ALL NOVEL Chapter 33
Eventually, Shia and Min-jun sent me away to the distant top jungle for the crime of bothering their nerves.
So, naturally, I found myself performing the bottom lane phase with ‘Don’t Get Angry, Just Work Hard’ T-shirt.
“Are you Se-min? Nice to meet you!”
“Oh yes! Nice to meet you too. Uhm…”
“Please call me NoName.”
“NoName? Is that really your real name?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Not at all.”
I picked Asteria, just like always. Until the patch update drops, I planned on sticking with this champion for a while.
Honestly, this was probably my last chance to play League.
It was Se-min’s turn to pick.
A gigantic warrior wielding a shield appeared.
“Are you really going to play Bra… um? I mean, are you still…”
“Ahhhh! Not at all! Right, Lulu! Lulu would be better, right?”
“Lulu? I could always play Rammus like I usually do.”
“No way! It would be annoying to play support. You remember that, right?”
“… Let’s do this.”
The lane phase in Free Rank was as dull as dishwater.
I hit level 2 first, but the opponent pulled back, preventing us from making the most of our level advantage.
At this rate, it was obvious we both would farm evenly, and the Opponent Team would end up wasting time without a single fight.
Our team had a decent composition for the late game, so there was no need to exert ourselves yet.
Se-min, nestled among the Celestial Realm players, seemed to relax even more in this forgiving gaming environment.
“Did I really say I saved NoName just for fun?”
“Why would you think it was just a joke?”
When I asked teasingly, Se-min seemed at a loss for words, scratching his head.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his confused expression.
“Look, Asteria is definitely OP but she has clear limits. Until I hit level 6, I’ll just have to take hits like this.”
The Opponent Bae-in attacked me with a roll.
Normally, Lulu would shield me, and I’d kite with the ADC while Bae-in would retreat, but I wasn’t counting on Se-min to do that.
Instead of risking a big loss in health by trying to fight alone without a support, I just chose to take a slap in the face instead.
Asteria’s fox ears drooped. Was it really painful? Maybe I was feeling helpless.
“Even the Rs that everyone else eats is hard for me. If it were Miss Fortune or Kettle, I could take it without a second thought, but Asteria needs precise judgment every moment.”
Should I finish off the soldier while enduring the ADC’s attack, or give up the soldier to avoid getting hit?
“I could pretend to finish off the soldier and engage with the opponent, or I could bait out the opponent’s skills and re-engage afterward. Something like that.”
My childhood was always a series of choices.
One mistake could lead to death, so no minor accidents were tolerated, even if they weren’t caused by my own errors.
“Hitting level 6 doesn’t change much.”
A bird that hatches from an egg meets another world, but that world is not welcoming.
It is fraught with numerous predators, scorching heat, and raging storms.
I have wings, yet I cannot fly.
That was Asteria at level 6, and that was me.
As Bae-in momentarily distanced herself from her support, I immediately used Supernova.
Thanks to my well-saved roll and flash skills, she luckily dodged two of my shots, leaving me with no choice but to waste my ultimate.
In that scenario, would Bae-in feel a sense of crisis?
Most people wouldn’t.
In fact, she would probably feel assured that she could survive a full combo from Asteria and become even bolder in the next fight.
Perceptual errors deepen selective perception and reinforce existing bad decisions.
The truth that someone who had always been in the predator’s position could be preyed upon next isn’t easy to admit.
“If I go in, make sure to shout ‘Grow!’ for me.”
[Asel!]
I defeated the ranged soldier with my Q skill, fulfilling the possession condition.
[Si!]
I restricted the opponent’s movement with my W skill and blocked support with my E skill.
[Libba!]
Although I didn’t have an additional damage marker, I charged straight towards Bae-in without hesitation.
[La Asteria Shutata Pharaoh]
[Grow!]
A perfect ultimate combo.
One I’d experienced dozens of times.
It was a pattern that ignorant players had to lose against Asteria.
No complex calculations were needed here.
Bae-in’s ultimate granted stealth, but against a non-targeting skill like Asteria’s, it was useless, and we both were left with half health.
Logically, if we both delivered our best attacks, Asteria’s damage potential would be much greater.
Yet the snake that couldn’t shake off its past arrogance would meet its doom at the hands of the eagle it thought was just a chick.
[Double Kill]
“But the reason Asteria is OP is because of the teammates who sacrifice themselves until she grows.”
It’s easy for individuals to forget who helped them to rise.
Especially for those who play Kassadin, Kayle, or Asteria.
Did I reach this point solely because of my own skills?
No way!
If there were no mother bird to nurture the egg, it would never hatch.
Until I built an entire world for myself, I expressed gratitude to all who sometimes served as nests or shields.
“Thank you, Cheon Se-min, for saving my life.”
In that fleeting moment, for noticing my desperate struggle that could easily slip by unnoticed.
“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”
I was really grateful. Sincerely.
*
[Have you heard of Valpurgis?]
After Asteria secured a double kill, it’s said that champions become bizarre.
With a long range, balanced sustained and burst damage, her strength was not to be underestimated.
For a ranged dealer, she even has a movement ability, and her ultimate deals merciless damage depending on the caster.
[I was trapped in a capsule with my mother, without knowing why.]
“NoName, you’re really amazing, aren’t you?”
Asteria had just succeeded in a top dive.
Pyo Min-jun praised her kill score.
(13/0/2)
Some might say that having only 13 kills is nothing to boast about, but that’s considering how the game progressed into the late game.
A match consisting of four Celestial Realm players was on a level that could turn the Earth’s rotational axis upside down.
No matter how much they claimed to be just having fun, the game was one-sided, and the playtime still showed 19 minutes.
In other words, the enemy team had spent the last 19 minutes being utterly beaten.
[Yet even when I tried to investigate what that group did in Korea, I found no information.]
As Na-me and Se-min sounded the victory bell at the bottom, Asteria manifested as the deity of calamity.
Having already conquered Min-jun with two solo kills in the lane phase, she relentlessly targeted the opponent’s top, who was completely demoralized.
As an ADC, she successfully executed two top dives at 15 minutes, destroying two turrets.
[Should I just live my life without ever knowing?]
Eventually, Asteria headed mid, mercilessly taking the lives of the three enemies defending there.
“Is there anything more frustrating than dying at your own turret?”
Shia muttered that the enemies had done nothing wrong other than trying to protect their mid turret.
“Then they should have grown stronger.”
Na-me replied cynically.
She even reprimanded them for what they did while they were growing.
Following Na-me closely, I really thought she was an unpredictable character.
‘Thank goodness she seems cheerful.’
Yet Se-min still couldn’t shake off what she had said during the lane phase.
Seven years ago, the name of a terrorist organization that had caused quite the stir in Korea for months came up here.
“And I think the prosecutor who handled that case was probably…”
[Jun-ho123: Hey, when is the game gonna end?]
A message from Jun-ho.
Suddenly, Se-min remembered he was at the PC bang with a friend.
[Don’t Get Angry, Just Work Hard: Soon!]
[Don’t Get Angry, Just Work Hard: Just wait a bit!]
[Jun-ho123: Stop with the dots when you type, are you OCD?]
‘What’s wrong with using dots?’
Se-min was just about to spam the texts.
“I’m gonna kill at least you before the surrender comes!”
While facing the lane, Bae-in, irked by Lulu’s laughter throughout the game, aggressively chased after Se-min, who was already isolated in enemy territory.
Bae-in was fed up with the game and burning with rage.
If she didn’t take out that little fairy tonight, there would be no peace.
Se-min hurriedly tried to escape, but the speed difference was glaring, and each of Bae-in’s arrows pierced his body.
Just before the final verdict struck his heart…
With a flash sound, he felt his health healing.
[Flash – Heal]
“Don’t get distracted when you’re gaming!”
Asteria dramatically saved Lulu with a four-minute heal and a five-minute cooldown flash spell.
Se-min, though he was in the silver tier, understood the importance of that spell.
“Isn’t it too wasteful to use a full spell on a support?”
“She’s not just any support.”
Asteria revived the fairy with an unusually bright smile.
“You’re my benefactor, after all.”
“Ah…”
“Now, let’s go finish this game.”