[TS] Malicious Sniper

Was my sudden appearance causing confusion?

Or was there some other reason behind that expression?

I couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason, but the eyes of Curry looking at me were trembling intensely.

Then, she opened her mouth and timidly asked me in a voice filled with fluster.

“Is it okay for Barcode to come in here?”

“Yes. I got the approval from the person in charge. There’s no problem at all!”

Having given her a definite answer, I moved past Curry to sit next to Rine.

“If Rine is okay with it, I’d like to teach you alongside Curry. Is that alright?”

“Barcode is going to teach me…? The Barcode who sent Curry to Grandmaster…?”

“Yes. But if you’re uncomfortable or anything…”

“No! Not at all! I’m not uncomfortable! In fact, it’s an honor!”

Though I’d never once smiled kindly in my life, seeing Curry’s face getting crumpled next to me made me involuntarily smile.

Perhaps seeing my smile relaxed her tension, or maybe she was just adaptable to the atmosphere; either way, the awkwardness on Rine’s face noticeably faded, allowing us to continue in a more comfortable environment.

“First, let’s review the replay from the last match.”

“Um, did you happen to… watch it?”

“Yes. I was watching everything from the control room. I also saw the replay.”

“Ugh…”

Was she embarrassed that someone who loves watching her play would see her gaming?

Not being able to meet my eyes, Rine covered her face with both hands.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed.”

“But I am embarrassed!”

Despite saying that, she lowered her hands and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

I executed the replay and navigated to the scene with the feedback points I had prepared in advance.

Rine was playing Renekton, while the opposing top was Kamal.

When facing Kamal, the usual strategy was to poke before the passive shield was up.

However, Renekton‘s empowered W had the effect of breaking shields, so there was no need to poke before the passive came into play.

Right now, the part I was about to provide feedback on was that Renekton had built up over 50 fury and hit level 3 first.

Instead of actively looking to trade damage, Rine, upon reaching level 3, focused on collecting CS as much as possible.

Even though the advantage was clearly on her side, she let the opponent play too freely, resulting in a rather neutral lane phase that could have been overwhelmingly in her favor.

“What’s the problem here?”

“Um… not being aggressive with trades… seems to be the issue?”

“You’re right. But why didn’t you poke aggressively?”

“Well, their jungler is Zhao, so… I was scared of getting ganked at level 2, so I kept my skills.”

Having pieced together Rine’s mentality from her helpless answer, I continued to explain gently.

“It seems like you must have had a rough time against Zhao before, right? Starting from level 2 ganks and so on.”

“Yes! That’s right! So, when the enemy jungler is Zhao, I automatically play more cautiously…”

Skipping the trading timing due to concerns about the enemy jungler and going for a neutral lane phase.

Considering her tier, it’s impressive to think deeply like this, but it wasn’t a good judgement.

Especially thinking from a gold tier perspective, the top lane is one where you must压压打压 to climb.

You could say this is being cautious, or poorly, one might say she has no talent as a ‘top’.

However, despite my criticism about her talent as a top laner, Rine’s mechanics were top-notch.

With the kind of mechanics that would definitely let her break out of gold, but due to her gaming style and disposition, she felt locked in her own abilities.

To put it bluntly, Rine fit mid or jungle better than top.

But since we couldn’t initiate a lane swap now, I had to teach her as much as I could.

“Curry says you need to map-read. You need to pay attention to teleport plays. You should definitely trade damage as much as you can. Something along those lines.”

“…That might have gotten a bit distorted, but that’s roughly what she said.”

“Forget all of it.”

“What? Is that okay…”

I turned my head to look at Curry.

Curr was looking like she had given up, nodding her head dejectedly as if the world was over.

“Curry seems to understand.”

“Ah, yes…”

After glancing at Curry with sympathy, Rine quickly turned her head back toward me.

“First of all, Rine, you lack the characteristics of a top laner.”

“Characteristics of a top laner…”

“Shall we take a look at this damage trading scene?”

In the level 3 moment where no damage exchange was made, both sides were now level 4.

The enemy Zhao showed up at the bottom, and our jungler was clearing the crab after taking all camps.

In such a situation, the only places where the our jungler could go would be entering the enemy jungle or trying to pressure mid or top.

Thus, for Renekton, the best plan would either be to trade damage to apply dive pressure or to dive and secure a kill.

However, Renekton ended up trading damage with Kamal and just took damage, coming out worse off.

It was a big mistake that Renekton went in with an E and immediately used the empowered W while Kamal still had his bone shield up.

As a result, the damage was reduced by the bone shield, and most of the damage inflicted by Renekton was blocked by Kamal‘s passive shield.

This was a catastrophic blunder stemming from a lack of understanding of the enemy champion that ended up crippling the effective use of the jungler.

“The two mistakes Rine made in this scene are: one, the lack of understanding about Kamal; and two, the inability to utilize the jungler.”

I repeatedly rewound the damage trading moments and explained one by one.

When trading damage against an opponent with a bone shield, it’s crucial to make sure that the shield is gone first to gain an advantage.

Kamal‘s passive activates when hitting the champion with basic attacks, so it’s best to purposely create distance and draw out the passive.

There’s no need to be overly concerned about the enemy jungler while being haunted by bad memories.

Calm explanations continued, and as Rine listened attentively, she gasped.

“Seeing it this way, I really understand why I struggled at the start of the lane.”

“Exactly! And top laners always have to use their jungler like their own limbs. If mid is more of the jungler’s helper, top needs to call for assistance like an ADC would do with the support to make good plays.”

“Top laners need to use their jungler like their limbs… I’ll remember that.”

After that, I continued focusing only on the necessary feedback for Rine.

Starting with the fact that there’s absolutely no need to save teleport for the sake of being mindful of other lanes,

I instilled the idea that a top laner should not play for their team nor sacrifice themselves.

Most importantly, rather than opting for a vague join, continuing to split push effectively is ultimately more beneficial for the team.

I provided passionate feedback like never before, and when it was done, Rine had a bright expression as if she realized something.

“I’m going to try a solo queue match now!”

“If I could, I’d love to provide real-time feedback, but that might be too much pressure on Rine, so I’ll just observe.”

“Okay! Barcode mentor, keep a close eye. I’m going to carry this game.”

Perhaps because she resembled Ji-hye in many ways,

I felt an inexplicable urge to do well by Rine.

Given that she was a somewhat famous solo singer, she was incredibly attractive, and she seemed to have a nice personality.

She was a woman who was wasted on Curry, and for Rine’s sake, I had to act as a barrier between the two.

With that thought, I took on the mentor role and focused on Rine’s game as it began.

Honestly, I didn’t expect an extreme transformation from one feedback session,

but she showed a noticeably more active trading behavior than the games with Curry.

By that standard, it was a sufficient change, and I believed the feedback had been successful when suddenly…

[First Blood!]

Curry instantly caught the opportunity to kill as the enemy Aatrox wasted two skills.

Curry’s Klad, who was selected as the counter to the opponent’s level pick of Aatrox, easily managed to take down an opponent with all skills on cooldown; it was a far stretch from the previous game with Curry’s feedback, and it was unexpectedly a solo kill.

Rine, who had always maintained a defensive playstyle, suddenly went on the offensive.

Well, I didn’t expect her to get a solo kill either.

It was definitely a good change, something I thought was well within a reasonable range of predictions…

[You have slain an enemy!]

[You are on a rampage!]

[It’s impossible to stop this!]

…but seeing how Rine’s Klad was ripping apart the enemy Aatrox, I was at a loss for words.

After the jaw-dropping game went on, I had no choice but to rescind my earlier judgment.

Did I say she had no talent as a top laner?

No, Rine had excellent talent as a top laner.

Overflowing with the spirit of a daring top laner, akin to Curry.

Just as I pushed Curry up to Grandmaster, if Rine displayed this level of play, she could surely reach Platinum.

While reassessing my view, I felt a primal aggressiveness awaken, leading to an unchecked initiation, but…

The invincible Klad rampaged across the battlefield, single-handedly defeating three enemies and wrapping up the team fight in victory.

As a result, Rine’s team, having secured all objectives, began to orchestrate their strategy.

As the enemy team moved to stop Klad who was split pushing in the side lane, our team chose to push rather than join, and Klad initiated a 5v1 fight.

No matter how well she had grown, attempting to take on 5 enemies in a mid-game situation was a dubious decision.

It would have been wise to retreat just short of getting eliminated, but at this point, Rine had fully accepted her identity as a ‘top’.

Retreat was not an option, and she deleted their AD carry swiftly.

However, as she continued to face the reactions of the enemy team, Klad’s power started to wane.

Ultimately, she took down two more before being defeated, but having already bested three enemies, the match was as good as won.

The enemy team scrambled to defend their base, but it was a monumental challenge to best four opponents given the circumstances.

They weren’t as stacked as Rine’s Klad.

[Victory!]

In the end, Rine celebrated her monumental first win since starting the collaboration, tossing her headset down and turning to me.

“I did well, didn’t I! Even I think I did really well!”

“Ha, yes. You did exceptionally well this time.”

Perhaps due to having recognized her identity as a top laner, Rine had become confidently bold, but…

That demeanor suited her even more.

“Oh, I got so excited for a moment. I feel embarrassed…”

“It’s fine. I do have feedback I want to give, but for now, let’s keep playing solo queue? Once the flow is broken, you never know when it’ll come back around.”

“Okay! I trust you, Barcode mentor!”

Seeing Rine, who had been downcast before I arrived, change so dramatically in a single match was incredible for me as well.

While Rine found a match, I subtly shifted my gaze towards Curry.

“…”

Curry was watching Rine with a complex mix of emotions.

As our eyes met, she made a face that looked like she was about to cry.

Unable to hold back, I mouthed words to Curry.

Who’s the mentor now?

Whether she understood what I mouthed or not, a shadow of despair fell across Curry’s face.

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