Chapter 51: Witch Hunt

The community was literally burning with activity.

Curious about what had happened, I scrolled back through the pages as far as I could.

After passing several dozen pages, I finally reached the one that seemed to mark the beginning of all this chaos.

• Prisoner vs. Enemy Team YunGi Rainbow Duo lol
• Live broadcast) YunGi Rainbow vs. Prisoner MobyDick BlackDog
• Is this real? The solo queue lineup? The first 1900-point jungler vs. the Red Cup champion duo lol
• The lineup is insane lmao
• Alright, everyone take a seat.
• Info update) ChuShim is currently casting on Red TV. Anyone wanna watch? haha

So far, everything seemed normal.

I had anticipated that this match would generate some buzz.

What exactly went wrong here?

With confusion in my mind, I kept reading through the thread.

• lol Blue>>uhhh
• Prisoner can’t do anything right? Can’t even stop them from taking Blue right in front of him?
• It was just a trade, but look at how the rank players are already losing it lol. This will be fun to watch when the Nexus goes down.
• Next up, Smurfing
• Just now, the mid-lane trade. GIF
• Both of them are insane… Red Cup champions and runners-up?
• Wow, look at how YunGi and Prisoner are covering each other. That’s jungle play right there lol. But why doesn’t our jungler cover like that? – If I go there, I’d be dead, what cover? bs
• Ah lol, support roaming is cheating
• The early-game setup is crazy. Wasn’t that all planned by YunGi and Rainbow? Prisoner got completely screwed lol – Is top lane teleport a real thing in solo queue? Is this the same insane top I remember? My heart is pounding… – Look at how they all joined after a brief mid-lane trade lol. What’s going on here? Is this the game I remember?
• ? Why is Nautilus there all alone?
• That grab to steal the river crab was legendary lol. Even Bronze/Silver players wouldn’t do that.
• They would…
• Ahh… no…
• Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!
• Why is this being shared? Are they really a Challenger?
• This is trolling
• At least the ADC played well and managed to escape, but they’re losing all their CS lol. This is definitely not a win.
• They lost all the early gains they made with that setup lol. Seriously, the support messed up.
• Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner! Prisoner!
• Stop spamming, dumbass
• This is why tools are a problem right? huh? huh?
• Next up, Lunatic Knight Spoon
• Rainbow is stuck under the turret, can’t do anything lol
• Mid lane clash starts!
• MobyDick’s aggression is insane
• See? I told you lol. Mechanically, Rainbow can’t keep up with MobyDick. He can’t even breathe, look at him getting hit lol
• lol^nice^
• Ah, bot lane is done for
• Oh, just now, Prisoner barely survived with low health. That was so close. How did he live?
• That Nautilus throw earlier was huge. It caused the ADC to fail, and they ended up getting dived in bot lane lol
• Midline clash, midline clash, midline clash, midline clash, midline clash, midline clash, midline clash, midline clash, midline clash
• Sucks
• I hope Nautilus dies again lol

• Didn’t I just get caught while taking vision? Bronze/Silver players talk without even knowing what happened lol
• Tool sensitivity lol
• Did you see Rainbow and YunGi just now? That was insane but they still lost
• lol, too bad, that was great though
• The growth difference was just too big
• lol
• Wow, Rainbow really played well in that last teamfight, but the early game loss was just too big. How did they even win that?
• If Rainbow really played well, they would’ve won
• lol, it was Nautilus’ trolling that lost them the game, what do you know, amateur
• Next up, Smurfing
• Breaking News) Prisoner achieves 21-game win streak
• Is this real? A 21-game win streak in the heavenly tier? 1900 points is impressive, but I think that’s even more amazing. Isn’t this the first time?
• Found out who Nautilus is—2nd division pro
• lol?
• Let’s learn about the booster ‘dwqkopkwrkty.’ ARABOJA

[Name: Jang Dongki]

[Nickname: Whiles]

[Team: TEAM SoSo]

dwqkopkwrkty is a player currently on the second-division team TEAM SoSo.

For reference, TEAM SoSo’s league record from last season was 2 wins and 12 losses, placing them 7th.

• What? That’s a pro?
• What’s a second-division pro? It’s just a local gaming club lol
• That’s a bit too much, but still, it’s a fact they didn’t perform well
• Doesn’t matter if it’s first or second division, a pro is a pro. Can they just throw solo queue games like that? Shouldn’t there be a penalty?
• Everyone, don’t misunderstand. They were doing their best, really. Haha, for sure
• So, they’re in the second division, huh? lol. And 7th place out of 8 teams lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
• Retire already

Hmm…

Now I can roughly understand how things went down.

Finding the culprit.

In the League of Legends community, one of the most unavoidable bad habits is the “find the culprit” trend.

What is the “find the culprit” phenomenon?

Every game loss has its causes, and League of Legends is no exception.

“Finding the culprit” means the player who performed poorly in that specific game is often singled out and blamed as the reason for the loss.

Like a witch hunt, the so-called fans act as judges, setting up a virtual pyre for the “culprit.”

Normally, finding the culprit only happens in high-profile tournaments or games with massive hype.

In regular solo queue games, it’s something that would never happen.

However, this game was an exception.

Let me explain why…

First off, the timing was quite perfect.

Right now, the League of Legends community is so dry that even memes like “Bees” are gaining popularity as there’s little to talk about.

The real season hasn’t even started yet.

Amid this, I reached 1800 points, and soon after, I hit 1900 points.

I essentially brought some life into the dry community.

Furthermore, during this period, I, having reached 1900 points, ended up facing Rainbow and YunGi, who had targeted me.

It was bound to become a topic of conversation.

Of course, if this were just about the 1900-point achievement, it would have been a big deal, but the fact that it escalated into such a large-scale “finding the culprit” situation in solo queue was due to my unfortunate luck.

It just so happened that the team had Rainbow and YunGi.

• Is there a support who leads Red Cup-winning mid/jungle to a loss? Is there really such a support who drags Red Cup-winning mid/jungle to defeat?

Is there a support who leads Red Cup-winning mid/jungle to a loss? Is there a support who leads Red Cup-winning mid/jungle to a defeat?

– Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles! Whiles!

How a single support can ruin the game.txt

Playing with Whiles.

We play.

SY.

To be precise, Rainbow’s fans are famous for being the most dedicated fanbase in the history of League of Legends.

The large number of fans naturally means that countless personalities and opinions come together, and the backlash to that is just as significant.

‘I guess it’s none of my business.’

It wasn’t exactly pleasant to see my recent opponent being attacked like this, but there was nothing I could really do about it.

Just as I was trying to ignore it…

• Hey, is Prisoner abusing?
• ? What nonsense is that?
• No, does it make sense that someone with obvious issues keeps beating pros and keeps winning like this?
• Now that I think about it, a 21-game win streak in the heavenly tier is crossing the line.

The atmosphere in the community started to shift oddly.

• Now that I think about it, an amateur winning 21 games in a row in the top-tier solo queue doesn’t make sense lol. Sigh.
• If it were a duo, maybe, but 21 wins in solo queue? That’s impossible.
• Here’s another suspicious sign of abuse.
• Prisoner abusing?
• You idiots, Prisoner is really abusing? It’s just the rank players faking it lol.
• The rank players are trying to smear Prisoner now lol. Amazing.
• Yeah, so Prisoner bribed Rainbow, YunGi, Haoran, Nightmare, BlackDog, and WhiteCat, right? Truly amazing.
• You’re missing the point. In a 5v5 game, if you plant one abuser, it’s an easy win. Do you have no brain?
• lol, so if you’re planting top solo queue players in every game, why not just buy the game company? Rank players going too far isn’t new, but really, take it easy.
• What’s the deal? So Prisoner abused? Do you have proof?
• Yeah, sure, if Rainbow loses, it’s abuse and rigging~~~ Truly impressive, rank players.

Clearly, it seemed like not many people genuinely believed I was abusing, but I never imagined this issue would somehow end up on me.

‘o…

To be honest, I felt pretty upset.

The victories I had earned, the points I had achieved, suddenly felt tainted.

‘Look at this.’

In this situation, there was only one thing I could do.

[Game Found!]

[Accept / Decline]

I clicked accept without hesitation, then looked at the list of teammates and smiled slightly.

The time to prove myself had arrived.