Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Leo's Turbulent COL Debut
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Leo's days were always hectic.
From morning till evening, imperial duties came crashing down without a moment's rest.
Sometimes, he even had to work overtime after sunset.
Just handling that insane workload was proof enough that he was fit to be the next emperor.
"Whew... Finally, some free time."
Then one day.
For once, his work wrapped up early, leaving him free time in the evening.
Leo pulled out his dusty copy of COL from the corner of his room.
He had bought it a few days ago while out on business.
When Leo visited the merchant guild to buy it, there weren't long lines like there had been for Maple Leaf Tale.
He'd heard the launch day had been packed, though.
Leo had purchased his a few weeks after release.
Mass production approval had come through, so supplies were plentiful this time.
Of course, sales had still topped 3 million copies in just a few weeks—far more than before.
Thanks to that, Leo managed to snag his copy without blowing his cover.
"A bit... nerve-wracking."
Leo clutched the artifact and lay down on his bed.
Even if it cut into his sleep, he had to try COL because of his promise with Jebit.
The reason he was tense? He was thinking about playing COL with her.
Fwaah—
The moment he activated the artifact, his vision flipped.
The Summoner's Rift, brimming with mystical creatures and magic.
In COL, Leo became a summoner and started creating his account.
"Nickname... huh..."
When it came time to pick a nickname.
Leo hesitated a little.
The emperor himself and even the second princess, Eliya.
It was common knowledge that royalty played COL.
Still, he worried if it was okay for even a busy guy like him to be known as a gamer.
Especially someone like him, hailed as the Empire's Light and burdened with expectations.
Even if COL was all the rage, rumors might spread that he was neglecting state affairs for games.
<Wastrel Imperial Prince>
After pondering, Leo settled on that nickname.
It should hide his identity well.
And if things got dicey, he could always pretend to be Rikal.
Lately, Rikal had been picking fights over Jebit, which was getting on Leo's nerves.
He could have gone fully anonymous, of course.
But Leo wasn't quite used to the idea of true anonymity yet—a bit of a rookie mistake.
Anyway, with that, Leo dove into COL proper.
He picked up the basics through the simple tutorial and bot matches.
Having watched Arcane War helped; adaptation wasn't hard.
"Time flew by already."
Glancing at the clock in the corner of his vision, Leo muttered to himself.
It was nearly 10 p.m.
Leo decided to play just one normal match with other players before bed.
With that, matching began.
Once it finished, he was whisked to the champion select screen.
Perizoa: top top top top top top
ShitChampCollector: mid mid mid mid mid mid
BorderGuardCaptain: top top top top top pls
The moment picks started, his teammates spammed incomprehensible consonant noises.
Then they blindly locked in their lane champs.
BorderGuardCaptain: Oh, jungler.
Quick on the uptake, Leo grasped the situation fast.
ㅌ meant top, ㅁㄷ meant mid, obviously.
'First come, first served for lanes.'
In Arcane War, teams were pre-made.
But post-launch, it was random matching.
Curious how lanes were decided, Leo got his answer right away.
Mid and top were the hot picks, as expected in solo queue.
Leo wanted ADC anyway, so no issue.
Wastrel Imperial Prince: I'll go ADC.
Leo picked Ashe.
Up to this point, he was pretty excited.
His first real game with people, bound to be fun.
If they'd played as planned without drama, it would've been a blast.
But if picks ended peacefully, it wouldn't be COL.
OnlyPlayAssassins: Wait, lemme mid pls.
Latecomer <OnlyPlayAssassins>.
His nick screamed "no supports here."
ShitChampCollector: Mid first pick bro
OnlyPlayAssassins: Nah I only mid. Can't support. Was in the bathroom, sorry late.
ShitChampCollector: Bullshit. Shoulda picked before going.
In COL, you could pause the artifact mid-game, and the match kept going on the server.
Designed that way since it's team play—no one person's fault should halt it.
So bathroom breaks didn't pause the game itself.
OnlyPlayAssassins: What, emergencies happen. I only mid anyway. Double mid go go
And with that, <OnlyPlayAssassins> picked Zed.
Leo was utterly dumbfounded.
Wastrel Imperial Prince: Wait, no. Then I'm bot alone with no support?
ShitChampCollector: Wtf dude... total bullshit. Someone dodge ffs.
OnlyPlayAssassins: It's just a normie game, who cares. Double mid gg.
ShitChampCollector: F*** this. No dodge? I throw then.
Wastrel Imperial Prince: Is... this normal?
Leo panicked, but top and jungler ignored him.
He tried persuading <OnlyPlayAssassins>, but no dice.
OnlyPlayAssassins: Already picked Zed, too late. It's normals, just play.
Wastrel Imperial Prince: But what the...
ShitChampCollector: F***ing pissing me off, just...
And so the game started anyway.
No one went support.
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): For real? I'm solo bot?
Leo's desperate cries echoed in the rift.
But no one answered.
The second game started, both mids bought items and rushed mid lane.
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): What the hell is this...
Absurd, but Leo played on.
He gave leash to jungler and headed bot.
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Huh?
Enemy bot had two, unlike Leo's solo.
But they had issues too—Master Yi and Aatrox showed up bot.
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Hah... ha... no way,
Now he was laughing in disbelief.
Enemy Master Yi and Aatrox happily split the minions.
-Defeat
It was an even matchup, but they lost anyway.
"Is this... really how it works...?"
Normals were a far cry from Arcane War.
Leo resolved to try one more before bed.
Quitting without a proper game felt unsatisfying.
The next match began.
Thankfully, all five went to their proper lanes this time.
Leo picked ADC Ashe again and started in good spirits.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): God, ADC sucks ass fr
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Sorry. First time playing today.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): Then play support or something, not ADC...
About five minutes in, jungler ganked.
But Leo's mistake cost the kill.
Fiddlesticks immediately started flaming.
Leo apologized, owning his error.
He was the crown prince, future of the empire, after all.
He could've endured once or twice.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): F***ing Ashe!!!
In teamfight, Ashe whiffed ult.
They lost the skirmish and pushed to inhibitor; Fiddlesticks raged at Ashe again.
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Wasn't it cuz enemy jungler snowballed hard?
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): If your ult hit their mid we'd have won
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Their mid flanked from side, how could I...
Anyone could see it was a jungle diff loss.
Ashe wasn't perfect, but aside from the ult miss, nothing flame-worthy.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): F***ing raging. Shitty nick too, and trash skill...
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): ?
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): That third prince wannabe s***? Personality trash, can't even game
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Game skill and personality are separate, no? Why personal attacks? And I'm not the third prince.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): Then why that nick? Wanna be royal but you're just some peasant farmer lol. Bet you shut up irl?
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): No,
If this guy were in front of him, it'd be clear imperial insult—death penalty material.
But in a game where identities were hidden, nothing he could do.
He could report for ban, sure.
But the humiliation and disgust from the personal attack wouldn't fade easily.
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Your words are too much. Even anonymously, that's not right.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): Yeah~ come meet then. Show up. Bet you can't say s*** irl.
Part of him wanted to rush to the Illusion Tower and demand the player's identity.
But they'd flat-out said identities were untraceable.
And rumors of the crown prince hunting players over game drama? Bad look.
Plus, explaining the <Wastrel Imperial Prince> nick would be a mess.
The urge to execute Fiddlesticks on the spot.
Even Leo, the empire's future, was fuming at this behavior.
He was about to grit his teeth and ignore it.
(Team) WorldTreeIsJustABigTree (Fiddlesticks): Come out tomorrow, I'll tell ya location lololol third prince fake peasant time for lesson~
'This...!'
(Team) Wastrel Imperial Prince (Ashe): Tell me now. Where.
In that instant, Leo lost his reason.