Chapter 8 If You Don’t Try, Nothing Will Change
Dojun used his magic to run at incredible speed and barely made it in time for the tutoring session.
“You’re here, Dojun~”
As usual, Junseong’s mom greeted him first.
“Hello.”
As soon as Dojun said hello, they suddenly heard someone running quickly from upstairs.
Thump thump!
It was Lee Junseong, rushing down the stairs, out of breath.
“Lee Junseong! I told you not to run on the stairs!!”
“I know! But this is more important! Dojun, hurry upstairs!!”
With a serious expression, Junseong grabbed Dojun’s wrist and pulled him up to the second floor.
Once they were in the room, Dojun looked confused and asked,
“What’s wrong? Is there a question you don’t understand?”
“No, not about studying. It’s the stream!! You were on Mouse Soccer’s broadcast!!”
Junseong looked really excited.
“You were watching too?”
“Dude, it’s a huge deal right now. They say you broke Lee Shinhyuk’s record after ten years! Why didn’t you play games before with that kind of skill?”
Junseong had always guessed that Dojun would be good at games. Dojun was great at studying and sports, so it made sense he’d have talent for games too.
“You know… my family situation.”
“Ah, right… sorry.”
“It’s okay. I only played the game because of the prize money. I probably won’t play again.”
When Dojun said he wouldn’t play again, Junseong jumped up in shock.
“What are you talking about? You HAVE to play games! You’ve got talent!”
“You can’t make a lot of money just from playing games.”
“That’s true. But streaming is different.”
“I know that too. But still…”
Dojun had thought about it before. But just being good at games didn’t make you money as a streamer.
Even though Dojun was extremely talented at games, there were already many skilled gamers out there.
Even if someone became rank #1 in a game, it didn’t mean their stream would make the most money.
You needed to be good and have your own unique style. You needed content that was different and special. And nowadays, people cared more about entertainment than skill.
“Honestly, I’m not great at talking. If I stream, it won’t be entertaining.”
“That’s not true! You’ve got a natural charm. You don’t need to be super talkative to be funny. Even when you say weird things with your serious face, girls laugh like crazy. You can build your fun through the vibe and timing.”
“I don’t know…”
Even with all of Junseong’s convincing, Dojun still wasn’t sure.
Right now, the most important thing for Dojun was money.
“Honestly, I need money. Just my mom’s hospital bills are 20 million won a month, and even if I live really cheaply, I still need at least 1 million won for living expenses. And Jiyeon’s going to college next year… I don’t want to waste time on something uncertain. If I keep working hard, I’ll definitely get a chance to make big money.”
“You think you’ll get a good chance to make money?”
Junseong’s expression turned cold.
“Hey, Kim Dojun. Want me to be real with you? Even if you keep doing what you’re doing, there’s no way you can pay off your family’s debt.”
Dojun couldn’t say anything.
Because deep down, he already knew that.
“I’m still young, but my dad always says this — opportunities don’t come to you. You have to make them. If you want to make money, you have to move ahead of others. And to get ahead, you have to invest. Everyone knows that. But most people choose to stay safe instead of taking risks. You know why?”
Dojun also knew the answer.
“Because they’re afraid. Afraid they might lose even more. Afraid things might get worse.”
Exactly.
Things were already hard. He didn’t want them to get harder.
“I know you’re scared. Of course, you might fail. But I’ll say one thing — if you’re afraid of failing and don’t even try, then things will never get better than they are now.”
And Junseong’s final words struck Dojun deeply.
“Don’t be afraid to try. If you don’t try, nothing will change.”
*
That night, Dojun’s new record in Physical Class caused a huge stir.
◉ TL Games – [Physical Class] ◉
Title: Due to emergency maintenance, [Physical Class] will be temporarily unavailable.
We sincerely apologize.
Today around 5 PM, part of the Physical Class pattern was revealed, so we’re starting an emergency patch.
This is to ensure fairness for all players of Physical Class. Thank you for your understanding.
We want to thank the player known as “Rank 1 Guy” for discovering this and also congratulate him on his new record.
Thank you.
— TL Games, Nov. 10, 20XX
— Team Leader Han Mujin
The gaming community went wild.
The biggest news? Astra’s 10-year-old record had been broken.
[Title: Starting today, there’s a new #1 in Physical Class (feat. Rank 1 Guy)]
Everyone thought Mouse Soccer was the underdog — but he won LOL
Like a movie, the final player broke Astra’s record
His nickname now is “Rank 1 Guy”
He was a total noob, using a capsule for the first time
You can watch it on Mouse Soccer’s stream — go go go
No way, is this real???
Isn’t this fake? I don’t see it in the rankings.
┗ He’s still mid-challenge, stopped at level 14.
┗┗ Really??
┗┗┗ Just go watch the highlight LOL
┗┗┗┗ But it’s kinda long…
┗┗┗┗┗ The whole thing is a highlight.
Then TL Games announced the emergency patch.
Physical Class was known for never needing patches — it was said to be near perfect. So this shook the gaming world.
[Title: TL Games announced a patch LOL]
First one to find a flaw in the game after Astra?
Even if they told us regular folks the strategy, we couldn’t use it
But devs must’ve decided it gave top players an advantage
They’re patching on a Sunday night LOL
This is a first for Physical Class
Guess Rank 1 Guy is on Astra’s level now
Actually… maybe even higher?
His pure skill was insane
Watching it live gave me chills
I’ve never seen TL Games officially shout someone out before
He figured out the pattern on his first playthrough?! Gave me goosebumps
This felt like when I first saw Astra
┗ Still, calling him equal to Astra is a stretch
┗┗ He’s not even a real player yet
┗┗┗ LOL he’s just a high school kid — don’t compare him to Astra
┗┗┗┗ Uh-oh, the fanboys are here!! Run!!
Rank 1 Guy hadn’t officially debuted yet, so Astra’s throne wasn’t gone. But still, the unshakable flow of the game world had begun to change — all because of Dojun.
*
The day of the college entrance exam.
In Korea, this was a national event.
After 12 years of school — 6 elementary, 3 middle, 3 high — students faced the final test.
Even office hours started late, and planes were grounded. The country was serious about it.
Even Kim Sucheol, who always delivered milk early in the morning, took the day off to drive his son Dojun to the test center.
“I’ll go now, Dad.”
“Okay. Don’t be nervous — just do it like you always do. I know you’ll do well.”
“Yes.”
Even Dojun was a little nervous today.
In the classroom, he closed his eyes and meditated.
Ding dong dang dong~
The bell rang to start the test.
“Begin the exam.”
Everyone opened their test booklets at once and picked up their pens.
Dojun took a deep breath.
‘I won’t make any mistakes.’
He gave more time to checking answers than usual.
Normally during practice tests, he would nap after finishing.
But today, he didn’t stop — he reviewed everything carefully.
Ding dong dang dong~
“Time’s up! Pens down!”
“Ahh! It’s finally over!!”
“Quiet! It’s not over yet!”
“Oops… sorry!!”
Lee Junseong, who was in the same room, got scolded by the proctor but looked relieved.
After collecting the answer sheets, the exam was officially over.
Most students left the room happily — but Dojun still had something left to do.
“Junseong, how’d it go?”
“Feeling great. Maybe I’ll get a new capsule, who knows?”
“If the results are good, I’d be happy too. Let’s go home and check.”
“Let’s go!!”
At home, Dojun started grading Junseong’s test papers.
Gulp.
Junseong and his mom watched nervously as Dojun checked.
Finally, Dojun finished the last one. Junseong’s mom asked quickly,
“How is it, Dojun?”
“Congratulations, ma’am. If nothing goes wrong, Junseong should get all level 1 scores.”
“Really!?”
Half excited, half worried — her face finally lit up.
Next to her, Junseong pumped his fist.
“Yes!! Mom, don’t forget your promise!”
“Okay, okay. You worked hard. But it’s all thanks to Dojun.”
“I was the one who convinced you to hire him!!”
“Whatever~ Let’s tell your dad right now!”
She left the room looking excited.
Dojun praised Junseong too.
“Good job, Junseong. It couldn’t have been easy to keep up.”
“Honestly, you did all the work. A lazy guy like me couldn’t have done it without you.”
“That’s true.”
“Wow, now that mom’s gone, you take your jacket off right away. Where’d your manners go? Anyway, how was your test?”
“I graded your test, didn’t I?”
Junseong made a face.
“Handsome and smart? You’re too perfect — it’s not fair!”
“Perfect or not, I can finally take a breath.”
Dojun looked visibly more relaxed.
Then Junseong asked,
“So, did you decide?”
“Halfway.”
“Huh? What kind of answer is that?”
“I’m going to get the other half of the answer now.”
As Dojun got up to leave, Junseong tilted his head.
“Go? Where?”
“To someone who knows a lot about streaming.”
*
Ding dong. Ding dong.
Dojun rang the doorbell, and the door opened.
“Hello.”
He bowed, and Mouse Soccer greeted him with a smile.
“You’re here? Come on in.”
Inside, there was a long hallway.
The house wasn’t quite as big as Junseong’s, but it was still huge.
“Sit here.”
Mouse Soccer offered a seat, and Dojun sat across from him and bowed again.
“Thank you for the prize money.”
“It’s nothing. When you asked to send it directly to your mom’s hospital, I thought you were being cheeky at first — sorry for misunderstanding.”
Dojun had asked the money be used to pay the hospital instead of transferring it to his account, because debt collectors would’ve taken it.
Mouse Soccer understood right away how hard Dojun’s life had been.
“I’m here today for the interview you mentioned — and also because I have personal questions.”
“I figured. You want to ask about streaming, right?”
“Yes. My friend encouraged me after seeing your stream. He said I have talent.”
Mouse Soccer closed his eyes, deep in thought.
Silence.
After a while, he opened his eyes and said,
“I honestly think you do have talent.”
“Then…?”
“But if you ask me whether you can make it to the top level… I’d say it’ll be hard.”
Mouse Soccer looked at Dojun with a very cold, serious face.
