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Season 2: Chapter 233: Developer’s Battle Level (3)

JetPumped advocated for simple and easy gameplay. By genre, it was a casual comic fighting game that was light and enjoyable.

Under this philosophy, JetPumped never incorporated difficult techniques. It was designed to allow maximum combos with the simplest setups. Players simply needed to calculate the timing, distance, and angles accurately.

One’s judgment was as crucial as combat ability in this fighting game, but here arose a question. Why were the finishing moves made so difficult?

"Using a finishing move is not easy at all, especially for newcomers," Kim Yi-Seo excitedly explained this from the commentator's booth to tease the waiting users.

"Why did I make it so difficult? It wasn't on purpose. Rather, we adopted the simplest basic moves as finishing moves because they need to be usable in moments of crisis."

Regardless of which chip the player used, the finishing move operated like the most basic attack. This allowed for the fastest response and usage. However, this aspect unintentionally increased the difficulty of finishing moves.

"Since this is a basic move, a problem arises. It's hard to distinguish between a finishing move and a normal kick or punch. You might just throw a punch and out comes the finishing move!"

“Oh, that again.”

Sighs from players could be heard all around.

"So? A very precise straight punch! A standard spinning kick! Only when these basic moves are executed perfectly does the finishing move trigger!"

This was a masterstroke in the game. Skilled players could use finishing moves very quickly and easily while less skilled players had to find the right angle just to get it to work once.

In essence, the developers used a very simple method to discriminate skill among players. This became the driving force that maintained the game's balance even as a flood of cash items poured in because the skill element was clear.

"So! Does that mean JetPumped is a real skill-based game? No matter how much you complain about cash items or how the lottery is crap. The balance is broken. It’s a lousy game. What?" Kim Yi-Seo excitedly ranted and tilted his head.

Most players, who had been blocking their ears with earphones and looking at their phones, started to lift their heads.

"Huh? What's up?"

"What now?"

"Has it finally stopped? Phew."

They realized that Kim Yi-Seo had stopped talking, but they didn't know why he stopped.

"The tutorial ended!?"

Beep.

The sound was so loud that it caused some feedback from the microphone. It was a painfully loud noise.

"!"

The players' eyes all lit up with joy.

"Already?"

"What. Crazy. Really?"

"Yay!"

On average, the tutorial took thirty minutes. Even if it was someone skilled, that would only shave off ten minutes and it would still take at least twenty minutes.

‘He finished the tutorial in just seven minutes?’

'What is this…?'

This record was on the level of a bug occurring in the game.

"Crazy. A nutcase has arrived."

"What. Is he a black belt or something?"

"No, I heard he’s someone who did archery or something."

"Is there an archery chip at the start?"

"Where's the archery chip, dude?"

Normally, professionals who worked in martial arts and chose their respective martial arts chip would finish in ten minutes. For someone who did archery to record such a time, the players inevitably felt perplexed.

Quietly, a spark of hope began to flicker.

"Hey. Maybe... he'll win?"

Almond, who just started the game today, could possibly beat the game developers. That wildly unrealistic expectation began to sprout. As absurd as it sounded, people tended to believe what they wanted to believe.

“Ahem!”

A loud cough echoed from the commentator's booth.

"The tutorial is just a tutorial! It's far from showing real skills!"

The voice contained a sense of urgency for some reason.

"Of course, it's an incredible record. However, it's more like checking for bugs."

"Yes."

A nearby staff member went down.

"Almond. No, Almondeu... you're going by that username? Are you ready to start the challenge?"

Almondeu was the username Almond created after finishing the tutorial because someone had already taken Almond.

— Almondeu LOL

— eu LOL

— Lol

— Was there also Almond? LOL

— Seriously, these usernames LOL

Almond waved his hand, indicating that he was ready for the challenge.

"Wowwwwwwwwwww!"

"Almond! Almond!"

"Almondeu!"

Cheers for him burst out, which was a stark contrast to the earlier reactions.

Meanwhile, the staff member who left the commentator's booth earlier came over and said, "Sir... there weren’t any bugs. That person just finished the tutorial with the basic chip?"

"The basic chip?"

It made sense that Almond had only used a basic chip since he just started today and would have only one chip.

This wasn’t an issue at all for the game, but it posed a problem for this challenge.

"Hmm..."

Kim Yi-Seo looked troubled.

"If it goes on like this, it won’t be a match between cash items vs. game money items, would it?"

"That's right."

They needed to show that game money items could beat cash items, but what if the challengers didn't use any cash items?

Seizing the moment, players began to shout at the developers.

"Hey! Isn't this too much!? The developers should also fight with no items!"

"No items! No items! No items!"

"Let's go for a basic fight!"

Even if the developers agreed to a basic fight, it wouldn't revive the meaning of the challenge. Anyway, it was meaningful only if the challengers used cash items and the developers used game money items. What was the point of them both fighting with no items?

However, the players continued to shout relentlessly.

"Let's mess with them a bit."

"Increase the win rate by 1%!"

"I just want to criticize!"

As everyone shouted in unison, it soon transformed into a massive roar.

"Wowwwww! Put on the basic items now!"

"Fight with the basic chip, you losers!"

The noise reached such a level that complaints came in from other booths.

"Okay!"

Thump!

Kim Yi-Seo struck the table as he stood up.

"Alright, this is it. We have nothing to fear. Fight with just the basic chip!"

“Wowwwww!” the crowd cheered.

"The first opponent is!"

As the crowd watched, the first round of the challenge began.

"The worst player in the development team, Heo! Won! Muuuuu~!"

A mix of boos and cheers resounded, reminiscent of a UFC match.

"Wowwwwwww!"

"Wooooooo~!"

Naturally, the boos were much louder.

"Woooooooooooooow!!!!"

***

[Kim Yi-Seo: Fight with only the basic chip]

Such a message was relayed to Heo Won-Mu, Almond's first opponent, inside the capsule.

"… What are you talking about? Have you gone crazy all of a sudden?"

Heo Won-Mu scratched his head and thought again.

"No, I was already crazy. If I go crazy again, that would be normal... Did I go around twice?"

[Kim Yi-Seo: The opponent is playing for the first time today]

"?"

Heo Won-Mu tilted his head. He had been watching YouTube inside the capsule and was unaware of the situation outside.

"… Today is his first time?" Heo Won-Mu muttered dumbfoundedly as if to confirm it again. "Are you telling me to believe this? What?"

It was unlikely that they heard him. Still, Kim Yi-Seo responded as if knowing exactly what he would say.

[Kim Yi-Seo: It's true. There was a delay because of the tutorial. Hurry up and choose a chip. Pick one of the basic ones.]

Heo Won-Mu felt an unpleasant sensation as if his mind had been read.

"Grrr… Okay, for now."

He stopped watching YouTube and changed his chip.

"But which one to change to?"

Heo Won-Mu pondered briefly among the basic chips.

"No, but why didn’t they give me any information about that player? I need to choose a counter chip."

He was able to answer his own question.

"Ah. They said it’s his first day, right? Geez. That must be true."

The lack of data about the opponent's fighting style or most used chip was a bit troubling. Then again, it wouldn't make sense to have such data for someone who was playing for the first time.

"It’s really his first time, this cheeky guy. I'll break his head."

[Judo Chip]

This was his favorite among the basic chips. It was the only basic chip with a counter move and it had significant throw abilities like a suplex (a move that could cause the opponent to fall out of the arena).

[Transmission Ready]

He immediately pressed ready.

[5]

[4]

The countdown started right away.

[3]

"Huh?"

Just as the game was about to start, Heo Won-Mu realized something odd. He checked the viewing time of the YouTube video he had been watching. The video hadn’t even progressed to ten minutes.

[2]

"He finished the tutorial... but not much time has passed?"

How were they proceeding with everything less than ten minutes after starting the tutorial?

[1]

He asked himself that question as the game already started.

[Transmission]

A blackout occurred for a moment.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump... Thump...

Only the familiar loud sounds could be heard, accompanied by vibrations. Moving felt unpleasant and irregular.

An announcement could clearly be heard.

“This stop is Hongik University. Hongik University Station. The doors will open on…”

His vision, which had been blindingly white, gradually cleared and revealed a scene of the subway.

‘It’s the subway stage.’

Beep.

A message appeared along with JetPumped’s distinctive sound effect.

[Collecting Data…]

[Subway Line 2]

This was one of the newly released stages, Subway Line 2. In this challenge, only newly released stages would appear. After all, the challenge was created to promote the stage update.

‘So, they never even considered losing to a player and doing a balance patch…’

Yes, this challenge was merely an advertisement for JetPumped’s new update from the very beginning. It was never about a bet involving balance patches. The developers and Kim Yi-Seo had no intention of losing.

Could they even make such changes?

‘Of course.’

Obviously, they could as the creators of this game. They were like gods in the game. Not that they manipulated the game or engaged in any foul play, but they had designed the game's brainwave manipulation with their brain data and the jet's cognitive behavior with their movements.

The world of JetPumped was optimized for them like wearing a perfectly fitting suit.

[Searching for Jetter within the data-formed area…]

Although a message about searching for a Jetter appeared, there was no need for it.

Whoosh.

The opponent sat right across in the next seat sporting comically low polygon graphics, unlike the other subway passengers.

Beep.

[Almondeu]

His name appeared above his head. Then, it turned red…

[Eradicate the Jetter!]

This phrase appeared prominently.

“Good.”

Thump!

Heo Won-Mu, wearing judo jet gloves, clapped and laughed confidently.

“You just did the tutorial today?”

Tak!

He kicked off and charged.

“Let the initiation begin!”

Almond also leaped from his seat.

Kwaaang!

As the Jetters collided, accompanied by a loud noise, the passengers screamed and fled. They quickly emptied the car that turned into a dueling arena.

Then—

“!?”

Crack!

Heo Won-Mu’s jaw twisted at a 90-degree angle.

From his swollen lips, these words leaked out.

“Wha, when…?”

Before he even knew what happened, his opponent had kicked his jaw.

Tak!

Heo Won-Mu stepped back to regain his posture and said, “I was too hasty. Now, I’ll really kill—”

It seemed as if Almond was about to take a step.

Boom!

Heo Won-Mu’s vision spun again. He had been struck in the jaw again.

“!?”

He reached out to use a technique, but only grasped at thin air in vain.

“What the!? Just let me catch… Cough!”

Heo Won-Mu tried to attack again and even used his counter move. However…

Boom!

“Just let me catch… Aah!?”

Thump!

“Ugh!”

Attacks from maximum range continually struck him as if the opponent was a master at intricately measuring the distance. Heo Won-Mu couldn’t land any counters at all with his timing. How could a beginner fight like that?

At that moment, the beginner muttered, “What? I thought it was a lie. He really sucks at the game.”

“What... what?!”

— LOL

— Kim Yi-Seo really doesn’t lie, lol

— ??? Why is it true? LOL

— Sounds like a complaint LOL

— He speaks his mind! So harsh!

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