Thinking About Hong Jin-ho.

The existence of second place, which must exist so that first place can exist, was recorded in the StarLeague under the name 'Hong Jin-ho.' In the early days of the StarLeague, in the early 2000s, the only Zerg who could beat Terran was Hong Jin-ho. That Hong Jin-ho, for me, is no exaggeration to call a hero of my childhood 'StarLeague' alongside Lim Yo-hwan. 'Hong Jin-ho'—the imposing aura shining from those three syllables made him one of the heroes who made me play 'Zerg.' In a world that doesn't remember second place, the only remembered second place would be Hong Jin-ho.

Until I saw Hong Jin-ho, I didn't know that second place could be remembered splendidly, and very splendidly at that. The schools within the society I felt and grew up watching generally didn't call second place splendid. The ones who always got attention were only the first places. Hong Jin-ho was no different. In countless tournaments he took second place. Without a single first place.

Coca-Cola Cup OnGameNet StarLeague Runner-up (2001)

WCG StarCraft Individual Runner-up (2001)

Olympus OnGameNet StarLeague Runner-up (2003)

KTEC Cup KPGA Tour Winners Championship Champion (2003)

TG Sambo MBCGame StarLeague Runner-up (2003)

At OnGameNet, the major broadcaster of the time, he was always someone who only made it to runner-up. People always think about first place alone. But as I see it, Hong Jin-ho is a remarkable person who showed repeatedly that second place is valuable too. No one took second place as many times as Hong Jin-ho. Overcoming frustration and experiencing countless failures, he achieved the record of runner-up several times over. Hong Jin-ho, remembered by the number 'second place,' is for me the person who taught me the splendor of 'second place' in my childhood. The thing no one else could accomplish—the feat of making second place memorable—that's what 'Hong Jin-ho' means.

If I had to pick a few people who were necessary for the gaming industry to flourish, I'd pick these four: Lim Yo-hwan, Hong Jin-ho, Lee Yun-yeol, and Park Jeong-seok. These four are the main figures who created a space of communication under a single game league called the StarLeague, where various games could be shown through OnGameNet and reflected to people. As the saying 'drama without a script' goes, every match of StarCraft was something whose outcome couldn't be known. No matter how much you predict, no one knows how it will actually play out, so there's no script, and because there are so many cases of comeback wins or winning in absurd situations, it's called a 'drama.'

Without Lim Yo-hwan and Hong Jin-ho, today's OnGameNet wouldn't exist. That's why the video I watched today is so precious and moving to me. Thinking, so this is what it's like to see the record of one of my childhood heroes. When the emotions I felt come back to life as I look at countless photos and records, I think I can say I'm reminiscing about and remembering memories..