Chapter 3: “How did I, an F1 racer, end up as a rickshaw driver?”

Team Fight Arena was a game quite similar to Magical Fight.

First of all, both had the same quarter-view perspective and 2.5D graphics.

From a fixed perspective, players control their character, which is their avatar, to engage in combat.

Unlike RTS games, which demand extreme multitasking, Team Fight Arena only required controlling one champion, with some champions having summoned creatures added in.

There were neutral monsters scattered across the battlefield that players could hunt for money and experience points.

Of course, killing enemy champions also earned money and experience.

As players level up, their stats increase, and they can invest in skills, while money is used to buy items.

There were some differences in the mechanics when you dug deeper, but the basic control setup was similar: using the keyboard for skills and the mouse for movement and targeting.

Skills were mapped to QWER, and the ultimate skill was mapped to R—just like in Magical Fight.

The victory condition was to defeat the enemy team in a 5v5 battle and get 50 kills.

There were no rounds, and if you died, you respawned at a random location after a waiting time.

The higher the level, the longer the respawn time, and while the respawn location wasn’t entirely random, there were a few specific points where you could appear.

The bases were almost identical, so much so that you’d believe Team Fight Arena was made by referencing Magical Fight.

It was so similar that it could absorb the entire player base and cause Magical Fight to disappear.

After playing Team Fight Arena for a while, Victory felt something.

It was so frustrating!

Magical Fight had a wide variety of consumable items.

In fact, there were only consumable items.

Using the various consumable items with different effects in the right way was a really fun experience.

But in Team Fight Arena, there were only equipment items.

Items that didn’t have active usage but increased stats or gave special effects just by being held.

The only consumables left were potions and wards—just vision stones.

Some equipment had active effects, but because the concept of item usage and replenishment was so rare, the game was simpler.

Especially the part that Victory loved the most in Magical Fight—the Grimoire system—that wasn’t in Team Fight Arena.

That was so frustrating! He almost felt like losing his mind!

The Grimoire system.

It was the alpha and omega of Magical Fight.

Every character, when they leveled up, received 5 points, which they could use to increase their stats.

Strength, agility, magic power, attack power, defense, health regeneration, mana regeneration.

Skipping the detailed explanations, the character would get stronger by putting points into these stats.

But these points could also be used for the Grimoire.

If you used the points on the Grimoire, the character’s final stats would decrease.

But if you used the Grimoire, you could gain tremendous advantages in the current fight!

In other words, it was a system that asked the player to choose between the future and the present.

It required precise judgment from the user.

Also, since the game demanded a lot of physical input, it was really hectic.

Does it not make much sense yet?

Let me simplify it for you.

The precise specs of the Grimoire were as follows:

2-Grimoire: 2 points, instantly resets the cooldowns of all items and skills.

3-Grimoire: 1 point, fully restores health to 100%.

4-Grimoire: 1 point, fully restores mana to 100%.

5-Grimoire: 2 points, instantly resurrects at the location where you died with 50% health and 30% mana.

6-Grimoire: 1 point, instantly teleports to a designated location on the map.

If you could keep using these powerful Grimoire items, the game would become unbalanced, so each Grimoire had a 30-second cooldown and could only be used 12 times every 10 minutes.

It’s exhausting just thinking about all the things you have to consider, right?

Did I forget to mention the 1-Grimoire?

Sharp eyes you’ve got!

The powerful 1-Grimoire ability is: 2 points, reduces all Grimoire costs to 1 point and removes the cooldown for 20 seconds.

In other words, you can spam all the Grimoire items!

Well, within the limit of using them 12 times every 10 minutes.

But here’s the fun part.

What if a battle starts around 19 minutes and 45 seconds?

If you manage your points well, you could use the Grimoire 24 times!

You could go all out!

Of course, going into battle without investing in stats but keeping those points would be an enormous risk.

I could make a mad movie. It would be incredibly cool.

The deeper you dig, the more endless the charm of Magical Fight is!

But Team Fight Arena doesn’t have that.

Instead of a Grimoire, you can only choose two simple skills, called “spells,” before the game starts.

You can’t swap them during the game. Isn’t that a bit much?

Healing, ignite, flash, and things like that.

Some recover a little health, some deal damage, or some allow a very short teleport.

Those were all effects that could easily be obtained through consumable items in Magical Fight.

If you combined the 1st and 2nd Grimoire, you could use those skills non-stop for 20 seconds. But in Team Fight Arena, even the shortest cooldown is 90 seconds, and it could go as high as 300 seconds.

So, the amount of damage a person can deal is very limited.

It’s frustrating.

If I were to compare it to racing, it feels like you’re driving a race car on the track, and suddenly it switches to a cart!

Would it be fun to go from an F1 league to a cart battle?

It’s so sad that Magical Fight disappeared because of this lousy game.

What even is popularity?

sigh

I know.

I know that games that are insanely hard to learn can’t thrive.

But Magical Fight didn’t have to disappear, right?

Hmm?

And the most frustrating part!

In Team Fight Arena, you can’t start ranked games immediately. You have to reach level 30!

Why?

Why do I have to be stuck in this newbie zone all day?

Sure, I’m a newbie, but…

I’m an expert in other games! I’m a legend!

Shouldn’t I be allowed to start ranked games right away?

Huh?

I looked it up online, and in Team Fight Arena, you have to play a whopping 133 matches to reach level 30.

This is torture!

Aargh!

I sent a whisper to the jerk who dragged me into this crappy game.

전전설 – <Hey, how many more levels do I have to grind in this shitty game?>

전전설 – <I looked online and it says it takes over 133 matches to reach level 30. Is that true???>

전전설 – <Let me play ranked already! Killing newbies is so boring!>

This bastard.

He’s ignoring my whisper while in-game?

Well, it might be an important battle, so I’ll let it slide.

Gamers have to understand these things.

“Ah! Seriously! I want to quit this shitty game!”

But I can’t help being frustrated.

If only Magical Fight hadn’t failed! It’s so unjust!

But I wonder, what’s his tier?

I heard that Team Fight Arena has a tier system that makes it easy to see the player’s skill level.

I became curious about my only rival, Victory, and what tier he was in.

Since I already added him as a friend, I checked his account info in the friends list.

[Challenger 2706]

I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds really strong.

I wonder how strong that is.

When I checked the game’s ranking page:

[1. Victory – Challenger 2706
2. TP WILD – Challenger 2541
3. KFT YANGHAK – Challenger 2490
4. 운빨줫망겜 – Challenger 2486
5. MAR Adios – Challenger 2483]

This guy is number one in the Korean server?!

As expected.

This is what my rival should be like.

“Ha.”

I want to crush him quickly.

I want to step on him and pin him down.

I want to clearly show who’s on top!

A gamer’s blood is boiling!

I can’t stop laughing.

Just imagining it.

But right now, it’s so painful!

Someone, please get me out of this newbie zone!

Victory and Jeon Woo-seung were streaming.

An official personal broadcast managed by the team.

If you frequently show your face on the monitor, your recognition and familiarity increase, right?

Victory, the best pro gamer in the world who is incredibly popular, was currently pulling in 52,000 viewers for his personal stream.

Then, an unexpected whisper appeared in Victory’s account.

전전설 – <Hey, how many more levels do I have to grind in this shitty game?>

전전설 – <I looked it up online, and it says it takes over 133 matches to reach level 30. Is that true???>

전전설 – <Let me play ranked already! Killing newbies is so boring!>

Honestly, this was a tricky situation.

Receiving a whisper during the stream.

Since everyone around Woo-seung knows he’s a pro gamer, they are careful about sending whispers.

But Seol-ah doesn’t know that. She doesn’t know Woo-seung is a pro gamer!

You’re a newbie too.

Looking at the whisper’s contents, Woo-seung couldn’t help but chuckle.

I have to answer, since it’s during the stream.

Two thoughts came to mind.

One was the need to block any strange whispers from coming in, and the other was his mischievous side, wanting to hide the fact that he was a pro gamer.

Who are you? A friend?

Are you maybe his girlfriend????

I’m tempted to donate for free too, haha.

In response to the chat’s questions, Woo-seung answered lightly.

“Just a friend. He’s a guy.”

Woo-seung made up his mind.

Instead of revealing that it was during the stream, he decided to quietly ignore it.

He didn’t think a sudden controversial whisper would come through.

But a little while later.

Another whisper came in.

전전설 – <Hey, you’re rank 1, huh?>

전전설 – <I’m coming for you, haha.>

전전설 – <Wait for me, you’re going down.>

Yeah.

That’s the way you should be.

Woo-seung couldn’t stop laughing.

What’s with our Tori? Her laughter is making me swoon!

I’m melting.

Woo-seung, with his handsome looks, had many female fans.

In the chat, there were tons of female fans swooning over his laughter!

Who is this person who says they’ll take rank 1?

Judging from the way they talk, aren’t they a complete newbie?

They’re like a puppy that doesn’t know the danger of a tiger.

Male viewers were curious about who 전전설 was.

Did he have the skills to back up his bold declaration?

That was the question.

[Author: ᄋᄋ] [Title: Who is 전전설 that whispered to Victory?]

[I checked his match history and saw 30 consecutive wins. Is that real?

All pros should start with super accounts at level 30, so who is this guy?]

They were extremely curious about 전전설.

They talked about him all day long in the community.