Chapter 121

CHAPTER 121

The day before, Seojun had stopped by here and bought a hero.

Since he had no Game Points, he paid with cash.

It was a hero he had enjoyed playing in the past.

Standing in the center of the Tower of Memories, Seojun launched the game and briefly checked the state of his stream.

The League was a game where players fought by accepting the memories of heroic beings who had existed in the past.

The medium for that was the Hall of Heroes known as the Tower of Memories.

In other words, it was basically the in-game shop.

Players could also participate in various events here.

[Jin Seojun — 22,000 viewers watching]

The viewer count was rising.

Since the category's default sorting was by viewer count, Seojun's stream appeared after only a tiny bit of scrolling.

Sixth place in The League category.

That was where his stream stood.

Being near the top among mid-sized streamers meant there would naturally be viewers discovering him for the first time.

"What hero am I playing? Whether I'm using a sword? You'll see soon enough, so please refrain from spoilers."

Seeing was believing.

• What do you guys want? Hurry up and tell me! It's starting soon!
• I can see it, I can see it.
• You weren't even ready lol.
• Watch him buy a hero in the pick screen and play it immediately lol.

They didn't believe him.

"I'll show you what an experienced rookie looks like."

Seojun's confident voice rang through the stream.

But when had he ever been any different?

Whether it was Dawn of the Assassins or when he first started For the Sake of Chivalry, Seojun had always been like this.

As a result, nobody took his confidence seriously anymore.

• Sure you will.
• Rookie skipping the experience requirement with pure mechanics lol.
• TT
• 20
• Stop talking nonsense and show us what a real newbie looks like.

They simply couldn't.

After years of watching him, they had learned that someone with Seojun's mechanics would be good at almost anything.

Still, the one time Seojun showed openings was when he was playing a game for the first time.

That was what they were looking forward to.

What kind of ridiculous trolling would he pull this time?

Just as Seojun stared at the chat with a dumbfounded expression, a match was found.

The moment he pressed Accept, his body was transported to the waiting room.

Ten players stood facing each other in two rows of five.

The opposite side was shrouded in dark shadows.

The viewers didn't expect him to be bad at all.

"Looks like I got mid."

In The League, players could select their preferred position before matchmaking.

The positions followed the standard AOS rules.

To explain the game's five positions:

Top.

The lane at the top.

Usually occupied by tanks or initiators who start fights.

Since they spend a lot of time alone, they're also the role most likely to develop strange personalities.

Mid.

The lane in the center.

Because of its location, it's easy to move to either the top or bottom lane, giving it tremendous influence over the game.

ADC.

The ranged damage dealer who goes to the bottom lane.

Support.

The role that accompanies the ADC in the bottom lane and supports them.

Jungle.

The spaces between the lanes are called the jungle.

This role hunts monsters there and moves around helping the lanes.

Those were the standard responsibilities of each position.

Variations were possible, of course.

But that was usually something seen in tournaments after teammates had coordinated strategies beforehand.

In randomly matched games like this, 99% of players simply minded their own lane and ignored everyone else.

Unless someone blatantly picked a troll character.

And the character Seojun chose was halfway into that category.

[The memory of Kael, Proxy of Radiance, takes root within you.]

[Greetings. Let us go judge evil.]

The moment Seojun finished his selection, a groan came from beside him.

"...Ah."

The player immediately shut his mouth, apparently not wanting to argue.

Even so, the meaning behind that sigh came across perfectly.

• So he bought Kael?
• The streamer pulling out a Kael main on his first game lol.
• Let's just play all the bug-tier heroes while we're at it!

Kael, Proxy of Radiance.

According to the lore, he was a judge and swordsman of a holy order blessed by the God of Light.

There were two things to note about him.

First, he was difficult to play.

Second, his ultimate skill summoned a gigantic sword from the heavens to execute enemies.

That's right.

Kael's ultimate was cool.

It carried the kind of romance that appealed directly to men's hearts.

High difficulty.

Flashy plays.

And what did that mean?

• Even the streamer can't resist Kael.
• No sword god can resist a giant judgment sword falling from the sky lol.
• Who showed him a Kael montage yesterday? lol.
• Thinking about that Kael player I met yesterday is making me mad again.
• Collective PTSD outbreak lol.

It created a lot of Kael addicts.

In this game, the term "addict" attached to a hero's name referred to players who picked that hero regardless of circumstances or matchups purely because they enjoyed it—even though they lacked the skill to use it properly.

If one of those people ended up on your team, defeat was almost guaranteed.

The viewers naturally assumed Seojun would do well, yet they still cursed on reflex.

That was how much those players had traumatized them.

Kael was one of the six most infamous addict heroes.

The perception is exactly the same as seven years ago.

Seven years was more than enough time for a game to undergo massive changes several times over.

Yet the perception remained identical.

Kael is a classic, then.

A value that never changed easily.

He liked that.

If the average League player had heard him say that, they would probably have responded with endless question marks and insults.

Seojun smiled in satisfaction as the selection phase ended.

[The game is starting.]

They were summoned to the respawn point known as the Fountain.

Seojun headed toward the center road corresponding to his position—the mid lane.

An enemy approached with steady footsteps.

[3]

[2]

[1]

• No invade or invade defense lol.
• They're beginners.
• Letting them do whatever they want is fine.

In the AOS genre, monsters periodically spawned along the three lanes.

(Like the soldiers in For the Sake of Chivalry.)

These were called minions.

An invade referred to the opening move where everyone rushed into the enemy side together before the minions spawned and fought.

This was unranked—essentially the beginner bracket—so people didn't pay much attention to such things.

"Hello? That's a cool nickname!"

The enemy pointed a crossbow at Seojun's head.

The hero whose memory had descended upon his opponent was Shan the Tomb Raider, a crossbow-using hero.

"Thank you."

Seojun expressed his gratitude and took a small step backward.

• Why are you speaking politely?
• So you're part of the righteous faction now?
• That polite behavior looks extremely fake.

"Come over here."

"I'd rather not."

"Ah, what a shame."

Seojun was melee.

His opponent was ranged.

The minions hadn't arrived yet to serve as shields.

No matter how skilled Seojun was, it was difficult to gain an advantage under those conditions.

A solemn voice echoed through his mind.

[It's been a while.]

Long time no see.

The League had a conversation mode with the hero whose memory you accepted.

These conversations added entertainment during matches and increased immersion.

However, their original purpose was to serve as a guide for beginners, just like now.

[A wise choice.]

[A sword can hardly compete with a crossbow.]

[There are several ways to overcome this. Radiant Blessing is one such method—]

• Hey, streamer! Didn't you say you already watched everything yesterday?!

And this dialogue was clearly appearing because Seojun had skipped the tutorial.

Seojun frowned.

Rather than giving minor gameplay tips, it was explaining his skills from the beginning.

As expected, the viewers caught on immediately.

Seojun promptly opened the settings menu and turned off Conversation Mode.

"I don't need it."

The solemn voice that had been diligently explaining things vanished as abruptly as a phone call being disconnected.

• That's obviously tutorial dialogue, right?
• This is how much the devs care about their players lol.
• LMAO.

In combat, range was almost absolute.

That was why game developers implemented various balancing measures.

For example, ranged characters typically had lower base attack values, health, and defenses.

And melee characters were given tools to overcome the range disadvantage.

"Kael's strengths are his movement speed and invulnerability, right?"

Seojun spoke quietly.

The minions approached.

Using them as shields, Seojun gradually closed the distance.

The enemy fired crossbow bolts at the minions while retreating, maintaining a safe distance from Seojun.

Seojun carefully observed the enemy's body.

Kael's passive skill:

[Eyes of Omniscience]

The God of Light was also known as the God of Battle.

As the god's proxy, Kael had received several blessings.

One of them was Eyes of Omniscience, a passive that allowed him to constantly see an enemy's weak points.

A small circle of holy white light flickered around one spot on the enemy's body.

As he focused on it, a humming sound effect played.

"If you strike that spot, you gain a burst of movement speed and attack speed."

It also dealt bonus damage.

That made the ability to strike weak points the most important aspect of playing Kael.

The weak point constantly changed.

It would change if the target moved too far away and returned.

It would change if no attacks landed for a certain period.

And it would change after successfully striking one.

If he landed a weak-point attack, a new weak point would immediately appear.

Sometimes it was a circle like the current one that needed to be pierced.

Other times it was a line that had to be slashed along its path.

Hit the next weak point, and another would appear.

If all three weak points were struck successfully within a set time limit, a stack would be gained.

A stack used for:

[Radiant Blessing]

The enemy suddenly spoke.

Apparently, he thought Seojun had been talking to him.

"Radiant Blessing is really good, isn't it?"

A skill that temporarily granted crowd-control immunity and invulnerability.

Kael's second tool for overcoming his melee disadvantage.

"That invulnerability skill? Sword God, do you really think you can use it? Out of every Kael I've ever met, not a single one has managed to."

• A Kael addict saying that lol.
• The others have filled him with weird confidence lol.
• There's a reason they call them addicts lol.
• Seriously, why does Weak Point Slash have to work like that? Random weak points, and you have to hit three within a time limit? That's hell lol.
• And the enemy can see the weak points appearing on them too, so they can react.
• The streamer will probably use it easily though.

The enemy finished clearing minions and aimed his crossbow at Seojun.

"Die!"

Thud!

As the viewers had said, the reason Kael was considered difficult was because of the supposedly random weak points.

But did game developers really dislike patterns?

Seojun had known the answer for seven years.

Let's see if they changed it.

He immediately darted out from behind the minions.

The first shot missed when Seojun suddenly changed direction.

The second arrow grazed him, shaving off some health.

Shan's arrows were powerful, but his reload speed was slightly slow.

As Shan loaded his third shot, the enemy finally entered the edge of Seojun's attack range.

Clang!

The sound of shattering glass rang out.

Seojun's thrust had pierced the white circle of light—the weak point.

"Urgh!"

Before the next weak point had even appeared, Seojun was already moving, fully utilizing his increased speed.

A brief instant passed.

A new weak point appeared.

And Seojun never stopped moving.

Clang!

A newly formed diagonal line of light shattered.

At that moment, the enemy finished preparing his third arrow and aimed directly at Seojun's head.

"Goodbye."

Since Seojun had closed the distance, the enemy believed a headshot would deal devastating damage.

Clang!

Yet even during that moment, Seojun had already struck the third weak point without hesitation.

Blessing.

A soft white radiance enveloped his body.

[Radiant Blessing]

• ???
• What?

Fwoosh!

The third arrow flew directly toward Seojun's head.

But instead of piercing him, it bounced away.

"Huh?"

The enemy's eyes widened.

The viewers were equally shocked.

• WTF, that was fast.
• Did he memorize the weak points???
• If weak points were something you could memorize, everyone and their dog would be playing Kael.
• No seriously, what the hell was that? LOL.

The reason was incredibly simple.

Only two seconds had passed between Seojun striking the first weak point and activating his skill.

"Now you've seen it, right?"

"Y-Yes...?"

"Kael's skill."

"..."

"I'll show it to you plenty more from now on."