Chapter 22: The Master of Mayhem

-Tantaratantantan!

-ㅇㅇ donated $10.
〔Video Donation: <Ambush!>〕

Once again, SolNoon’s presence was broadcast to everyone on Leni’s stream.

The exceptionally cheerful tone suggested she was utterly confident in stealing the kill.

[lollollollollol]
[Ambush!]
[She’s truly insane lol]
[My head is spinning…]

Watching this, Leni had to admit it. SolNoon possessed an incredible talent. A talent for clowning.

Whatever it was, to stand out in any field, talent was necessary. The world of online broadcasting was no different.

And for streamers, that talent was… entertainment. Entertainment. In other words, dopamine? That was really all there was to it.

From the beginning of her career, Leni had prioritized well-structured content. Similar to a comedy program, in a way.

In short, she created humor through orchestrated situations.

Now, with some experience under her belt, she could provide dopamine to her viewers even through ordinary game broadcasts, but Leni believed this was more due to experience than talent.

-Tantaratantantan!

-ㅇㅇ donated $10.
〔Video Donation: <You see, everyone? This is Ranger. Ah… I was an Assassin.>〕

[lollollollollollollol]
[Ah, why is this so funny lollol]
[lol]

There seemed to be none of that.

Of course, the build she adopted was a form of content in itself… but it was hard to say that the build alone provided entertainment.

Kill-stealing would naturally be fun. For the person doing it.

Whether it could bring the same joy to the viewers was another story. After all, it was an act of tormenting someone. The broadcast of the streamer being tormented might be fun…

But would a broadcast of someone tormenting another streamer be fun? She thought it definitely wouldn’t be easy. If it wasn’t handled humorously, it would just feel disgusting.

‘She definitely knows how to broadcast….’

SolNoon, making such concerns irrelevant, was currently showering everyone with dopamine. Strong enough to sufficiently stimulate the brains of people already steeped in countless dopamine hits.

It felt a bit like junk food.

And for such broadcasts, treading the line was crucial. Junk food itself isn’t good for you. If it went too far, you’d be on a one-way train to ruin in an instant.

There were often people who broadcasted in a similar vein to SolNoon. And their endings were usually one of two.

They either hit rock bottom.

Or they were giggling amongst themselves in their own world… in the so-called ‘underground’.

Well, it didn’t seem like SolNoon would go that way. It was just a feeling. A feeling.

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.

[8 vs 3]

‘There’s enough time.’

It was still the early to mid-game.

The mission Leni had this time was to get 7 kills. A number she could potentially achieve by focusing on kills in the late game.

Why was Dark Mage OP in the first place?

It was because its decent late-game carry potential was added to its fairly strong early to mid-game where it had no true counters.

Its power graph showed consistent upward scaling, and its baseline power was already so high, how could it not be OP?

It wasn’t called ‘the class with the highest probability of not making your parents an odd number’ among users for nothing.
(TL Note: A Korean internet slang meaning a class that is so strong/easy to play that it prevents you from dying and thus making your parents (who are watching you play) upset/worried. The ‘odd number’ refers to one parent being left if the other passes away due to stress from watching their child fail.)

Leni’s own growth trajectory wasn’t bad either. Even if her kills were stolen, she got assist gold, and she was consistently farming minions.

It definitely should have been that way…

“Noo…! Let’s share a bit!”

She couldn’t.

-Poof!

A small explosion occurred in front of Leni’s character. Nothing remained where the smoke had cleared. The corpses of the fallen minions were being absorbed into the ground.

A Throwing Dagger [Explosion] had gone off. SolNoon had thrown it from outside the enemy’s vision.

It was a dagger that dealt explosion damage in a certain area, but it was weak for something named ‘Explosion’.

At best, it was used as an escape tool or for ambushes since it stunned enemy characters caught in the blast for 0.5 seconds.

[Assassin’s lane clear is so OP lol]
[That dies in one hit?]
[Hngh.. Noona, what’s with the cute tantrum????]

Naturally, no one used it to farm minions. Using consumable items to earn money was inefficient. SolNoon was just using it to moderately disrupt Leni’s farming.

It wasn’t even an item good for clearing minions in the first place.

It was like that now because of the buffs, but few people had noticed that yet.

90% of LoL players never break through the Platinum wall in their lifetime. Leni’s viewers were no different.

In the end, Leni had to use skills to clear minions.

In the late game, she could clear them with a single click, but it was still early to mid-game. And since her farm wasn’t great, she had to use her skills liberally.

However, maintaining her condition was essential for harassing the opponent, so it was impossible to pour all her strength into farming minions.

-Poof!

“Argh…”

Again and again, SolNoon wiped out all the minions, and Leni, unable to bear it any longer, typed in chat.

[LeniNing(Dark Mage): Hey Assassin… can’t we share the minions a bit?]
[SuperRedFlavorLeni(Assassin): Huh? You don’t need to.. I can eat them all by myself!]
[LeniNing(Dark Mage):  I need to farm too. You’ve already taken a lot.]
[SuperRedFlavorLeni(Assassin):  Just stay still. I’ll carry you.]

“Wow…….”

[Ah, if you’re bad, just stay still~]
[She’s a girl but still so sweet]
[lollollollollol]

A real fire was burning inside her… but she couldn’t vent it, which made her even angrier.

Logically, who wouldn’t like being carried? Especially in a promotion series.

If it had ended there, she might have been able to endure it… but in situations like this, someone always had to chime in.

This time, the ones who cluelessly chimed in were none other than her teammates.

[IfYouDon’tGiveMePriestIThrow(Warrior): Dark Mage, just shut up. She said she’ll carry]
[FlameFlameMage(Mage): lol]

“Ha…”

[lolllllllllllll]
[Just shut up…! Just shut up…! Just shut up…!] (Message blocked. Reason: Spamming)

Looking at the viewers’ reactions, no one was on Leni’s side. Feeling a surge of frustration, Leni typed another message. Words she would never normally say.

[LeniNing(Dark Mage): If you keep this up, should I just throw?]

Naturally, she had absolutely no intention of throwing.

Firstly, it was a promotion series, and aside from that, she was a major streamer. It would be like not just boarding the train to ruin, but driving it herself.

But she did it hoping her teammates would side with her, even a little. Hoping they would placate her, even if insincerely.

[IfYouDon’tGiveMePriestIThrow(Warrior): Yeah, go ahead and throw. Assassin is fed, so we’ll win even without you.]
[FlameFlameMage(Mage): lol]
[IfYouDon’tGiveMePriestIThrow(Warrior): Gladly accept the report, later]

“…….”

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

Iron was truly the abyss of the abyss. Within this game of LoL, it was a bitterly cold place.

“Sigh. Everyone. This is why Irons are a problem. They cursed out the Assassin so much at the start, and now they’re siding with her.”

[lol Is the streamer sulking?]
[She’s Iron too lol]
[Wow, this Leni is quite a rare sight..]
[Emeeeergency!!! Season 1 Sulking Leni enters!!!!!]

“Anyway, I need to get out of here quickly. The skill level doesn’t match, seriously.”

[Skill level doesn’t match = Stuck in promotion series for 9 attempts lol]
[Can the village chief abandon the village]
[Everyone calm down!! The streamer is turning dark!!!!]

Leni clenched her teeth as the viewers continued to tease her.

She was determined to focus as much as possible and defiantly catch both rabbits: ‘victory’ and ‘mission success’.

It wasn’t easy.

Wherever Leni went, SolNoon’s character trotted along behind her.

It was very common for teams to stick together after the mid-game, so she couldn’t complain about that.

But finally, a moment came when she could escape SolNoon’s chains.

[24 vs 13]

“Ah…….”

-Ttantadattanttan!

〔Mission failed: Get 7 kills.〕

It was the exact moment Leni’s mission failed.

Her current score was 0/0/11. Even if she took all the remaining kills, success was impossible.

What made her even more furious was.

-Red team has captured Blue team’s 1st objective.

=Victory!

The game ended with an objective capture. The kill score at this point was [24 vs 17].

It happens quite often, doesn’t it?

When a mission is failed very narrowly, viewers sometimes let it pass as a success or send donations.

But SolNoon had cleanly blocked even the slightest possibility of Leni getting that mission money.

[Yessssssssssss]
[Really won cleanly lol]
[SolNoon’s carry is sweet]

The viewers were all congratulating her in unison.

Yes, they definitely won… it was definitely a win…

But this feeling of having lost, what was it?

“This really won’t do.”

-Click -Click

Unable to bear it, Leni immediately started moving her mouse furiously. And soon, her broadcast screen switched.

<You see, everyone? This is [Sniping]. Anyway, the [Snipe] build is not dead~>

SolNoon’s triumphant voice came through the broadcast.

Leni had entered SolNoon’s stream.