Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 544

“Personality?”

“Yes, hyung.”

Choi Jeong-woo seemed a bit nervous, picking up and putting down his drink several times.

“You’re saying personality is a problem in gaming?”

“I don’t know if it’s personality or more of a tendency. It’s a bit… well… yes, I think it’s something like that.”

“Jeong-woo, I’m not quite understanding… is that really a problem?”

Choi Jeong-woo nodded.

“Hyung, you were like that before too. Your gaming style, how should I put it, it’s a bit like Lee Chang-ho?”

“Lee Chang-ho? The Go player?”

“Yes. That feeling was strong. Unless there was a situation where you could gain a clear advantage, you wouldn’t easily engage, and you’d just operate leisurely, but somehow you’d be halfway to winning. And decisively, even if you could finish it completely with a little more push, if there was even a slight chance of something going wrong, you’d just take the advantage and go for a multi-win, that kind of style.”

“Hmm….”

“That worked back then. It could work. But that was a solo game, and this is a team game.”

“That’s right.”

“Even if you played team games in Galaxy, you wouldn’t have been able to play like that. Because variables you can’t control would appear. But this is even more so. Even if I can completely control the opponent’s lane, problems can arise in other lanes.”

“But hyung, you’re cautious even in situations where you could gain a little more advantage. It’s like you only need to be a little stronger than the enemy. Because of that, even when the opponent moves around, you can’t deal with it decisively. The players who are really popular and considered skilled in this game are all aggressive. They usually climb to the top ranks with the mindset of ‘Even if I lose the game, I’ll crush you.’”

Park Yu-min nodded.

It was the same advice the coach had given him earlier.

“Aggressiveness, you mean.”

“Rather than aggressiveness… how should I put it? A petty level of competitiveness and tenacity. Something like that is needed.”

“Hmm…”

“Physical ability and strategy, those come next. First, you need the aggression to overwhelm your opponent. It was the same earlier. The problem was bigger in the five-on-five than in the one-on-one.”

Park Yu-min nodded.

If the same thing was said by both the pro team coach and a player, there was no need to think about it further. The problem was clearly identified. Now, the question was how to solve it.

“…Then how do I cultivate that?”

“That’s a difficult question.”

Choi Jeong-woo took a long sip of his drink and said,

“We can’t do anything about personality or anything like that, but we’re gamers. We have to solve gaming problems with gaming. For example, playing games with someone who has a very aggressive personality. You’re likely to become similar if you play together. But you’re a Challenger and a semi-pro, so it’ll be hard to find an aggressive type of gamer who can match that level. Even if you do find someone, they’ll probably be pro-level and have their own style.”

“…I have someone.”

“Huh?”

Choi Jeong-woo’s head shot up at Park Yu-min’s words.

“…I have just the person. Someone who, like you said, doesn’t care how the game goes if they kill the opponent… a pro-level player who has the mindset of ‘I won’t lose to that guy, whether I die or not.’”

“T-There’s someone like that? And they have free time?”

“I don’t know about their schedule. But there is someone. They’re not pro-level right now, but if they set their mind to it, they could become pro-level in ten days.”

“…You’re not joking, are you?”

Of course, he was serious.

Very serious.

“I don’t know about anything else….”

Park Yu-min said in a slightly subdued voice,

“If it’s about the willpower to kill the enemy you mentioned, there’s one guy who’s the most extreme in Korea, no, in the world.”

Too extreme, actually.

“You want me to play games with you?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Park Yu-min with a sulky face.

Park Yu-min awkwardly turned his head away, meeting that gaze.

“You said you’d change your last name if you played with me again?”

“…No, Jin-ho. It’s not like that…”

Kang Jin-ho’s lips were tightly shut. Park Yu-min could tell that the emotion revealed in that expression was a sulkiness that was rarely seen in Kang Jin-ho.

“Back then, I didn’t have a good eye for games, so I didn’t recognize your true worth.”

At times like this, appeasing him was the best option.

“Hmm?”

But Kang Jin-ho was surprisingly showing the demeanor of a seasoned negotiator.

He was subtly pushing away Park Yu-min, who was desperately clinging to him.

“You need me, is that it?”

“W-Well, yeah.”

“Listen, Park Yu-min.”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back in his chair with a haughty posture. A nasty smile was on Kang Jin-ho’s lips as he crossed one leg over the other.

“Everything comes with a price. That’s the law of the universe.”

“What will you give me, my dear friend?”

“W-What do you want?”

“A carton of cigarettes.”

Park Yu-min stared blankly at Kang Jin-ho. He didn’t seem to be joking with that serious look….

“Is that all?”

“Is it too much?”

Park Yu-min sighed and replied,

“I’ll buy you ten cartons.”

‘He’s not even human.’

In many ways.

For one, no human could charge forward without looking back like that. Humans tend to retreat when faced with danger. How many people would play a game where they know they’re in danger and their character is about to die, but they still go forward to kill the enemy in front of them?

But Kang Jin-ho was doing it.

And in another sense….

‘Wow, he’s surviving.’

Now, he was even surviving while doing that. As he adapted to the game, he began to show unbelievable plays with unbelievable physical abilities.

— What the hell is that guy?

— He’s an auto. Report him.

— No, how can that be an auto? Have you never played against an auto before?

— Isn’t that a pro gamer’s smurf account?

— Playing like that?

‘Yeah, he definitely plays like that.’

Park Yu-min understood the opponent’s feelings. In soccer terms, it was like he was just dribbling the ball into the area where there were five defenders and then breaking through them to score a goal. Repeatedly.

And it worked.

He was repeating incredibly inefficient and thoughtless plays, but they were succeeding, so it was driving the defenders crazy.

‘They’re getting dull.’

After experiencing the same thing a couple of times, he noticed that the opponent’s control was noticeably duller. After all, whether it’s a game or anything else, it’s done by people. If you experience something you didn’t expect, your mentality will collapse.

And when your mentality collapses, your hands become dull.

Performance is like that. One thing affects everything.

‘This was different.’

Park Yu-min was a solo game pro gamer.

Because of that, his understanding of what team games were like was lacking. If I can’t coordinate everything, I have to create variables in the area where I am.

Kang Jin-ho creates variables with his aggression, and Park Yu-min maximizes the benefits he can gain from this situation. In the process, he is learning the advantages of aggression.

‘I can’t do it like that, though….’ Park Yu-min smiled wryly.

This wasn’t a play that he could just understand. It was enough to know if it was possible to do it that way. Of course, the aggression and proactiveness that the coach and Choi Jeong-woo mentioned probably didn’t mean that either.

‘If they saw this, they might want to take him.’

No, that’s not right.

In team games, Kang Jin-ho is like poison. Even Park Yu-min, who understands Kang Jin-ho the best, is stressed out playing with him, so what would others do?

They probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with Kang Jin-ho’s thoughts and aggression, and there would be trouble.

“I won.”

Park Yu-min said, watching Kang Jin-ho trying to hide his subtle satisfaction.

“Let’s have a drink and keep going. You need a cigarette too.”

“Sure.”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

*Chiiik.*

The sound of a can opening was a bit sharp. Park Yu-min chuckled as he watched Kang Jin-ho bring the bubbling cola to his mouth.

“You never get tired of that cola.”

“Huh?”

“You only drink coffee or cola.”

“Hmm….”

Kang Jin-ho quietly held the cola can.

“There was a time when taking a sip of this was my only wish.”

“…Your parents must have hated carbonation.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled without answering.

Now, many people know that he is a returnee. Even so, Park Yu-min, who can be said to be his closest friend, still doesn’t know that fact. Ironically.

But there was no need to say it.

It wouldn’t be good for Park Yu-min to know.

Even though the general perception is that close friends shouldn’t have secrets from each other, Kang Jin-ho didn’t think that friendship necessarily meant that you had to reveal everything about yourself.

“It seems like there’s a problem on your side?”

Kang Jin-ho changed the subject, and Park Yu-min naturally followed.

“Yeah, I think so. I still need to practice more.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled gently.

While dealing with various things, he learned a lot from watching Park Yu-min.

There was probably no one as surrounded by noise as Park Yu-min. He had never been in a situation where he could easily focus on something.

Even so, Park Yu-min was working hard towards his dream without any complaints.

“You’re a superman.”

“Huh?”

“No, never mind.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly shook his head.

There were so many amazing people in the world. People who were working so hard that he couldn’t even dream of doing the same.

“Yu-min.”

“Yeah?”

“Is it hard?”

“No. It’s not hard.”

Park Yu-min said firmly.

“I told you before, I’d rather be a little behind and live smoothly than compete and work myself to death to be number one.”

“You did.”

“But when I actually feel like I’m falling behind, I can’t stand it.”

Kang Jin-ho laughed.

‘He’s always been like that.’

On the outside, he’s a nice guy, but inside, Park Yu-min has a competitive spirit that’s second to none. There was no way he would accept that he was falling behind others.

“Yu-min.”

“Yeah?”

“Do well.”

“…Why are you being so bland?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho threw the empty cola can into the trash can.

“Okay, let’s practice again.”

“Hey… is it okay for you to keep doing this? You’re busy, right?”

“No matter how much I have to do, nothing is more important than helping Park Yu-min.”

“You’re kidding. You just want to play.”

“You caught me.”

Park Yu-min smiled gently as he watched Kang Jin-ho chuckle and head back into the PC cafe.

‘Thank you.’

He knew.

That Kang Jin-ho was dealing with a lot of things.

Even so, the reason he called Kang Jin-ho was because he was being selfish, feeling sorry that he hadn’t had much time like this recently.

Kang Jin-ho knew that too, and he was just hanging out with him without saying anything.

‘I hope it stays like this.’

Even when we get older.

Even when more time passes.

As unchanging friends.

“Let’s go together.”

Park Yu-min ran after Kang Jin-ho.