Chapter 3: “A master does not retreat”

Click, click.

Slurp-.

“Hmm…”

I was staring intently at the computer screen, seriously searching for information.

The information was about the changed Abyss and the consequent shifts in Camilla’s status.

[EmptyYourMindAndBeHappy (Lan): Looks like you’re a returning Camilla user. Try something else; no one can use Camilla right now.]

The first trigger was a chat I received in my first game.

A kind user advising me that it would be better to pick a different hero instead of Camilla.

But I ignored his advice and kept playing game after game.

Why?

Because, now as ever, there was only Camilla for me.

And also, out of sheer stubbornness, thinking, “I used to win with Camilla before when her reputation wasn’t great, so why can’t I do it now?”

The result was three consecutive losses.

Only then did I admit and accept reality.

Something had drastically changed, and first, I needed to understand what those changes were.

So, I accessed Abyss’ official site and began carefully examining patch notes.

Starting from the ones from three years ago when I was active, the last patch note I saw.

I read through everything meticulously, not missing a single detail, as if I were reading a history book.

“I see.”

I came to my own conclusion.

The reason I was suddenly losing so badly.

There were two main reasons for it.

The first was my changed physical condition.

Every person has inherent physical abilities, known as ‘physicality,’ especially in games and esports.

Things like reaction time, dynamic vision, and accuracy.

In the past, my esports physicality wasn’t bad at all.

I could react to enemy skills, especially the slower ones.

Sometimes, on a good day, I could even dodge or deflect quick, hard-to-see instant-cast abilities.

It’s impressive, but to play Camilla, you need at least that level of skill.

She’s a character that absolutely relies on landing the first hit.

So, what’s the problem with my physicality?

Did it deteriorate or something?

No, it’s actually the opposite.

My new body, which resembles Camilla’s perfectly, seems to follow the international TS* magical girl trope.

It’s proven to have even better physicality than mine.

I could vividly see the trajectory of enemy skills.

It felt like I could react in time without a problem.

The issue was that my mind couldn’t keep up with my superior body.

Even in the past, I enjoyed playing on the edge, always skating the thin line.

But this body has the physical capability to push those boundaries even further.

Making me question, “Can I really pull this off?”

If the old me was playing by pushing my mental limits to the max, now I can’t figure out where those limits lie.

I end up hesitating.

In a battlefield where a moment of hesitation leads to death, this hesitation was inevitably fatal.

In summary, the tragedy stemmed from my inability to fully understand my current physical specs.

But it’s something that will be solved with enough time.

I believe I’ll eventually adapt to the two water balloons that shake and weigh me down.

Constantly making my shoulders ache when I play.

“Nnggh….”

Thinking about the water balloons again made my shoulders and neck tense up.

So I let out a groan and started stretching.

*TS: Transsexual or gender-swap genre, often involving magical transformations into a different gender.

Stretching, which I used to do occasionally, has now become almost mandatory.

If I don’t stretch at least once per game, I start feeling like my entire upper body, especially my shoulders, is stiffening.

It feels as though I’ve received some kind of curse in exchange for gaining this superior physicality.

So far, this hasn’t been a major problem.

My physicality hasn’t deteriorated, and with enough time to adapt, I was confident I could perform even better than before.

The real issue was the second reason.

This was the truly significant cause of my defeats.

“What kind of patch is this…?”

Abyss, which had transformed from a failing game into a masterpiece, and the three-year gap in which the world turned upside down.

During that time, the heroes of Abyss went through enormous changes.

From small changes like skill animations and handling to fixing fundamental issues with heroes, large buffs, and even full remakes where their skills and appearance were reworked—heroes were being revamped one by one.

It was like a massive update.

To be honest, if Abyss were to become a masterpiece, these patches should have been done long ago.

Back in the day, Abyss, as a broken game, was plagued with strange controls and bugs.

The patch from about two and a half years ago was the turning point that helped Abyss ascend to greatness.

It was such a well-executed patch that it was nothing short of a blessing.

Looking back at the reviews from that time, most players praised the patch, showing very positive reactions.

But now, after going through everything from that major update to the minor patches up to today, I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

“Why was Camilla… not mentioned at all? No buffs, nothing?”

Camilla hadn’t received a single line of mention in all those patches.

It was as if her very existence had been forgotten, and she received none of the benefits from the many changes.

Only then did I realize the source of the discomfort I’d felt while playing the game.

Why did it feel like my enemies’ health wasn’t dropping?

Why did it feel like Camilla’s health was dropping too quickly?

All of it was because of the changes that had occurred during the three-year gap.

It made sense that Camilla had such a bad reputation now.

The reason I was the first to be criticized in my previous games, the reason my teammates quietly agreed without saying anything—it was all because Camilla had become a bad character.

Characters that are considered bad are silently disliked by players.

“Overall, it’s not that big of a deal, but…”

Camilla remained exactly as she was, receiving neither buffs nor nerfs.

It wasn’t as if she was completely unplayable.

The heroes I used to fight alongside had received buffs, with some even being completely reborn into new forms.

For Camilla, who was already considered weak and underperforming, these changes had hit hard.

Especially for someone like me, who had strategies to counter every hero.

But that didn’t mean there was no way forward.

“I’ll just have to start over from the beginning.”

I made my decision, moved my mouse, closed the patch notes, and reopened Abyss.

Sure, it would be easy to abandon Camilla, who had become invisible, and pick one of the better heroes, but I had no intention of doing that.

If I was going to do that, I would’ve given up on her a long time ago.

I’m not one of those “performance chasers” who switches picks based on the patch notes.

If someone were to abandon their girlfriend, their family, or their comrades just because they weren’t as good as they used to be, that would make them the worst kind of person.

Even now, Camilla was as fragile as ever.

With her beautiful appearance, people might try her out once, but no one kept playing her consistently.

In the end, she was a hero that only I played—a pick with a 0.01% play rate.

“If I keep refining her little by little, I’ll figure it out.”

Isn’t it the role of a master to keep refining a hero like that, polishing and sharpening her into something usable? At least, that’s what I think.

Someone had turned Abyss into a masterpiece and made me become the very embodiment of Camilla.

Wasn’t that the reason?

The fact that my appearance, my looks, even my gender had changed—wasn’t it nothing short of an implicit message from someone telling me not to abandon Camilla?

I started queuing for ranked games again, but with a different mindset this time.

From today, the Camilla Research Lab is back in operation.

“Alright, everyone. I’ve finally reached Platinum! Could it be… that I’m on my way to Diamond?”

[Nope, not a chance]

[The world must’ve gone mad if you’re Platinum]

[I’m still stuck in Gold 숨비]

[Hit a wall at Plat, then dive straight back to Gold like a madman]

[10 minutes later: ‘Guys, I can’t do this anymore’]

“No, no. Unlike you all, I’m a Platinum-Diamond class, or maybe even someone who surpasses all mineral ranks, so that won’t happen. You’re asking what all those losses were before? Hmm, well, it’s like this: a sprout that grows through trials and adversity will always have strong roots. Unlike other fake Plats and Diamonds, I’ve built my foundation solidly.”

With a mischievous face and a tone that suggested she genuinely believed what she was saying, the female streamer spoke confidently.

The moment the words left her mouth, the chat window began scrolling rapidly.

“God, she’s at it again,”

“This girl is really something,”

“Let’s see about that, lol,”

And other similar messages filled the screen.

Seeing the flurry of comments, the woman smiled in satisfaction.

‘Good, the viewers are piling in.’

It’s already been three months since streamer Nicang started playing Abyss.

She originally focused on FPS games but decided to try Abyss, feeling the need for some new content.

Nicang sought change, and it turned out to be a successful move.

She managed to attract a new audience and steadily increase her viewership.

‘It really is Abyss, after all.’

Currently, in the world of personal game streaming, the power of Abyss is immense.

So much so that there’s a saying: “If you want to succeed in streaming, you must play Abyss.”

There are even dedicated viewers who only roam from stream to stream just to watch Abyss gameplay.

As a result, many streamers were diving into Abyss, trying to capture that floating audience for their own channels.

Nicang, who had just started gathering a solid viewer base, had also begun playing Abyss.

As her current stream title, “Three-month Plat Newbie Nicang,” suggested, people were intrigued by her slow but steady climb through the ranked ladder.

Of course, Nicang’s pretty appearance and her impressive gaming skills—uncommon for a female streamer—also played a role in attracting viewers.

‘This is my chance.’

A chance to grow her stream and climb higher in rank.

And a chance to earn recognition from her viewers.

With that thought, streamer Nicang grinned widely.

Unaware of the shadow that would soon approach her.