A Swordsman's Stream

Chapter 121

The League was a game where players fought by accepting the memories of heroic figures who once existed.

The medium for this was the Hall of Heroes, also known as the “Tower of Memories.”

In simpler terms, it was just the game’s store.

Here, players could partake in various events.

Sojun had stopped by the day before to purchase a hero. He didn’t have any game points, so he paid in cash.

This hero was one he used to enjoy playing in the past.

Standing at the center of the Tower of Memories, Sojun took a moment to glance over to check the streaming status.

『Jin Sojun – 22,000 viewers watching』

The number of viewers was increasing.

Because the platform’s default sorting option arranged streams in descending order of viewer count, Sojun’s stream appeared with just a little scroll down.

His stream ranked 6th in the League category, which meant Sojun was still one of the more prominent mid-tier streamers.

This would likely attract new viewers who were discovering Sojun for the first time.

“What hero will I play? Will I wield a sword? I’ll show you right away, so I’ll refrain from spoilers.”

Seeing is believing.

– Not ready yet, lolol
– Isn’t this the part where he immediately buys a hero from the pick window? lol
– What do you guys like? Tell me quickly! It’s starting soon!
– I see, I see

They didn’t believe him.

“Let me show you what an experienced rookie is.”

Sojun’s confident voice resonated in the stream.

But when had Sojun ever not been confident?

Even when playing Assassin’s Dawn or For Justice for the first time, Sojun had always been consistent, ensuring that his sincerity never really connected.

– Sure you will
– Skipping the newbie phase with physical skills lol
– For real, lolol
– Just stop the nonsense and act like a newbie

No viewer doubted Sojun anymore.

With Sojun’s level of physical skills, they expected him to excel at anything due to his long-standing experience.

However, the only time viewers anticipated Sojun would stumble was when he tried a game for the first time, and they were eagerly waiting to see what kind of peculiar trolling he might do.

Sojun was staring at the chat with a disbelieving look when he got a match.

Upon acceptance, he was transported to the waiting room.

A total of 10 players stood in two rows of five facing each other, with the opposite side from Sojun shrouded in dark shadows.

“Looks like I’m mid.”

In The League, players could pre-select their desired positions, which generally adhered to typical AOS rules.

The game’s positions were divided into five categories:
Top.

This is the top line among the lanes divided into top, middle, and bottom and usually serves as a tanker or initiator. Being alone a lot, one could develop a bit of a peculiar personality.

Mid.

This position travels along the middle lane. Due to the geographical feature of being able to move easily to both bottom and top lanes, it has a great influence in battles within the game.

ADC.

An attack-damage carry that goes to the bottom line.

Support.

Goes to the bottom along with ADC to support them.

Jungle.

In between the lines of the game is called the jungle, where this position goes to hunt monsters and help each lane.

This is the most basic breakdown of position roles, and variations could be made.

However, those variations typically appeared only when strategies were pre-discussed with teammates for tournaments.

In randomly matched games like now, 99% of players just didn’t care about what others did.

Unless someone obviously picked a trolling character.

And the character Sojun picked was halfway in that category.

『The memory of Kael, the Agent of Light, dwells within you.』
『Welcome. Let’s go judge evil.』

As soon as Sojun made his selection, a sigh was heard beside him.

“Ah…”

Not wanting to argue, he kept his mouth shut, but the meaning of the sigh was conveyed.

– lololol
– So he bought Kael?
– Streamer-nim pulls out a charge character right from the first game lolol
– Might as well play all the bug heroes today!

Kael, the Agent of Light.

In the game’s lore, Kael was a judge and a swordsman blessed by the God of Light.

The important point was that Kael was difficult to operate, and Kael’s ultimate, where a massive sword descends from the sky to execute foes, was the key skill.

Indeed.

Kael’s ultimate was cool. It struck a chord with men’s fantasies.

High difficulty combined with flashy gameplay.

What did that mean?

– Streamer-nim isn’t going to become a Kael-noob, right?
– Even an accomplished swordsman can’t resist the judgment sword from heaven, lol
– Who played a Kael video for Streamer-nim yesterday? lol
– Thinking about that Kael-noob I met yesterday is getting me worked up again
– Group PTSD expression all of a sudden, lololol

Many “noobs” emerged.

The “noobs” appended to a hero’s name signifies players who select a hero for fun without regard for the situation or synergy, often lacking in skill.

When one wound up in a team with such a player, losing was almost certain.

The reason people instinctively cursed Sojun’s choice—even though they thought he’d play well—was that they had suffered at the hands of such players far too often.

Kael was one of the six representative troll characters.

“The perception is the same as it was 7 years ago.”

Seven years could see many changes in a game.

Yet, the public perception remained unchanged.

“Kael is classic.”

Classic values don’t change easily.

Sojun liked that.

If The League’s players heard his thoughts, they’d have raised countless question marks and insults.

As Sojun wore a satisfied smile, the selection phase ended.

『3』
『2』
『1』
『The game begins.』

They were summoned at the respawn point known as the base.

Sojun went down the middle lane, which corresponded to his position.

Along his path, he encountered the enemy strolling toward him.

– No invasion or defense, lolol
– They’re newbies after all
– It’s right to do what you want to do

In the AOS genre, minions, which resembled the soldiers in For Justice, periodically spawned in the three lanes.

The act of invading the opposing side early in the game before these minions appeared was termed an “invade.”

Since this was the unranked mode, namely the novice section, people hardly bothered with such elements.

“Hello? Your nickname is cool!”

The enemy pointed a crossbow above Sojun’s head.

The memory dwelling in the opponent was the hero Sean, who wielded a crossbow.

“Thank you.”

Sojun expressed his gratitude and slightly stepped back.

– Why don’t you use informal speech?
– Is it orthodox vibes now!
– That formal conduct appears terribly pretentious

“Come here.”

“No, thanks.”

“Ah, nice try.”

Sojun was melee and the enemy was ranged.

Without his minions to serve as a shield, Sojun, no matter how skilled, found it hard to gain any advantage now.

『Wise choice.』

Kael’s reverent voice echoed in his mind.

‘It’s been a while.’

The League had a dialogue mode where players could converse with heroes whose memories they had accepted.

This dialogue mode either added enjoyment to the mid-game by chatting or deepened the immersion. Still, the original intention was always to guide beginners, just like now.

『A sword can’t quite reach a crossbow.』
『Yet, there are ways to offset this. One such method is via the Blessing of Light…』

And right now, it was evident that this conversation was emerging because Sojun hadn’t played through the tutorial.

Sojun frowned.

It wasn’t dispensing minor game tips but explaining his skills from the get-go.

– Isn’t that tutorial content, plain and simple?
– This is how the game company cares for its users lol
– Didn’t Streamer-nim say you watched all of it yesterday!

The viewers caught on immediately, as expected.

Sojun promptly pulled up the settings menu and turned off the dialogue mode.

“No need.”

The reverent voice that was fervently explaining disappeared abruptly as though the call had ended.

– lolol
– Explain-noob out!
– Game company: Just listen, will you! lol

『Minions spawn.』

On one corner of the screen, the map displayed the advancing minions. They would soon arrive.

“Now prepare to get hit by my onslaught.”

The enemy aimed their crossbow at Sojun, gesturing provocatively.

They were poised to shoot as soon as he entered their range.

Standing just outside the range of the towers, they taunted Sojun.

– Showing off just because of their range, lolol
– But melee is indeed not favorable
– Normally you get pounded continuously, lolol

The range was almost absolute in battle.

Therefore, the game developers balance this by adjusting different elements.

They set basic attack stats and the health, defense of ranged characters to be lower.

And for melee characters, the game created systems to overcome such ranges.

“Kael’s advantage lies in his speed and invital point, right?”

Sojun muttered quietly.

The minions approached.

And Sojun used these minions as shields, closing the distance.

The enemy shot at the minion’s health while backing away to maintain a certain distance from Sojun.

Sojun keenly observed the enemy’s body.

Kael’s passive.

『Battle God’s Eyes』

The other name for the God of Light is the God of Battle.

As the God’s Agent, Kael received several blessings. One of them was the passive skill, where he could constantly see the enemy’s vulnerable points because of the Battle God’s Eyes ability.

At a specific point on the enemy’s body, a divine white light flickered in a circle.

After continuously observing that point, a droning sound effect could be heard.

“When I hit that spot, I gain a temporary boost in movement and attack speed, right?”

In addition to the extra damage, the most vital ability for Kael was the capacity to target vulnerabilities.

Vulnerabilities changed constantly.

They did when one moved far away and back or when one refrained from attacking for a certain period.

And they also did after a successful strike on a vital point.

Upon a successful vital point attack, the next one appeared.

It could be a piercing circle like now or a slicing trajectory.

Once three vital point strikes were accomplished within a set time, a stack enabling the use of a skill could be accumulated.

『Blessing of Light』

A skill that grants temporary immunity to CC effects and invital point.

It was the second skill to overcome being at a close range.

“You said Blessing of Light was great, right?”

In terms of effects alone, without conditions, it was considered one of the best skills.

“That invital point? Can the Sword God use that? Not a single other Kael I’ve met has displayed that skill.”

The opponent questioned. They must have thought Sojun was speaking to them.

– Kael-noob saying this, lol
– Others have mistakenly instilled strange confidence in them lol
– It’s no wonder they’re called noobs lol
– Honestly, targeting a vulnerable point is pretty tricky, but to hit three randomly generated vulnerabilities within a timeframe? It’s hell, lolol
– Plus, since the opponent can see the vital point, they can react lol
– But Streamer-nim might use the skill with ease

As a viewer astutely noted, one significant reason for Kael’s high difficulty was the vital point thought to be randomly generated.

But do game developers truly dislike patterns?

Sojun had known the answer for the past seven years.

‘Let’s see if it changed.’

Sojun instantly dashed out from behind the minions.

The enemy, who had been dealing with minions, now aimed their crossbow at Sojun.

“Die!”

Whoosh!

The first bolt missed as Sojun unpredictably changed direction.

The second arrow lightly grazed him, depleting some health.

By the time Sean, known for trading power for slightly delayed reloads, reloaded the third bolt, the enemy was at the edge of Sojun’s striking range.

Clang!

A shattering sound reverberated as if glass had broken.

Sojun’s extended sword pierced through the white ring, marking the vital point.

“Ugh.”

Even before a new vital point could appear, Sojun capitalized on the increased speed to make the next move swiftly.

In a fleeting instant, a new vital point appeared, but Sojun pressed on without hesitation.

Clang!

The newly formed diagonal line of light shattered.

Meanwhile, the enemy aimed their third bolt at Sojun’s head.

“Farewell.”

Believing that a headshot from such proximity would deal massive damage, the enemy was confident.

Clang!

However, during this brief span, Sojun effortlessly struck the third vital point.

‘Blessing.’

With a stack accumulated, Sojun was enveloped in a gentle white light.

『Blessing of Light』

Ping!

The third bolt flew straight for Sojun’s head.

Yet, it did not penetrate him; instead, it rebounded.

“Huh?”

The enemy, who fired the arrow, widened their eyes.

The viewers were equally astounded.

– ???
– What was that?
– So fast, wow?
– Did he memorize the vulnerabilities???
– If vulnerabilities could be memorized, anyone could play Kael, right?
– Seriously, what is this?? lol

The reason was straightforward.

From the moment Sojun struck the first vital point to using the skill, it had only taken two seconds.

“Do you see now? Kael’s skill.”

“Yes… yes?”

“I’ll frequently show it to you.”