A game can never be won with just luck. If luck does operate within a match, it is only the positions that are randomly assigned by the program of the game. It is true that there are advantageous positions for every player, race, and map. I cannot do anything about the luck of the position. It is a problem that must be overcome for every match. But no matter what position I start on, if I create a strategy in which I can perfectly control the opponent, even the luck of the position cannot be the decisive factor towards the outcome. Ultimately, formulating a perfect strategy and applying it through practice will decide the outcome.

I do not choose a safe path. Though my aim is for victory, it is because I do not think there is a safe way of reaching the destination. Others say that I enjoy a venture, but I only desire a perfect victory. They say that I often use risky plays which have a high probability of failure when it is discovered in the beginning, but I do not enjoy risky plays. Gambling has a high probability of failure, but I only bring to the match a perfect winning strategy which can never fail. The strategies that others say are a gamble are what I developed after tens of hundreds of times of practice. Even if it does not work on the opponent, I do not think that I failed myself, because I had gone out with the utmost method.

But my strategies were disclosed to many players, and managing the matches gradually became tough. There were more instances in which they arrived after having seen through my strategies. Now I could no longer win against my opponents with only a strategic advantage. A fierce struggle to stay alive to the end had now begun.

Just as hot as the summer of 2003, this was the season that had worn me out. Each broadcasting station began their team leagues, and with the increase of individual leagues, the days of playing matches without a single day of rest continued. Among them was the round of 16 of the Ongamenet Starleague. Though I was exhausted from the pressing game schedules, I could not neglect a single game. That is why the match against Do Jin-gwang [DaK]Joyo seems to be all the more unforgettable.

As I faced the match, the strategy that I constructed was to determine the outcome early in the game with only goliaths. But as though the opponent had already anticipated my strategy, he placed several cannons during this timing, several dragoons during that timing, and had been responding perfectly to the number of my offensive units. I became restless. The expansion or the main base – one of the two had to be destroyed. Instead of expanding, I was determined to see the outcome through the use of units. If I could not end the game in this condition, the victory would go over to my opponent. I gave up on expanding, poured all my resources into units, and continued attacking. But it was not enough.

Because he defended so well, there was no way for me to break through. In the end, he had protected his expansions, and because I did not have an expansion, the game leaned towards Do Jin-gwang. All I could do was to expand quickly and find an opportunity to attack before the difference increased even more. I was undoubtedly at an unfavorable situation – no, it was a situation in which I could not win. My main base was in ruins, and the remaining resources and units in comparison were worthless. But I remained determined.

While he kept on defending, Do Jin-gwang also lost some timings. It was only after the match that I found out that my units had been well-upgraded, both for weapons and armor, but Do Jin-gwang’s upgrades were late, as he had been concentrating on expansions. Furthermore, it was a state in which his units were divided in two, to defend his main base and expansion. Gathering all of my resources and units, I went in for one final rush. A situation where I could not ensure my victory while attacking, but one in which I had no other choice – I attacked with the mindset of ‘Ok, let’s see this to the end.’ In the end, my thoughts were correct. The one that had given up on the match was not I, but Do Jin-gwang.

If Do Jin-gwang had not chosen to expand, but rather to upgrade and produce more units to attack my main base, I would have definitely lost. It was a game where not giving up on the belief that ‘the best defense is offense’ was the driving force to victory.

If I had given up in the middle and left after typing GG, I would not have wanted to remember this match even in my dreams. The reason would not be because I had lost. It would be because I had given up hope. Though it was a situation in which 99 percent was of despair, as long as 1 percent of hope remained, I did not let go of the match to the end. If I were to give up on a match like that, I knew well that in the end I would be the one to regret it. Though my remaining resources and the number of my units were extremely small in comparison to my opponent, it seemed that I would not have regrets if I gave up after having used up all potential of that 1 percent. Others think only of the number 99 and 1, and said that it was something that could never happen. But that 1 percent brought a 100 percent victory for me. Not giving up until the end, even in the 99 percent of despair, trying my best as long as that 1 percent of hope remained – whatever situation I was in, that was the only way in which I myself could become fearless.