Chapter 1

The once-proud warrior of the axe, Darias, had now stooped to the lowly act of measuring distances like a coward. Just moments ago, he had been watching from afar, waiting for the right moment.

In a flash of light, he closed the distance between us, extending his massive battle axe to pull me closer.

Predictable. If this guy, who had been killed by me twice before and had been cautious, suddenly decided to attack, it could only mean there was external interference.

Years of combat experience kicked in instantly, and without conscious thought, my fingers reflexively pressed the keyboard, commanding my warrior to counter.

Counter: a skill that dodges all incoming basic attacks and deals damage proportional to the number of attacks blocked.

As soon as I pressed the ‘E’ key to activate the counter, Jackson, the brawler I was controlling, was pulled towards Darias.

That alone was enough to ruin half his plan.

He must have thought he could stack bleed effects on me with basic attacks during the slight airborne time caused by his pull. But countering such an obvious grab renders that attempt null and void.

At the same moment Darias initiated the attack, Cain, the assassin with a scythe, emerged from the bushes below.

Surviving this situation was simple. Since Darias had already used his Blink ability, I could just leap away and escape through the lane.

Cain, who had come to Darias’ aid, would end up taking a useless trip, and in the meantime, our other players could capitalize on the advantage.

But why?

Why should I suffer this humiliation alone?

Of course, escaping safely would buy time for our team’s stable growth. But I don’t want to.

Our jungler had already been pinging danger signs at me and was now spewing some unpleasant chat.

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If I had known he was coming, I could have counter-ganked. Or if I had known their jungler was here, I could have at least secured some objectives in the bottom lane.

Even if I had just shown my face in the bottom lane, it would have been better. But all he did was twist the neck of a chicken in our jungle camp before leisurely heading into the enemy jungle.

I wish they’d play the game instead of chatting. I wish all that aggression was directed at the enemy team.

The way they kept scratching at my nerves made my teeth grind.

It reminded me of my father. No, it reminded me of what my father used to be.

That’s why I gave up the safe option to survive. Instead, I used the situation to attack Darias.

The enemy minions, who had been attacking me, now turned their attention to shielding Darias.

Everyone was my enemy. The axe-wielding warrior and the scythe-wielding assassin. Even my own team, who were busy chatting. And those who were once my family.

It felt familiar. And oddly, it calmed me down. It was only natural for everyone to hate me, blame me, and say it was all my fault.

So, I unleashed the frustration I couldn’t in real life. I vomited out the disgust.

The brawler, enraged by enemy minion attacks, swung his fishing rod even more fiercely. The recoil caused a few minions to die from our side’s attacks.

Thanks to that, my Jackson leveled up, and I quickly assigned his ultimate ability.

Meanwhile, Darias was swinging his axe in a wide arc. To dodge the blade, I leaped towards Cain, who had been cowardly watching from outside my counter range.

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The allies’ taunts and Darias’ attempt to scratch me with his axe didn’t matter.

Darias was level 5. Cain was level 4.

Cain must have come to support Darias, hoping to give him some breathing room before he could unlock his ultimate at level 6.

But now that I had hit level 6, that decision backfired.

Even if he frantically tried to reach level 6 to continue the fight, Darias was slowly eliminating minions with his axe.

But I was already ahead in kills and experience. With Cain sharing the experience, there was no way Darias could reach level 6.

Eventually, Cain, nearly dead from my attacks, tried to blink away from the battlefield.

But since the blink I used to kill Darias earlier had just come off cooldown, it was only natural to chase him down and finish him off.

With that, the only one left on the battlefield was Darias.

He had barely reached level 6, with a bit of damage taken, while I had about half my health left after taking hits from both of them.

I had already gained a significant advantage. I could have backed off now.

But I didn’t want to. This guy, who had been farming in the background, now had the audacity to act tough after receiving support.

Just leave him alone? Why should I?

So, I approached Darias. He, thinking he had the upper hand with more health and the same level, confidently strode towards me.

His pull ability was on cooldown, and my counter was too. In an all-out brawl, the outcome was uncertain.

But I fought. Before the attack speed buff I gained from killing Cain faded.

Darias, probably trying to end it before I could escape, enhanced his basic attack to slow me and took a step back.

Then, the same trajectory as before. If the axe blade hits, he regains health, and I gain bleed stacks.

But on the flip side, if it doesn’t hit, it’s over.

I could have run away, but instead, I used my leap ability to smash his head with the axe handle.

It hurts less when hit with the handle, and he couldn’t regain health.

He couldn’t fully stack the bleed on me because of the axe swing’s motion, so he ended up helplessly taking hits from me.

My health was already low, and in an instant, we were both on the brink of death.

Desperate to detonate the bleed stacks he had built, Darias raised his axe high.

At the same time, my brawler smashed him with an empowered basic attack. Before the axe blade could pierce my skull, Darias dropped his weapon and collapsed under the heavy blow.

My brawler, bleeding heavily and slowly dying from Darias’ attacks, let out a triumphant laugh, surviving thanks to the trait that restores a bit of health when killing an enemy hero.

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But the teammates’ taunts continued, dismissing my achievements as hacks and downplaying them as if they were nothing.

I remembered what my father used to say. That getting into a good university was only natural because I inherited his intelligence. But since I had become a woman, it was all meaningless.

I pressed the return button and choked myself. I hated my brain for remembering those words from my father, who would beat me whenever he drank and then died without even letting me get revenge.

“Heh, heh.”

My head felt like it was about to explode, and my clenched jaw trembled. An involuntary, laughter-like groan escaped.

My vision narrowed, but I couldn’t keep choking myself forever. My body, drained of strength, collapsed onto the floor.

The impact jolted me awake, and I coughed reflexively. The pain from the fall brought me back to my senses.

It wasn’t easy to get up with one useless leg in the way.

But at least when it hurts this much, the annoying thoughts go away.

Catching my breath, I glanced around the messy room: the unmade bed and scattered clothes.

…I’ll do the laundry later. Let’s just play the game. It’s the only place I can vent the frustration I can’t in real life.

In reality, I’m timid and can’t even scream in my own room. But in there, I can stomp on the corpses of my enemies and roar all I want.

So, let’s just play the game. Until I run out of money. And then, I’ll just die.