Within one month of competitive play, he achieved his first tournament victory by defeating Jung "jjakji" Ji-hoon in the finals of ESV TV Korean Weekly Season 1 #6.

Life then participated in the Team Liquid StarLeague, where his performance over a span of five months led him to a second-place finish.

This season, Life achieved a feat known as "walking the Royal Road," a term used when a player secures a premier Korean title during their first qualification for competition.

Throughout the season, Life displayed defeated players such as Lim "NesTea" Jae Duk, Ahn "Seed" Sang-wong, Lee "MarineKing" Jung-hoon, and TaeJa.

In the grand finals of GSL Season 4, he faced off against Jung "Mvp" Jong-hun, a player who had won the third most premier StarCraft II tournaments at that time.

[2][4] In the subsequent week following his GSL victory, Life won 2012 MLG Fall Championship in Dallas, Texas.

[2] Life's participation in the 2012 tournament circuit concluded with the GSL Blizzard Cup, an event featuring the top Korean players of that year.

[2] Early in 2013, Life secured a tournament victory at Iron Squid 2, after rallying back from a 0–3 deficit against Park "DRG" Soo-ho in the finals.

However, due to a scheduling conflict with an upcoming MLG event, he was unable to attend the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

[2] In the first of the three 2013 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) seasons held in Korea, which was hosted by GSL, Life was eliminated during the group stage.

In between WCS seasons, he participated in DreamHack Summer 2013, where he faced Jeffrey "Sjow" Brusi in a match where he was heavily favored to win but ultimately lost.

[3] Upon his return to Korea for the second WCS season of the year, this time hosted by the OnGameNet StarLeague (OSL), Life was eliminated after just two games, experiencing defeats by both Jung "Fantasy" Myung-hoon and Hwang "KangHo" Kang-ho.

[6] By the end of 2013, Life's competitive drive appeared to be rekindled, as he achieved success at several foreign events, reaching the semifinals or finals in four of them.

After advancing past the group stage, he swept his opponents in both the quarterfinals and semifinals, securing a spot in the finals.

In this tournament, he achieved victory over Cho "Maru" Seong Ju in the finals, who was widely recognized as one of the top players at the time.

[3] Life then participated in the 2015 GSL Season 1: Code S, where he ultimately defeated Parting and claimed the first-place title.

His professional StarCraft II career came to an end in 2016 when he received a lifetime ban from all Korean esports events due to his involvement in match-fixing activities.

At the end of his career, Life had secured the second-highest number of premier StarCraft II tournament victories among all players and had accumulated the second largest prize money earnings in the competitive scene, amounting to around US$475,000.

[3] On January 29, 2016, the Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) released a statement announcing that Life was under investigation by the Changwon district prosecutors' office for his alleged involvement in match-fixing activities in professional StarCraft II matches.

[11] Three months later, on April 21, the Changwon Regional Prosecution Service special investigations division released a report confirming that Life, along with Jung "Bbyong" Woo-yong and 11 financial backers and brokers, had been convicted of match-fixing in two matches during the KeSPA Cup.