Chapter 40: “I Should Tell The Story”

“Mangming, how’s solo queue these days?”

I casually address Mangming in the chat.

[Mangming: Ah, these days]

[Mangming: It’s going well]

[Mangming: As I mentioned before]

[Mangming: I’ve achieved ‘Master’]

[Whoa, haha]

[How long are you going to brag about reaching Master? haha]

[Stop bragging, you jerk]

Mangming types proudly in the chat.

I can understand wanting to boast if I were in his position.

‘Master is impressive.’

I don’t know if it’s because I’m still in Platinum, but Master feels like a significant achievement.

I feel like I could reach it with effort, but it still seems quite far away.

Anyway.

“Since you’re saying solo queue has been fun lately, I guess I should play a game too. Ahem.”

I said this while casually starting up the game.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: ??]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Suddenly starting a game]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: You’re not doing this because you received money, are you?]

[You don’t really think I’d do it just for the money, do you? haha]

[Hmm…]

[It doesn’t seem right to do it just for the money]

[Hwanhee: Ooh, materialistic]

[But if it’s 100,000 won, I get it, haha]

[It’s not just a little bit of money; 100,000 won is hard to ignore]

[Harine: Hahaha, 100,000 won is indeed something]

[Kang Hoomin: It’s not just about kimchi.]

[The enthusiasm is something, haha]

With that, it seemed like things had transitioned smoothly.

Thinking that, I naturally opened the game and started it up.

Of course, I planned to play random champions today as well.

Playing champions I want to play is fun, but there’s also a certain thrill in randomly selecting champions.

As I was pondering this, the game connected.

Ding!

“Oh, what’s this? Why did it connect so quickly?”

The game connected incredibly fast.

I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

Omniscient Cthulhu: “Looks like there are a lot of people playing League of Legends today.”

[League of Legends has been gaining popularity lately]

[There are more newcomers]

[Personally, I don’t really like newcomers in games; it’s better when people who know League of Legends play together]

[Look at those newcomers acting territorial, haha]

[Hwanhee: Those kinds of players need to be eliminated for League of Legends to be healthy]

[The fact is that League of Legends is becoming healthier]

[Mangming: I also connected to a game quickly today]

[Mangming: It’s fascinating]

I said that and clicked accept.

A moment later.

[Hey, everyone]

I could see the pick screen where everyone was greeting each other warmly.

It seemed there was a friendly person among them.

So I greeted them back cheerfully.

[Hello]

[Let’s do our best]

It was nice to see people like this, as it was hard to find friendly players in a game like League of Legends.

Most players were too engrossed in the game, only getting angry.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone greet like this.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Right]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It really has been a long time]

[Every time I log in, it’s just toxicity, right?]

[Especially the support players always asking if top is possible? Is mid possible? It’s just ridiculous all the time, haha]

[Why are these guys so angry, haha? Chill out]

[When you get support, you can ask the laners to swap with you]

[Looks like a bunch of idiots are scratching at each other]

[That’s why they only play top, right?]

[Top player, haha]

[Hwanhee: It’s nice to see people like that]

I thought I should try my best this round, especially for the sake of this person, and randomly selected a champion.

The champion I got was—

Hmm…

A champion with a grand voice, glowing yellow.

It was a champion that carried bells around.

As far as I knew, it was a champion that played in the support position.

“Is it okay to use this in top?”

It was strange that a support champion was in the top lane, but at least it should be usable.

As I asked that, the chat started filling up quickly.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Top Bard is a major pick, haha]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s not something else; Top Bard is…]

[I climbed from Bronze to Silver with that champion, haha]

[LOL]

[Climbing from Bronze to Silver with Top Bard is pure talent, right?]

[That’s real talent]

[What on earth happened that made you play Top Bard in Bronze?]

[Kang Hoomin: It’s not right to gift a Top pick to someone who greeted so warmly…]

I felt a bit uneasy about that point too.

I typed positively in hopes that my teammates would perform well, but I got a Top pick in return.

I could understand why I would be frustrated in that situation.

So I cautiously typed in the chat.

[I’m not trolling with this pick]

[If you check my record, I usually play like this]

[You can trust me on this]

[It’s a smurf account]

In League of Legends, I joked about being a smurf.

My record was good enough for that.

If it wasn’t a smurf, I couldn’t have such a high win rate.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: But smurf jokes are a bit…]

[But the win rate really is good]

[Isn’t the win rate around 70%?]

[Hwanhee: 70% win rate? That sounds like a lie]

[It’s true, haha]

[Go to the record-checking site and see; it’s around a 70% win rate]

[That’s impressive, haha]

[It’s hard to believe this is your first time playing League of Legends]

[How is this a first-time player’s record?]

After typing that, a moment later.

[There’s no one normal among those making smurf jokes]

[Is it really a smurf?]

[Why are you doing that? Do you always act like this when you play with me?]

Complaints were rising in the League chat.

However, I could counter those complaints.

[If you check my record, you’ll see]

[I’m just someone who focuses on champions like this]

[I play these champions even when I’m with others]

“Counter-argument complete.”

I successfully countered them perfectly.

If you actually check my record, you’d notice I play a variety of champions.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Counter-argument complete, haha]

[But that is a fair point]

[Just picking some ridiculous champions fairly…]

[Indeed, ridiculous champions are all over, haha]

[I just checked your record; it’s legendary, haha]

[How does a top laner have a champion pool of Bard and Nidalee, haha]

[This is dizzying…]

[Is this for real?]

[Kang Hoomin: If we meet as a team, I’ll probably kill you]

[Fair punches for a man, haha]

Just as we were having this random conversation.

[If you’re a smurf]

[Let me know your main account nickname]

[In five seconds, haha]

[If you don’t tell me, I’ll just go mid]

Suddenly, an ally started threatening me.

“Eh.”

[What’s with the sudden threat, haha?]

[Even if the top pick is something unusual, there’s no need to say such things if the win rate looks good]

[Hwanhee: That’s ridiculous, haha]

[But there are quite a few people like that]

[They get hung up on the fact that a player picked Bard <<< without looking at the win rate and mindlessly trashing them; just ignore them]

[Harin: I really dislike those kinds of players…]

[Mangming: 0]

I tried to ignore it, but it was really me who would be in trouble if someone threw the game in-game.

I didn’t want to cause any trouble for my teammates.

So I hurriedly opened my mouth.

“Mangming, please call your main account nickname.”

I urgently needed Mangming’s main account nickname.

Then, a moment later.

[Mangming: I want to love]

[Mangming: This one]

[Wow, when did you change your nickname?]

[Harin: That nickname makes me a bit nauseous…]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: That nickname, haha]

[It’s a name that really makes me want to punch someone]

[Wanting to love? Just live alone, don’t love anyone]

[Why is everyone so angry? Haha]

[Kang Hoomin: 10 years old]

I thought the nickname was a bit unique and entered it into the chat.

[I want to love]

[This one]

Then, a moment later.

[What?]

[It really is a smurf]

[What’s Master?]

[Wow, that’s amazing]

People who were suspicious in the chat disappeared.

“Wow, they’re not suspicious.”

If it were me, I would have been suspicious right away.

[The smurf win rate is so good that they probably don’t suspect it much]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: If a smurf has a win rate of 70%, it’s not strange to be suspicious]

[It’s not a serious pick; if the win rate is 70% while picking fun champions, then what…]

[Mangming: Ahem]

[Actually, I think it’s easier to believe because it’s ‘Master’]

Mangming: It’s Diamond

[Harin: The Master ego is really something…]

[Hwanhee: I don’t know about anything else, but why aren’t you playing the game from 0 points as Master?]

[If I lose even one game, I’ll be demoted to Diamond… haha]

I thought it was good that they weren’t suspicious while I set up the runes.

This time, I received help from Harin.

[Harin: I think you can just use that rune]

[Harin: Then, do your best]

[Harin: I’m going to stream now]

[Bye bye]

[See you next time]

[Finally, you’re turning on the stream]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Bye bye]

With that, Harin set up the runes and left to stream.

I thought it felt like she had been watching streams for too long lately.

She should focus on her main job.

As I was thinking that while playing the game, suddenly.

[Pavlov’s Dog donated 1,000 won!]

-Explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain, explain

[wejis donated 1,000 won!]

-What did you do with Harin? What did you do with Harin? What did you do with Harin? What did you do with Harin? What did you do with Harin?

Suddenly, some trolls came crashing in from somewhere.