Season 2: Chapter 199: Caught You! (1)
Despite the supporter's trolling, Almond continued to pressure the enemy.
"Damn it—"
The rifleman was astonished at the fact that Almond effortlessly dodged all his bullets. This slowed down his escape for a moment.
Now, it was his turn to be hit.
Clank!
Almond's quiver had refilled with arrows.
Click.
He extended a unique hand shape forward.
[Rope Movement]
Whizz!
The thrown rope landed behind the rifleman toward the turret. It practically blocked him from retreating. The opponent had cut off his retreat.
'I might as well keep shooting.'
During the rope movement skill, Almond’s flight path was fixed. The rifleman decided to aim for that and continuously pulled the trigger.
Ratatat!
Screech!
As the rope shortened, Almond soared through the air.
Flutter!
Bullets struck Almond's upper body as he flew.
[HP: 72%]
His health dropped significantly.
“I’m going to shoot while flying!”
However, Almond shot his bow undeterred.
Bang!
[Wind Arrow]
He fired the most powerful wind arrow that boasted the highest damage.
Bam!
The rifleman's head flung back.
"He hit him! He hit him while flying! Almond is invincible!"
[HP: 54%]
The rifleman's health dropped to 54%.
Meanwhile, Almond also came under attack from the enemy turret.
Boom!
[HP: 55%]
Their health was nearly equal.
Almond landed right in front of the turret and drew an arrow again.
Creak.
'I'll kill him before the next turret attack.'
A few more hits from the turret and he would die. He had to hurry. With that thought, Almond continuously released arrows.
Bang!
Two arrows hit the rifleman's head in succession.
[HP: 19%]
Then, the fourth arrow prepared to fly.
Creak.
Almond twisted his wrist to choose the element.
[Wind Arrow]
It was a wind arrow.
Boom!!!
[HP: 0%]
He killed the enemy.
[Double Kill!]
"Double kiiiiill! Almond dived at the turret alone and killed the enemy ADC!"
"But will Almond die!?"
Boom!
The enemy turret continued to attack.
[HP: 23%]
Almond's health significantly dropped. The turret's attacks were slow, but powerful. Its strength doubled with each hit.
He would die with the next attack. He had to quickly get out of the turret's range.
"Can I escape this!?"
Currently, Almond was right under the enemy turret. He would certainly get hit one more time before he could run out of its range under normal circumstances.
Click.
He made his unique hand gesture and pointed somewhere again.
[Rope Movement]
The cooldown had reset after getting a kill and he activated the Rope Movement skill again.
Thump!
The rope caught on to Iron Ball.
Screech!
As the rope shortened, Almond quickly flew forward.
Thwack—
As if it never happened, he returned next to Iron Ball.
"Did, did he survive!?"
"Almond even managed to survive! This is a bottom crash!!!"
OrangeKing and the announcer were extremely excited. Both Iron Ball and the monk watched the entire process with their jaws dropped in disbelief.
'Who is this guy?'
'He doesn’t belong in this rank.'
The game sped up after this battle. Almond and Iron Ball swiftly pushed the bottom turret and moved to the mid and top lanes, conquering the map.
Iron Ball, who was dissatisfied in the beginning, simply kept quiet and focused on the game.
[The enemy has surrendered!]
Just fifteen minutes into the game, they accepted the enemy's surrender.
[Victory!]
At this time, Iron Ball was jumping around more excitedly than anyone. He even sent this message to the enemy.
[Eh~ There was a difference in supporters~ lololol]
[Eh~ I'm ranking up to master like crazy~~ lololol]
He was quite thrilled to move up from diamond one to master rank.
— Wow this f***** lol
— I really want a honey butter chip rn lol
— Please just die T_T
— Eh report him~ moron lol
— Moron lol get banned
***
"Now, the first match in solo rank for The Avatar of LIL has ended."
The program was meant to check the performance of newly released champions, and the check proceeded in several stages. Solo rank play was just the most basic of them.
Of course, Almond's play made any further tests unnecessary. The viewers’ reactions had significantly changed and sales began to slowly rise.
— This character is OP
— Going to buy her right now
— Sori Noona! I'm coming!
— The rope is ridiculously OP
— Rope kill resets are just insane
The host couldn't miss this opportunity. They needed to reinforce people's positive perceptions even further.
"Despite initial concerns, the new champion performed exceptionally well in actual combat. OrangeKing, what do you think? Does this champion have potential?"
"Absolutely! Even when one player intentionally threw the game, they still won! The Rope Movement skill that resets its cooldown on kills or assists has tremendous potential."
"Right? Oh, but speaking of throwing the game, what will happen to our Iron Ball supporter?"
The host looked toward the production staff and the camera crew passed the microphone to them.
"Ah. Hmph," a Police employee cleared his throat before speaking. "Since the intentional trolling was directly witnessed live by several staff members, well... the punishment is confirmed."
"How severe will the punishment be? The footage is coming up right now."
OrangeKing pointed at a screen on one side. It showed footage of Iron Ball blatantly throwing the game.
"That's definitely intentional, right? Their conversation was recorded too."
— What is this replay!?
— ??? Can you avoid it? Can you avoid it?
— lololol
"It wasn’t just simple trolling, but making threats, having a negative attitude, swearing... everything was included!" OrangeKing emphasized Iron Ball's crimes and hoped for a severe punishment.
His passionate yelling made the Police employee smile awkwardly.
"Please explain the punishment standards!"
"Ah... Yes. We understand OrangeKing's opinion. To explain the standards, if intentional trolling is proven, a significantly long suspension period is imposed."
"How long is that?"
"It's three months. Plus, it could extend to four months with all the threats, negative attitude, swearing, etc. combined."
— Is that a long time?
— Thought it would be a year lol
— 3 months is significant for a capsule game
— Do these guys think it's a prison sentence lol 1 year
— After a 4 month break, playing master rank will be a different game
The transition to capsule games made creating accounts under different names impossible. If one was suspended, they were literally unable to play the game during that time. Therefore, a three month suspension was devastating for those who played games professionally and painful for those who played as a hobby.
Knowing this, OrangeKing nodded in agreement.
"What about his rank? It seems he just ranked up to master?"
"Ah. If he gets suspended, his rank will naturally drop during the suspension period. Don't worry about that. He'll fall to platinum."
— Wow
— This is justice
— Plat lol
— Goodbye, Iron Ball!
— So tempting lol
As they discussed the level of punishment, the viewers in the chat grew excited.
"But... objectively speaking..." the employee hesitated. "The punishable offenses in this game only include a negative attitude and swearing. That's about it. For habitual offenders, a suspension could last about a month. If it's the first time, it would be a week's suspension."
"What!?" OrangeKing exclaimed as if the sky had fallen. "Didn’t you see?! The malicious trolling!!!"
— OrangeKing's head is so big lol
— lolol The malicious trolling! lol
— Saving this clip
"Yes, but he never intentionally died against the enemy. In fact, he even got kills. Of course, that wasn't his intention, but that's the result. Isn't it?"
— Well... He didn't actually troll much, he was just annoying
— Wow
— Right damn
— Such an irritating jerk
"Ah... Is it really okay for the world to work like this? Huh?"
"Well... since it's been recorded on the broadcast, isn't that a punishment too...?"
"But his ID doesn't show even if you record it, does it?"
Player IDs were carefully hidden on broadcasts. It was a form of protection since players were unwittingly involved in the broadcast. In reality, recording such things as evidence was improper.
OrangeKing wanted to argue more, but the host wanted to return to the original topic and switched the subject.
"Ah, that's good. Excellent. We trust Police will handle the verdict. Let's move on."
Clap.
He clapped his hands and the screen displaying the trolling scene now showed highlights of Almond's gameplay.
"Let's watch Mr. Almond's highlights and talk about the versatility of this new champion called Sori."
The battle in the highlight took place in the mid-lane. After Almond’s performance in the bottom lane, a decisive team fight took place in the mid-lane. Here, Almond blocked the enemy's retreat with his ice ability and used the rope five times to annihilate the enemy.
"This scene. It was almost a pentakill, right?"
Screech.
The rope shot out and arrows successively hit the enemy's face, leading to their demise. The enemy was in complete disarray with their retreat blocked by the ice skill.
— That scene was dope
— Wow lol
— Still amazing to watch again
— Ice to block the retreat and then killing them all with the rope, wow
— It's practically a pentakill
"Ah, yes. It's practically a pentakill." OrangeKing finally focused on Almond's highlight and spoke. "It's not just about getting a lot of kills. The use of the champion was brilliant."
"What aspect of it?"
"Look at where he blocks them with an ice wall and throws a rope to the wall to follow the opponent. This really shows the terror of Sori."
"Ah... The ice wall and rope work together?!"
"Yes. Not only that, Sori has three different skills and three types of elemental arrows, so she actually has a lot more skills compared to other champions."
"Ah! Now that you mention it, that’s right!"
"If used well, such a champion boasts incredible power. Naturally, her potential is higher with more skills."
— Really, that's true
— Oh...
— He’s got a point
As OrangeKing said, Sori had a lot of skills to begin with. Regardless of whether those skills were good or bad, having many inherently gave her a higher potential.
"Mr. OrangeKing, shall we move on to the next test? Please introduce it."
"Ah. The next test isn't solo rank, but a team match. We've based it on Sori to find a combination that fits perfectly with four other members..."
***
While the second test of The Avatar of LIL was underway, the community began to circulate a post.
[The Avatar of LIL troll Pumpkin exposed lol]
The Avatar of LIL was mainly pre-recorded. Despite its fame, it didn’t have many live viewers. At most, ten to twenty thousand viewers watched it live. Among them, one managed to find the troll's ID.
— Oh. Looks like they're doing The Avatar of LIL right now
— Wow, how did they find him?
— If you look at the match record, that's him
— Pumpkin gonna get destroyed lol
— Wow
— Collective intelligence lol
— Lol, let's go hunting~
— Tonight's dinner is hell's pumpkin pancake!