Chapter 145: Raina's Reason (2)
The donations for today's game were higher than he expected. The mission reward was 1.25 million won and BigHand's donation was also significant.
'Who knew story mode would do this well.'
Was it because they were curious to see the third star criteria and Raina's reason? Normally, there were hardly any donations in story mode gameplay because it was boring. However, today's stream was doing quite well.
[Current Viewers: 9k]
He had accumulated almost 10,000 viewers. Considering it was morning, it was an impressive number. Sang-Hyeon was very satisfied.
'People recognize hard work.'
Turning on the broadcast and practicing?LIL in the morning had a positive effect. At least, Sang-Hyeon thought so and was unaware of what Ju-Hyeok was up to in the community.
'Three star clear. Let's just focus on that.'
The stream was successful. Sang-Hyeon just needed to focus on his gameplay.
[Story Mode]
[Would you like to continue?]
***
He could see the remains of the tier two turret.
'Right, we pushed up until the tier two turret.'
Now, the only turrets remaining were the two guarding the nexus.
Crackle... Crackle...
The fire crackled and gave off heat. They were in a base camp near the ruins. He could see several children warming their bodies near the fire. It was the blue team's minions.
Most were shaking in cold or fear and sitting down, but Raina was running around. She added wood to the fire where the youngest minions rested and gave them blankets. She whispered something in their ears, but Almond couldn't hear her.
Almond thought again that it was odd.
'She cares about these minions a lot.'
He recalled what Raina said before the story mode began.
‘There's a reason I hate things like this.’
What did she mean?
She was referring to Almond using her ultimate for foolish purposes, but this memory had nothing to do with that so far.
'Let's think about it a bit more.'
The only connection he could find was that life as a minion was far from being respected. They were being used and discarded like slaves. Did Raina dislike the feeling of being used because of memories from this time?
'I wonder if it has something to do with that?'
Almond could see the possibility. If he was in her place and lived a life like this, he'd feel sensitive about it as well. He muttered the possible answers as if he was talking to the game system.
"Is the life of a minion Raina's reason?"
Theoretically, it made no sense that this would work as a three star clear. However, Almond's video game knowledge was heavily limited. He just acted based on his thoughts.
[Unfortunately, it's not. However, there is a connection.]
Surprisingly, he received a reply. It was wrong though.
— LOL, this guy's trying to beat it the easy way.
— Do you think that'd work, LOL
— Wait, they actually replied?
— Damn, is this beginner's luck?
— What a unique way of approaching it!
— So this is why it's best to go in without any knowledge.
He was made fun of because he was wrong, but Almond didn't think it was a failure.
'There's a connection?'
He earned new information otherwise unobtainable if he hadn't done anything. The life of a minion wasn't the answer, but it had a link. He also learned that the system would answer his questions.
[Some time has passed.]
There was another time skip.
"Huh?"
The sight of allied minions preparing to launch an attack appeared before him.
"They skipped the scene where we gather this time."
— I think they skipped it because it's too repetitive.
— Is there a reason?
— Ask the system like you did earlier.
— Remember to put your hand up!
The viewers mocked him to raise his hand to ask a question. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to do that.
"Row 1!! What are you doing!! Run!!"
Slam!
Someone behind Almond harshly pushed him. When his senses came back, the allies around him were running forward.
'Ah, am I row 1 again?'
Almond started running with them. He could see Raina's blonde hair in the distance.
'I should fight with Raina this time as well.'
Fighting beside Raina made it harder to survive, but he got used to it after a couple of times. Surviving wasn't hard, but the point of this game mode was to observe Raina despite them being in the first row.
"Raina!"
"Almond? Why are you so late?" Raina complained to him, but her voice became significantly softer compared to their first meeting.
— He even won over baby Raina...
— Hey, hey, it's not his looks. It's his bow skills.
— LOL
— This is older Raina's doing! There's no way Almond can win over both!
Almond didn't even have time to give her a reason.
"I-It's their champion!"
The enemy champion was already there.
'Damn.'
This was the first time he faced the enemy champion this early in the game without an allied champion.
'For the minions, it's probably an everyday thing.'
He was just lucky, but minions were always exposed to this danger. The enemy summoner was playing as an assassin champion. Almond didn't know LIL?very well and couldn't guess who it was.
Pung!
The enemy's champion disappeared into the shadows.
"!"
Almond, sensing danger, rolled away.
Chak!
His senses were correct as bloody fog spread everywhere.
'What the?'
He couldn't make sense of what was happening. The speed was difficult to keep up even with his eyes. This was the power of the champions as seen from the perspective of minions. After the black mist briefly passed, Almond simply saw the round heads of minions rolling on the ground.
One of the heads approached Almond and spoke to him, "A-Almond..."
"Teo? Dammit!" he loudly cursed and briefly forgot he was in a game.
"I... came to the first row... to be like you..."
It was the child who talked to Almond after Raina. The child who cheered him on and chanted his name.
— Noooo!
— Teoooo!!!
— I'm sorry...
— Damn... what a turn of events…
— Where's Raina?
He couldn't see Raina.
'Raina? Where is she?'
Almond came back to his senses and looked around.
'Where is she?'
Raina was out of sight and the allied minions beside him were also gone. In a flash, the archer minions were beheaded. Seven to eight children instantly died. This commonly happened when minions met champions.
Swoosh!
Even though only one shadow brushed past them, the shield minions in front were swept away as their armor shattered.
"Kugh…!"
"Urk!"
The other minions couldn't fathom fighting back against the champion. Only Almond had his sights on the enemy summoner. The shadow was fluttering. There was rage in Almond's eyes. He pulled on his bow as if possessed and aimed at the enemy summoner.
"D-Dodge! Almond!"
"What are you doing!?"
As he aimed his bow at the enemy summoner, the allied minions far away shouted at him.
"There are still enemy minions! Why are you shooting the summoner first—"
They were shouting as if it were a rigid rule or something, but it was just gibberish. It didn't even reach Almond and he already released his hand before he could respond.
Swoosh!
The arrow flew delicately. A blue fire was ignited on the enemy summoner's forehead.
Pung!
It was a bullseye.
"Idiot! The summoners have the champion's protection, so they're barely affected by our attacks!"
He could finally hear Raina. She was muddy all over after rolling around from somewhere else.
"Hurry and—"
She tried to tell him to hurry up and run, but Almond's arrows had other plans.
Pang! Pang! Pang! Pang!
He continued to shoot at the summoner and shadows reappeared around the champion. It seemed like the champion could travel to other shadows.
Swoosh...!
The figure reappeared behind Almond and Raina. He had a large longsword and slashed at them.
Swoosh!
Almond wasn't even there anymore because he dodged forward a moment ago. He instinctively knew the summoner would appear at his back and his arrows didn't stop.
Pung! Pung! Pung!
Three arrows flew simultaneously. The summoner returned to the shadows to chase Almond, but the same thing happened. Almond held the title for being the best at dodging. Even though he was in the body of a minion, he still had those skills. The summoner continued chasing, but he was the one being constantly hit. After this repeated three or four more times…
Stomp.
The summoner backed off.
"... N-No way."
Raina couldn't believe a minion forced a summoner to back off. To minions, a summoner was like the sun and hard to even look at. However, Almond was aiming at the sun without a hint of error. He readied his bow as if he was hunting wild animals. His arrows pointed at the summoner like he was aiming at the other minions.
Pububung!
The summoner was hit by the rain of arrows and backed off again. If he could dodge all the arrows and land his attacks, he would win. He was playing off those rules to the extreme.
— What the?!
— Hey, you're not supposed to be able to do this!
— You're going to get bugged out like this, LOL
— Damn, your gameplay is next level.
— If this was my minion, I'd already be in Challenger ~~
— I told you the blue team is OP?!
At the end of the day, Almond was still a minion.
'I'm out...'
He ran out of mana and arrows. The summoner charged at him during this opportunity. The terrifying shadow enveloped Almond and he couldn't do anything but run.
Then…
"Agh! Aren't you the same guy from last time!?"
Kaang!
He could hear a loud shout behind him and someone deflected the enemy summoner's attack. It was the ally summoner, Bart The Iron Monster.
[Some time has passed.]
The scene instantly moved on.
***
'What the?'
It was the first time a battle scene was skipped over. He wasn't even near a fireplace and found himself eavesdropping on a conversation in a forest.
"The boy pushed back a summoner."
It was Bart's voice.
"Hmm... This is a dangerous irregularity."
It was the summoner with a bow, Yuria. There were other summoners present as well.
"He was amazing, but almost too good. He was better than Raina."
"Raina tries her best to keep the minions in place, but another guy like this..."
Almond's gameplay helped the blue team win today, but they seemed to dislike it judging from the summoners’ reactions. Was it a normal reaction? Did he do something wrong?
It didn't make sense. They didn't like someone fighting for their lives on the battlefield and providing results?
— ?!?
— Woah, what's going on?
— Damn, I'm getting goosebumps.
— My head's going numb.
— What is it? What's happening?
The viewers were shocked as well. Then, Almond learned something painfully obvious.
'They don't... risk their lives.'
The minions were the only ones risking their lives, not the summoners. And another thing…
'Wait, where am I?'
He checked his surroundings again. He was in a tall forest, but the summoners were gathered in an open field that looked familiar.
'The incinerator.'
This was where the minions came to dispose of the corpses after a battle.
"Anyways, let's wrap it up and continue to observe tomorrow."
Yuria finished the conversation and activated something in the incinerator.
Woong...!
A bright light glowed. He thought they would surely burn the corpses, but that wasn't the case.
"!"
The corpses were transported somewhere else. After the bodies disappeared, he could see on the ground that it wasn't fire but magic. The magic glowed again and the corpses reappeared. It looked like most of the corpses were wearing red.
And then...
'What's going on?'
The corpses started walking out. No, they weren't corpses. They had light in their eyes. The summoners commanded them to change from their red clothing into blue clothing.
Just like that, they turned into the blue team minions.
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