before and didn’t realize they had to sell a significant amount to profit.

Especially in the rounds of thirty-two and sixteen, the total number of items that could be sold was already predetermined because of the few offline Korean spectators. The pie itself was small.

“There wasn’t much expectation for them to make it to the main tournament… so no one pre-ordered tickets to watch.”

Ju-Hyeok chose to invest when others had low expectations. In stock terms, he thought of it as buying the dip, which was correct in theory. However, it was different in practice because of the delayed reaction from low expectations even though the national team had advanced.

Ju-Hyeok had to endure until people actually reflected the true value through purchases. That minimum period would be up to the quarterfinals.

[Please just make it to the quarterfinals!!]

[If they reach the quarterfinals, I’ll go to watch live!!]

[Already waiting for tickets LOL]

[Cheering squad form! It’ll be fun!]

Seeing the public sentiment, the skyrocketing expectations would come to fruition all at once in the quarterfinals. If the Korean team could just reach that point, Mixed Nuts could have a good start as a business and rebound.

‘If I can’t sell the goods properly here…’

If they didn’t reach the quarterfinals and the offline sales were canceled? The business would plunge instead of rebounding.

“Ugh.”

Ju-Hyeok shook his head as if he didn’t even want to imagine it. He hadn’t considered this in his initial plans. He thought that even if they didn’t make it to the quarterfinals, they could just sell goods up to the round of sixteen. He had forgotten about cash flow, which referred to the order or flow of money coming in.

Manufacturing cheering goods and selling them offline was a very backward business model regarding cash flow. One paid the factory in advance and then got the money from customers after selling the goods. This time gap caused significant problems.

“I need to order the quarterfinals merchandise in advance to be ready.”

He had to place orders in advance to handle the overwhelming demand from spectators flooding in for the quarterfinals. In other words, he had to make advance payments.

Ju-Hyeok had already ordered the quarterfinal goods from the factory and the money had already gone out.

A saying came to mind at this time.

“The simpler the sales structure, the greater the profit and the fewer the variables. That’s the online market.”

He recalled hearing this while riding in his father’s car when everything was transitioning to online.

If Ju-Hyeok had also focused on the online market, there would have been less chance of seeing a deficit. He could have slowly made and sold goods featuring Almond and the national team members.

He didn’t need to display and sell them in advance. He could proceed by taking reservations whenever they ran out, but certain problems existed.

Firstly, unlike back then, online platforms increasingly charged exorbitant fees. The fee for selling goods on

This World

was over 50%.

Secondly—

‘They’re cheering items. Of course, they need to be sold at the stadium.’

These cheering items had to be sold where the viewers would be cheering. Each item had a specific space where it sold best.

“But competition is fierce online. You might not sell a single thing if you’re not careful. So you need to judge well where your product is competitive. Are you listening?”

“Honey, just focus on driving.”

Ju-Hyeok had pretended to be asleep then, but he was listening.

He had made his judgment. What he could sell most easily right now was cheering items. Considering all the fees, where would they be most competitive?

The expected demand would be high at the entrance of the stadium and they wouldn’t have to pay any other costs except for the stall rental fee.

Offline sales were inevitable. Of course, on the premise that they would reach the quarterfinals.

“Hah.”

Clap.

In the end, all he could do was clasp his hands and pray. It was literally up to the heavens.

“Dear heavens… No, father. Please let Cookie come out.”

He didn’t realize, from a spectator’s perspective, that this was a futile prayer.

“Ah.”

The third game was underway with no sign of a roster change. In the end, he could only keep praying.

Clap!

He clasped his hands harder and prayed more earnestly.

“Not heavens, just father! Please let them win! I’ll come home!”

It seemed like his target was a bit off.

“No, I won’t come home! Just let them win!”

He desperately prayed for a rebound.

“Father! Show me the answer!”

***

“Then show me.”

On the way to the waiting room, Sa-Rang closed her eyes momentarily and recalled.

“Should I leave the team? Is that what you want? What should I do for you to renew the contract!?”

“No. It’s not that. You do what you want.”

“Why are you leaving?”

“I’m just going to stop here.”

“Retirement? Does that make sense? You’re at your peak right now! You have a grudge against me, don’t you!? That’s why you’re holding out and not renewing the contract! Right!?”

“Sigh. If you have so little confidence in yourself, leave the team. That’s right. They say the lifespan of a damage dealer isn’t long anyway. Move now while you can get a big payday.”

“You heartless bastard. You’ve never cared about the team.”

Thud!

The waiting room door opened.

At that moment, all the past memories disappeared and two hundred players stood in front of her instead of her four colleagues.

“...”

She gestured to go alone and maneuvered her wheelchair to the podium where she could see all the players.

Whirrrrr…

No one said a word during her long slow entrance.

Finally, she looked down at the players from the podium. No, their eye levels matched since she was sitting down.

All eyes looked directly at her. Just that alone formed a pressure that squeezed her heart. The atmosphere also felt as solid as stone. Would her voice even carry any weight in such a place?

However, her voice pierced through the tightly compressed air.

“It seems like everyone is waiting for Cookie to come back.”

She didn’t speak loudly, yet it clearly reached all their ears.

The players, expecting feedback, froze at the unexpected words.

“Cookie can’t come back.”

Continued silence followed. A mood of defeat enveloped the room.

She clenched her fist and—

“So!” she spoke and struck the podium.

Bang!

“!?”

Everyone felt startled.

“This match is with me. And if we lose? We go home together. There are no other choices.”

Her voice grew louder, surprising everyone.

“I wasn’t originally part of this team and I didn’t work myself to death for this tournament. Losing the next game? Going home? It doesn’t matter to me!

Huff.

”

She caught her breath, seemingly excited, and began speaking again. Words she didn’t want to say, words she wanted to refuse.

“But I want to win. I will try to win. Because...”

None of the players knew this, but Sa-Rang felt that now was the time to say it.

“You’re a reserve this year, but we’d like you to be the commander next year.”

Cookie had told her his future intentions, but Sa-Rang never agreed to it. She thought it would be better to achieve their goal while he was still here. If Cookie disappeared, the team could possibly disperse too.

No one could predict the future and misfortunes like her legs and Sang-Hyeon’s arm. It was only right to achieve their goal now, so she rejected that proposal.

However, she accepted it now. She finally understood why Hui-Chul planned for the future.

“Because I’ll be the commander next year. This will be my team.”

Humans couldn’t just look at the present. Their minds always wandered into the future. They didn’t fully follow Best Yi Sun-Shin’s commands because they thought Cookie would return, but they were wrong.

Sa-Rang was telling them that was the case. Even the future would be with her.

“……!?”

“What, what?”

“What…?”

The players were naturally shaken.

“Even if you lose this match and go home, you’ll come back next year with me. So stop waiting for Cookie.”

Sa-Rang emphasized once more.

“Let’s win this match. I will too.”

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

That was all she said.

Whirrrrr.

Her wheelchair moved and turned.

“I’ll go first because it takes time to enter.”

Chi-Seung nodded and swallowed hard.

‘Is this enough?’

She hadn’t mentioned anything about why they didn’t follow her orders or give any feedback on the game, yet Chi-Seung had never seen such a feedback session that changed the entire atmosphere.

‘Something has changed.’

Chi-Seung needed to convey some information to the commander.

“Uh, wait! Sa-Rang? Noona? Madam? Please wait! Let’s go together…”

***

“Wowwwwww!”

The stadium grew lively as ever while waiting for the final third game.

The Persian fans rode on a high while the Joseon fans held onto hope.

“Alright. Everyone, it’s the third game against Persia that you’ve been waiting for! Ah, both teams have been struggling today! What do you think, OrangeKing?”

“Yes! From Joseon’s perspective, it’s a miracle they’ve come this far. But I think they can go further! And if Persia loses to Joseon, it’ll be a significant blow! This will create some psychological pressure for them!”

— It’s too much to handle~

— lol

— About to become honorable lol

— omg lol

“The players are entering!”

The crowd roared as the players lined up and entered.

The cheers of the Persian fans filled the stadium and felt overwhelming because of the previous victory.

“Wowwwww!”

— Oh man

— The number difference is huge

— When are the quarterfinals?!

— Please win!!

“Alright, there have been no roster changes for the players, right?”

“Yes, Best Yi Sun-Shin remains the commander. Currently, Cookie is not with the team.”

— What?

— OMG

— Damn

— Seriously???

— So harsh, Cookie…

— What is this?

— Wasn’t the second game just a test?

— Ugh

— Oh…

Unaware of the situation, the audience seemed visibly upset.

“Yes. We can say that Joseon clearly wants to show something.”

“That’s right. Best Yi Sun-Shin is a well-known commander in ranked matches. I think there’s much she couldn’t show in the second game. And if Joseon wins this, they’ll have another card! That’s the way to see it!”

Even though the new commander had lost once already and had no proper match record, the crowd at the scene did not lose hope.

“Let’s go to the quarterfinals!!!” someone who seemed like a cheerleader shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Wowwwww!”

The audience responded enthusiastically.

“Ah. Good! Even if our numbers are small, we can win with spirit!”

— ??

— Is that Bubblegum? lol

— What’s with Bubblegum

— Yelling with spirit!

— He’ll pop like a bubble;

— StrawberryShooter’s fashion is crazy, I mistook it for This World for a moment

Some viewers recognized the faces of the cheerleaders.

— Balloon Stars gathered lol

— They pre-booked this? lol

— Wow, so loyal!

— Miho is there, everyone is there, amazing

— Did they expect us to reach the finals after playing with Almond? lol

— How did they get here? lol

“Ah. Such passionate cheering feels good. As we speak, all players have entered the capsules. If no issues are found, the game will soon start.”

The final third game that would decide the match began.