Season 2: Chapter 234: Talent (1)
The match began.
[Transmission]
These words also appeared in front of Almond.
Swoosh.
A sound effect rang out.
'Has it started?'
Everything was pitch black. Amid this, an announcement could clearly be heard.
“This stop is Hongik University. Hongik University Station. The doors will open on…”
‘This is… a subway?’
It was the subway stage.
Pop.
Suddenly, the world became visible as if his eyes had opened.
“…?”
He was on Seoul’s line two subway, and the next stop was Hongik University Station.
— Oh
— It’s the subway???
— Ho? Is this the Korean subway where you pop out if you read a novel?
— Eh? Is this a new stage???
— So it was the subway
[Collecting Data…]
[Subway Line 2]
The almost lifelike background graphics could be mistaken for reality.
[Searching for Jetter within the data-formed area…]
‘What’s that?’
Among the many people, it was easy to spot the players in this game.
[1 Jetter found]
Their characters used ridiculous low polygon graphics. Because of this, the crude game characters starkly stood out against the realistic background.
Beep.
[Heo Won-Mu, Developer]
The opponent’s name appeared above his head and it soon turned red as they both received the same mission.
[Eradicate the Jetter!]
— Go go go go
— Whether it's Jetter or butter, let’s kill him~!
— You can tell he looks clueless LOL, you're out
— Is this a new stage??
— Kya
The moment the phrase appeared, Heo Won-Mu charged first.
‘Hmm.’
Almond calmly scanned his entire body.
‘Where to hit… huh?’
Suddenly, a glint caught Almond’s eye because the charging Heo Won-Mu somehow overlapped with the Almond in the arcade.
"It seems like a good choice to kick the upper side."
Then, Choi Sarang’s words echoed in his head. Rather than hesitating, his body moved first.
Boom!
As Almond unleashed a kick, his enlarged foot stretched straight toward the opponent's jaw.
‘Oh?’
The opponent seemed quite flustered and shook. Apparently, he hadn't expected to be hit first at all.
“What!? Just let me catch…”
The opponent gritted his teeth and charged again at a rather sharp angle. The way he charged and his gloves shaped like jets gave it away.
‘It’s judo.’
Almond easily recognized that the opponent chose the judo chip, which was also a summer Olympic sport that he had seen his seniors practicing in school.
"You can't block a grab. You have to dodge it."
The inability to block grabs was common across all fighting games.
"It’s better to attack while stepping back."
Following Choi Sarang's advice, Almond extended his foot while stepping back.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
Another hit landed on the opponent’s face and the graphics distorted as his face turned grotesque.
"You can't block while charging. That's when you can counter."
That was the meaning behind the advice. Almond had been freely kicking as he liked, but now he assumed the proper stance. After that, he lightly hopped in place and prepared to move anywhere.
Tap… Tap…
This movement was often used in taekwondo sparring.
The opponent didn’t come in anymore.
"If the opponent wants to defend, grab him..."
However, Almond couldn’t grab because the Taekwondo jet had no grabbing technique.
"It's better to feint and strike."
Tap… Tap…
Almond feinted with his left foot as he stepped.
"!"
The opponent also flinched momentarily. For a brief moment, he thought Almond’s foot was really coming up and tried to move his arm in that direction.
Almond didn’t miss that opening.
"Ugh!"
Boom!
Again, the kick landed squarely on the jaw. After that, Almond's steps became lighter.
Boom!
Thump!
Every kick he launched hit its mark even though he wasn’t even executing any proper combos. He was only utilizing the basic strikes and dodges, but the difference in skills was immense.
From Heo Won-Mu’s perspective, it seemed as if there was a wall operating only against him.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
Finally, Heo Won-Mu had lost half of his health.
Almond cocked his head and muttered, "What the? He really sucks. I thought it was just a joke."
— LOL
— I’m sorry, but the nut’s real talent is provoking
— Seriously, why can't he do anything?~~
— It’s no fun~~
— Ah, it's no fun~ Do better~ LOL
— Feels like fighting a baby
The comments in the chat attracted considerable reaction and even made fun of Heo Won-Mu's expression.
What about the players in the audience?
"Wowwwwwwwwwww!"
"Almond! Almond! Almond!"
"Humanity will evolve into nuts now!"
They spread their arms and chanted his name as if at a religious gathering. With such reactions before Heo Won-Mu was even defeated, it was frightening to think what would happen if Almond actually defeated Kim Yi-Seo.
"Hey, man! Are you playing properly!? Who uses judo like that!?" Kim Yi-Seo chided Heo Won-Mu with his commentary out of frustration.
Of course, Heo Won-Mu couldn’t hear this since the game already started. However, he could guess what Kim Yi-Seo was saying without even hearing it.
"Huff…"
Heo Won-Mu took a deep breath and finally took a proper judo stance with both hands.
"They say getting started is half the battle. Now, it's all about starting."
Despite his health being reduced by half, he boasted a remarkably positive outlook and aimed for a comeback move.
— What an idiot, just go die
— LOL
— It’s said that starting is half of it, but that doesn’t mean you lose half like that, right?
Of course, no one believed in the possibility of him making a comeback due to the ridiculous performance he had already shown.
Ironically, only one person was paying attention to his actions.
‘He’s not coming in.’
That was his opponent, Almond.
He couldn’t afford to be careless due to the critical disadvantage of being a beginner in this game, especially when it felt like the opponent had sharpened his knife.
‘He must be aiming for a judo specific counter move.’
The more he observed, the clearer it became that his opponent was using judo. Now that Almond wasn’t underestimating him, it seemed like the opponent was preparing suitable judo counters.
If Almond carelessly extended his foot, he would be grabbed and thrown. After that, Almond couldn’t predict what combo would follow. It was better to finish this fight without getting hit.
‘As long as I measure the distance well, judo can’t beat me,’ Almond thought.
If he attacked at the maximum speed from the farthest distance, the judo counters wouldn’t work. A judo player needed something to grab, right?
Tak!
With an even swifter step, Almond’s kick flew out.
Boom!
“!?”
Heo Won-Mu’s hand only swiped through the air. It seemed like he tried to grab onto something.
‘Now.’
In fighting games, missing an attack often meant paying a price.
Bang!
Almond’s left foot struck like a jab to the abdomen and he immediately followed up with a roundhouse kick to the chest.
Thump!
“Phew!”
Spittle flew from Heo Won-Mu’s mouth as he gasped for air. The right foot that struck his chest now became the pivot.
Whirr.
Almond’s body spun. The heel carrying the force of a half-turn struck the opponent’s cheek.
Crash!
Heo Won-Mu flew away and collapsed after Almond landed his first three hit combo.
[Victory!]
Then, the victory notification appeared.
“?”
Almond looked puzzled. Didn’t Heo Won-Mu still have about half of his health left? Why did he suddenly die?
“Is there no body? Did he leave?”
— Did he rage quit? LOL
— Really? LOL
— Did he leave for real LOL
— He must have left LOL
Someone unfamiliar with JetPumped could possibly think the opponent had left the game. From Almond’s perspective, he didn’t know where or how Heo Won-Mu flew away because he was still turning around to kick.
[JetPumpedMaster has donated 10,000 won.]
[Executive Heo Won-Mu fell between the train and the platform~]
— ???
— Oh really?? LOL
— Got pwned LOL
— ??? Mind the gap between the train and the platform…
If someone hadn’t informed Almond through a donation, he would’ve never imagined that. His last spin kick struck Heo Won-Mu so hard that Heo Won-Mu flew off to the left.
Since the train had stopped for an emergency, the doors had been left open and Heo Won-Mu fell to his death between the gap of the train and the platform.
“Really? You die if you fall there? Shouldn’t we just fight on the ground below…”
— Really, it's not Harry Potter LOL why disappear?
— Huerrypotter LOL
— Platform 9 and 3/4 (literally)
— Huerrypotter LOL LOL LOL
— He got bungeed LOL
This was known as the bungee system in JetPumped. Initially, it referred to dying from a fall. For example, on the city stage, falling from the rooftop of a building resulted in death. This was commonly known as a fatal fall.
However, unlike a regular fatal fall, a player didn’t need to fall from a potentially fatal height. Death would occur if one fell into such a defined space. For instance, in some stages, falling into a toilet also resulted in a bungee judgment.
Just like now, falling between the platform and the train resulted in death.
[JetPumpedMaster has donated 10,000 won.]
[If you go outside the data-formed area according to the settings, you die. But the standards for this are arbitrary.]
— The developers made it arbitrarily; it’s their fault~
— He’s a developer, why did he fall there then LOL
— Lol, that’s hilarious
***
The players watching live outside also had similar reactions.
“No way. He died from falling in there?”
“This new stage is hilariously absurd.”
“What’s funnier is that he’s a developer and he fell in there.”
“Hahaha.”
Laughter filled the JetPumped booth. It sounded like a stand-up comedy scene. Heo Won-Mu's death was comical. However, this comical scene distracted everyone from another element.
“Wait, but doesn’t Almond still have 100% health?”
Indeed, Heo Won-Mu hadn’t touched Almond even once.
“Perfect?!”
“It was a perfect game?”
“He didn’t get hit even once?”
It turned out to be a perfect game.
“No way… That’s crazy.”
Of course, Heo Won-Mu experienced some unfamiliarity since he was using a basic jet instead of his usual setup. However, for a developer to not even touch a hair on a completely new player was somewhat shocking.
Many players watching gradually realized that Almond had defeated Heo Won-Mu with a perfect game.
“Wowwwwwww! Perfect!!”
“Sh*t, Almond is a god!”
“Almond! Almond!”
“Nut! Nut! Nut! Nut!”
It wasn’t that no one had ever defeated Heo Won-Mu before. They all felt excited because of something else.
“He just started today, right!? That’s insane!?”
Almond was clearly playing JetPumped for the first time today. He had no knowledge or experience of the game. Defeating Heo Won-Mu could only be explained by sheer talent.
His extremely low experience paradoxically highlighted his talent. When a human’s talent became visibly apparent, audiences usually went wild.
Like in sports, anyone would be thrilled if a young soccer player scored three goals in his debut. This gave viewers hope and expectations for the future. How great would the player be later if they were already like that now? Their imaginations soared.
“He’s really going to beat Kim Yi-Seo…”
“It’s doable.”
“I gotta see Kim Yi-Seo’s face swell up!”
In their minds, Almond was already thrashing Kim Yi-Seo. They couldn’t help but feel good because of that.
“Wowwwwwwwww!”
“Next! Come out!”
The audience’s morale reached the sky. It wasn’t just them. More passersby at G-Star also started gathering to watch.
Amid this, a second developer appeared.
“Alright. Don’t take a shot of kimchi soup just yet.”
Thump. Thump.
Kim Yi-Seo from the commentary booth tried to calm the excited users.
“Now, for the real deal! The next opponent is~!”
He pointed to a bulky man warming up.
“The Mount Tai of Pangyo! Taeeeeee! Ji! Hooooo! ”
— Mount Tai of Pangyo LOL
— Damn LOL
— Mount Tai LOL
— No volcano? LOL
Wooooo...
Tremendous booing resounded as the interviewer approached Tae Ji-Ho with a microphone.
“This challenger seems extraordinary. Do you have any thoughts?”
He scratched his neck momentarily.
“That guy was the weakest among us. Be prepared,” he simply said those words and went into the capsule.
— LOL
— He’s the weakest of our Four Heavenly Kings LOL
— LOL
— Well, it’s true~
— Classic Mount Tai!