Before MC ORCA could lift the mic again, the replacement announcer stepped back into the center of the lights.
"Five-minute intermission," he said calmly. "Players remain in position. No outside communication."
A low wave of noise rolled through the warehouse. The music shifted to something older, a 90s pop track that felt almost nostalgic in its artificial brightness. The bass wasn't as aggressive now. It thumped instead of attacked.
Min exhaled slowly and removed his headset.
Across the stage, Seo Han-Ryeong, AKA, Electric Hands,stood without expression. He adjusted his sleeves once, then turned and walked toward the side exit.
A moment later, the metal door groaned open.
Cold night air slipped inside.
And then the smell followed.
Cigarettes.
Sharp. Bitter. Grounded.
Han-Ryeong always did that before important matches. A ritual. A reset.
Min watched him go.
Ha-Eun stood slightly apart from the group.
She wasn't clapping. She wasn't cheering. She wasn't even fully watching the stage.
She was observing.
The lights above flickered faintly. Neon reflections moved across her light blue hair like water ripples. For a second, Min noticed how still she was compared to everyone else.
Almost too still.
Her gaze drifted across the crowd, slow, deliberate, as if cataloging details no one else cared to see.
"Why did I come here?"
The question hovered behind her eyes.
She turned and that's when she noticed Soo-Yeon.
Soo-Yeon wasn't watching the crowd.
She wasn't watching Han-Ryeong.
She wasn't even talking to her crew.
She was staring directly at Min.
Not angry.
Not smiling.
Just… watching.
Ha-Eun felt something small twist in her chest. Not jealousy exactly. Something quieter. A discomfort she didn't want to name.
She made her way toward Chan-Sik.
"What's the deal with her?" she asked, nodding subtly toward Soo-Yeon.
Chan-Sik followed her gaze.
"Why? You jealous?" he teased.
"Not really," she replied flatly. "She's just been fixated on Min for some reason. Did they date?"
"Not really."
"Then why is she being weird?"
Chan-Sik scratched the back of his neck.
"Let's just say they started off as friends. Close ones. But in the end…" He shrugged. "She backstabbed us."
"How so?"
"She rolls with Red Pulse now. Fed them information. Tried to sabotage Min before the warehouse incident."
Ha-Eun blinked once.
"Is that so?"
"Curious about the story?"
"Not necessarily," she said softly. "I'm just waiting to get out of here."
Chan-Sik laughed.
"You really don't like this scene, huh? Don't worry. If Min plays correctly the next two matches, we'll be home in no time."
Home.
The word seemed to catch in her expression.
She looked around again.
People were dancing to the old pop track. Some had drinks in hand. Laughter cut through the heavy air. Beer bottles clinked. Someone near the back was arguing about build orders. A couple leaned against a pillar, whispering.
It felt less like a battlefield.
More like a strange festival.
"Is this what people really do nowadays?" she murmured to herself.
It wasn't condemnation.
It was curiosity.
On stage, MC ORCA leaned close to Min.
"Electric Hands is next," he said. "Storm-heavy play. He bleeds people dry with High Templar. Micro's insane."
Min nodded.
Han-Ryeong's Protoss was violent. Not reckless, violent. He carved armies apart with surgical storms. No wasted energy.
"He doesn't have many bad matchups," MC ORCA continued.
Min rolled his shoulders.
"I'll go Protoss."
"Mirror?"
"Yeah. If he wants storms, I'll give him storms. Zerg lings and Terran marines just get eaten alive in that matchup."
MC ORCA grinned slightly.
"Smart."
Ha-Eun approached the stage steps quietly.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
Min looked up at her.
"Okay."
She glanced around at the flashing lights and restless crowd.
"This scene is weird. How can you be here?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know," she said. "It's just… different from where I'm from."
"Where are you from?" MC ORCA asked, genuinely curious.
She hesitated.
"Nowhere exciting."
Min tilted his head. "What did you do before the collapse?"
"Study."
"Study?" MC ORCA echoed, surprised.
"Just sitting in my room. Looking outside. Taking lessons. Reading. Memorizing things I don't even know if I needed."
Her tone wasn't bitter.
Just honest.
Min smiled faintly.
"So how'd you end up here?"
She looked toward the open warehouse doors where smoke drifted in.
"Cabin fever."
Min chuckled.
"Fair enough."
But something about her answer felt incomplete.
Cabin fever didn't explain the way she scanned the room like she was measuring exits.
Cabin fever didn't explain how earlier, when the lights flickered, she'd glanced at the breaker panel instinctively.
MC ORCA suddenly stood.
"Alright. Break's almost up."
The music swelled louder.
Explosions of light burst from stage cannons.
The crowd tightened toward the center again.
Ha-Eun leaned slightly closer to Min.
"That girl over there keeps looking at you."
She pointed discreetly toward Soo-Yeon and her group.
Min and Ha-Eun both looked.
Soo-Yeon and her friends immediately looked away.
Min exhaled sharply.
"She's getting on my nerves."
"Mine too," Ha-Eun said.
He raised an eyebrow. "You don't even know her."
"There's something about her I just don't like."
MC ORCA leaned in. "Hey—that's what I thought too when I first saw her."
Ha-Eun allowed herself the faintest smile.
"Okay, okay," Min said, standing. "Go. I gotta play."
She stepped back. But before that she let her last message in.
"I think something is going to happen later."
Before Min could respond the lights dimmed.
Han-Ryeong re-entered the warehouse, smoke clinging faintly to his jacket. His expression hadn't changed.
He sat down opposite Min.
Placed his keyboard carefully.
Mouse centered.
Headset on.
He looked up once.
"You're on your way to see your brother," he said calmly.
Min's fingers froze for a fraction of a second.
"What?"
Han-Ryeong adjusted his monitor angle slightly.
"People who play like you tonight… they're not playing for trophies."
His eyes flicked upward.
"They're playing to settle something."
The music cut.
The crowd roared.
Min didn't respond.
But somewhere in the corner of his vision, he saw Ha-Eun again.
Not cheering.
Not nervous.
Just watching.
And for a split second
The overhead lights flickered once more.
Her eyes reflected something sharper than curiosity.
Something calculating.
Then it was gone.
"PLAYERS READY!" the announcer shouted.
Min gripped his mouse.
Across from him, Electric Hands smiled faintly.
The countdown began.