Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: A Cursed Reunion
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[VICTORY!]
The third set ended with Lee Shin's team victorious.
The reaction, both in the venue and the online stream, was nothing short of pandemonium.
-Yeonhee University actually did it?
-That was insane, lol.
-How did we even win? I was watching in the auditorium, but I left midway through because I was sure we'd lose.
-The guy above me missed out on the best part of his life, lmao.
It wasn't even a close victory; they had dominated their opponents—or more accurately, Kim Ha-seong—from start to finish, which only fueled the crowd's excitement.
The camera focused on Kim Ha-seong.
“…”
His expression was utterly vacant.
Anyone could tell from the way he stared into space that he had completely checked out.
The caster cleared his throat.
“Ahem…”
-Lmao.
-His eyes look lifeless.
-To be fair, he has every right to be mentally broken.
-True. Who even plays AD LeBlanc?
And he had played it so well.
The relentless early-game pressure and the well-coordinated ganks were one thing.
But the trick show and breathless kiting he displayed during the double kill at the bottom lane were, without a doubt, the highlight of the set.
-Lol, seriously, how is that LeBlanc?
-He’s really good.
-I know, right? So why is he only Platinum?
-Probably because he only plays stuff like that.
-Ah…
Objectively, LeBlanc wasn't a good pick.
The stronger both sides became as they acquired items, the weaker she became relative to them. She was also notorious for disrupting her own team's composition, giving her a very short shelf life.
But Lee Shin had overcome these problems with early ganks and his mastery of the champion, turning it into a super carry performance.
The fourth set began.
-Is he going to do it again?
-I doubt it. The other team will be ready for it.
-Right. Now that he’s shown it once, he probably won’t do it again.
He didn't.
But that didn't mean he made a normal pick.
-Lmao, he’s doing something weird again.
-Hahaha.
-His showmanship is off the charts, lol.
He pretended to pick support Alistar, only to pivot to a full-damage mid-lane Alistar.
This threw Kim Ha-seong, who had preemptively picked Yasuo to counter an AD LeBlanc, into a state of confusion.
Once the game started, Lee Shin did nothing but chase Kim Ha-seong, relentlessly headbutting him.
And on top of that.
*Thump!*
*Thumbs up!*
“...!”
Every single time he landed a headbutt, he followed it up with an emote.
Kim Ha-seong completely lost his composure.
His mental state was already shattered from the previous set, and his opponent's constant prodding was the final straw.
And it was all too clear what happens when a player on a champion like that loses his cool.
[HASAGI!]
“No, if you go in on that…!”
The moment his whirlwind hit Alistar, Yasuo pressed his ultimate.
The only problem was that four other opponents were gathered right there.
“He should have held back.”
“Yes, he got too excited. He uses Flash, but… he ends up dying anyway.”
“He needs to stay calm. The game is still winnable!”
His mental collapse was so obvious that even the commentators, who were supposed to remain neutral, started cheering for Kim Ha-seong.
But once broken, a player’s mentality isn't easily restored.
[HASAGI!]
“Ah…”
“…”
A Yasuo that charged in without a second thought!
Thanks to him, the fourth set ended in a one-sided defeat in just 23 minutes, five minutes faster than the previous one.
* * *
The LoL tournament at this year's university rivalry festival became a massive topic of conversation.
And the surprising thing was that the most talked-about match wasn't the finals.
This was evident just by looking at the posts on Anytime, the largest university student community forum.
[Typical Yeonhee University Student’s Mechanics.gif]
The most upvoted post featured a clip of Lee Shin's LeBlanc getting a double kill in the bottom lane, while other popular posts showed him taunting his opponent with an emote after a solo kill.
Although his team ultimately failed to advance to the main tournament after Kim Ha-seong finally got his act together in the fifth set, the impact he’d left was more than enough to make him the talk of the town.
-Whoa, what is this?
-Is that from our university?
-I can’t believe I didn't watch this live. I should’ve just gone to see the match since my assignment was doomed anyway.
-IKR. And he plays in a really fun way. Personally, it was the most entertaining event of the entire festival.
-True. I just watched the replay, and he's really fun to watch.
Despite the final loss, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
However, in stark contrast, a few complaints did pop up.
-But isn't using emotes going too far?
-Yeah. They already won, did he really have to do that? It makes me a little uncomfortable…
But since the tournament's atmosphere generally allowed for such celebrations, and because the opponent had done it first in a previous set, the criticism against Lee Shin was virtually nonexistent.
The critique quickly died down, and as time passed, the community's interest shifted.
To the de facto star of the tournament.
-So who is that guy?
All eyes were on Lee Shin.
* * *
-He’s a student at our university, right?
-You can tell from his jacket.
-What major?
-I don’t know about that…
While a minor buzz about Lee Shin's identity was growing on Anytime, Lee Shin himself was standing in front of his capsule, waiting for the death penalty to end.
[00:00:00]
The login cooldown ended.
Lee Shin immediately connected to the game.
[Connecting to the game.]
The announcer's voice, which he hadn't heard in three days, filled his ears as his vision went white.
When he opened his eyes again, Lee Shin was standing in the middle of a city square.
“…Hmm.”
[You have 77 unread messages.]
[Would you like to check them?]
His message window was flooded with messages from Jeong Yu-ra and Arthur, but before checking them, he opened the map to confirm his current location.
[Player's current location is ‘Bratun Free City.’]
*Looks like I was sent to the closest one.*
He had died in an area with no civilization nearby, so he had wondered where he would respawn.
It turned out to be the closest city as the crow flies.
After confirming his location, Lee Shin opened his inventory.
*Lost some gold… but my equipment is still here.*
As expected, none of his important items had dropped.
All he had lost was some gold and experience points.
*Good.*
Nodding in relief, Lee Shin opened his status window to check the location of the mark.
He needed to find Jeras for his next plan.
“…Hm?”
But the mark was right nearby.
It wasn't an exaggeration; the blue dot representing himself and the red dot indicating the mark's location were practically overlapping.
Surprised, Lee Shin turned his head and scanned his surroundings.
And then.
“…!”
“…!”
In the distance, his eyes met those of a man who was also looking around frantically.
Jeras.
The moment he saw Lee Shin, he let out a scream that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul.
“…You son of a BITCH!!!!!!!!”
* * *
It had happened three days ago.
[Is this the person?]
[I saw him here (location).]
Acting on a tip from another player, Jeras and his eradication squad had swarmed the orc-infested area to capture Lee Shin.
*This stubborn bastard.*
His resistance had been fierce, so much so that a staggering 144 party members had died in the process.
But surprisingly, once captured, he was calm and offered no further resistance.
*‘Kill me.’*
He had even said it with unnerving composure.
*‘What?’*
*‘I said, kill me.’*
*‘…’*
*Stab!*
*‘Right.’*
So, they had granted his wish.
And that was when the nightmare began.
The Mark of Malice.
A curse he had cast just before he died.
[You have obtained 7 Orc Hides.]
[You have obtained 1800 Gold.]
*‘…!?!??!’*
They were baffled that the curse prevented any PK drops, but they thought it was still manageable.
*‘We just have to kill him again.’*
If it didn't work the first time, they'd do it a second time.
All they had to do was find him when he respawned and kill him again.
So, while placating his increasingly agitated party members, Jeras led them to a nearby hunting ground.
With nothing else to do, the plan was to kill time grinding there until Lee Shin respawned.
Of course, they were under the effect of a debuff that reduced experience gain and item drop rates by 99%.
*‘…Well, it should wear off soon.’*
At that point, he was still confident.
Since the caster of the curse was dead, he assumed it would naturally dissipate after a while.
But he was wrong.
*‘Why isn’t it going away?’*
Five minutes, ten minutes, an hour… Even after a full day, the curse remained.
Naturally, they couldn't hunt or complete any quests during that time.
No matter what they did, they gained no experience.
*‘…No, this is ridiculous!’*
Eventually, Jeras was forced to take matters into his own hands to remove the curse.
Swallowing his pride, he bought an expensive curse removal scroll from the auction house and used it.
[High-Grade Curse Removal Scroll has been consumed.]
[Curse removal failed.]
[Curse removal failed.]
[Curse removal failed.]
[…]
*‘…?!?!’*
But the scroll was completely useless.
Wondering if the grade was too low, he even tried a top-grade scroll, but that didn't work either.
A seed of anxiety began to sprout in Jeras. He returned to town and, sparing no expense, tried every method available.
He visited a temple, hired priest players, and even sought out a necromancer player specializing in curses to ask for a solution.
*‘Huh? Why won’t it come off?’*
*‘…’*
All his efforts ended in failure.
It was only then that Jeras realized this curse couldn't be removed by conventional means.
To lift the curse, he had to meet the one who cast it.
The man he had killed yesterday, Arthur.
*‘…How much time until he respawns?’*
*‘51 hours.’*
*‘…’*
*‘…’*
*‘…Arrrggghhhhh!!!’*
…And so, having wasted three days and a fortune for nothing, Jeras had been gritting his teeth, waiting for Lee Shin to log back in.
* * *
“Whoa, calm down.”
“Calm down?! CALM DOOOWWWN!?!?!”
“Calm down and listen to what I have to say first.”
At Lee Shin’s words, the rampaging Jeras momentarily shut his mouth and glared.
He was by no means calm, but he decided to at least hear what the man had to say.
Lee Shin opened his mouth.
“First of all, I can lift the curse.”
“…!!”
“But I have no intention of doing so.”
“…You son of a bitch!!!! Do you really want to die?!”
Lee Shin let out a dry laugh.
“You already killed me once, what are you talking about?”
“&%^$…!”
“Calm down and hear me out.”
Jeras took a deep breath, trying to rein in his temper.
Seeing that he had calmed down a bit, Lee Shin continued his explanation.
“As the one who got PKed, I can’t just lift it for free. Let's make a deal.”
“…A deal?”
“That’s right. Let's end this on good terms.”
“Hmm…”
Jeras hummed, mulling over Lee Shin's words.
A moment later, he gave a slight nod, gesturing for him to continue.
Lee Shin laid out his terms.
“If you follow one of my instructions, I’ll lift the curse afterward. How about it?”
“…You bastard, how is that a deal!!!”
Jeras, his newfound composure vanishing, erupted once more.
Looking at him, Lee Shin replied firmly.
“It is a deal.”
“I don’t get anything out of it!”
“You get the curse lifted, you idiot. And let me tell you in advance, if I don't lift it, you'll never be able to.”
“…!”
Jeras flinched, his shoulders trembling.
He had, in fact, spent the last three days trying every method imaginable, all to no avail.
A complex mix of emotions flickered across his face as Lee Shin delivered the final blow.
“I can keep it on you forever.”
“…!”
At Lee Shin’s bold declaration, Jeras’s face turned deathly pale.
A 99% reduction in experience and item acquisition.
If what Lee Shin said was true, it was a problem severe enough to force him to delete his account.
*‘H-How…’*
Of course, Lee Shin was lying.
The Mark of Malice had a critical drawback.
[While the mark is active, the curse’s effects apply to ‘both the target and the caster.’]
In other words, cursing someone else meant Lee Shin’s own growth would also come to a halt.
As such, keeping it active forever was impossible.
However.
“…”
Jeras, oblivious to this fact, was seized by extreme terror.
*‘He can keep it on me… forever?’*
If he had been thinking clearly, he might have realized that such a powerful curse would surely have a penalty…
But two unfortunate factors were working against him.
First, his mind was on edge after three days of mental torment. Second, the curse hadn't disappeared even after Lee Shin had died.
For these reasons, Jeras fell for Lee Shin’s bluff completely.
*‘…Ugh!’*
Swallowing back tears, Jeras trembled with suppressed rage.
Soon, gritting his teeth so hard they might crack, he asked Lee Shin.
“So… *grind*! What… *gnash*! do you want from me?”
“Hmm…”
After a moment of thought, Lee Shin pointed to his own shoes and answered.
“First, let's start with an apology.”