NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16
With the enemy team having devoured the Baron, any further resistance was utterly pointless.
The enemy team marched in, leading the minions empowered by the Baron buff.
Still, with a composition boasting a high AD ratio, we could clear the lanes to some extent.
But that was merely a fleeting effort, barely a last-ditch struggle.
The enemy team—no, the enemy Yasuo—slowly built up a snowball that ultimately became a calamity for us.
From the laning phase to the current disaster, Yasuo’s strategy played a huge role, and there were only two of us here who recognized it: me and the Wandering Swordsman.
The opponent never acted hastily.
First, they destroyed the bottom inhibitor, then the mid inhibitor.
After deploying Yasuo to the bottom lane, they pivoted to the top and engaged in extreme maneuvers.
In the end, we were forced to commit two players to deal with the towering Yasuo.
The consequent gaps in manpower led to the top inhibitor tower being demolished.
[The inhibitor has been destroyed.]
With the last inhibitor down, the enemy team now pressed with the wave of minions boosted by the Baron.
At this point, we could no longer withstand the onslaught nor stall for time.
To win, we had to fight and emerge victorious, but…
The enemy team’s initiation was far superior and more dominant than ours.
The combo of Malphite’s and Yasuo’s ultimates, with Amumu sneaking in with a Flash, was too much.
In a split second, four of our players exploded from the upper-side ultimate combo.
As the sole survivor, I numbly stared at the Nexus crumbling and pondered the reasons for our defeat.
First and foremost, the Wandering Swordsman played better than me.
Not only did their physical prowess shine, but their ability to read and navigate the game had also grown.
Above all, the presence of Malphite and Amumu, who wielded the Sunfire Aegis, was overwhelmingly significant.
Aside from our Evelynn, we had only AD champions, and as time passed, the difference in our compositions became starkly apparent.
Honestly, Malphite and Amumu with the Sunfire Aegis were absurdly overpowered.
Amumu’s second-core item, the Abyssal Mask, demonstrated overwhelming performance as well.
No, it was all just excuses.
I wanted to admit it, but I had no choice but to.
The Wandering Swordsman defeated me purely on skill.
After a total of 30 attempts, they claimed victory.
[Defeat]
The word that appears on the screen blinks in my vision.
I lost in both the bet and the game.
[God, is he the Wandering Swordsman?]
[In the end, he won.]
[I knew it!]
[Isn’t it basically 29 losses and then one win?]
[Don’t ruin the mood; recognize the signs.]
[For real, lol]
Yet, I didn’t feel too bad.
Well, there’s no rule saying I have to win every time.
Exhausted from the mental battle with the Wandering Swordsman, sleep began to creep in.
Though my body signaled that it was fine, I could no longer hold on.
[To Wandering Swordsman00: I will keep my promise.]
[To Wandering Swordsman00: But I’m too tired today, so it might be a stretch…]
[To Wandering Swordsman00: Let’s play with this ID tomorrow morning.]
After sending a whisper to the Wandering Swordsman, I tried to sleep, hoping to relieve my weary mind.
*
[Wandering Swordsman00: That’s all for today’s stream.]
[Just got here, what the heck?!]
[Are you really leaving? Leaving already?]
[Scores dropped drastically, you need to do a recovery stream for real, lol.]
[‘Today’s’ stream is over, does that mean… tomorrow too…?]
Viewers protested against the Wandering Swordsman’s ending declarations.
Though the Wandering Swordsman wanted to stream longer due to the backlash, they’d already poured all their energy into the bet against the Unknown Yone Master, leaving no strength for more games.
However, sensing that the backlash might be worse than expected if they ended right then, the Wandering Swordsman decided to type another message.
[Wandering Swordsman00: I’ll prepare the mic and start up tomorrow morning.]
[Wandering Swordsman00: And I’ll have a quick Q&A session.]
[Oh]
[The mic is a must!]
[First stream with 5k viewers, and a Q&A the next day for a rookie streamer, lol.]
[Too massive to call it a rookie, though.]
[Is this an experienced rookie or what?]
[Lol, an experienced inexperienced rookie.]
With the mic preparations and tomorrow’s Q&A broadcast plan laid out, viewers’ objections subsided.
Having gauged the right timing to end, the Wandering Swordsman concluded the stream.
“Ahh…”
Only after confirming the end of the stream message did the Wandering Swordsman let out a long sigh and move the mouse.
Fatigued to the bone and craving sleep, there were still tasks that needed attending.
Specifically, looking for a mic for tomorrow’s stream.
“What mic should I get…”
However, the Wandering Swordsman, who typically had no interest in broadcasting gear, browsed reviews of various mics.
Life wasn’t too tight yet, so if they were going to stream, they thought it best to buy a decent mic.
Even after that, the Wandering Swordsman forced their sleepy eyes wide open to gather information on streaming.
While skimming through various random facts about streaming, something caught their attention:
Hosting.
A feature where a streamer sends their viewers to another streamer’s broadcast.
As soon as the Wandering Swordsman saw this feature, a brilliant idea popped into their head, and they began sketching a rudimentary broadcasting plan.
Hoping it might make them happy by fulfilling a request they didn’t need to make.
*
On another front, Curry was streaming.
“An evil player wrap-up from last season!”
[Lololololol]
[Lolol]
[Master finishing up, who do you think you are? Lol.]
[For real, heaven has favored, they think it’s skill, haha.]
[Their overconfident chin deserves a rampage, seriously.]
[Lolololol]
Despite the numerous distractions from various haters and gatekeepers, Curry was having a ball after finishing last season at Master rank.
Just two hours before the end of the season, they thought they were going to finish in a losing streak against ‘Nayun Queen’.
However, Curry unleashed an overwhelming physical display, awakening for an unprecedented three consecutive wins.
While our team’s snipers and gatekeepers not being captured helped a lot,
Above all, the heavenly luck that seemingly couldn’t be achieved was crucial.
As a result, Curry, who started streaming during preseason, truly ruled like a tyrant.
The snipers who couldn’t reach Master became the butt of the joke every time they got killed by Curry,
And the gatekeepers who behaved poorly during the promotion matches gave Curry kills, only to be dubbed ‘The Master Skew’.
“You see the level of these guys?”
“Basically just lucky iron players.”
“Busting through Master parking fashion, ‘The Master Skew’!”
Curry, finishing the season as a Master, flaunted incredible energy.
While they were already notorious for their high-energy persona, today’s Curry displayed an even crazier vibe.
It was like witnessing an energizer bunny filled with infinite energy.
“Wow, ‘Bloodthirster,’ what a gem!”
[How can you fill up like that from just one scratch?]
[That needs to get nerfed.]
[Is Aatrox’s golden age coming back?]
And just like that, another carry match unfolded where Curry took the lead.
The stream, which ran for eight hours, finally came to a close with Curry’s casual signing-off remarks.
“Phew… I’m tired.”
Curry, who had pushed hard for the preseason, let out a sigh.
After ending the stream, Curry discussed the next video with the editor as usual.
Then, they talked with a manager friend about what items to evaluate tomorrow.
Usually, viewers think that all streamers, including League of Legends players, rest during the gap between broadcasts.
While there obviously are streamers who rest during downtime, Curry was the type to work even when not streaming.
After wrapping up the day’s work, Curry opened their email before hitting the bed.
Amongst various emails sat an eye-catching one.
It was from Twitch, informing them about the upcoming Platform Tournament hosted by Goliath Games Korea.
As Curry slowly read through the email, a grin appeared on their face.
“I can’t miss something like this.”
Soon, good content was on the horizon.
With that thought in mind, Curry drifted off to sleep.
*
I woke up early in the morning and immediately regretted yesterday’s decisions.
However, nothing would change, so I started getting ready to head out.
The bet was to stream for just one day, but I didn’t really want to do just that.
Arriving at the large mart, I moved towards the section with various broadcasting equipment.
Basic mics, headsets, cams, and lighting gear all caught my eye.
The moment I saw them, the thought struck: “Should I get a cam?”
“It doesn’t seem necessary…”
Should I buy one or not?
Lost in thought, I ultimately placed a cam in my basket.
Once I powered up the mic, they would naturally find out I was a woman.
I was well aware of how League of Legends players viewed women.
What if the mysterious Yone Master who swept through the celestial realm turned out to be a female?
Naturally, people wouldn’t believe it, and surely annoying situations would continue to arise.
So, it was better to set up a hand cam in advance to prevent any controversies.
“…”
Upon reflecting again, I wondered if there was really any need to buy it.
But since I was going to stream, I thought I should at least do it properly and then quit.
After all, it was just a one-day stream.
It wasn’t like I needed to buy a high-quality mic, right?
What if an essential situation for a mic arises later?
Unsure and indecisive, I eventually tossed the most expensive mic into my basket.
Yeah.
This is definitely not a purchase for taking streaming seriously.
Now that I was out of the house, buying something lousy felt worse than getting a good one.
Deceiving myself, I checked out with the mic and cam.
Holding the bag with the mic and cam, feelings of self-loathing crept up my back.
“Ugh…”
Me, the sniper, buying a mic and cam to stream?
It was something I could never have imagined in the past, and I trembled as I made my way home.
Once home, I connected the cam and mic to my computer.
I browsed the net for basic streaming setups and finished the initial setup.
I adjusted the angle of the cam so only my hands and keyboard would come into view.
Finally, I tweaked the stream screen to show only League of Legends client and my cam, leaving out unnecessary clutter.
Everything was ready.
Now, it only took a single button press to start the stream.
“…”
gulp –
I swallowed hard and clicked the button to go live.
[Live]
[Current viewer count – 0]
To my surprise, no dramatic changes occurred after I finally went live, contrary to my worries.
I suppose that was expected.
There wasn’t even a game category selected yet, and most importantly, I hadn’t even set a stream title.
Relieved internally, I wished that this state would last as long as possible.
But then…
[Wandering Swordsman00 is hosting with 6,382 viewers.]
That’s just how life goes.
[Accept the refugees~!! Accept the refugees~!! Accept the refugees~!! Accept the refugees~!! Accept the refugees~!!]
[Is this the Barcode’s stream? Is this the Barcode’s stream?]
[Cries, I’m a baby refugee! Cries, I’m a baby refugee! Cries, I’m a baby refugee! Cries, I’m a baby refugee!]
[Hello, human 1, hello, human 2, hello, human 3, hello, human 4, hello, human 5!]
![Image link placeholder: 무야호.PNG]
[Moo-yah~ho~! Moo-yah~ho~! Moo-yah~ho~! Moo-yah~ho~! Moo-yah~ho~! Moo-yah~ho~! Moo-yah~ho~!]
[Wow, lol, Barcode actually started streaming.]
[Wasn’t Wandering Swordsman just bluffing? Lol.]
![Image link placeholder: 무야~~호.PNG]
[Sorry for my doubts… Sorry for my doubts…]
[Please start the game quickly, I’m losing my mind!]
[Is this real? Lol.]
…Things never go as planned.