SMNTCERR, Chapter 40 <110> #4.

What is called a festival is filled with messy activities as expected. When passing through the university during the event, he had thought about this. Signs fluttered in the wind, colorful tents, strange people dressed strangely shouting and singing, creating an atmosphere that stimulates the ears and eyes. It can be said to be a place where everything that creates excitement for the ears and eyes is gathered together.

“Oh, wow, that’s impressive, isn’t it?”

Sangwoo thought that Jihye was usually a conscientious and flexible student, but today she seemed different. Her eyes were sparkling, and she said everything tasted delicious and admired everything she saw.

Sangwoo met Jihye at 11:00 a.m. and went to watch a magic club performance that could defy the laws of physics and deceive people’s eyes. At 12:02 p.m., they went to a café called “Paiyupsee” and endured the temptation of trickery with illustrated cards while enjoying sandwiches. At 12:42 p.m., they went to watch a music performance by the music club that almost blew their ears off. From 1:13 p.m. onwards, they drank water and read manga comics at the messy café of the cartoon club. At 3:43 p.m., Jihye walked out of the cartoon café with swollen eyes because she cried while reading the manga.

“I didn’t think Aran would die, was it leukemia?! I’m really sad. And to make matters worse, they have different mothers from Hee Hyul… It’s such a shocking twist.”

“It is not a real person, why are you crying like that?”

“Because it’s sad. So what are you reading?”

“Son Hee and Jaeyoung.”

“Is that story fun?”

“No.”

Ever since he was born, this was the first time he had ever read a story that was not fun at the end. He just kept flipping the pages without thinking, just to see the repeated appearance of the title.

They left the cartoon café and walked on the campus for a while. In the meantime, Jihye mentioned that she liked to forget about everyday life and wrote a daily diary with pictures. She insisted that it was necessary to have pictures of friends together, so they stopped walking for a moment to take selfies together.

Then Sangwoo’s footsteps stopped in front of a poster on the wall.

[Legendary Game Club is hosting! Arcade Game Tournament]

Although it was an unconscious response to the word “game.” he passed by without paying much attention. No, he didn’t. When he looked at the poster closely, he noticed that among the prizes, there was a mechanical keyboard, something he had been trying to find but ultimately failed to obtain.

“Oh! Oppa, shall we participate in this? This prize includes a mechanical keyboard, which is something I wanted to buy before.”

“Really? now?”

It was an activity that fulfilled the desires of both parties, a beneficial challenge, unlike the activities that made them look like fools in the past.

There, a large crowd had already gathered. The competition consisted of four games: Tetris, Bubble Bobble, Tekken, and Metal Slug. They began to plan and discuss strategies before filling out the application forms.

“Do you want this, oppa? Super Formic Com CX [1].”

“Um, it’s the grand prize of the Tetris game.”

“Tetris is my own responsibility.”

Jihye confidently tied up her long hair in a peculiar and charming way. She had heard that she used to play Tetris online when she was a child. She excelled in the game since elementary school, becoming a “Tetris Master.” and even reached the level of a “god.” distancing herself from the villagers without a trace. Although Sangwoo didn’t trust her abilities much, he entrusted Tetris to Jihye.

 

 

As for the keyboard, it’s the grand prize of Techken, right? I’ve never played this game before. Do you play it?”

“I play this game myself.”

Tekken Switch. Even though it had been a long time, he had played the arcade game several times before, so he knew how to handle it. It was a fighting game with simple gameplay. Sangwoo thought he would choose a character from the internet and memorize the combos [2] in advance. This was just a small competition, and he believed that even if he tried his best, he had a chance to win.

Sangwoo and Jihye looked at each other intently.

“Let’s go win the prize and exchange it afterward!”

“Sure!”

They submitted their applications and waited for a while. About fifty people gathered together, mostly congregated around the Tekken area, and they were all men. There was only Jihye and one other woman. While sitting on the stairs, there was a vacant space next to the Tetris game. Jihye stood up, turned her head left and right, and spoke to Sangwoo with a confident expression.

“Trust me, I’ll go get the game console for you.”

She walked along with the sound of her footsteps and sat down on the low chair. Tetris wasn’t about fighting but scoring points. Jihye immediately selected the highest difficulty level, and half of the screen was filled with obstacles, which descended rapidly.

Sangwoo watched Jihye’s hand movements as if she was being possessed by a haunting melody playing in the background. The blocks fell into position without any useless movements controlled perfectly by Jihye, who had excellent dynamic vision, decision-making skills, and complete control. She also minimized the number of rotations and left-right movements without any conditions. Every time a wall made up of long stacked blocks descended four rows at a time, Sangwoo felt a deep sense of satisfaction in his heart.

“See? I told you.”

After sitting for fourteen minutes, the speed at which the blocks fell became too fast to follow. Jihye accepted defeat and secured first place without a doubt, with a score tens of thousands higher than second place. Assuming nothing went wrong, she would be the owner of the game console.

“You’re amazing!”

Sangwoo’s face brightened with admiration as he reached out his hand to shake it, and she extended her hand for him to grasp gladly. Then Jihye smiled proudly and sat down next to Sangwoo, her cheeks turning red with excitement from the game.

While waiting, Sangwoo searched the internet for two Tekken characters and studied combos until he became proficient. As he continued to wait, it was finally his turn.

“Oppa, please pass.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Sangwoo walked straight to the Tekken corner, where there were two arcade machines facing each other like fighting games. There were many spectators here, unlike other games, and there were two commentators.

“Okay. Who’s the next competitor? Let me see the application… Oh, jesus!

It’s another computer engineering student friend.”

“Are these computer science majors gathering here?”

The man sitting opposite Sangwoo appeared older, with a good physique, wearing a baseball cap and a checkered shirt.

“It’s a computer engineering student challenge! You’re the first one to choose this character, right? Are you choosing a character that’s failed or this… are you really skilled?”

Ed vs. Tristan… That’s strange. What they have in common is that they are both computer characters. If you don’t control them well, they become useless characters. Oh, it’s starting now!”

The power analysis was completed in ten seconds. When he saw how the game was being handled, he realized how well the other side understood the game. Sangwoo’s fighting partner sitting in that spot had defeated five consecutive opponents, but the opposing side was moving too advantageously and the reaction was slow.

“Ah, he’s fallen! Ed! Ed! He destroyed the computer of the defending side and then taunted like that! Wave Dash looks beautiful! Ah, he collapsed with that kind of fishing stance [3]!”

“It’s a fantastic play! Among today’s competitors, who has this level of skill? I bet 500 won he must be the son of the owner of the game arcade.”

Too easy. Sangwoo’s fighting partner slumped back awkwardly. Then the next challenger came in, another person wearing a similar cap and looking very young. Sangwoo chose the same character again and started the game.

“Ed vs. Tristan again? It’s teasing for a worm-like bug, do I really need to use all my power or not?”

“Maybe I can just play with two characters. Oh wow! Look at that! Using blocks moves so quickly.”

“Cornered now. Totally cornered. Wow… Is the next challenger confused?

Com-bo-not-un-der-stood! It’s sliced to pieces. Truly amazing.”

The next round of matches was easy. Sangwoo raised his hand to Jihye, who was cheering not far away. The next opponent, the next one, and the next one were easily defeated. They were all newcomers who didn’t know how to use computers well but were randomly pressing buttons. Sangwoo won continuously against fourteen people.

 

 

It seems like today is the birth of the Tekken King. In this way, seizing victory won’t be a problem, and enduring for just ten more minutes. There’s only one challenger left. In the end, can our Ed-Tristan friend preserve the kingdom…”

“Alright then. The final challenger has arrived. Is he from the Cosplay Club? He has a unique style, oh! And looking at the application… he’s not an engineering student.”

Sangwoo secretly glanced at the other side with suspicion. The person sitting across was wearing an outfit that seemed to come directly from mid-century Europe: a white shirt covered with a red jacket, black pants, and formal black shoes. On the back, he wore a high-collared cloak and a dokkaebi mask[4].

‘He’s an intriguing character.’

Sangwoo chose his original character without thinking much.

“Go, Sang-chu!”

When he heard Jihye’s cheer, Sangwoo raised his sculpture. But at that moment, the opposing character rushed forward, releasing a stunning pose. He swiftly used evasive moves, so the character didn’t float in the air, but HP decreased significantly.

“This isn’t easy.”

“Wow! This is an attack as sharp as a knife. Our challenger’s Ed character seems to be skilled at countering Rosé.”

“Rosé is a strong character on her own. Will our defending champion student be able to withstand the goddess Rosé… It’s very exciting to follow.”

The opposing character moved continuously, releasing quick strikes. His movements were excessively small and chaotic, making it difficult to anticipate. However, he didn’t approach the defending side too closely, maintaining an appropriate distance and demonstrating animal-like precision.

Almost hit the wall just now. The defending champion’s character seems clearly bright.”

“Ohhh, while the challenger was sliding forward, hands clashed. It’s a chance to send the fighting pair to the next world in the blink of an eye…”

“Even if I missed, my hands are still fast as ever. Upper strike, upper strike, lower strike, ohh, fast as a ghost. Hard to predict patterns at all.”

When under heavy pressure, he couldn’t perform combos. Sangwoo observed the complex playing style of the opposing side and switched characters, aiming only to make his opponent float in the air. He chose a character capable of doing that on the screen and attacking from angles that would make the opposing side float.

“Tristan, suddenly pops up, Wind God Fist! Four RP [5] four RP, four RP, and here we go again. And here we go again. Ah… Tristan is truly imposing.

Unexpected uppercut!”

“JUG-GLE-COM-BO [6]! Devil, Spin! Both Wind God Fist, both Spinning Demon, how many moves will there be? The combo never stops! What era is that person from? Is he our junior?”

“I don’t know either. I’ll call him “sunbae.” Our friend, Rosé, has released her hand. His concentration must have been broken by now. Takeout!

Knockout!”

When one character from the opposing side died, the substitute character took its place. Sangwoo hesitated for a moment and was counterattacked by the opposing side’s combo.

“Wow! Challenger, are you ready to fight? You started it, so let’s go.”

“Trick with a low blow and then use combo moves like that. Who will be the winner can’t be said anymore.”

The fierce battle continued. Then Sangwoo’s character fell while the opposing side’s HP decreased by only 30%. He pulled out the remaining character. From here on, it was a decisive battle where there was no turning back.

“This challenger is not easy at all. He’s really skilled in psychological warfare.”

“Our defending champion seems to be using the macros button [8] heavily.

No loopholes! Can he win fifteen matches in a row?”

They exchanged blows lightly, taking turns attacking two or three times. The opponent used a left hook macro, but Sangwoo didn’t allow himself to be attacked and disrupted that move. Then Sangwoo’s consecutive attacks were also blocked. This was the round that determined the outcome.

While he focused intently on the game, the shaking of the opponent’s legs made him annoyed. The extended knee from the arcade cabinet looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where he had seen those legs before.

“Looks like you are done with studying.”

At that moment, he heard a low grunt that made his hair stand on end. Sangwoo evaded the opponent’s attack and moved his character to the corner before stretching his neck to look at the opposite screen. The opponent wore a mysterious mask, but he sensed that they were locked in a battle of wits.

“I’m prepared and ready to have some fun.”

“Jang… Jaeyoung? What are you doing… here…”

Sangwoo turned his gaze back to the screen and picked up the controller sticker, but he had lost his coolness.

“I’m just here to play a game.”

Sangwoo’s Ed character was hit by the simultaneous attack of Jaeyoung’s Lillith hands and fell without a chance to fight back.

“My Sangwoo.”

 

 

The fatal strike aimed at the lower area made him think of dodging, but it was too late.

“You seem confident in your techniques, let’s see how it goes.” The opponent’s kick reduced Ed’s HP by more than half.

“Just waiting for the right moment.”

And then, Deathly Arrow from Lillith made him fall.

The two commentators spoke excitedly, but Sangwoo couldn’t hear anything anymore. return 0;.

________________________________________.

[1]      Super Famicom, known as Super Family Computer “SNES”, is a video game console developed by Nintendo.

[2]      Combo refers to executing consecutive attacks using the same move or different moves, or in team-based games, it can involve multiple team members performing continuous attacks in unison.

[3]      Bread and Butter “BnB” or BnB combos are basic combo moves that should be practiced for each character. They are easy to perform and have a decent level of strength, similar to common food combinations like bread and butter. In some cases, they may also be referred to as Auto Combos.

[4]      Tekken, a Korean giant.

[5]      RP stands for Right Punch.

[6]      Juggle Combo refers to combos where our character is on the ground while the opponent is floating, similar to juggling a ball in midair.

[7]      Devil Spin is a shortened term for the move called Spinning Demon.

[8]      Mouse macros are used to record all actions that occur, making our gameplay easier, especially for games that require cheat codes or multiple button presses simultaneously.

 

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