At the end of 2003, the sponsor contract with Orion came to an end. Until we found another sponsor, there was a gap of time. I started to become restless. It was because I had no sponsor, and I played more losing games than winning games. My confidence had fallen, and whenever I saw an article such as ‘Lim Yohwan’s stagnant record,’ I wanted to go hide somewhere. I waited for a sponsor that was more encouraging, and preoccupied myself with practice. Around the time when I was regaining my composure, the sponsor that I had been waiting for appeared. It was SK Telecom.

The sponsor contract with Orion was not with the entire team, but limited to only me. But now the situation had changed. The skill level of our team players had increased, and they had acquired the ability to sufficiently win individual championships. Now there was a need for a sponsor contract where it was not only for me but for the entire team. In the enterprise of becoming a sponsor, the players must return the effect for the amount invested. I was looking for a sponsor using the fact that I was the player with the largest number of fans, that I had a high influence in gaming, and that I was the most recognized among progamers as a representative figure. SK Telecom promised us the best treatment.

SK Telecom had a plan to create a new progaming team called T1. They were looking for a suitable team, and they came to support our team that did not have a sponsor.

From the side of SK Telecom, the reason why they counted on me, even though I had average results, was that I was thorough in self-management as a professional. And besides the fact that I steadily kept at my record, it seemed that they highly valued the image of the ‘Emperor of Terran.’ Unlike the previous sponsor contract, SK Telecom requested an important role from me. It was to become the team captain. With the increasing number of team leagues, ‘Team First’ was becoming a significantly important strategy. It was that the captain had to set a good example to all the team members.

The Orion team was a team that I made by myself, but SK Telecom T1 was the result of all of our efforts. If the team members did not put in their effort, the best team of T1 could not have been founded. All of the team members now had a salary contract, so the sense of responsibility increased, and they helped each other during practice and more effort could be put in for the team matches.

As a captain, unlike before I was given a responsibility to not only concern myself with individual results, but with the results of the team. If the captain were to not practice and go out with friends, there was no way that the team members would follow my orders. I practiced more than my team members and did not go out. To fulfill the amount of practice that the coach assigned, I encouraged my juniors and took charge of practices.

I successfully established another contract with SK Telecom T1, with a salary in the hundred million wons. And it was the highest salary among the progamers, with 200 million won. It was a salary twice of what I had while I was in the Orion team. Everyone gave me an envious look, but I now had the pressure to produce a result of at least ten times of that amount. But that pressure turned to confidence, and it became an opportunity to take another step as a progamer.