The Outlaw's First Stand

The sound of the horn blared across the arena—Biiiiiing! From the moment the ban-pick phase began, the sheer weight difference between us and the enemy team made my head spin. It wasn't until the game actually started that I realized I'd almost completely skipped checking the Outlaw's skill set.

"Ugh... I nearly jumped into my first-ever marksman game without even reading the skills properly."

I'd at least dabbled with Starlight Archer, Demon Hunter, and Pirate in the mid lane before, but the Outlaw was completely foreign territory. I'd almost ruined the game before it even began.

As the Saint had said, it took some time to reach the first turret along the bottom lane. I used that window to quickly scan through the Outlaw's skill set.

A quick read showed that the Outlaw's kit was built around burst damage, counter-engaging, and scaling through kills.

"So I really need to get ahead early if I want to carry into the late game."

The Saint seemed deeply concerned. He kept pointing out every unfavorable aspect of the draft and gave an even more negative evaluation than usual. Up until now, no matter how difficult the game, there had always been a fundamental skill gap we could exploit to win. But this match was different—every single player on both sides had reached the absolute peak of the Celestial tier. On top of that, we were overwhelmingly behind in both draft and individual lane matchups. Even I had to admit this would easily be the hardest game I'd played so far.

"They're only human too. If we look for openings, we can definitely put up a fight."

Still, I refused to enter a match already accepting defeat. It went against my nature. So I deliberately spoke with more confidence than I actually felt.

As soon as the laning phase began in earnest, the Outlaw's gun—almost as if honoring my words—fearlessly spat fire again and again. The support, who also had a very aggressive playstyle, synced up perfectly with me. Thanks to that, our bot lane quickly took a commanding lead.

But our good fortune in bot lane didn't last long. A game ruined from the draft phase rarely went smoothly. Just as expected, things quickly spiraled.

The 2v2 skirmish that broke out in top and mid was completely thrown by our team. The enemy mid laner began snowballing dangerously early. That momentum continued all the way to the Cerberus timing, and we ended up losing complete control of every objective.

It was true that top and mid had collapsed pretty hard in that last fight, making the overall situation much more difficult. But if I looked at it from the other side, both the enemy top and mid were currently backing off to reset. This was the perfect moment to strike aggressively.

"I'm going for a dive here."

The Saint reacted negatively to my bold call, but I had no intention of backing down from my decision.

At a timing where we should've been playing more safely, the Outlaw charged in and the bot lane dive began. The enemy tried to retreat after sensing the Outlaw's terrifying momentum and seeing how low their health had gotten from the previous trade. But our support landed his ultimate—Meteor—right next to the enemy turret, successfully cutting off their escape.

The summons that had been blocking the Outlaw's path were devoured by the Runemancer's Artificial Black Hole the moment its cooldown came back up. The fight instantly turned into a 1v2 between a nearly full-health, full-cooldown Outlaw and two vulnerable enemies—the Pirate and the Necromancer.

But the opponents still had their ultimates available and knew the Runemancer was still far away. They responded quickly. A Cursed Soldier appeared in front of the Outlaw, and right where the soldier would push her, the Pirate dropped Concentrated Bombardment.

Just when it looked like the Outlaw was in serious danger, she used her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leap at the perfect moment. Not only did she dodge the Cursed Soldier, she also escaped the area of the Bombardment entirely. From that point on, bullets poured endlessly from the Outlaw's gun, melting the enemies' health bars in seconds.

The Saint was ecstatic over the devastating performance the Outlaw had just shown, and the team's morale seemed to rise. But that good atmosphere didn't last long.

After that, top and mid continued to die on cooldown. The enemy even took the Wyvern. From the beginning, the respectful tone between top and support had gradually grown sharper. As the game spiraled toward disaster, their differing judgments finally led to open conflict. Both of them were extremely competitive, so neither was willing to yield. They simply insisted that their own opinion was correct. They couldn't reach a proper compromise even by the time Dragon spawned. In the end, they wandered awkwardly near the Dragon pit and were picked off one by one in a total catastrophe.

Now I was the only one left. Although all of the Outlaw's skills were currently on cooldown, forcing me to retreat, I had to find a way to turn it around the moment they came back up.

First, I calmly observed the enemy's positioning and remaining abilities. The most immediate threat was the Berserker, who was charging at me with terrifying momentum while under the effect of his ultimate, Last Respite.

The Pirate and Necromancer, who had used most of their important skills in the previous fight, were focused on finishing off the Dragon. The Paladin had almost no skills or health left and was simply contributing with basic attacks while staying safe.

"Hoo..."

Now that I'd assessed the situation, it was time to act. I used my forward leap to dodge the Berserker's greatsword by a hair's breadth. Then the Outlaw, having successfully counter-engaged, unleashed another storm of bullets.

I took out the low-health Paladin first. Next was the Necromancer, who had been weakened by the Outlaw's ultimate. Only the Berserker and the Pirate remained.

But the Berserker caught up again and dodged every single one of the Outlaw's attacks, eventually putting an end to the rampaging marksman.

"Ah..."

Not only had the game collapsed, but my no-death record had been broken as well.