The five minutes ended faster than anyone expected.
The music faded slightly as the announcer returned toward the stage, microphone in hand. The crowd began pressing forward again, eager for the next round.
Min walked toward his station.
Then he stopped.
Right before sitting down.
He stared at the computer in front of him for a moment longer than necessary, eyes scanning the monitor, the keyboard, the cables trailing off the desk.
Something still didn't sit right.
"I want to switch computers," Min said.
The announcer blinked.
"No can do."
A ripple of chatter moved through the crowd.
Han-Ryeong leaned back in his chair and laughed under his breath.
"What are you, superstitious?" he asked.
Min didn't smile.
"No," Min replied calmly. "I suspect something weird is going on."
The crowd gasped.
The entire room seemed to freeze for a moment.
Han-Ryeong slowly leaned forward now.
"Are you calling me a cheater?" he said, voice tightening.
Min shrugged.
"I wasn't…"
Then he tilted his head slightly.
"But now that you brought it up… are you?"
The room went silent.
Han-Ryeong's jaw clenched.
"I don't know what you mean."
Murmurs began spreading through the crowd like wildfire.
The announcer stepped forward quickly and raised the microphone again.
"No switching," he said firmly. "Those are the rules."
Min crossed his arms.
"Since when?"
"Since I said so."
Before Min could respond, a voice shouted from the side.
"You've been making rules since this whole match started!" Chan-Sik yelled.
"You think we didn't notice?"
A few spectators near the back started shouting too.
"Where's the fair game at?!"
"Yeah! No cheating allowed!"
The room began buzzing again.
Then suddenly
The crowd parted slightly.
A tall figure walked forward through the noise.
Kang Do-Gyun.
The captain of Red Pulse.
His presence alone was enough to quiet half the room.
He walked calmly up to the announcer and looked him directly in the eyes.
"If he wants to switch," Do-Gyun said quietly, "let him switch."
The announcer hesitated.
Do-Gyun didn't raise his voice.
But the weight of his words filled the room.
"Players take their equipment and switch," he continued.
"Now."
Min and Han-Ryeong didn't argue.
Both players quickly began unplugging their keyboards, mice, and headsets.
The crowd watched closely as they crossed to the opposite sides of the stage.
The setups were nearly identical.
Same monitors.
Same desks.
Same chairs.
Min knelt down briefly to plug his keyboard back in.
That's when he saw it.
A cable.
Thin.
Black.
Running from the back of the computer…
Across the stage…
Toward a small metal foot switch taped beneath the announcer's table.
Min stared at it for a second.
He understood immediately.
A delay trigger.
Someone could tap it.
Cause a brief signal interruption.
Just enough to stutter the screen.
Just enough to ruin a moment.
Min's jaw tightened.
But he said nothing.
He would win anyway.
Before Min could sit down again
Han-Ryeong suddenly spoke up.
"Hey."
Everyone looked over.
"There's a weird wire coming into my PC."
The announcer rushed over.
He crouched down.
Followed the cable with his hand.
The line ran directly across the stage.
Back toward…
Min's station.
The crowd erupted instantly.
"WHAT?!"
"CHEATER!"
"NO WAY!"
Han-Ryeong shot to his feet.
"Look at this!" he shouted. "It leads straight to his setup!"
Min stood up immediately.
"That was already here when I got here!"
"Liar!" Han-Ryeong shouted.
"I bet he's using that to cheat!"
"You're the cheater!" Min snapped.
In a flash the two players were nose-to-nose.
"Fuck you," Han-Ryeong muttered.
Then he shoved Min.
The crowd exploded with noise.
Min swung first.
A clean punch across Han-Ryeong's jaw.
Chairs scraped the floor as people surged forward to watch.
The announcer stood frozen, unsure what to do.
Then suddenly
Do-Gyun stepped between them and grabbed Han-Ryeong by the collar.
"STOP!"
His voice cracked through the room like thunder.
"You're embarrassing me."
Han-Ryeong glared past him.
"But he started it!"
"I don't give a shit," Do-Gyun snapped.
He looked down at the cable on the floor.
"This doesn't belong here."
He straightened up and addressed the room.
"The rules are changing."
The crowd quieted again.
"You two will finish the match," Do-Gyun continued.
"But the announcer and I will stand behind Min to make sure nothing happens."
He turned toward Chan-Sik's group.
"And his crew can stand behind Han-Ryeong."
Chan-Sik crossed his arms.
"Wait a second," he said. "Couldn't you just throw hand signals or something?"
A few spectators laughed.
Do-Gyun nodded slightly.
"You're right," he admitted.
"But they'll be too focused on the game to notice."
He pointed to the stage.
"That's why you're there."
"To watch."
He bent down, unplugged the strange cable, and held it up.
"Just to make things easier," he said, "one Red Pulse behind Min, and one of your people behind Han-Ryeong."
Then he tossed the cable aside.
"Done."
There was a pause.
Then a voice spoke up quickly.
"I'll do it."
Everyone turned.
It was Soo-Yeon.
She stepped forward without hesitation and walked behind Min's chair.
Min noticed.
But he didn't react.
His mind was already moving ahead.
Already calculating.
"Okay," Do-Gyun said.
"Your side?"
Chan-Sik's group exchanged glances.
Then another voice spoke quietly.
"I can go."
Everyone turned again.
Ha-Eun stepped forward.
"I got it."
She glanced briefly at Soo-Yeon before walking calmly to the opposite side of the stage.
Then she stood behind Han-Ryeong.
Watching.
Observing.
The two sides had chosen.
The announcer grabbed the microphone again.
"Well folks," he shouted excitedly, "looks like a Starleague match is about to happen with the recent addition of these lovely Star Girls!"
The crowd roared.
Music blasted through the speakers again.
Lights flashed across the stage.
"Game Four begins in…"
"THREE!"
"TWO!"
"ONE!"
Game Four
Protoss versus Protoss.
The tension was unbearable.
Min's anger had sharpened his focus into something dangerous.
His hands moved like lightning.
Han-Ryeong opened with a standard gateway expansion.
Safe.
Calculated.
But Min had something else planned.
A probe slipped quietly across the map.
Han-Ryeong scouted late.
Too late.
The first cannon warped in behind his mineral line.
Then another.
Then another.
Gasps exploded through the audience.
"A cannon rush?!"
"At this level?!"
Han-Ryeong tried to respond, pulling probes, warping units.
But the positioning was perfect.
The cannons locked the base down completely.
His economy collapsed in seconds.
Han-Ryeong slammed his keyboard.
Game Over.
The score was now 2–2.
Game Five
The crowd was on their feet now.
The tension felt electric.
Han-Ryeong was furious.
He expected another trick.
Another cannon rush.
So he scouted early.
Watched his base carefully.
Prepared for anything.
But Min wasn't repeating the same strategy.
Not this time.
Behind the scenes, a hidden tech path unfolded.
A Citadel.
A Templar Archives.
Then silence.
Han-Ryeong relaxed slightly.
That's when it happened.
A Dark Templar slipped into his base unseen.
Then another.
Probes fell instantly.
Han-Ryeong scrambled for detection.
But Min had already expanded behind the attack.
Economy booming.
Army growing.
The Dark Templar carved through everything like shadows.
Within minutes Han-Ryeong's base was collapsing.
The crowd fell completely silent.
Han-Ryeong leaned back slowly.
His army gone.
His base destroyed.
His screen empty.
Min removed his headset.
Calm.
Cold.
Focused.
The final scoreboard updated.
MIN - 3 HAN-RYEONG - 2
The crowd didn't cheer immediately.
They just stared.
Because something had changed.
Min wasn't just playing well.
He was playing fast.
Playing angry.
Playing like someone who had waited years for this moment.
Playing like someone who wanted revenge.
And somewhere behind Han-Ryeong
Ha-Eun watched quietly.
Her eyes glowing faintly in the monitor light.
Like she was seeing something no one else could.
Something beyond the wires.