LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 3
Nana was always lurking where the kills were happening after that.
Kamal, riding on the recall teleport, tried to interrupt Aatrox’s return, aiming for a solo kill. But thanks to the ambush from Lilyan and Nana nearby, he ended up giving away a kill once again.
In the skirmish before the dragon where only Nana joined the fight, they won the small battle decisively.
From the perspective of the Purple Team, it was baffling what Zard was doing. But Zard was already found as a cold corpse in front of the first turret.
Whether it was in the laning phase or roaming phase…
Of course, if he hadn’t succeeded in roaming earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to close the growth gap with Zard. However, I managed to compensate for the losses in lane by continually succeeding in my roams.
‘I feel like the enemy bottom is going to struggle because of Morgana…’
Thanks to Morgana’s E, commonly known as Black Shield, succeeding in the roam was challenging. The essence of Nana’s roaming was the snowball, and Morgana’s Black Shield neutralized that snowball’s knock-up and damage.
If it had been a regular solo queue, and I was just an ordinary mid Nana player, I definitely wouldn’t have gone for the bottom roam. But since it was me who caught Nana, and our bottom’s support was the Showdown player, known for their extraordinary physical skills…
‘Possible.’
No matter how much Morgana, the counter to all CC, was there, this roam was definitely possible.
I quickly pushed the wave and moved downwards, turning my lens to check the vision.
If a control ward had been placed in the river bush, I would have had to give up on the roam, but thankfully, there were no wards around the river bush.
I moved a bit further down and stood on the river crab’s speed buff area, clicking my mouse frantically.
Nayun Queen (Nana and Willump) is on the move!
Nayun Queen (Nana and Willump) is on the move!
Nayun Queen (Nana and Willump) is on the move!
Nayun Queen (Nana and Willump) is on the move!
As the bottom, suffering from poke, pinged me, I quickly moved forward.
Perhaps sensing the foreboding from that sudden movement, the enemy bottom duo started to retreat in haste. But the speed at which Nana’s snowball was rolling, boosted by the river crab’s speed buff, was beyond imagination.
I was targeting the enemy AD carry, Caitlyn. As Caitlyn’s only escape tool, her E, would be hard to dodge against Nana’s snowball.
Knowing this well, Morgana immediately used Black Shield on Caitlyn.
And at that moment, when the Black Shield had just been cast…
Our team’s Brando quickly removed the Black Shield with his Q-RW combo.
What a unbelievable reaction speed!
I couldn’t help but admire that reaction.
‘Not just any player, huh?’
With the Black Shield torn away in an instant, Caitlyn was promptly knocked down by the snowball.
Morgana, who had damaged her stopwatch in the previous skirmish, also returned to the fountain following Caitlyn.
“This is where you mess around!”
Coincidentally, our team also won the skirmish at top.
To be honest, I thought the enemy Zard had gone to top because I couldn’t see him. But Zard didn’t show up anywhere until the fights at top and bottom were over.
‘Could it be…’
It seemed like he had made an ‘extreme choice.’
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Zard appeared in mid.
Draped with six shimmering green orbs.
“Oh Zard! Are you crazy~?”
Zard, treading the path of no return, was caught on Curry’s screen.
Repeatedly pushing forward without retreat, Zard met his end to the tower’s fierce attacks.
[All] AnotherWorld (Zard): Open
[All] MinerInTop (Kamal): Zard, please report, he’s throwing insults and cursing too.
[All] AnotherWorld (Zard): When did I?
[All] ADCarryRightsProtector (Caitlyn): Wanna smack that face of Zard’s with a cigarette!
[All] AnotherWorld (Zard): Caitlyn, please report ㅇㅇ
With Zard’s declaration of opening, a barrage of comments flooded the chat.
From spamming filtered insults to inquiring about each other’s parents, the chat felt like a mix between Just Chatting and League of Legends.
The entire enemy team had opened, and our team quickly finished off the Rift Herald and pushed mid.
The inhibitor was destroyed, and the summoned Rift Herald energetically pounded the twin towers in succession.
And just like that, the game concluded as the Herald danced to the Nexus.
[Victory]
“Carry.”
Looking at the broadcast screen, I saw Curry sporting a smug expression.
Having probably forgotten about my roaming, he was deeply engrossed in his own physical skills.
Seeing that made me a bit spiteful, so I quickly left the waiting room.
As Curry admired the skill graph in the result window, he obscured the screen.
That was an effort to filter out snipers, but it was fine.
[Friend List]
[BJ / Streamer]
– The Lonely Gourmet: [Online]
– Space: [In Game]
– InTheFire: [Selecting Champion]
…
Curry probably still doesn’t know this, but I have an account where I became friends with him after donating 100,000 won when he was a PD.
That account, which used to be a big hand, is actually a devious sniper account.
As soon as Curry’s status switched from [Online] to [Searching for Game], I quickly rotated the queue.
Right after, I matched with another devious sniper account on a different computer.
I wanted to increase the chances of sniping like before, with three accounts simultaneously, but during the brief hiatus from sniping, I managed to level my main to Grandmaster, making it impossible.
‘I just wanted to warm up…’
I accidentally sniped Curry and discovered the thrill of sniping after a long time.
The forgotten rush of sniping felt as fresh and exhilarating as the first time.
One snipe wasn’t enough; my body craved more stimulation.
As I waited, Nayun Queen’s matchmaking got set up.
I immediately clicked accept, and when it moved to the waiting room, I checked Curry’s status on the devious account.
[Searching for Game]
The status message clearly stated that he was still searching for a game. Without any hesitation, I closed the client and dodged.
‘One chance has flown away…’
Now, I only had ‘Nayun Princess’ account left.
Waiting for matchmaking again, I managed to get a match with Nayun Princess account.
Hoping I would be in the same queue, I checked Curry’s status on the sniper account.
– The Lonely Gourmet: [Selecting Champion]
“Hehe.”
Seeing the status message shift from searching to selecting champion, I let out an involuntary chuckle.
Having successfully sniped, I sought out Curry’s nickname in the waiting room, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Alright, let’s go~”
As the black screen of the broadcast faded, Curry’s voice and the waiting room for Reori appeared.
Since the banning process was ongoing, the left side of the waiting room was still covered in black.
Streamers like Reori always hide their allies’ picks this way to avoid being sniped.
Well, I had never done something like sniping bans, being a nice(?) sniper.
“When was the last time I got to Master promotion? I’m freaking nervous.”
Hearing Curry’s words from the broadcast made my ears perk up.
Curry, known as the gatekeeper of Diamond, was about to face a Master promotion?
Checking the recent record of The Lonely Gourmet, it indeed was the case.
In the last 20 games, he had 15 wins and 5 losses, a 75% win rate.
He was even on a 12-game winning streak.
Curry, on a winning streak.
If this goes on, he’ll surely reach Master.
But that simply wouldn’t sit well with my pride.
Once the ban phase was over, the black screen fully disappeared.
Comparing each team’s ban cards on the waiting room and broadcast screen, it was confirmed.
The enemy team had Curry.
Curry was in a Master promotion match.
It would have been best to see the opponent’s picks to ensure a clear victory.
But the issue was that I, being assigned to the mid position, was the first pick.
First pick is naturally at a disadvantage compared to later picks.
So I looked among the team members for someone to take the first pick, but none of them selected a champion for their portrait.
The waiting room chat was also silent.
I had no choice but to be the first pick.
In such a scenario, I knew a champion I could use well, which would be a decent first pick.
– Shurima, your Emperor has returned!
Azhar.
Azhar, a champion that’s endlessly nerfed just for being a tournament pick.
Despite being at the bottom in solo queue win rates, the cycle of nerfs never stopped.
The champion known as ‘the Emperor,’ perfectly fitting for the royal mage mid, had now become a forgotten ‘yellow pigeon’ that no one used anymore.
“Didn’t the pigeon go extinct? It still shows up, though.”
[You won’t see it unless it’s a tournament match]
[Oh King…Oh King…Oh King…Oh King…Oh King…]
[Oh? Why are my eyes tearing up…?]
[An endangered species you won’t even see in Bronze-Silver-Gold ㄷㄷ]
[Most people who play Azhar are usually pro players from Daewoo or Baekdu, what do you think?]
Watching the broadcast, it seemed like viewers, including Curry, found Azhar fascinating.
I mean, how often do you see someone playing Azhar in this meta?
“Come on, there’s no way I’ll be facing a sub in a Master promotion match, right?”
Curry selected Renekton, the most reliable top pick while chatting with his viewers.
The enemy mid’s pick was Twisted Fate.
Twisted Fate.
Shortened to TF.
Choosing TF against a first pick Azhar was simple.
It meant they were going for operational play instead of lane dominance.
Due to numerous nerfs, his laning prowess had diminished significantly, but Azhar was still in the upper tiers.
So, slowly the picking process continued, and I pondered which runes to take.
Typical core runes for Azhar are two.
The main rune of Precision, ‘Fleet Footwork.’
The main rune of Sorcery, ‘Arcane Comet.’
The former was a rune that could shine not in the laning stage but in team fights.
The latter was a rune that would significantly pressure the opponent during the laning phase.
However, with the enemy’s composition packed with hard CC, I couldn’t utilize Fleet Footwork effectively.
If I opted for Arcane Comet, it would be impossible to break through TF’s utility.
Finding neither rune satisfactory, I finally found what I wanted in the core rune list of ‘Inspiration’.
*
Curry’s Master promotion match commenced.
As this news spread across various communities, Curry’s viewership inflated from 5,000 to 10,000.
[XXVVX, may you have good fortune]
[Wow, what a sh*t combo! How many hard CCs are there?]
[The composition of Leona, Renekton, TF, Sejuani, Jinx, what the hell?]
[For a moment, I thought it was a different season ㅋㅋ]
[Yeah, fr though ㅋㅋ]
[Everyone, the actors are coming in!]
[Stop the spamming of drawings!!]
[Mu~ Yahho~]
[Mu7 Ren’s in the house…Mu7 Ren’s in the house…Mu7 Ren’s in the house…]
[What the hell, stop it ㅋㅋ]
[You’re that excited, huh?~ You’re that excited, huh?~ You’re that excited, huh?~ You’re that excited, huh?~]
[Mu Yahho~]
[The 0G crew has gathered ㅋㅋ]
“Calm down with the chat art spamming before I ban you.”
{ ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won. }
– For real ㅋㅋ, come and get me, you influx of new people!
[For real ㅋㅋ]
[For real ㅋㅋ]
[For real ㅋㅋ]
[For real ㅋㅋ]
Curry’s timely intervention and a donation that timed perfectly pulled the chat back into place.
Thanks to that, the chat, which had been dirty with spamming, was somewhat cleaner.
Having succeeded in chat management, Curry sighed inwardly.
He had just managed to pass a crisis, and now he could focus on the promotion match.
…Or so he thought, Curry couldn’t help but scold himself.
As the ban-pick concluded and the game started, a loading screen appeared on the screen.
On that loading screen were 10 nicknames, with one catching particular attention.
Nayun Princess.
As that nickname appeared…
[Heuung… Nayun Noona… Heuung… Nayun Noona… Heuung… Nayun Noona…]
[Everyone, it’s showtime! Everyone, it’s showtime!]
[Curry’s Truman Show is about to start! Curry’s Truman Show is about to start!]
[Everyone, it’s showtime! Everyone, it’s showtime!]
…
The chat that had just calmed down erupted into chaos once more.
“Ah… damn.”
Curry felt dizzy.
Dizzier than ever before.