Forming a contract with a champion required one Relic and two runes. However, choosing which champion wouldn’t be up to the player. It was strictly probability-based.

That said, runes could influence those probabilities to some degree. If the player slotted two healing runes into a staff, the odds of a healer support champion appearing would rise significantly.

“Based on my rune types... I’m aiming for Spearmancer Sardin.”

Baegi tried to predict the champion outcome using his runes.

‘One of the three should be him.’

When applying for a contract, three champions would respond.

Shrrrk!

Three cards unfolded before Baegi’s eyes as he selected his champion.

Almond suddenly asked the viewers, “But if this is a tutorial... isn’t everything already decided?”

He sounded genuinely puzzled by the idea that Baegi would not get Sardin.

“Even if you do all that, what if Sardin doesn’t show up?”

If this were a bot-only tutorial, everything would follow a predetermined script. If Baegi wanted Sardin, then Sardin would appear. That was the current canon of the Almond Matrix.

— ?

— No, they probably make it as close to the real thing as possible

— Yeah, that makes sense

— Huh?

— Did he finally figure it out? LOL

— Could be

— Wait...

The viewers scrambled to deflect, their tension spiking. Almond had asked a surprisingly sharp question.

‘What? Is he about to break out of the shell?’

‘Did he catch on?’

‘We’re screwed.’

Almond got dangerously close to the moment when the Truman Show’s curtain would be pulled back. The viewers hurriedly laid down excuses to make it seem like not getting Sardin would still make sense in a bot match.

— They make it similar to real matches

— What kind of weird logic is that haha

— Even if Sardin doesn’t show up, that happens

— C’mon LOL just play

— Bots are bots.

The loyalists shouted back just as loudly.

— Sardin has to show up

— It’s all scripted anyway

— Obviously Sardin appears, this is all acting LOL

— For real, Sardin is coming, he’s just pretending

KRAAASH!

A dazzling light poured down over Baegi.

“You block my path? Then tell me, where should I break through first!?”

Along with the champion’s shout, a message appeared.

[An ally has successfully formed a contract.]

[Spearmancer Sardin]

Just as Baegi had hoped, Sardin was among the three options.

— Oh

— Holy shit LOL

— LMAO

— No way LOL

— It was fate...

The viewers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The loyalists froze, unable to type a single word.

— What the hell

— Just give up LOL

— Ah...

With the loyalists emotionally destroyed, paradise arrived for everyone else.

“Oh! Sardin! He showed up!”

Baegi got the champion he wanted. The viewers managed to lock Almond back inside the Truman Show.

“My deduction was right, wasn’t it?”

Almondoyle was back again.

— Almondoyle! Almondoyle! Almondoyle!

— Almondoyle was right again~

— You again!? Almondoyle! You again!? Almondoyle! You again!? Almondoyle!

Almond’s shoulders raised as he beamed proudly. “It’s obvious this is how the tutorial flows. How did you not know?”

He began scolding the many viewers who had claimed that Sardin wouldn’t appear. It was his revenge for all the backseat-gaming he usually received when his reasoning went wrong.

— LMAOOOO

— So that’s how it is...

— Ban those idiots, right?

— Truly pitiful intelligence

— How could you think otherwise LOL it’s a tutorial

— Execute all the traitors by fertilization

— LMAO I’m dying

Seeing the chat call for purges, Almond felt tempted to invoke another Zelo jutsu.

“I won’t ban them. They just aren’t smarter than Almondoyle.”

This time, he switched to Bubblegum’s mindset: positive thinking. After all, he was in a great mood.

— Holy shit LOL

— Champion of mercy

— As expected of the Lord

— Can’t be smarter than Almond Doyle, I want to bite him to death LOL

— LMAOOOO

— This too is surely the Lord’s grace...

— What magnanimity

— Yeah... how could anyone be smarter than Almondoyle... just smarter than Yu Sang-Hyeon...

At this point, Almond became even more firmly convinced that he was fighting bots.

***

[The Shadow of the Abyss will soon descend.]

A warning appeared. The playable area was about to shrink for the first time.

“Alright, let’s move! From here on out, we need to snowball properly!”

“Neigh...!”

After forming the contract, Baegi mounted a strange steed. It wasn’t a real horse, but one crafted from plated steel and Hextech. Blue mana leaked continuously from its eyes and joints. Still, it was a horse with tremendous movement speed.

Clack! Clack!

The remaining four members sprinted nonstop like infantry to chase the cavalry. From that point on, their hunting speed became unstoppable.

[Hextech Chariot Collision]

[Sardin’s Hextech unit “Gear Gallop” charges at top speed, detonates, then disassembles. The components reassemble into Sardin’s armor, granting a shield and increased defense for a duration. Cooldown: 15 seconds.]

BOOM!

Whenever they spotted a monster, Sardin would charge in, forcibly dismount, and the horse would explode.

Shrrrk!

The scattered parts instantly latched onto Sardin, forming an impressive suit of armor. Baegi had aimed for Sardin for a reason. This champion could charge and tank. Once he shifted into infantry form, he could use spearmancy.

[Spearmancy — First Form]

[Swing the spear in a full circle around the Summoner, dealing heavy damage. Enemies hit will suffer reduced movement speed. If struck by the Second Form afterward, they will receive the fear status. Cooldown: 2 seconds.]

Upon dismounting, Baegi immediately cast the First Form, sweeping his spear. The monsters’ movement slowed.

[Spearmancy — Second Form]

[Charge forward, dealing heavy damage in a frontal cone. Enemies previously hit by the First Form will receive the fear status. Cooldown: 2 seconds.]

BOOM!

He kicked off the ground and surged forward, unleashing the Second Form. All monsters ahead fell into terror.

[Fear]

“Kuuurrrk!”

“Guuurrk?!”

After using up to the Third Form, Sardin would remount. However, Baegi stopped at the Second Form and maintained tank control.

“Go in now!”

The level one Abyss Fish had already died. The level three Abyss Wolves were at half health, trembling in fear. Cleaning them up was trivial for the rest of the team.

Thwack!

Almond circled behind and smashed the monsters with his shield as arrows and magic followed. The remaining monsters instantly died.

“Done~”

— Why are you always playing like an assassin LOL

— There he goes again

— Captain A: Whatever, this guy is right

— Why is the shield even here LOL

At this point, Almond’s playstyle didn’t matter anymore.

[Level Up!]

[Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]

They leveled up again and unlocked another skill. Another rune box appeared with advanced and rare runes this time. It was better than before.

[Tutorial Tip]

[As time passes in the Abyss, the concentration of rune magic increases. This is also why contracting later can make you stronger.]

Tanks usually contracted first for this reason. As time passed, rune quality improved and directly affected post-contract strength.

Baegi naturally looked at Almond. “Alright. This time, the contract should be...”

They needed to send the tank in so the damage dealers could follow, but it wouldn’t be that simple.

OstrichEgg raised a hand. “We need a damage dealer. If we get another tank now, the balance is off.”

“Ah. True.” Baegi nodded and looked at the ranged damage dealer, Yoyoyo.

Almond flinched instead of Yoyoyo.

‘That can’t happen.’

If that guy contracted now, wouldn’t Almond lose his chance to ever contract with a bow-using champion?

Thankfully, Yoyoyo also wanted to delay his contract. “Uh, am I up next? I mean... I guess that makes sense situation-wise, but wouldn’t it be better if OstrichEgg went first since he’s using a staff?”

As a ranged damage dealer, he was responsible for the late game. It would be better to wait and contract later with higher-grade runes.

“But the runes that dropped are full offense runes. If we give these to OstrichEgg, he’ll probably get a burst mage champion. He said he wanted to play support...”

Not all runes were the same. They weren’t just divided by rarity. Their stat bonuses differed as well.

[Attack Power or Spell Power +3% per level]

[Attack Range +15%]

These runes, meant for damage dealers, were especially strong for mages.

“So... should OstrichEgg just go mage? If you contract a mage now, the damage will be insane.”

“Or maybe Hampunch, since he’s using a sword, could go melee assassin and really tear up the front line?”

Opinions flew back and forth.

Rustle.

A nearby bush shook.

‘Huh?’

Almond saw it clearly before anyone else.

‘Over by Yoyoyo?’

Almond stayed still after confirming the enemy’s direction.

“Then I’ll just go for an assassin contract. The early game is all about the front line anyway.”

“Sounds goo...”

Hampunch moved toward the rune box.

Pop!

Right on cue, enemies burst out of the bushes.

“Kill them!”

“E-enemy!”

KRAAASH!

A spell that had clearly been pre-cast slammed into Hampunch and Baegi.

[Freeze]

The ice spell clearly aimed at locking down Baegi, the only contracted member.

“Ah...!?”

With a first strike advantage, the gap between those who were prepared and those who weren’t was massive. Chaos erupted after the enemies restrained their strongest member. A gigantic greatsword came flying in.

[Gigant Machine — Colossus]

The enemies had brought Gigant Machine, a textbook tank champion.

KRAAANG!

The greatsword struck Yoyoyo dead on.

SHIIIIIING!

A chain attached to the blade reeled Gigant Machine forward. It dragged Yoyoyo along with it. The two collided in the center.

THUD!

— It’s over

— Holy shit

— Damn

— The ADC...

Enemy arrows and bullets poured into Yoyoyo all at once.

TATATATANG!

[HP: 52%]

Half his health vanished instantly.

Gigant Machine swung again. “HYAH!”

KRAAANG!

The ground flipped from the impact. It stunned Yoyoyo again, and more enemy DPS piled on.

Yoyoyo desperately searched for the tank. “Sh-shield! Where’s the shield?!”

Clang.

Almond raised his shield for OstrichEgg, the staff user, instead of Yoyoyo.

— WHAT THE HELL LMAOOOO

— LOL

— The shield is right here~

— NO WAY

TIDIDIDING!

Yoyoyo died, and OstrichEgg lived by a hair’s breadth.

“A-AAAAAH! NOOO!”

“Our ADC! The ADC is dead!”

Hampunch and Baegi, still frozen, screamed like they were about to cry.

“You insane bastard!”

They couldn’t understand their tank’s decision at all. Strangely enough, the guy with the shield was smiling.

POP!

[An ally has fallen.]

Yoyoyo collapsed and turned into a rune champion.

Clatter.

The bow he had been using fell to the ground.

‘Nice.’

Almond didn’t even try to hide his expression.

— This psycho LOL

— If you think they’re bots, anything goes I guess

— LMAO

— He’s smiling?? From his allies’ POV, this is serial killer behavior

— Take the bow and get lost, you bot

The situation spiraled fast over the rune box. There was too much at stake.

“They have no DPS! Wipe them out!”

“Grab the rune box first!”

The enemy shouted for the runes.

Almond also shouted, “Protect the runes! Protect the runes!”

Instead of running toward the runes, he sprinted toward the bow.

— Why are you running the opposite way

— Verbal shielding LOL

— Runes matter, man

— There’s no shield protecting the runes

— it’s over once he gets the bow, what are you protecting

— Straight to contract?

“SHIEEEELD!”

His teammates screamed for him.

Thunk.

The bow landed in Almond’s hands.

***

[Beginner’s Tip]

[The Abyssal Shadow is the darkest and harshest battlefield in the Sanctum. Even champions avoid it, requiring appropriate offerings to answer a call. If you find a mysterious glowing stone, try socketing it into a relic. You never know, someone might respond.]