Unsolicited Advice Endurance Lv.999 (2)

Because the person who taught her was Cheon Do-hee, and she herself wasn't particularly good at games. In truth, Aegipola was an extremely famous bug champion. It was a character often picked by newbies because it looked pretty. And whenever newbies picked it, nine times out of ten they would play like absolute garbage. The rank bracket that received most of these newbies happened to be Bronze—the tier with the highest player population—which gave the champion a notorious reputation. That was how Aegipola earned its other nickname: the bug champion.

However, this phenomenon didn't change much even when climbing to higher tiers. Even in the Korean league of Night of Legend, Nachamps, the pick rate had remained at a proud 0% for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two years running. There were superior alternatives to Aegipola, and plenty of champions that countered it, so the pros ignored it entirely. In high tiers that followed the pros' meta, the question was always the same: why would anyone play such a trash champion?

Of course, that didn't mean there were zero people who played Aegipola as a concept. The idea of charging straight into the enemy base and ending the game via backdoor was something every Siege-class player had at least once. If you searched for streams titled things like "Running to the enemy nexus with Aegipola," you could find quite a few.

And what if that Aegipola was being played by the double-bug maniac who had once gone toe-to-toe with pros in Battle Colosseum? Then the story changed completely.

This was how an unexpectedly large crowd could gather. Even though she had only posted a teaser on Z before the stream, the viewer count was far beyond expectations. It was the kind of number you would only see when all four members were streaming together during peak hours. And the growth didn't stop there.

Of course, she had used Z to announce it beforehand. Even so, the numbers were impossible to predict. While Mazia waited on the matchmaking screen, Komari took the mic and began explaining the content in earnest.

"Today's content is simple: resisting the urge to give unsolicited advice."

"I'm not telling the Leafies to hold back. I'm the one who's going to resist giving advice."

People watching Komari's stream for the first time looked confused, but there were over a hundred clips of Komari going full toxic during ranked games. Regular viewers already knew. In Iron—the absolute bottom of Night of Legend, where players were called bugs—an Emerald-tier player like Komari would find it nearly impossible to hold back her commentary.

"Of course there's more to it."

Komari played a teaser video she had prepared earlier—the one Mazia had received when teaching her the game. It was the teaser for Rubber Duck House.

"Every time I fail to hold back and say something, I'll play this game for one hour."

The chat needed a moment to process. So every time she gave advice, she had to play this boring game for an hour? And the person who had to resist giving advice was Komari—the same Komari who went full toxic and spewed venom the moment she started ranked?

"It's real. I promised One D unni."

"That's right, we made a promise. I even brought the table bell."

Ding——. The crisp sound of a small bell rang out—the kind used to call staff or play Halli Galli.

"Whenever I feel like she's giving unsolicited advice, I'll ring it right away."

Just as the chat said, if Komari stayed completely silent the stream would become boring, so they had added a few extra rules after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠discussing it with her.

"Also, any advice that comes in through donations will count as me giving advice."

"Why are you surprised? The Leafies and I are one and the same."

Expecting backlash, they had prepared one more rule. It was a slight modification of the method they usually used when the density of unsolicited advice in Komari's stream got too high.

"As usual, donations over 10,000 won won't count as advice. But for today only, every time the accumulated Clouds exceed 100,000 won, we'll subtract one hour from the Rubber Duck House playtime. Make good use of it."

In other words, if Komari failed to resist giving advice, the Leafies would have to take collective responsibility with 100,000 won.

"Come on, what's so hard about it? Just hold back."

"If you're upset, load up on Clouds. You guys always throw 10,000 or 100,000 Cloud advice punches even when I have a 10,000 Cloud ban active. Why, did you run out of money today? Is that it?"

Everyone was complaining, but once the game actually started they would probably follow the rules. The minimum donation for advice was being raised to 5,000 won—people weren't exactly lining up to get banned for 1,000 or 2,000 won when they could just pay 10,000 won to keep their lives. And just as the recent donor had said, how could anyone resist this opportunity? They could legally backseat a gaming expert like Employee D for only 10,000 won.

As if on cue, one viewer fired the first shot of unsolicited advice. That became the signal, and the Nachamps players who had been waiting patiently began pouring out one after another.

Clink, clink, clink. The flow was smooth. Now Komari and the viewers stood on equal footing. Rubber Duck House? Even a dopamine addict like Komari didn't want that. Having to watch a rubber duck fall for an hour? In that time she could play three average Night of Legend ranked games. But she suffered from a disease that made her unable to resist giving advice to people who played like garbage…

Thus began Mazia's first Iron ranked game. Fortunately for Komari and the Leafies, Mazia's early-game play was surprisingly decent and unremarkable.

Up until level 5, that is. The moment she hit level 6 and unlocked her adaptive skill, Mazia's playstyle changed completely. No one in the stream—not even Komari—had ever seen this version of her before.

The moment the adaptive skill loaded, Mazia sprinted forward.

Ignoring her lane opponent, Aegipola charged forward and created a smoke screen the size of a parking space right in front of the enemy tower.

"No, you fu— Mmph."

Komari almost blurted something out before clamping her mouth shut. It was practically suicide. Even though the smoke screen looked wide, there were far too many skills in Night of Legend with even larger ranges. Her opponent happened to be Lightning, whose basic attacks were area-of-effect despite their narrow range, along with Chain Lightning and the ultimate Electromagnetic Wave. Unless the opponent was literally closing their eyes when casting, it was strange for them to miss someone hiding in the smoke.

Contrary to their worries, however—

The demolition stacks were steadily accumulating. She was weaving in and out of the smoke for vision plays, and her timing for exiting the smoke just before the opponent cast—using blind spots in their vision—was incredibly skillful. If the opponent had been high-tier, it might have been different, but they were the same Iron rank. As a result, they only noticed Aegipola after hearing the stacking sound—even though it was TPS, where vision angles were wide.

After several such plays, the smoke screen play continued like a highlight reel. The moment the smoke cleared, a parking sound rang out. With the notification of 10 stacks, Aegipola entered invincibility. The enemy Lightning flinched and backed away from the tower to avoid the area damage from the explosion. Aegipola's black, massive angel wings and radiant halo fired beams through both barrels.

Pew———KABOOOOOM!!

First Destroy!

Everyone was shocked as they watched the tower explode with a deafening roar.

There had been people in higher tiers who tried similar strategies, but their opponents had much higher skillshot accuracy than the ones Mazia was facing. Naturally, the perception that the smoke screen was a trash skill had formed, and it had been abandoned. Because it had been neglected for so long, even the Nachamps players gathered in Komari's stream found this approach fascinating. Komari, an Emerald player herself, was no exception.

"I don't know what's going on, but it's good. If she just escapes into the alley from here, it's a huge profit………"

But a moment later, Aegipola spun around and marched straight toward Lightning, typing in chat.

Only then did Komari notice that Jia's health was critically low. She could have escaped easily. It was too early to give up on life. Unable to hold back any longer, Komari blurted out.

"No, unni, you could've escaped just fine…"

Ding——. Mazia rang the advice bell and spoke.

"I wanted to go home. I already destroyed the tower and earned gold anyway. This is easier than struggling to escape and dying."

"Uuuuugh."

Komari ground her teeth, and everyone was dumbfounded, but the game atmosphere remained quite cheerful.

The teammates were genuinely impressed by Mazia's rapid demolition. Even if you didn't destroy the structure yourself, you still received a certain amount of gold. But the problem came after. After she respawned—

After a while of facing off against the enemy in her own lane, the moment her adaptive skill came off cooldown, Mazia sprinted toward the mid lane. People wondered if she was going to gank another lane for a kill, but she hadn't even switched to Adaptive I for a duelist build. Everyone watched with a mix of worry and anticipation, wondering what she was planning. And then—

She laid down the smoke screen again and demolished the mid tower at the exact same tempo as before.

The team atmosphere went to hell because invading another lane for reasons other than ganking within the first ten minutes was considered a serious Geneva Convention violation in Night of Legend. This perception was especially strong in low tiers. Whether it was stealing last hits, destroying towers, or anything else, the moment you broke the rule, people would say "I can't be on the same team as someone who doesn't even know this basic stuff" and leave in droves. Eventually, a flustered Komari gave advice.

"Unni, are you cra— I mean, unni? If you push another lane's tower ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before ten minutes in Bronze-Silver-Gold, you'll get flamed… you know…?"

Ding——. Mazia immediately rang the bell to declare it advice, then spoke.

"So that's why people leave games halfway. I see."

Of course, Jia had her own reasons for this choice.

"But if you're Siege class, isn't the obvious thing to push towers, earn gold, and open a highway to the enemy base? Even if I destroy them, my teammates still get gold. I thought that was just common sense."

"Demolition gold is originally 500 gold, but if you don't destroy it yourself, you only get 200 gold."

"Is losing 300 gold important enough to throw the game? You get that much from a single kill anyway."

Mazia's thinking worked to some extent in high tiers. There were still people who raged, but since everyone was a dedicated Night of Legend player, they adapted to the changing battlefield conditions, reducing the potential for conflict. However, in Mazia's tier, it was different. Too many players would troll or leave if you didn't follow the unwritten rules. If you wanted to climb out of the bottom of ranked, you had to firmly grasp these concepts.

Komari groaned and asked Jia.

"But still, didn't you notice anything strange while playing ranked? At least one or two people must have tried to tell you? Don't tell me the Iron players are worse than dogs and just flamed you without explaining anything?"

Mazia smiled awkwardly.

"No, they did try to tell me. But how am I supposed to trust what Iron players say?"