to jeongguk, these events are always painfully easy. he pins the reason on it being humans competing — or, rather, those that aren’t as attuned to technology as he is competing. no one can hack like he can, and no one can play like he can.
he knows what buttons do what by heart, knows what map has which turns and shortcuts, knows the locations of coins, knows the distribution terms of items whenever a question block is driven through.
he plays like a machine, fingers gliding easily over buttons whenever needed; he drifts in perfect timing, and strategies such as these make his climb to the top — yes, you guessed it — easy.
( this is a small event, he knows, though the prize pool should be enough to attract true professional players. and yet, half of the people he’s been up against play like fools; they waste their boosts, they forget shortcuts and coins. he is, in every sense of the word, better. )
it’s only when he gets to semi-finals that he experiences something considered a challenge, but he takes the win by a little more than a landslide (a lot more than a landslide if you ask him, but the commentators love making things sound dramatic — makes it more interesting, he supposes). the main trouble he found was the human’s knowledge of item distribution: the way she made her distance away from him just enough to get a blue shell or a bullet to the way she caught up every single time he got a bit of a lead. it was an enjoyable race, in all honesty, though it doesn’t stop the surge of confidence and self-centered pride.
he stands with a puffed out chest, a smirk of triumph as he waves off the girl (she wasn’t worth a handshake; she lost, after all). many find his attitude off-putting, though his style of play partnered with accuracy and precision causes his popularity among the small group to be higher than that of others.
jeongguk waits for the other finalist to be announced, looking at the widescreen television until he sees the name “lee jooheon” — along with a picture of a dimple-faced, seemingly optimistic boy — appear. they meet on the stage, and he declines the handshake with a small backhanded smack of jooheon’s hand, the inviting smile on his face a harsh contradiction to his actions just to make it all seem playful.
“maybe you’ll come in a close second, jooheon,” he says with a tone dripping of confidence yet muted to be in the range of teasing, omitting his own introduction completely; after all, the name “sombra” — if not already known — certainly will be after he takes the win.
he takes a seat without another glance spared in the other’s direction, controller in his hands as he waits for the cue to slam his finger down on the gas button.
“buena suerte, perdedor.”