Chapter 8: To demonstrate your skills

“Ah, guys. Now let’s really start the promotion match…”

[What is this? What situation is this?]

[Is he really queuing remotely from the bathroom?]

[LMAO HAHA]

[No way, the super manly Kim Kare would do that just to avoid a sniper?]

[LMAO HAHA]

[Hahaha]

As Kare returned to the camera, he immediately opened the waiting room.

The sudden broadcast surprised most viewers, but soon after, those who grasped the situation stopped spamming the chat.

The chat, which had just been like hell, was now completely clean.

Kare was truly the mood maker and a magician of broadcast progression.

Avoiding snipers and raising the tension.

It was truly a win-win situation.

But.

“Huh?”

Seeing a familiar nickname in the waiting room chat, Kare froze.

Understanding what it meant to be in a state of shock, Kare’s hands trembled.

Still, as a corporate streamer, he glanced at the situation in the chatroom.

[Wow, what a creepy girl.]

[Crazy bitch… crazy bitch… crazy bitch…]

[This is what a recognized nuisance looks like.]

[How do you snipe this?]

[Is Kare actually an actor?]

[At this point, isn’t Kare sniping Nayeon?]

[Reverse sniper world]

Contrary to what he thought would ignite the chat, it seemed the viewers were shocked this time as they only entered puzzled messages.

Nayeon Queen: Are you desperate?

At that moment, when everyone was stunned, a single message popped up in the waiting room chat.

As Kare read that chat, the world he was looking at started spinning.

[This is… I’m feeling a bit dizzy too.]

[0-Gun isn’t a vessel for someone like you.]

[Desperate? Desperate? Desperate? Desperate? Desperate?]

[You’ve got a strong lifeline, so what are you doing, Kare?]

[Breaking news) Satan is extinct.]

[Even ghosts read that chat and freaked out.]

[Hehe… Demon Queen Nimu…]

[Your temptation is just like a succubus.]

[Succubus (male)]

[Ugh, damn.]

The real devil was here.

At least that’s how Kare felt.

Having met the enemy team in the previous two rounds and forced to lose,

now that they were on the same team, the question being asked was “Are you desperate?”

It felt like a devil’s temptation.

If he said he was desperate here, he might win the promotion match.

But what if such a situation arose again next time?

Could he shake off the temptation after having accepted it once already?

If he had merely treated the broadcast as a way to make money,

he would have entertained this nasty sniper’s requests to make the broadcast more fun.

However, Kare had always been “serious” about the game.

Leori was his “life.”

He recalled his past self, who had boasted about achieving Grandmaster purely on skill.

No matter how much he had been stuck in Diamond for over 2,000 games, he didn’t want to deny his life.

Lonely Gourmet: I’m really desperate.

Lonely Gourmet: Kkiing… heh heh!

… It had been too long stuck in Diamond for him to think like that.

[LMAO HAHA]

[LMAO HAHA]

[Can you still call yourself a pure solo queue warrior after that?]

[If you get promoted to Master, I’ll call you a ragged Master.]

[Kare, how did it come to this…?]

[If you dodge, it’s 1 million won.]

[You’ve been blinded by the tier.]

Kare ignored the reactions in the chatroom.

He couldn’t take back what he had already said.

‘The broadcast doesn’t matter anymore.’

He had already drawn enough attention.

What mattered now was whether he could reach Master or not.

‘Please, just pick something normal.’

After both teams finished banning champions,

the opposing team picked ‘Kiana’ first.

Among AD assassin champions, she was considered the most difficult to handle.

As such, her performance varied greatly depending on who played her.

[Kiana? Didn’t she get nerfed and go to the grave?]

[She went to the grave with Akali.]

[Info] Kiana users have an 80% chance of being “Dae” or “Bu” in the Great Rift]

[Yeah~]

[Is there a name recognition?]

With that, the opponent’s pick phase ended.

It was now time for the allied team’s first and second picks.

The first pick was the jungle role, and the second pick was mid.

Kare silently hoped that Nayeon Queen would play a champion advantageous against Kiana.

As he waited for the picks, the first pick went ahead.

The first pick chose ‘Elress,’ a champion that fit into any combination and was the most standard pick.

The allied team’s selection of this champion, known as the top-tier and a notorious nuisance in the jungle, was a good sign.

Then came Nayeon Queen’s pick.

“Is she really… doing this?”

[Wow, LMAO I didn’t see this coming.]

[Nana and Willaump?]

[I was expecting mid Nana, but… hmm.]

[But does Nayeon Queen know how to play that?]

[There’s no record in her history for this… hmm.]

[Kare is about to go crazy, LMAO.]

Kare and the chatroom fell into chaos at Nayeon Queen’s unexpected pick.

What kind of confidence was this?

That was the first thought that crossed his mind after seeing Kiana’s first pick.

‘There are so many counters to Kiana.’

When Kiana was released, her performance was so good that she was called a freebie.

But now, she was a pick that required a certain level of physical skill to unleash her true potential.

And someone just picks her as a first pick?

Moreover, the opposing first pick didn’t even bother to ban her.

This was practically a declaration of war against the opposing mid-laner.

What champion should I use to teach that Kiana a lesson?

As I pondered that, time quickly flew by.

Seeing the “Elress” pick chosen by our jungle, I made my decision.

— Live by the sword, die by the sword.

I picked Talon.

Along with Zed, Talon was a traditional assassin champion and a strong AD assassin.

Historically, fights between AD assassins have been called “fist fights.”

There couldn’t be a better pick to crush that arrogant first pick Kiana.

“Wait… do you even know how to play Talon?”

As I mercilessly locked in Talon, Kare asked me with a nervous voice.

But I intentionally kept silent and maintained my composure.

It was amusing to watch Kare squirm on the broadcast screen.

“Ugh, I don’t know.”

After going through the team compositions several times, Kare, who had the last pick, ultimately chose Kamal.

Kamal, Elress, Talon.

It was a very aggressive top-side composition.

In contrast, the opposing team had Jake, Karthus, and Kiana on the top side.

Compared to the aggressively offensive mid and top, their jungle was a scaling champion.

With both sides having completed their picks, the game began.

<Blue Team>

TOP Jake

JG Karthus

MID Kiana

AD OHA

SUP Lux

Vs

<Purple Team>

TOP Kamal

JG Elress

MID Talon

AD Kaasa

SUP Thresh

Looking back at the loading screen, our team composition was solid.

No, it was almost perfect.

It felt like looking at a hexagonal midfielder.

While it might not be suitable for tournaments, there wouldn’t be a better composition in solo queue.

On the other hand, the enemy team’s composition was truly an extreme poking setup.

Jake, Karthus, Ashe, Lux.

They all had ranged poke abilities.

That said, it wasn’t a terrible composition for team fights either.

Well, to be honest, seeing such “compositions” was almost meaningless in solo queue.

As you reach the higher ranks, “open” situations happen more frequently.

Ultimately, the key to victory was which side loses their sanity first.

And I knew the surefire way to win in solo queue.

‘I used to play that way with Talon.’

Lost in thought, the loading screen quickly finished.

Grab Master Kim Manduk (Thresh) is on his way.

From the start, our Thresh was pinging vigorously.

Grab Master Kim Man-deuk (Thresh) Q is ready.

By indicating that he had learned the grab skill, our Thresh showed a strong determination to invade.

Following Thresh, we invaded the enemy jungle.

As we passed the river bush and entered the red hill bush,

the enemy team, who had been hiding in the bush, suddenly ambushed us.

Grab Master Kim Man-deuk (Thresh) targeted Perfect Top Solo (Jake).

Grab Master Kim Man-deuk (Thresh) targeted Perfect Top Solo (Jake).

JGGAP (Elress) sent a retreat signal.

[First Blood!]

The Thresh, who was leading, was quickly eliminated.

With Thresh already dead, we had no choice but to give up the invade.

JGGAP (Elress) sent a retreat signal.

Lonely Gourmet (Kamal) sent a retreat signal.

Perhaps our team had the same thought as me, as they pinged back while turning their backs on the deceased Thresh.

Although we quickly made the choice to abandon Thresh and avoided further damage,

Kiana secured the first blood.

[A new wave of minions has spawned.]

First, I returned home to recover health, then quickly went back to lane.

When I arrived at the lane, Kiana was pushing with two longswords.

Nayeon Queen (Talon) targeted Jungle Champion (Kassadin).

Using the ward placed at red, I pinged to indicate that Kassadin was starting at red.

Nayeon Queen (Talon): Pushing lane, level 3 gank incoming.

Any jungler with a decent understanding would have immediately grasped the meaning of my ping and chat.

Having indicated the jungler’s direction, I monitored Kiana, who was pushing the lane with confidence from her two longswords.

No matter how much Kiana had secured first blood, Talon would inevitably win until level 2.

If we kept trading blows, I might suffer some damage, but once my passive was triggered, I would definitely win the exchange.

I had to be careful from level 3 onwards, but at least now was not the level 3 timing, so I actively engaged in trading damage.

Even with an extra longsword, Talon’s passive activated and I fell behind in trading, prompting Kiana to pull back the wave.

She made sure to take the minions she could secure with her skills, while I pushed the wave hard to hit level 3.

Thus, I reached level 3 first.

The big wave of minions stacked up to the cannon wave was now at the enemy’s first tower.

Leaving Kiana, who was farming the minions behind, I moved out of the enemy’s vision.

I immediately jumped over the wall into the mid bush and placed a ward in the enemy blue bush.

Nayeon Queen (Talon) targeted Jungle Champion (Kassadin).

Nayeon Queen (Talon) targeted Jungle Champion (Kassadin).

As expected, Kassadin was hunting the blue.

Watching him attack the blue with an upward movement, it seemed he planned to skip the toad and go for a level 3 gank top.

JGGAP (Elress) was on his way.

Having finished hunting red and hitting level 3, Elress came rushing in.

As Elress joined from above, he hit Kassadin with his cocoon.

I jumped over the wall and quickly used my WQ combo on the stunned Kassadin to activate my passive.

[You have slain an enemy!]

Kassadin was killed without any resistance.

This was precisely why the combination of Elress and Talon was so frightening in solo queue.

No champion could withstand the combined assault of the two champions.

“Crazy! I knew I could count on you, mid jungle!!”

As the victory announcement rang out, I heard a wailing voice from the broadcast.

It was a voice filled with a desperate desire to reach Master.

Nayeon Queen (Talon) targeted Perfect Top Solo (Jake).

Nayeon Queen (Talon) was on his way.

JGGAP (Elress) was on his way.

Having finished hunting in the enemy jungle, Elress and I set our sights on top.

Jake, who was zoning Kamal in front of the first tower, was the perfect prey.

As I and Elress coordinated our timing to join, Kamal responded.

Kamal’s hook landed perfectly, stunning Jake.

Then came Elress’s cocoon with a two-second stun.

And with my WQ combo landing, Jake was turned gray.

Although the start was not very good,

at this point, the game’s atmosphere had turned 180 degrees.

I wore a relaxed smile and typed in chat.

Nayeon Queen (Talon): Feeling good?

Not long after my message, a sound burst forth in my ears.

“F**king good! This is a team!”

Lonely Gourmet (Kamal): I feel so good I could go crazy.

I thought this was a typical response from a top laner.

To be continued.