Chapter 45: What Dama Looks Like

It wasn’t exactly a shocking event to see Harin matched as an opponent.

From what I’ve heard, once you get close to the Diamond rank, you start encountering well-known players more frequently.

But there was one thing I couldn’t figure out.

“But I’m not in Diamond yet. How am I running into Harin?”

That was the part that puzzled me the most.

I had indeed heard that you’d meet prominent players when you got close to Diamond, but Platinum 2 wasn’t exactly “close” to that level.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: That’s because your MMR is high.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Haven’t you played other online games?]

[You’d know if you did.]

[There’s an invisible score system, you know.]

[How can you play games for so long and not know what MMR is?]

[Hwanhee: You’re subtly bragging about being good at League of Legends, huh?]

[Kang Hoomin: It’s obvious, isn’t it? LOL]

MMR, huh.

Now that it was mentioned, I vaguely recalled hearing about it before.

But I didn’t know the details.

Still, it wasn’t exactly practical to sit and Google it all right now.

There was a much simpler solution.

“Cthulhu-mon, explain MMR to me real quick.”

That’s right—just ask the manager.

He wasn’t just any manager; he had extensive knowledge of games. I didn’t think he’d mind this kind of request.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What the heck…]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why are you making me do this? ;;]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Hold on a sec.]

[He’s really going to do it, LOLLLLL.]

[Why’s he actually doing it, seriously?]

[Such a pushover, LOL.]

[At least the pushovers give it a shot, though.]

[Hwanhee: He’s a forum veteran, so he’ll probably do well.]

[Forum veteran? I’ll give you that, LOL.]

Grumbling on the outside, but immediately getting to work—that’s my manager for you.

This is why I like Cthulhu.

He puts his best effort into everything.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: In games where two or more players compete against each other, if matchmaking were completely random, newer players would often feel the skill gap and quit early. So, they created MMR.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It stands for MatchMaking Rating.]

[Ohhh.]

[That’s a clean explanation.]

[Now that’s a manager.]

[Hwanhee: So, in short, it’s a system to prevent newbies from quitting, huh?]

[Yup.]

[Games wouldn’t survive without new players.]

[Yeah, things would be rough without them.]

[Kang Hoomin: All newbies should just be kicked out, LOL.]

[Geez, Kang! Lighten up, LOL.]

After hearing the explanation about MMR, I started focusing on the game.

The opponent was Harin, after all.

I didn’t know how many people were watching Harin’s stream, but at least over a thousand viewers were likely tuning in.

If I messed up here, it would be an incredibly embarrassing situation.

“I need to try my best.”

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Draven]: Take it easy.

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Draven]: This is my first time playing Draven top.

For now, I decided not to act like I knew Harin.

If I pretended to know, it could mess with my team’s focus.

“That’s definitely something I don’t want.”

If there’s a streamer on the enemy team, there are often attention-seeking players who intentionally go for ganks on that streamer’s lane to get on camera.

That’s why it’s better to keep the fact that the opponent is a streamer a secret.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Let’s crush Harin, lol.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s bot lane, but we can still make an impact in top lane.]

[If it were another support champ, I wouldn’t be so sure, but with an ADC champ, it’s definitely possible to carry.]

[Hwanhee: Let’s go.]

[It’s gonna be so much fun already, lol.]

[I’m so excited, please make sure the enemy bot lane loses badly, please!]

The laning phase started.

“Huh, wait. The enemy is really Dama.”

I never expected to run into Dama in a ranked game.

It was clear that Dama had talent for the game, but I didn’t expect them to rise this quickly.

[Who’s Dama?]

[You know, the person who visited the stream last time.]

[You don’t know Dama?]

[Geez… how can you not know ‘Dama,’ you guys are hopeless. Don’t even bother watching streams.]

[How do you not know Dama but still watch streams?]

[This is pathetic…]

[What the heck, should I be treated like this just because I don’t know a streamer?]

[But seriously, who is it? First time hearing about them.]

There were still many people in the chat who hadn’t heard of Dama.

Of course, Dama had been mentioned before, but not everyone watches the same people all the time.

New viewers always come in.

So, it was completely possible that some didn’t know who Dama was.

“Dama is a guy I’m close with.”

[Oh, a guy.]

[Dama’s voice is so nice, hehe.]

[DuGong’s voice is acknowledged, LOL.]

[Yeah, yeah, Harin definitely tried to get close with Dama but ended up ditching him.]

[Did he really try to get close?]

[If Harin did that, it would be amazing.]

[How handsome must he be?]

[Didn’t you meet him last time?]

Looking at the chat, I remembered the time when I met Dama.

It was when my manager and I went to a galbi jjim restaurant near my house and were picking out food.

‘He was really handsome.’

A man with a strangely decadent look approached.

And thanks to his younger brother, I found out that this man was Dama.

Although the meeting wasn’t long, his face left such a strong impression on me that I couldn’t forget it.

If I got the chance, I’d like to meet him again.

“Ah, you guys haven’t seen Dama, right? You should have seen him.”

[Seriously, I’m curious, lol.]

[But why isn’t he turning on his cam? Is it because he’s ugly?]

[I’ll pay you, just show your face.]

[If I looked that good, I’d show my face.]

[Seriously, I can’t have a conversation with losers like you.]

I shook off the thoughts of his face and typed in the chat.

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Self]: What even is top Draven, lol?

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Self]: I can’t believe there’s still someone using that.]

“Wasn’t top Draven a thing from way back when?”

It used to be a viable pick when Draven’s power level was high, but after his nerfs, top Draven isn’t really that great anymore.

[It’s been irrelevant for a long time.]

[Who even plays top Draven, lol?]

[You just need to gank and win, then the game’s over.]

[It’s not that appealing, a top Draven with no mobility compared to other ADCs.]

[Let’s swap lanes and make Draven’s life hell, lol.]

[Isn’t lane swapping basically demonic? Lol.]

[What kind of lane swap is happening in solo queue?]

[Some people still do it though.]

While lane swapping to counter the enemy Draven was an option, it wasn’t very appealing.

Since I had already met Dama, I wanted to play a long game.

I wanted to make a good impression, I guess.

“So, are we going all out? I’ll apologize in advance since I think Dama will cry.”

[Dama’s tears are pretty rare…]

[What does a man’s tear taste like?]

[Of course, it tastes salty, are you an idiot?]

[There’s actually research showing that a man’s tears taste sweet scientifically.]

[That’s why Harin’s fans make tears for their dads, lol.]

[The build-up is creepy, lol.]

Since I had already caught the ADC, the chance of losing was nearly zero, so I planned to play as hard as I could.

[User donated 1,000 won!]

• Dama, you’re screwed. Harin is going to make you cry, what should I do? Should I go and beg for a hundred bucks?

“What is that…”

It’s not like begging will change anything.

[Begging is true, lol.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: If the meaning reaches the sky, there’s a chance it might come true, lol.]

[Tears? Hehe…]

[Can’t resist tears, lol…]

[But if top Draven scales well, even if the enemy ADC scales well, you can still win.]

[Pre-condition: He has to scale really well, not just decently, but insanely well, lol.]

Harin was being pretty intense, but the game shouldn’t be that hard.

As I mentioned earlier, MMR exists.

That means the average skill level of the players on each team is similar.

Thinking this, I slowly started to pressure the enemy top lane.

Then suddenly…

[You have been slain by the enemy!]

[Self -> Jinki]

“What? They’re really serious about this.”

Harin was truly playing seriously.