If You Don't Know, You Gotta Get Hit (2)
In the Tuhon scene, the go-to streamer Ppase holds a personal tournament called Donemise every two weeks. Even pro players drop in sometimes, and there's no famous Tuhon streamer who hasn't swung by at least once—it's that big. But even Donemise hit a crisis. According to Ppase, it was all thanks to Hajeong Soft, too busy hawking their custom sticks to care.
Everyone else chips away at health bars by grinding down guards, landing delayed tech hits with dirty tricks, or launching foes airborne for finicky combos. But the current top dog, Smith, just blasts it all away with a single Rage-mode right hook. Sure, it has a massive recovery lag as a glaring flaw, but who cares? Land one hit, and the game's flipped. Despite the flood of complaints calling the game a total gamble, Hajeong Soft's response was lukewarm. "Smith's one-shot is strong, but no pro's just gonna eat it." Fair enough in the pro scene with its balance, but casuals? Figure it out yourselves.
Yeah, character balance comes down to the pilot's skill, so let's skip that debate. The real issue? Content. Gotta make the tourney fun, but 90% of entrants are on Smith. They already did a "Ultimate Smith Right Hook" tourney two weeks ago—repeating it now? Unforgivable for content king Ppase. Pros are prepping for their own events, no guest spots open. Other streamers all had plans this week too. Ppase was about to bow to the devs' bullshit nerfs.
But right before it turned into a total snoozefest, a massive dark horse showed up.
Who'd have thought the rumored Ren main from months back would show up to save the sinking ship.
"Housekeeper, blast this on the community. Ren Mom's here."
Who cares? Even if it's a faker, as long as the tourney's fun. Ppase grinned wide.
"I'll take responsibility. If not, I'll make it so!"
Ta-in's fussing only got worse over time.
"Whoa, I know so many of these streamers for real!"
"…."
"Holy crap, Ppase is entering too?"
"……."
"Sucks the pros aren't here today…."
Participant count updated live—mostly Marquess (top 20%) and Prince (top 1%). I was the only one just above rock bottom at Baron. The top predator? Host Ppase at Duke, above Prince. That black rank icon stood out. It's basically pro entry level, top 0.1% only. No one hit King, the 100-per-country elite.
"What's wrong? You look pissed."
"Lineup sucks. All Smiths."
"Still, tons of skilled players, right?"
"…Dunno."
"Hope you get an easy starter. Even you might struggle jumping straight into Ppase. Gotta warm up."
A former King fearing a Duke? Nah. Kings are Tuhon's royalty—monsters who've memorized every pattern for every character. Lower ranks meet one in ranked? Straight to the slaughterhouse. Your practiced patterns and combos crumble under sheer experience and instincts. Worst case, you don't even throw a punch before it's over. Pure horror flick.
But matches must happen, and wins net massive rank points—no dodging even at low ranks. Kings are so rare, they gotta drag up lowbies. Structure of the game.
King, huh…
Scanning the list just brings sighs. Wanna rematch Mixer incognito. Fat chance. Licked my lips and hit ready.
The other 63 heroes filled slots, picking chars. In-game chat buzzed.
Everyone chimed in on my Ren pick, and Ta-in beamed like it was her spotlight.
"Huge! They're all shocked by your pick. Knew it from the gallery—spot on."
Obviously. Ren users are rare. I picked her to King every char, but she stuck as main. Reactions were hilarious on climbs, turned her into my ace. What started as chance grew special over time.
"Heard she's trash performance tho. Why use her? 'Cause she looks like you?"
"… Complicated reasons."
"Like what?"
"She was too good at it."
Ta-in blinked, surprised.
"Saying it like that makes me wanna see you go pro."
"Please… not that…."
"J-Just kidding!"
Shot her a half-lidded glare; she sheepishly backed off, kneading my shoulders.
"Anyway… 'too good, huh? Like that Go thing?"
Nodded curtly.
"They loved it. Gave her extra attachment."
Foes hated losing to shit-tier Ren most, but "Winnable 'cause Ren" kept 'em coming back. Naturally stuck to her; weird playstyle tales spread beyond Tuhon. Then good stuff piled up: more tourneys, pro league hints, rank 1 me getting spotlighted on streams. Life sailed smooth. Time invested felt worth it. Became my fave char.
Life's a total player.
"Lena, can I watch with stream on? Wanna hear Ppase's commentary if you face him."
"Do you."
"Yesss."
Childlike glee as Ta-in fired up her phone; Ppase's voice leaked through.
Everyone readied. I placed hands on keys.
Loosened fingers on up/down/left/right buttons and hand/foot pedals.
Host Ppase hit start. View shifted to a dark field thick with fog. Black dragon soared under inky sky; moon peeked through clouds, eerie vibe. Familiar tower loomed distant.
Camera closed in from tower base to peak, then dove through the hollow center.
Blackout, screen swap to lowest floor cross-section. Zoomed in, enemy starts flashed around my char.
Bottom floor rules: one opponent. Shockingly, it was Ppase—gaudy gold-feather coat custom screaming "look at me."
Tourney's sole Duke, most-hyped punching bag. My luck too.
Two minutes later.
Expectations crushed—I was in dire straits.
New this patch, absent before: ultimate balance-breaker Arnold. Years of Tuhon rules? Ignored, toying with me. Weird-ass char. Starts combos by jumping and backstabbing. Unlike others perfectly blocked high/mid/low, this aerial ignored guard. Dash forward or back-attack in split-second, or eat it. My Ren? Few tools to stop airborne foes. Ground? Movement for mixups, corner pressure, cook 'em. Air? His turf, couldn't breach. Chase jump? Slow Ren loses clash. And that's best case—air hit chains combo, HP vanishes.
Even in chaotic bottom-floor single-elim, this? Absurd.
Winner: ppasei
"No way… Perfect…."
No single-elim, I'd have won. No prep, dove in— this.
Ppase yapped at 5700 RPM in victory high.
Startled Ta-in killed the stream, consoled me.
"Y-You'll be fine! One more shot!"
She was right—tourney not over. Bottom winners climb two floors; losers rematch among themselves. 32 up top, 32 below, reclimb.
Unlike Belial's tower—fall there was instant death. Extra chance lucky, but Arnold on tower? Could I survive?
"Haha."
Legit wanna truck Hajeong Soft. What bullshit char is this? Worse than Ren, bitched for lore mismatch. At least Ren didn't nuke balance. No nerf? Pro league becomes Arnold spam fest.
"Lena, you okay?"
Ta-in's hand on my shoulder; I overlaid mine, turned. Eyes blazed. Veins popped on hands.
"More than."
Wanna smash the taunter, shove defeat down his throat. Thrilled to madness.
"Game's fun."
"Lena…? Your eyes are gonna pop…?"