Chapter 11: “My First Ranked Game”

I had played a lot of regular games to prepare for ranked games.

Thanks to that, I learned a lot about the game ” League of Legends ”

How to act to win a game—there were many things like that, but right now, only one thing was important.

“Which lane should I go?”

League of Legends is a game enjoyed by five players.

So, I had to choose one of five positions.

From what I heard, once you pick one of the five positions, you tend to keep playing that position.

It was like choosing a starter Pokémon, so to speak.

I was incredibly nervous.

Which position should I choose?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Is there really a need to decide on a lane?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Just go to the lane you want to go.]

[Kang Hoomin: Personally, I recommend the top lane, the lane of a lady.]

[Kang Hoomin: I don’t know about the others, but the top lane is the easiest to practice.]

[It’s been a while since Hoomin made sense lol]

[Hwanhee: Honestly, if it’s your first time playing League of Legends, support is the best choice.]

[Hwanhee: If you pick anything else, you might end up causing trouble.]

“Hmm…”

What should I do?

While I was deep in thought, ding—my phone vibrated gently.

It was a text from Yeram.

Since I was streaming, we were now communicating through text instead of talking directly.

If she’s messaging me during the stream, it must be something pretty important.

Curious, I opened Yeram’s message.

[Yeram: Go top.]

[Yeram: I don’t know about the others, but]

[Yeram: Top is the most fun.]

[Yeram: Haha.]

Yeram strongly recommended the top lane.

Now that I think about it, there were many people in the chat also recommending top.

It did seem like the most fun when I played in normal games.

Plus, it’s a lane that doesn’t get affected much by others.

“Alright, I’ll go top.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Now you’re talking lol]

[Hwanhee: I’m telling you, top is the most fun.]

[Hwanhee: Honestly, I recommended support earlier, but]

[Hwanhee: If you don’t mind other people’s judgment, top is definitely the most fun lol]

[Kang Hoomin: Knew it.]

[Another top lane main is born…]

[Please grow into a proper top laner, I beg you, please grow into a proper top laner.]

Looking at the chat, I saw that many people were concerned about me.

I wasn’t sure why they were reacting that way.

After all, it’s just a game.

Games are meant to be enjoyed, not to get angry over, so I couldn’t understand why those people were acting like that.

“Well, let’s start the game.”

With that, I queued for a game.

Since I had already gained general knowledge about the game League of Legends through playing regular games, I was excited to see how much I could raise my rank.

Even if I could just reach Gold, I’d be satisfied.

As I was indulging in these happy thoughts, ding!—the sound of a match being found rang out.

A button to accept appeared in front of me.

Click.

I clicked it lightly—

Moments later.

The screen turned black and white, and soon, lane assignments started.

My lane was top, as expected.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”

It was the first time I felt this excited about playing a game.

Before, I didn’t understand why Legends was so popular, but lately, I had been feeling it keenly.

It was just that fun.

But at that moment…

[Hey top player]

[Could you give me the top lane?]

[I can really carry.]

Someone sent a message in the chat.

Judging by the context, it seemed they were asking to switch lanes.

“Huh, do I have to give it up?”

In regular games, lanes were decided based on how quickly you could pick, so this was my first time experiencing a request to switch lanes.

Asking to switch lanes?

Isn’t it normal to just play the lane you were assigned to in the first place?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What the heck]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why would you switch lol]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Of course, you should go top.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: If you switch and lose, you’ll feel even worse.]

[Hwanhee: It’s best not to switch.]

[Kang Hoomin: Only a fool would switch.]

[Seriously, never switch. I’ve never seen someone who asks to switch actually play well.]

Glancing at the chat, I saw that the majority opinion was not to switch lanes under any circumstances.

So, I cautiously typed a response.

[UncoveringLondon’sSecrets: I don’t think that’s possible.]

[UncoveringLondon’sSecrets: Sorry about that.]

[UncoveringLondon’sSecrets: I only play top.]

I tried to sound as polite as possible so the other person wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

Maybe they would understand.

But then…

[Ah, lol]

[Well, it can’t be helped then.]

[Let’s go double top, haha.]

They were saying things I couldn’t understand.

Double top?

“What’s double top?”

I was confused because I had never heard of it before in my life.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Double top means two people go to the top lane.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s just trolling lol.]

[Hwanhee: How do you end up with this kind of person in your first ranked game?]

[I feel like choking someone lol.]

[Kang Hoomin: People like that should just be exterminated.]

[As expected, Hoomin is the killer of this cruel era lol.]

[But seriously, people like that are the worst.]

After checking the chat, it seemed clear that the person was planning to “troll.”

I had never experienced something like this, even in normal games, so I was a bit taken aback.

Maybe it’s because I usually just took the leftover lanes?

Feeling a bit flustered, I checked the lane of the person who said they were going double top.

“Hmm… they’re supposed to be support. I guess I’ll just go support.”

Even though I wanted to play top, I didn’t want to deal with a troll, so I decided to switch to support.

Besides, I found support fun too.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You’re actually giving in lol.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: This will just encourage their bad behaviour.]

[Hwanhee: If the game starts, let’s say something.]

[You’re actually giving in lol.]

[It’s your first ranked game; you don’t want to start off with bad vibes.]

[Report them after the game lol.]

[You have to report them no matter what.]

I personally didn’t understand why they were acting this way.

What’s the big deal about just playing the lane you’re assigned?

With a deep sigh, I typed in the chat.

[UncoveringLondon’sSecrets: I’ll just go support then.]

[UncoveringLondon’sSecrets: You can go top.]

I kept my tone very polite online.

Of course, I didn’t want to get into trouble by being too harsh and risk getting sued or something.

That kind of legal trouble would be a headache.

Then suddenly—

[You should’ve switched earlier lol.]

[Changing because you’re scared of double top? Pathetic.]

“…What’s this guy’s deal?”

I gave them what they wanted, and now they were getting mad at me?

Unbelievable, I thought, as I pondered which champion to pick.

“What should I play?”

Since I had experience playing support in normal games, I was considering my options.

Which champion could I play to have fun and still win?

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Shaco support is pretty fun lol.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: There’s a thrill in assassinating in one shot.]

[Hwanhee: Why are you recommending Shaco support lol.]

[Of all things, Shaco support is a joke lol.]

[Kang Hoomin: I’d recommend something safe like Nautilus.]

[Honestly, tank supports are usually the best choice.]

Many recommendations were coming up in the chat.

From Nautilus to Shaco, even Soraka.

Honestly, I don’t know all the champions yet.

I haven’t been playing for that long, after all.

“Hmm…”

I hesitated for a moment before choosing a champion.

I picked something that looked really fun.

And soon after, the game started.

“Ah, I’m nervous.”

My heart was racing uncontrollably.

It had been a while since I felt this nervous.

Feeling the tension, I checked the skill set of the champion I had chosen.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Hey, seriously.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I know it’s your first ranked game, but…]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Picking support Sylas? That’s a bit much lol.]

[Hwanhee: But it’s actually fun.]

[Support Sylas is nuts lol.]

[But yeah, it’s fun.]

[Kang Hoomin: I always find Sylas’s open-chest look pretty cringy.]

I don’t know much about Legends since I didn’t play it in my original world, but here, the female champion Sylas had an open chest.

Equal opportunity, I guess.

And she was pretty.

“This is what gaming is all about.”

It felt like my eyes were being refreshed.

Anyway.

Despite all the noise before the game started, the in-game chat was relatively quiet.

Maybe they were all realizing how weird the top lane situation was.

“Well… let’s give this game a shot.”

Honestly, I’m not that great at playing support.

But I had to win this first match.

There wasn’t any special reason.

I just didn’t want to lose my first game, since that would feel bad.

With that mindset, I started the game.

Everything would work out somehow, right?