[TS] Malicious Sniper

The Wandering Swordsman’s first stream, after a long hiatus, drew massive attention.

With that, he achieved an incredible viewership of 5,000 on his debut.

However, rather than the interest waning after the initial broadcast, it surged even higher.

This was due to the announcement of a Q&A stream where he would answer questions along with a microphone setup.

Since the viewership at that time reached 5,000, the news spread even faster than during his first stream.

The following day, countless people gathered to hear the voice of the most famous amateur master who wasn’t actively streaming or engaging in professional activities.

A staggering 6,000 viewers, nearly 1,000 more than the previous day, flocked in during the morning.

The Wandering Swordsman revealed his previously undisclosed, deep-toned voice.

He simply unveiled his voice, but surprisingly, the audience reacted enthusiastically.

As he recalled the purpose of his today’s stream, the questions started pouring in.

Various questions emerged, and the Wandering Swordsman continued to speak until the questions he wanted appeared.

How much time passed, I wonder?

[What’s your relationship with the Unknown Yone Master? You seemed to meet for ten games straight yesterday.]

Finally noticing the question he was hoping for, the Wandering Swordsman answered smoothly.

“Actually, the reason I went live yesterday relates to Barcode.”

[?]

[What’s that supposed to mean?]

[To be fair, it did feel a bit odd.]

[It was suspicious that someone who hasn’t streamed suddenly turned it on.]

[Seeing you meet him ten consecutive times is a first, honestly.]

[Meeting ten times in a row isn’t easy, for real lol.]

Carefully, he spoke, ensuring not to harm the Unknown Yone Master while monitoring the chat’s reaction.

“I kept losing to Barcode, and wanting to win, I asked if I could target him on my first friend request.”

“He gladly accepted but set one condition.”

“Yes, the reason I went live for the first time is that Barcode told me to.”

[Oh… Was I the only one who didn’t get it?]

[So you asked to target him, and Barcode ended up targeting you back?]

[Simply, Barcode didn’t want to defend, so he attacked, right?]

[The switch from defense to offense, wow.]

[He’s the man who forces you to defend… ]

[The one who said they’d target is legendary; the one who turned it around and made you stream is legendary too.]

[As long as they didn’t agree beforehand, isn’t that fine?]

[It’s not abuse either; should be okay.]

[Honestly, yesterday’s stream was pretty entertaining.]

In light of the viewers’ understanding, the Wandering Swordsman smiled slightly and continued.

“But I made a wager with Barcode yesterday.”

[A wager?]

[What kind of wager?]

[Are we doing a high-stakes, no-holds-barred challenge?]

[Lol, if it’s really that, it’s ridiculous.]

[No way, the Wandering Swordsman can’t lose, ㅠㅠ.]

[Why do you think he lost?]

[Fact: he actually lost nine times in a row.]

“No, it’s not something like that. After being defeated in seven consecutive matches, he agreed that if I win even once in the next three games, he would go live for a day.”

[For real?]

[Seriously?]

[If he streams after the Wandering Swordsman, that’s huge…]

[Big things coming… big things coming… big things coming…]

[Hold tight!!]

[So when is this happening?]

[Hurry up, I’m in a rush.]

The Wandering Swordsman chuckled softly, just enough so the broadcast wouldn’t pick it up.

Once the talk of Barcode going live came up, the chat started moving so quickly that he could hardly read it.

Reluctantly, he activated ‘Follower-Only Mode (1 Day)’ and spoke to calm the viewers in a steady voice.

“The reason I went live this morning was because of Barcode.”

“He mentioned he would go live in the morning, so my stream is just a waiting room for Barcode’s broadcast.”

“As soon as Barcode goes live, I will host it.”

“Oh, that doesn’t mean I’m shutting my stream down completely. I plan to kill later.”

[Wandering Swordsman! Wandering Swordsman! Wandering Swordsman!]

[Truly, someone who embraces romance is just different.]

[I’m holding my breath until Barcode goes live! huff!]

[With 6,000 gathered, he’s aiming for a pure host, huh lol.]

[Is he just understanding, or is he actually a scoundrel? I can’t tell.]

[If you look at it closely, Barcode made Wandering Swordsman stream.]

[Ah lol, the Wandering Swordsman pulled in 5,000 on the first day.]

[Theoretically, Barcode could stream with 50,000 viewers.]

[What theory are you coming up with? Lmao.]

And so, the Wandering Swordsman, along with roughly 6,000 viewers, awaited Barcode’s stream.

[zxcv1234 is live now :]

An alert arrived from the Barcode account that he had followed early on, indicating the start of the broadcast.

As promised, Barcode went live, and the Wandering Swordsman’s role ended there.

“Everyone, Barcode has started his stream.”

[Finally?]

[Let’s go!]

[Son, grab the tools!]

[The tools are coming, ㅋㅋ.]

[Let’s go, let’s go!]

[Time for the moronic sword-hoarding crew to charge out!]

The Wandering Swordsman input the hosting command as practiced.

Thus, about 6,400 viewers moved to Barcode’s stream.

After finishing his own broadcast, the Wandering Swordsman joined Barcode’s stream following the viewers he sent away.

*

The showdown with Akili gained worldwide fame.

At the World Championship, where world-class players gathered, Showdown’s Akili was nothing short of outstanding.

So much so that Showdown’s Akili was considered ‘art’ itself.

Some overseas fandom even arose from watching Akili play in Showdown.

This made it clear how well he handled the champion Akili.

Thus, most viewers believed that Barcode’s Yone would inevitably suffer a perfect defeat against Showdown’s Akili.

Barcode’s record of 50 wins and no losses was indeed impressive but…

That was during the preparation period of the World Championship, when most professional players weren’t playing Solo Queue.

In reality, while earning that 50-win streak, Barcode’s Yone had never faced a professional player from the first division.

While her achievements as the new Yone champion were certainly remarkable, some viewed the record set by the ‘Unknown Yone Master’ back then as akin to a thief in an empty house.

No matter how renowned, it couldn’t compare to Showdown, who proved themselves in the top league.

In terms of champion matchups, Akili rankled above Yone as well.

With two stacks built up, Akili could easily neutralize Yone’s unique play style of engaging with Q and E.

Due to all these circumstances combined, nobody watching Barcode’s broadcast anticipated her victory.

However.

[First Blood!]

As the first to die, Showdown’s Akili fell.

The atmosphere of the broadcast began to shift.

*

[First Blood!]

‘Even though we’re on the same team, what a madman…’

I couldn’t help but marvel at the cunningness of the Jerk who immediately did a level 2 gank after eating the red buff.

While standard Jerks often level W at 1 for smoother jungling, our Jerk asked for a tough leash from the bot lane and leveled Q first.

He then leveled E, which is crucial for the Jerk, at level 2 and aggressively traded with Akili.

Not expecting a level 2 gank from a Jerk who didn’t level W, Showdown was caught off-guard, landed by Jerk’s E right before the Q combination and my airborn follow-up, gifting us the kill.

‘What would have happened if he failed the gank?’

Thank goodness the gank succeeded.

If Jerk couldn’t successfully pull off the level 2 gank, his jungle route would be exposed.

And because he skipped leveling W, his jungling speed would drop significantly.

Naturally, this would lead to delays and a growth gap with the enemy jungle.

A regular Jerk wouldn’t risk such actions knowing how vulnerable they are to counter-jungling.

Well, still, thanks to the Jerk, we secured one kill.

The process was nerve-wracking, but with a good result, there was little to complain about.

After the Jerk’s gank, I pushed the lane and returned home.

I currently had 600 gold.

Normally, I would’ve bought two daggers, the lower-tier item of the Rune’s Gift, but…

The opponent was none other than Showdown’s Akili.

If I dropped my guard for even a second, the kill would surely land in her hands.

To keep things secure in lane, I opted for a Doran’s Blade and a refillable potion.

Having an additional Doran’s Blade in the early game felt reassuring, but I didn’t let my guard down.

Returning to lane, I encountered a big wave.

In the meantime, Akili made some movements, disappearing out of vision.

IlilIililI has informed that the enemy is missing.

I immediately pinged her last position.

In Diamond tier, I’d have to ping about six times to get my allies to understand, but this was the so-called celestial tier.

When the mia ping rang in mid, our allied Ashe and Braum retracted, seizing control of the surrounding vision.

Before long, Akili returned to mid, and I welcomed her with open arms.

While Akili could easily thwart my E Q engage combo with just one spin, she could still effectively duel me by entering with E, dealing some damage, and then retreating with another E.

In fact, our trades left both of our health bars low.

Without a Doran’s Blade, this trade would have been unfavorable, and I couldn’t help but admire her skill.

“You’re really good for our first matchup…”

I muttered and initiated more trades.

Yet, each time, Akili utilized her skills brilliantly to minimize her losses.

From minute movements to distance control maximizing her passive effect, she constantly left me gasping for air, dizzying my head.

However, I didn’t halt my trades.

I continued balancing on that thin line, waiting for the level 6 timing.

As I dealt damage, I simultaneously formed a big wave.

Akili was level 5 and without flash.

On the other hand, I was just about to reach level 6, still holding my flash.

Our Jerk was stealthily diving in the bush next to the mid tower.

The scent of the dive began to waft through the air, and detecting it like a ghost, Akili tried to back off.

Just as the tower aggro switched to the allied minions, the Jerk leaped in and blocked Akili’s retreat.

Jerk successfully prevented her escape with E, but she quickly clouded her surroundings, disappearing.

On top of that, even Jerk’s Q missed.

I looked in the direction the spreading smoke traveled and used my E, flash, and ult.

Like that, Yone’s slicing motion drew Akili out of the fog.

With the tower’s aggro on Jerk, I swiftly finished off Akili and used E to turn away from the tower.

Now all that was left was for Jerk to escape safely.

But at that moment, a bandage from the Bladebird nest flew and hit Jerk.

Caught by the tower, Jerk became passive.

If it continued like this, we’d see tears from our Amumu, but…

[(Malphite)]

A teleport ping appeared on Jerk’s last jelly piece.

As a result, revived Jerk managed to bounce to the other Bladebird nest and escape successfully, while Malphite emerged from the fog like a warm bowl of soup.

“Malphite…!”

Unintentionally, I called out to Malphite in a voice mixed with feelings, realizing it was precisely what teams are about.

Not all Challenger tops execute such selfless plays.

Malphite’s username was ‘GiantStoneOfJirisan.’

Such plays were only possible for pure tankers, and Malphite’s actions provided tremendous gain to the team.

[Is that a real top…?]

[Is that top who used teleport to save the Jerk?]

[The tops I’ve seen so far… how could this be?]

[Tankers seem to do teleport plays like that often.]

[Those who only do recall or back teleport, take note from this.]

[But Barcode really plays Yone well lol.]

[For real, not just any Akili, but Showdown’s Akili!]

[I cried both up and down looking at Malphite’s performance, ㅠㅠ.]

[Is this what K-Solo Queue warriors are like?]

[Wow, but how did he hit with the ult while hiding in the smoke?]

[Hehe… A girl who plays League well…]

As I returned home, I caught a glimpse of the chat.

Most of the chat praised Malphite, but every so often, when a compliment directed at me popped up, it felt strange.

‘I shouldn’t care…’

Yet it gnawed at me, and something kept yearning within.

Is this why streamers check the chat?

As I found myself too focused on the chat, I realized I had arrived at my lane.

Recognizing that my focus on the game had been disrupted, I shifted my attention away from the chat.

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