Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Tournament Begins
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Monday, lunchtime.
The campus cafe at Yonhee University.
“So.”
*Clink.*
A woman wearing a brown cardigan perfect for spring set her coffee cup down on the table.
Then, she looked at Lee Shin, who was sitting right across from her, and spoke.
“You’re saying you’re dead right now?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Shin nodded.
Just the day before, he had been killed by the attacks of Jeras and several other players.
“No wonder. I couldn’t whisper you. When do you respawn?”
“In two days.”
“…That’s still a while, then.”
It wasn’t just two days. Since time in the game flowed faster than in reality, it was a considerable gap.
Jeong Yu-ra asked cautiously.
“Are you okay?”
“?”
“I’m asking if you’re okay with dying. Besides, your infamy must be sky-high.”
Jeong Yu-ra’s concern was natural.
From what she had seen so far, it was easy to tell that Lee Shin’s infamy would be high.
He had killed well over a hundred players just yesterday.
An act of villainy that made most marauder players look like amateurs!
But Lee Shin was unfazed.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?”
“I probably didn’t lose much anyway.”
“Oh, really…?”
Jeong Yu-ra muttered, finding his reaction different from what she expected.
“I thought someone like you would lose their entire fortune.”
“You’re right.”
“I’m right?”
“Normally, someone like me would drop their entire fortune.”
He had even switched his weapon to a common dagger to maximize the damage of the Mark of Malice.
His infamy was over a million!
If he died in that state, he would have certainly lost an amount close to his entire fortune.
“But I didn’t just die.”
“Huh?”
“I cast a curse before I died.”
The Mark of Malice, cast just before death.
If the curse worked properly, he would have dropped a few thousand gold at most.
Even with the worst luck, he would have dropped only one piece of equipment.
Jeong Yu-ra’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Probably.”
“Is the curse that powerful? Weren’t you a rogue?”
“My class is rogue, but this isn’t a class skill, so it’s not related to my class type.”
The Mark of Malice was a skill he obtained from a title after his infamy surpassed one million.
Since it was a title skill, its power was independent of his class or current level.
And as for the performance of the Mark of Malice, it reduced the opponent’s drop rate and experience gain by a whopping 99%.
One one-hundredth!
It literally made it impossible to progress.
‘It’s an insane skill.’
Lee Shin had been subjected to various curses before, but he had never seen one more malicious than this.
This one restricted the player's growth itself.
As expected of a skill related to the infamy stat, it could be used with limitless malice if one chose to.
A skill that suited Lee Shin perfectly!
He had been itching to use it, and Jeras, who had conveniently picked a fight with him first, was the perfect target.
“What if the other person removes it?”
“This one can’t be removed.”
The skill description itself stated it was an ‘unremovable’ mark, so he was certain.
As difficult as it was to obtain, it was ranked incredibly high!
“Anyway,”
Lee Shin returned to the main topic.
“Because of that, I can’t log in for a while.”
“I get it. But that’s good, right? Wasn’t it going to be hard for you to log in today anyway?”
“That’s true.”
The LoL tournament Lee Shin had agreed to participate in was being held today.
A tournament where four teams each from Yonhee University and Goryeo University would compete in a single-elimination format!
The advantage was that it would end in a single day, but conversely, it meant he had to dedicate the entire day to it.
Even if they were eliminated early, players couldn’t leave midway, so he was stuck there until the entire event was over.
As Jeong Yu-ra said, it was fortunate that his death coincided with the tournament.
He had to take the time off anyway, so this way, he could do it with a clear conscience.
‘Good timing.’
Lee Shin checked the time and looked around.
Perhaps because it was lunchtime, the number of other students around was gradually increasing.
*Slurp.*
“I’m leaving first.”
After downing the lukewarm drink, its ice melted, Lee Shin packed his bag.
But before he could leave, Jeong Yu-ra stopped him.
“Ah, wait a minute!”
“What.”
“Ahem! Well…”
“……?”
But Jeong Yu-ra seemed to hesitate. Why was she acting like this all of a sudden?
“What is it?”
“Can I go see you?”
“See what.”
“The tournament. The one you’re in today.”
“……? You’re coming to see the tournament?”
This is a LoL tournament, though?
Lee Shin asked out of curiosity.
“Do you know LoL?”
“No?”
“Then why are you coming?”
“……I’m just curious about something. Since someone I know is in it…”
At Lee Shin’s dry response, Jeong Yu-ra’s voice grew quiet.
“If you don’t want me to, I won’t go.”
“I don’t care.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s a tournament with spectators anyway, so what does it matter?”
He disliked crowds, but with several hundred spectators already guaranteed, one more wouldn’t make a difference.
Lee Shin nodded in acceptance.
“But don’t act like you know me.”
“I wasn’t going to…? I’m already tired these days because of you.”
“Hm? Ah…”
Lee Shin quickly realized what Jeong Yu-ra was talking about.
There was only one incident that connected them outside of the game.
The blind date.
‘Right.’
It was understandable that she’d be tired.
She was likely pushed into that blind date, but as soon as she went, she hit it off with someone and left, contrary to how she usually turned people down.
People around her would naturally find it strange.
Or it wouldn’t be strange at all if they misunderstood and thought, ‘Of course.’
In fact, Lee Shin had also faced all sorts of misunderstandings from his classmates after that day.
Of course, thanks to his good excuses, the suspicion quickly died down, but…
He didn’t think Jeong Yu-ra would be as good at making excuses.
But Jeong Yu-ra’s troubles had nothing to do with him.
If they were in the same department, they could have coordinated their stories, but they were in completely unrelated departments.
They had no reason to meet.
And their rumors wouldn't intersect.
‘…Whatever.’
Thinking little of it, Lee Shin stood up from his seat.
It was almost time for his next class.
“I’m going.”
“Okay.”
“You leave a little later.”
“……O-kay.”
* * *
His last class ended at 5 PM.
It was supposed to end at 6 PM, but the professor, being quite flexible, ended it a bit early to accommodate the school festival schedule.
-Where are you?
“On my way.”
-Okay. Hurry up.
“Yeah.”
The Yonhee-Goryeo Games.
It was a tournament large enough that you would have heard of it even if you weren't a student at either university.
It was so popular that not only students from both schools but also students from nearby high schools and other universities flocked to see it.
With the festival being that large, the scale of the tournament was also huge. To accommodate the large audience, the LoL tournament Lee Shin was participating in was held in an entire school building.
After finishing his call, Lee Shin looked around.
As he got closer to the auditorium, matching the scale of the tournament, the crowd was getting larger.
Most were Yonhee and Goryeo University students, but there were also many who looked like high school students, and he even saw broadcast cameras and staff.
Lee Shin paused for a moment.
‘…Did they say this was going to be broadcast?’
He vaguely remembered hearing about it.
It would be streamed live on an internet platform so that students who couldn't come in person and other interested people could watch.
Of course, due to the nature of the tournament being an inter-school competition, it didn’t generate much profit, but thanks to support funds from alumni, it was managed this way every year.
By the time Lee Shin arrived at the auditorium, it was already packed with people.
Lee Shin scanned the room, looking for his group.
Just then, someone from afar waved and called out to him.
“Shin! Over here!”
“!”
It was a classmate from his department who was also participating in the tournament.
Next to his classmate were three others wearing department jackets of a different color.
*Nudge, nudge.*
“…Senior.”
“Ah.”
His classmate nudged him in the ribs and whispered. Lee Shin, getting the hint immediately, bowed his head and greeted them.
“Hello, seniors.”
“Is this the guy?”
“Yes.”
“Really…?”
The senior from the same department looked at Lee Shin with curiosity.
He extended his hand and spoke.
“Hey. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re the one who got in at the top of the class, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are you good at the game?”
“I’m not bad.”
“Figures. Kids who are good at studying are good at other things too.”
“…Haha.”
Lee Shin laughed awkwardly.
“When did you stop playing?”
“Until my second year of high school.”
“What was your rank before you quit?”
“My rank was…”
At the question about his rank, Lee Shin hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Platinum.”
It wasn’t a lie.
The sub-account he would use for the tournament had a peak rank of Platinum.
He had a main account with a much higher rank, but it was unsuitable for the tournament.
That was because the account was well-known (in a bad way) among high-ranking players.
During the era of Avala Online 1, Lee Shin had been reported as many times as he had PKed, which was an enormous number.
Of course, most of the reports were dismissed, but occasionally, some of his words or actions were deemed insulting to the other party, and his account was suspended.
A total of seven times.
From a minimum of three days to a maximum of fifteen.
That was when he had started playing LoL.
At first, it was just a lighthearted way to kill time while his account was suspended.
But even with that mindset, his physical talent propelled him to the highest ranks.
And his personality (…) made him infamous in a bad way.
That was why Lee Shin had sealed his main account. If the tournament was broadcast, someone would surely recognize it.
Besides, Platinum was more than enough for an amateur tournament like this.
“Plat?”
“Yes.”
“You’re good.”
In fact, his rank was the second highest among them.
The person with the highest rank was a sophomore named Hwang Dong-min.
Diamond tier.
Top 1%.
A tier where you could meet pro gamers or streamers who focused on skill-based broadcasting.
Hwang Dong-min asked.
“What’s your lane?”
“I don’t mind playing anywhere.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Yeah, I tend to play whatever I feel like on a given day.”
“But you must have a preference, right?”
Lee Shin thought for a moment before answering.
“Top, then.”
“Top?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go with top, then. You’re the second-highest rank, so we need you to do well.”
“Understood.”
Hwang Dong-min put Lee Shin down for top and himself for mid. Then he assigned the remaining members to the other lanes.
The lanes weren’t divided based on their usual positions, but by their rank!
In fact, this was a common occurrence in amateur tournaments like this.
Since the skill gap between players was large, the most ideal and common scenario was for the less skilled players to hold their ground while the skilled players carried. And to carry, playing a solo lane was much more advantageous.
“Alright, positions are all set… For the bans and picks, should we just play what we’re good at? That’d be better, right?”
“Yes.”
At Hwang Dong-min’s words, everyone, including Lee Shin, nodded.
It was an amateur-level tournament.
They couldn’t execute sophisticated strategies like pros, so it was better to just play what they were comfortable with.
Besides, most of them didn’t have a wide enough champion pool to choose from anyway.
“Please submit your entry list.”
“Okay.”
Hwang Dong-min submitted the roster to the committee member in charge of running the tournament.
The tournament began shortly after.