Chapter 4: Master promotion match? I can’t miss this!

From then on, Nunu was always involved wherever a kill occurred.

Karma, who had teleported back to lane, tried to interrupt Aatrox’s recall, thinking he had a chance for a solo kill on the half-health Aatrox.

However, with the coordinated ambush from Lilia and Nunu, Karma gave away another kill.

In the fight for the river crab near the dragon pit, just Nunu’s presence was enough to secure victory in the small skirmish.

From the perspective of the purple team, they were beginning to wonder what exactly their Zed was doing.

Meanwhile, Zed was already found as a cold corpse in front of the first tower.

In lane battles, Nunu had the upper hand.

In roaming, Nunu was unstoppable.

Of course, if the earlier roams hadn’t been successful, it would have been impossible to overcome the growth gap between Zed and Nunu.

But by continuously succeeding in roams, I made up for any disadvantage in the lane.

‘I’m worried the enemy bot lane might be tough because of Morgana…’

Morgana’s E ability, also known as the Black Shield, made it hard to pull off a successful roam.

The key to Nunu’s roaming was the snowball ability, but Morgana’s Black Shield negated both the airborne effect and the damage from the snowball.

If this had been a normal solo queue game, and if I were an ordinary mid-lane Nunu player, I would never have gone for a bot lane roam.

But since I was the one controlling Nunu, and if our team’s support in the bot lane was a player of Showdown’s caliber, known for being on a whole different level in terms of mechanical skill—

‘It’s possible.’

No matter how much Morgana was known as the counter to all crowd control, this roam was definitely possible.

I quickly pushed the wave and moved down, using my lens to check for vision.

If there had been a control ward in the river bush, I would have had no choice but to give up the roam.

Luckily, there were no wards placed near the river bush.

I moved further down and stood on the river crab’s speed-boosting zone, clicking my mouse furiously.

“NayeonQueen (Nunu & Willump) is on the way. NayeonQueen (Nunu & Willump) is on the way. NayeonQueen (Nunu & Willump) is on the way. NayeonQueen (Nunu & Willump) is on the way.”

Upon seeing my ping, the bot lane, who had been suffering from poke, moved forward quickly.

Sensing the sudden aggressive movement, the enemy bot lane must have felt uneasy, as they started to back off hastily.

But with the speed boost from the river crab zone, the rolling speed of Nunu’s snowball was beyond imagination.

My target was the enemy ADC, Caitlyn.

Caitlyn’s only escape tool, her E ability, would find it difficult to dodge Nunu’s snowball.

Morgana knew this as well, so she immediately used Black Shield on Caitlyn.

In that brief moment when the Black Shield was applied, our Brand swiftly removed it with a Q + R + W combo.

His reaction time was impeccable.

I couldn’t help but be impressed by his reaction speed.

‘He’s not a pro for nothing.’

With the Black Shield stripped away in an instant, Caitlyn was hit by the snowball and knocked down.

Morgana, who had already used her stopwatch in the earlier fight, followed Caitlyn back to the fountain.

“Who do you think you’re messing with?”

Meanwhile, the skirmish in the top lane also ended in our favor.

Honestly, I thought the enemy Zed had gone top since he wasn’t visible on the map.

But Zed was nowhere to be seen until both the top and bot lane skirmishes were over.

‘Could it be…’

Just as I began to suspect that he might have made a drastic decision…

Zed appeared in the mid lane.

He was adorned with six shimmering green orbs on his body.

“Oh Zed! Are you crazy~”

Zed, walking the path of destruction, was caught on Curry’s screen.

Zed, who knew no retreat, charged forward again and was incinerated by the tower’s powerful attacks.

[All] AnotherWorld (Zed): Open.

[All] MinerInTheTop (Karma): Report Zed, please. He’s making insults and toxic comments.

[All] AnotherWorld (Zed): When did I?

[All] ADCDefender (Caitlyn): Zed, I want to stub out a cigarette on your *** face.

[All] AnotherWorld (Zed): Report Caitlyn, ugh…

With Zed’s declaration of “open,” the chat turned into chaos.

From flooding the chat with filtered insults to asking about each other’s parents, it became a total mess.

It was hard to tell if this was “Just Chatting” or League of Legends.

The enemy team had completely given up, and our team quickly took Rift Herald and pushed mid.

The inhibitor was destroyed, and the summoned Herald crashed powerfully into the twin towers one after the other.

The Herald charged straight into the Nexus, performing its victory dance, signaling the end of the game.

*Swoosh.*

[Victory]

“Carried.”

On the broadcast screen, Curry was wearing a smug expression.

It seemed like he had completely forgotten about my roams and was fully absorbed in his own physical gameplay, which made me feel a bit annoyed, so I quickly left the lobby.

As Curry admired the skill graph on the result screen, he covered the screen.

It was a process to weed out stream-snipers, but that was fine.

[Friends List]

<Streamer / BJ>

– Solitary Gourmet: [Online]

– Space: [In Game]

– In the Fire: [In Champion Select]

Back when Curry was a PD (Producer), I got on his friends list by donating 100,000 won to him.

He still doesn’t know that to this day.

He doesn’t know that the account of a big supporter back then was actually the account of a notorious stream-sniper.

As soon as Curry’s status changed from [Online] to [Looking for Game], I quickly queued up.

Right after, I queued up on another smurf account that was also logged in on a different computer.

I wanted to run three accounts at the same time like I used to, to increase my chances of sniping, but…
Since I raised my main account’s rank to Grandmaster while taking a break from sniping, it was no longer possible.

‘I originally just wanted to warm up my hands…’

But by chance, I ended up sniping Curry, and I rediscovered the thrill of sniping after a long time.

The excitement of sniping, which I had forgotten, felt fresh and exhilarating, as if it were my first time.

One snipe wasn’t enough, and my body craved more stimulation.

While waiting, I finally got a match on “NayeonQueen.”

I immediately clicked accept, and after moving to the lobby, I checked Curry’s status on the sniping account.

[Looking for Game]

The status message still showed that he was looking for a game.

Without any hesitation, I closed the client and dodged.

‘One chance has been missed…’

Now, all I have left is the “NayeonPrincess” account.

As I waited for a match again, a game was found on the NayeonPrincess account as well.

I checked the status of Curry using a sniper account, hoping to be queued up in the same match.

– Lonely Gourmet: [Champion Select]

“Heh.”

Seeing the status message change from “Searching for a game” to “Champion Select,” I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

Having successfully targeted my opponent, I looked for Curry’s nickname in the waiting room, but it wasn’t visible.

“Alright, let’s go, let’s go~”

Curry’s voice appeared on the previously black screen, revealing the waiting room of LoL.

Since the ban process was ongoing, the left side of the waiting room remained shrouded in darkness.

Streamers broadcasting LoL always cover their allies’ picks like this to avoid being targeted for bans.

Well, I’m a good (?) sniper who has never done something like a targeting ban before.

“How long has it been since my Master promotion match? I’m so nervous.”

I perked up at Curry’s words coming through the stream.

Curry, known as the gatekeeper of Diamond, was in a Master promotion match?

Checking Lonely Gourmet’s recent record confirmed it.

In the last 20 matches, he had 15 wins and 5 losses, a win rate of 75%.

He was even on a 12-game winning streak.

Curry was on a roll.

With this momentum, he would surely reach Master.

But that was something my pride couldn’t accept.

The black screen finally disappeared after the banning phase for both teams concluded.

Comparing the ban cards on the waiting room and the broadcast screen made it clear.

However.

Curry was on the opposing team.

For Curry to secure victory in his Master promotion match, it would be best to choose his champions after seeing the opposing picks.

The problem was that I was assigned as the first pick in the mid position.

Naturally, the second pick has an advantage over the first.

So, I looked for someone among my teammates to take the first pick, but no one displayed their champion on their portrait.

The waiting room chat was quiet.

It became an unavoidable situation where I had to be the first pick.

In such a scenario, I knew a champion I could handle well, which was also viable for first pick.

– Shurima, your emperor has returned!

Azir.

Azir was a champion that constantly got nerfed just for being a tournament pick.

His solo queue win rate was among the lowest, yet the chain of nerfs never ceased.

He was a champion known as the “Emperor,” most fitting for a mid-laner called the aristocracy.

However, he had now become a misfortunate champion that no one used, dubbed the “Yellow Pigeon.”

“Didn’t the pigeons go extinct? They’re still around.”

[Only appears in tournament mode.]

[O King… O King… O King… O King… O King… O King… O King… O King…]

[Wait…? Why are my eyes tearing up…?]

A critically endangered species, disappointed.

In Bronze and Silver, most players using Azir were from the “Dae” or “Bu” of the Earth Government. What do you think about that?

Watching the stream, Curry and other viewers seemed to find Azir intriguing.

Well, that makes sense.

In this awkward situation, it’s rare to see someone using Azir.

“Come on, there’s no way I’ll get matched up against a proxy in my Master promotion match, right?”

While interacting with the viewers, Curry chose “Renekton,” the safest first pick for the top lane.

And the next pick for the opposing mid-laner was “Twisted Fate.”

Twisted Fate.

Shortened to TF.

Picking Twisted Fate against Azir as the first pick was simple.

It meant they intended to win through macro play rather than the lane phase.

Due to repeated nerfs, Azir’s laning ability had weakened a lot.

But Azir still belonged to the upper tier, despite that.

Both teams’ picks slowly progressed, and during that time, I pondered what runes to take.

Azir typically chooses between two main runes.

The first is ‘Lethal Tempo’ from the Precision tree.

The second is ‘Arcane Comet’ from the Sorcery tree.

The former shines in team fights rather than the laning phase.

The latter puts significant pressure on the opponent during the laning phase.

However, considering the enemy team’s heavy crowd control, Lethal Tempo was hard to utilize.

On the other hand, taking Arcane Comet wouldn’t be enough to break through Twisted Fate’s split-push-oriented play.

Not satisfied with either rune, I found what I was looking for in the Inspiration tree’s primary runes.

Curry’s Master promotion match began.

As this news spread across several communities, Curry’s viewer count ballooned from 5,000 to 10,000.

[XXVVX is rooting for you.]

[Wow, that team comp is crazy, how many hard CCs do they have?]

[What’s with the team comp of Leona, Renekton, Twisted Fate, Sejuani, and Jinx?]

[For a moment, I thought it was a different season.]

[Actor, make your entrance!]

[Clear the spam!!]

[Moo~ Yahoo~]

[Mad guys… Mad guys… Mad guys… Mad guys…]

[Crazy people.]

[Lol.]

[The fact that they’re so hyped up shows how excited they are~]

[Moo Yahoo~]

[The zero crew is all here, huh?]

“Stop that chat art spam. Before I start banning.”

[{XX donated 1000 KRW.}]

“LOL, just ban the new viewers, you guys.”

[Curry’s timely moderation and the donation that came at the perfect moment drew the attention away perfectly.]

Thanks to that, the chat, which had been dirty with spam, became somewhat cleaner.

Curry, having successfully managed the chat, let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

With the immediate crisis over, he thought he could now focus solely on the promotion match.

But Curry couldn’t help but berate himself for thinking that way just a moment ago.

As the pick and ban phase ended and the game began, a loading screen appeared.

On that loading screen were the nicknames of ten players, but one nickname stood out with a particularly strong presence.

NayeonPrincess.

When that name appeared…

[Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Nayeon nana… Heuuu… Nayeon nana… Heuuu…]

[Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance!]

[Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance!]

[Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance!]

[Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance! Actor’s entrance~ Actor’s entrance!]

[Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now! Curry’s Truman Show begins now!]

[

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[NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess! NayeonPrincess!]

[You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~ You’re that excited~]

[

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?

Who? ‘Empress’ Who am I?]

[Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right? Feeling dizzy, right?]

[I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you! I knew I could trust you!]

…The chat that had barely calmed down was completely wrecked again.

“Ah… damn.”

Curry felt dizzy.

More dizzy than he had ever been before.