The Monster in the Mid Lane
The Bureau's biggest headache when planning an opening match was always deciding which game to feature.
Whether it was a jinx or simply the old saying about getting the first button right, the result of the opening match often ended up deciding the entire season's performance.
In that sense, the Bureau's League 3 team in charge of this Guild War must have had one less thing to worry about. After all, they already had the ultimate cheat key on their side.
The return of a fallen prestigious guild.
A dragon rising from the depths of hell.
The living legend, the Mountain King. The superstar, Lee Shin.
The legends they had written.
The results with the Mir Guild at the forefront were nothing short of astonishing.
510,000 viewers.
Considering that last season's highest viewership for League 3 had barely exceeded 130,000, this was more than triple the hype.
It was the highest opening match viewership of all time... No, it was the highest viewership for any League 3 match since the Korean league was established.
Even the Bureau officials were rubbing their eyes in disbelief before they could even scream in joy.
Yet while it drew explosive attention and led the league's surge in popularity, inside the game itself, not many things were smiling on the Mir Guild.
7.5 to 2.5.
The evaluation from experts was a clear advantage for the Baekseok Guild.
They unanimously predicted the Mir Guild's defeat.
It was an undeniable fact that the Mir Guild had written legends in League 4. But when it came to League 3, they had yet to prove anything.
While they had the living legend Mountain King, the rest were either fresh debutants or nobodies who had only ever played in League 4. Naturally, there was little trust in them.
Even their matchup luck was poor.
Their opponent, the Baekseok Guild, was by no means an easy foe. They had finished 8th overall last season and had been consistently performing well for years—a so-called promotion contender guild.
—The bottom lane doesn't even matter. With the Mountain King, Mir Guild has the edge.
—In the top lane, where physicality and weight class matter most, Park Jeong-seok might have some room to shine, but the opponent won't lose in a weight class battle either. Top lane is even.
—Lee Hye-jung possesses the unique traits of speed and poison, but her lack of experience will likely be insurmountable. Jungle is fifty-fifty.
If you only looked this far, it was hard to call it a favorable prediction.
If anything, one could argue the Mir Guild had the advantage thanks to the Mountain King's presence.
Yet despite that, the reason the experts still predicted a clear Baekseok Guild victory was simple.
—With the Mountain King excluded, who the hell is going to play mid?
—At this point, the Mir Guild has no one capable of holding the mid lane.
The center and core of the Rift of Confrontation.
The line that stabilizes the formation, gives the jungler freedom of movement, supports the top laner, and buys time for the bottom lane to scale.
The line that exerts influence across the entire Rift and can even dominate the game.
Mid.
They had no one who could stand there.
And amid everyone's concerns, the Mir Guild's mid laner turned out to be someone completely unexpected.
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In his prime, he had been a reliable mid laner in League 1. In his fading twilight years, he had kept his hometown team in League 3. Choi Chang-hyun, the eternal captain of the Baekseok Guild.
Could Park Su-bin, who was only in his second year, possibly stop such a seasoned veteran? It was laughable.
The casters, the analysts, the officials, and even the fans cheering for the Mir Guild—everyone shared the same judgment.
Otherwise, such comments wouldn't have flooded the live chat.
While the casters, analysts, officials, and even the Mir Guild fans were all doubting that judgment...
The hunters from both sides recognized each other and entered combat.
And......
To get straight to the conclusion, every single one of those predictions was wrong.
Before anyone could even talk about what Park Su-bin was doing, the top laner everyone had praised for his physicality—saying the lane would at least be even—Park Jeong-seok completely ignored the analysts' compliments. Relying solely on his physicality, he pushed the lane aggressively, only to get absolutely destroyed by the enemy jungler's intervention.
Kang Chang-min has slain Park Jeong-seok.
He was being pushed all the way to hell.
"...Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!"
"Kid, you don't understand the Rift at all."
"Shut up!"
In the process, the jungler Lee Hye-jung got her pathing tangled and was dragged into the mess along with Park Jeong-seok.
"You crazy bastard!! Get your head on straight!! I told you to back off!! Listen to me!!"
With their top and jungle in shambles, the enemy jungler was freed up and followed their plan to the letter—permanently marking the Mountain King. They pressured the bottom lane so relentlessly it was practically a camping session, and at the worst possible moment, the Mir Guild's ADC showed 'rookie behavior' and died spectacularly.
The enemy has slain an ally.
The situation had reached the point where even the Mountain King's lane intervention—the Mir Guild's only winning plan—was now impossible to expect.
The top and jungle that were supposed to be even had been completely demolished, and even the bottom lane they thought could at least hold on was barely maintaining the balance.
It looked like the Mir Guild's early game plan had completely collapsed.
But.
— "Oh my god..."
— "What... what am I even watching right now?!"
The very mid lane that everyone had shaken their heads at, saying it was unfavorable. The Park Su-bin who was supposed to get a harsh lesson and create a 'mid difference'.
He was holding.
No, that wasn't the right word.
Mid difference.
He was completely crushing the enemy mid laner.
* * *
At the center of the floating milky-white orbs of light, Park Su-bin looked up at the sky.
He seemed to have gotten used to it, as he now had some breathing room. The time he spent floating like the sun was rather stylish. The snowflakes drifting down like cherry blossoms beneath him were beautiful too.
Even though they were enemy magic that inflicted 'slow' the moment they touched you.
"They're pretty."
He was relaxed enough to purely enjoy the beauty of his opponent's magic. That was because his three or four orbiting orbs of light were completely erasing the snowflakes.
"All of that person's magic seems pretty."
These snowflakes, the ice spears flying toward him, and even the ice thorns sprouting from the ground.
They sparkled beautifully. It was almost a shame to destroy them.
Park Su-bin waved his hand. The milky-white orbs orbiting around him reacted instantly.
Their target was the various forms of ice magic flying in from the other side.
The orbs vanished with bizarre angled movements, then reappeared to block the freezing magic that had been closing in from all directions.
Clang—!
Clang clang!!!
The sound of shattering and breaking echoed in every direction. Some were consumed.
The ice offensive that had been so easily blocked, the ice fragments that fell to the ground, melted away pathetically.
But that was when it happened.
While the area was still noisy from the collision between ice and light orbs, a puddle of melted water began to tremble and expand, instantly freezing the ground's surface.
It was the application of magic by a skilled mage based on high understanding.
Whoa... so it can be used like that too.
Park Su-bin's eyes sparkled like the falling ice fragments as he inwardly admired it, and he thought:
'I should try that too.'
His pupils expanded and contracted at a terrifying speed, as if reading something.
And soon after, when Park Su-bin flipped his raised palm downward—
Swoosh—!
Several of the orbs that had been happily smashing ice broke away and embedded themselves in the ground. At the same time, pillars of light shot up from the orbs, drawing circles that filled with geometric formulas.
A dome-shaped shield manifested.
The ice that had been devouring the ground was blocked by the shield and piled up with a grinding sound.
"This is fun."
That was the beginning. The movements of the orbs began changing into increasingly diverse forms. Choi Chang-hyun, his opponent, watched his ice melt away meaninglessly and was left speechless.
"Hah, this is ridiculous."
Is he seriously learning in the middle of combat?
If mages around the world knew about this, they would clutch their necks and wail in despair.
That this was something you could do just because you 'felt like trying'?
Even his opponent, Choi Chang-hyun, had only achieved this 'shape transformation' after twenty years of relentless effort.
It was dangerous. Once he realized time was not on his side, Choi Chang-hyun judged that he couldn't drag this fight out any longer. He acted immediately.
In that instant, a glacial giant surged up from the ice covering the ground. The upper body of the giant raised its clasped fists high above its head.
It was magic manifested in an instant, but four of Park Su-bin's orbs gathered to form a shield of light that blocked it. For such a ferocious attack, it was surprisingly easy to stop.
But that too had been a setup.
The moment the massive glacial fist touched the shield of light—
Crack—!
The glacier exploded as if detonating, its fragments shattering into fine pieces that became an icy mist.
An icy mist that enveloped the entire area.
Dozens, hundreds of magic circles created by those tiny snow particles, and then ice flowers blooming like fog.
It was the magic of absolute zero that instantly froze everything within a certain range the moment the flowers fully bloomed.
It was Choi Chang-hyun the Cryomancer's signature ultimate technique, 'Ice White Flower,' the very spell that had carried him all the way to League 1.
And the moment Ice White Flower reached full bloom, enemies who had been hiding in the bushes on both sides appeared, surrounding Park Su-bin from left and right.
"Die!!"
"Block it!!"
There was no escape route.
Ice White Flower was already freezing the surroundings, and from behind, blades and ropes were flying toward him.
A do-or-die moment.
But Park Su-bin himself...
"...Wow, it's really pretty."
Was enjoying it. The beauty of Ice White Flower.
Is that a rose? Or a tulip? It's incredibly vibrant.
Spread magical power within a certain range to interfere with natural mana, then read the opponent's information.
That had been Lee Shin's instruction, and at some point, Park Su-bin had begun to feel it.
Their movements, their breathing, the flow of their mana... everything about them.
Clap—!
The moment Park Su-bin clapped his hands, the orbs that had been quietly(?) blocking until now suddenly transformed. They began whipping around the area at even greater speed, glowing brighter as they grew in size.
They devoured.
Not blocking, not breaking—swallowing and erasing.
Like eating delicious ice cream, they left not a single fragment behind, cleaning everything up neatly.
And while Ice White Flower was being eaten flower by flower, the enemies who had come around from behind were struck by the orbs. They were literally beaten like they were getting gang-stomped.
"...Hah."
The hand holding the staff dropped limply from Choi Chang-hyun's grip.
To feel such helplessness here, a feeling he had rarely experienced even in League 1.
The tacky mink coat, the countless rings on every finger, the necklaces tangled together. The first time they met, the sight had made him want to laugh.
"He really was a monster..."
Now he was afraid of that monster.
And in his mind, he could already see what was about to happen.
"Captain, I'm moving."
At that moment, the battlefield shook violently.