Chapter 132

CHAPTER 132

6:30 PM was quitting time.

The same was true for the Rios operations team.

However, instead of heading home after work, Assistant Manager Lee Youngju and Assistant Manager Kim Juhwan grabbed armfuls of snacks from the supply room and headed somewhere else.

The conference room.

There was already popcorn and drinks prepared on the table, and the two added even more snacks to the pile.

For the record, they had received permission.

"Let's see who's right."

Assistant Manager Lee sounded completely confident.

"Sure, sure. We'll see that I'm right."

"Hah."

Lee picked up the popcorn bucket, hugged it to her chest, and plunged a hand inside.

Crunch.

Grabbing a handful, she happily stuffed her mouth and urged him to start the stream.

Manager Kim brought up Travel on the large monitor in front of them.

"I think this every time, but this really feels like a movie theater."

Even among the Rios staff, some people preferred watching like this.

The chairs were a little uncomfortable. It would've been nice if they could put their feet on the table, but if someone caught them, they'd probably get asked whether this was their living room.

Feeling somewhat disappointed, Lee sank deeper into her chair.

"Oh, I see the streamers. How many viewers do they have?"

Point.

A famous company on Travel.

Starting with Ha Yoonho, who was practically a celebrity-level streamer, the core members who had grown alongside him had all become mid-sized streamers themselves.

Their influence was bound to be significant.

"Seo Jun has 22,000 viewers. Yoonho has 45,000. Lumi has 17,000. Those three are the biggest. If you add everyone else together, it's around 150,000."

The average Rios tournament audience was around 300,000.

"150,000 is half of that? Point really is huge. Though technically four of those streamers aren't Point members."

The 300,000 figure referred only to viewers watching through the official account.

Rios didn't prohibit participants from streaming tournaments.

So the actual number of people watching Rios was probably closer to one million.

Practically everyone browsing the league category watched the tournament.

Anyway.

Lee continued.

"With this many people seeing Seo Jun's skills, everyone will acknowledge our decision to place him in Tier A."

One hundred fifty thousand viewers was more than enough.

The tournament would get some early publicity too.

"No, why are you talking as if it's already decided? His opponent is literally a Challenger. Are you underestimating Spoon?"

Although Spoon only averaged around four thousand viewers, he was still a Challenger ADC streamer known for his skill.

If he'd also possessed exceptional broadcasting talent, he could've become a mid-sized streamer just from the recognition and viewer influx he'd built up.

"I know. But if Spoon is really that skilled, then if Seo Jun beats him despite switching to mid lane, you'll admit he's Tier A, right?"

"I'll admit it even if he draws."

"Good."

Crunch.

Lee shoveled more popcorn into her mouth.

The popcorn and the conference room weren't for watching the scrimmage itself.

They were there to witness Kim being proven wrong.

As the streamers finished introducing themselves and the match began—

Kim, who had also been munching popcorn while waiting for Lee to be proven wrong, frowned.

"Huh? They're letting Kael through? Did Spoon not hear about the situation?"

If Seo Jun played Kael, evaluating him would become difficult.

One game wasn't a big deal, but if nobody had properly explained things...

"Yoonho would've handled it. He's been doing this for years."

Fortunately, that seemed to be the case.

When Seo Jun's turn came, he didn't pick Kael.

Instead—

"Evic?"

"He's not using a sword? Honestly, if he'd picked Kael, I would've thought he could win."

If people started arguing because of that, things would get annoying.

Even if Kael was his only character, a win was still a win.

"But Evic? Yeah, this settles it. Tier B."

"Oh, come on."

"B!"

"Why are you acting so childish?!"

"Hahaha! B!"

Not only was Evic considered weak, but the hero's playstyle was completely different from anything Seo Jun had shown so far.

Manager Kim was convinced.

Manager Lee prayed.

Then the fight began in mid lane.

Seo Jun's first basic attack struck the enemy.

Kim immediately began analyzing.

"His sense of attack range seems pretty good."

"Nervous?"

"What nonsense."

A little later, Spoon dashed forward.

A chain shot toward that exact position.

[Thud!]

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Wait... is he actually winning?"

"What do you mean 'wait'?"

Then came the unbelievable spacing.

"Uh..."

"At this point it's obvious who's dominating. Still Tier B?"

"Let's watch a little longer."

Spoon's bullets vanished right in front of Seo Jun's nose.

"Still Tier B?"

"Ahem."

Then Spoon initiated a fight.

That was when Kim became speechless.

[Chains of Destruction]

Spoon was hit by a hidden skill.

"Still Tier B?"

[Chains of Destruction]

He got hit again by a chain coming from behind Seo Jun.

"Still Tier B?"

[Chains of Destruction]

Finally, he fled—

Only to discover he'd run directly into the predicted destination and died.

[First Blood!]

"Still Tier B?"

Kim couldn't say a word.

[WOW, FIRST BLOOD! THIS IS INSANE! HOW IS THIS TAEWOO'S FRIEND?]

[Seriously? What did he even do? A solo kill?!]

[Jungler, you helped him, right?]

[Nope.]

[Thanks, everyone, for the congratulations.]

Cheers erupted as Seo Jun secured a solo kill without any assistance from his teammates.

Seo Jun had won a pure one-on-one laning battle.

Against a Challenger.

There were still many people who didn't really know who Seo Jun was.

And streamers were people too.

It wasn't strange that they had worried about his mid lane.

What if Yoonho's new recruit performed badly here and got flamed?

No matter how highly Yoonho praised him, the opponent was still a Challenger.

The result had simply turned out to be the opposite.

• I told you. This guy is just Challenger-level.
• This is his first game, right? He's using Evic insanely well.
• What's the secret to playing Evic?
• I want to know too!
• Again, Evic has one of the lowest pick rates. Hardly anyone knows anything about him...
• Not a single person among twenty thousand viewers?

If that was true, it was honestly surprising.

Seo Jun opened the interface and pressed the Recall button to return to the starting shrine.

After remaining uninterrupted for five seconds, he teleported back.

At the shrine, health and skill resources were restored.

Evic, however, didn't really use those resources, making him relatively free from such concerns.

Players could also spend gold earned from minion kills and champion kills to purchase runes.

Seo Jun didn't have enough gold for that yet.

So he simply restored his slightly damaged health and immediately returned to lane.

The recall had been brief.

During that time, Seo Jun read the chat.

• Maybe his magic isn't predetermined? Maybe he places the magic circle first, then decides where to fire the chain after seeing the enemy.
• Oh? Is that actually how it works? Evic sounds good.
• If it worked like that, everyone and their mother would play Evic LOL. What's the point of the three-second delay then? LOL.
• I'm honestly shocked nobody is showing up to explain how Evic works.

Ah.

The tragedy of an unpopular hero.

Seo Jun had struggled the previous day while researching Evic because there were barely any guides available.

For the record, Evic wasn't even considered a "meme character."

To be called a meme character, there at least had to be people playing it poorly.

"Let me explain. First of all, Evic can only deal full damage with one chain at a time. If two chains hit the same target simultaneously, one of them only deals one-tenth of its normal damage."

By "at a time," he meant within 0.5 seconds.

Chains fired at the same location during that interval produced little effect even if they hit.

"Imagine Evic hiding and ambushing someone while all of the damage stacks normally."

The skill was powerful precisely because it was difficult to land.

An ambush, however, was almost guaranteed to hit.

If the damage weren't reduced, someone could potentially die from a single surprise attack.

"Also, Evic can hit himself with his own skill. And when that happens, he takes double damage."

The few remaining Evic players absolutely hated that mechanic.

• Sorry. Sounds terrible already.
• Wait, he can hit himself? LOL.
• Watching the streamer almost made me want to play Evic. That feeling just disappeared.
• LOL.

Seo Jun returned to lane, and his experience increased.

In an AOS game, experience was earned whenever nearby minions died, enemies were killed, or jungle monsters were defeated.

In League, leveling up made a hero stronger.

Most heroes received major skill upgrades every five levels.

At level six, they learned their ultimate ability.

Seo Jun had already reached level five.

"For reference, Evic can use three magic circles starting from level five."

Damage increased, and the number of circles increased as well.

"Hmm."

Walking toward the minion wave, Seo Jun glanced to the side.

The enemy jungler was hiding in the brush beside mid lane, waiting for an opportunity.

Fortunately, Seo Jun's team's jungler, Mallang, had previously placed a ward there.

Because of it, Seo Jun and his teammates could see the enemy's position.

[Enemy jungler is mid, Seo Jun. I'll be there soon, so be careful for a bit.]

The Illustrated Encyclopedia.

A high-Diamond streamer.

If he participated in Rios, he'd be talented enough to receive a Tier B rating.

If Docam hadn't been that skilled, Spoon would've considered him more of a burden than a teammate.

But after being solo-killed, Spoon had called for help.

• He's really waiting for a gank.
• Looks like they're trying to catch the newbie.
• Hey, that's warded.
• That ward Mallang placed for Seo Jun is paying off LOL.
• Just don't overextend.

This was where knowing the enemy jungler's location mattered.

Seo Jun could simply stay near his turret and remain safe.

A jungler who wasted time camping mid without accomplishing anything suffered a huge loss.

Or he could wait for Mallang and set up a counterattack.

That was the importance of vision.

Knowing the enemy's location made every decision easier.

Yet Seo Jun pretended not to know.

"Let's push the lane."

What he really meant was:

Let's wait for them to come to us.

Spoon arrived in lane at that moment.

And Docam immediately moved.

As soon as he reached the lane, Docam rushed forward to support Spoon's attack.

Don't give him time to think ahead.

Attack before he could predict and prepare.

Magic circles began appearing around Seo Jun one after another.

Above.

Beside him.

Behind him.

Bang! Bang!

After deflecting Spoon's second attack, Seo Jun immediately turned around.

At that exact moment—

The magic circle above his head fired a chain straight downward.

How?

Wasn't he looking somewhere else?

Thud!

The chain embedded itself into Docam.

Though startled, he recalled Spoon's warning.

No matter how ridiculous it looks, just focus on your job.

He prepared his skill.

Docam's hero was the Sand Mummy, Spirit of the Desert.

[Sand Binding]

Sand leaking from his body gathered together and formed a spear before shooting toward Seo Jun's legs.

At the same time, Spoon attacked.

The second chain emerging from the magic circle at Seo Jun's side struck Docam again.

Two seconds had passed.

When did he set that one up?

The third magic circle had appeared behind Spoon, allowing Docam to breathe a little easier.

Seo Jun chose to block Spoon's second shot rather than dodge the spear.

The spear shattered against his feet and transformed into sand.

Instead of scattering, the sand clumped around his legs and attached him firmly to the ground.

A crowd-control skill.

Movement restricted for three seconds.

"Got him!"

Docam and Spoon attacked from both sides.

The third magic circle behind Spoon activated.

[Chains of Destruction]

The sound of chains dragging across the ground echoed.

While firing bullets at Seo Jun, Spoon sidestepped.

Perfect!

Docam gathered more sand and launched another attack.

Then—

Shrrrk!

"Huh?"

The third chain passed by Spoon.

Then it passed Seo Jun.

And flew directly toward Docam.

It was targeting me from the start?

Or maybe—

Could he survive somehow?

Thud!

At that moment, Docam saw something unbelievable.

Without even turning around, Seo Jun casually pointed a magic orb behind himself toward Docam.

"Ah, screw it!"

Boom!

[Sword God has slain Docam!]

Damn it.

Docam had hoped that controlling an additional magic circle might make Seo Jun struggle even slightly.

Instead, what was this?

Magic circles appeared from every direction.

Every second.

Chains fired continuously.

He creates them in the most annoying patterns possible.

Could he really keep track of all of this himself?

Well, obviously he could.

Otherwise he wouldn't be doing it.

Spoon lowered his head.

Trying to continue attacking—

A chain immediately shot through the exact location his face had occupied.

He barely dodged by throwing himself sideways.

A chain tipped with a deadly spike stabbed into the ground.

Then—

Shrrrk!

Before he could even catch his breath, another chain flew toward the place he'd just moved to.

Normally, fighting Evic wasn't like this.

Most Evic players simply faced their opponent and fired chains from the front, using their range advantage.

You only had to watch the front.

Once they unlocked three magic circles, they usually attacked from three directions simultaneously and hoped one connected.

They didn't fire endlessly at one-second intervals.

But Seo Jun was different.

He stayed close.

He summoned magic circles anywhere within his two-meter radius.

Bang! Bang!

Blocking Spoon's second attack.

And firing chains nonstop every second.

Spoon was now desperately dodging chains coming from all directions.

Even randomly placing magic circles would have been difficult to deal with.

Yet every single one clearly contained a prediction.

This was terrifying.

Simply watching and dodging made his head spin.

And Seo Jun was designing all of it in real time?

Predicting every movement?

[Chains of Destruction]

Shrrrk!

Another chain appeared from somewhere.

Finally reaching his limit, Spoon used a skill purely to escape.

He wanted to move outside Seo Jun's magic-circle range and only worry about attacks from the front.

[Quick Shot]

Shrrrk!

The chain passed through the air where Spoon had been.

He dodged it.

But it wasn't targeting him.

The chain struck a minion instead.

The minion was low on health and died instantly.

Then Spoon noticed the information floating above Seo Jun's head.

Level 6.

Ultimate unlocked.

[Liberation]

For approximately three seconds, the range at which magic circles could be created expanded to ten meters, and the maximum number increased to twenty.

A magic circle appeared behind Spoon.

At maximum range.

Then he looked forward.

And realized it wasn't just behind him.

Twenty magic circles had formed a dome around both him and Seo Jun.

I can't dodge this.

He had no confidence at all.

If any other Evic player used their ultimate this way, Spoon would've laughed and called them an idiot.

At least line them up.

And why waste all twenty at once?

Only one meaningful hit could deal full damage anyway.

Yet right now—

Three seconds from now—

Spoon felt as though his death had already been decided.

He gave up moving.

No matter how he moved, Seo Jun predicted him.

So he made a desperate choice.

To stand still.

Haha... with that many circles around me, he'll probably hit himself at least once, right?

Then—

BOOM!

Three seconds later, chains erupted simultaneously from all twenty magic circles.

The entire area was devastated.

Every location—

Except the one where Seo Jun stood.

[DOUBLE KILL!]

And immediately afterward—

Inside an office building in Seoul, a voice more cheerful than ever rang out.

"So? Even now? Really? Huh?"

At the same time, posts began exploding across the League community.