NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5
The experiment was a success.
Among the countless builds I had created, one of them, Zombie Camilla MK.1, played its role perfectly.
This build maximized Camilla’s unique survivability. Although the damage had to be somewhat lowered, it was designed to endure longer with passive shields and lifesteal.
It was a build meticulously crafted over a long time from the choice of items.
It brought a wave of nostalgia. I used to work hard on builds and test them repeatedly to see if they worked in the field back in the early days of the game.
However, such testing was only possible when players were around at the game’s inception; later on, matching turned into a mess, and I couldn’t even conduct my research.
‘Not right now.’
In the current world line, where the Abyss has turned our game into a masterpiece, that’s simply impossible. I hurriedly erased those memories from my mind.
Shaping builds is fun during the conceptual stage, but the most thrilling moment is when the results of the research become apparent.
Now, behold. Isn’t the result of the research right in front of you?
Wiggling—
The enemy AD carry, Miriam, is in a dying state, just waiting for her end.
She’s crying, getting angry, and feeling despair… Perhaps feeling quite unfair as she writhes on the ground, expressing all sorts of emotions.
She must feel quite wronged. After all, the match-up is heavily in her favor, and it’s likely her first time facing such a bizarre build.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s extremely flustered. That’s also the thrill of shaping builds.
A build unknown to people can inflict significant destruction, making it nearly impossible to counter unless one is at a ranker’s level.
The outcome of my research, nearly bordering on obsession, and my deep understanding of Camilla left me in awe.
Miriam. She was the hero released during the time I skipped three years, currently thriving as an OP dealer in the meta.
Her agility and survivability, coupled with the firepower to shred entering bruisers, would have made it impossible for the original Camilla to take her down alone.
But what’s the situation now?
The person standing upright on the ground is me. The one lying down is Miriam.
– If it goes on like this, I won’t be able to dance… I need a moment to rest.
“I’m not exactly in perfect shape…”
In reality, I was in quite a dangerous state myself. Blood was oozing from various parts of my body, and I was down to just about 20% health.
The team members completely freaked out as they entered, probably realizing the danger, judging by how many times they kept checking their backs. Now, everyone was showing wide-eyed reactions.
[Security Guard1 (Nixon): How did that happen??]
[Haven (DW): They were dancing alone and got hit?]
[Jerome (TK110): Wow, that was a close call ㄷㄷ]
A close call, indeed.
But the important thing was that they got caught.
Camilla had to endure this level of bleeding if she was going to capture the enemy’s key heroes. Born to be on a tightrope, scenes like this were just another day for this hero.
In conclusion, I successfully walked the tightrope, took down the targeted enemy, and survived.
Alright, feeling good about this.
Adapting to my new body was going smoothly.
Sure, my fingers felt slightly shorter than usual when pressing the keyboard, but a few more games should set me right.
My build research and rehab exercises were successful.
I thought as I dealt with Miriam, who was no longer expressing any emotions.
*
“A truck hit me, you guys.”
[Hmm… looking at the record, it wasn’t really truck-level though]
[That was ugly, Nicang]
[Where’s the brave declaration about smashing all the minerals?]
[Nicang, is this where it ends for you?]
[Even when you do well, it’s just on the level of a basic game ㅇㅇ]
[Did the natural talent kid finally stop being so cocky?]
“Getting all upset over just one loss, huh.”
Nicang muttered with discontent, but it wouldn’t have any effect. Years of arrogant comments piled up made it a bit hard to find sympathy now.
The current situation was also influenced by the cozy, friendly broadcaster image she had deliberately created.
Unlike other female streamers, Nicang’s streams featured playful teasing with each other, turning into a tic-tac style of interaction.
While trying to differentiate from other broadcasts, such moments made it incredibly tedious for viewers to jump on with their comments.
The reality was, Nicang herself couldn’t just brush off the teasing either.
Seeing the chat predicting a basic game loss, she screamed out loud.
“If it were you guys, you’d lose to that Camilla too! Do you know how good she is!”
[Hmm… is she really that good?]
[Who even is Camilla? This is the first time I’ve seen her in the Abyss]
[Wow! You know Camilla! She’s the 33rd hero released in the Abyss—]
“Ah, so you know! Camilla is the 33rd hero released in the Abyss—”
[Talking a lot after losing to a dancing person with a gun, huh?]
[For real, it randomly starts dancing in the middle of a fight, what?]
“If you weren’t all scared while dancing, you could’ve won with an even match, seriously.”
“Yeah, I can see how that’d be surprising on the first meeting, haha.”
The tier that Nicang resides in, Platinum, wasn’t actually that low.
Even the viewers who watch broadcasts all day don’t evaluate it that highly; the lowest Platinum 4 still falls into the top 25%.
As this tier structure usually goes, the further down you go, the more users there are. I bet most of the chatters giving unsolicited advice probably have a lower tier than Nicang.
“If you’re gonna give advice, write down your tier next to it. Everyone’s likely just Bronze-Silver-Gold anyway.”
[If you lose to Camilla in a duel, you can’t play ADC, okay?]
[My Poppy is better at the Abyss than Nicang.]
[When Camilla comes in with W, if you dodged with side movement and used Q to hit with E, you would’ve just won.]
“Everyone has a higher tier than Nicang, LOL.”
“This room is suspiciously free of Bronze-Silver-Gold…”
“Yikes.”
Nicang was about to turn off the cam as a timid revenge for her frustration.
Just then, a donation came in and caught her attention along with the viewers’.
[NicangNaicang donated 1000 won!]
-That Camilla user was a challenger until season 5, wow they would’ve just lost.
“Challenger? Really?”
Nicang couldn’t hide her surprise. A challenger—a person you might only meet at the peak of the game—why are they here?
Overcome with curiosity, Nicang searched the username of the user she just encountered on a record search site.
“Oh, they really were a challenger… But why are they unranked now?”
There were some odd parts to the user’s records.
They went straight from season 1 right after the game launched, all the way to season 5 being a challenger.
However, after that, there were no records of them playing at all. Had they just returned recently? The record of them playing had only popped up a few days ago.
The viewers were equally intrigued by this puzzling high-skilled player’s record as the chat quickly filled up.
[Did they just go to the military or something?]
[Who goes to the military for 3 years?]
“That was when the game was really going downhill, so they might have quit altogether!”
“Wow, they were an old-school challenger, huh?”
[So I lost to a hardcore challenger, I accept it;;]
“Maybe it’s pretty impressive I managed to squeeze out this much?”
“A hidden high-skilled player who disappeared for three years, wow.”
“Challenger’s most played is Camilla, haha! This person is Kayak!”
“Kayak is still alive, huh?”
“You’ve managed to keep the romance alive, Kayak…”
“Even if the era of romance is over, there’s still this romantic little guy…”
“Crazy one-champ player, please just die.”
“Kayak? Who’s Kayak? Is this person Kayak?”
It seemed like someone was being referred to, as the name occasionally popped up in the chat. It was during the moment Nicang was asking about it.
“Oh.”
With a thud, the queue they were spinning was secured, and the attention of Nicang and the others shifted back to the game.
“Should I go ADC?”
As Nicang cautiously checked the team composition and placed Miriam’s face atop their portrait from the last game, the chat buzzed.
“Wasn’t that person Camilla from the last game?”
“It’s Camilla, it’s Camilla! Hahaha!”
“Kayak is here! Haha!”
“Why’s a challenger playing in Bronze?”
“Looks like still in placement matches.”
“Oh.”
Nicang couldn’t help but let out a momentary gasp of admiration.
It was because a cute female character, dancing above their ally’s portrait, quickly assumed a ready position.
A familiar face and nickname. And a confident pick. That says they’re confident in their skills.
“Ahem… then maybe I should quietly hop on the bus for a game…”
Nicang, a streamer who knows how to get the broadcast angle, was also a gamer with tier aspirations.
They thought that this match might be a comfortable game, and the corners of their mouth lifted slightly.
“Here we go again with the bus.”
“Challenger bus is so sweet~”
“Nicang/controversy/ranked game bus.”
“Oh come on, you need to do at least one person’s worth to catch the bus. You know that.”
So, having a casual conversation with the viewers, the game began.
Maybe it was because a challenger-level high-skilled player was matched with them.
Nicang approached this match a bit more relaxed than usual.
“Huh…?”
Contrary to her expectations, they lost like ghosts.
“Weak Camilla (Camilla): Ah, damn it, I played badly, sorry;”
Alongside the strangely weakened Camilla, contrasting her fierce appearance from the last match.