21 - The True Troll
"I don't think I can talk while playing. Sorry, but I'm turning off my mic."
"Huh?"
NoName's voice cut off. Sia couldn't quite grasp what was happening for a moment.
What happens now?
There were mountains of questions Sia wanted to ask—broadcast-related ones, personal ones, you name it. But in an instant, NoName had completely upended her plans.
"For now, let's focus on the game. It's the first match, so she might just be feeling the pressure."
But it would take more than this to rattle Sia, who was already a full-fledged pro broadcaster. To keep the chat from exploding, she quickly restricted it to regular subscribers only and dove into the game.
True to her heavenly support main status, she'd tried Astria the moment it launched in Legacy of Legend. She agreed it was Riot's masterpiece, packing high carry potential and stylish skills for both fun and viability thanks to its sky-high scaling ceiling. But the hyper-balanced design demanded deep champion knowledge for laning and finicky positioning in teamfights, flaws that reared their head every game. In short, a shiny dud. It wasn't exceptionally strong in lane, and even if you scaled decently, you'd drop dead mysteriously more often than not—a total jinx of a champ.
Interest in Astria had cooled off gradually, leaving players pinning their hopes solely on Riot's buffs.
When NoName picked Astria, viewers let out a collective sigh. Why else would a troll be a troll? They didn't care about wins or losses—just their own amusement. A team united with grim resolve would crumble from one member's antics. Any Legacy of Legend player had felt that hollow sting at least once. Channeling past traumas, they unleashed their fury on NoName.
But the tide turned the moment NoName snagged a triple kill.
Mad movie montages of Astria had flooded the net since launch, but nearly all started at level 16 with her level 3 ultimate. That's when Supernova spawned 20 star shards, finally dishing ult-worthy AoE damage. But NoName flaunted it boldly—landing all 10 marks in just one second, no waste, all hits. And it wasn't luck; her kill score kept climbing relentlessly.
Our team suffered a crushing defeat due to numbers disadvantage.
While NoName and Sia pushed side fortress, their three allies forced a reckless teamfight and got wiped by the manpower gap. Worst of all, it happened right at Neutral Monster Baron Duke's nest. The game could flip from favorable to doomed.
"Baron went their way, so maybe push inhibitors instead?"
Sia ventured cautiously, but...
Are you really going? No way. All five are alive.
NoName neither shoved the wave home nor hesitated—she bolted straight for the nest.
"Dude, suppress is 1,000 won? If you die too, this game's flipped."
NoName had scaled well, sure, but bot lane nature meant levels weren't ahead. Specs were even. Sia could guess why NoName was so hasty.
If their tank scales further, we'll have no comeback in dragon fights.
But was it worth gambling a single skirmish on that? This was Bronze-Silver chaos. Even a 10k gold lead could flip anytime. Sia preferred safe macro, aiming late-game.
Retreat!
No way you're backing off.
Fine, let's go. Who knew I'd hyperfocus in Bronze-Silver hell like this.
Astria's possession rate was reset. Spotting NoName and Sia mid, enemies prepped for battle, sensing the threat.
But Astria's moves were unnatural.
"That's why the attack speed?"
Q skill on jungle creeps and minions stacked possession rate. By mid arrival, enemy minions clustered perfectly. NoName kited six perfectly, spiking to 30%, then shredded birds for 60%—range 750 complete.
Baron's HP: 3000. Too juicy to abandon, too tempting with scaled bot in sight. From 60%, each auto extended range palpably. NoName poked lightly with long reach, forcing choices: fight or flee?
She'd planned to all-in at 100% range parity, but instead baited by holding back. Ignored tanky immortal, harassed squishies—ADC and support. Her 10-kill ADC threat made every hit lethal. When it hit jungler, he signaled all-in.
"Keep flexing and you're dead!"
If Astria retreated, they'd just retake Baron. With top alive, 4v2 seemed winnable—they initiated.
Wait—possession at 85%, yet she dashed in?
They'd thrown it perfectly; couldn't ignore. Lulu isolated too. Ally support ulted her...
"Grow!"
⟨ Lulu Ult ⟩
Lulu's pinpoint ult timing, polymorph. Astria leaped over anyway, targeting deepest ranged DPS.
"What are you doing? Block her—quick!"
"Grab her fast!"
Mid and jungler rushed back; top ulted to shield ADC. But Astria vanished, leaving one ward.
"Where'd she go?"
"Wall behind—!"
95% - Range 1000
Astria barraged from beyond nest. Ranged DPS melted; support followed trying to save. Too late to abandon Baron—the Star Incarnate forgave no traitors. She hopped back with pinecone shot, dodging all CC, hitting 100% possession.
"We're screwed xx."
"La Astria Salva Erum"
⟨ Supernova ⟩
Stars plummeted from sky; shards embedded everywhere. All they saw was Astria's fluttering cape.
Starshard Heretic's Chains severed (5 shards)
Warden's Shotgun destroyed (10 shards)
Blacksmith kneels under stellar blaze to the last.
Legendary Ace!
"Insane..."
People say solo queue snowballs before Astria's late-game carry shines. I disagreed—specifically with armor pen builds. Obviously, that setup yielded ~40% winrate given her size. 50% hit around 30 minutes, sure. But to boost early growth and snowball, attack speed was the way—until range growth went unnoticed. They'd underestimate, then gape as she drifted untouchable. With Lulu's stellar laning and timely ults, this duo had no weak timings theoretically.
Enemy nexus falls.
"Phew~ It's over, everyone!"
Post-penta, enemies surrendered morale; nexus fell swiftly. Sia deserved credit too—always shadowing as I hounded with Astria. I'd bait aggression deliberately; she'd read my mind, polymorphing and ulting for perfect fishes.
"Largo, 5k per kill mission! Thank you so much!!! NoName's crushing it, right? I'll spin the donation roulette solo later."
"NightSkyGrace, thanks for the 10k too!"
Congrats poured in—cash, paid fireworks, raw emotion.
'Congrats.'
I turned at the whisper, but only ticklish northwest wind grazed my cheek.
"Yeah... thanks."
"Sorry for dipping without a word."
"Whoa! You scared me vanishing like that. You were really good!"
My avatar shrank from tall Astria back to tiny NoName.
"Wanna say hi to viewers? Collab's gotta have something, right?"
"Hm..."
I eyed the chat frenzy: congrats, fans of my plays, curiosity about me. Questions dominated.
"Girl... probably. But I don't wanna rush even if guy."
"Age? Birthday not yet—seven."
"Clanmates."
"Don't obsess over tiers."
"Real life? Tough to share."
"No reason to play anymore."
As I answered diligently, Sia cut in.
"NoName! Didn't mean answer every one haha."
"You held out on me."
You delayed on purpose, right?
But Sia smoothly queued next, dodging.
"Planned to ask casually in-game, but you spilled already?"
"No more mic drops."
"Hehe. Ready? A-Lulu again?"
"Nah, Kai'Sa this time."
I craved full northwest gale. Crisp wind.