Chapter 132 - Chapter 132

Chapter 132

【Read only at hivetoons.org】

6:30 PM was the time to leave work.

This was the same for the LiOS operations team.

However, instead of heading home, Assistant Manager Lee Yeong-ju and Assistant Manager Kim Ju-hwan headed to a place other than home, their hands full of snacks taken from the supply room.

The meeting room.

On the table were popcorn and drinks they had prepared separately, and the two added their snacks on top.

For reference, they had received permission.

"Let's see who is right."

Assistant Manager Lee was full of confidence.

"Yes, yes, we'll see when we watch. We'll see that I'm right."

"Oh, please."

Assistant Manager Lee brought the popcorn box in front of her, held it in her arms, and put her hand inside.

*Crunch.*

After grabbing a handful, she ate delicious mouthfuls and urged him to quickly turn it on.

Assistant Manager Kim brought up Travel on the large monitor in front of them.

"I feel this every time, but it really feels like a movie theater, which is great."

They often watched like this during LiOS.

It would be nice if they could put their feet up on the desk because the chair was slightly uncomfortable, but if they got caught, they would definitely be scolded and asked if it was their living room.

Feeling a sense of regret, Assistant Manager Lee leaned back, sinking into the chair.

"The streamers have gathered just in time. How many viewers are there?"

Point.

It was a famous company on Travel.

Starting from Ha Yun-ho, he was practically a major streamer, and the core members who grew up with Ha Yun-ho had all become mid-sized streamers.

Their influence had no choice but to be massive.

"Seo-jun has 22,000 viewers. Yun-ho has 45,000. Lumi has 17,000. These three are the largest for now. Combining all the rest, it's about 150,000 in total."

The average number of viewers for LiOS was 300,000.

"150,000 is half of that? As expected of Point. That's a lot. Well, even though four of the streamers aren't from Point."

Here, the 300,000 referred to the number of viewers watching through the official account.

There was no such agreement as banning broadcasting during the tournament in LiOS, so the actual number of users watching LiOS was probably around 1 million.

Almost all viewers who entered The League category watched the tournament.

Anyway.

Assistant Manager Lee continued.

"Since so many people will see Seo-jun's skill, everyone will acknowledge our decision to place him in Grade A."

150,000 was an administrative abundance.

It was good to promote the tournament in advance.

"No, why are you speaking as if it's already decided? The opponent is a Challenger, you know. Don't you know Spoon?"

Although his viewer count was only 4,000, Spoon was a streamer widely known for his skilled Challenger AD Carry plays.

If he only had the talent of an entertainer, he could have become a mid-sized streamer through the recognition and influx of viewers he accumulated.

"Yes, I know. Then, since Spoon is that skilled, even if he went mid, if Seo-jun wins, you will recognize him as Grade A, right?"

"I'll recognize it even if it's a draw."

"Good."

*Crunch.*

Assistant Manager Lee stuffed herself with popcorn.

This popcorn and this place were not for the custom match.

They were for watching the situation unfold where Assistant Manager Kim would be proven wrong and she would be proven right.

After the streamers completed their self-introductions, the custom match began.

Similarly, Assistant Manager Kim, who was stuffing himself with popcorn he brought to watch Assistant Manager Lee be proven wrong, expressed a doubt.

"Huh? They left Kael open? Did Spoon not hear about the situation?"

If Seo-jun played Kael, it would become difficult to evaluate him.

It wouldn't matter much if it was just one game, but what if they hadn't communicated properly?

"Yun-ho must have explained it well himself. How many years of experience does he have?"

Fortunately, those words were correct.

Seo-jun's turn came, and he did not choose Kael.

Only.

"Eric?"

"Not holding a sword, I see. Honestly, if it were Kael, I thought I could win too."

If he insisted on that, it would get a bit annoying. No matter if he was a Kael one-trick, a win was a win.

"But Eric. The answer has come out for this one. Grade B!"

"Oh, really."

"Grade B!"

"Why are you acting so childishly!"

"Hahaha! Grade B!"

Not only was Eric's performance itself poor, but he was a hero whose play style was too different from what had been shown so far.

Assistant Manager Kim was certain, and Assistant Manager Lee prayed.

And the clash in the mid lane began.

Initially, Seo-jun's basic attack struck the enemy.

Assistant Manager Kim began his analysis.

"His sense of range seems quite outstanding."

"Nervous?"

"What nonsense."

After some time, Spoon dashed, and a chain was shot at that location.

*[Stab!]*

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Could he win?"

"What do you mean, could he."

And then came the exquisite distance control.

"Huh, huh?"

"It's obvious who is dominating here, isn't it? Still Grade B?"

"Just watch a bit more."

Spoon's bullets vanished right in front of Seo-jun's nose.

"Even so?"

"Uh-huh."

And Spoon initiated the fight.

It was from that moment.

That Assistant Manager Kim became mute.

[Chains of Destruction]

Spoon was hit by the hidden skill.

"Even so?"

[Chains of Destruction]

He was hit by the skill coming from behind Seo-jun.

"Even so?"

[Chains of Destruction]

And finally, he ran away, but Spoon, who had moved to his destination, died.

[First Blood!]

"Even so?"

Assistant Manager Kim could say nothing.

***

[Wow, First Blood! Crazy! How is this Tae-woo's friend?]

[No, really? What on earth did you do? A solo kill!]

[Jungler, did you help him?]

[I did not.]

[Thank you all for the congratulations.]

Cheers were heard as Seo-jun secured a solo kill without any help from his teammates.

Seo-jun won a pure one-on-one laning phase match. Against a Challenger.

There were still many people who did not know Seo-jun properly.

And the streamers were human, too.

It meant it was not strange for them to worry about the mid lane.

Worrying: what if the rookie Ha Yun-ho picked did poorly here and got criticized?

No matter how highly Ha Yun-ho praised him when introducing him, the opponent was a Challenger. Though the result was the opposite.

- Didn't I tell you? This guy is just a Challenger.

- This is his first game, right? He uses it incredibly well.

- What is the way to use Eric?

- I don't know either!

- I say this again, but Eric's pick rate is at the absolute bottom. Few people know the information...

- Out of 20,000 people, there isn't a single one?

If that was true, it was a bit surprising.

Seo-jun brought up the interface and pressed the recall button to return to the altar, the starting point.

When his body was not interrupted for 5 seconds, he was teleported to the altar.

Here, health and the resources to use skills were recovered.

For reference, Eric did not have such resources, so he was on the freer side.

Here, one could also buy things called runes with the gold obtained from slaying minions and securing kills.

Since he had not yet gathered enough gold to buy a rune, Seo-jun recovered his slightly depleted health and immediately returned to the lane.

The return time was short, and during that time, Seo-jun read the chat.

- Isn't this guy's magic simply not fixed in advance? He sets up a magic circle, looks at the enemy, and then shoots the chain.

- Oh. Is there such a way to use it? Eric is good?

- If that were the case, *sigh*, everyone and their mother would be playing Eric, haha. What's the point of 3 seconds if you can decide later anyway, lol.

- Real talk, lol.

- I'm actually flustered because no one is appearing to explain Eric, hahaha.

Ah.

The sorrow of an unpopular hero.

When Seo-jun was figuring out Eric the previous day, he also struggled a bit because there were few strategy posts.

For reference, Eric was not a pest hero. To be called a pest hero, there had to be at least some players who did poorly with him.

"I will explain it to you. First, the number of chains with which Eric can fully deal damage to an enemy at one timing is one. If two are shot to the same place and hit the enemy, one of them will have its damage cut to one-tenth."

One timing meant 0.5 seconds.

Chains shot to the same place within that time would not have a significant effect even if they hit.

"Imagine if Eric were hiding and then all the damage applied when launching a surprise attack."

As much as it was difficult to hit, it was a skill with strong damage, and a surprise attack was a form of attack that could hit almost guaranteed.

If the skill damage were not reduced, there could be cases where someone would die from just a single surprise attack.

"And you also get hit by your own skill, and at that time, you take double the damage."

The few existing Eric users absolutely hated this.

- Sorry. Just hearing about it makes it sound terrible.

- I didn't know you could get hit by it yourself, lol.

- The desire to play Eric after seeing the streamer just vanished completely.

Seo-jun returned to the lane, and his experience increased.

In MOBA games, experience was given when nearby minions died, when enemies were killed, or when monsters in the jungle were slain.

And in The League, one could grow stronger by leveling up, and usually, skills were greatly enhanced every 5 levels.

At level 6, one learned the ultimate skill.

Seo-jun had already reached level 5.

"For reference, Eric can use three magic circles starting from level 5."

The damage increased and the count increased.

'Hmm.'

Seo-jun approached the minions, glancing to the side.

The enemy jungler was hiding in the bush next to the mid lane, targeting Seo-jun.

Thanks to the ward (an object that reveals the surrounding vision when installed) that his team's jungler, Malang, had placed in the bush in advance, Seo-jun and his teammates were able to check the enemy's location.

[The enemy jungler is at mid. Seo-jun, I will head there soon, so just be careful for a bit.]

High-tier Diamond streamer, Dogam.

If he played in LiOS, he was a talent who would receive a Grade B.

If Dogam did not possess that level of skill, Spoon would have rather not called him since it would only be a hindrance.

However, Spoon called Dogam after getting solo-killed.

- Waiting for a gank here.

- It seems he called him to catch him immediately upon arrival.

- Yep, that's warded.

- The ward Malang placed out of consideration for Seo-jun works like this, lol.

- Let's just not go out?

Since Seo-jun noticed the enemy jungler's presence here, he just had to not go far from the turret.

If the jungler could do nothing in the mid lane and kept getting held back, it would be a huge loss.

Otherwise, he could wait for Malang to arrive and lure them in.

The importance of wards.

Knowing the enemy's location allowed for a smoother response.

However, Seo-jun went forward, pretending not to know.

"Let's go push the lane."

If one interpreted the meaning of Seo-jun's words.

It meant he would wait for the enemies to come in on their own.

Spoon also arrived at the lane just in time.

And Dogam immediately began to move.

***

As soon as he arrived at the lane, Dogam rushed out to help Spoon, who had initiated the fight.

'He said we shouldn't give him time to think beforehand, right?'

He invaded ahead of time so the opponent could not predict and prepare.

Magic circles began to multiply around Seo-jun one after another.

The sky, the side, the back.

*Bang, bang!*

Deflecting Spoon's second attack, Seo-jun immediately turned around.

At that moment.

*Rattle!*

The magic circle that was looking down from above his head thrust a chain precisely down to where he was.

'How? Wasn't he not looking back?'

*Thud!*

Dogam, who rammed into his body, was flustered, but.

'He told me to just do my job no matter how absurd it is, right?'

Recalling Spoon's request, he prepared his skill.

Dogam's hero was the desert soul, Sand Mummy.

[Sand Binding]

*Slither.*

Aiming at Seo-jun's legs, he concentrated the sand mass leaking from his body, gathered it in the air, and shot it in the shape of a spear.

At the same time, Spoon also attacked.

*Thud!*

The second chain shot from the magic circle that appeared on the side pierced his body.

Up to here, 2 seconds.

'When did he set this one up too?'

Since the third magic circle was generated behind Spoon, Dogam let out a sigh of relief.

Instead of dodging the sand spear, Seo-jun blocked Spoon's second shot, and the spear he threw broke as it struck Seo-jun's foot, turning into sand.

However, instead of scattering around, the sand clumped at Seo-jun's foot, firmly attaching it to the ground.

It was a skill that restricted movement for 3 seconds.

"He's caught!"

Dogam and Spoon began to attack Seo-jun from the front and back, and the third magic circle behind Spoon was activated.

[Chains of Destruction]

The sound of a chain dragging on the ground was heard, and Spoon shot a bullet at Seo-jun while dodging to the side.

'As expected, nice!'

Dogam also gathered sand and launched an attack.

By the way.

*Rattle!*

"Huh?"

The third chain bypassed Spoon, bypassed Seo-jun, and was flying straight toward him.

'It was me from the start?'

Or was it a coincidence?

Perhaps he could barely survive.

*Thud!*

Then.

Without even turning back, Dogam saw Seo-jun pointing his hand backward, aiming a magical orb at him.

"Damn it!"

*Bang!*

[Sword God defeated Dogam!]

***

*Damn it.*

He did not even hope that Seo-jun's control would become slightly difficult just because one more magic circle was added.

But what on earth was this?

Magic circles were generated at 1-second intervals from all directions, shooting chains.

'He generates them in a way that is disgustingly difficult to grasp.'

Does he know all this himself?

Well, of course he does, which is why he is doing this.

Spoon ducked his head.

He tried to attack immediately, but the next chain was shot precisely at the position of the face he had ducked.

He barely dodged by throwing his body to the side.

A chain with a menacingly sharp end struck the ground.

And.

*Rattle!*

Without giving him time to breathe, the next chain was shot toward the place he had dodged.

Normally, combat against Eric and the Chains of Destruction were not like this.

Usually, Eric users faced the enemy, utilized the range, and shot only in one direction from the front.

One only had to be careful of the front.

And when they became able to use three magic circles, they aimed in three directions at once, targeting to hit at least one, instead of shooting relentlessly at 1-second intervals.

Yet now, Seo-jun instead clung to him and summoned magic circles everywhere within a 2-m radius.

While blocking the second shot.

Relentlessly at 1-second intervals.

Spoon was busy trying to dodge the chains flying from all directions.

Even if they were generated without thought, it would be difficult to handle, but there was not a single magic circle that did not contain a prediction.

This was terror.

Just looking and dodging made his head tangle, yet he kept designing such a battle?

Predicting his movements?

[Chains of Destruction]

*Rattle!*

Another chain popped out from somewhere, and Spoon, ultimately feeling his limit, used his skill for evasion.

With the intention of getting out of Seo-jun's magic circle generation range and only looking straight ahead.

[Quick Shot]

*Rattle!*

The chain passed through the empty air where Spoon had been.

He dodged it.

However, the chain struck a minion as if it had not targeted him.

That minion died because its health was low.

And Spoon confirmed through the information floating above Seo-jun's head that he had reached level 6.

Ultimate skill.

[Liberation]

It was a skill that increased the magic circle generation range to 10m and the count to 20 for about 3 seconds.

A magic circle appeared behind Spoon, who had moved away. At maximum range.

Looking ahead, he realized that they had not only appeared behind him.

Centered around Spoon and Seo-jun, 20 magic circles were forming a dome, surrounding them.

'I can't dodge this.'

He had no confidence in dodging.

If another Eric user used their ultimate like this, he would have just laughed at them, calling them an idiot.

They should have at least lined them up. And what was the point of wasting 20 all at once? Even if many hit, only one dealt meaningful damage.

However, Spoon now felt as if his death was guaranteed 3 seconds later.

He gave up moving. Since he would be predicted no matter how he moved, he had rather made a self-abandoning decision to stand still.

'Haha. Since he summoned so many around, he'll get hit by at least one himself, right?'

Afterward.

*Thud!*

When 3 seconds passed, chains shot out from the twenty magic circles at once, devastating the area.

Excluding precisely the place where Seo-jun stood.

***

[Double Kill!]

And precisely right after that.

In an office in Seoul, a voice more cheerful than ever was heard.

"Even so? Really? Yes?"

And posts exploded on The League community forum.