Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 28

As soon as Kang Jin-ho arrived at the PC cafe and sat down, he set up his mouse. It felt a bit strange since it wasn’t the mouse he used at home, but all the conditions were the same.

“Oh! You look kind of like a pro?” At Jung In-gyu’s teasing, Kang Jin-ho responded with a relaxed smile. “Heh heh.”

“Looks like you’re really in the mood today? You’re going to do it properly this time, right?” “Don’t worry.”

Jung In-gyu thought that Kang Jin-ho hadn’t played properly in the last game. Otherwise, there was no way he could have been so bad, like a completely different person. Sometimes, there might be days when your condition isn’t great, but the basic concepts of the game shouldn’t just disappear. Form is temporary, but class is permanent. No matter how bad your condition is, unless you’re deliberately trying to mess up, there’s no way you’d make such basic mistakes.

Jung In-gyu, who had no idea that Kang Jin-ho had lived in another world for decades, could only think that way. Kang Jin-ho looked at the screen with a confident smile. His rating on the login screen was 1,700. It was a score that he vaguely remembered from his past, a score he wasn’t even sure if he had reached. A high score created by his activated brain due to his inner energy and his tireless concentration. Kang Jin-ho was confident of victory.

“Who’s on our team?” “Well, I managed to coax Young-wook, so it’s you, me, and Young-wook on one team.” “Then Tae-ho, Min-jae, and Yu-min are on the other team?” “Yeah.” “Is Yu-min good? Is it okay to send him to the other side?” He was worried that if he sent the unskilled Park Yu-min to the other side, they might lose, which would be awkward. Park Yu-min hadn’t been able to speak up much among the kids lately…

“Young-wook isn’t good either anyway.” “Then it should be fine.” However, Lee Tae-ho didn’t seem to think so. “Hey, why are we on a team with Park Yu-min?” It was dangerous to bring an unproven person onto the team. Unless there was no bet involved, no one would be happy to have Park Yu-min on their team when there was a bet.

“Then take Young-wook.” At Jung In-gyu’s words, Lee Tae-ho looked at Song Young-wook and groaned. Park Yu-min was an unknown, but Song Young-wook was just plain bad. Lee Tae-ho looked at Park Yu-min, who was sitting there looking a bit embarrassed, and asked. “Hey, you can do well, right?” “Uh-huh.” “Really?” “Yeah, I know how to play.” “Haa…” Lee Tae-ho glared at Jung In-gyu, sighed, and went to his seat. It seemed he thought that there wouldn’t be much difference between Song Young-wook and Park Yu-min anyway.

Once the teams were settled, Kang Jin-ho looked at the screen. Real-time strategy simulations required completely different tactics for individual and team play. Kang Jin-ho had practiced not only individual games but also team games for this day. “Let’s start.” “Okay.” The room was created, and soon all the kids were connected. “It’s a bet for the PC cafe fees. Don’t try to change your mind later, okay?” At Lee Tae-ho’s words, Jung In-gyu scoffed. “I’ll take that and add ice cream.” Lee Tae-ho’s eyes wavered. But a man couldn’t back out here, could he? “And drinks and ramen too.” “You’re asking for it.” “If you’re scared, then die.” Jung In-gyu gritted his teeth. He seemed to have gotten cocky after winning once. It was time for a brutal punishment.

“Geez, you talk a lot. Let’s see who tries to change their mind.” “Ooh, look at Jung In-gyu talking big?” “Alright, alright. Let’s start.” “Go!” Kang Jin-ho lightly gripped and released the mouse. Today was the day to avenge the humiliation of the last time. But things in the world are never that simple. The start was good. Kang Jin-ho quickly launched an early rush and turned Tae-ho’s base into a wasteland. Tae-ho resisted, shouting loud enough to shake the PC cafe, but he was helpless against Kang Jin-ho’s agile troops.

“You attacked me with cloaking units last time, right?” Kang Jin-ho was a man among men who never forgot even the smallest grudge. Even though it was a game that had happened a long time ago, Kang Jin-ho remembered the humiliation of that day as if it were yesterday. Today was the day to repay all the humiliation he had suffered that day. “Ugh! Kang Jin-ho, that bastard!” “This isn’t enough to satisfy my grudge.” After completely destroying Tae-ho’s base, Kang Jin-ho charged into Min-jae’s base with his troops. Min-jae, seeing Tae-ho getting completely wiped out, fortified his base with defense towers, but he was powerless against the three-way combined rush.

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth slowly began to curl upwards. His efforts had not been in vain. Kang Jin-ho’s units moved as if they were alive, nibbling away at Min-jae’s troops. “It’s over.” After completely clearing out Min-jae’s base, Kang Jin-ho moved to the center. Now, only Park Yu-min was left. Park Yu-min hadn’t shown a single unit from the beginning until now. He was just holed up in his base, doing his own thing, a typical newbie tactic. “Let’s finish this quickly.” Kang Jin-ho leisurely led his troops. That’s when it happened.

A series of troops began to emerge from Park Yu-min’s base towards the center. Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at the monitor. His blue units were being massacred by the red units that were surging from the other side. The difference in troop strength was so overwhelming that control was meaningless. ‘What is this?’ They had consumed the same resources and spent the same amount of time, so how could there be such a difference in troop strength? Was he playing a different game? Was it a hack? Jung In-gyu, who was next to him, seemed to have similar thoughts, as he kept looking back. But there was no sign of hacking on Park Yu-min’s screen. No, even before hacking, it was hard to figure out what was happening on that screen. The screen was moving to a different place every second.

“Ugh…” Jung In-gyu shook his head, feeling nauseous just from looking at the screen for a moment. This was a bad call. Kang Jin-ho’s hands trembled. “This can’t be!” Kang Jin-ho, Jung In-gyu, and Song Young-wook. All three of their troops were being slaughtered by Park Yu-min’s single army. “Uh…” And before they could even say “uh-oh,” Park Yu-min had pushed into Kang Jin-ho’s base and completely wiped it out. There was only a difference in time, and the other two soon met the same fate. Kang Jin-ho turned his head with glazed eyes and looked at Park Yu-min sitting across from him. Park Yu-min was smiling awkwardly at Kang Jin-ho. What was that smile? Was he feeling embarrassed right now? The units that had swarmed like demons on the screen were still vivid in his mind, but it was as if he was saying he had just gotten lucky? Kang Jin-ho’s body trembled. Today! Today was the day to clear all his humiliations!

“One more round!” “Uh-huh.” The second round started quickly. Kang Jin-ho’s hands began to move twice as fast as before. Until now, he had been taking it easy to maintain some balance, but after confirming Park Yu-min’s skills, there was no way he could afford to be relaxed. If he wasn’t careful, he might suffer another humiliating defeat today! ‘That can’t happen!’ Kang Jin-ho’s eyes blazed with fire. Defeat was not an option. Whether it was a game, a fight, or a war, once he started, he had to win. That was Kang Jin-ho’s principle and method. Kang Jin-ho summoned units as quickly as possible and charged into Park Yu-min’s camp. He had seen the terrifying late-game numbers, so he decided that he had to crush him early to win.

But this time, the result was not much different. Kang Jin-ho’s troops, who had charged into Park Yu-min’s base, were gradually eaten away by Park Yu-min’s insane control and were eventually annihilated without causing any significant damage. “…” And the subsequent counter-rush easily devastated Kang Jin-ho’s base. Kang Jin-ho stared at the screen with a trembling face. Defeat! The large red letters on the screen roughly stabbed into Kang Jin-ho’s fragile heart. Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Park Yu-min. “Park Yu-min.” “…Huh?” “You said you were just okay?” “Ah? Yeah. I’m just okay…” “Then what are we?” Kang Jin-ho’s body trembled. “Then are we trash?” “No, it’s not like that… I just got lucky.” Park Yu-min’s consideration made Kang Jin-ho even more miserable.

Jung In-gyu and the others had already gathered around Park Yu-min. “Hey, you’re really good.” “Huh? No, well, I’m just…” “I thought Jin-ho was really good, but after seeing you play, Jin-ho is just a public server noob [a player who is not very skilled].” Kang Jin-ho’s heart throbbed. “Can you beat Jin-ho with just a mouse?” Kang Jin-ho looked at the ceiling with a sorrowful face. What were all those long hours he had spent wrestling with the computer? “You could become a pro gamer at this level.” Kang Jin-ho slowly approached Park Yu-min. Then, he snatched Park Yu-min’s mouse and clicked on Park Yu-min’s profile. Rating 2,100. Kang Jin-ho stared intently at Park Yu-min’s rating.

“Two thousand…” Jung In-gyu shouted in surprise. “2,100, that’s a pro gamer level!” “Hey! You’re really good!” Kang Jin-ho’s hands trembled. The result of his efforts for nearly two weeks was a rating of 1,700. Considering that the higher the rating, the harder it is to raise it by even one point, the difference between Kang Jin-ho and Park Yu-min was literally like heaven and earth. “Well, well, he’s good.” Jung In-gyu whispered into Lee Tae-ho’s ear. “He looks really pissed off?” “If he’s too good, he might collapse from shock.” Kang Jin-ho grabbed Park Yu-min’s shoulder with a stiff face and said firmly. “Let’s have a match.” “Huh? Again?” “This time, one-on-one.” “One-on-one? Okay, sure.” Park Yu-min nodded and opened a room.

“What map?” “Pick anything.” Kang Jin-ho gripped the mouse and gritted his teeth. No matter how different the ratings were, the outcome of a game was never guaranteed. It wasn’t that Kang Jin-ho couldn’t raise his rating because he didn’t have time, but if he played more games, his rating would naturally go up! “Are you guys going to play again?” “Yeah.” “We’ll go first. It doesn’t look like it’ll be a short game.” “Okay, go ahead.” “Then you have to pay up.” “Pay what?” Lee Tae-ho smiled awkwardly. “The game fees, ice cream, drinks, and ramen. Ha, how much is that?” Kang Jin-ho took out his wallet with trembling hands. The precious money that his father and mother had earned while losing sleep was flowing out like this. What kind of money was this!

After handing over the money, Kang Jin-ho glared at Park Yu-min with burning eyes. It was all because of that guy! “Uh-huh?” Park Yu-min flinched, as if he didn’t understand what was going on. “Let’s start!” “Okay.” “If you go easy on me, I’ll kill you.” “Don’t worry.” Kang Jin-ho sat down and grabbed the mouse. One round! He just needed to win one round! He knew that there was a clear difference in skill. But he needed just one victory to restore his shattered pride. Kang Jin-ho gritted his teeth and started moving his hands like crazy. Jung In-gyu looked at Kang Jin-ho with pity. “…Good luck.”