Chapter 163: Light and Shadow (4)
Thirteen minutes earlier, the second round was about to begin after the first game's success.
Almond picked Sana and said something questionable, "I think I've got the hang of this."
— Almond (1 win): I've got the hang of this
— He did do really well
— Do you feel like you can breathe while playing Sana after only playing Raina?
They were right.
'This is perfect for me.'
Sana was the perfect champion for Almond.
[I don't think a summoner has been able to use my strength to the fullest from the beginning like you.]
Even Sana admitted it. However, the viewers weren't surprised because they heard Raina saying the same thing. Sana was also nicer than Raina.
— Kya, Sana noona doesn't hold back on her compliments!
— But it's unusual to see her compliment like that, no?
— Sana noooonaaaa~
— Sana's the best!
Only after seeing Almond fight against the enemy bottom lane did the viewers realize why Sana complimented him. However, the start was a little odd...
"Hey, support. Just start attacking the enemy support immediately."
Almond requested his support to attack right away.
"... Sorry?"
"Just do it, please."
— Hey, Almond, you're not supposed to do that! He's not even playing as the hammer warrior!
— Are you crazy? He's playing poke support! If he charges in, he dies right away!
Almond's support was playing a champion called the Luminous Magician Lumion.
"Y-You want me to charge in?"
Lumion was a fragile-looking magician champion. His specialty was poking the enemy with magic attacks from the back. His range was long, but he was fragile instead. Almond didn't care though.
"Just charge in when you think it's a good timing."
— ??? Go into your death when you think it's a good timing
— Are you crazy, LOL
— ??? Check how far you're going to fall before dying
"... O-Okay."
Lumion was convinced by Almond's confidence. After about two minutes into their laning phase…
"I-I'm going in now!!!"
Lumion charged in when the enemy became greedy and slightly overextended.
"Aaaaargh!"
The support charged in screaming, firing his magic everywhere.
— LOL
— Why did he have to be a good listener...
— Don't listen to Almond! How's that possible!
The enemy was taken aback, seeing Lumion run at them.
"What the? Is he crazy?"
"What do you mean? It's a free kill! Kill him!"
Their panic wasn't for long, and they started focusing on Lumion. The combination of fire magic and a powerful shotgun was aimed at him.
Kwagwang!
Lumion flared up.
Crackle!
And turned to dust. Or at least, he was supposed to...
[The divine sanctuary protects you!]
"?"
Woong...!?
A green light appeared as Lumion's health went up.
"He's alive?!"
"Sana healed him! Dammit, hit him again!"
Kwagwang!!
Lumion's HP fell again. He fell to 5% HP, but bounced right back up.
[Current HP: 19%]
'I'm alive?'
He lived and continued to live. Every time the enemy attacked him, they continued to hear Sana's dialogue.
[The divine sanctuary protects you!]
[I'm summoning the divine sanctuary!]
[The divine sanc...]
'H-How's this possible?'
The enemy continued attacking, but the HP bar stayed in place. The arrow of lights continued to hit the targets appearing on the support's body without fail. Even when the targets appeared on awkward spots, like on the end of his hands and feet, the arrows didn't waiver. Watching this unfold in a ranked game, let alone a normal match, was incredible.
'Why is he not running out of arrows of light?'
There was a limit to the number of light arrows. Sana needed to hit shadow arrows on her target to earn them. The mechanic existed to prevent ridiculous plays like this, but it didn't matter for Almond.
Pung! Pung!
The shadow arrows continued to land on the targets above the minions because he couldn't reach the champions with his range. He was hitting the targets on the minions with his shadow arrows and his ally with the arrows of light, but very quickly.
'No way! This is the speed of shooting back and forth with his arrows?!'
Even though some players could fire accurately, no normal player could fire this quickly. Lumion couldn't keep his mouth closed. The enemy started shuddering in fear as well.
"W-Why isn't this guy dying!?"
"Is he crazy?!"
"How does he have infinite arrows of light?! Isn't this a bug?!"
"Fucking developers..."
"Report him after this game. Fuck them."
From the enemy's perspective, it looked like a bug because Almond infinitely used the arrows of light.
— He's going to get reported again, LOL.
— What's he going to do about the tournament if he gets reported...
— Breaking news: Almond... is not a nut. He's a bug!
Then Almond shouted, "What are you doing! Just keep shooting!"
Lumion returned to his senses after blanking out.
"Ah... Ye-yes!!"
He forgot he was fighting because his HP wasn't decreasing. Lumion's skill was back from cooldown, and he started firing his magic.
Puuung! Pubung!
The frantic enemy became an easy target whether they wanted to report Almond or not.
[Double Kill!]
The two that charged in to kill Lumion lay flat.
— Wow!
— Lumion double kill?!
— This is crazy
— Kya~ once he gets items, it's over.
— A double kill?!
From this point on, the game became out of control. The enemy died to Almond every time they came to the lane...
[Victory!]
Eventually, the enemy team surrendered after thirteen minutes unanimously. After the game, the enemy support had something to say to Almond.
"LazySoldier, are you happy with yourself playing an OP champion like that in a normal game?"
The support was cursing at him, but that was the best compliment in LIL.
— What a compliment!
— Nobel Prize for LIL
— It's like a thank you speech, haha
— You should feel honored.
— For honor!
— This is like Almond's award ceremony!
***
"What did I just witness?"
Tako didn't mean to say it. It just came out of his mouth. Like a hiccup, he couldn't control it. After watching Almond's thirteen-minute performance, he couldn't help himself.
'I've never seen Sana play like this.'
Almond's Sana was special. Sana had to normally fight in the back because she had long-range, but low HP. Almond was like that at first, putting his support in front of him while he attacked from the back. By mid-game, it was different. He started to go forward.
— Is that Sana, the hammer warrior?!
— She's like a rock
— That's crazy. This is hilarious.
He didn't think to dodge because he didn't feel the need to. He could stay on the frontline as long as he continuously healed himself. In fact, he didn't die and out-healed the enemy's damage.
[TakoFromOsaka has donated 1000 won.]
[Tako, isn't she OP? Just make him play Sana]
The donation was read in a funny voice. Tako made a bitter smile, knowing someone would mention it.
"If doing that was so easy, everyone would play Sana."
This was why it was hard to be a pro in this scene. Even if a player performed well, the public credited the champion instead.
"Should we take a look at Sana's tier?"
Scroll.
He swiftly opened up LIL Pro's analytic website.
"Look, she's tier two. If a champion is in tier two, you can pick it as a curve ball in tournaments or a counter pick. Do you really think she's OP? No, of course not."
— For real
— Sana players will know
— Sana OP? You've never played LIL then.
Since the viewers didn't know, Tako further explained.
"What's strong about Sana is her arrow of light. The debuff on her shadow arrow is not bad, but it's too hard to pull it off. The damage is also too low."
The arrow of light was basically Sana's main weapon. It healed her allies while damaging her opponent. This type of mechanic was rare in this game.
"The problem is that her arrows of light aren't infinite. Taking out the arrows one by one from the quiver is also annoying. There's no inventory either. You get one every time you hit a shadow arrow."
— For real, LOL?
— Taking it out of the quiver is so annoying
— I've accidentally pulled it out so many times
— Now that I see it, Almond hasn't screwed up once.
"Right. Look, you're dead if you do this play and make one mistake."
Tako showed Almond's replay. Around seven minutes in, Almond was fighting in the mid-lane. After he deflected all of the enemy attacks, he kept switching back and forth between his arrows at a low HP.
"The game was over during this fight, right? But what if Almond missed a single arrow?"
It was a cool scene, but what if he missed a single arrow? The cycle would be over, and he'd instantly die. There was a chance of losing if Almond, who had all the kills, died there.
"It's a high-risk, high-reward play."
Almond was playing on edge the whole game with high-risk, high-return.
"It's like trying to day trade bitcoin and earning over a million won in one day. Do you think you can do that?"
— Nope
— No way
— Bitcoin, LOL
— Freaking coins...
— Tako, you're still doing that?!
— Oh my, what a comparison.
— I wouldn't even be able to do it against bots. I'd screw up while changing arrows.
— For real, even against bots, I bet it'll be hard.
[TakoFromOsaka has donated 2000 won.]
[Thanks for the explanation, but aren't you going to give him feedback? Almond's already queuing up for the next game.]
"... Ah?"
Tako was so into his explanation that he forgot he had to give Almond feedback.
"There was no feedback to give this round."
Almond's macro plays weren't perfect, but his Sana playstyle was so unique that it was difficult for Tako to say anything. It felt like he found his own path.
'This usually only happens with Master tier one tricks...'
"I'll give the feedback all at once or whatever. Honestly, this round, there was nothing to say. His score was 34-0. What can I say?"
— LOL I guess
— 34 kills? Wow...
— He gets like 50 kills in Battle Large too
— They're too low-ranked. They can't handle Almond.
"Alright, let's take a look at the next around. He might reach Level 30 in three days. Who knows? He's only played two rounds."
LIL gave a huge boost of bonus EXP for win streaks. Almond reached Level 20 that day.
"Wow...?"
Tako was speechless. He won nine games in a row in a heartbeat. Other than compliments, there was no other feedback to give.
'His macro is even improving...'
"You did well, Almond. It was fun."
Tako decided to stop his feedback stream here. Almond stopped his stream too. Tako sat on the bench and blanked out for a while.
— Hey, Tako, aren't you going to say something?
— Are you turning your stream off too?
— Hey! What are you doing!
"Ah, I'm turning it off. Go."
Tako turned off his stream.
"Sigh..."
He sat alone on a bench in This World and stared at the fake night sky. The stars were fake, but he felt like one of them was him.
'Hey, Dong-Wook. There are still geniuses mingling among us... I think you're right.'
He thought to himself, brushed his clean scalp, and got up. A shadow appeared before him.
"Hey, Tako."
The shadow had a low voice.
"... What the? Jun-Mo?"
It was Koo Jun-Mo, also known as StrawberryShooter.
"Yeah, I just finished my stream as well. I heard you just finished too."
"Yeah? I was just about to leave."
"Ah, really?"
Tako got up and headed into the portal.
Koo Jun-Mo was behind him and asked, "Hey, I'm the ADC, right?"