Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Exposed Troll
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Soo-hyuk entered the forest again this time.
Being able to exert influence on all lanes and relatively lacking in stats, securing stats in the forest was the most suitable option for him.
About three minutes into the match.
Just as he'd taken down around ten neutral monsters, a message popped up.
A message marked in red.
News that an ally had fallen to the enemy.
'Already?'
How long had the match even been going?
And it was the crucial central lane that had been breached.
One death wasn't a big deal.
But there was a strange unease creeping in.
Just a simple gut feeling.
'It's about time we could run into them.'
This kind of intuition from his experience had never been wrong.
Soo-hyuk moved to verify that sense.
Swoosh-.
In the forest near the central lane, he spotted a player named Dedore facing off against the enemy.
As if he'd tripped, Dedore staggered, his center of gravity pitching forward.
And in that instant, the enemy player's iron club smashed into Dedore's head.
Crack-!
The same alarm rang out again.
As if stung, Dedore sent a message to his teammates.
He'd apologized, but Soo-hyuk was certain.
"Intentional troll."
Intentional troll.
A term for players deliberately trying to make their team lose.
There were occasional players like that.
Those who, after clashing hard with teammates, couldn't hold back their anger and threw the game.
But this wasn't that case.
It was early in the match, and Dedore hadn't clashed with any teammates.
For trolling, there had to be a motive. And usually, that motive was conflict with teammates.
Sure, some threw for fun, but at Platinum level, that was rare.
So, only one possibility remained.
"Someone bribed him with points or something."
The only other case was throwing the game in exchange for some other reward.
And sure enough.
A tip came in from a viewer.
Verification was left to the curious viewers.
If they lost even a single game, they'd have to cough up all the points they'd won so far.
That was the bet between Soo-hyuk and Safety Asset.
"Pulling out all the stops, huh?"
Soo-hyuk's eyes sharpened beneath his mask.
He'd considered the possibility of an intentional troll on his team, but he never imagined it would be the handiwork of the very guy who'd placed the mission.
'Can't stick to the usual plan.'
With an ally intentionally throwing, one lane was completely ruined. Sticking to the original strategy would mean falling behind the enemy's growth.
So.
'A bit late, but I have no choice but to ramp up the tempo now.'
Soo-hyuk turned away from the neutral monsters he'd been hunting.
Since they'd played dirty over there.
He'd need to employ a slightly riskier method himself.
Throughout the match, Yohan was in high spirits.
He didn't know why, but the enemy's central lane was throwing the game. It would be infuriating if it were his team, but luckily, he was on the opposite side.
'Easy win, this one's a gimme.'
He leisurely farmed neutral monsters without tension.
No need to fulfill any special positional role.
Just keep farming like this, and victory was assured.
Another delightful message popped up.
Yohan continued hunting neutral monsters.
Caw-!
A massive crow larger than a person opened its beak and screeched loudly.
Neutral monster: Blackbeak.
A beast worth the stats of five soldiers.
"Getting boring, this guy too."
He'd slain it thousands of times already. Having lingered in this bracket for years, Yohan was itching to climb higher.
Yohan swung his fist, clad in sturdy gloves, at the Blackbeak.
Thud-.
Caw-!
The Blackbeak's aggro locked onto Yohan.
And in that moment.
A flash of light erupted from the bushes.
Boom-!
Instinctively, Yohan reacted with his reflexes. It was thanks to his experience as a seasoned player, but mostly the massive stats granted by Diamond rank.
Even so.
He couldn't dodge a sudden beam of light shot from an unseen angle.
"Urk-."
The yellow beam pierced Yohan's shoulder.
His shoulder went numb in an instant.
The follow-up came right on cue from the now-aggroed Blackbeak.
Caw-!
Thud-.
The massive beak jabbed into Yohan's side. He staggered, losing balance, his mind reeling from the shock.
Flash-.
And before he could catch his breath.
"One down for now."
The enemy's blade thrust into his neck as they invaded his team's forest.
Stab-.
It was the third time the same message had appeared.
Golimac, who had just destroyed the first stone statue, finally exploded.
"What a fucking idiot!"
It was a game they should've won doing nothing. Yet this goddamn team couldn't even manage that.
Three deaths already. That was no small blow to the team.
The team's atmosphere was turning sour.
Cracks forming slowly.
If one started throwing now, the game could genuinely flip.
It wasn't mere encouragement. Dedore genuinely believed it.
His base rank was higher, and he still led by two kills.
If they met, he could win. With that thought, Dedore kept playing.
But then.
Step-.
Along the lane where the first stone statue had fallen.
A unfamiliar face approached.
"...What?"
No.
He couldn't see the face.
It was covered by a mask.
And that mask was the enemy's most famous feature.
"Lee Soo-hyuk?"
The streamer doing a Lee Soo-hyuk concept, whose real name really was Lee Soo-hyuk.
A player with skills matching the name, stepping out from the forest right before him.
But.
'A mere Silver?'
Even so, he was Silver.
A pathetic rank limited to 75% of their stats.
Yet the reasons Soo-hyuk had racked up kills so far were two.
First, ambushing allies farming neutral monsters from behind. Second, his Lightning skill synergizing perfectly with the forest.
Which meant.
"Looks like a mistake?"
Lee Soo-hyuk outside the forest wasn't that scary.
"What mistake?"
"Why'd you come out of the forest?"
"What kind of obvious question is that? To fight."
Golimac snorted at Soo-hyuk's reply.
He knew the guy was impressive. He'd even watched his stream once.
But that was only when he was in the same rank bracket.
"Overconfidence."
Golimac was convinced.
Lee Soo-hyuk's decision to step out and clash head-on was wrong.
"Picked up a mission or something? Quit pussyfooting and fight fair—see if you can win."
"Too bad. Would've been nice if there was one."
"Even if there was, you couldn't take it."
Golimac sneered and asked.
"In real life, maybe, but here? No way I lose to you."
Silver vs. Diamond.
Stat-wise, over double the difference.
Three Silvers couldn't beat one Diamond.
And Golimac wasn't an average Diamond.
"Thanks to someone, I've got a nice kill count."
Five kills.
Unilaterally farmed from one guy, but it had boosted his growth tremendously.
And Soo-hyuk knew that too.
"Fair point."
Golimac was different from the others.
Soo-hyuk's level and stats were already far above average players.
He could take down multiples thanks to great skills and control, but stats played a role too.
That's why a Silver like him matched with Platinum and Diamonds.
But Golimac, gorged on kills short-term, had stats way above Soo-hyuk's now.
However.
"If we're fighting on stats alone, no need for the match."
This wasn't a card game with fixed attack values.
"Stats are just one metric. They don't prove absolute strength."
"...So?"
"If you act like you've already won before it starts—."
Zzzzt-.
Electricity began sparking slowly from Soo-hyuk's fingertips.
"I think I'll win."
Not mere bluff.
Even with equal stats, power varied wildly by user.
Even gaining one stat point took time to adapt.
A newbie couldn't handle stats spiking from leveling and farming.
Even Soo-hyuk, who'd wielded far higher stats before, found it challenging.
Moreover.
'This should do it.'
Three kills.
Plus all the neutral monsters near the enemy base.
He'd recovered the Silver stat penalty and gained an extra 50%.
Power surged through his body. Not quite matching Golimac's, but it was enough.
Zzt, zzzt-.
The electricity climbed from his fingertips across his body.
The yellow shifted to black. The second heart beside his own pounded wildly, warning of danger.
But even that warning felt good right now.
'How long since I felt this?'
The razor-edge thrill, like tightrope walking.
The electric buzz that could incinerate him if he slipped. Soo-hyuk's eyes curved wide.
And in that instant.
Boom-!
Lightning crashed down upon Soo-hyuk with a thunderclap.
The sight from his past life's Lee Soo-hyuk.
Black lightning cloaked him.