Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1418

“Hyung, stop practicing.”

“Huh?”

“You’re going to ruin your condition.”

“……I’m okay.”

“It looks a bit severe to me.”

Park Yu-min gave a wry smile.

‘Was I overdoing it?’

He was spending all his time practicing except for eating and sleeping, so it was understandable that he would hear such words. Park Yu-min was always a practice bug, but now he was clearly exceeding his usual amount of practice.

“I get so anxious if I don’t practice.”

“Today is the day of the competition, what are you going to do if you ruin your condition? Your complexion is already bad, are you sick somewhere?”

“I just feel a bit unwell.”

“This hyung is going to be in big trouble!”

Choi Jung-woo looked at Park Yu-min with anxious eyes. Now that he looked closely, his skin was rough, and his eyes were dark.

“Hyung, you’re usually not nervous, right?”

In fact, it wasn’t that he wasn’t nervous, he was just desperately trying not to show it in front of others. But now, his body was in such bad shape that he couldn’t hide it.

“It’s my first time at a world tournament.”

“You won the Galaxy tournament like it was nothing! What are you talking about?”

“Back then, the world tournament was just like an event match.”

“Ah, that’s true….”

Back then, the status of Korean tournaments was higher than international tournaments. The prize money for international tournaments was lower than that of Korean tournaments, so there was no need to say more.

That’s why the pro gamers who were selected as representatives would participate with the mindset of just receiving a bonus. They rarely lost against overseas gamers.

But now it was different.

Now, winning the world tournament was several times more valuable than winning a Korean tournament. The difficulty had also increased significantly. So, he couldn’t help but be nervous.

“Anyway, stop practicing. You need to get ready to leave now.”

“Okay, I got it.”

At that moment, the coach, Oh Jin-hyung, came into the room.

“Is everyone ready… Yu, Yu-min, why is your complexion like that? Did you ruin your condition?”

“No… I’m okay.”

“You don’t look okay? Did you even get any sleep yesterday?”

When Park Yu-min didn’t answer, someone else spoke up instead.

“Yu-min hyung didn’t sleep a wink yesterday. He was playing solo queue all night.”

“Hey, you! You’re not a rookie who’s only been a pro for a year or two, don’t you know how important it is to manage your condition?”

“……I keep feeling anxious when I lie down.”

“Ah…”

Just as Oh Jin-hyung was about to say something, Park Yu-min suddenly raised his head and said,

“Don’t worry, coach. Have you ever seen me fail to manage my condition? I’ll do well during the match.”

“That’s true, but…”

Oh Jin-hyung looked at Park Yu-min with anxious eyes.

Park Yu-min had never disappointed him, but for some reason, he felt uneasy. He had never seen Park Yu-min’s complexion look so bad.

“I’m going to the restroom for a bit…”

“Okay, go quickly. We need to leave soon.”

“Yes.”

As Park Yu-min headed to the restroom, Oh Gyu-min frowned.

‘Is he going to be okay?’

Oh Jin-hyung couldn’t hide his anxiety.

“Hoo.”

As soon as he opened the restroom door, Park Yu-min, who was sitting on the toilet, rubbed his face with both hands.

‘Let’s get a grip.’

He didn’t really need to use the restroom. He just needed some time alone. If he went back to the room, everyone would follow him.

‘This is a sickness.’

The habit of being overly nervous whenever there was something new didn’t go away. When he won his first championship in another game, he calmed down by looking at his friends, and in this final….

‘It was Jin-ho again.’

Park Yu-min chuckled.

Looking back, Kang Jin-ho was always there whenever a crucial moment came in his life.

‘I need to graduate from this.’

It wasn’t that he was losing his pride by receiving help from his friend.

Park Yu-min didn’t put on airs when it came to Kang Jin-ho. It was true that Kang Jin-ho was the one who changed his life, but he also thought that it was meaningless to put on airs between friends.

Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t want that either.

He just wanted to become a Park Yu-min who could do well without Kang Jin-ho’s help.

That’s why he wanted to say.

That he had become this strong, that he was now someone who could lead others.

“I can do it.”

Park Yu-min closed his eyes and repeated it several times.

“I can do it.”

“Here are the tickets!”

Lee Hyun-soo vigorously shook the tickets in his hand. The tickets in his hand fluttered like a wad of cash. He seemed to want to show off how he had prepared so many tickets.

“Did you buy all of those?”

“Yes! I did it, Chairman!”

Kang Jin-ho said with a slightly sulky face.

“But can’t you get those by calling the club?”

“……Well, there’s a limit to that. How can you get 40 tickets? How much money is that?”

“That’s true.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Even if they could get them, it would be a big burden for Park Yu-min. He couldn’t help but praise Lee Hyun-soo for this.

“Are they all consecutive seats?”

“Hehehe, of course. I almost lost a tooth in the process. There was someone who absolutely refused to sell, saying they would never go.”

“So?”

“I handled it brilliantly. I bought a better seat and swapped it with them. They seemed to like it?”

He was a genius.

This guy was definitely a genius.

“So, can we go in now?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at the stadium. The crowd was bigger than he expected.

“……Do this many people come to watch a game final?”

“What are you saying like an old man? Games are now a legitimate part of culture.”

Kang Jin-ho knew that too.

But the crowd he was seeing now was much bigger than he had imagined. It was absurd to think that this large stadium was filled with people who came to watch a game.

“Still, there are too many people.”

“It’s because it’s America. It’s different from Korea here. Even if you gather people with unique tastes in the domestic market, the pie is bigger than in Korea. That’s why all kinds of cultures can develop.”

“I see.”

“And Americans don’t skimp on money for what they like. They don’t get told that it’s a waste of money to spend on that. In Korea, there are old fogeys who say it’s pathetic even if you just spend money on in-game purchases, right?”

Kang Jin-ho, one of those old fogeys, quietly shut his mouth.

‘I need to be careful when I speak.’

These days, it feels like you’ll be treated like an old fogey if you say anything. Or maybe Kang Jin-ho was just getting old.

“Let’s go in.”

Kang Jin-ho had a slightly nervous look on his face.

Kang Jin-ho, who didn’t know what tension was even when he was fighting for his life, couldn’t help but feel nervous about the things that happened to the people around him. He couldn’t even imagine how nervous Park Yu-min must be, having to compete in front of so many people.

“Hyung, do you think Yu-min hyung will be okay? He’s so timid…”

Han Jin-sung also looked around anxiously.

It was partly because the environment was unfamiliar, but he was also overwhelmed by the crowd. When he went to the stadium in Korea, he didn’t feel like this, but now he was getting goosebumps just looking at it.

“If we’re like this, how would Yu-min hyung be? Isn’t he going to have a panic attack?”

“Oppa, shut your mouth! Please!”

Jo Mi-hye scolded him, and Han Jin-sung pouted.

“I was just worried.”

“Don’t even worry! Don’t even talk! No, just don’t do anything, oppa!”

There are people in the world who can repay a thousand nyang debt with a single word, but there are also people who invite trouble just by opening their mouths.

“He’ll be fine.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“He’s stronger than you think.”

“Wow, the crowd is amazing.”

“I know, right?”

The huge circular stadium was filled with people. The heat was like a concert hall. The organizers were shooting out dolls with game item codes all over the place, as if to boost the atmosphere.

Every time a doll fell, people would get up and then sit back down.

“I want to have that doll.”

“You don’t even play games.”

“But the doll is cute.”

“Buy it when we go out later. They sell them there.”

“I should.”

Listening to the children’s words, Kang Jin-ho glanced around.

As Lee Hyun-soo had boasted, the seats were really good. There were better seats, but if you added the condition that all these people had to be able to sit together, you wouldn’t be able to find better seats.

“I’ve been going to Yu-min’s competitions a lot lately.”

“I know, right?”

Come to think of it, he went to the Busan tournament with Choi Yeon-ha too.

“I even watch him on TV sometimes these days. It’s been fun watching it.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Choi Yeon-ha as if he was surprised.

As far as he knew, Choi Yeon-ha didn’t enjoy games that much. It was unusual for someone who didn’t play games to watch game broadcasts.

“Yes. It’s stress-relieving to see the kids gathering and trying to kill each other.”

Was this a matter of personality, or a matter of character?

Kang Jin-ho didn’t try to find the answer.

It was better not to know.

“But really… wow, I’m getting nervous. My heart has been pounding since earlier, I can’t focus.”

“Yeah…”

Kang Jin-ho looked around and nodded.

In Korea, there was a tendency to restrain oneself so that the players wouldn’t get nervous, but it seemed that the culture was different in America. The players hadn’t even entered yet, but people were already shouting and making a fuss.

Chants supporting the teams were erupting one after another, and whistles were being blown from somewhere.

“It’s going to be chaotic, can they even play a game here? Yu-min is going to be nervous.”

“You can’t hear the sound inside.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes. I don’t know what kind of technology it is, but they say it blocks the sound.”

“The development of technology doesn’t wait for humans. It always leaves me behind.”

Kang Jin-ho agreed with that.

‘It would have been nice to see him once before the match.’

Since they came to cheer him on, it would have been nice if they could have met Park Yu-min beforehand, but their schedule was so tight that they didn’t even have time to go to the accommodation.

They had already sent their luggage to the accommodation by bus and came straight to the stadium.

Kang Jin-ho had a slightly nervous look on his face.

Park Yu-min wasn’t in good condition at the last tournament either. So, there was a high probability that it would be the same at this tournament. The final was always a place where you would get nervous.

At that moment, the players began to enter.

With the loud voice of the announcer, one player walked onto the stage.

Then, as soon as Park Yu-min’s ID was called, a thunderous roar erupted.

Then, the children from the orphanage all looked around in confusion.

“What, what? Why is Yu-min hyung so popular?”

Even in America?

Even Park Yu-min, who was entering, seemed confused, and kept looking around.