The Jaedong Fan Club - Page 124

It's already been 10 years since I started my career as a professional gamer. During those years, I've gained much experience, and I have many precious memories.

I love playing games, and I love this career I chose for myself. It's often easy to forget how lucky a person is to be doing something he loves as his job. It delights me to know that there are people in the opposite side of the earth who know about me and become my fans. I'm unbelievably fortunate to have people who enjoy my play and support me from across the ocean.

Realizing this is a source of my motivation to keep going as a pro gamer. I'm a very happy person.

However, I've had to make many sacrifices living as a pro gamer in South Korea. Early in my life, I left my family and gave up many things other people around that age would be doing. I didn't get to make a ton of memories with friends and I didn't live with my family for very long.

As eSports has made much progress over the years and gained more popularity, there are even more teenagers who take on the challenge of becoming professional game players. However, I feel that many of them have not given enough thought before making their decisions. Because there are numerous gamers around the world who aspire to become pro gamers, I believe that it is necessary to put in more effort and more practice than anyone. Seriously committing to this career requires one to give up on many things.

With that said, I can say that being a progamer is a very attractive profession. Depending on how hard you try, you can really see the fruit of your efforts and it's possible to enjoy much fame and wealth. And this is while you play a game you enjoy.

I'm always grateful for this fact. I can feel my heart beating fast whenever I remind myself of it. Sometimes, the results don't always follow my efforts and it is very disappointing when that happens. Not everything in life goes the way you want it to. Even so, I believe that the fans are aware of me giving my best each and every time for them.

There have been a few occasions during my career where the stress just became so much that I might just have given up if I didn't truly appreciate what I do and my fans. I realize people have been saying that I am past my peak, but for those who continue to love and cheer for me, I am going to challenge myself once again this coming year.

Because I know that many people are cheering for me and following my moves, I will be JD who will try his best to match those expectations.