Chapter 78: Camilla is too Strong

“Hmm….”

A woman sat in a room, staring at her monitor with a serious expression.

It was a quiet and still space.

The only sounds that could be heard were the occasional faint hum of the woman’s breathing and the sound of the mouse wheel being scrolled intermittently.

The woman had shiny white hair. Her name was Mun Ah. By profession, she was a streamer known as Kayak.

As always, Kayak had started her stream, her face filled with a cautious expression as she looked at something intently. Her dark blue eyes, invisible to the viewers, quickly scanned the text on the monitor.

• The Snowflake Festival begins!

A significant amount of text, along with illustrations, filled the screen.

It was the patch notes. She was currently reading the patch notes, which came out every time there were changes in the game.

‘Isn’t the white snow really pretty? On days like this, my feet move on their own.’

• New Skin Released, Snowflake Festival Camilla (Legendary), available from today.

Up to this point, there were no issues. The skin release was something that had already been scheduled, and Kayak, having failed in the movie ticket draw, had been eagerly waiting for the day the skin would drop.

The problem arose from the bottom section.

It was written that some in-game elements, which had been mentioned in a pre-release meeting, were changed. And below that:

The most important part, the balance changes for each hero.

• Camilla
  Increasing the overall power of Camilla, who has been showing signs of weakness.
  Batman Tangdue (Q) base damage 20/30/40/50/60 >> 30/40/50/60/70

From Camilla’s core skill, Q, to her passive, and even her defense, everything had been adjusted. There were many changes made. One notable point was that all the changes mentioned were buffs. It seemed like a typical patch for Ionix, who usually adjusts hero balance based on statistics. Statistically, Camilla had always had poor records, so this patch was expected.

However, Kayak’s expression did not soften. She frowned slightly and stared at the section in the patch notes for several minutes without saying anything.

The silence grew long. The broadcaster, who had been chatty, suddenly seemed deep in thought, and the viewers began to wonder about her state.

[Why did she suddenly get stunned?]

[Wow! Camilla buff!]

[Will Camilla finally reach Tier 1?]

[‘Camilla is becoming a god.’]

[Has it really been years since this? Ionix, are they finally taking care of Camilla?]

[This must be Kayak’s blessing…]

[It’s so obvious they released the skin and buffed her. It’s almost uncomfortable.]

[Right? They release the skin and make her stronger so people will buy it.]

[And then if the stats improve, they’ll probably nerf her harder than before.]

[Give and take~]

[They’ve made heroes like this before, so I can’t even criticize.]

[Is this the reason you don’t like her, teacher?]

[There are more Camilla users because of Kayak, and now there will be even more.]

[We’ll have to announce that we’re picking Camilla in the pick phase from now on, haha.]

[Camilla having a day like this…]

Top of Form

[Why not fix the fear duration for 0.1 seconds longer while you’re at it, huh?]

[They’ll probably never fix that, haha.]

As the viewers voiced their various opinions and speculations, Kayak finally spoke up.

Perhaps too shocked, she had left the viewers waiting for quite a while.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any major complaints from the audience.

Though there had been an increase in new viewers recently, fundamentally, her stream was dominated by Abyss players.

These players, like herself, were naturally sensitive to patch notes.

In that regard, this patch, the buff to Camilla, was likely a big deal for them as well.

This buff didn’t seem like a minor one; it seemed to be a significant change.

[By reading the chat, you can roughly guess the tier, haha.]

[If you’re going to argue against others, put your tier in front, haha.]

[There are actual experts, but they act like they’re the authority.]

[These guys probably haven’t even played Camilla.]

[Lol, there are so many who just talk about being in the Camilla fan group, claiming they’re “elite” players, but never actually play her.]

As the heated discussion was taking place, Kayak spoke again.

“First of all, stop fighting… Yeah, I just need a moment to think. My mind is a little crowded right now. There are both pros and cons. I’m including everything you guys mentioned.”

She calmed the excited chat and continued speaking.

“The buff… It’s significant. Of course, we won’t know for sure until we try it in-game, but I think her damage and defense, as well as her overall playstyle, will be a lot more flexible now.”

“But as someone mentioned earlier, it’s a bit uncomfortable. If they were going to do this, they should’ve buffed her sooner. Releasing the skin and then immediately buffing her… It’s a bit too transparent, and honestly, it’s kind of unpleasant.”

“But on the bright side, the player count will probably increase. That’s a good thing. Camilla has had a low pick rate recently, but with this skin and buff, we’ll see more new players picking her up. How do I know about the pick rate? I check Camilla’s stats every week on a stats website.”

[What will you do if they take Camilla away from you, teacher?]

[Even though the higher tiers use her, because of structural issues, no one except Kayak really plays her.]

[Isn’t she even used in tournaments now??]

[That’s a stretch. What tournaments?]

[Seriously, just because she got a buff doesn’t mean she’ll be tournament-worthy, haha.]

[Competitive picks are still tough.]

[How does the streamer even play Camilla at that tier?]

[Hmm, yeah, it’s a good thing that Camilla’s followers are growing.]

[So, what’s the conclusion?]

“The conclusion is… I just hope she doesn’t get nerfed. Everything else is secondary.”

It was the classic “give a little, take a little” patch, which was often referred to as the Ionix-style “I don’t care” patch.

This nickname arose because sometimes, the developers would just buff or nerf heroes based on their intuition, without testing them properly.

Whenever the developers had a bad experience with a particular hero, that hero would get nerfed, and vice versa—heroes that the developers favoured would periodically get buffed.

It was a persistent rumour, and a conspiracy theory that had a lot of credibility. Statistically, the heroes consistently in the top ranks were always the same.

They were often called Ionix’s sons and daughters.

“Anyway, I hope Camilla becomes one of Ionix’s daughters this time.”

[Do you think that’ll happen? Haha.]

[Maybe now that she has a skin, they’ll treat her better.]

[Ionix tends to release skins for the heroes they like.]

[Camilla has been neglected for years, and only now do they give her a skin.]

[Now they’re saying they’ll start caring about her~~]

[In the past, it was hard to even get skins…]

[Release more skins of all kinds!]

[Day 1 of wishing for Bunny Girl Camilla’s release.]

“Has the patch been applied? I’ll buy the skin today and try it out in-game to feel the buffs. If necessary, I’ll even try new builds.”

Saying that, she launched Abyss. It felt like it had been a long time since she played, due to various things.

After this patch, the login screen featured a heavy snowfall, fitting the theme of the Snowflake Festival.

In the center of it stood Camilla, posed like a doll, striking an elegant stance like a piece of art.

She couldn’t help but admire the graceful and beautiful posture.

‘The skin is really well done. I keep thinking they should’ve done this earlier, but there’s no point in dwelling on the past. What matters now is the future. Yes, if they keep this up, I’ll bury my bones in Abyss.’

Nodding in satisfaction, she logged in and immediately bought the skin.

Then, she began her ranked match with a fresh new feeling from the skin.

Not long into the game, she started to feel something was off.

“Wait, hold on. Guys, something feels weird.”

[??? What’s wrong?]

[It’s just another usual carry show by the carry machine Kayak.]

[Wow, haha, Momma Tong, haha!]

[Isn’t Camilla cold in winter?]

[The heroes in Abyss don’t know the meaning of cold.]

[That outfit is really something, haha.]

[What’s the problem?]

[The snowflake Camilla is so pretty, haha.]

[Can’t resist, I’m getting it too.]

[Do you feel the buffs?]

The viewers didn’t seem to notice, but Kayak, who played Camilla regularly and paid attention to every little detail, could tell.

“The buffs were way too big…?”

Ionix had caused a problem.