Kim has been enchanted with games since an early age. Back then, video games were viewed negatively and teachers would scold students for simply stepping foot in a video arcade, but that didn¡¯t stop Kim from dropping by arcades to scratch his gaming itch. One day at the arcade, he discovered Street Fighter II and fell head over heels for the head-to-head brawler. He was blown away by a fighting game that didn¡¯t pit players against preset programming, but other players who could adopt wildly different combat styles for the same character.

In later years, Kim seriously applied himself to fighting games of all kinds. He dedicated himself to practicing and signed up for game tournaments advertised in magazines. For Kim, this was just a way of chasing his bliss, which ended up giving him an advantage as a player. ¡°Since a young age, I¡¯ve enjoyed predicting the actions and mindset of the other player. That thought process and the analysis it involved were fascinating, so I found myself concentrating on that even more in my gaming. That has made me pretty good at predicting the other player¡¯s actions and actively guiding the course of the game. In a fighting game, the more information you have about your opponent, the more of an edge you have in identifying their strengths and weaknesses and discerning their playing style,¡± Kim said.

After that, Kim kept upgrading his gaming skills, winning prizes at tournaments of all sizes, both in Korea and elsewhere. But he couldn¡¯t focus entirely on professional gaming. Korea¡¯s fighting game market was quite small, and the professional market was nonexistent. So, Kim had to find another job to support himself. What he landed on was becoming a game developer―a job where he could make the games he loved so much. Thus, he¡¯s been able to spend his entire life chasing his bliss.

But one day, Kim got his chance to establish a reputation as an esports athlete. That came during the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou in 2023. After winning two qualifying rounds in Korea, he got down to business in training with the national team. While he¡¯d been playing fighting games his whole life, training for the Asian Games was something else altogether. He attended a training camp, his routine was synchronized to the schedule of the Asian Games, and he had a lineup of esports experts to coach him. All that helped Kim take his gaming skills to the next level.

An analyst who broke down the gaming strategy of athletes from other countries provided Kim with the training methods and tactics he needed for the tournament. That strategic analyst and Kim¡¯s coaches also gave him chances to meet elite Korean players of Street Fighter V for practice sessions. In addition, he underwent a physical and mental training program from the Korea Institute of Sport Science. Along with physical conditioning, he received mental counseling to ensure he maintained his composure despite any mistakes he might make in the tournament.

¡°Until that point, I¡¯d always done gaming on my own, and I¡¯d never approached it systematically. As a result, I had some weaknesses I¡¯d been working on for a long time without ever managing to overcome them. For example, I¡¯d always thought my reaction speed was a little slow. Plus, the character I typically use has a weakness. For example, when my opponent makes a jump attack, it¡¯s hard to counterattack. That had made it really hard to win points, but over the course of training, I was eventually able to get over that. The more I trained, the more I could feel I was growing. In the end, I was able to overcome my limitations.¡±

Kim¡¯s training experience and the skills he¡¯d developed there made a difference in the Asian Games. He defeated all the winners of the Evolution Championship Series, a global esports tournament focusing on fighting games, to clinch the gold medal. And that¡¯s how he made a global reputation for himself as a professional gamer.

After winning the gold, Kim¡¯s passion for gaming was noticed by people around the world. Audiences are amazed at how Kim¡¯s pure love of gaming has motivated him to stay diligent in his pursuit of a career in esports.

Kim has certainly faced his share of challenges because of gaming. But he was reluctant to draw a line between gaming and hardship. For Kim, gaming is no less than life itself. ¡°Gaming is the most important thing for me. It means nearly everything to me. I encountered Street Fighter IV when I was in a dark place. Through that game, I got into tournaments and interacted with a lot of people, which helped me get back on my feet. So even if I¡¯ve run into hardships while gaming, I try not to dwell on those,¡± he said.

It can be surprisingly hard to sustain passion for something, no matter how much you may like it. Sometimes your circumstances don¡¯t work out, and life can get in the way. Sometimes your interest begins to wane because of your particular limitations. But Kim has surmounted all those challenges, and gaming remains a central part of the future he envisions for himself. Just as he¡¯s done so far, his goal is to ¡°keep enjoying games.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll be happy enough if I can keep enjoying games. And while I don¡¯t have any big or concrete goals for now, the ability to enjoy games should help me achieve that kind of goal down the road,¡± he said.