NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37
Leo’s day was always chaotic.
From morning till evening, he was relentlessly bombarded with royal duties.
Sometimes, he even had to work overtime after the sun had set.
Just by managing this ridiculous workload, it was clear he was fit to be the next emperor.
“Finally, a break!”
One day, he finished work early and had a free evening for the first time in ages.
Leo picked up the COL that had gathered dust in the corner of his room.
It was something he had bought a few days ago during a trip outside.
When Leo went to purchase it at the merchant group, not many people were lining up as there had been during the release of “Maple Leaf Story.”
He had heard the first release day had drawn a crowd, but he bought it weeks later.
This time, the mass-production permit had been granted, so supply was plentiful.
Of course, sales had exceeded three million copies within just a few weeks, far more than before.
Thanks to that, Leo managed to buy the COL without revealing his identity.
“A bit… nerve-wracking.”
Leo lay on his bed, holding the artifact.
Although he was short on sleep, thinking of a promise with Zebit, he had to give COL a try.
The reason he was nervous was that he planned to play COL with Zebit.
Paf!
As soon as Leo activated the artifact, his vision flipped.
He found himself in the summoner’s canyon, filled with mysterious creatures and magic.
In COL, Leo began to create his account as a summoner.
“Nickname… is…”
At the moment he had to decide on a nickname, Leo hesitated for a bit.
Everyone knew that both the emperor and the second princess, Elia, played COL.
But he worried about whether it was alright for someone as busy as him to be known as a gamer too.
Known as “Empire’s Light” and receiving much expectation, he pondered if playing COL might spark rumors about neglecting state affairs.
Reckless Empire Prince
After a moment’s thought, Leo decided on that nickname.
With this one, he could conceal his identity.
Moreover, if necessary, he could pretend to be Rikal.
Recently, Rikal, who had been bothering him about Zebit, was a source of irritation for Leo.
He could have completely hidden his identity, but Leo wasn’t very accustomed yet to the concept of anonymity, which was sort of a mistake on his part.
In any case, Leo dove into COL in earnest.
He learned the basic knowledge through a simple tutorial and bot matches.
Thanks to having watched the Arcane War, adapting wasn’t too hard.
“It’s already this late.”
Looking at the time floating in the corner of his vision, Leo muttered.
It was nearly 10 PM.
Leo decided to play one last normal game with other users before going to sleep.
As the matchmaking began, Leo was transported to the map for champion selection.
Perrychu: tttttttt
DungChampionCollector: mdmmdmmdmdmdm
BorderGuardCaptain: ttttttt ta
As soon as the pick phase began, his teammates were shouting consonants, making it hard to understand.
Then, they randomly picked their lane champions on their own.
BorderGuardCaptain: Ah, jungle position.
Being somewhat quick-witted, Leo quickly grasped the situation.
‘t’ stands for top, and ‘md’ must mean mid.
‘Looks like they’re deciding lanes by first come, first served.’
In the Arcane War, teams were predetermined, but after the official launch, teams were formed via random matchmaking.
Curious about how lanes were decided, Leo got his answer right away.
Clearly, mid and top were the popular solo lanes.
Leo didn’t mind since he wanted to play ADC anyway.
Reckless Empire Prince: I will go ADC.
Leo picked Ash.
Just from this, he felt excited.
This was his first real game among people, and it seemed like it would be fun.
Had everything continued smoothly as planned, it would have been a great game.
But if the picks ended peacefully, it wouldn’t be COL.
AssassinOnly: Wait a sec. I’m going mid.
Coming late was AssassinOnly.
Just from the nickname, it didn’t sound like a user who would play support.
DungChampionCollector: Mid’s first pick.
AssassinOnly: No, I can only play mid. I couldn’t help but be late because I went to the restroom.
DungChampionCollector: Come on. You should’ve picked and gone.
In COL, if someone logs out in the middle, the server continues to run the game as it is.
It was made to ensure that the game wouldn’t be interrupted due to one person’s actions.
Therefore, even if someone goes to the restroom during the game, it still progresses.
AssassinOnly: What can I do? It’s urgent. I can only play mid. Let’s just go mid ㄱㄱ.
Then, AssassinOnly picked Zed.
Leo found himself at a loss for words in this awkward situation.
Reckless Empire Prince: Ah, no. So am I supposed to go alone without support?
DungChampionCollector: What’s with this… Seriously. Somebody just dodge.
AssassinOnly: Whatever, it’s just a normal game, right? Let’s just go mid ㄱㄱ.
DungChampionCollector: Ugh . If we don’t dodge, I’m just going to throw this game.
Reckless Empire Prince: No… Is this really happening?
With Leo panicking and the top and jungle not caring at all.
He urgently tried to convince AssassinOnly, but nothing worked.
AssassinOnly: I already picked Zed, what do you want me to do? It’s normal so just deal with it.
Reckless Empire Prince: What the heck…
DungChampionCollector: Man, this is seriously frustrating, let’s just f*…
Then, the game started just like that.
No one came to support.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): Am I really going bottom by myself?
Leo cried out in despair in the canyon.
But no one answered.
As soon as the game started, both mids rushed off to buy items and headed mid.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): Seriously, what the hell…
It was a ridiculous situation, but Leo decided to keep playing.
He went to leash for the jungle and headed to bottom.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): What?
Unlike Leo, the enemy bottom duo had two members.
But it seemed like something had gone down, as Myster and Artlux showed up in bottom.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): Hah, seriously…
It was now so absurd he even chuckled.
The opposing team’s Myster and Artlux were happily sharing the minions.
– DEFEAT
It was an intense battle, but ultimately they lost the game.
“This… is this really how it goes…?”
The normal game was completely different from the Arcane War.
Leo resolved to play just one more game before sleeping.
Not playing a proper game felt a bit disappointing.
Thus began the next game.
Fortunately, this time, all five members went to their respective lanes.
Leo, picking Ash once again, started the game in a good mood.
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): Man, this ADC is really bad.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): I’m sorry. It’s my first time today.
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): Then you should’ve played something like support instead of ADC…
About five minutes into the game, the jungle arrived for a gank.
But due to Leo’s mistake, he missed the kill.
PaddleStick immediately started cursing.
Leo held back and apologized since he messed up.
After all, he was the crown prince leading the future of the Empire.
He could let it slide once or twice.
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): Ah, Ash, seriously !
In a team fight, Ash failed to hit his ultimate.
After losing the team fight and even the inhibitor, PaddleStick began to curse Ash again.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): Isn’t this just because the enemy jungle got ahead?
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): If you had hit your ult on Mai, we would have won.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): But Mai came in from the side, how could…
It was obvious they lost due to the jungle difference.
Of course, Ash wasn’t playing perfectly either, but there wasn’t much to criticize besides the earlier ult.
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): This is seriously infuriating. Your nickname is trash, and your skills are too.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): ?
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): Are you impersonating that f*ing third prince? Honestly, your personality matches your awful skill in this game.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): No, skills and personality aren’t the same thing, right? Why are you personally attacking me? And I’m not the third prince.
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): Then why the nickname? Did you want to act like a noble? In reality, you’re just a peasant farming hahaha. You wouldn’t even say a word if we met, right?
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): No…
If he had been in front of him, it would’ve been a clear case of nobility insult worthy of execution.
But since it was in a game where one couldn’t discern identities, there was nothing he could do.
Of course, he could report the user to get them banned.
But the feelings of humiliation and displeasure stemming from such personal attacks were hard to recover from so easily.
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): You’re being too harsh with your words. Even if you don’t know my identity, it’s not right to say such things.
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): Oh really? Then let’s meet up. Just show up. You wouldn’t say a word in real life.
In his heart, Leo wanted to rush to the Illusion Tower and ask to uncover that user’s identity right away.
But in the Illusion Tower, they had clearly stated one couldn’t reveal identities.
And rumors about the crown prince seeking the opponent over in-game discord wouldn’t look good either.
Above all, he needed to clear up the misunderstanding caused by the nickname Reckless Empire Prince.
The impulse to immediately execute PaddleStick surged within him.
Even Leo, hailed as the future of the Empire, couldn’t help but be angered by such words.
Just as he decided to suppress his anger and ignore it…
(Team) The World Tree is Just a Big Tree (PaddleStick): You better show up tomorrow. I’ll let you know where, lol. I’m gonna teach a lesson to this third prince impersonating a peasant.
‘This…!’
(Team) Reckless Empire Prince (Ash): Just tell me right now. Where is it?
In that instant, Leo lost his composure.