Chapter 20: A Calculated Risk

As usual, entertaining moments from streamers were clipped and circulated throughout online communities.

Today was no different.

Leni’s impressive shriek had already set LoL Gallery ablaze.

[Another legendary moment lol] (Views 1290)
=Author: ㅇㅇ(221.123)

(Clip of Leni’s shriek)

Ten minutes into the stream lollollol

I burst out laughing

SolNoon is a real psycho lol

Upvote: 36 DownVote: 0

[Everyone needs to see this] (Views 1430)
=Author: SolNoonFan#1

(Clip of Leni’s shriek)

Who made Leni lose her? You have to watch this:

♚♚Noon☆Sol☆Stream♚♚Join now

Everyone gets troll power☜☜100% free trial♜High-quality♜ASMR available?￥ Come now★★Become a troll@ @@ Click here—>(Stream link)

Upvote: 24 DownVote: 7

-Watching the stream now because of this
-Is she actually doing ASMR? Downvoting if not
ㄴShe did earlier lol
ㄴReally?
ㄴYeah, that’s why the head mod unbanned her
ㄴ hell, I’m there

Things were off to a good start.

Su-Yeon’s ‘Leech off Leni’ tactic was successfully drawing viewers to her stream.

“…Excuse me, but are you insane???”

Leni’s shriek pierced my eardrums.

The high decibels caused a slight ringing, but I could endure it. It was a delicious reaction.

This was why I couldn’t quit watching Leni.

I envied her captivating charm. The sheer difference in our talent was staggering.

-ㅇㅇ donated $1.

〔SolNoon… you’re a true troll.〕

“What? Me??? I’m the kindest person ever.”

[Excuse me?????]
[She’s definitely kind]
[ disgusting] (Message blocked. Reason: Inappropriate chat)

Judging by the chat, my viewers were watching Leni’s stream as well.

Unfiltered insults were starting to appear… Time to start banning people.

[Current viewers: 341]

The leeching tactic was working; my viewership continued to climb. With a small audience, I’d have to coddle the trolls, but at this point, I could afford to be more selective.

I was aiming for a clean stream, like Leni’s. Well, sort of.

-ㅇㅇ donated $1.

〔Isn’t it a bannable offense to snipe and int? Can you handle the consequences?〕

“What? Sniping? I’m not sniping….”

[lollollollollollol]
[Not sniping = Stream title: [Sniping]]
[Seriously?]
[If she says she’s not, then she’s not.]

To be honest, I was sniping. Even I felt a twinge of guilt this time.

But some viewers seemed to like it, so it was probably fine. The viewer count hadn’t dropped.

There was a reason for my denial, of course.

I had to maintain my stream’s persona. And technically, it wasn’t entirely untrue.

Words could have different meanings. It was similar to the last time I sniped her. Everyone would understand once the game started.

<Haa… let’s get this over with.>

<To those who set the kill missions, prepare yourselves. I need some retail therapy after all the stress I’ve been under.>

Leni chose Dark Mage this game.

A decent pick considering the team composition, and with Ranger nerfed into oblivion, Dark Mage was arguably the most overpowered class right now.

–Welcome to the legendary battlefield.

Thus began the game, each player with their own agenda.

-Minions spawning in 30 seconds.

Leni headed top, as usual. I intended to follow, but… my character remained stationary at the base.

[BlazingMage(Mage): What’s the Assassin doing?]
[XIOUUUU(Priest): This is why I hate Iron players.]
[GivePriestOrInt(Warrior): Real talk lol]

[What’s going on? Did she disconnect?]
[Just afk? Pretending she wasn’t going to troll, typical lol]

Both my team and the viewers started to react.

I couldn’t help it. I was having a serious internal debate.

‘Should I do it…?’

The new build I’d devised for today. The chances of success seemed low, and I was wavering.

But I had to do it.

It was the culmination of today’s carefully crafted scenario, starting with the stream title.

No turning back now. The risk was high, but so was the potential reward.

“Alright everyone, let’s begin.”

I opened the shop and bought my starting items.

Usually, starting items consisted of class-appropriate weapons.

Wands or staves for mages, bows or crossbows for rangers, swords or hammers for warriors, and so on…

A classic RPG trope faithfully implemented in LoL.

But lately, or perhaps since the beginning, such tropes were meant to be subverted.

Guardians didn’t have to use shields, and Rogues weren’t obligated to wield daggers or shurikens.

Mages could build physical damage, and Warriors could specialize in ranged attacks. The ability to defy expectations was part of what made RPGs so popular.

And this freedom naturally extended to LoL. It was a MOBA with RPG elements, after all.

[BlazingMage(Mage): This is infuriating. The Assassin is buying the wrong items.]
[GivePriestOrInt(Warrior): lol Stuck with another troll, seriously.]

But such unconventional builds weren’t widely accepted. Even in regular RPGs, they were mostly used by hardcore players.

It couldn’t be helped. There usually wasn’t any benefit to using another class’s weapon.

A mage wielding a sword couldn’t use the Warrior’s [Swordsmanship] skill. They could use magic skills with a sword, but the efficiency was lower compared to wands or staves.

[BlazingMage(Mage): And if she’s going to buy a bow, why buy a dagger too? Why not buy arrows? This is insane lol]
[(All)GivePriestOrInt(Warrior): Guys, report the Assassin. She’s already inting.]
[(All)KingWithoutACrown(Guardian): Hmm… are you inting? Judging by your name, I’d say you are lol]

-ㅇㅇ donated $1.

〔SolNoon, I don’t think this is a good idea… I want to keep watching your stream.〕

“My goodness, you’re all so impatient. Please, have more patience than these Iron players.”

[How can we be patient when she’s openly inting?]

[This is a bit much for her first stream…]

“Calm down. I’ll just carry this game.”

I purchased a bow and a throwing dagger. A combination guaranteed to trigger everyone.

First, the bow, a Ranger’s weapon. Not only did I buy a bow without arrows, but I also bought a throwing dagger, adding insult to injury.

The throwing dagger was the Assassin’s weapon, but it wasn’t particularly synergistic with the Assassin’s skills, making it inferior to other daggers and swords.

-Minions have spawned.

I marched towards the top lane, where Leni was, keeping pace with the minions.

–Ding!

Just as I was about to focus on the game, another notification popped up.

This time, it wasn’t from in-game chat or a donation, but from YesCord.

[Leni: SolNoon, I won’t be able to help you if you troll and get banned.]

Perhaps she’d developed a soft spot for me after the interview?

Leni was actually worried about me.

Was this the Stockholm Syndrome she’d heard so much about? It felt like déjà vu.

[SolNoon: Don’t worry.]

[Leni: ……….]

I appreciated the concern, but it was unnecessary.

Leni needed to focus on her kill mission. That was the only way to elicit a truly delicious reaction.

-Whoosh!

-Thwack!

-Squelch!

The laning phase began. I casually threw daggers and poked with the bow to last hit minions.

I didn’t bother trading; Leni, desperate for a win, would handle that.

[lol I’ve never seen anyone use a bow as a melee weapon.]
[You can attack with a bow??? This game is amazing.]
[SolNoon, you’re a genius…]

-Boom!

<Ah, so close. Almost got first blood.>

Some time passed, and Leni let out a frustrated sigh.

Her Dark Mage’s magic had pushed the enemy Fighter back, but she’d failed to secure the kill.

He had a sliver of health left, about 8%. Near death, the Fighter decided to recall.

Typically for Iron, he recalled within our vision, but we couldn’t stop him.

He was out of range of the Dark Mage’s skills. And engaging would mean dealing with the enemy Shaman, who was at full health.

“You’ve finally arrived…”

But I was different.

The bow had the longest range of any weapon in LoL.

[Equipping throwing dagger as ammunition.]

[???? What’s she doing?]
[Peak crazy]

My Assassin character drew back the bowstring. Loaded, not with an arrow, but a throwing dagger.

Technically, you could load anything into a bow. But the weight affected the range significantly.

Heavier projectiles drastically reduced the range.

But the throwing dagger, true to its name, was as light as an arrow. Meaning it could be fired from maximum range.

-Fwoosh…

Black smoke enveloped my character. [Shadow Cloak], the Assassin’s ultimate escape tool. A skill that granted complete invisibility.

All the conditions were met.

[Dark Strike], the Assassin’s passive, and [Hubris], which dealt bonus damage to low-health targets.

And [Throw], which amplified ranged attack damage. All active.

-Whoosh!

My character released the bowstring, the dagger hurtling towards the recalling Fighter.

He had no time to react. He couldn’t have imagined I’d fire a dagger from a bow.

And… it was common knowledge that basic attacks couldn’t miss, right?

-First Blood!

-SuperRedFlavorLeni has slain an enemy.

My dagger perfectly [Sniped] the target. Technically, the [Snipe] skill hadn’t activated, but I did kill him.

It probably looked similar to a regular [Snipe]. No one was skilled enough to immediately notice the multiple buffs applied.

[????????]
[What the????????]
[Snipe activated at that health?????]
[Fluke lollol She’s got insane luck.]

<What… was that? And wasn’t [Snipe] nerfed? It still works at that health?>

Both the viewers and Leni were baffled.

My shoulders lifted with pride as I addressed them all in a haughty tone.

“See, everyone? This is me. This is true talent.”