Proof (4)
“No more challengers?”
Feeling great about the roughly 6 million won about to drop into his pocket, my friend drawled as he scanned the room.
But after about ten Brown and Black Ocean players had gone through rematch after rematch without putting up a real fight and gotten knocked out, they all looked too demoralized to step up again.
“No one? Then I'm hitting mission complete?”
By now, most viewers had accepted that I was aaa123, but with the safe bet money they thought was secure suddenly at risk, the chat was going insane with desperate pleas here and there.
“No one else? Hitting it then?”
“Challenge!”
My friend's face, beaming at the mountain of mission cash about to be his, froze solid.
“Huh?”
“Oh. Moo-ma.”
“For real?”
Damn... the worst-case scenario had finally happened.
The most famous ranker in Korean King of Fist: RainbowMaster. Shortened to Moo-ma, this pro gamer had just walked in.
A true veteran with over ten years grinding from the early series to now—not just in KOF, but among all fighting game pros. Seeing the face I'd only known from online streams and tournaments in person felt kinda fresh. Gotta get an autograph later.
“Moo-ma's here! Hello, Moo-ma! The KOF GOAT graces us. Come on over. Just one hello to the crowd would be amazing.”
“Hey everyone. KOF pro, Rainbow Master, Moo-ma here.”
“And you've probably seen this one online a ton: Threay.”
“Hey. Threay here.”
“Nice to meet in person after only online before. Moo-ma. Whoa, you're tall.”
Standing up after sitting the whole opening, not just Moo-ma but all the previous challengers and even the casual onlookers gawked in surprise.
Probably because I'd been sitting through the whole opening broadcast, viewers were freaking out too.
“Haha, yeah I'm pretty tall.”
“First time meeting a woman this tall—kinda shocking.”
Moo-ma, trust me, feeling's mutual.
“Alright, greetings done—ready to go?”
“Sure. But how many rematches did others do?”
“Average of three sets.”
“Three sets for me too then?”
“Sounds good.”
“Hey, chat! Y'all too harsh on me? This win streak's already a miracle!”
*Pambapabam!*
Win 3 out of 5 sets
🎁 Reward:1,000,000 won
“Aigoo! Chairman! But you know this one's got real risk, right? Not like the safe bet before?”
Hmm... what was my record against Moo-ma? I didn't know up to #4, but at #5 I was definitely better... memory's fuzzy. Anyway, full win mission might be iffy, but nailing this one would be nice.
“As a pro, this hurts my pride a bit? Full serious mode incoming?”
“C'mon Moo-ma, go easy.”
“Lemme see... aigoo, y'all trusted me with 'safe' money and now it's all gonna vanish. Can't have that. Viewers, I'll protect your wallets today.”
“Aaaagh! Nooo! Gyeong-guk! You're my only hope!”
“Don't bet on me...”
Beating pros is brutally hard—no real confidence there—but staring at nearly 10 million won combined had my eyes glazing over. Fine. Game's clicking today anyway. Nail this mission, clear all my debt. They'd appreciate not dealing with my IOUs, right?
“Okay, character select. P1 Threay picks Valetta as expected. P2 Moo-ma goes Rainbow. True to the RainbowMaster name.”
Moo-ma's main: flashy-kick focused female char Rainbow. Vs. all-punch Valetta. Tank top, short hot pants, running shoes, and red cap give Rainbow a sporty blonde vibe, clashing with Valetta's calm all-black look.
Top-tier speed and kick-base among chars means solid damage for rushes—Rainbow's pressure is fierce. Moo-ma probes with small jumps and light kicks, cornering me. Best tactic vs. punch-only Valetta whose hitbox makes anti-airs tough.
Normal Valetta players shatter under rush hell into guard break combos, but me...?
“Oh! Counter!”
Anti-air's weaker in 5, but perfect timing recovers faster than her aerial hit for big gains.
“Jet Upper! Jet Light Upper combo!”
“Oooooh!”
Meter not full for super yet, but decent combo chipped some health. I rushed back, mixing ground/air since Rainbow anti-airs well—mindless rush gets punished. Or bait grabs.
“Three grab strings! Reads on point today!”
Maybe the chatter right next to me, or first set jitters—he chuckled and shook his head.
Smooth first set momentum win. Nice.
“Moo-ma, thoughts? Feels like Threay now?”
“Yeah, after trading hits, definitely. Not easy, huh?”
Fired up, he shrugged off his jacket onto the chair—crowd and chat erupted.
“Set 2 start. Same chars.”
Unlike last, cautious movement—I rushed. But he'd reset mentally; grabs not landing, my health whittled instead.
“Ow! Stings! Too much!”
Solid play reading patterns with light punches/kicks. No big moves, just checking my timings—started getting wary, whiffed jump into bad anti-air.
Overcommitted big punch anti-air—no recovery, straight into near-death combo. Couldn't flip health, lost the round.
Next round. Glanced at phone for chat, saw piled-up missions—fatal mistake? Nearly 10 mil total, brain froze; played like Bugletta, slapped my face reflexively.
“What was that! Threay, that wasn't Threay—that was trash!”
Whiffed combo into raw super—lost meter and huge health chunk. Couldn't recover mentally, straight 3-round loss. Set over.
“You trash bastard!”
“Shut up, asshole.”
Already embarrassed by my bug play, his yapping next to me burned my face.
“Noona! So cute!”
“Hahahaha.”
Even guys calling me cute. Oh shit.
“Chat's losing it over how cute you are. One word?”
“Aaaaaah~ can't hear you. La la la.”
Wanna curse out the crowd but held back, slapping my ears with palms instead.
Can't keep this up. Mission cash still lingering in my head—gotta erase it. Shut off phone, refocus on game. All senses maxed in.
And...
“This! This! Waaaaaah! Moo-ma's reverse guard that held so well is broken! Game over! Final set score 3-2 Threay win! Gyeong-guuaaaah!”
“Nice shooooot!”
Loss-loss-win-win-win. Beat Moo-ma!