Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1126

‘When is this guy going to grow up?’

Joo Young-gi looked at Kang Jin-ho with a dumbfounded expression.

At first, he had a relaxed look, like, ‘Okay, I’ll help Yu-min out.’ But now, he was glaring at the monitor like a thug who had just been punched, ready to break it.

And his hands.

If he wasn’t careful, they might witness the historic moment of the mousepad melting from the friction with the mouse.

The hands hitting the keyboard were now a blur. They were moving so frantically that a pianist giving a recital would have to watch and learn.

Joo Young-gi didn’t know much about games.

Honestly, even when he looked at the screen, he couldn’t tell who was winning or losing. It was just, if they killed, they killed, and if they died, they died.

But he could roughly tell what Kang Jin-ho was doing right now.

He was glaring at the monitor like he was going to break it… no, like he was going to devour it. He looked like he would kill anyone who dared to touch him.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Of course, he didn’t mean to belittle the immersion in the game.

Even though he said that, he was also friends with a pro gamer. In a world where playing games could make you money, what was wrong with being immersed in a game?

Joo Young-gi, who roughly knew Park Yu-min’s income, couldn’t possibly belittle the profession of a pro gamer.

Joo Young-gi was running two pizza places, but his income was nothing compared to Park Yu-min’s.

Considering his annual salary and streaming income, Park Yu-min was making a fortune.

But still….

‘There’s a limit, though.’

If kids saw him like that, they would have a fit. His head was whipping around, and his hands were leaving afterimages. Ah, so that’s what a three-headed, six-armed monster looks like.

Joo Young-gi shook his head.

‘It’s always the ones who are bad at games who make the biggest fuss. Look at Yu-min. How calm… huh? Yu-min?’

Joo Young-gi quickly closed his eyes as he saw Park Yu-min, who had been playing comfortably, leaning forward more and more.

Don’t become like that weirdo, my friend.

‘I knew it.’

Park Yu-min unknowingly gripped the mouse tightly. He could feel the dampness on his palm.

It was strange that he could be this tense while playing solo ranked in a PC bang [internet cafe], not even a pro match. Especially for Park Yu-min, for whom gaming was a part of his daily life.

Park Yu-min’s eyes were fixed on the monitor.

Kang Jin-ho was rampaging on the screen.

It was clumsy.

And aggressive.

From the perspective of a pro like Park Yu-min, his movements were full of weaknesses. But those facing Kang Jin-ho were in a state of panic.

His ELO [a rating system for skill level] had dropped a bit because he was playing duo with Kang Jin-ho, but he was still matched with familiar IDs that he usually saw.

Being matched with Park Yu-min meant that they were also well-known gamers in Korea.

And they were freaking out.

It was understandable.

It’s the same in every field. At first, you rely on instinct, but to reach a certain level, you need to be backed by reason.

To become a pro, you can’t just predict how your opponent will move.

You have to instantly calculate your skills, your opponent’s skills, your compatibility, and even the surrounding movements, and then find the most appropriate move to make.

Like how Go [a strategy board game] is a game of instinct up to a certain level, but beyond that, it becomes a competition of who can calculate faster and more repeatedly.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t calculate.

To the eyes of experts, he was pushing in with ridiculous force at ridiculous timings. He should have died, but instead, he was taking their heads and returning.

That’s why their calculation circuits were getting messed up.

Look at it now.

Every time Kang Jin-ho’s character moved, three or four people would freak out and retreat.

‘Aggression, and unpredictability.’

He understood.

Rules are set.

But there are also unspoken rules in the world. There’s no specific rule that says you have to move that way, but people living their lives unknowingly designate and follow them for convenience.

People who have naturally become accustomed to such things don’t realize that these unspoken rules exist. Just like how people don’t realize that the air fills their surroundings.

But the moment an irregular enters, the unspoken rules that were previously invisible begin to appear.

In the game, Kang Jin-ho was such an existence.

‘It was like that before too.’

In Galaxy Craft, there was something called a build. You had to build structures, produce workers, and attack at the optimal timing.

Your skill was determined by how well you utilized the optimized build.

But such builds were not used in tournaments.

If you knew what was coming, you could counter it. That’s why in tournaments, everyone came up with new builds as their trump cards.

One-time use builds. Compared to the completed builds they usually used, they were incomplete and trash, but in a tournament where a single match could decide the outcome, such one-time builds were more useful.

In the past, Park Yu-min had also stayed up all night practicing to create builds that would catch his opponents off guard.

From that perspective, this game was no different.

If you mechanically and methodically do what others can easily predict, you might become a top player, but you can’t become the best.

‘That’s what I was doing.’

That was why Park Yu-min hadn’t been doing well recently.

Park Yu-min was good at games.

This wasn’t arrogance. Objectively speaking, Park Yu-min was good at games. He had the skills to stand out among the best pro gamers.

But that was it.

After a season as a pro, he had become more mature and polished, but he had also become more rounded. He was just making the play that was closest to the correct answer at any given moment.

He shouldn’t be doing that.

Did the best basketball players or the best soccer players play by the book?

No.

They were the ones who twisted the unorthodox into the orthodox. They became the best by making plays that were considered impossible, possible.

Yeah, like Kang Jin-ho right now….

‘No, Jin-ho is a bit too much.’

Kang Jin-ho was going so crazy that the game was too easy. Because everyone’s attention was focused on Kang Jin-ho, the others were barely being checked, so they could do whatever they wanted.

So, it was impossible for the game not to go well.

Besides….

– Dude, you crazy bastard. Are you on drugs? Why are you playing like that?

– Next, 070. You’re calling international numbers [a reference to a common scam call prefix in Korea].

– Why don’t you try facing him?

– Next, loser.

– No way. You guys win it yourselves.

There was internal strife in the opposing team.

The game was going well, and their mentality was crumbling.

‘If this is a best-of-five, the impact will be huge, right?’

In a multi-game series, breaking the opponent’s mentality was also a major tactic. If you could break their mentality just by playing, victory was a given.

Park Yu-min’s eyes lit up.

‘Aggression.’

Park Yu-min had already copied that play once. When he was taking the test to join the team, he had referenced Kang Jin-ho to make up for his lack of aggression.

But it seemed that one time wasn’t enough.

Park Yu-min wasn’t naturally aggressive. If left alone, the aggression he had filled would gradually wear away.

To maintain a certain level of aggression, he needed to fill it up from time to time, like a car refueling.

‘I need to suck it all up.’

And based on that, he needed to establish his own style.

During these two days…

“Should we take a smoke break?”

“Hmm, should we?”

Park Yu-min didn’t smoke.

But he thought that Kang Jin-ho would want to smoke at this point.

“Let’s play one more game.”

“Ah, okay then.”

Park Yu-min excitedly grabbed the mouse.

‘4 wins and 2 losses.’

The win rate wasn’t bad. But the important thing wasn’t the win rate. From the start, they weren’t playing this game to win. Even if they lost, if he could get more out of Kang Jin-ho’s play, it was a good deal.

And so far, it was going smoothly.

With each game, Kang Jin-ho was becoming more and more aggressive. At first, he was just killing the guys in his lane, but now he was charging into places with three or four people and fighting like crazy.

So, was he winning?

‘No, he’s getting killed.’

How could he win against four people? It’s a game.

Ordinary people can’t handle a crowd in real life, but they can handle a crowd in games, but Kang Jin-ho was the opposite.

Kang Jin-ho was someone who could beat up anyone in real life, but in the game, he couldn’t break the limits set by the game.

But it was okay.

While Kang Jin-ho was getting killed, his teammates were gaining advantages elsewhere. Just by perfectly drawing the attention of four people, Kang Jin-ho was doing his part.

“Hmm, why am I losing?”

But Kang Jin-ho looked like he couldn’t understand.

“…Jin-ho, you can’t win against four people. It’s common sense.”

“I can win.”

“…But that’s a game.”

“There must be a way.”

Yeah, that’s good. That’s your good point.

Do whatever you want.

Of course, Park Yu-min understood. Kang Jin-ho was that kind of person from the start. But it seemed that there were people who didn’t understand.

– Dude, what the hell is wrong with your head? Why do you keep going into places with multiple people and dying, you motherless bastard?

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes twitched.

“B-Block him, Jin-ho. Block him.”

But Kang Jin-ho was someone who didn’t avoid a fight that came his way. He could understand if the enemy was cursing. He wouldn’t punch a corpse just because the people dying at his hands were cursing.

But he couldn’t understand why his teammate was cursing.

– You got a problem?

– A problem? I got a lighter too, you bastard. You play like shit. Where did you learn to play like that?

The game’s automatic profanity filter made people even more angry.

– Don’t curse.

– What if I do? If you’re so mad, let’s fight.

– Where are you?

– Don’t bother. You’ll get your ass kicked if you come. I’m not someone you can mess with. I can beat you to death with one finger and send your ancestors to meet their maker.

– …Where are you?

– I’m at Wizen PC bang in Seocho-dong. Come over if you dare.

Kang Jin-ho opened an internet window and searched for the location of the PC bang.

“Hmm?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened.

“It’s, it’s in the next building?”

– I’m coming now.

– Come over if you dare, you moron.

Kang Jin-ho silently got up from his seat.

“J-Jin-ho. You can’t hit people.”

“I won’t.”

He just wanted to see their faces.

People should have manners. Shouldn’t he correct the behavior of those who curse at other people’s parents just because they don’t see their faces?

“Let’s go.”

“Alright!”

Joo Young-gi got up from his seat excitedly.

“Kuh, I’m glad I came. I’m getting involved in this kind of thing even at my age. Ah, this is good, this is good. It reminds me of the old days.”

Unlike the gleeful Joo Young-gi, Park Yu-min was horrified.

“You stay here.”

“No. I’m going too.”

“I said stay here.”

“If I don’t go, you’ll cause trouble. I’m going.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed and went outside. After confirming that there was a Wizen PC bang sign in the next building, Kang Jin-ho ran up the building in one go.

“Wait up!”

Park Yu-min hurriedly chased after Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho opened the door to the PC bang and scanned the monitors that were on. But there were too many people, so he couldn’t find him.

Kang Jin-ho frowned and opened his mouth.

“Who is ‘nimugari_sunsak’?”

“What?”

A sharp voice came from deep inside.

“Oh, you crazy bastard actually came. You wanna die. I was already annoyed, but this is good. You’re gonna die today….”

The man who was walking towards the front with big strides widened his eyes.

“C-Chairman?”

Kang Jin-ho also widened his eyes.

“Lee Myung-hwan?”