Become My Bus Driver!
It was 6 a.m., the time when birds chirp to herald the dawn, filling the world with their song. Jung Yunho woke up a bit earlier than usual. The reason? Obviously...
"Gotta play Raizir..."
It was to try out Raizir, the champion he'd learned about from Kwon Taek-jun yesterday.
Thanks to Korea's eternal enemy of young gamers—the draconian shutdown law—anyone under 15 couldn't play games from midnight to 6 a.m. At 14, Yunho was still bound by it, unable to game in the wee hours. But he wanted Raizir so badly that he dragged himself out of bed right when the restriction lifted and logged into WoL.
"Ugh... where's... normal game..."
While hunting for the normal game lobby, Yunho spotted someone online in his friends list. His friends list only had the loser squad of five plus his sister Jung Yuna, so anyone popping online stood out immediately.
[Syncro - Online]
Syncro was one of the loser squad—Kim Han-gil's nickname.
"Why's this guy online... oh."
The loser squad, Yunho included, mostly ignored each other IRL, but Han-gil was a year older. He wasn't subject to the shutdown law. No one pried into why he'd repeated a grade—he never explained, and no one asked. Anyway, Yunho loved games, but they were way more fun with friends, so he fired off a private message to Han-gil. Obviously to duo queue.
Less than five seconds later, a reply pinged back.
The "why are you still up" implied he'd pulled an all-nighter.
Wise words—Yunho nodded instinctively.
No wonder Han-gil was in a bad mood. He'd dropped five ranked games in a row overnight, demoting to Platinum 4. He blamed "team diff and shit game," but he hadn't exactly carried either. His boiling point was low—he was always pissed—so Yunho just shrugged it off.
Yunho created a custom lobby and invited Han-gil.
A normal student grinding games before school wasn't exactly wholesome. If his game-hating parents caught him, he'd get rekt. Wake his sister? Iron fist incoming.
They duoed 5-stacks often, so Han-gil trusted him. No way they'd lose a normal.
First time queuing WoL this early. Mornings felt chill—people weren't shoving lanes aggressively. Just farming vibes everywhere.
I picked Raizir, as expected. Fingers itching already. Han-gil went spider lady Arachne this time.
Arachne's unique—starts with her ult, Spider Form, unlocked. It swaps her from human to spider, totally changing Q, W, E.
Human Arachne's ranged; spider's melee.
Human Q: Paralysis Venom—targets take more damage the healthier they are.
Spider Q: Fang Strike—dashes and deals more to low-HP targets.
Human W: Explosive Spiderlings—hurls bursting spiderlings that chase nearby enemies.
Spider W: Rapid Frenzy—attack speed buff, simple.
Human E: Cocoon—non-target spit that stuns 1.5s (2s maxed).
Spider E: Skittering—leaps airborne, untargetable. Target an enemy to dive them; else, drop back.
TL;DR: Poke and CC from range as human, swap to spider for melee finishes. Skittering's untargetability makes tower dives easy. OP jungler.
Pre-game, we planned pathing.
(Blue = Mana Sentinel slang; Red = Flame Golem. Red side's opposite Blue side—Red between mid/top. Clears to lvl 3, full skills.)
Then Arachne...
Plan busted from the start.
My matchup: assassin Jade. Weak early laning, but spikes hard at 3-4.
Q: Shadow Darts—piercing darts, front one hurts extra.
W: Shadow Clone—summons copy that mirrors skills short-range. Recast swaps positions.
That's why lvl 3 (all skills sans ult) she's a lane bully.
E: Shadow Slash—whirling shadows around her, slows.
R: Shadowbrand—untargetable, leaves clone, teleports behind enemy. Next 3s, extra damage based on prior hits.
Clone acts like W summon—recall or mirrors skills. Predictable (X mark, always behind), but still deadly. Positional advantage + burst + untargetable timing = nightmare if not crushed early.
So bully early, call ganks if needed, watch roams. Han-gil's early gank was for that—wreck her before variables.
Of course...
...Just outplay her physically, no gank needed.
*
"What the hell is that?"
No one to hear, but I had to mutter.
Raizir's laning is top-tier. Champs that seize lane vs. him? Few. Jade's one of 'em.
Mobile enough to dodge Sand Soldiers' range. Dodges Raizir ult God's Domain with R, leaves Raizir toothless. If he runs? Darts poke hard—hard to win trades.
Raizir beats Jade 1v1 only super early. So Jade farms safe under tower to hit lvl 3 unscathed.
But Yunho's Raizir stabbed her relentlessly from lvl 1 with Sand Soldiers. People think Raizir's a late-game beast, so weak early pressure? Wrong. Sand Soldier AA hurts; chain into Desert Wind melts 1/4 HP.
Jade knew, hid back early. Yunho ignored minions, all-in Sand Soldiers to zone her. She lost HP; couldn't CS, line pushed to her tower.
She poked out for minions—more poke. HP to rags, pots to stall.
Recall? No items, fullback—lose two waves. Raizir unscathed, keeps shoving. Gap widens hopelessly.
She stalled anyway—worst play. Yunho reset lane center, hit lvl 3 first on a minion AA. Frontmoved teasingly, then Sand Soldier + Mirage + Desert Wind combo'd the CSing Jade.
Jade'd burned W under tower earlier—ate Wind + AA, flashed back. Yunho? Flashed on, Sand Soldier AA + Ignite (Thunderlord's Decree) finish. Casually dipped.
Jade potted, but Ignite ticked her out.
Watching for gank, I felt bad for Jade. Her mistakes? Not buying more pots, no jungler call. But to buy? Pure farm. Enemy jungler's scaling Master Yi—they never gank pre-6.
Unprecedented pressure. Even spectating choked me—opponent just dies. And post-kill Raizir this good? Jade's screwed.
Call jungler? She'd probably still win.
Anyway... Yunho improved insanely. Hinted at start, but this? Raizir seemed tricky for him, yet skill exploded overnight. Even low Plat mids'd struggle. I'd need 10 games to snag one win, tops.
Real talent—too high for envy. And he's my friend.
Hmm... could be a solid bus...
Mid's handled—gank it, snowball, dip top/bot lightly. Game over quick.
School's far—leave 7:30. 20-min FF perfect.
Game ended 20-min FF. Jade racked deaths like Padripper two months back. Sorry, git gud?
*
Post-FF results screen: new alert.
Commander Level 30 achieved. New game mode unlocked.
Solo/Duo Ranked
Flex Ranked
"Finally... finally hit it!!!"
Ahh, this crisp, hefty level. First time ever. Endless unranked humiliation (and rune/talent suffering)... sick of it.
Thanks, Raizir! Time to become Raizir Artisan Icarus!
My play this game? Chef's kiss. Replay-worthy even for me.
Said bye to Han-gil, shutting down—new message.
......Outta nowhere?
Yunho would later call that moment the beginning of finding his dream.