Chapter 17: The anticipated newcomer

Agni, a Challenger-ranked AD Carry player and my instructor for the day, taught me various techniques after a brief moment of frustration.

“Oh. This is pretty interesting.”

“Right? It’s really useful when you need to run away but don’t have Flash.”

Things like how to smoothly maneuver over impassable walls in first-person view were definitely useful.

It’s kind of like the parkour concept often seen in FPS games.

“Th, then I’ll teach you some more of these!”

For reference, Agni is much older than me, so after we properly broke the ice, she started speaking casually to me.

Actually, considering my real age, I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m a middle school student right now anyway.

[—If Agni finally found her use, give me a thumbs up]
[—lololol]

“When you’re auto-attacking, if you mix in the quarter view like this, it gets a little faster, you know?”

[—Argh]
[—Makes me dizzy]
[—But does that actually make it faster? Isn’t it just a feeling?]
[—It’s a tiny bit faster, like if you attack 12 times, you can attack one more time]
[—Normal people would get dizzy and miss their auto-attacks if they did that lol]
[—It’s basically an option only for AD Carries]
[—Should have brought in a Challenger mid]
[—Agni’s crying]
[—Usually, even teaching reaction-speed-dependent skills would take an hour]
[—??? : It just works, though?]
[—sigh That’s why talented people are…]
[—Gotta get that content lol]
[—Putting on a tearful show]

“It would be nice to mix skills and auto-attacks like this.”

Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t since it was my first time, but even when I auto-attacked in first-person and used a skill in quarter view, I still got the skill range adjustment.

‘That’s nothing, really.’

It just needs a little more practice.

Anyway, that technique looked definitely useful for cases where you need to hit and run and then assess the situation.

“Right! So if you do it like this, you’ll die a lot less from not reading the map.”
“Do you have trouble reading the map?”
“…Bo, bottom laners just need to farm minions well!”

Of course, it’s a joke.

I knew very well that at the Challenger level, it’s hard for an AD Carry to win with just mechanics alone.

I knew this well because I had previously reached Challenger in all lanes.

[—lololol]
[—Getting solo killed is the mid lane average]
[—A middle school Challenger indeed]
[—Sharp kill angle, right?]

“If you have any questions about macro or concepts later, feel free to come to me anytime, Unnie.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“It’s only True…! You viewers should reflect on yourselves!”

[—lololol]
[—True takes care of her teacher as always]
[—Heartwarming]
[—My heart is warmed]

I went back and tried the tricks and tips she taught me again.

“…Ugh.”

Of course, the target wasn’t some bot, but Agni, who was perfectly fine next to me.

Ah, to be precise, she’s not perfectly fine. She was just forcibly recalled back home.

Of course, she came back soon.

“Wh, why is this happening!”
“If you move forward there to get one more auto-attack, your body gets tilted.”
“It’s an angle where I can get tilted…”
“If you do that in front of me, you have to die.”

[—Damn]
[—Confidence]
[—The legendary mid that ST was anxious about and Milky Way courted is a joke to you?]
[—She hasn’t even debuted professionally, you crazy guys]
[—But it’s a fact, right?]
[—AD Carry (weaker mechanics than mid)]
[—What’s the point of their existence?]
[—It’s natural because True is younger]
[—lololol]
[—What What]
[—Are you saying Agni is too ripe now?]

“I’m not old! I still reach Challenger in the middle of the season!”

[—lololol]
[—I’ve played this game a lot!]
[—Don’t say bad things like she’s old just because she’s played a lot]
[—Then let’s just check her physicals while we’re at it]
[—Reaction speed test gogo]

“Ah, then should we stop killing me for a moment and try this?”

She moved her hand in the air for a moment, and then a window popped up in my vision.

“True, do you know the reaction speed test?”
“I do. The one where you touch the screen when the color changes?”

If I remember correctly, when I did it on a computer, around 150ms was considered top-tier reaction speed.

“What’s your best record?”
“Me? Around 140? If I’m in good condition, I can get down to 125!”
“Is that fast?”
“Among ordinary people, yes? I heard that some pros have double-digit records, but not many. Most are similar.”

It seems that the average is faster since it’s a test that doesn’t involve a keyboard or mouse.

Without much worry,, I pressed the start test button.

The blue window was lit, and at some point, the color of the window suddenly changed to red.

—Tap.

I just thought about touching the window with my finger, and the timer immediately stopped.

[ 97ms ]

I wanted to ask if this was a good score, but Agni’s astonished reaction alone made the result clear.

[—fck lol]
[—0.03 seconds difference from the world record lololol]
[—With some practice, that time could be reduced even more]
[—Are you crazy]
[—Still, if we say something is not rotten but fossilized, if its True’s skill, I give it a like]
[—Being young is good…]
[—Can I really look forward to ST3 this time?]
[—There are still suckers who are fooled by that]
[—lol]
[—The problem is, if True revives ST3, she’ll go to ST2 anyway, so ST3 will be a fcked up team forever]
[—Um]
[— Yes]

“Is the ST3 team really that bad?”

All I hear are stories that sound like horror stories.

Even though the 2nd and 3rd division leagues after my reincarnation are not byproducts of the 1st division, but are properly divided into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd divisions like soccer, with only promotion excluded, and the championship history is officially recognized, it’s still ST.

I was rather skeptical that it was in such a ruined state.

“I’m a big ST fan, so I know! So, that’s…”

To summarize Agni’s words, it was a transitional period of academy reorganization, so this season was practically abandoned, and it was no different from a team of five solo queue amateurs.

“The problem was that other teams were sweeping up promising players, so ST didn’t have any new players to recruit.”
“And then I suddenly popped up?”
“I guess you could say that?”

Maybe this is why Coach Ahn Jaehoon was so desperate to hold on to me.

“Well, I’ll know when I get there.”
“Don’t forget me when you get there? You’ll definitely shout me out, right?”

[—Auntie, don’t cling]
[—lololol]
[—The blood sucking is the AD Carry average as expected]
[—You’ll…carry, right?]

I smiled naturally.

I just learned too quickly, but it doesn’t change the fact that she helped me today, so I answered without hesitation.

“Of course. If you need me later, please contact me. I’ll definitely come at least once.”
“I’m going to call you when you win the LOC World Cup, so True, work hard too!”

As soon as she heard my words, she hugged me tightly.

[—Oh my]
[—I waited 2 hours to see this.]
[—If you remove this from the highlight, you have no sense]
[—Hold on]
[—Why hold on, just clip it now]
[—lololol]

The VR device’s performance was good, and I could feel the touch vividly.

“This guy sleeps even less than I do.”
“You’re here?”

Fraud, who always hangs around the practice room even during his personal time, handed coffee to Ahn Jaehoon, who was busy analyzing the opponent even late at night.

“Is the ST3 mid laner issue resolved? You were having a headache over it.”

Even if it’s not other positions, the caliber of the player in charge of the mid laner in LOC was absolutely important.

But after the mid laner of ST3, who was considered a promising player, was called up to the Grand League—the 2nd division league—the academy was thoroughly searched, but there were no satisfactory players.

Thanks to that, ST3 recorded a disastrous 10th place out of 10 teams last season.

Of course, the reason for that ranking was that, aside from the mid laner, there were plenty of players who couldn’t even be called prospects, but even just looking at ST’s performance, the presence of the mid laner was at a level that was embarrassing to compare with other lanes, so its importance was great in reality.

That’s why Ahn Jaehoon, who found the biggest puzzle piece, could smile brightly.

“I was having a bit of a headache, but it’s better now. You can tell by the fact that I’m analyzing the game instead of writing a recruitment proposal.”
“Who did you find?”
“The mid laner that our youth, Jihwan or something, showed you and me last time.”
“…The one using the nickname True?”

At Fraud’s answer, Jaehoon asked back with a surprised look.

“You remember that?”
“You said she played like me.”

Fraud’s eyes suddenly changed.

It was the look of a beast hunting for prey, rather than the warmth of a veteran looking at a promising player.

“So, you’ve already recruited her?”
“I already wrote the contract. We released the academy kids this time and reorganized the team, so we have a lot of money, so I went for it.”

Jaehoon grinned and held up his fingers.

“You gave that much to an amateur?”
“Hey, if it weren’t for me, Milky Way might have snatched her up. I saw FiloDog talking to her about scouting this time.”
“You recruited her well.”

Even if it’s not other places, it was a hundred times better to give a little generously and bring her in than to let Milky Way take her.

“I want to meet her.”
“Don’t crush the dreams of young prospects and restrain yourself.”

It was common for promising players to be shattered in the league after seeing the living legend in front of them, and within ST, the 2nd and 3rd division mid laners were like that.

“Let’s raise this one gently, okay?”
“I don’t have much time.”
“……Tsk.”

Knowing that Fraud’s words didn’t simply mean that he was busy, he sighed and sipped his coffee.

“Then meet her on the day of the team photo shoot.”
“When is that?”

He added while replaying the analysis video.

“Tomorrow.”