Chapter 141: Minion (2)
Story mode was the hero's legend told by the champions themselves. The higher the understanding of legends, the more power a summoner could draw from their champions. In other words, even if the champions were the same, their combat abilities could vary depending on the summoner.
It seemed unfair, but the developers clarified that this mechanic was also a part of being skilled in?LIL.
'This is... good.'
Ju-Hyeok, who knew all of this prior, recognized what a great opportunity this was for Almond. Starting story mode at Level 2 was like starting an RPG game with a legendary item.
'We need to get more out of it.'
There were currently around 5000 viewers, but there was potential for more. Unfortunately, there weren't many viewers since it was early in the morning and half of Almond's audience was unaware that he was streaming. Ju-Hyeok started typing on his phone as if the screen was about to break.
"What are you doing?"
Ji-Ah was curious about what he was doing and stopped eating.
"Manager's work."
"... Are you sure you're not playing Candy Crush?"
"Candy... what are you saying. Kiddo, this is very important work."
Ju-Hyeok continued to focus on his work.
[This guy unlocked Raina's story mode from one normal game]
[What?! It's possible to reach max rapport with Raina by using your looks?.gif]
[How to reach max rapport with Raina by just talking.gif]
[LIL's biggest alpha male.gif]
[As long as you're good with a bow, her rapport is easy to gain. Something you guys can't do.gif]
Ju-Hyeok was doing important manager work on the community forums. Not only did he post on LIL Pro, but also in the?Kingdom Age and Battle Large forums to attract reinforcements. These users wanted reassurance that?LIL was an inferior game to theirs and hoped more than anyone else that Almond would achieve new things in the game.
— Even LIL can't handle Almond.
— "LIL is not hard. Almond just hasn't played it yet." by Treevy chat
— Raina story? A Batte Large player does it in one round. Are all LIL players just stupid~~?
They were all childish, but this immature competition helped raise the posts in LIL Pro to the big category.
"Oh... oh."
Ji-Ah, watching it unfold behind him, was impressed.
'Is it going to work?'
The most important part was the instantaneous effect.
'Is it working!?'
It would be impossible to have it trending if he lost this chance.
Tadadak.
He visited several posts and commented on the link to his post to promote it. Ju-Hyeok felt it was unnecessary, but he had no choice since they recently transitioned games.
— You're really trying to promote him, huh?
— I gave it a lil cause you're begging so much.
— I gave the post a big because I felt bad. I'll send it to big pro.
The effort paid off. The post earned lots of big and made it to the big pro category.
[Big!] [How to reach max rapport with Raina by just talking.gif]
"Oh!"
"It worked!"
Clap.
Ji-Ah and Ju-Hyeok high-fived and smiled.
'... I feel ashamed.'
'It is a bit weird.'
He felt weird feeling happy from fabricating a popular community post.
"Ahem. Let's just eat."
"Yeah..."
Ju-Hyeok continued to eat after completing his task while glancing at the comments.
— Almond?
— Oh, this is Almond.
— Where is he living right now? I can't resist some almond flakes in the morning! I'm headed there now!
— Oh, Raina's story mode? I can't resist this!
— Damn, Almond does some funny things in LIL as well?
— Wow! You know Almond too?!
***
"You said your name is Almond, right?"
Young Raina stared him down.
"If you're picking up the bow because you're scared of the frontline, then leave it alone…."
Almond wanted to scold the little girl, but he couldn't because he was also in the body of a child.
— Raina's the same as when she was young, LOL
— Holding hands with Raina?! Lucky you…
— I should've picked up the bow too! So I can hold hands with her!
"I'm grabbing it because I'm good with a bow."
"Ah, okay."
She obliged, but her expression said otherwise. It was as if she knew what Almond was going to say. Whatever the case, Almond didn't care. All he needed was the bow.
"Then I'll take it... huh?"
However, Raina didn't let go of the bow.
"Take something else."
"... Why?"
"Because this is the best one."
"That's why I'm trying to take it."
"Someone who doesn't even know how to drag bodies knows how to look at bows?"
"I probably have ten more years of experience than you."
Almond replied a little too seriously because Raina poked his archery pride. The viewers thought they were watching children fight each other.
— Uh, Almond? Aren't you taking it a little too seriously...
— LOL, You've been playing games for a month now!
— Experience?: A Decade
— 16 years old, but you have 10-year experience?
— Did you actually turn into a child?
“Haha,” Raina gave a rare laugh. "Ten more years? Did you start when you were in your mother's belly?"
"Just give it."
Almond tried to force the bow away from her. He instinctively felt that he needed the bow because the first star criterion was surviving, the next was eradicating the enemy, and the final was Raina's reason.
"No, I don't want to…!"
"Give it!"
There was nothing about having to keep Raina alive. She'd survive anyways because this was her past memory. He didn't find the need to give the bow to her.
"Hey, you."
A large soldier approached them.
Slam!
"Kugh!"
He suddenly kicked Almond.
"Give that bow to Raina."
Thud.
Almond fell to the ground with a defeated look.
"You use this."
A cheap-looking bow was thrown in front of him.
"W-Why! I grabbed it first!"
"...?"
The soldier turned around and gave an intimidating look.
"Hey, minion. This is your first battle. Raina has five victories already, so she has the say. Do you have a problem with that?"
The premise was that this was Almond's first battle. From the beginning, he had no chance to compare with her in terms of experience.
"... No."
Almond had no choice but to pick up and use the cheap bow.
— Noooo...
— I can't believe Almond is being treated this way...
— He's the only newbie...
— What can you do? Raina's the main character! You should've given up early, you nut.
— Bow lover Almond…
That was right. What could he do about the situation since Raina was the main character. Almond came to terms on his own and collected as many arrows as possible. He thought this was the best way to increase his survival chance.
A soldier shouted loudly, "Thirty seconds before everyone gathers!!!"
Rumble!
All the children stepped out. Almond was a little later than them because he received the bow late, but Raina was ahead of him.
'Why's she in front if she's an archer?'
***
"Gather around!!!"
The soldiers commanded them to gather around the base of the turret. It was the same place where they cleared the corpses earlier. From there, they could see the battlefield on top of the hill. It looked similar to the siege mode map.
The only difference was that there was a pile of snow and the map looked bigger and more realistic. Instead of the summoner's perspective, they were in the perspective of a minion.
"The summoners are coming! Everyone, stand on the sidelines!"
Chuk.
The children followed the command and stood by the sidelines. Almond did as he was told as well. After everyone moved to the side, a hidden path was revealed. It was for the summoner to walk through.
'So there are summoners here too. It's probably not a user, right?'
Normally in the game, the users were the summoners. Since this was story mode, it was most likely not. In terms of the narrative, it was a powerful character. Who was it?
Almond stared intently at the base, curious to see who would come out because once the game began, they would spawn there.
Boom!!!
Five shining white lights fell from the sky and summoned the champions. It was as if angels were descending from the sky, at least from the perspective of a minion.
"Wow..."
"They're so cool..."
"I want to grow up and be a champion too!"
All the children were impressed. The strict soldiers let them have this moment.
'Do the minions turn into champions?'
Since Almond didn't know anything about?LIL's story mode, he could only decipher everything they said. They could turn into summoners because Raina could also turn into a champion.
"Wow!!"
"Champion!"
"Thank you!"
The summoners walked on the path, greeting the minions on the sidelines. There was even a girl smiling at them.
"Wowww! I want to grow up and be a summoner!"
"Yuria! Look over here! Yuria!"
"Wowww!"
As the girl walked by, a loud cheer was heard.
'Bow...'
She was holding a bow. Almond turned around to see Raina's reaction.
"... Yuria! You're so cool!"
At the end of the day, Raina was still a child. He couldn't imagine seeing Raina shout like that. It was a strange feeling. She didn't hesitate to cheer for champions who didn't use a bow.
'Is Raina going to turn into that summoner?'
Almond looked at the champion again, but besides carrying a bow, she had no similarities to Raina, The Cold-Blooded Evil Archer. He couldn't say anything because the summoners and champions were completely different.
"I'll win this time again, for sure."
Raina promised to herself, tightly holding the bow.
— I want to be Raina's bow.
— Me too!
— I'm good with being her arrow.
— My career goal is now Raina's bow.
It seemed like Raina repeatedly used that bow. He thought it would be hers by now, but it seemed like they took it away every time because of safety reasons.
While he was in his thoughts, all the champions passed by.
The soldiers commanded them again, "Minioooons!"
"Yes!"
Slam.
Everyone answered in unison, stomping their feet. Almond just pretended to respond by mouthing the words.
"30 seconds before the battle! Get ready for attacking position again!"
Thump, thump!
Countless children moved at once. The noise from the armor was so loud that birds in the trees started to fly away.
"Row 1!"
Chuk.
The minions in the first row readied their weapons to charge forward.
Sniffle... sniffle...
Someone was crying in the back. It seemed like they knew someone in the front row.
"Charge!"
On the mark of the soldier's flag, the first row of minions charged forward.
"Arrrrgh!!!"
"Kraaaaagh!"
It was more like a scream rather than a shout. Among them was Raina.
'Can she live like that?'
Almond recalled the siege mode and remembered that the first row of minions died indefinitely, but Raina was in the first row despite being an archer. Would she be able to survive until the battle was over? He was worried, but moved on.
'Raina will probably live.'
Raina turning into the evil archer champion was a fact. He didn't need to worry about her. Instead, he had to worry for himself.
"Next! Row 2!"
After a short moment, the second row was called out. They charged in, screaming as well. There was no news about what happened to the first row of minions.
"Row 3!"
"Row 4!"
It was almost Almond's turn. He was in row 8.
"Row 8!"
Chuk!
The children beside Almond got into attack position and lowered their bodies.
"Attack!"
With a simple command, the entire row 8 started to charge forward.
"Aaaargh!"
"Graaaaa!"
"Dieeeee!"
The screams were ear-deafening. The children were screaming to overcome their fear. They ran for a while until...
"There!"
"T-The enemy!"
They met the enemy minions and the courageous children slightly backed off.
'What are they doing?'
Creak…?
Almond was in front of them, readying his bow.
***
[Beginner’s Tip: In siege mode, you can earn gold and EXP by killing minions. You can level up and learn new skills if you gain enough EXP. Gold can be exchanged for new and better items.]?