Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1128

“Hello.”

Oh Jin-hyung frowned as he watched Park Yu-min return to the practice room.

“Hey, you were supposed to be back by midnight today. It’s not even lunchtime yet, why are you already here?”

“I think I’m okay now.”

“Huh?”

Park Yu-min smiled lightly.

“I can’t say for sure that I’m out of my slump, but I think I’ve got a handle on it. So, instead of wasting time, I thought I’d come back early and get back in sync.”

“Really?”

Oh Jin-hyung scrutinized Park Yu-min with a careful gaze.

‘That smile…’

He had seen Park Yu-min wear that kind of smile a few times.

And every time…

‘He almost always won.’

Park Yu-min was someone who didn’t trust himself. Even when others thought he was more than good, even excellent, he would continue to doubt himself and practice relentlessly.

He only showed that kind of face when he was sure he could win after that grueling practice.

‘No, it’s only been a day and a half?’

A slump wasn’t something you could easily escape, that’s why it was called a slump. If a day and a half of worrying could solve it, no one would call it a slump.

It would just be a temporary dip in condition.

In Oh Jin-hyung’s eyes, Park Yu-min was in a real slump.

But he overcame it in this short amount of time?

“Hey. When’s the scrimmage?”

“It’s in 30 minutes.”

“Have Hyun-tae step out and Yu-min go in. Let’s check it out.”

“Yes.”

Kwak Hyun-tae got up from his seat and looked at Park Yu-min.

“Hyung [older brother/senior], are you really okay? This scrimmage is important.”

“Yeah. Sorry, Hyun-tae. Let me do it this time.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Before Park Yu-min joined, Kwak Hyun-tae was the main player. And as the season started, he was pushed to the bench, but he finally got a chance when Park Yu-min was in a slump.

But Park Yu-min was back in two days.

‘I wouldn’t feel good either.’

Park Yu-min had a slightly apologetic look on his face. But he couldn’t back down. That’s how the pro world was. There was no giving way in position competition. You had to survive solely on skill.

“Don’t feel pressured, hyung. If it doesn’t work out, I can do it.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Kwak Hyun-tae was subtly making his appeal.

His skills weren’t bad, and he had reduced his cocky attitude a lot, so if he worked a little harder, he could become a good player. But not yet.

Not yet in this team, he had no intention of giving up his spot to Kwak Hyun-tae.

“I’ll get ready.”

As Oh Jin-hyung watched Park Yu-min prepare for the scrimmage, he felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

‘Yu-min has to do it.’

Oh Jin-hyung glanced at Kwak Hyun-tae.

Seeing Kwak Hyun-tae with a complicated expression made him feel even more uneasy.

He was a good player.

He had enough talent, and now he had the attitude to work hard. If he matured a little more, he could become a star.

Ah, of course, he wasn’t a bad player now either. Kwak Hyun-tae was originally the main player.

But that was it.

Just adding a good player wasn’t enough to win in the finals. To win, they needed something bigger. A variable, and…

‘A superstar.’

Winning teams always had a superstar.

No, it was the other way around.

It wasn’t that they won because they had a superstar. They became a superstar because they made the team win.

In Oh Jin-hyung’s assessment, among his team members, there were those who could become stars, but no one who could become a superstar.

So, Park Yu-min had to do it.

Park Yu-min knew how to enjoy the tension, and he was someone who had been at the top himself.

Oh Jin-hyung narrowed his eyes as he watched the game start.

‘Something must have changed, for sure.’

Show me. What the hell did you do?

“Hey, you! Why are you suddenly charging in there!”

Oh Jin-hyung shouted in shock.

Oh Jin-hyung looked at Park Yu-min with a complicated expression. But Park Yu-min sat there with his chest puffed out.

He had the face of someone who had done nothing wrong.

“…Yu-min.”

“Yes, coach.”

“You look very proud of yourself?”

“Yes, it went as I planned.”

What?

Dude?

“Did you take some kind of drug?”

“I didn’t take drugs, I just soaked myself in it a bit.”

“…Is that so?”

Oh Jin-hyung grabbed his forehead.

‘No, it’s not bad, but…’

The score was 2 wins and 1 loss.

They won two out of three matches. Considering that the team they practiced against today was the second-place team in the regular season, it was a very good result.

Usually, their win rate didn’t even exceed 50%.

Looking at the results alone, it was the best. Looking at the results alone.

‘The problem is the process.’

Today, Park Yu-min was literally running wild.

He ignored the team’s rhythm and suddenly charged in alone, and when the call to retreat came, he attacked instead and got killed.

‘But why are they winning?’

That was the dilemma.

He was constantly making plays that a pro would never even think of. Maybe an amateur could do that, but a pro who was risking his life for victory would never make those plays.

A pro game was like walking on a razor-sharp sword. One mistake and the mistake would be torn apart like a hyena.

But today, Park Yu-min was full of mistakes. If you just looked at the plays, they should have lost.

But they won.

And they won two matches.

It was strange to win one match, but they won two.

“This doesn’t look like your play style?”

“Yes.”

“Can you maintain this?”

“I think it’ll be fine until the finals. I think it’ll be okay if we get a little more in sync?”

“Hmm.”

Oh Jin-hyung rubbed his chin.

‘This is difficult.’

It was his instruction to be more aggressive. But he wanted Park Yu-min to be a little more aggressive in his original style. But the result was not that.

Park Yu-min had changed as if he was a different person. He couldn’t understand what had happened in one day to cause this situation.

As a pro coach, he couldn’t accept this with his common sense. The point of the game was to reduce mistakes. You couldn’t play the game in a way that increased mistakes.

But results were everything for a pro.

There were results right in front of his eyes, so how could he reject them just because he didn’t understand them?

“You think this is right?”

“Yes.”

Park Yu-min nodded.

“You know you can’t win by just playing the obvious plays well.”

“That’s right.”

It was the same in Galaxy [a reference to a popular game or e-sports scene].

There were many cases where someone who showed overwhelming force in pro leagues or team matches would collapse as soon as they reached the tournament.

In a standard game, it was a normal skill battle, but in a one-time tournament, it was a battle of who could catch the opponent off guard more.

‘That’s right, for sure. Our team is bland.’

A team that conquers the world always has its own characteristics. A team that plays well in a standard and bland way is limited to the top 4 at best.

But this was too much…

“Okay. Then you wait here for a bit.”

“Yes?”

“I need to discuss it with the others. Stay here.”

Oh Jin-hyung got up from his seat and went outside.

Then, he called the team members who were sitting at their desks.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Yu-min.”

As soon as Park Yu-min’s name came up, slightly complicated looks were exchanged.

“It’s not bad, I guess.”

“It was bad.”

“Um, yeah. It was bad, but it wasn’t that bad, you know?”

Choi Jin-woo shrugged.

“It was easier to play. It’s because we’re not in sync right now, but I think it could be better if we get in sync.”

“How can you play when he’s running wild like that?”

“If it was someone else, we couldn’t play. It’s unpredictable. But it’s Yu-min hyung. There’s a base that there’s a reason why he’s doing that, so we don’t have to panic.”

Everyone nodded.

“Really?”

He became a little more complicated again.

He was the coach, but the ones playing the game were the team members here. How he felt was important, but how they felt was also important.

In that regard, the team members were giving Park Yu-min a passing grade.

‘I would have absolutely opposed it.’

There must be something that only the people playing the game together could feel.

“What about you?”

Kwak Hyun-tae frowned at Oh Jin-hyung’s question.

“I’ve seen him play similarly in the past.”

Yes.

When he came for the second test.

“At that time, there were some aspects that didn’t make sense, but now that I’m watching from behind, I understand. If we can use this well…”

Kwak Hyun-tae shrugged.

“Yeah, I think it’ll be fine. In the finals, everyone will be so nervous they’ll be pissing their pants, but if Yu-min hyung suddenly plays like that, they won’t be able to focus.”

“Hmm, and you’re okay with it?”

“If it was someone else, I’d be a little annoyed, but…”

Kwak Hyun-tae chuckled.

“As you know, even if I’m annoyed, he’s a hyung I can’t seriously hate. I have no complaints.”

“Okay. Thanks for saying that.”

“But if we win two in a row, I’ll go out once…”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Wow, so cold.”

Oh Jin-hyung smiled bitterly and went into the coach’s room. Park Yu-min, who was waiting for him, looked at Oh Jin-hyung with expectant eyes.

‘He knows what I’m going to say.’

He got annoyed sometimes at times like this.

He was a gamer himself, but he didn’t achieve good results as a gamer. That’s why he didn’t understand the world that top-tier gamers saw and the sensations they felt.

In his eyes, it was a mess, but Park Yu-min and the team members were all acting and speaking as if they were moving in the right direction.

‘Do whatever you want, you guys.’

It was the coach’s role to trust them at times like this.

“Join the practice.”

“Yes, coach.”

“But if I see that it’s really not working, I’ll take you out. Hyun-tae is sharpening his teeth.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Oh, geez.”

Oh Jin-hyung shook his head.

“But what the hell did you do to change so much in one day? Did you practice some kind of Tao [a Chinese philosophical concept]?”

“I didn’t practice Tao. If you raise a tiger and a rabbit together, the rabbit will become fierce too.”

“Huh?”

“I played games all day with the most reckless gamer in the world.”

“Who is that?”

“I have a friend.”

Park Yu-min smiled brightly.

“He’s a friend who helps me whenever I’m having a hard time.”

“Is that friend so good at games? Then, bring him to the practice room once…”

“If the coach sees him playing, your blood pressure might go up and you might be taken away.”

“And he’s not someone who would do something like a game.”

“Hey, you’re a gamer, how can you say something like a game?”

“Ah, I misspoke. Anyway.”

Park Yu-min smiled lightly and looked out the window.

‘He’s not a friend who would do something like a game.’

Kang Jin-ho had to do more.

And he would be ahead in more places.

So, I had to work hard too. At least in one field, I wanted to be better than Kang Jin-ho.

“I’ll go practice. We have to win.”

“You don’t look like you’ve slept, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m still focused.”

“Okay, it’s only been a week. Let’s think of it as dying for a week.”

“Yes, coach. I’ll make sure we lift the trophy this time.”

“Don’t just say it.”

Park Yu-min smiled and went outside.

Oh Jin-hyung, who was watching him, couldn’t help but smile.

“What a smooth talker.”

Even though he thought it was a bluff, Oh Jin-hyung was secretly looking forward to it.

Park Yu-min had never broken a promise before.