Jin-ho stopped playing.
He stood up and walked straight to the bathroom, intending to take a shower and wind down before sleeping.
After finishing, he returned to his setup and sat back down on the chair.
For a while, he just scrolled through the internet.
Rumors, gossip, entertainment news, nothing held his attention.
He kept swiping until it all felt the same.
Eventually, he gave up and switched to videos instead.
His recommendations were mostly Tekken content, as expected.
Instead, he opened a music app.
He searched for IVE and played “LOVE DIVE” and “ELEVEN.”
Leaning back in his chair, he listened quietly, letting the music fill the room.
He even hummed along without realizing it.
Then his phone lit up.
A notification.
A message from iKARi.
He was thanking him for the match earlier and said he wanted to play again sometime.
This time, he requested something specific.
Play Jin.
No more character switching.
Just Jin.
Jin-ho smirked slightly at the message and replied simply.
“Okay.”
He sent it, then placed his phone aside.
He decided it was time to sleep.
Before that, he cleaned up the trash and went to the kitchen to dispose of it.
After returning, he lay down on his bed face-first and fell asleep almost immediately.
The night passed.
Time moved forward.
Morning came.
Jin-ho was now sitting in front of his PC, preparing for his second stream.
He glanced at the time.
9:54 AM.
This time, he had skipped instant noodles.
Beside him was a pack of sandwiches he bought earlier from a convenience store.
Today was important.
His goal was clear.
Take Jin to Tekken God Omega.
After that, he would stop streaming for a while and focus on the upcoming tournament.
For only his second stream, he had already set everything in motion.
He told himself he would explain it to his viewers after reaching his goal.
Then he went live.
At first, only a few viewers joined.
“Good morning, everyone,” Jin-ho greeted calmly.
Tekken 7 was already open on his screen.
He entered practice mode immediately.
Jin, stage selected, warm-up started.
Button checks, movement drills, combo repetition.
The usual routine.
As the stream continued, more viewers slowly trickled in.
He greeted them occasionally while staying focused.
After a while, he finished warming up and exited practice mode.
Ranked matches.
Queue started.
While waiting, he talked casually with chat, responding to random topics.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Today, I’ll be taking Jin to the highest rank in the game.”
“So just watch me struggle and lose a lot.”
The chat reacted instantly.
After a few seconds, the match was found.
Opponent: King.
He let out a quiet sigh.
“A grappler…”
Thankfully, his throw breaks had improved.
Not perfect, but reliable enough.
He could break most standard throws and even recognize some chain throws.
The match began with King trying to condition him into guessing wrong on throws.
But Jin-ho adapted quickly.
He broke the grabs.
So King shifted his approach, mixing in different throw breaks and timing traps.
Jin-ho read it.
Instead of reacting passively, he took control of the pace.
He pressured King into defending instead.
Changing timing.
Mixing offense and hesitation.
Forcing mistakes.
Eventually, King cracked under the pressure.
And Jin-ho took the match.
The King player immediately requested a rematch.
Jin-ho accepted.
Even though he disliked fighting grappler-heavy playstyles, he knew avoiding them would not help him improve.
Stronger opponents in the future would only be more varied and more difficult.
As the next match began, Jin-ho continued using the same overall approach.
He focused on shutting down King’s throw game, breaking grabs consistently and controlling space so the grappling pressure could not fully develop.
Still, it was not flawless.
A few reads went wrong.
He guessed the wrong breaks at times, and a couple of throws went through.
Even so, Jin-ho managed to secure the set, though he dropped a few rounds in the process.
King rematched again.
Jin-ho accepted once more.
The two went back into battle.
Then again.
And again.
The results stayed mostly the same.
King was clearly adapting, adjusting timing and mixing options more carefully, but Jin-ho stayed one step ahead, responding and correcting faster each time.
Eventually, King stopped rematching.
The set ended.
Jin-ho returned to the lobby screen and waited for the next opponent.
While waiting, he finally turned his attention back to chat.
He spoke briefly with the viewers.
During matches, he stayed completely silent.
No talking, no distractions.
Only focus.
The only sounds were the lever movements and button inputs, sharp and consistent.
His expression during play remained steady and intense, enough to keep viewers watching even without commentary.
The next match started.
His opponent: Xiaoyu.
But more importantly, the name on the screen.
SoDaM.
A well-known specialist.
A player famous for unorthodox setups and pressure that forces opponents into uncomfortable decisions.
Jin-ho let out a small breath.
“Well, this is going to be a fun one.”
He spoke casually to chat.
Mentally, he was already preparing himself to be outplayed in unfamiliar ways.
The stage loaded in.
Howard Estate.
His core plan for this matchup was simple.
Do not respect Xiaoyu too much.
Keep her at range.
Control space.
Do not let her start her game freely.
Annoying matchup.
But a useful one.
The round began.
SoDaM immediately started moving unpredictably, dancing in and out of range.
Phoenix Stance transitions.
Forward rolls.
Sudden shifts in rhythm.
It was chaotic from the start.
He stayed patient.
Waiting.
Careful not to get clipped by a counter-hit launcher, especially Xiaoyu’s while standing 2.
Instead, he poked.
Forward 4.
Down 4.
Controlled spacing.
He held back on Electrics entirely.
Too risky against stance transitions that could evade them.
SoDaM kept advancing.
Trying to force an opening through movement and timing traps.
But Jin-ho refused to break his structure.
The timer continued to drain.
Half the health bar gone.
But SoDaM still could not break through cleanly.
Eventually, the first round went to Jin-ho.
The second round started differently.
SoDaM increased the risk.
At round start, he jumped forward aggressively.
Jin-ho attempted a jab anti-air, but he was slightly late.
SoDaM landed and immediately shifted into Phoenix Stance.
This time, Jin-ho reacted instantly.
Hopkick.
Clean launch.
SoDaM got clipped and sent airborne.
Jin-ho converted into a full combo and carried him to the wall.
Now in a strong okizeme position.
SoDaM stayed cautious, waiting for an opening.
He guessed wrong.
Jin-ho pressed 1+2.
It connected.
Wall splat.
Another combo followed.
SoDaM chose to stay grounded for a moment, trying to reset the situation.
Then he tech rolled away.
Jin-ho chased immediately to close the round.
But that decision was overcommitting.
The moment he stepped in and pressed forward—
SoDaM attacked.
While Standing 2.
Clean launch.
Jin-ho got counter hit.
Momentum shifted instantly.
SoDaM followed up with a full combo into setup pressure.
Hypnotist Stance.
Jin-ho held his ground, waiting.
SoDaM finished the sequence by cancelling the stance and then performing 4~3, holding down immediately afterward.
Transitioning back into Art of Phoenix stance, keeping the pressure loop alive.
Jin-ho tech-rolled immediately and backdashed away.
Creating distance.
As much distance as possible.
Thankfully, SoDaM failed to set up whatever sequence he had planned.
Jin-ho returned to his game plan.
Keep out.
Control space.
Shut down Xiaoyu before she could start her offense.
Forward 4.
Down 4.
Movement.
Slowly, little by little, SoDaM’s health started getting chipped away.
Again.
And again.
Still, SoDaM remained completely unfazed.
He kept searching for openings, trying to force mix-ups and strange setups onto Jin-ho.
But Jin-ho was stubborn.
Almost excessively so.
He simply refused to let Xiaoyu get close enough to begin her game.
Eventually, Jin-ho secured the second round.
The third round felt completely different.
No one was committing anymore.
No one wanted to be the first to make a mistake.
SoDaM landed a quick Down Back 2, then immediately rolled backward.
Retreating.
Creating distance.
He had a slight health lead now.
And judging by his movement…
He intended to run the clock.
Jin-ho narrowed his eyes.
Should he approach?
Against Xiaoyu, forcing offense recklessly was a dangerous idea.
One mistake and he could easily get launched.
SoDaM turned his back toward him.
Backturned stance.
A trap.
Or bait.
Jin-ho wavedashed forward.
Then stopped.
Right before entering range.
He cancelled it.
A test.
A prediction.
And he guessed correctly.
The moment Jin-ho entered threatening range, SoDaM pressed 4.
Launcher.
Jin-ho was ready.
Block.
Punish.
Down 3+4.
Can-can.
Because SoDaM was backturned, the combo route changed slightly.
Still, Jin-ho adapted instantly.
He carried it into an okizeme setup and ended with Down Forward 4.
SoDaM stayed grounded.
Did not stand.
Jin-ho simply attacked him on the floor.
Ground hit.
Again.
Because the choices were awful.
Stay down and take guaranteed damage.
Or stand up and risk getting launched.
SoDaM understood it.
Jin-ho understood it too.
Thousands of matches.
Thousands of situations like this.
Experience alone told them everything.
SoDaM was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Excellent fundamentals.
Excellent awareness.
But now Jin-ho had momentum.
And once again, he returned to keeping Xiaoyu at arm’s length.
Frustrating.
Annoying.
Slow.
But effective.
He only used keep-out tools.
Threatened with hopkicks.
Controlled space.
And denied opportunities.
Eventually, time ran out.
Jin-ho still had more health remaining.
Round over.
He won.
And with that…
Jin-ho took the first set.
Over on his own stream, SoDaM started complaining.
Not seriously.
More like the usual player frustration after dealing with an annoying matchup.
“This guy is playing way too defensive.”
He shook his head while talking to chat.
“And he’s using Jin too.”
“Jin players usually want to pressure and stay aggressive.”
“This one just runs away.”
His viewers laughed.
Still, SoDaM hit rematch after talking about the set.
Back into the game.
To make things simpler…
Jin-ho mostly stayed with the same approach.
Defensive.
Patient.
Though this time, he tried adding more offense.
Immediately, he regretted it.
His Electric got completely evaded by Xiaoyu’s Art of Phoenix stance.
Jin-ho narrowed his eyes.
“I shouldn’t be using highs so much anymore.”
He had already learned that lesson.
So instead, he started gambling.
Wavedash.
Into can-can.
Predicting SoDaM would try entering stance to evade pressure.
And it worked.
Launch.
Combo.
For a while.
Then SoDaM adapted.
Back 1.
Sharp interruptions.
Well-timed checks.
Stopping Jin-ho before he could build momentum.
The two went back and forth.
Neither gave ground easily.
SoDaM slowly poked away with sidestep 4.
Jin-ho took the hits.
He respected Xiaoyu too much to challenge recklessly.
Better to lose small damage than eat a launcher.
The match dragged on.
Close.
Very close.
In the end…
SoDaM won.
3-2.
Not through explosive offense.
But through conditioning.
Bit by bit.
Round by round.
He slowly cracked Jin-ho’s defenses.
Jin-ho immediately pressed rematch.
SoDaM accepted.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The sets kept going.
Five.
Then more.
Jin-ho got battered.
And he battered SoDaM back.
At this point, it felt less like ranked and more like a mental endurance test.
Because fighting SoDaM was exhausting.
His movement.
His setups.
His strange decisions.
Confusing.
Frustrating.
Yet effective.
After another loss, Jin-ho stared quietly at the screen.
SoDaM had even Ki Charged at the end.
He did not care.
Not even slightly.
He was too busy thinking.
Why did I lose?
What happened there?
What did I miss?
Instead of getting annoyed, he adjusted.
Changed approaches.
Thought differently.
Pressed rematch.
Again.
This time, something changed.
Jin-ho started incorporating more parries.
Including low parries.
Not randomly.
Predictions.
Reads.
After enough games, people naturally repeated habits.
Patterns formed unconsciously.
And Jin-ho started catching them.
Again.
And again.
This time…
Jin-ho took the set.
SoDaM rematched.
But things were different now.
SoDaM still fought hard, but momentum had shifted.
Eventually, Jin-ho decided not to continue.
Not because it became easy.
Far from it.
He had simply played enough.
And more importantly…
He still had a goal today.
Tekken God Omega.
He had spent enough time fighting Xiaoyu.
So he moved on.
While waiting for another opponent, Jin-ho took a bite of his sandwich and looked at chat.
Messages kept scrolling.
“You actually did great against SoDaM.”
“Your adaptation is crazy.”
“That matchup looked painful.”
Jin-ho smiled slightly.
Yeah.
Painful was the right word.
Especially that I write as what happen in my head.
Each move and movement.
This time I’ll just fast track these and keep this short.
But not all, I guess.