Season 2: Chapter 235: Talent (2)
The most active community in JetPumped was the JetPumped Garden, part of the community garden network. Users commonly referred to it as PumpDen for short.
As expected, discussions about the ongoing challenge against Kim Yi-Seo plastered PumpDen's forums.
[Just hit him once, please]
[If he loses this time, I'm going to create a monster transformation jet myself. I'm staking my neck on it]
[Please, Jetters... gather your strength!]
Since players were the ones most affected by JetPumped's new cash items, it wasn’t strange that most wanted to defeat Kim Yi-Seo. In fact, it seemed like they just wanted to hit him more than winning.
The top post clearly expressed their desires.
[1. Found a 100% guaranteed way to beat Kim Yi-Seo]
If the title was to be taken literally, it wasn't surprising that this became the top post. However, the content was entirely different. Despite that, it was still worthy of the top spot.
[First, you need to be as careful as possible. Start improvising the moment you’re called as a challenger and walk toward the capsule. Instead of entering the capsule, sneak toward the commentary booth.
Then, suddenly run up the stairs. The sudden run is important because you can't get caught. Once you reach the booth, open the door and launch a flying sidekick at Kim Yi-Seo. He’ll be sitting, so your foot will hit his head directly. Since Kim Yi-Seo won't expect it, he'll be knocked senseless.
Grab his hair, lift his face, and get in about thirty punches.
You win! GGs.]
— He talks about it as naturally as if he’s sharing a spicy pork recipe LOL
└ Really LOL
└ Spicy Yi-Seo Stir-fry Recipe DD
└ How to eat Kim Yi-Seo like a piece of cake…
└ How to make Kim Yi-Seo as spicy as fiery rice cakes.
└ Is Kim Yi-Seo afraid of players getting stronger?
— Such a simple method…
— Why did we insist on virtual reality… The goal was actually closer than we thought.
Endless comments swamped the post.
From Kim Yi-Seo's perspective, the comments were quite ferocious.
— So how many years in prison for this?
└ Roughly probation?
└ This wouldn’t even get probation in a Woo Young-Woo case LOL
└ Damn LOL what are these guys seriously contemplating? LOL
└ Really, they seem to want to do it
— Honestly, if it’s just probation, I think it's worth a try, any Jetters agree? LOL
└ Really LOL
└ Maybe once… wouldn’t it be okay?
└ I think spending a year in jail as an experience wouldn't be bad~ ^^
They discussed whether it was worth doing time in prison for such an act as if they really planned to execute this idea. Of course, this mischievous joke occasionally appeared in the community. No one actually dared to carry it out, or maybe they didn’t need to fight in reality anymore when the possibility emerged in virtual reality.
[Uh? What’s up with Almond?]
[Almondeu LOL tutorial LOL]
[His mental attack is epic LOL]
A bizarre challenger appeared and started the challenge with the tutorial.
[Can he really win?]
[No way LOL, will he win?]
[Heo Won-Mu LOL]
Almond didn't lose any health in his first match against Heo Won-Mu and dominated one-sidely.
Finally…
[Breaking News: The Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings Defeated LOL]
He defeated Heo Won-Mu with a perfect game.
— What? A perfect???
— LOL
— He got him LOL
— Lost to a first-timer??
— Isn’t a perfect game a problem for Heo Won-Mu’s side?
└ Really LOL just a one-trick laser clown LOL
└ Why use a judo jet like that? LOL
— Sorry, but isn’t it the Three Weak Kings?
└ Nut Gang came through LOL
└ Damn LOL
└ Three Weak Kings sounds just right
└ LOL Three Weak Kings really sounds like nothing…
└ Really, whether it’s two or three, it’s still hilarious
A newbie playing for the first time defeating the most resented developers caused a storm.
Almond and PumpDen were like fire and gunpowder starting to ignite.
2. Almond. Is he a god?
4. ??? You really suck at games~
8. Is Kim Yi-Seo afraid of Almond becoming stronger?
Posts mentioning Almond quickly became popular on the issue board. The expectations to beat Kim Yi-Seo burgeoned, and people started posting as if Almond had already won.
[Almond Wins!]
[Breaking News: With the emergence of Almond, the demon of the gorge, all members of Pangyo faction have resigned]
[Breaking News: Starting tomorrow, operations of JetPumped will be handled by MixNuts…]
***
“Is Executive Heo even sane...” Tae Ji-Ho muttered as he equipped the boxing jet.
“I knew he was bad at games, but losing to a newbie playing for the first time? And it was a perfect game too?”
Contrary to the community's fervor, the developers didn’t seem to consider Heo Won-Mu’s defeat all that significant. He was generally known for not playing well, so they regarded this perfect game incident as merely a one-time event.
Tae Ji-Ho felt the same.
“Is this guy just trying to lose quickly so he can leave work early?”
He even suspected that Heo Won-Mu intentionally lost because he disliked working long hours.
“Choosing the judo jet when he doesn’t even play well…”
Chik.
The gloves of the boxing jet fitted snugly on his hands.
“Sigh. Guess I have to clean up.”
Unlike Heo Won-Mu, he frequently used this boxing jet in real matches. With a few heavyweight pumpings, he wouldn’t go down easily and could throw formidable punches. This was one of Tae Ji-Ho’s often-used setups.
‘But they told me not to pump this time.’
However, his opponent was using a basic jet without any pumping. Therefore, he had to reluctantly use a basic jet too.
Following Heo Won-Mu’s judo jet was Tae Ji-Ho’s boxing jet.
[Transmission]
The transmission began.
Swoosh.
As his vision cleared, the surroundings came into view.
[Rooftop]
A green urethane covered rooftop floor could be seen.
“Okay, the stage is the rooftop! We’ve got the rooftop!”
This stage took place on the rooftops of small row houses in one part of the city. Only four building rooftops could be accessed, and falling off while jumping to another building meant an instant bungee.
“This subway had hardly any places to bungee, but this stage is blatantly made for bungeeing.”
— When did the commentator arrive? LOL
— They must have brought him because Kim Yi-Seo is about to play LOL
— Finally, some proper commentary LOL
Was this in preparation for his upcoming appearance? Kim Yi-Seo was nowhere to be seen and commentators who hadn’t been particularly visible suddenly appeared.
“The rooftop! It’s a stage where bungeeing happens often. You can use the rooftops of four buildings. While moving between these rooftops, you may fall or even purposely drop someone.”
“They also drop bats and golf clubs to purposely knock people off, right?”
One of JetPumped’s features included weapons scattered across the stage.
“Ah, right. In the match against Heo Won-Mu, they only fought in one place and we didn’t get to see much use of weapons. This time, it might be different.”
“Yes, it might be different. Weapons can be quite useful in stages where bungeeing is easy.”
Although these weapons were fragile and discarded after a few uses, they could sometimes be quite useful. Among these weapons, golf clubs and baseball bats could especially launch an opponent far away. Caution was necessary even in advantageous situations.
"Have Almond and Tae Ji-Ho not spotted each other yet?"
— Tae Ji-Ho LOL
— Why isn't it Ji-ho Givenchy LOL
— His name is already a joke LOL
Unlike the subway, the rooftop stage had a lot of space with random spawn locations.
"This stage was designed with twelve player battles in mind, so it's quite large. They are on different rooftops right now!"
Interestingly, Almond and Tae Ji-Ho were teleported to different rooftops.
"Wow, the character graphics totally look like a game while the stage looks so realistic. It’s like augmented reality, isn't it?"
"Yes. The concept of Jetters invading the real world to accomplish missions really comes to life with this new stage!"
— What a promo line…
— If Kim Yi-Seo is poking you with a stick, shake a carrot at him
— Commentators gotta make a living too, kids LOL
Almond and Tae Ji-Ho ran wildly on the rooftops and soon spotted each other.
"Ah, they've spotted each other now?"
"Tae Ji-Ho is sneaking up on a baseball bat, right? He's planning to attack immediately with the baseball bat after jumping over!"
Wooooo...
As Tae Ji-Ho picked up the baseball bat, a chorus of boos erupted.
"Ah! Boos are pouring out since it's taboo to pick up a baseball bat against a newbie?"
"Yes, that’s something only malicious users would do!"
— LOL
— Almond probably doesn’t even know what a baseball bat is…
— This is the Mount Tai of Pangyo!?
— As expected, the sea is better than a mountain!
***
‘Is this about twenty meters…?’
From the rooftop's edge, Almond stroked his chin and looked at the rooftop of the opposite building.
He peered down the dizzying height of twelve stories and thought, ‘I’d die if I fell.’
Falling here definitely seemed deadly unlike falling between the train and platform in the last match.
Tae Ji-Ho stood on the edge of the opposite rooftop with a baseball bat.
‘Looks like he plans to knock me off the rooftop with that.’
To anyone watching, Tae Ji-Ho would obviously attack him immediately if he tried to jump across.
Almond had been keenly observing him so far and figured as much.
‘Jumping over would be suicide.’
Jetters possessed excellent physical abilities. Leaping across this distance wasn’t an issue, but it was a different story if the opponent had a baseball bat.
‘Hmm.’
How could he cleverly get across? Or maybe he didn’t need to go across at all.
As Almond pondered, he noticed something on the ground.
[Baseball]
It was a baseball and didn’t seem to have been placed there just for decoration.
“Is this also a weapon?”
— Yes
— Throw it right and it flames up LOL
— It’s a disposableweapon too
Indeed, it was also a weapon like the golf clubs and baseball bats.
Thwack.
Almond picked up the baseball and stood at the edge of the rooftop.
The commentators started making a fuss.
“Ah! A baseball for the baseball bat!?”
“Good decision! Forcing your way across is suicide!”
“But can he accurately hit with that…”
The commentators became speechless when they saw Almond's pitching form.
“…?!”
Swoosh.
Almond's left knee shot up and he naturally took a pitching stance. Wasn’t there a saying that one could feel it when pros took their stance? His posture exuded a pressure that only pros possessed.
Thwack.
His left foot touched the ground while his right arm extended forward. The baseball left his hand, shooting out like a bullet.
"Back in my day, do you know what I did when I wanted to discipline disrespectful guys?"
A senior's advice flashed through his mind.
Fwoooosh—
The sound of the wind splitting filled the air as the baseball soared.
“That’s quite a stance! Could it be!? A special baseball move!?”
“First try? Impossible!”
When players perfectly handled weapons, they could trigger special moves. While not as spectacular as a Jetter’s special move, it was still quite effective.
‘Bring it on.’
Tae Ji-Ho glared and tightened his grip on the bat. He stomped the ground and swung the bat.
"If he's right-handed, aim for the left jaw. Throw it there. He can't physically hit it."
Swoosh—
The baseball already struck his left jaw.
“!?”
Crash!
"It’s a dead ball. Even if he dodges, his pride takes a hit. That’s how you teach them manners."
“Ah! Direct hit!!”
Tae Ji-Ho’s jaw seemed to have shattered, but it didn’t end there.
Fwoosh!
Suddenly, the baseball lit up in flames.
“What?!”
“Uh…!?”
All the commentators' mouths fell open. It was a special move.
“It’s a special move?!”
“With just one attempt!!! He activated the baseball’s special move!?”
Boom~!
The addition of flames caused an even greater impact.
Tae Ji-Ho's body burst into flames and he flew back.
Almond briefly shaded his eyes with his hand while watching Tae Ji-Ho soar away.
‘Oh… I can cross over now.’
After everything ended, only then did Almond recall the last bit added by his senior.
"I was about to say! You'd be in big trouble if you really did that. Hey, why do you look like you’d actually try it?"