I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work

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by admin

36 – The Wound on My Back is the Shame of My Stomach (2)

Here is the English translation:

When Majiya chose Apola, Cheon Do-hee’s thoughts were as follows:

‘Is this girl really obsessed with shotguns….’

Unlike other Siege (siege specialist) class characters who at least maintained a minimum team fight balance, Apola was a purely base destruction character.

Her body was as fragile as glass and would die after taking a few hits, but once she started shooting properly, buildings would explode, so she was commonly called a ‘glass cannon’.

To be honest, it’s quite satisfying.

The special building demolition animation? It’s so cool you can’t look away once you see it.

The problem was that it was too difficult to fire that big shot.

One thing that contributed to this difficulty was Apola’s combat skill, ‘Delayed Explosive’.

It’s a toggle skill, so when activated, Apola’s own defense decreases but stacks build up on buildings when she attacks them. When a certain number of stacks accumulate, it can be detonated with the ultimate skill ‘Complete Demolition’.

If you exceed 10 stacks, you can destroy outer and inner towers with one ultimate shot, and at 12 and 16 stacks, you can destroy core towers and the main base respectively.

This is when the special building destruction animation that Jia so desperately wanted to see is triggered.

Other siege characters have to hit painstakingly to destroy, and other classes have to gather strength to break down turrets, so in the early days of the game there was a lot of public opinion that “Isn’t Apola overpowered?”…

The Double Barrel reload speed is, well, a bit much.

It takes 2 seconds to load one barrel, so it takes a whopping 20 seconds to build up 10 stacks.

However, when attacking the top or bottom turrets at the edge of the battlefield, it only takes 15 seconds for enemy troops to run from the farthest distance.

Since she’s such a unique champion, enemies know they can’t leave Apola alone, so it was commonplace for the glass cannon to break before even building up 10 stacks.

This is why Apola’s difficulty level is at the highest.

You have to predict when the enemy will come.

You have to retreat appropriately but also hit once in a while to refresh the stacks you’ve built up (maintained for a maximum of 10 seconds).

Meanwhile, you have to run away diligently through terrain and vision play.

It’s a character that’s difficult to play unless you’re a Knight of Legend master who can perform truly elusive plays.

Nevertheless, it’s a character that has gained a cult-like popularity with seemingly incompatible keywords like cute girl, fallen angel, and double barrel, and still contributes to grinding newbies these days.

That character was Apola.

So when Majiya declared the following.

“I’ll have to practice until I win. Is that okay, Boss?”

The expression of Cheon Do-hee, who had decided to devote today to Majiya, darkened.

“Are you going to live in the PC bang today…?”

“Surely I can win one game before going home, right?”

Since they agreed to play together all day, Dohee had expectations too.

Enjoy the PC bang for 2-3 hours.

Eat a delicious dinner.

Have coffee or a drink for dessert.

Walk around the shopping mall together, or visit a four-cut photo booth…

She was excited about the idea of such enjoyable bonding between girls.

A PC bang, of all places.

And until going home.

While eating ramen.

Of course, Dohee doesn’t dislike PC bangs.

She loves games, and before starting broadcasting, when she was a college student, she even spent whole days at PC bangs while getting scolded by her parents.

However, unlike then, the current Cheon Do-hee was someone who couldn’t play games all day long.

Her head was full of thoughts about work, so even if she concentrated, four hours was her limit.

‘I have to win somehow…’

So she had to win quickly and escape Naore first.

Only then could she suggest doing something else.

The problem was that Dohee didn’t know Naore well either, and the skill gap with Majiya wasn’t large.

In other words, it was impossible to carry impressively alone and give Jia a victory.

That is, even if she went separately from Majiya, it wouldn’t particularly help in team fights.

‘… Is this the right answer?’

Character selection.

Support class.

A character that can become invincible and follow one designated ally, capable of harassment, healing, and everything else, but.

A character of misfortune that gets cursed for eating a lot of ramen after being chosen, and gets cursed for being difficult to contribute in team fights.

‘Mascot’, deploy.

It was the birth of a duo with Majiya on offense and Cheon Do-hee on harassment and recovery.

For Mr. Lee, a graduate student, Naore was his life.

Well, it’s not a complicated statement.

It’s just that Naore was the only game he still clung to among the games he had played since childhood, so it was his life.

But playing for a long time didn’t necessarily mean his skills improved, and unfortunately, his team luck was terrible too.

As a result, it was routine for him to be mocked for being terrible at the game among friends who reached gold every year.

This year was no different.

With only a month left until the end of Season 24, his tier was still Bronze 1.

He had been losing promotion series for days now, with just one threshold left to Silver.

The reason he fled to normal games after enduring for so long was that he simply couldn’t bear the stress and pressure anymore.

Bronze, me being Bronze again!

But was it just one of those days?

Normal games weren’t going well either.

Already on a 5-game losing streak.

His match history was burning red, to the point where he could hit the shotgun a few times within a few games.

“Hah. Should I really quit this damn game…”

With a ding sound, the random matching begins.

Since the pick is already decided, the loading screen appears immediately as the game starts.

Mr. Lee’s face brightened as he blankly stared at the champion lineup.

…

They were complete newbies with only two games played.

Moreover, the character chosen was Apola, famous for shitting the bed spectacularly in ranked games. The one that newbies pick because she’s pretty but quit because she’s terrible to use.

And the person queuing together with that Apola was Ramen Coat, famous for not being helpful in team fights.

Their match history was only fifteen games. A newbie among newbies.

“Legendary trash composition. If I lose this, I really have to quit the game.”

The flow of the game was already forming in Mr. Lee’s head.

The newbie Apola fidgets around both attack lanes trying to siege, gets cut off starting a team fight.

The attached Mascot gets separated and bursts, then that shit rolls over to the rest of the allies leading to a team wipe.

Give away all the large monsters and fall on the defensive.

Apola fidgets again, gets cut off. Team wipe. Defensive.

Wouldn’t you expect this infinite loop?

In other words, a red carpet of dreams and hope was finally laid out for Mr. Lee’s future.

Saying he would finally win a game, Mr. Lee happily ran towards the attack lane.

“They’ve set it all up for me to win.”

As luck would have it, his lane opponents were the newbie Apola and Mascot.

How could he get such luck?

It’s 1:2, but in a game called Naore, mastery determines everything.

Bringing two unskilled people doesn’t mean they can beat one skilled person — Mr. Lee saying this is in Bronze tier.

Moreover, thanks to Naore’s patented MMR system, the possibility of it being a smurf account was extremely low.

From now on, this attack lane is Mr. Lee’s solo stage.

“Shall we get a refreshing first blood?”

Mr. Lee’s character, Kirine the Sword Master, sprinted full speed towards Apola who was looking around in the middle of the attack lane.

A mad movie was already playing in his head.

Passing through allied demolition teams like the wind, deflecting enemy skills with parrying, then taking down Apola, and killing the Mascot that separated from Apola to make a kill score of 2/0/0.

“Ah, are you avoiding this?”

But Apola seemed to have no intention of fighting, slowly backing away to hide behind the tower.

She seemed to be a timid newbie even among newbies.

This was shaping up to be a rather boring lane phase.

“Hmm, can’t be helped.”

If she really doesn’t want to come out, the only option is to keep pressuring and hitting the turret.

No matter how timid a newbie is, wouldn’t they react when the tower they need to protect starts getting scratched?

“This is tough…”

Several minutes passed, but Apola was persistent.

Enduring inside the tower, collecting experience and last hits, and getting healed by Mascot when taking chip damage – this situation kept repeating.

It’s cute how diligently she’s playing for a newbie, but.

That’s about to end now.

Mr. Lee reached level 6 first.

He learned the adaptive skill Thunderbolt Strike.

It was a technique that cuts across the battlefield in a straight line, pulling enemies in its path to the final destination.

‘You’ll come out when you hit level 6 too, right?’

Even in a lane with no fights, a fight breaks out at level 6 timing.

It’s because each side gets to hold one special strategy.

So if Apola tries to crawl out of the tower even a little bit?

Mr. Lee planned to hide, then catch her and beat her up excitedly.

She’s a glass cannon after all. Melting her would be instantaneous.

Thanks to consistently hitting until level 6, the health of the turret Apola was guarding was now half.

‘You have to come out at least once before the turret breaks…!’

Just then, Apola reached level 6.

Mr. Lee, with his hand on the F button ready to use Thunderbolt Strike at any time.

Suddenly,

Apola abruptly jumped out and ran in a straight line towards Mr. Lee’s turret.

“What.”

He thought she would come out cautiously, but this was completely.

Mr. Lee missed the timing to use Thunderbolt Strike due to this action that was completely different from what she had shown so far.

However, Apola was weak against champion opponents.

In other words, it would be fine if he calmly aimed and used Thunderbolt Strike again, but.

Bang.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

“Dark Cloud?!”

Apola, who had reached the front of the turret Mr. Lee was guarding, suddenly started spewing black clouds.

Mr. Lee, who was following, stopped at the edge of the Dark Cloud and muttered.

“No way. Is she really a complete newbie?”

Apola’s adaptive skills I and II are the real deal.

Type I makes Apola lose her building-only stacks and special demolition, but gain champion-only stacks instead.

This allows Apola, a siege class, to rampage like a damage dealer, sometimes bringing unexpected victories in team fights.

What about Type II?

It reduces reload time from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds, a whopping 25% decrease, maximizing Apola’s demolition speed.

As a result, in games with frequent team fights, towers would often be destroyed before defenders could even arrive.

But Type III, Dark Cloud.

This is the one that people say they really don’t know why it exists.

There were even comments like, “Naore already has so many AoE skills, and Apola is already squishy, are you telling her to hide in the cloud and get hit and die?”

In other words, it was impossible for anyone but a truly clueless newbie to choose Type III.

Finally, Mr. Lee let out a chuckle and aimed Thunderbolt Strike at the center of the smokescreen.

Thinking that a newbie of this level would probably be floundering, wondering if she had chosen the wrong skill.

Mr. Lee’s Kirine mutters in a cool voice along with the preparation motion.

— Hekireki, Sen.

Crash!

Kirine advances at lightning speed, splitting the black cloud.

“…Huh?”

But there’s nothing caught on the tip of Kirine’s sword.

While thinking that perhaps Mr. Lee had failed to predict the position, at that moment.

Clang, clang!

A sharp metallic sound was heard.

Apola’s demolition stacks had accumulated on the allied turret.

“What the. When did she get out?”

Apola gains a very brief stealth effect when entering and leaving the smokescreen.

It seems that just as Apola ran out of the smokescreen, coincidentally, Mr. Lee had advanced to the opposite side while cutting through the Dark Cloud.

“Ugh. Wasted my skill.”

But, it doesn’t change the overall situation.

Building stacks on the tower means she’s greedy for demolition, but the Dark Cloud doesn’t last forever, and it’s worse than useless in front of AoE skills.

As Apola entered the cloud while reloading, Mr. Lee deliberately went in and out of the cloud, using auto-attacks and his combat skill ‘Fan Slash’ to keep probing.

The newbie might be sad about being toyed with,

But what can you do. The principle of this game is that if you’re weak, you lose.

However.

“… Why isn’t it hitting?”

No matter how much he slashed inside the cloud with his sword, there was no hit sound.

It was as if he was really just cutting through clouds.

Right then, clang, clang!

The slug shell icon embedded in the turret became four.

“What?”

Belatedly, Mr. Lee rushed out of the Dark Cloud to find Apola already in front of the turret again.

Surprised, Mr. Lee hurriedly chased Apola and landed auto-attacks and combat skills, but the attached Mascot restored half the damage with combat recovery.

And Apola went back into the Dark Cloud.

“Damn. This is annoying. Was the Dark Cloud duration always this long?”

As Mr. Lee circled around the Dark Cloud in confusion, Apola darted out again using Mr. Lee’s blind spot.

Even if he chased and hit her again, she would recover again.

A little later, she would jump out again and stack her passive again.

Come to think of it, it’s suddenly 8 stacks.

“Hey, when is this cloud going to disappear?!”

…As soon as he said that, the Dark Cloud that had lasted 30 seconds disappeared.

However, Apola slipped out just before the cloud disappeared, maximizing the brief stealth effect.

“…?”

Mr. Lee, who naturally thought the enemy would appear from the center of the cloud, looked around and found Apola about 2 seconds later.

Right behind him, in front of the turret he was supposed to protect.

“Crazy.”

Apola’s health was below half from the consistent damage.

If his sword could just reach her, Mr. Lee could instantly kill her with his skill combo, but.

Having already used Thunderbolt Strike, Mr. Lee had no way to close the distance in one breath.

Clang. Clang.

As it reaches 10 stacks, the border of the slug shell icon changes from red to green.

Apola immediately activates her ultimate.

Two Double Barrels aim at the head of the turret as if by agreement.

The wings on her back spread large, fluttering jet-black feathers, then light shot from the halo illuminates her two Double Barrels.

————Pew.

Kaboom!!

A thunderous sound and scattering of light reminiscent of fireworks.

The area shook greatly from the resulting chain explosion.

First the announcer shouts.

First Destroy!

With the collapsing turret as a backdrop, Apola walked proudly towards Mr. Lee and said.

[All] BackScarIsDoubleBarrelShame: Got bored and wanted to die

Mr. Lee, who had just arrived, swung his sword and landed a full skill combo including his ultimate, but.

A free kill? Even eating this couldn’t erase the feeling of defeat.

First Blood!

Mr. Lee muttered while displaying a crying emote.

[All] IDontLikeBronze: Fck.. I lost

Mr. Lee’s teammate, who had been watching the top lane situation on the minimap, was just dumbfounded.

[All] KillAllAssassin: Wtf are these b@stards doing;

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