Baegi was a complete beginner. All he wanted was to play the game seriously and get better a little faster.

‘I need to catch up to my friends’ ranks.’

He was still young in the middle of his university years and started playing LIL just to hang out with his friends. Thankfully, most of them preferred Survival mode over difficult Siege battles.

‘Still, I’ve got experience. Gold should be easy, right?’ 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Baegi had mostly played FPS games. He had no real connection to LIL, but possessed almost all the qualities needed for virtual reality games. From the tutorial, he carefully followed the beginner course step by step. Now, with his tenth match and final normal game, he was about to enter ranked play.

It was just a normal match, but Baegi wanted to brag in his young heart.

‘If I win this, it’s a seven game top finish streak.’

Excluding the first three matches, he had placed high in every game. A top finish meant placing within the top four out of ten teams. In practice, it was considered a win. In other words, Baegi was aiming for seven straight victories. He wanted to say this in front of his friends.

‘Me? I’ve got talent. Just keep going.’

Wasn’t everyone like that? When they were young, didn’t it feel amazing to be better than their friends at something?

Among his group, the best record in their first ten games was six consecutive wins. If he won this match, it would be seven. Of course, he couldn’t help but feel greedy. His team had a few unreliable players, but Baegi tried to lead even though the role didn’t suit him.

‘That lunatic is the problem... but I have to do this.’

Anyone could tell that Almond was the most skilled, so Baegi thought it couldn’t be helped.

[LazySoldier got a Triple Kill!]

It felt like the gods were helping them when a huge team fight victory fell into their laps. Maybe that lunatic... no, that LazySoldier was actually good? That careless belief soon brought disaster as hell unfolded before Baegi’s eyes.

Boom!

Mana bullets and arrows came flying.

[An ally has been defeated!]

[Tuko → Yoyoyo]

Boooom!

In an instant, their ranged damage dealer turned into a rune champion.

‘What... what the hell is happening!?’

In the middle of it all, their shield had abandoned the ranged damage dealer so blatantly that it felt intentional. No, it almost looked like he had shoved their archer forward with the shield just to get them killed.

Baegi didn’t want to think like this.

‘Is that... bastard trolling?’

Was that troll deliberately sabotaging the game to make their team lose? It sounded ridiculous at this rating and in a normal match?

‘I’ve heard countless stories from my friends.’

Since the term originated from LIL, every infamous troll was said to be here.

‘People whose lives were legends.’

When his friends told him about legendary trolls, they had even shed tears.

‘It’s completely possible there’s a troll here too.’

Crying and laughing over games... Baegi had once thought people like that were pathetic. Why get so worked up over a game? Now, he felt pathetic for ever thinking that way.

Boom!

[An ally has been defeated!]

[MaybeMe → Hampunch]

Another teammate fell. A team fight started with both the assassin and the ranged damage dealer gone. Baegi’s eyes burned red.

‘Ah.’

Drip...

A single tear fell from Baegi’s eye as the severed necks of his fallen comrades also fell. Before they could even hit the ground...

‘I’ll probably die, right? I’ll get knocked out. Ah...’

It wasn’t fair!

‘That fucking shield bastard!’

Only now did he understand why his friends cried while talking about legendary trolls.

‘Now I finally get it.’

Baegi was the only summoner here. He had to do something. Swinging his spear wide, he screamed at the top of his lungs, “Yoooou crazy fucking lunatic! Get over here right now, you shield bastard! Guard the rune box!”

Craaaash!

[Spear Art – First Form]

Boom!

Without even knowing who was approaching, he swung his spear and charged forward.

‘The rune box. The rune box...!’

He had to protect it. It came from a monster they had killed with great effort.

‘As long as I hold this position, they can’t open it.’

It couldn’t be opened if another team occupied the rune box area. If he held this spot, they still had hope.

‘I’ll protect it!’

[Spear Art – Second Form]

Crash!

He shoved the enemies back in terror.

“OstrichEgg! Hurry!”

The staff-wielding OstrichEgg needed to claim the rune box.

OstrichEgg ran. “I, I’m going!”

The enemies shouted something and reached out all at once. In LIL, one second sometimes felt like eternity. Everything could be decided in three seconds. This was one of those moments. To Baegi, everything moved in slow motion.

OstrichEgg’s cheeks puffed as he stretched out his hands. “Uwaaaah...!”

Pyuung... Pyuuu...!

Countless projectiles from the enemies flew in. Everyone was desperate. They had committed to this fight for a single rune box.

“Diiie...!”

[Spear Art – Third Form]

Normally, Baegi would’ve stopped at the Second Form. Using the Third Form would extend the cooldown too much, but he had no choice.

“Aaaah!”

Whish!

He thrust his spear into a single point, unleashing heavy linear damage along with a stun.

Crash!

“Guh?!”

The enemy closest to the rune box froze, but another enemy swung their blade.

Slash!

It struck Baegi’s body. Then, the projectiles that had been flying in all this time hit him all at once.

Boom!

[HP: 32%]

Even as a summoner, taking all of that was too much.

‘J-Just a little more time...!’

Baegi’s eyes dropped to the gauge at the bottom of his vision.

[Geargallop Transformation: 63%]

[Revert the armor into Geargallop and mount it. Movement speed will greatly increase. Spear length and damage will also be enhanced.]

Geargallop was the steed of the Spearmancer Sardin. The armor could revert into Geargallop and allow him to mount it again by hitting enemies, getting hit, or contributing to a kill. A shield would form when he mounted the horse, and he could act as a damage dealer again.

Then, what if he used Magical Assault Chariot Crash to switch back to a tank role? He would gain another shield, and his defense would spike again. Properly cycling this shield mechanic was Spearmancer Sardin’s core tanking technique.

‘But it’s still too far...’

[Geargallop Transformation: 77%]

Thud!

Smack!

He needed to land or take a few more hits before he could mount the steed.

[HP: 18%]

However, he would die if he took any more damage. Would there be enough time?

“Quick! Hurry over here... huh?”

OstrichEgg was almost there.

A massive shadow swept in behind OstrichEgg.

[Greatsword Hook]

Whooong!

Gigant Machine’s greatsword came flying in.

OstrichEgg involuntarily groaned, “Ah...”

Baegi screamed at the top of his lungs, “Shield, what the hell are you doiiing?!”

Their shield was supposed to take that hit no matter what.

‘Huh?’

Their shield had disappeared. He wasn’t just out of sight on the battlefield, but didn’t even show up on the team UI as if their shield had never existed in the first place.

‘What the...?’

Thud!

“Guhk!”

In the meantime, OstrichEgg had already been struck in the back of the neck by the hook-like greatsword.

Shoooong!

Gigant Machine dragged him back and met him halfway. OstrichEgg’s trembling fingers as he was pulled away perfectly captured their despair.

“Nooooooo!”

‘What the hell happened to our shield!?’

Baegi would find out moments later.

Tap tap tap tap!

An ally came running from right behind where OstrichEgg had vanished.

[LazySoldier]

Had he dropped his shield? No, that couldn’t be it. Players couldn’t drop equipment before dying.

‘Huh?’

Baegi became speechless when he saw the weapon in LazySoldier’s hands.

[Bow]

The bastard grinned.

Baegi’s vision flipped upside down. “Are you insane?”

At a moment like this, that guy had switched to a bow!? He had taken another ally’s bow at that!

‘What’s so funny?!’

Baegi’s head started spinning.

“Hey, you son of a...”

Curses were about to come out.

Boom!

[HP: 0%]

“Bug down!”

Every enemy projectile hit Baegi at once, and he turned into a rune champion.

Pop.

Baegi blinked his big eyes in a round, white light. A message flashed past his vision.

[Dead]

[BegAndTrollIsFine → Baegi]

Trapped as a rune champion, he screamed even though no one could hear him, “Aaaaaaah!”

The game was over. It had been ruined. Their assassin and ranged attacker had died.

The tank, who was supposed to be the most reliable, had suddenly gone to the dark side and switched to a ranged attacker. The only summoner, Baegi, had died meaninglessly. His dream of seven straight wins was over. Now, he could no longer brag to his friends.

The player who had killed him, BegAndTrollIsFine, snickered as he walked toward the rune box. “Wow, their summoner is a total troll.”

“The rune box is mine~.”

Thuk!

An arrow perfectly pierced the back of his head.

[Headshot!]

The bow’s passive skill activated.

Bang!

He was still alive, but barely after 1.5x the damage.

“Hurry up and finish...”

He tried to tell his teammates to finish the job.

Boom!

[LazySoldier → BegAndTrollIsFine]

Pop!

BegAndTrollIsFine also turned into a rune champion.

‘What... that was way too fast.’

The arrows had been fired at a speed that made no sense. BegAndTrollIsFine had never experienced this before. Only then did he check his killer’s name.

‘Lazy... Soldier...?’

He had seen that name somewhere before. Who was it?

‘Ah...!’

He remembered.

“Almond?”

His voice echoed from within the rune champion.

Whoosh!

Almond dashed past the rune champion and sprinted toward the rune box.

“Hup!”

Sliding, Almond touched the rune box.

[Would you like to equip everything?]

In an instant, runes snapped into place along his arrows. He didn’t have time to check what kind they were. Even if he did, he wouldn’t understand them.

Wooooong!

His bow began to glow.

— Kya

— This is insane

— Finally, the bow!

— LMAO he’s flying the moment he picks it up

— Bot slaughter time~!

[Three champions have answered your call.]

Shrrrrk!

Three cards spread out in front of Almond.

***

[Beginner’s Tip]

[A guaranteed way to meet the champion you want? Guaranteed, you say? There is no such thing in the Abyss. Everything in the Abyss is probability, but the Abyss resident Luna once said this: “Even in odds of tens of millions to one, love still finds a way!”]