novelraw Chapter 49 : Chapter 49
Chapter 49 : Chapter 49
Chapter 49: Seo Seungbeom
“Alright, let’s go for the first round!”
Seo Seungbeom grinned, gripping the lever.
Behind us, someone joked, “The loser gets 11 drinks~,” and laughter echoed.
The first match of the best-of-five wager game was about to begin.
[FIGHT!]
The screen flashed with a cheerful voice.
I cautiously established the distance.
“But a grapple character might be a little hard for a beginner, don’t you think? Are you sure you want to stick with that?”
Seo Seungbeom turned the lever and glanced at me, asking.
The character Seo Seungbeom chose specialized in fast movement and continuous combos.
He was a type that overwhelms the opponent with speed.
In contrast, the character I chose was a so-called 'grapple character,' focused on a sturdy physique and grappling techniques.
While capable of chain-grapples once successful, this type was slow, prone to whiffing, and difficult to manage.
The reason I chose a grapple character was simple.
I always liked that style, and when I checked the command inputs, they were similar to the grapple character I used to enjoy.
Like rotating the joystick 360 degrees, or twisting it as if adjusting a car gear.
The sensation that my hands remembered was slightly lingering.
And so, the first match unfolded in earnest.
I attempted grapples multiple times, but since I wasn't fully proficient yet, they didn't land properly.
Seo Seungbeom expertly dodged, nullified my moves, and toyed with me.
‘This reminds me of the old days.’
I felt like I had returned to being a beginner.
I had spent days and nights clinging to fighting games, memorizing commands and getting used to them.
The sensation of moving the joystick and pressing buttons was deeply imprinted in my palms.
I started by playing against the older kids in the neighborhood, then conquered arcades in other neighborhoods one by one, and eventually made a name for myself throughout Mapo District.
Memories of participating in amateur tournaments resurfaced.
Of course, that was then.
[Aaaagh!]
My character screamed and plummeted over the rooftop railing.
Ultimately, all those things were just the past for now.
“I feel like I’m playing with a kid. Do you want to switch characters now? That one is hard~.”
Seo Seungbeom chuckled.
I shrugged.
The second match immediately followed.
“Come on, grab me. I dare you to grab me! Can't you grab me?”
Seo Seungbeom seemed to be getting warmed up, starting to trash-talk while playing the game.
He was playing playfully, teasing me at a range where I might almost land a grapple.
I kept using techniques in response, and my character either grabbed at empty air where Seo Seungbeom had dodged or threw himself onto the bare floor for nothing.
“Puhah! Look at him. Look. So hilarious.”
Whiff- Whiff- Whiff-
Jabs came in succession, and my health was gradually chipped away.
“You can’t even catch this?”
I continuously attempted grappling techniques.
But Seo Seungbeom never once got caught.
[K.O!]
My character collapsed and sprawled out like that.
I had taken a substantial beating.
I had to be satisfied with the fact that my hands were slowly regaining their former feeling.
“You’re really trying hard, trying so hard. I told you to just switch characters. Honestly.”
Seo Seungbeom took a long sip of the iced tea handed to him by his gang members behind him and looked at me.
“I don't know if you're being stubborn or if that's your pride talking. Ah, was that a bit too much?”
The guy said, letting out a smirk.
Clang—!
The lever was pulled, preparing for the start of the third match.
“Oh right, I had a question. What family did you say you were from?”
Just before the match started, Seo Seungbeom looked at me and asked.
“Family? Not really anyone.”
If I had belonged to a family, I wouldn't have been living alone in a single room when I entered this world.
Neither my appearance nor my name seemed to have any connection.
Then Seo Seungbeom opened his mouth as if amused.
“Wow, that's amazing, isn't it? It's not easy for a nobody with no affiliated family to get into Zero. Ah, did I say that a bit too much again?”
Haha— Seo Seungbeom laughed as if he had made a mistake.
He pretended to apologize, but his hostility was slowly becoming blatant.
“Then, let’s start the third round!”
[FIGHT!]
The match began with a cheerful voice.
Seo Seungbeom’s character rapidly closed the distance.
Shwing- Thwack-! Pow-pow-pow-!
A dazzling weave followed by quick access.
The flurry of punches that followed was too much to block entirely.
Thwack-! Pow-!
A barrage of kicks followed.
My character was constantly pushed into the corner and soon reached the edge of the rooftop railing.
“Easy peasy! Die!”
The moment Seo Seungbeom's character executed an aerial flying kick for the finishing blow.
‘Rotate the stick 360 degrees, and switch.’
My fingertips moved instinctively.
My body reacted first to the familiar sensation, the familiar situation.
Thwump-
I snatched the ankle of the opponent who was flying in with a kick and rotated twice.
Then, I immediately threw him into the air.
Thwack-! Boom-!
I mixed in an aerial combo of punches and kicks while he was in the air.
Before the opponent hit the ground, I grabbed him again and slammed- him into the floor.
Seo Seungbeom’s character staggered up.
I seized his waist and executed a Suplex just like that.
“Ugh-.”
A frustrated groan escaped from Seo Seungbeom's side at the dazzling chain of grapples.
‘Good, continue like this......!’
I couldn't lose the flow.
I input the next command.
Whoosh-
However, my character missed completely, grasping at empty air as if embracing the void.
‘Ah, I messed up.’
The moment a grapple fails, the character on screen becomes completely defenseless.
The so-called ‘post-delay’ was an awkward state where one could neither attack nor defend.
Seo Seungbeom would not miss that opening.
He quickly tripped my character's feet while lying down and immediately mounted him.
Pow-pow-pow-pow—!
A fierce barrage of punches landed in succession.
[K.O!]
Red letters appeared on the screen.
After a close battle, my character collapsed.
The result was three consecutive losses.
But the surrounding reaction was quite different.
“Wow, he almost won just now? This guy's actually good?”
Someone watching from behind mumbled.
Immediate silence fell, and the mumbling guy quickly covered his mouth, conscious of the surrounding gazes.
“Hey, why is everyone saying he’s good just because he landed one counter hit by luck?”
Another guy intervened, trying to diffuse the atmosphere.
“That character is a cheat character anyway. If you succeed with just one counter, you can easily cut half their health.”
Another kid helped him gloss over it.
I internally laughed wryly.
A scene I always saw in the fighting game community.
Character advantage, this kind of excuse always pops up somewhere.
‘If it's a cheat character, they should play it themselves.’
In reality, most grappling characters are unpopular characters only played by enthusiasts.
[Rooftop Fighters], which we were playing right now, was no exception.
Seo Seungbeom himself had suggested I switch to a different character.
They probably knew that too, yet they were acting like this.
“For someone who says they haven’t played it, you seem quite familiar with it?”
Seo Seungbeom, who had been silent, rubbed his neck and asked me.
“Well, I’ve seen it. Although I haven't played it.”
Instead, I had experience playing similar games.
And I couldn't explain it since [Street Fighter] didn't exist in this world.
“Is that so? If you're looking up videos and stuff, aren't you a fan? But you still haven't played it? Ah, I see.”
Seo Seungbeom looked at me with a slight sneer, then spat out derisively.
“I heard you don't have parents? Then that makes sense. You wouldn't have had any money.”
Seo Seungbeom’s words were simple.
You are an orphan and a beggar.
The tone was lightly thrown, but the hostility contained within was clear.
I thought.
‘I cannot logically refute that.’
I had no parents since I entered this world.
I only had an uncle whose whereabouts I didn't know right now.
It was also true that I didn't have enough money.
So, Seo Seungbeom’s words weren't strictly wrong.
“Well, something like that.”
For some reason, Seo Seungbeom was angry at me.
If he wanted to vent that anger in this way, I didn't mind much.
In fact, I would be thankful if he just finished by beating me in a game and mocking me verbally.
If this guy, and furthermore, his gang, decided to target me, it would be disgustingly annoying.
‘Just choose today and get your stress out.’
It was at that moment I was thinking that.
“Your reaction is apathetic. But don't be too disappointed.”
Perhaps unsatisfied with my reaction, Seo Seungbeom frowned and opened his mouth.
“In my opinion, you simply lack talent. Not because your family is bad, or because you're an orphan, or because you're poor, but simply because you yourself lack talent. That's probably why you're grasping so desperately.”
What kind of nonsense was this?
“......Lack talent? Me?”
I instinctively retorted to Seo Seungbeom's words.
“Why? Does that sting a little? Yes. You just lack talent. Meaning that no matter how much you try, it's meaningless. It's not that you didn't have a chance. It means you simply lacked the skill and the potential.”
Seo Seungbeom grinned as if he had successfully gotten a rise out of me and looked around as he spoke.
As if telling everyone to listen closely.
Then his gang members began to laugh in response.
I couldn't help but be shocked by that sight.
‘What the hell is he talking about, this son of a bitch?’
Me, lacking talent?
Me, who had soared beyond neighborhood arcades to dominate the entire Mapo District?
Me, who had developed an infinite grapple combo that prompted the game company to issue a patch directly?
Me, who had reached the finals of an amateur tournament with a non-mainstream character?
To me, he was saying I lacked 'gaming talent'?
My head automatically turned toward Seo Seungbeom.
My eyes hardened. Something hot began to rise up from the back of my neck.
Amidst the noisy surroundings, Seo Seungbeom looked at me.
“What? Why is your expression like that? It suddenly got intense? Are you mad?”
“......Let’s do the next round.”
“Ah~ I see. You want to quickly get beat and finish this, huh.”
Seo Seungbeom, gripping the lever, scoffed- with a sneer.
Clang-!
[FIGHT!]
A message announcing the start of the 4th match.
Seo Seungbeom’s character moved back and forth as if testing the waters.
Unlike the earlier aggressive penetration, this time he was cautious, as if determined not to show any openings.
He managed the game as if building up gradually, leaving me with few opportunities.
The skirmish and mind games continued for a moment.
“Hah!”
Seo Seungbeom’s right hook connected with me.
I successfully defended and aimed for a counter-hit, but.
Swoosh-
Seo Seungbeom's character quickly dodged the counter I threw out.
Thus, a fleeting gap was revealed.
Thwack-! Pow-!
Seo Seungbeom, who had closed in with rapid approach, mixed in a mid-level punch and a low kick, pressuring me.
“You thought I'd fall for that again? Not a chance. Understand?”
Seo Seungbeom began to execute a continuous combo in earnest.
In the face of the storm-like sequence of punches and kicks, my character could only minimize the damage by occasionally raising a guard.
I could see the health bar on the screen turning red.
Seo Seungbeom, having judged that he had firmly seized the momentum, pressed the attack without letting up.
The sound of him rapidly hitting the buttons aggressively echoed.
Shh-!
He gave a feint with a low jump, then quickly landed in front of me, who had attempted an aerial guard.
From there, he slipped past a low feint one more time and immediately threw out a middle kick.
“Got him!”
“It's a perfect!”
The moment gasps erupted from behind.
Thwump-
My character grabbed his foot and began to spin him around and around.
“A counter? Crazy. He broke that?”
“The, the high guard was a reverse feint! The upper direction key is included in the grapple command.”
“He was aiming for that? But wait, there was a low feint too. He reacted to that?”
Surprised reactions erupted from the surroundings.
“How did this bastard—!”
Seo Seungbeom’s face contorted.
The lips that were meant to sneer were stiff, clearly betraying the displeasure he was forcibly trying to swallow.
The chain grapple that began with a counter continued.
Seo Seungbeom’s health began to drop rapidly.
As is the case with most fighting games, [Rooftop Fighters] also had a damage bonus when health was low, allowing for even more damage to be inflicted on the opponent.
But, of course, the grapple could not be continued until the opponent died.
Even if such a cheating technique combination were possible, the game company would never allow it.
Therefore, a crucial turning point.
In the previous 3rd match, I stumbled on the chain grapple that began with a counter and lost completely.
And currently, Seo Seungbeom's character was lying on the ground.
At that moment, as the same combo was progressing.
‘Now.’
I intentionally failed the grappling technique.
The flow was identical to the previous round.
The only difference was that I made the mistake at a slightly earlier timing.
The downside of a grapple character is that the risk incurred when a grapple fails is very high.
The characteristic motions are large, so the so-called post-delay is longer compared to other characters.
After failing a grapple, the character becomes unable to block or attack for a significant amount of time.
So, the opponent immediately thinks this when a grapple fails.
‘This is a perfect chance for a counterattack.’
It was the same in the previous round.
The moment I failed the grapple, my character became defenseless and was immediately KO’d by the combo that started with Seo Seungbeom's trip.
But there is something even more important here.
And that is ‘timing’.
“Don’t mess with me, you bastard!”
Seo Seungbeom shouted as if he had seized the opportunity.
And the moment his character attempted the ‘trip.’
“Huh?”
My character quickly lowered his stance, grabbed the opponent's ankle, and immediately began to twist and break it while lying down.
“What the......”
Seo Seungbeom mumbled blankly.
It was understandable. A character who fails a grapple becomes defenseless.
During that moment, they allow a hit no matter what technique is applied.
That was the general common sense.
But as I said, the important thing was timing.
I intentionally executed the grapple mistake quickly.
That meant that the post-delay was released that much earlier.
Therefore, at the very moment the opponent was attacking, my character could quickly recover his posture and aim for a counterattack timing.
Snap-! Crack-! Thwack-!
After that, a newly continued chain of techniques.
[K.O!]
The arcade machine announced the KO with a cheerful voice.
“This shouldn't be happening, isn't that a bug? Why is the post-delay released so quickly? No, more importantly, how did he react? The middle kick was clearly......”
Seo Seungbeom mumbled with wide eyes.
The education hadn't even started yet, and look at his foolish state.
“We have to play the next round. Why are you dragging your feet?”
Clang-!
I pulled the lever.
[NEW CHALLENGE!]
The arcade machine announced the start of a new game with a cheerful sound.
I don't care if he calls me an orphan.
Because it's a fact for now.
I don't care if he mocks me as a penniless beggar.
Because it's not exactly wrong.
But saying that I'm bad at games is something I can never forgive.
Never.