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Chapter 4

[Waiting for Real-Time Sniping in Bronze 3]

Trying to snipe from my tier, huh?

– Top output Bronze 3 NoName here, lol

Doesn’t have to be Diamond!

– I wanna do some sneaking too!

[NoName Snipe Success Certification Post]

(Hawaii Kariri-con)

Instead, I present you with the cute Kariri-chan~

– What’s this nobody again?

You don’t know Kariri-chan? She’s wildly famous as a Virtual YouTuber with 890,000 subscribers!

Where’s this bull coming from?

– Jtopia exists for real!

[Encounter with Diamond Mid-Jungle Alternate Account against NoName (Screenshot available)]

Got utterly crushed (Results screen screenshot)

– What happened here?

– Even if the Mid-Jungle is Diamond, it can’t beat Top-Bot legends, lol.

Now I know why I can’t escape the depths!

– Varus with a KDA of 21/2/5, what is that?

Pentakills, Quadra-kills, and Double Aces all packed in!

It’s a 30-minute game, but the Jungle RS is 330, wow!

– Was it true that NoName’s supreme powers in this bot are real?

What’s a “bot” here?

Snipe, stream, troll!

Comparing slaughter in the depths to Challenger level, lol.

– But you said the opponent was Diamond!

– What’s different if 3 of our team is Bronze? You don’t know LoL.

– Seriously, a bruiser can cover everything when one gets too big; it flips the game.

– (Author) It was a game we were supposed to win, but a Pentakill in the Rift Herald fight turned the mood sour.

– Need the recording!

– (Author) Forgot to record it, and when I try to watch it in replay, NoName’s part is corrupted, so no salvageable screenshots.

At this point, could NoName really be Da-yeon’s ultra-high-performance beautiful girl AI created by Riot?

– The end of human age has come!

– Why bring beautiful girls into this?

– Total ulterior motives, lol.

– Why so dedicated all of a sudden?

– (Author) No idea.

With “Documentary 4 Days” gaining phenomenal popularity, the crowd’s attention naturally turned to the cast.

Unlike celebrities who face a flurry of legal responses for a single misstep in virtual reality, they’re closer to regular folks.

Playing a game together once or twice shouldn’t stir up any issues.

Especially in the first broadcast of “Documentary 4 Days,” the online streaming specialist ‘Shubi’ allowed for public sniping, sparking an actual sniping culture.

It wasn’t much different from LoL.

[The turtle and the rabbit: I came up to Challenger to play with Hyebam^^ Let’s enjoy the game together^^]

[HyejiAtNight: Are you out of your mind? Focus on real life instead.]

However, most viewers are not in the Celestial Realm. They naturally become excited over NoName’s sniping from Bronze 3, a situation that felt like an inevitable reality.

NoName wasn’t exactly thrilled with this situation either.

“The game time has shortened. Above all, the game has become unpredictable.”

From the perspective of needing to clear quests quickly and move to the next game, the snipers were bothersome.

Games dragging over an hour or the fortress falling within 15 minutes were common occurrences. Unless it’s a mythic quest, most achievements yield no monetary rewards, meaning precious time flies wasted. Just piling on the stress.

“Feels like I’m losing 5,000 won a day, but surely this can’t go on?”

Receiving about 500,000 won for participating, simply calculating arithmetically, anything over 100 days starts to feel like a loss.

[Game Found]

[Declined]

Matches getting picked in less than a second feel unsettling.

5 minutes of wait time is terribly vague, so I directed my eyes toward community posts.

Updates and pro matches were of no concern to me. Today was also about ego-searching.

[Search: NoName / Filter: Today]

[387 results found]

As expected, frivolous content. Just as she was about to refocus on the game…

– Uncovering NoName’s Urban Legend (Long read alert)-

Despite being a lengthy, crafted post, it had only a handful of comments and didn’t make it to the concept post, thus buried.

[Uncovering NoName’s Urban Legend (Long read alert)]

[Author: Not angry, working hard]

Do you think NoName is just a troll?

I don’t think so.

(…)

“So why do we have to snipe NoName?”

“I’ll explain it again from the start, 2Daettil.”

“I get your explanation. And stop calling me by my nickname, use my name!”

“Isn’t it what she named herself? But okay, I got it, Yae-eun.”

Yae-eun didn’t bother to mention that this nickname was given to her by her real brother.

The gist was this.

NoName must have a valid reason for trolling, etc., and he can’t speak for some reason or another.

Though it all sounded like Se-min’s absurdity, they had agreed to play just one game together for old times’ sake.

“Well, I climbed to Silver easily too.”

I’ve heard that Se-min usually played around Silver-Gold. He had just returned from the military, so he was still getting used to it.

In reality, he definitely showed much better skill than most Bronze locals.

“Do you think we can snipe here? We aren’t the only ones doing it, you know.”

“No risk, no reward.”

“You can’t talk anyway, right? How will you communicate?”

“I can just send the same signals via eye contact, like this.”

Se-min’s eyes blink rhythmically.

According to him, NoName’s signal was SOS in Morse code. Apparently a minor distress signal system that must be from a movie 50 years ago…

I didn’t know the details, but it certainly was an intriguing conversation starter.

In the actual video, she indeed kept opening and closing her eyes at regular intervals.

NoName quickly rolls into the next game as soon as the current one ends.

Once the game invite is possible and they find a match, there’s always hope probabilistically speaking.

[Game Found]

“Shall we enter?”

[Accept 1/2]

[Accept 2/2]

[Match Complete]

Pitch-black darkness envelops them, and after a brief moment, the field of view clears.

Now, in the waiting room of the dome house, familiar to virtual reality gamers.

Ten avatars, crafted with utmost effort, are displayed under the lighting.

Customization isn’t mandatory.

Just as sub-avatars used solely for waiting in games—not main avatars—it’s hard to deduce who’s who based solely on appearance.

Those who are too lazy to style their character would simply drape one or two decorations on a basic character anyway.

NoName was one of those.

Thus, it was impossible to tell whether this person was a troll or a beginner until the game started. Moreover, no interactions were allowed between players to prevent abusing.

Se-min surveys the surroundings.

With one person set as the basic avatar on the ally side, and one for the enemy,

“Please let them be among these.”

Yae-eun still kept a lackluster posture.

Thinking about it, if they were going to snipe, wouldn’t it be better to separate into two?

This habitual duo-ing just happened unconsciously.

While pondering these things, the pick order approaches.

Since Se-min was serious about the game, as always, he picked Jungle Rammus.

All ten champions are selected, from the ally’s first pick to the enemy’s fifth, and the countdown begins.

A grandfather clock chimes, urging them along, wresting control of their bodies as the champions start moving on their own.

The longer the distance from the dome house to the battlefield, the longer the loading time, meaning one is likely using an antiquated capsule.

‘So far away!’

‘At this rate, it’ll take 2 minutes? Over 3 minutes?’

Good news for Se-min.

In an age where high-tech capsules are popping up everywhere, such loading times are rare.

NoName often shows such insane loading times, suggesting they’re not using a great capsule device.

Once they reach the battlefield entrance, there’s an event where Minotaur NPCs come by to distribute passes one by one.

While the pass is verbally described as such, it actually provides an all-purpose state window that shows both the ally’s overall stats and general information about the battlefield. The enemy’s nicknames can also be found here.

“Take it, adventurer seeking legacy. It’s costly, so be careful not to lose it.”

The tutorial for the state window automatically skipped, of course.

Se-min hurriedly checked the nickname.

[NoName(Evelyn): 0/0/0]

“There it is!”

“But it’s on the opposite side?”

“We can invade!”

An offensive strategy before the real battle kicks off.

First and foremost, meeting him was a priority.

Se-min promptly pinged the east forest of the enemy’s territory. The team, upon checking the combination, were hesitant, but they couldn’t afford to let him go alone either.

With Se-min and Yae-eun leading, all five stuck together, boldly crossing the border.

Once they got this far, there should usually be at least one person caught off-guard, but where on earth did everyone go?

“Is it warded?”

“No, it doesn’t seem to be.”

Neither the team member who scouted the northern forest nor anyone in the eastern forest reported any signs of life.

That meant NoName was nowhere to be found on the battlefield.

“This guy has no intentions of playing this game at all.”

[Physical abnormal response detected]

[Log out of the capsule immediately]

“……”

[Response time exceeded]

[Forced disconnection occurring]

[Error]

[Forced disconnection occurring]

[Error]

[Connection timeout]

[Rejected]

Not even one second could pass before all kinds of alarms began tormenting me.

These were warnings I had seen several times before.

I had once idly thought, if I could work through the night to finish my tasks in just two days, would I get a day off?

What returned from my meager挑战 was an alarm of physical abnormalities. However, the feeble body of a young girl could not handle even a single sleepless night.

[Error]

[Error]

I felt like I might really die.

No, I wanted to die.

Moreover, whenever someone approached, my expression flashed as if nothing was wrong, and my entire body stiffened like a marionette. It felt unsettling, as if my body didn’t belong to me.

And when the stiffness wore off, the brief pain I had to endure multiplied in return.

It hurt so much.

Every breath felt like my insides were being shredded.

But I didn’t cough.

Because this isn’t reality.

With every step, it felt like my limbs were being crushed.

But I had to keep walking toward the battlefield.

That’s the system for you.

My heart starts tightening.

My head feels like it’s about to burst.

“Are you all right? The others have already reached the battlefield! You should hurry!”

A familiar voice calls out. This high, clear voice belongs to none other than the fox-eared merchant ‘Liri’. The girl who always sold old boots and cheap potions in the Starting Village.

Even as an AI, perhaps she’s the one I’ve interacted with the most in this life.

In this desolate world, completely cut off from human conversation, I embraced her small body.

“Why… why is this happening?! W… wait a minute!”

Ugh sounds slip from Liri’s lips.

“Just a little more, just let me stay like this, Luri… no, Liri. I’m so tired… was tired…”

“This body is a noble bloodline of the Great Yernika Kingdom! You shouldn’t be held casually by someone like you!”

“…”

“It shouldn’t be… it shouldn’t be…”

Normally, continuous contact with NPCs in LoL was blocked. But honestly, what does it matter? I’m a walking glitch from the start.

The tiny furball seemed to retaliate a bit but gradually leaned into my embrace.

Her warmth was truly gentle and comforting.

“I barely remember my past life, but memories with mom come flooding back. They pop up first thing in the morning, they haunt me while I prepare for the game, and they linger even when I try to sleep.”

“Hmm… was your mother a good person?”

“I don’t know. I was too young back then. Just a foolishly good person, that’s all…”

Surely so.

If she had any sense, she wouldn’t have sacrificed her life for me.

In my oldest memories, the two of them stood hand in hand in a blood-soaked battlefield.


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