Chapter 12: “Overflowing with talent”

First, I need to explain the role of a support in the game.

Since I haven’t played League of Legends that much, I’m not entirely sure, but I’ve heard that the support role is to assist the ADC (Attack Damage Carry).

It involves taking damage from enemies or applying shields to help the ADC survive.

However, my perspective is a bit different.

As the saying goes, “the best defence is a good offense,” inflicting damage on the enemy and driving them away can also fit the role of a support.

“I’ve noticed while playing normal games alone that the ADC often doesn’t fulfil their role properly.”

To reach level 30 and start ranked games, playing normal games is essential, and through that, I learned that the ‘ranged damage dealer’ position often doesn’t do much.

“And most of the time, they try to get as many kills as possible, treating the support like a trash can.”

When I played normal games alone without Yeram’s friends, there were times I got assigned to support, and it was common for the ADC to use me as a scapegoat.

I remember some of the chats like “beastly bastard” and “what are you doing, you orphan bastard,” among others.

There were many such messages.

Because of this, I didn’t have much faith in ADCs.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Wow.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You’ve realized that fact already.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: ADCs are all idiots..]

[Hwanhee: Why are you trash-talking ADCs?]

[Hwanhee: ADCs are generally pretty nice.]

[Hwanhee: That’s just slander lol.]

[Kang Hoomin: I haven’t played League of Legends much lately, but]

[Kang Hoomin: I’ve felt that ADCs are terrible for a long time.]

[The ability to reason based on past experiences is truly impressive, Hoomin lol.]

[Why is your phrase so long?]

“So… I think it’s better not to farm minions and instead focus on getting kills in other places to grow.”

I might not mind staying close to the ADC if I were playing top, but as a support who has to stick with a complete stranger, it might be better to do my own thing, like right now.

[You have defeated the enemy!]

“Nice.”

Given the characteristics of the champion Sylas, I could gain a significant advantage in early skirmishes with short burst damage.

I used that to roam around and intervene in all lanes except the bottom lane.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: But seriously,]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why are you doing so well?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You said you just started League of Legends.]

[Hwanhee: lol]

[Hwanhee: Is this actually your smurf account?]

[It does seem suspicious.]

[But is there really a reason to smurf just to do this?]

People were mistaken.

So, I explained why I was doing well despite not having played League of Legends for long.

“I’ve been watching League of Legends videos during my breaks at work, and after normal games, I analyze replays… I do that with all the games I play.”

I personally enjoy strategy games, and I found that League of Legends had similarities with them.

I guess you could say it felt like chess.

Of course, the overall rules were completely different, but the feeling was similar.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: No, dude.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: If you’re going to work, you should actually do your job, lol.]

[Kang Hoomin: But it’s not necessarily a bad thing.]

[Kang Hoomin: I felt the same when I watched the World Cup on Skype.]

[To indulge in the pleasure of League of Legends to temporarily escape the shackles of the college entrance exam is quite clever, lol.]

[Now you’re just throwing random things out there.]

[That’s just absurd, lol.]

[When was it ever not absurd?]

As I wandered around with Salus, exercising influence here and there, I saw a message pop up.

[All][Craving for Gum]: Why did our support ditch me?

[All][Craving for Gum]: What are you doing elsewhere?

[All][Craving for Gum]: This is seriously messed up, lol.]

The AD carry started to express their true feelings.

People often hide their true thoughts.

If they reveal their feelings, they’ll likely receive disapproving looks from society.

But our team’s AD carry didn’t hold back.

They were breaking the unspoken social rules, spilling their feelings like a three-year-old child.

“Objectively speaking, the ratio of people expressing dissatisfaction is usually highest for AD carries, followed by tops.”

This was data I had gathered during the past few days of playing alone.

It was reliable data, indeed.

But then.

[All][Craving for Gum]: Ugh, seriously.

[All][Craving for Gum]: I don’t want to play anymore.

[All][Craving for Gum]: Why does our support always abandon me for other places?

[All][Craving for Gum]: I’m just going to quit.]

The AD carry declared they were quitting the game.

But I was used to it.

I had seen this a lot in regular games.

I hadn’t expected to encounter this type of behaviour in ranked matches, but it happened nonetheless.

“Well, if your support is always abandoning you, maybe you should consider if the problem lies with you.”

Truly, it was a foolish friend.

If they resembled me even a little, they would have effortlessly outshined the greatest geniuses of the century.

I thought it was unfortunate as I typed in the chat.

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Salus]: AD carry, I’m curious about something.

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Salus]: Have you completed your mandatory education up to middle school?

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Salus]: I’m genuinely asking.

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Salus]: I haven’t benefited from this situation, and I actually gained a lot. I just don’t understand why you’re acting like this.

I thought I should avoid cursing them out, as there was a chance of being sued for it, so I asked in this manner.

And typically, being polite only made them angrier.

Just like right now.

[All][Craving for Gum]: Ugh.

“Ah…”

In the end, our AD carry crossed over to a point of no return.

Since they hadn’t directly insulted me, we couldn’t have a heart-to-heart in this cold, iron-filled space.

However, in this game, we could express ourselves like that.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: How much did you get scratched?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Just throwing out trash talk, huh? lol.]

[Kang Hoomin: Using that kind of speech here too…?]

[Hwanhee: Every time I see that way of speaking, it’s just brutal.]

[Dam: This guy definitely got some Japanese blood in him… There’s no way he’s this twisted otherwise.]

“Honestly, that was quite a polite way to say it. It’s frustrating.”

Feeling a bit wronged, I typed one last message.

[All][UncoveringLondon’sSecret][Salus]: Screenshot taken.

After that, I didn’t respond at all.

In truth, you can’t really file a lawsuit over insults like that.

They hadn’t directly insulted me, nor did it specify who they were insulting.

“If they insulted me about something sexual, that would be straightforward… What a shame.”

[Enemy slain!]

“I gained a lot.”

While roaming around, I had amassed significant benefits.

Our top laner had grown to a point that the enemy couldn’t possibly stop them.

Of course, Kai’Sa was still not playing the game.

She was just standing there, chatting away.

“If I were in her shoes, I’d swallow my pride and at least secure a victory, but her pride is really strong.”

Pride is important, but since we didn’t even know each other’s faces, I wondered what was the harm in letting it go.

As long as we achieved our goals.

With those thoughts, I destroyed the enemy Nexus.

Boom—.

Bang!

[Victory!]

The word “Victory” filled the screen.

It meant I had achieved my first win in a ranked game.

Shortly after the game ended,

Ding—

Someone added me as a friend.

I wondered who it could be and checked—

[Craving for Gum]

“Looks like they’re pretty angry.”

I hoped things would be resolved quickly.

With that thought, I declined the friend request and immediately started the next game.

It seemed like I would be playing late into the night.

Chirp, chirp—

The usual sound of birds chirping.

But the difference this time was that I was still awake.

And I was focused on the game.

“Phew… Well, I’ll wrap it up for today. Ugh, I’m tired. But I did achieve Gold.”

[All-Powerful Cthulhu: Good job today, lol.]

[Kang Hoomin: See you next time.]

[Hwanhee: Bye bye!]

[Bye bye!]

[The stream was fun.]

[Stream again next time, lol.]

After saying that, I took off my headset and ended the broadcast.

Then the statistics for today’s stream started to come in.

[Average Viewers: 12]

For a first broadcast, it wasn’t a bad start at all.

I had also achieved the Gold tier.

Maybe I really have a talent for League of Legends.

Thinking that, I got up from my seat.

I had to wake up Yeram.