Jealous of That Talent
Jealous. Yesterday, I got Raizir as a gift from my sister. And thanks to my friends' consideration, I got to play nothing but Raizir all day. How was the review? I'll be honest. Raizir had a higher difficulty than any champion I'd ever played. To be precise, it was the "manipulation difficulty" that was insane.
There had been champions with high operational difficulty. My first champion, Lizer, had low inherent difficulty, but its playstyle demanded high operational skill. And for Twisted Destiny, whose whole concept was roaming and macro play, the champion itself was simple, but operating it properly was ridiculously tough. But Raizir? It had sky-high operational difficulty and insane manipulation difficulty on top of that.
The champions I'd played before just required me to watch my own positioning. But all of Raizir's damage comes from the sand soldiers summoned by his W skill. So I had to manage both Raizir's position and the sand soldiers' positions at the same time.
Laning phase was definitely strong. The Q skill, "Desert Tempest," which charges the sand soldiers to stab the enemy, had pretty good range. The damage was nothing to sneeze at, and landing one attack applied a slow, letting me follow up with more sand soldier hits during that window.
Gank evasion was easy too. Linking the E skill, "Mirage," which dashes to a sand soldier's position, with "Desert Tempest" let me cover huge distances in a flash. Worst case, I could just shove them away with the ultimate, "Domain of the Gods."
The problem was mid-to-late game. Mess up the sand soldier placement, and you'd suffer massive DPS loss. Botch the ultimate, and it turned into a useless dud—or worse, an outright troll skill in some cases.
Put simply, compared to other champions, it just "didn't fit my hands." I even hit my first ever Overdose* in WoL since starting.
*Overdose: When your performance tanks so hard you feel like you're on drugs—or coming down from them.
It was my fault for getting greedy and chasing super plays I'd seen in my memories... Anyway, so what was on my agenda today?
"Please!"
The moment first period break hit, I bolted to the next class over to find Taekjun.
The best WoL player around me? That was Taekjun. So who else would I ask?
"What?"
"Teach me Raizir."
"Raizir? You were picking it up quick yesterday. Plus, I'm a support main."
"I'm way short. And I know you've run Raizir in ranked."
I didn't ask blindly. I'd checked his account on the match history site—plenty of Raizir games. His most recent one, two weeks ago? A monstrous 19/3/4. If you could pull that KDA on Raizir in high Diamond, he'd make a killer teacher, right?
"How'd you even... Whatever, no. If it feels lacking, why not try another champ? Honestly, Raizir's one of the toughest in WoL right now."
"Nah, it's Raizir or bust."
"Why'd you go full kid mode all of a sudden... Jeez..."
Maybe a bit childish, but that's how bad I wanted Raizir. I'd gotten into WoL because of Classic's Raizir plays. No way I'd ditch it now.
"Sigh... You on for Skipper tonight?"
Skipper—the voice chat app. Meaning...
"As expected of Taekjun! Thank you!!"
"...I suck at explaining, so just watch and learn by eye."
"For real, thanks! Chicken's on me later."
"This weekend. Eat it while watching Warchamps."
Warchamps—another name for WCK. Apparently, "WoL" didn't roll off the tongue, so folks started calling it Warchamps, and now it's practically semi-official.
"You got it! I'll send the tastiest damn stuff."
"Fine, now scram. Next is PE—gotta change."
Glancing around, his class was empty except for him. Everyone else had headed to change. I shot him an apologetic gesture for making him late and slipped out the front door.
Now, just crash quietly in my class.
*
Finals are over—middle school isn't school anymore. It's just a hangout spot with friends.
Too bad I didn't have any real friends in class. So the loner options post-exams? Sleep or read.
I slumped into my seat and face-planted. Ah, that firm, cool sensation. School desks always made the perfect bedding.
But then—not too hard, not too soft—fingers poked my shoulder.
"Who...?"
Right as I was drifting off. Sleep ruined. Still buried, I twisted my head to glare at the culprit ruining my nap.
A girl I wasn't close with—hell, didn't even know her name—stared back, all pouty. I'd seen her face around, though... That long straight hair stuck out.
"You don't even know your desk neighbor's name? I'm the class president, too."
Ah, desk neighbor—that's why she rang a bell. Or class pres? Whatever—answer quick.
"I... know... her."
Caught off-guard, I mumbled. Eyes darted to her name tag.
[Han Ju-ah]
"Han... Ju-ah... right?"
Maybe from always using formal speech at the Go dojo? Hard to drop it unless we're tight. Felt awkward.
"Hmph... I'll let it slide. But you still use formal speech with friends?"
She clocked me checking the tag. I flashed an awkward haha grin.
"So... what's up?"
Forced casual, since it felt like I had to.
No words—just shoved a paper at me.
"Sign this. Grade sheet. Everyone else is done."
Oh yeah, first period, the Korean teacher had us check essay scores. Forgot the sheet...
I scribbled my name where it said mine.
"Scores went up a ton."
They had. Midterms, Korean was around 50. Now? 91.4.
"Started academy..."
"You worked hard."
"...Thanks."
Nothing left to say. Face-planted again. Sleep creeping in. Summer, but AC made it perfect.
Wait... was that my first convo with a classmate this year? Friend...? Nah. Just sleep.
*
Home after academy. Skipped yesterday for exams; today, post-finals, didn't grind hard. Plenty of energy left.
Fired up PC and Skipper, waited for Taekjun. 10:40 PM—shutdown law* would kick in soon...
*Shutdown law: Korea's curfew for minors—PCs auto-shut after midnight.
Five minutes later, 'LowTierLord' went online. Voice call incoming right away.
"Yo."
"Teacher's here!"
"Teacher my ass... Anyway, one normal game—watch close."
"Gotcha. Why not ranked?"
"Think, dude. Ranked, and mid might get taken."
Oh... smart. Genius? But normals...
[MD]
Shared screen—ban/pick started. Taekjun typed faster than anyone, snagging his spot easy. Even in normals, guaranteed line.
And his Raizir? Next level.
Opponent: 'Asuo.' Passive 'Wanderer's Path' doubled crit chance and gave a shield after moving a distance—breaks on next hit. Q, 'Steel Tempest,' auto-attack skill: first slash, third hits a whirlwind at range. W, 'Wind Wall,' blocks all projectiles—like Mage's bane. E, 'Tempest Blade,' dashes through enemies, stupid low CD—zips minions like crazy (separate cooldown per target). Ult, 'Last Breath,' blinks to airborne foes, holds for 1 sec damage + armor pen.
Terrifying for mages: dashes everywhere, blocks skillshots, closes gaps on airborne. Lucky for me, lots of bad players—but at Taekjun's tier, opponents were stacked. Later check: Diamond 3 Asuo one-trick.
Taekjun harassed relentlessly from max range with sand soldiers. Asuo dashed in rage? Mirage to minions, punish with Desert Tempest.
"Wind Wall blocks Domain..." Timing Asuo's Tempest Blade on minions—flash + Domain yanks him tower-range. Insane. Knew Wind Wall locked out dashes.
Game crushed. Mid priority? Sand soldier-Mirage-Tempest over two walls to bot tower backline, Domain shoves duo. Art.
28 minutes. "That enough? Didn't explain much."
Perfect. He downplayed, but slipped in tips—better than any hagwon tutor.
"Yup, chicken by Saturday."
Shutdown killed more games. Logged off. Up early tomorrow—school before one more?
Wanna try the new Raizir tricks.
*
"...Unbelievable."
Call with Yunho ended, I rewatched the replay before shutdown. Dragon teamfight—eyed Domain angles, but they were tight. Normal, but Diamond average tier—smart positioning. No frontliners back there anyway.
But... 'Yo, can't I double-wall over nest entrance here?'
Dragon pit round with one open side—cross two walls there, boom, backline scoop city. Nailed it—surrender right after.
Diamond 1 me—even in Master promos—missed that angle. This two-month newbie spots it...
Every time with Yunho... real talent. Not like mine—true talent.
"Haa..."
Bad thoughts brewing. Shut down game, hit lectures. Skipped today's study teaching him.
Want pro gamer? Fine—but study too. Might flop, or flop as pro. Studies? Insurance. My vow to always grind.
Plus, fuzzy moods? Study clears the noise...
...Jealous. That talent.